Rather Be Healthy

Who advertises and tells the world about how good a drug is…

The media companies…

Big pharma spend Billions of dollars on advertising, yes billions..

Who gets that revenue….

The media companies, newspapers, magazines, radio and of course the big one…TV. So why don’t they tell the public? Money that’s why. The media consider money far more important than human life.

So don’t expect to see an ad on TV about the dangers of using a prescription medicine because that will alarm the public and big pharma won’t have such an easy job of conning the medical professionals who bow to public demand and prescribe a medicine that treats a symptom and causes more health issues.

Many parents don’t think twice about taking their children in for routine vaccinations, as they are an integral and heavily promoted part of the conventional medical system. But this decision has had life altering, and sometimes life-ending, ramifications for more children than you might expect.

Many hard core health activists are distressed that I do not promote the avoidance of all vaccines outright. Instead, I strongly urge you to invest the time to educate yourself about the potential benefits and risks of each vaccine prior to vaccination, and to make educated decisions based on what you conclude is likely to be the best course of action for your child.

While some vaccines appear to be safer than others, it’s important to realize that each vaccination carries a certain amount of risk and vaccine risks can be greater for some than others due to biological and environmental factors, and the timing and types of vaccines given. The risks of vaccination may be exponentially increased when revaccination takes place after an individual has already had a previous vaccine reaction, or when multiple vaccines are administered at the same time.

There are vaccines that historically have been associated with more side effects than others, and the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine – MMR shot – is one of those.

The health risks associated with the MMR vaccine has been in the news for about 15 years, and we’re undoubtedly going to see a re-emergence of questions about this vaccine in the coming days and weeks because the Italian health ministry recently conceded that the MMR vaccine caused autism in a now nine-year-old boy, who suffered brain inflammation and permanent brain damage after he was vaccinated.

Italian Court Rules MMR Vaccine Caused Autism

Valentino Bocca was given an MMR shot in 2004, at the age of 15 months. According to his parents, the change in his behavior was immediate. That same night he refused to eat, and he developed diarrhea during the night. It quickly went downhill from there. Within days he was no longer able to put a spoon to his mouth, and he spent nights crying in pain. His parents immediately suspected the vaccination, but were told this was “impossible.” Valentino progressively regressed, and received the diagnosis of autism a year later.

In the final analysis, the Italian Health Ministry disagreed with the initial conclusion of the pediatrician, conceding that the vaccine was at fault.

As a result, a court in Rimini, Italy recently awarded the Bocca family a 15-year annuity totaling 174,000 Euros (just under $220,000), plus reimbursement for court costs, ruling that Valentino “has been damaged by irreversible complications due to vaccination (prophylaxis trivalent MMR)i.” According to a featured article in the UK newspaper, The Independentii, about 100 similar cases are now being examined by Italian lawyers, and more cases may be brought to court.

“Luca Ventaloro the family lawyer, said yesterday: “This is very significant for Britain which uses, and has used, an MMR vaccine with the same components as the one given to Valentino.

It is wrong for governments and their health authorities to exert strong pressure on parents to take children for the MMR jab while ignoring that this vaccine can cause autism and linked conditions.” The number of autism cases has risen sharply since the 1970s, with one in 64 British children affected,” The Independent reportsiii .

Why is US Media in Black-Out on this Story?

It’s well worth mentioning that this story has yet to be addressed in the US media… The Daily Mail was the first paper in the UK to talk about it on June 15iv. The Independent was the second to print an article, on June 17. The Daily Mail was the most substantive of the two. Their version included the following statements:

“Judge Lucio Ardigo, awarding compensation to the family… said it was ‘conclusively established’ that Valentino had suffered from an ‘autistic disorder associated with medium cognitive delay’ and his illness, as Dr Barboni stated, was linked to receiving the jab. Lawyer Mr Ventaloro explained yesterday: ‘This is very significant for Britain which uses, and has used, an MMR vaccine with the same components as the one given to Valentino. ‘It is wrong for governments and their health authorities to exert strong pressure on parents to take children for the MMR jab while ignoring that this vaccine can cause autism and linked conditions.’

Claudio Simion, a leading member of the lobby group Association for Freedom of Choice in Vaccination (Comilva), adds: ‘The Rimini judgment is vitally important for children everywhere. The numbers with autism are growing. It is a terrible thing that the authorities turn a blind eye to the connection between the MMR vaccination and this illness.’”

The complete lack of coverage of this case in the US media is a potent example of how health information is flat out censored in the US. Is it any wonder so many Americans are still in the dark? Whether hearing about this case in the US media would sway you to believe vaccines may cause autism or not, the REAL story here is the fact that you’re not even being allowed to learn about it in the first place!

“Controversial” MMR Vaccine Research Replicated and Accurate

It’s virtually impossible to read an article about the MMR vaccine without coming across a reference to British gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 research published in The Lancet, which suggested there may be a link between the MMR vaccine, chronic bowel disease, and autism. Ever since the article’s publication, it has remained one of the most cited yet controversial studies on the topic of vaccine safety.

Few public health officials or doctors speaking about vaccination in the media today fail to drive home the point that Wakefield’s research was subsequently “discredited” by the General Medical Council in Britain, while completely ignoring the facts about what his research actually showed, and the long list of studies done since then by other researchers that back up his initial findings.

Dr. Wakefield’s 1998 study involved a retrospective case series analysis, which essentially reviews the clinical histories of a group of patients with a constellation of signs and symptoms that link them together and create a pattern. In this case, it was a group of autistic children with gastrointestinal problems, which led to the discovery of a novel bowel disease that Wakefield and his colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital in London first described.

But rather than celebrating the discovery of a tangible, treatable and potentially preventable serious health problem that could help those suffering with similar health issues, Wakefield’s discovery became a hotly debated controversy in which Dr. Wakefield’s personal and professional reputation was smeared.

Why?

Because the clinical story didn’t end with bowel disease; it also included symptoms of regressive autism after receiving the MMR vaccine…

In the years following his 1998 finding, which linked the MMR vaccine to inflammatory bowel disease and symptoms of autism, Dr. Wakefield published another 19 papers on the vaccine-induced bowel disorder. All were peer reviewed, and none have been retracted. However, none of these 19 papers are ever discussed in the media.

The only study that keeps seeing the light of day is the original Lancet article from 1998. Another interesting fact is that, since that study, a large number of replication studies have been performed around the world, by other researchers, that confirm Wakefield’s initial findings. Yet you never hear a word about those either!

Download Interview Transcript

For a list of 28 studies from around the world that support Dr. Wakefield’s controversial 1998 findings, please see this previous article.

As one example of many, at the 2006 International Meeting for Autism Research, Stephen J. Walker, Ph.D. shared preliminary research findings that confirmed Dr. Wakefield’s contested findings.

A research team from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina had examined children with regressive autism and bowel disease, and of the 82 tested at the time of his presentation, 70 were positive for the vaccine strain of the measles virus (as opposed to the wild strain of measles). What this proved was that a majority of children diagnosed with regressive autism had the vaccine strain of measles in their gastrointestinal tract, which is exactly what Dr. Wakefield had found back in 1998.

This doesn’t automatically prove the vaccine was the cause of the autism, but it does at the very least suggest a link between these three factors—the presence of MMR vaccine strain of measles in the digestive tract; chronic bowel inflammation; and symptoms of regressive autism. Which brings us to even more recent research into the ramifications of chronic bowel inflammation.

The Connection Between Your Gut and Your Brain

Is it really so unlikely that chronic bowel inflammation from a measles virus could lead to autistic behavior? After all, the gastrointestinal system is often referred to as your “second brain,” containing some 100 million neurons—more than in either your spinal cord or your peripheral nervous system!

The research of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride shows there’s a profound dynamic interaction between your gut, your brain, and your immune system, and she has developed what might be one of the most profoundly important treatment strategies for preventing autism, as well as a wide range of other neurological-, psychological-, and autoimmune disorders—all of which are heavily influenced by your gut health.

I believe her Gut and Psychology Syndrome, and Gut and Physiology Syndrome (GAPS) Nutritional program is vitally important for MOST people, as the majority of people have such poor gut health due to poor diet and toxic exposures, but it’s particularly crucial for pregnant women and young children.

According to Dr. Campbell-McBride, children who are born with severely damaged gut flora are at a significantly increased risk of vaccine damage, which may help explain why some children develop symptoms of autism after receiving one or more childhood vaccinations, such as the MMR vaccine, while others do not.

In a previous interview, she explained the chain of events that is typical for many, if not most, autistic children:

“What happens in these children [is that] they do not develop normal gut flora from birth… As a result, their digestive system—instead of being a source of nourishment for these children—becomes a major source of toxicity. These pathogenic microbes inside their digestive tract damage the integrity of the gut wall. So all sort of toxins and microbes flood into the bloodstream of the child, and get into the brain of the child.

That usually happens in the second year of life in children who were breast fed because breastfeeding provides a protection against this abnormal gut flora. In children who were not breastfed, I see the symptoms of autism developing in the first year of life. So breastfeeding is crucial to protect these children.”

If a child with abnormal gut flora and damaged digestive tract receives a vaccine, the added toxic burden may prove too great to bear. Keep in mind that this toxic burden is NOT necessarily limited to thimerosal (mercury-based preservative) or aluminum-based adjuvants found in some vaccines. The MMR vaccine for example does not contain thimerosal or aluminum. Instead, it appears the measles virus in the vaccine may contribute to chronic inflammation of the bowel, thereby unleashing a cascade of harmful effects on the brain.

“… If the child’s brain is clogged with toxicity, the child misses that window of opportunity of learning and starts developing autism depending on the mixture of toxins, depending on how severe the whole condition is, and how severely abnormal the gut flora is in the child,” Dr. Campbell-McBride explains.

It’s important to understand that the gut flora your child acquires during vaginal birth is dependent on your—the mother’s—gut flora. So if your microflora is abnormal, your child’s will be as well. Autism isn’t the only potential outcome in this case.

GAPS may manifest as a conglomerate of symptoms that can fit the diagnosis of either autism, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, just to name a few possibilities. Digestive issues, asthma, allergies, skin problems and autoimmune disorders are also common outgrowths of GAPS, as it can present itself either psychologically or physiologically.

A Simple, Inexpensive Solution to Reduce Risks of Vaccine Damage

Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book Gut and Psychology Syndrome contains an entire chapter outlining what health care professionals need to do to improve the vaccination strategy, because the standard vaccination protocol is bound to damage GAPS babies. She explains:

“It’s a matter of the last straw breaking the camel’s back. If the child is damaged enough, the vaccine can provide that last straw. But if it doesn’t provide that last straw in a particular child, then it will get the child closer to the breaking point.”

Fortunately, it’s possible to rather inexpensively identify GAPS within the first weeks of your baby’s life, which can help you make better-informed decisions about vaccinations, and about how to proceed to set your child on the path to a healthy life.

The entire process for identifying children who would be at risk for developing autism from a vaccine is described in her book, but to sum it up, in her practice she starts out by collecting a complete health history of the parents, and their gut health is assessed.

Then, within the first few days of life, the stool of the child can be analyzed to determine the state of her gut flora, followed by a urine test to check for metabolites, which can give you a picture of the state of your child’s immune system.

These tests are available in most laboratories around the world and cost a very reasonable amount, about $80-100 per test — peanuts compared to the incredible expense of treating an autistic child once the damage is done.

In my view it is absolutely VITAL to perform this analysis BEFORE you consider vaccinating your child. As Dr. Campbell-McBride states, she has yet to find an autistic child with normal bowel flora. If you find that your baby has abnormal gut microflora, or begins to develop symptoms of autism a year or two later, the GAPS program should be started immediately, as the younger the child is when you start the treatment, the better the results.

You should seriously evaluate the potential increased risks of giving a child vaccines before their microflora tests normal. For more information about the GAPS Nutritional Program, including the two types of GAPS diets, and the importance of fermented foods, please review this previous article.

MMR Vaccine Linked to Brain Inflammation

Whereas the research of Dr. Wakefield and others provide compelling evidence that MMR vaccine can cause chronic inflammatory bowel disease, other researchers have found links between the MMR and inflammation of the brain. Dr. Harold Buttram has written about the MMR vaccine’s potential link to autism, due to the vaccine’s potential to cause brain inflammation. He explains:

“First and perhaps foremost, MMR is incubated in chick embryo culture medium, which necessarily includes precursors of all the organ systems of the chick, including myelin basic protein. Merck Pharmaceuticals, which produces MMR vaccine, claims that all traces of the chick embryo are removed before the vaccine is released for use.

This may be true, but it is probably irrelevant as it does not take into account the process of mobile genetic elements, more commonly referred to as “jumping genes.” Viruses being made up entirely of genetic material, they are highly susceptible to this process.

It has been shown that viruses are genetically changed by accepting genetic material from cell cultures.’ The genetic imprint of the chick myelin basic protein, which is foreign to the human system because of its chick origin, may be programmed to induce antibodies against human myelin basic protein, once injected into the human system.

This in turn, potentially resulting in encephalitis.”

If you don’t want to take his word for it, take a look at the package insert for Merck’s MMR vaccinev , which, on page seven, lists encephalitis as a potential side effect. Type 2 diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is another, along with a number of other potentially life altering conditions. Rarely, if ever, will your pediatrician calmly inform you of these reported side effects, which is why you’d be wise to read through the vaccine manufacturer product inserts as part of your own personal research, prior to vaccination.

Other Acknowledged Cases of MMR Vaccine Brain Damage

In 2009, the US District Court of Claims, also known as the “Vaccine Court,” ruled in favor of awarding federal vaccine injury compensation to a young boy, who developed Pervasive Developmental Delay (PDD), a constellation of symptoms of brain dysfunction that includes autism and other learning disorders.

The parents of Bailey Banks argued that their son had a seizure 16 days after his first MMR vaccination. That, they said, led to a type of brain inflammation called Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which, in turn, led to PDD.

The court agreed that the MMR vaccine had, indeed, caused him to suffer Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis leading to permanent brain damage. According to the court decision, there was, “a proximate sequence of cause and effect leading inexorably from vaccination to Pervasive Developmental Delay.”

As you can see, what we’re seeing in some cases is little more than semantics, really, because what’s the difference, in practical terms, between PDD and autism? Both words describe chronic brain dysfunction. They are essentially two ways to describe the same brain disorder at different points along a spectrum.

Essentially, this is how many people are misled and kept in the dark, because when the word “autism” is not used, everyone can keep insisting that “there’s no evidence linking vaccines to autism.” Still, for a parent and their affected child, the end result is the same

The case of Hannah Poling is another important case to ponder when discussing potential vaccine damage. In her case, it was found that vaccines “significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder,” resulting in a brain disorder “with features of autism spectrum disorder.”

Mitochondria are the powerhouses in your body’s cells that produce energy. The US Court of Claims and government health agencies again stopped short of admitting a direct link between autism and vaccines, saying instead that vaccines may only be a danger for children who have a “rare” mitochondrial dysfunction.

The problem is that mitochondrial “dysfunction” may not be as rare as initially thought. According to some estimates, the prevalence may be as high as 1 in 50 children—which is pretty darn close to the current prevalence of autism.

But is it possible that what the government is calling a genetic predisposition for mitochondrial dysfunction is actually a biological or cellular response to numerous environmental assaults? You bet!

A brand new meta-analysis published in the March issue of Molecular Psychiatryvi discovered that, while five percent of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) had mitochondrial dysfunction (MD)—far higher than that found in the general population—79 percent of them were NOT associated with any kind of genetic abnormality! Seventy-four percent of children with ASD were also found to have gastrointestinal abnormalities, again supporting the link between chronic bowel disorders and autistic symptoms.

According to the authors:

“Neuroimaging, in vitro and post-mortem brain studies were consistent with an elevated prevalence of mitochondrial dysfunction (MD) in ASD. Taken together, these findings suggest children with ASD have a spectrum of mitochondrial dysfunction of differing severity…

The prevalence of developmental regression (52%), seizures (41%), motor delay (51%), gastrointestinal abnormalities (74%), female gender (39%), and elevated lactate (78%) and pyruvate (45%) was significantly higher in ASD/MD compared with the general ASD population.

The prevalence of many of these abnormalities was similar to the general population of children with mitochondrial dysfunction, suggesting that ASD/MD represents a distinct subgroup of children with MD.

Most ASD/MD cases (79%) were not associated with genetic abnormalities, raising the possibility of secondary mitochondrial dysfunction. Treatment studies for ASD/MD were limited, although improvements were noted in some studies with carnitine, co-enzyme Q10 and B-vitamins.

… Overall, this evidence supports the notion that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with ASD. Additional studies are needed to further define the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in ASD.” [Emphasis mine]

A Pediatrician Responds

In response to the Italian case, Dr. Lawrence Palevsky, MDvii, posted the following statement on his Facebook page:

“One of the reasons the measles vaccine was originally administered to children was to prevent against the unfortunate, but rare complication of a measles infection-SSPE (Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis). Before the measles vaccine was licensed for use in the US in 1963, the CDC reports that 400,000 cases of measles infections occurred each year in the US. Yet, the incidence rate of measles encephalitis (SSPE) was only .0061 %. Encephalitis is another term for brain inflammation, and it occurs rarely after a measles infection due to a slow viral infection of the brain weeks, months or even years after the resolution of a measles infection.

According to the CDCviii , there were 368 cases of SSPE in US citizens between 1969 and 1981. 55 % (202) of the cases had only a history of having had a measles infection. 14 % (51) had a history of only having received the measles vaccine, and 17% had a history of having had both the natural measles infection and the measles vaccine. 14% (52) gave no history of either having had the measles infection or the vaccine. These data clearly show that SSPE can occur after a subset of people have received the measles vaccine.

The development of encephalitis is not just limited to people, who experience a natural measles infection. According to the CDC, 1 in 88 US children have received the diagnosis of autismix. In children with autism, we are finding that they too have a considerable amount of brain inflammation. In other words, children with autism also suffer from encephalitis.

Since the CDC points out that encephalitis can occur in people who receive the measles vaccine, it is scientifically valid to say that in a subset of the 1 in 88 children who suffer from autism, i.e., brain inflammation, the measles vaccine they received may have contributed to the onset of their brain inflammation. So, here’s the tradeoff. We’ve gone from an encephalitis incidence rate post measles infection of .0061% to an encephalitis incidence rate post measles vaccination of 1.14% (1 in 88 children).

As a result of the use of the measles vaccine, we see fewer obvious cases of acute measles infections. Instead, however, we now have many more clinical cases of chronic brain inflammation, the very complication of a natural measles infection that the vaccine was supposed to protect against.

I’d say the measles vaccine program has failed to accomplish what it was meant to do, and now, as a result of our attempts to minimize the rare complication of a measles infection by stopping children from experiencing a measles infection, we have created the very problem of an inordinate amount of children with chronic brain inflammation. “

Why Don’t Health Agencies Look At Risks of Excess Vaccinations?

Bear in mind that vaccine safety is not just about individual vaccines. Dr. Russell Blaylock has written an excellent paper that explains the connection between excessive vaccination and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism that is definitely worth reading.

Dr. Blaylock is suggesting that vaccines can over-stimulate your child’s immune system and, when several vaccines are administered together, or in close succession, their interaction may completely overwhelm your child’s developing immune system.

It’s your child, so it’s up to you to make an informed decision. For parents who are looking for the truth about vaccinations, I invite you to continue your journey by searching this site and other reliable resources like the National Vaccine Information Center for more information.

Why We Must Insist on Invoking the Precautionary Principle

If multiple toxic exposures and poor nutrition is to blame, then trying to tease out “the” primary culprit for autism will get us nowhere. I believe we must tackle the issue of ASD with a much wider aim, and that is to:
1.Reduce ALL toxic exposures
2.Improve nutrition for pregnant women and young children
3.Improve digestive health of pregnant women and young children, and test all newborns to evaluate their digestive flora to help determine the safest time to vaccinate, for those who choose to do so

This tactic includes but is not limited to reducing the vaccine load, especially in the US where children receive the most vaccines of any country on the planet. I believe it’s imperative to invoke the precautionary principle with respects to vaccines, and, at the very least, allow people to opt out if they so choose.

While vaccine advocates tend to stress the importance of so-called “herd immunity,” saying the vaccine will not work unless the majority is vaccinated, there’s a great price to pay by forcing everyone into a one-size-fits-all mold.

Not only are some children at greater risk for vaccine damage than others, but we also eliminate the ability to evaluate the health risks of vaccinations if no one is allowed to opt out. We NEED to conduct comparison studies to evaluate the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children, yet such studies are not done.

An oft-cited reason for that is that it would be unethical to not vaccinate certain children… But this is not really a reasonable excuse today, as many parents want to opt out of one or more vaccines for their children.

Deciding whether or not to vaccinate your child is a VITAL decision with very high stakes. I implore you to avoid exclusively relying on the advice of public health officials and the media, which are clearly biased and influenced by vaccine industry money. There is a revolving door between many federal regulatory, policymaking and research agencies, like the FDA, CDC and NIH. Former heads of several of these government health agencies are now executives in two of the largest pharmaceutical corporations marketing vaccines in the world.

There are major conflicts of interest between the vaccine industry and government health agencies, which virtually makes it impossible to receive objective advice from them. It is crucial to investigate the other side of the vaccine story and evaluate the risks of vaccines before you make your decision.

One good place to start is NVIC.org as they have been providing accurate and balanced vaccine information and insights to parents on this topic for the last 30 years.

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

My book “Dentistry and how it’s damaging your health” is available here for only $2.99

What Is HFCS?

Sugar is Sugar

Many people are surprised to hear that high fructose corn syrup is almost identical to table sugar and honey. It is composed of virtually the same amounts of the simple sugars—glucose and fructose. Glucose serves as a building block for carbohydrates and fructose is commonly found in fruits and honey.

High fructose corn syrup, a sugar made from corn, comes in two compositions—HFCS-42 and HFCS-55. A simple comparison of the percentage of glucose and fructose reveals its striking similarities to table sugar.

“When high-fructose corn syrup and sugar are absorbed into our bloodstream, the two are indistinguishable by the body.”
Joan Salge Blake, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.

•HFCS-42 = 42% fructose + 58% glucose
•HFCS-55 = 55% fructose + 45% glucose
•Table sugar = 50% fructose and 50% glucose

In fact, due to their similar structures, many health professionals agree that whether it’s sugar from corn or sugar from cane, your body can’t tell the difference—your body metabolizes both the same way.

Why Use High Fructose Corn Syrup?

So if sugar and HFCS are so similar, why even use it? For the most part, you’ll find high fructose corn syrup, a sugar made from corn, in the same kinds of products in which you would find table sugar or other sweeteners.

The American public is being lied to on a regular basis, HFCS is Bad for you, period.

Here are the people lying to the american public,

The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is the national trade association representing the corn refining (wet milling) industry of the United States. CRA and its predecessors have served this segment of American agribusiness since 1913. Corn refiners manufacture sweeteners, ethanol, starch, bioproducts, corn oil and feed products from corn components such as starch, oil, protein and fiber.

Member Companies

A list of the Corn Refiners Association’s member companies can be found below. For more information on these companies, please visit the Corn Refiner Association’s website.

Archer Daniels Midland Company
Cargill, Incorporated
Ingredion Incorporated
Penford Products Co.
Roquette America, Inc.
Tate & Lyle Americas

Why High Fructose Corn Syrup IS Worse For You than Sugar

If you need to lose weight, or if you want to avoid diabetes and heart disease, fructose is one type of sugar you’ll want to avoid, particularly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

Part of what makes HFCS such a dangerous sweetener is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar.

According to Dr. Elizabeth Parks, associate professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center and lead author of a study on fructose, published in the Journal of Nutrition just last year:

“Our study shows for the first time the surprising speed with which humans make body fat from fructose. Once you start the process of fat synthesis from fructose, it’s hard to slow it down. The bottom line of this study is that fructose very quickly gets made into fat in your body.”

This occurs because most fats are formed in your liver, and when sugar enters your liver, it decides whether to store it, burn it or turn it into fat. Fructose, however, bypasses this process and simply turns into fat.

Additionally, there’s hard empirical evidence showing that refined man-made fructose like HFCS metabolizes to triglycerides and adipose tissue, not blood glucose. And one of the most thorough scientific analyses published to date on this topic found that fructose consumption leads to decreased signaling to your central nervous system from the hormones leptin and insulin.

Because insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you eat, as well as your body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased food intake and weight gain.

Decreased insulin and leptin signaling is also a main cause of diabetes and a host of other obesity-related conditions.

How HFCS Contributes to Diabetes

In addition to everything already mentioned — including these latest findings that HFCS consumption can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, followed by hepatic insulin resistance and then type 2 diabetes — research reported at the 2007 national meeting of the American Chemical Society, found evidence that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS may contribute to the development of diabetes because it contains high levels of reactive compounds that trigger cell and tissue damage that cause diabetes.

Chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS were found to have ‘astonishingly high’ levels of reactive carbonyls. Reactive carbonyls are undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules, and are believed to cause tissue damage.

By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar because its fructose and glucose components are “bound” and chemically stable.

Reactive carbonyls are elevated in the blood of individuals with diabetes and are linked to the health complications of diabetes. It is estimated that a single can of soda contains about five times the concentration of reactive carbonyls than the concentration found in the blood of an adult person with diabetes.

How HFCS Contributes to Heart Disease

HFCS is also known to significantly raise your triglycerides and LDL (bad cholesterol). Triglycerides, the chemical form of fat found in foods and in your body, are not something you want in excess amounts.

Intense research over the past 40 years has confirmed that elevated blood levels of triglycerides, known as hypertriglyceridemia, puts you at an increased risk of heart disease.

Additional Health Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup

As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, fructose also does not contain any enzymes, vitamins or minerals so it takes these micronutrients from your body while it assimilates itself for use.

Unbound fructose, found in large quantities in HFCS, can interfere with your heart’s use of minerals such as magnesium, copper and chromium.

Please note that this does not mean you should avoid whole fruit, however, as it contains natural fructose together with the enzymes, vitamins and minerals needed for your body to assimilate the fructose. Eating small amounts of whole fruit also does not provide a tremendous amount of fructose, and is not likely to be a problem for most people unless diabetes or obesity is an issue.

And lastly, adding insult to injury, HFCS is almost always made from genetically modified corn, which is fraught with its own well documented side effects and health concerns.

GMO corn will radically increase your risk of developing corn allergies. The problem with corn allergies are that once you have a corn allergy from GMO corn you will have an allergy to even healthy organic corn products.

How You Can Drastically Improve Your Overall Health

If you want to drastically improve your health, the answer is quite simple. To lose weight and reduce your risk of developing metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease, STOP drinking soda and processed fruit juices. Switch to pure water as your beverage of choice and you will be well on your way to better health.

To preserve your health you also need to focus your diet on whole foods based on your personal biochemistry, and, if you do purchase packaged foods, become an avid label reader and avoid foods that contain corn syrup as a main ingredient.

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

My book “Dentistry and how it’s damaging your health” is available here for only $2.99

Does Your Supplement Contain this Potentially Hazardous Ingredient?

It’s common knowledge that drugs, vitamins or supplements contain more than just the active ingredient. Something has to encapsulate them―hold them together―in a form that not only makes them usable, but producible by a manufacturer in massive quantities.

In the U.S. many supplement makers are adding “flow agents” into their capsules. Their only purpose is to keep ingredients from sticking to equipment during mixing and compression. They make manufacturing faster and easier, but it’s not impossible to produce the final product without them. Not using them simply adds to manufacturing costs and final sales price of the product.

Magnesium stearate is a commonly used and potentially harmful additive found in many supplements. This is a substance I have warned about for a long time because of its subtle ability to cause possible harm to your intestine, possibly even preventing the proper absorption of nutrients.

Potentially Harmful Effects of Magnesium Stearate

Magnesium stearate is formed by adding a magnesium ion to stearic acid. The compound has lubricating properties, which is why it’s often used in the making of supplements, as it allows the machinery to run faster and smoother, and prevents the pills or capsules from sticking to each other.

However, previous research has shown that stearic acid suppresses T cells—your natural killer cells—which are a key component of your immune systemi. According to that study, stearic acid causes the collapse of cell membrane integrity—an effect that was found to be time and dose dependent—which, ultimately, can destroy cell function.

Naturally, when you take vitamins and other supplements, you do it with the idea of strengthening your immune system. However, if you take supplements containing magnesium stearate, you could end up doing the exact opposite as you’re actually consuming chalk-like substance with each dose you take.

This filler also stimulates your gut to form a biofilm. You frequently see biofilms when you lift the lid of your toilet reservoir. Biofilms are a sort of sludge lining that acts as an effective barrier to the absorption of not only that particular vitamin but ALL the nutrients you’d normally get from food sources as well.

This is of particular concern for anyone with impaired digestion, which in today’s world includes the vast majority of Americans, due to poor dietary habits.

In my view, this side effect alone is a major reason for focusing on nutritional foods, or, if you’re taking a supplement, making sure it’s a high quality, natural food-based supplement that does not include potentially harmful fillers and additives such as magnesium stearate.

Contamination Issues

Another issue that has been raised in relation to magnesium stearate is the fact that the stearate is commonly sourced from hydrogenated oils such as cottonseed oil. This crop is oftentimes genetically engineered, but even when it’s not, cottonseed oil tends to have very high levels of pesticide residues.

Other contamination can also occur during the manufacturing process of the magnesium stearate. According to a December 2011 report by the World Health Organization (WHO)ii, several batches of magnesium stearate manufactured by Ferro Corporation were found to contain various levels of harmful contaminants such as:
•Calcium hydroxide: aka “slaked lime,” which is considered toxic, according to the National Institutes of Health
•Bisphenol-A: a toxic chemical and potent endocrine disrupter
•Irganox 1010: a “moderately hazardous” chemical with potential developmental toxicity, according to the Environmental Protection Agencyiii

The cross contamination was determined to be due to incomplete cleaning of air milling equipment introduced into the Ohio Ferro plant in February that same year. Granted, this is not a chronic problem, as far as I know, but it just goes to show how easily contamination can occur in general.

Will Magnesium Stearate Get Axed?

As recently explained in the featured article, magnesium stearate might be on the verge of getting axed from supplements altogether, which probably would not be a bad thing; at least from a health perspective.

During the March 2010 session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), it was recommended that “magnesium salts of fatty acids” (ie magnesium stearate) be deleted from the Codex, as it has no known use in food. The following year, at the March 2011 CCFA session, the International Alliance of Dietary Supplement Associations (IADSA) submitted a request to reinstate magnesium stearate as a food additive. It was subsequently reinstated under INS number 470(iii).

However, as explained in the featured article:

“…the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) now requires toxicity data to substantiate magnesium stearate’s new standing, despite its existing history of use in supplements. According to John Venardos, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for the global network marketing company Herbalife, who presented this issue at the recent NIA West conference in Laguna Beach, the estimated cost of this tox data on magnesium stearate would cost $180,000. No manufacturer has yet volunteered to foot the bill.”

It would appear as though, unless someone accepts the task of doing the research necessary to prove its safety as a food additive, it will likely get eliminated from the market. Considering the fact that a vast majority of supplement makers use magnesium stearate, backlash is to be expected. But for companies that already operate without magnesium stearate, it’s just proof that they’ve been right all along.

I count myself in this latter group, as ever since I learned of this ingredient, I’ve taken the necessary steps to remove it from ALL the products I sell.

This is one of the reasons why my products are sometimes a bit more expensive than what you might find at your local supermarket or health food store. Removing it from the finished product equates to slightly higher manufacturing cost, as the machines cannot run as fast and hence cannot produce as much on any given day. But I believe the slight increase in cost is well worth it. It’s really important to me to first do no harm, and to take the extra precautions to ensure the products sold on this site are of the highest quality and purity possible.

How to Identify High Quality Multi-Vitamin Supplements

I do believe that dietary supplements — including vitamins and minerals — can help compensate for some of the damage your body incurs through living in a contemporary culture. However, it’s not wise to use supplements to justify a poor diet. In my experience no amount of supplements will ever be able to substitute for healthy food choices.

But there are times when supplements can be quite useful, and I believe that some supplements, such as a high quality animal-based omega-3, for example, are essential for nearly everyone. This is because the main source of animal based omega-3 fats in your diet comes from fish – most of which is now so grossly polluted with heavy metals, PCBs and other environmental toxins I can no longer recommend eating fish for optimal omega 3 levels. Another supplement that many people need is vitamin D3, unless you can get sufficient amounts of safe sun exposure year-round, or use a safe tanning bed.

There are other instances when supplements may be useful as well, such as in the case of CoQ10 if you’re taking a statin drug. You may also want to take one or more food-based supplements to ensure you are getting an adequate variety of nutrients. However, I strongly recommend you make whole food supplements your first choice, and steer clear of synthetic vitamins. How do you tell whether or not a supplement you’re looking at is a good choice? For starters, make sure it has the following characteristics:
•It is as close as possible to its natural (whole food) form.
•Use independent third party labs that check the raw materials for contaminants and correct dosage.
•Follows industry standards for quality assurance including ISO 9001, ISO 17025 and Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) certifications.
•The utmost care has been taken in all phases of its production, from growing its ingredients, to manufacturing, testing for potency and quality control.
•It works! I always try to select from companies that have a long track record of providing high quality products that produce good clinical results.
•As this article states, avoid any supplement that uses magnesium stearate. Read the labels carefully as companies need to declare it if they use it, but it is in very tiny print and you might need a magnifying lens to read it.

If you are interested in optimizing your health, your BEST solution is to choose the highest quality foods possible, and eat a wide variety of whole organic foods. You can use my free nutrition plan and work your way up to the advanced stage. Once you have addressed your diet and are looking for further improvement, odds are you would likely benefit from some supplements, like an animal-based omega-3 supplement and a probiotic, for example. There are many others you could consider depending on your specific circumstances, but just about everyone would benefit from these two.

Just remember to do your homework first and use only those that come from a reputable manufacturer using whole-food, natural ingredients that are free of harmful additives, fillers and binders, and have gone through a vigorous quality control process

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

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Does FRUIT make you fat?

I get this question all the time and for good reason. I’ve heard conflicting opinions from various experts. Some say to avoid fruit at all costs if you’re trying to drop weight.

Others say fruit is fine to eat and you should, instead, avoid processed foods containing the sugar that is also found in fruit, called fructose. This includes the chemically-altered sugars like high fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose along with table sugar called sucrose, which is half fructose.

Confusing isn’t it?

I also think a lot of people are confused about the difference between the sugar fructose (found in fruits) and high fructose corn syrup which is a “man-made” sweetener that has been getting a lot of negative press lately (and for good reason).

Anyway, I think the reason fructose often gets a bad rap when it comes to weightloss is because it’s metabolized differently than most sugars. You see, most sugars make a stop at your liver which directs the sugar to be stored, burned for energy, or converted to triglycerides which is a type of fat in the blood.

But fructose bypasses the liver and is quickly converted to triglycerides and then stored as body fat much faster than other sugars.

So because fruit contains the sugar fructose you should avoid it, right?

Not really. You see, the studies I found that show people gained more weight consuming fructose compared to other sugars were drinking beverages with a very high percentage of fructose (around 50% to 75%). But what most people don’t understand is that fruit is NOT made up of 100% fructose. In fact, many fruits contain only a small amount of fructose.

In fact, here is a chart that shows the fructose content of many popular fruits listed from least amount of fructose per serving to most.

Notice how some fruits have only a few grams (or less) of fructose sugar per serving.

What’s more, fruits contain important, disease-preventing antioxidants and fiber, which slows down the rate at which sugar converts to fat in your body.

So if you’re consuming 15 to 25 grams of fructose a day from fruit—a serving or two of fruits—that’s completely fine. In fact, it’s even better if you consume this fruit after working out because your body will be more apt to store the other sugars found in fruit as energy in your muscles rather than fat.

So a few servings of fruit is fine, but processed foods and drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup or crystalline fructose (which is like HFCS on steroids) are NOT good choices. These sugars will quickly convert to body fat and increase your appetite. They can be found in most soft drinks and many processed juices.

But what about natural fruit juice? Even freshly squeezed fruit juices contain as much as 8 teaspoons of fructose per 8 ounce glass (because it’s concentrated).

So stick to WHOLE fruit and bypass juices and processed drinks to get that flat belly (and to avoid heart disease and diabetes).

Now I know I said you shouldn’t drink fruit juice if you want to get a flat belly. However, there is a rather odd exception. It’s not a fruit juice exactly, but it does taste like grape juice… and the crazy things is, research indicates one of its key ingredients can help you drop body flab up to 327% faster…

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Dear Organic Lovers,

On March 23, 2012 the collective of farmers, seed growers and farm groups (OSGATA) supporting organic and non-GMO farming filed an appeal for their case against Monsanto to be heard in The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Manhattan. Hallelujah! Please add your name here to our brand new petition letter and show your support for Organics over Monsanto. Your comments will be heard, so please sign and speak your truth.

The farmers’ appeal is in response to Judge Naomi Buchwald’s dismissal of OSGATA’s case against the biotech behemoth Monsanto on Feb. 24, 2012. This outrageous decision sent shockwaves around the world. Passionate responses were heard from countries far and wide, with many voiced on the first petition we created in March to support OSGATA. Thanks to all of you who signed and commented on it; together we totaled over 8,500 signatures and over 1,000 heartfelt comments from countries all over the globe, some of which I had never even heard of! Thank you to all of you who took the time to sign and share it!

We delivered the March petition letter with your signatures and all your comments to OSGATA. Jim Gerritsen, of Wood Prairie Farm in Maine and the lead Plaintiff in the case, sent a personal reply upon receiving our comments and signatures:

“We are grateful for your efforts in helping to gather these signatures. The comments are very heartwarming. Thank you and know that we are not about to give up. We understand that we are but the representatives of millions who desire the right of access to clean and good food for their families. To have the support of passionate, caring people who value basic health and clean food is very much appreciated.”

— Jim Gerritsen, President of OSGATA

Video: I Stand with Farmers vs. Monsanto

The farmers’ group (OSGATA) originally filed suit to protect themselves against Monsanto’s aggressive and unreasonable policy of harassing, suing, and even bankrupting, small farmers found to have biotech’s patented GMO plants inadvertently growing on their property. After the decision by Judge Buchwald, OSGATA had one month to appeal the decision. The appeal will now be heard by The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Manhattan, New York. No trial date has yet been set.

What’s uncanny is that the farmers don’t want any money from Monsanto. They filed suit simply to protect themselves before Monsanto has reason to come for them. Monsanto is known for bullying small farmers who do not plant GMO crops. If GMO pollen or actual seed drifts onto a farmer’s non-GMO crop, they can be found liable for “possession,” otherwise known as patent infringement, even though they have no interest in growing Monsanto’s lousy GMO crops in the first place! Absurd as it is, farmers can be sued for patent infringement should they come to “possess” Monsanto technology as a result of “trespass and contamination” of their crops by Monsanto seed—even though common sense tells us that if anyone is trespassing here, it’s Monsanto.

“The farmers are under threat. Our right to farm the way we choose, and to grow pure organic seed and healthy food on our farms for our families and for our customers is under assault,” said Gerritsen.

“We are honor-bound to challenge an erroneous ruling which denies family farmers the protection the law says we deserve. We’re not asking for one penny from Monsanto. Ultimately, our fight is for justice and is waged to defend the right of the people to have access to good and safe food.”

“Honor-bound.”

I like that. I think this should be Monsanto’s new business plan!

Back to reality, farmers across the United States have become increasingly wary because Monsanto has refused to sign a legally binding contract not to sue “possessing” farmers for inadvertent contamination of their crops by GE seeds. After watching their fellow farmers get sued and financially broken by Monsanto, the remaining mostly organic farmers and seed groups in the USA banded together to proactively fight back against the biotech bullies before they got rounded up by Monsanto’s patent infringement gestapo. All the farmers are asking for now is that they be protected from lawsuits if GE plants are found growing inadvertently on their property.

“American farmers deserve to be protected under the law from the unwanted genetic contamination of their crops by Monsanto’s flawed genetically engineered seed technology,” said Dave Murphy, the founder and Executive Director of Food Democracy Now!. Sounds reasonable, no? Let’s hope the court thinks so too.

From 1997 to 2010, Monsanto admits to filing at least 144 lawsuits against America’s family farmers. They also acknowledge settling another 700 or so cases out of court for undisclosed amounts of money while imposing gag orders on the farmers in question. Will Fantle, co-director of The Cornucopia Institute and whistleblower for the organic industry says, ”We need the courts to protect farmers and consumers from genetic trespass and pollution of our food chain. This lawsuit is critical to the future of organic food and agriculture.” Jim Gerritsen concludes:

“Today is Independence Day for America. Today we are seeking protection from the Court and putting Monsanto on notice. Monsanto’s threats and abuse of family farmers stops here. Monsanto’s genetic contamination of organic seed and organic crops ends now. Americans have the right to choice in the marketplace – to decide what kind of food they will feed their families – and we are taking this action on their behalf to protect that right to choose. Organic farmers have the right to raise our organic crops for our families and our customers on our farms without the threat of invasion by Monsanto’s genetic contamination and without harassment by a reckless polluter. Beginning today, America asserts her right to justice and pure food.”

— Jim Gerritsen, President of OSGATA

On behalf of the Organic farmers’ continued efforts for all of us, please:

1) Add your name here to stand up for Organic Farming.

2) Please join us at our GMO Eradication Page (“GEM”) for health updates, relevant articles, breaking news, and community support.

3) Share this article and the new petition link far and wide.

4) Donate to OSGATA’s efforts against Monsanto

In Good Health & Right Action,

Jack Adam Weber & Wake Up World

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

My book “Dentistry and how it’s damaging your health” is available here for only $2.99

The number of kids with chronic illness has quadrupled since many of their parents were growing up. Kids in America today have levels of obesity and chronic illness never before seen in human history.
Doctors and public health officials are bracing for a wave of chronically ill young adults with a host of ailments including diabetes and heart disease.
Why?
A driving force behind kids getting sick is a diet based on junk food and largely devoid of fruits and vegetables.
But before you go scolding a whole generation of parents, consider this: Food makers spend upwards of $10 billion-per-year advertising to kids. On TV alone, the average child in the U.S. sees about 5,500 food commercials annually. Most of these ads are for unhealthy products high in sugar, trans fats, chemicals, and sodium.
It’s hard to raise a child to eat healthfully when some of the most sophisticated advertising minds in the world are working hard, night and day, to make our kids demand their products. Advertisers estimate that 1 in 3 trips to fast food restaurants take place as a result of a child’s nagging.
Is the advertising of junk foods to kids moral? Should it even be legal?
The tide of public opinion is turning, and corporate practice may not be far behind. Just two weeks ago, Disney announced that they would ban junk food advertisements on their cartoon shows starting in 2015. Fast food manufacturers have pledged to make their offerings healthier, but so far that’s meant little more than lip service. Many of the “healthy” options from the likes of McDonalds, Burger King, and Denny’s are still loaded with saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
Fast Food companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on advertising their products and so many now are specifically aimed at kids, the kids in their ads are complaining to their parents to buy a specific junk food because it tastes better. Advertisers are jumping on the bandwagon of healthy and organic foods, using loopholes to say it’s from an organic source and is natural. It frightens me to see how much leeway these people have with the FDA who are influenced by the money being spent on promotions that benefit them not the consumer is sickening. The fact is, the food’s are mainly junk with little or no nutritional value and to make matters worse the foods are often loaded with unhealthy toxins and contaminants that will create significant health problems. The health problems don’t necessarily appear immediately but are gradual, the constant loading of these toxins which are accumulating in the body have a serious long term effect. Filter organs like the liver and kidney become overworked and function far less efficiently allowing more and more toxins to remain in the body causing more permanent damage.
In my opinion it should be illegal to promote a junk food based on lies to the kids of America; these people should be banned and outlawed from ruining this fine nation. They should be fined hundreds of millions of dollars when they flaunt to rules and be banned from advertising unless they tell the truth about their product.
If you want to get involved, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Food Revolution Summit speaker Michele Simon’s Appetite for Profit are excellent resources.

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

My book “Dentistry and how it’s damaging your health” is available here for only $2.99

Could This Be Nature’s Near-Perfect Blood Sugar Regulator?

By Dr. Mercola

For many years now, my favorite source of omega-3 fats has been krill oil. Every time a new study about krill oil hits the journals, its list of health benefits grows longer and the differences between fish oil and krill oil become more pronounced.

Krill oil is often compared to fish oil as a source of animal-based omega-3 fats.

But krill consistently comes out on top in the research—and the latest study published in the July 2011 issue of Frontiers in Geneticsi is no exception. This study compared the livers of mice fed krill oil to those fed fish oil by looking at the gene expression triggered by each.

Researchers found that krill oil is VASTLY superior to fish oil when it comes to influencing your genes. What do your genes have to do with your metabolism? Everything! Every aspect of your metabolism is controlled by how your genes express themselves.

New Study Shows Krill Oil Flips on Key Metabolic Genes

Genes have “switches” that can be flipped on and off, which control virtually every biochemical process in your body. And nutrients like omega-3 fats control those switches. Your liver plays a major role in controlling how your body uses carbohydrates and lipids, utilizing omega-3 and omega-6 fats to sense your nutritional state and influence gene expression accordingly.

Fatty acids help to direct key metabolic processes such as glucose production, lipid synthesis, cellular energy, oxidation, and dozens of others. We now know that various types and sources of omega-3 fat affect liver tissue differently, which is what this study was designed to examine.

Krill oil actually influences your metabolism and genes to improve! The referenced study found that, although both fish oil and krill oil contain omega-3s, they differ greatly in how they affect the genes controlling your metabolism. Krill oil:
•Enhances glucose metabolism in your liver, whereas fish oil does not
•Promotes lipid metabolism, whereas fish oil does not
•Helps regulate the mitochondrial respiratory chain, whereas fish oil does not
•Decreases cholesterol synthesis, whereas fish oil increases it

So, krill will help lower your triglyceride and cholesterol levels and increase your energy production, whereas fish oil does neither and in fact may even raise your cholesterol level, according to the latest research. According to the researchers:

“Elevated hepatic glucose production is associated with metabolic disease in humans (Natali and Ferrannini, 2006), and we observed that krill oil supplementation favorably alters the expression of genes regulating hepatic glucose metabolism.”

Prior studies show that krill oil may lower your blood glucose level by increasing glucose uptake by tissues other than your liver. In another study that directly compared krill oil with fish oil, krill oil was significantly more effective in reducing liver triglyceride levels. These studies all suggest krill oil may offer significant benefits for those with the metabolic dysregulation seen in obesity and type 2 diabetes—which is a problem of epidemic proportions in today’s world.

Omega-3 fats affect your cellular health and DNA chiefly by how they influence your cell membranes. It is these cell membranes that are critical in switching your genes on and off, because the membranes contain receptors that respond to hormones and other agents, and these are affected by the fatty acids on their surface. Your cell membranes contain EPA, DHA and phospholipids, and all help to shuttle molecules into and out of your cells. Therefore, having ample high quality fatty acids in your system is crucial to keeping your cell membranes working like well-oiled little machines.

Other Advantages of Krill

It is important to understand that krill oil has a number of other advantages over fish oil:
1.Some studies have shown that krill oil may be 48 times more potent than fish oil. This means you need far less of it than fish oil, as confirmed by a 2011 study published in the journal Lipidsii.
2.This is because krill oil contains phospholipids, so the omega-3 fats are already in the form that your body can use. This bioavailability means krill oil is absorbed very quickly and crosses your blood-brain barrier, so is able to reach important brain structures. Also, phospholipids are one of the principle compounds in high-density lipoproteins (HDL), which you want more of.
3.Fish oil is quite prone to oxidation, and oxidation leads to the formation of free radicals. Consuming free radicals further increases your need for antioxidants. Fish oil is weak in antioxidant content, whereas krill oil is rich in antioxidants. Krill oil contains astaxanthin—probably the most potent antioxidant in nature—which is why it is so stable and resistant to oxidation.
4.Many, if not most, fish and fish oil are now contaminated with mercury and other heavy metals; even fish that is thousands of miles away from coal plants and other environment-polluting industries. Antarctic krill is not prone to this contamination.
5.Krill is also far more sustainable as a food source than is fish because it’s the largest biomass in the world, making krill harvesting one of the most sustainable practices on the planet.

Could Omega-3 Deficiency be Killing More People than Breast Cancer?

Three studies in 2009 showed that omega-3 fat deficiency might cause or contribute to up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. Compare that number to the estimated 40,000 women who die from breast cancer in the U.S. annuallyiii, and the implications of omega-3 deficiency become quite clear.

Omega-3 fats from krill have been shown to be far more effective than fish oil in reducing fat levels in your heart and liver. The latest study adds to the mountain of research that krill oil can lower your risk for metabolic syndrome, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

In one study, krill oil was found to reduce fat levels in the hearts of rats by 42 percent, compared to just two percent for fish oil. Similarly, krill was found to reduce fat in the liver by 60 percent, compared to 38 percent for fish oil. The buildup of fat in your liver can lead to insulin sensitivity, metabolic syndrome and eventually full-blown type 2 diabetes, just as the buildup of fat in your heart can predispose you to a heart attack.

Krill Oil Can Also Help Protect Your Brain

Some omega-3 fats—especially DHA—are critical for your nervous system, particularly your brain. DHA is converted into substances called neuroprotectins. Alzheimer’s disease is associated with a shortage of these neuroprotectins. Fats make up about two-thirds of your brain tissue. Myelin, the protective sheath that covers your neurons, is composed of 30 percent protein and 70 percent fat. These fats are not just important for adults. Omega-3s are crucial for proper brain and eye development in infants and children.

Two different studies have shown that taking 800 to 900 mg of DHA per day for 16 to 24 weeks resulted in significant improvements in memory, verbal fluency scores, and rate of learning.

Low concentrations of EPA and DHA are known to accelerate cognitive decline and increase your risk for mood swings and mood disorders. Those suffering from depression have been found to have lower levels of omega-3 in their blood, compared to nondepressed individuals. A 2010 study involving 46 depressed elderly womeniv concluded that omega-3 supplementation can improve quality of life and effectively treat depression.

According to a report published in 2007 in the Alternative Medicine Reviewv, DHA and EPA in krill oil can lessen a variety of brain and mental disorders, including autism and dyslexia. DHA also protects your cells from gene mutations that can lead to brain diseases such as Parkinson’s and some forms of Alzheimer’s disease, by preventing “misfolding” of certain proteins that occur as a result of those mutations.

Krill Oil is a Potent Anti-Inflammatory

A major reason krill oil has such impressive benefits is that it powerfully reduces inflammation in your body. They produce compounds called resolvins and protectins, which help quell inflammation before it can do too much damage to your tissues. Several studies have been published on the remarkable effectiveness of krill oil in combating inflammation-related disorders, such as arthritis.

One 2011 study in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women with the highest omega-3 levels had a 44 percent reduced risk of dying from inflammatory diseases. Studies have proven krill oil’s ability to reduce pain, stiffness, and functional impairment in people with inflammatory disorders in just one to two weeksvi and reduce the symptoms for both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis sufferersvii, viii.

The Verdict is in: Krill Oil May Help with Literally DOZENS of Diseases

GreenMedInfo.com now lists more than than 25 different diseases krill may help prevent or reverse. Of course, if you extend the search to include everything related to omega-3 fats, the list of benefits expands even more, since the gifts of krill oil include everything known to be good about omega-3s. The implications are truly profound, and I’m sure you’ll be seeing much more krill research in the future. The following table includes links to a number of studiesspecific to krill oil, by disease. There is much more information about krill and omega-3 fats on the GreenMedInfo website.

Cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia

Inflammation, and C-Reactive Protein

Oxidative stress

Arthritis: Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Metabolic syndrome, including obesity and fatty liver

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and dysmenorrhea

Brain disease: Cognitive dysfunction, memory loss, brain aging, learning disorders and ADHD

Cancer

Kidney disease

A Final Note on Krill Oil Supplements

Please remember that I don’t advocate taking large amounts of supplements. It is far better to receive you nutrients from food. If it weren’t for the polluted waterways of the world, I would recommend getting your omega-3 fats from fish rather than supplements, but unfortunately, most fish are now so contaminated with mercury and other toxins, I just cannot recommend it any longer.

As you can see from the research above, animal-based omega-3 fats are essential for optimal health. I recommend you consider taking a high quality omega-3 supplement, and I think krill oil is your best option.

The only kind of krill oil I recommend is from genuine Antarctic krill. Look for a brand that is cold-processed, which preserves its biological benefits. Please make sure that hexane is not used to extract the oil from the krill as some of the most popular krill oils on the market use this dangerous chemical agent. It should also be free of heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins and other contaminants. You should also make sure the krill you take is harvested in compliance with international conservation standards

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

My book “Dentistry and how it’s damaging your health” is available here for only $2.99

Cavitations…

I’ve thought long and hard about writing this article, not because it isn’t true but because I know there will be some very shocked people who will doubt what I have to say, but more than anything else this is an article that has to be paid attention to.
So what is a cavitation? And why should we all be worried about them. Ok I’ll start by telling you that your teeth attach to the bone via a periodontal ligament. This ligament is formed by six different types of strands that grow between the tooth and the bone, three types grow from the tooth and three types grow from the bone. There are thousands of them all intermeshing to form a shock absorber between the tooth and the bone.
When the dentist removes a tooth, part of the ligament, primarily the strands that grow down from the tooth are removed, however the strands that grow from the bone tend to stay attached to the bone and remain in the socket.
There is a very complex network throughout your body, passing signals to the brain and organs, the network in your mouth sees that there is still a periodontal ligament, so the message being relayed to the brain is that there is still a tooth. The bone at the end or top of the socket where there isn’t any ligament knows there isn’t a tooth so that part grows over and forms a void in the bone, an airless pocket.
Inside this void, is periodontal ligament strands that are decaying, as this happens bacteria grows, not just any bacteria but anaerobic bacteria that can thrive in the absence of air. In the research done by Dr Huggins a couple of decade’s ago, he found bacteria more toxic than Botulism and Tetanus.
Now think about yourself or a family member that had a tooth extracted, how is your/their health, so many people go through their lives not realising that the reason they are suffering is because of something in their mouth or teeth specifically.
Sadly the biological or holistic dentist isn’t necessarily aware of what a cavitation is, in fact most dentists will tell you they don’t exist.
So how do you clean out a cavitation if you have them? and if you’ve had a tooth extracted there is a 99% chance you have them. Well you’ll need to see a dentist that has been through the official training with Dr Huggins, there are about 100 around the country although only 42 are current and upto date in his protocols.
Like many aspects of dental work and especially with extractions or the removal of anything from your mouth, there is a very important sequence to be adhered to.
When this sequence is not adhered to there are consequences and these consequences can be quite dramatic.
If for instance the dentist has recommended the removal of amalgam fillings and cleaning out cavitations which all involve the removal of contaminants from your mouth, the sequential removal is vital. If the cavitations are cleaned out then the amalgams are removed in that order you are going to have problems, serious problems.
The cavitations or removal of root canals or any teeth will result in a delicate area of your mouth being exposed to contaminants or bacteria. The mercury escaping from the amalgam fillings is very likely to find a home in the delicate gum tissue.
So the order of removal is amalgams first…always, and then root canals or any other extractions followed by cavitations. Ideally this is done using conscious sedation, if the dentist does not or cannot administer conscious sedation (sleep dentistry) then having it done with a minimum of 48 hrs between each session is advised. Mon, Wed then Friday and if this is not possible then having all removals done within 30 days is the next best thing.
The biological or holistic or IAOMT dentist may well tell you it doesn’t matter, this is because he or she simply doesn’t know better. I know they sound like knowledgeable credible professionals but sadly when it comes to safe dentistry and doing it the right way they are wrong.
My suggestion is for you to call Huggins Applied Healing in Colorado Springs and get the truth.

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Vaccinated children have up to 500% more disease than unvaccinated children

Suspicions have been confirmed for those wary of vaccinating their children. A recent large study corroborates other independent study surveys comparing unvaccinated children to vaccinated children.

They all show that vaccinated children have two to five times more childhood diseases, illnesses, and allergies than unvaccinated children.

Originally, the recent still ongoing study compared unvaccinated children against a German national health survey conducted by KiGGS involving over 17,000 children up to age 19. This currently ongoing survey study was initiated by classical homoeopathist Andreas Bachmair.

However, the American connection for Bachmair’s study can be found at VaccineInjury.info website that has added a link for parents of vaccinated children to participate in the study. So far this ongoing survey has well over 11,000 respondents, mostly from the U.S.A. Other studies have surveyed smaller groups of families.

Nevertheless, the results were similar. Of course, none of these studies were picked up by the MSM (mainstream media). None were funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) or any national or international health agency or medical profession group (http://healthimpactnews.com).

They don’t dare compare the health of unvaccinated children to vaccinated children objectively and risk disrupting their vaxmania (vaccination mania). The focus for all the studies was mostly on childhood illnesses occurring as the children matured.

Dramatic, debilitating, or lethal vaccine injuries were not the focus since so few, five percent or less, actually get reported to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Injury Reporting System) in the U.S.A. for various reasons including:

* It’s a complicated system that takes time from a doctor’s practice.
* Most parents don’t know about it.
* Only adverse reactions that occur immediately after vaccinations are considered.
* Since VAERS is voluntary, most doctors don’t want to incriminate themselves with vaccination injuries and maintain their denial of vaccine dangers.

Consequently, even the most terrible adverse reactions are minimally acknowledged, while long term negative health issues resulting from vaccines are not even considered relevant.

Different surveys summarized
The childhood diseases usually posed to respondents by the independent surveys involved asthma, reoccurring tonsillitis, chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, allergies, eczema, ear infections, diabetes, sleep disorders, bedwetting, dyslexia, migraines, hyperactivity, ADD, epilepsy, depression, and slower development of speech or motor skills.

In 1992, a New Zealand group called the Immunization Awareness Society (IAS) surveyed 245 families with a total of 495 children. The children were divided with 226 vaccinated and 269 unvaccinated. Eighty-one families had both vaccinated and unvaccinated children.

The differences were dramatic, with unvaccinated children showing far less incidence of common childhood ailments than vaccinated children (http://www.vaccineinjury.info/images/stories/ias1992study.pdf).

From a different survey in the South Island New Zealand city of Christchurch, among children born during or after 1977, none of the unvaccinated children had asthma events where nearly 25% of the vaccinated children were treated for asthma by age 10 (http://www.vaccineinjury.info/images/stories/ias1992study.pdf).

Many of the comments from non-vaccinating parents to VaccineInjury.info for the ongoing Bachmair survey mentioned vaccination danger and developing true immunity naturally were concerns (http://www.vaccineinjury.info).

A PhD immunologist who wrote the book Vaccine Illusion, Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych, has gone against the dogma of her medical training and background. She asserts that true immunity to any disease is not conferred by vaccines. Exposure to the disease, whether contracted or not, does (http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org).

Perhaps the most informal grass-roots survey going on now is by Tim O’Shea, DC, author of Vaccination is Not Immunization. He simply has non-vaccinating parents email him with comparisons of their children’s health to friends and families they know with vaccinated children. That and more is available on his site (http://www.thedoctorwithin.com).

Sources for this article include:

Home

http://www.vaccineinjury.info/images/stories/ias1992study.pdf

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Sugar May Be Bad, But This Sweetener is Far More Deadly

Scientists have proved for the first time that fructose, a cheap form of sugar used in thousands of food products and soft drinks, can damage human metabolism and is fueling the obesity crisis.

Fructose, a sweetener usually derived from corn, can cause dangerous growths of fat cells around vital organs and is able to trigger the early stages of diabetes and heart disease.

Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a controlled diet including high levels of fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

This study takes its place in a growing lineup of scientific studies demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all it’s myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.

And fructose in any form — including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose — is the worst of the worst!

Fructose is a major contributor to:
•
Insulin resistance and obesity

•
Elevated blood pressure

•
Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL

•
Depletion of vitamins and minerals

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Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout

A Calorie is Not a Calorie

Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium — and in fact, every living thing on the Earth–uses glucose for energy.

If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you’d consume about 15 grams per day — a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it’s mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects.

It isn’t that fructose itself is bad — it is the MASSIVE DOSES you’re exposed to that make it dangerous.

There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:
1. Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.
2. People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound.

Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of HFCS.

Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it’s about 20% sweeter than table sugar.

HFCS is either 42% or 55% fructose, and sucrose is 50% fructose, so it’s really a wash in terms of sweetness.
Still, this switch drastically altered the average American diet.
By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very products most people rely on to lose weight — the low-fat diet foods — are often the ones highest in fructose.

Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.

Fructose Metabolism Basics

Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles glucose versus fructose. I will be publishing a major article about this in the next couple of months, which will get much more into the details, but for our purpose here, I will just summarize the main points.

Dr. Robert Lustig[i] Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:
• After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.
• Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is “burned up” immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
• The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.
• Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.
• When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!
• The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
• Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain’s communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.

If anyone tries to tell you “sugar is sugar,” they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.

The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome — not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.

Panic in the Corn Fields

As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it is “natural” and safe.

Of course, many things are “natural” — cocaine is natural, but you wouldn’t want to use 142 pounds of it each year.

The food and beverage industry doesn’t want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS is in your diet — not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry.

The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.

There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe — but the effects on the nation’s health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.

As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues with fructose that disprove its safety:
• More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS[ii].
•Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals.
• Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which comes with its own set of risks.

The FDA isn’t going to touch sugar, so it’s up to you to be proactive about your own dietary choices.

What’s a Sugarholic to Do?

Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

I also realize we don’t live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.

If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:
1. Use the herb stevia.
2. Use organic cane sugar in moderation.
3. Use organic raw honey in moderation.
4.Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.
5.Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave’s meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out.
6.Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.

If you or your child is involved in athletics, I recommend you read my article Energy Rules for some great tips on how to optimize your child’s energy levels and physical performance through good nutrition.

What Else Does the Science Say about the Health Impact of Fructose?

According to GreenMedInfo.com, scientific studies have linked fructose to about 30 different specific diseases and health problems. Select the hyperlinks provided to review how fructose may:

Raise your blood pressure, and cause nocturnal hypertension

Insulin resistance / Type 2 Diabetes

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Raise your uric acid levels, which can result in gout and/or metabolic syndrome

Accelerate the progression of chronic kidney disease

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog, even as little as $5 will help.

My book “Dentistry and how it’s damaging your health” is available here for only $2.99