Rather Be Healthy

13 Mind-Body Techniques That Can Help Ease Pain and Depression

Many aches and pains are rooted in brain processes that can be affected by your mental attitude and emotions. While the mechanics of these mind-body links are still being unraveled, what is known is that your brain, and consequently your thoughts and emotions, do play a role in your experience of physical pain.

For instance, meditation appears to work for pain relief because it reduces brain activity in your primary somatosensory cortex, an area that helps create the feeling of where and how intense a painful stimulus is.

Laughter is also known to relieve pain because it releases endorphins that activate brain receptors that produce pain-killing and euphoria-producing effects.

This line of communication between mind and body runs both ways though, and physical pain, especially if it’s chronic, is a well-known trigger for depression. According to psychologist Rex Schmidt at the Nebraska Medical Center Pain Management:1

“Depression and pain happen to share a part of the brain that’s involved in both conditions, which means that mind-body techniques that affect those areas can be efficacious for both.”

Meditation and laughter are just two examples of a burgeoning new field looking at mind-body therapies to address chronic pain. The featured article2 reviews 11 such strategies. I’ve added two more for a baker’s dozen.

#1: Add EFT to Your Self-Help Toolkit

The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a form of psychological acupressure based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles.

Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to transfer kinetic energy onto specific meridians on your head and chest while you think about your specific problem — whether it is a traumatic event, an addiction, pain, anxiety, etc. — and voice positive affirmations.

This combination of tapping the energy meridians and voicing positive affirmation works to clear the “short-circuit”—the emotional block—from your body’s bioenergy system, thus restoring your mind and body’s balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of physical disease.

Some people are initially wary of these principles that EFT is based on — the electromagnetic energy that flows through the body and regulates our health is only recently becoming recognized in the West. Others are initially taken aback by (and sometimes amused by) the EFT tapping and affirmation methodology.

But believe me when I say that, more than any traditional or alternative method I have used or researched, EFT has the most potential to literally work magic. Clinical trials have shown that EFT is able to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories and incidents that trigger emotional distress. Once the distress is reduced or removed, the body can often rebalance itself, and accelerate healing. In the videos below, EFT practitioner Julie Schiffman shows how you can use EFT to relieve your physical pain and depression.

Total Video Length: 25:12

#2: Massage the Pain Away

Massage offers real health benefits, so much so that some conventional hospitals are making it a standard therapy for surgery patients and others. Along with promoting relaxation and improving your sense of well-being, getting a massage has been shown to:
•Relieve pain (from migraines, labor, fibromyalgia and even cancer)
•Reduce stress, anxiety and depression, and ease insomnia
•Decrease symptoms of PMS
•Relax and soften injured and overused muscles, reducing spasms and cramping.
•Provide arthritis relief by increasing joint flexibility.

Massage affects your nervous system through nerve endings in your skin, stimulating the release of endorphins, which are natural “feel good” chemicals. Endorphins help induce relaxation and a sense of well-being, relieve pain and reduce levels of stress chemicals such as cortisol and noradrenaline — reversing the damaging effects of stress by slowing heart rate, respiration and metabolism and lowering raised blood pressure.

Stronger massage stimulates blood circulation to improve the supply of oxygen and nutrients to body tissues and helps the lymphatic system to flush away waste products. It eases tense and knotted muscles and stiff joints, improving mobility and flexibility. Massage is said to increase activity of the vagus nerve, one of 10 cranial nerves, that affects the secretion of food absorption hormones, heart rate and respiration. It has proven to be an effective therapy for a variety of health conditions — particularly stress-related tension, which experts believe accounts for as much as 80 percent to 90 percent of disease.

According to the featured article:

“[A] new study from Thailand suggests that traditional Thai massage can decrease pain intensity, muscle tension and anxiety among people with shoulder pain. Meanwhile, research from the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami in Florida found that when adults with hand pain had four weeks of massage therapy, they reported a lot less pain, anxiety and depression.

Another study at the Touch Research Institute found that when pregnant women who were depressed received massages from their partners twice a week, they had much less leg and back pain and fewer symptoms of depression during the second half of their pregnancies.”

#3: Remain in the Now…

Practicing “mindfulness” means that you’re actively paying attention to the moment you’re in right now. Rather than letting your mind wander, when you’re mindful you’re living in the moment and letting distracting thoughts pass through your mind without getting caught up in their emotional implications. Though it sounds simple, it often takes a concerted effort to remain in a mindful state, especially if it’s new to you. But doing so can offer some very significant benefits to both your mental and physical health.

For example, mindfulness training has been found to reduce levels of stress-induced inflammation, which could benefit people suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma.

This makes sense, since chronic stress heightens the inflammatory response, and mindfulness is likely to help you relieve feelings of stress and anxiety. In one eight-week study,3 people who received mindfulness training had smaller inflammatory responses than those who received a control intervention, which focused on healthy activities to reduce psychological stress but without particular instruction on mindfulness. Similarly, according to the featured article:

“Mindfulness meditation — focusing on your breath and each present moment — can lessen cancer pain, low back pain and migraine headaches. Researchers at Brown University in Providence, R.I., found that when women with chronic pelvic pain participated in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program, their pain decreased and their mood improved.”

In many ways, mindfulness is similar to transcendental meditation, the idea of which is to reach a place of “restful” or “concentrated” alertness, which enables you to let negative thoughts and distractions pass by you without upsetting your calm and balance. This type of meditation is easy to try at home: simply sit quietly, perhaps with some soothing music, breathe rhythmically and focus on something such as your breathing, a flower, an image, a candle, a mantra or even just being there, fully aware, in the moment.

Researchers report that practicing mindfulness meditation for just four days affects pain responses in your brain. Brain activity decreases in areas devoted to monitoring a painful body part, and also in areas responsible for relaying sensory information.

#4: Take Control with Biofeedback

In biofeedback, electrical sensors attached to your skin allow you to monitor your biological changes, such as heart rate, and this feedback can help you achieve a deeper state of relaxation. It can also teach you to control your heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension through your mind. According to psychologist Rex Schmidt:

“Through focus and mental strategies, biofeedback induces the relaxation response and gives you a greater sense of control.”

Biofeedback is often used for stress-related conditions, such as:
•Migraines and tension-type headaches
•Fibromyalgia
•Back pain
•Depression and anxiety

#5: Free Yourself from Tension with Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is achieved by tensing and relaxing all the major muscle groups, one at a time, from head to toe. By learning to feel the difference between tension and relaxation, you can more actively disengage your body’s fight-or-flight response, which underlies most pain, depression and stress. According to the featured article:

“Studies show that whether PMR is used on its own or with guided imagery, it helps ease emotional distress and pain from cancer, osteoarthritis, surgery and other conditions.”

#6: Harness Relaxation with Tai Chi

The 2,000-year-old Chinese practice of tai chi is a branch of Qigong — exercises that harness the qi (life energy). It’s been linked to numerous health benefits, including improvements in the quality of life of breast cancer patients and Parkinson’s sufferers, and has shown promise in treating sleep problems and high blood pressure.

Often described as “meditation in motion” or “moving meditation,” the activity takes your body through a specific set of graceful movements. Your body is constantly in motion and each movement flows right into the next. While practicing tai chi, your mind is meant to stay focused on your movements, relaxation and deep breathing, while distracting thoughts are ignored.

Part of the allure is that it’s so gentle, it’s an ideal form of activity for people with pain or other conditions that prevent more vigorous exercise. You can even do tai chi if you’re confined to a wheelchair. Even respected conventional health institutions such as the Mayo Clinic4 and Harvard Medical School5 recommend tai chi for its health benefits, especially as a stress-reduction tool. However, there are more studies available than you might think; suggesting tai chi has an impressive range of health benefits. To browse through them, please see the WorldTaiChiDay.org6 web site. According to the featured article:

“In a recent study at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, researchers found that when people with fibromyalgia participated in 60-minute tai chi sessions twice a week for 12 weeks, they had much less physical and mental discomfort. The researchers also reviewed the medical literature on tai chi’s effect on psychological well-being and concluded that it reduces depression, anxiety and stress.”

#7: Breathe Easy…

Deep breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which induces the relaxation response. There are many different breathing practices that you can try, but here I’m going to share two that are both powerful and very easy to perform. The first one I learned when I attended a presentation by Dr. Andrew Weil at the 2009 Expo West in California. The key to this exercise is to remember the numbers 4, 7 and 8. It’s not important to focus on how much time you spend in each phase of the breathing activity, but rather that you get the ratio correct. Here’s how it’s done:
1.Sit up straight
2.Place the tip of your tongue up against the back of your front teeth. Keep it there through the entire breathing process
3.Breathe in silently through your nose to the count of four
4.Hold your breath to the count of seven
5.Exhale through your mouth to the count of eight, making an audible “woosh” sound
6.That completes one full breath. Repeat the cycle another three times, for a total of four breaths

You can do this 4-7-8 exercise as frequently as you want throughout the day, but it’s recommended you don’t do more than four full breaths during the first month or so of practice. Later, you may work your way up to eight full breath cycles at a time. The benefits of this simple practice are enormous and work as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system.

The second is known as the Buteyko Breathing Method, which is a powerful approach for reversing health problems associated with improper breathing, the most common of which are overbreathing and mouthbreathing. When you stop mouth breathing and learn to bring your breathing volume toward normal, you have better oxygenation of your tissues and organs, including your brain.

Factors of modern life, including stress and lack of exercise, all increase your everyday breathing. Typical characteristics of overbreathing include mouth breathing, upper chest breathing, sighing, noticeable breathing during rest, and taking large breaths prior to talking.

Controlling anxiety and quelling panic attacks is one of the areas where the Buteyko Method can be quite useful. If you’re experiencing anxiety or panic attacks, or if you feel very stressed and your mind can’t stop racing, try the following breathing technique. This sequence helps retain and gently accumulate carbon dioxide, leading to calmer breathing and reduces anxiety. In other words, the urge to breathe will decline as you go into a more relaxed state:
1.Take a small breath into your nose, followed by a small breath out
2.Then hold your nose for five seconds in order to hold your breath, and then release your nose to resume breathing
3.Breathe normally for 10 seconds
4.Repeat the sequence

#8: Hypnosis for Pain Management

Hypnosis, which is a trance-like state in which you experience heightened focus and concentration, can help decrease pain by altering your emotional responses to your body’s pain signals and your thoughts about the pain. Contrary to popular belief, you do not relinquish control over your behavior while under hypnosis, but it does render you more open to suggestions from the hypnotherapist. According to the featured article:

“Studies show that hypnosis can help manage the pain from childbirth and metastatic breast cancer as well as chronic low back pain. What’s more, cognitive hypnotherapy can lead to less depression, anxiety and hopelessness among depressed people than cognitive behavioral therapy does, according to research from the University of Calgary in Canada.”

#9: Soothe Your Mind and Body Through the Power of Music

If you’re a music lover, you already know that turning on the tunes can help calm your nerves, make stress disappear, pump up your energy level during a workout, bring back old memories, as well as prompt countless other emotions. When you listen to music, much more is happening in your body than simple auditory processing.

Music triggers activity in the nucleus accumbens, a part of your brain that releases the feel-good chemical dopamine and is involved in forming expectations. At the same time, the amygdala, which is involved in processing emotion, and the prefrontal cortex, which makes possible abstract decision-making, are also activated, according to recent research published in the journal Science.7 Other research8 revealed listening to music resulted in less anxiety and lower cortisol levels among patients about to undergo surgery than taking anti-anxiety drugs. As reported by the featured article:

“…[R]esearchers in Cleveland found that when [burn] patients listened to music and used visual imagery as a distraction when their wound dressings were being changed, they experienced significantly less pain, anxiety and muscle tension. In a study in Norway, depressed people who had music therapy plus psychotherapy were less depressed and anxious and more functional than those who just did regular therapy.”

Musical preference varies widely between individuals, so only you can decide what will effectively put you in a particular mood. Overall, classical music tends to be among the most calming, so may be worth a try. To incorporate music into a busy schedule, try playing CDs while driving, or put on some tunes while you’re getting ready for work in the morning. You can also take portable music with you when walking the dog, or turn on the stereo instead of watching TV in the evening.

#10: Take Up Yoga

Yoga has been proven to be particularly beneficial if you suffer with back pain, but recent research also suggests it can also be of tremendous benefit for your mental health. Duke University researchers recently published a review9 of more than 100 studies looking at the effect of yoga on mental health, and according to lead author Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke University Medical Center:10

“Most individuals already know that yoga produces some kind of a calming effect. Individually, people feel better after doing the physical exercise. Mentally, people feel calmer, sharper, maybe more content. We thought it’s time to see if we could pull all [the literature] together… to see if there’s enough evidence that the benefits individual people notice can be used to help people with mental illness.”

According to their findings, yoga appears to have a positive effect on:
•Mild depression
•Sleep problems
•Schizophrenia (among patients using medication)
•ADHD (among patients using medication)

Some of the studies suggest yoga can have a similar effect to antidepressants and psychotherapy, by influencing neurotransmitters and boosting serotonin. Yoga was also found to reduce levels of inflammation, oxidative stress, blood lipids and growth factors.

#11: Visualization and Guided Imagery

According to the featured article, visualization techniques or guided imagery can serve as an important tool to combat both physical pain and depression by imagining being in “a better place.”

“Research shows it can help with pain from cancer, osteoarthritis and childbirth by providing distraction and promoting a state of relaxation. In addition, a study from Portugal found that when people hospitalized for depressive disorders listened to a guided imagery CD once a day for 10 days, they were less depressed, anxious and stressed over time, compared to peers who didn’t use visualization,” the article states.

Ideally, you’ll want to immerse yourself as fully as you possibly into your visualization, using all your senses: seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, and feeling. According to Dr. Schmidt:

“Using all your senses changes levels of brain chemicals such as serotonin, epinephrine and endorphins, and with regular practice you’ll gain more of a sense of control, which is often lacking when you’re in pain or depressed.”

#12: Repeat a Calming Mantra

The repeated incantation of a mantra—a soothing or uplifting word or phrase of your choice—in a rhythmic fashion can help you relax in a similar way as mindfulness training. The focused repetition, also called autogenic training, helps keep your mind from wandering and worrying, and engages your body’s relaxation response.

“A study at the University of Manchester in the U.K. found that autogenic training helped female migraine sufferers decrease the frequency and intensity of their headaches. And research from the University of Melbourne in Australia suggests that autogenic training may provide ‘helpful longer-term effects’ on symptoms of depression,” according to the featured article.

#13: Remove Pain and Dysfunctional Psychological Conditions with the Neurostructural Integration Technique

The Neurostructural Integration Technique (NST) is an amazing innovative technique developed in Australia. Using a series of gentle moves on specific muscles or at precise points on your body creates an energy flow and vibrations between these points. This allows your body to communicate better with itself and balance the other tissues, muscles and organs. The method of action is likely through your autonomic nervous system (ANS), allowing your body to better carry out its many functions the way it was designed to.

The main objective is to remove pain and dysfunctional physiological conditions by restoring the structural integrity of the body. In essence, NST provides the body with an opportunity to reintegrate on many levels, and thus return to and maintain normal homeostatic limits on a daily basis.

NST is done with a light touch and can be done through clothing. There are pauses between sets of moves to allow your body to assimilate the energy and vibrations. To learn more, please review the article, Gentle Hands Can Restore Your Health, by Micheal Nixon Levy who developed the technique.

Monsanto’s efforts to usher genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into the European Union (EU) have been largely stagnant in recent years, so the multinational corporation and others in the industry are taking a new and more evil approach to gain more market control. According to a recent announcement put forth by the human rights advocacy group No Patents on Seeds!, the European Patent Office (EPO) is now granting biotechnology companies patents on all-natural crops such as broccoli, which was recently handed over as private property to Monsanto.

Exploiting an egregious loophole in European patent law, Monsanto and others have been feverishly filing for patents on all sorts of natural crops, presumably in response to widespread resistance by members of the European public to its GMO offerings. Most recently, EPO granted Monsanto a patent on conventionally-bred broccoli, which includes not only broccoli seeds but also the “severed broccoli head” and the “plurality of broccoli plants … grown in a field of broccoli” – in other words, broccoli in all of its natural forms.

Though vehemently opposed by the European Parliament, EPO’s decision to legitimize private ownership of nature – in this case broccoli – is apparently becoming the norm throughout Europe. Since the biotechnology industry has failed at replacing nature with its own “Frankencrops” throughout Europe, it has set its sights on seizing ownership of nature itself by claiming patents on it. And unless the people step up to forcibly stop this, using whatever means necessary, then these crimes against humanity will only continue.

“We are calling for broad support of our opposition against the patent on ‘severed broccoli’,” said Christoph Then from the group No Patents on Seeds! recently. No Patents on Seeds! has formed a petition in opposition to patents on natural crops that recently topped two million signatures, and the group is joined by a cohort of other environmental advocacy and health freedom groups throughout Europe in its efforts. “We intend to send a clear signal that we will not let our food be monopolized.”

You can access this petition here:
http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org

Monsanto also pushing for ownership of life in America as well
No Patents on Seeds! is joined by Bionext (Netherlands), The Berne Declaration (Switzerland), GeneWatch (UK), Greenpeace (Germany), Misereor (Germany), Development Fund (Norway), No Patents on Life (Germany), Rete Semi Rurali (Italy), Reseau Semences Paysannes (France), and Swissaid (Switzerland) in calling on European politicians to assume control over EPO for the purpose of amending the patent loophole.

“All the organizations involved are also making demands on European politicians,” explains No Patents on Seeds!. “They are urging them to take over control of the EPO in order to change the interpretation of the current patent law through the Administrative Council of the EPO, which is the assembly of the Member States.”

The group Avaaz.org has also created its own petition to stop Monsanto from patenting natural organisms in Europe, which you can sign here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_twb/?tysEsab

Back in the U.S., Monsanto is busy pushing for similar patents on the elements of life. As reported by the Los Angeles Times (LAT), Monsanto will soon try to convince the Supreme Court to allow it to patent future generations of seeds that naturally reproduce from GM strains. If the company gets its way, a new precedent will be set in the U.S. for corporations to assume patent control over natural life forms.

“The case is a remarkable reflection on recent fundamental changes in farming. In the 200-plus years since the founding of this country, and for millenniums before that, seeds have been part of the public domain – available for farmers to exchange, save, modify through plant breeding and replant,” explains the NYT. “But today this history of seeds is seemingly forgotten in light of a patent system that, since the mid-1980s, has allowed corporations to own products of life.”

Sources for this article include:

http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org

http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org

http://articles.latimes.com

If you or a woman close to you were advised to have a double mastectomy performed in order to prevent breast cancer, shouldn’t another option be available? Medical mutilations have been performed lately on women told they are genetically predisposed to getting breast cancer.

That other option could be a good diet with supplemental iodine. Exactly why iodine offers the other option for preventing breast cancer regardless of genetics is referenced later in this article.

Dr. David Brownstein could be called Dr. Iodine for all he’s done to inform others of the importance of iodine through interviews and his book Iodine: Why You Need It; Why You Can’t Live Without It.

Dr. Mark Sircus, who occasionally contributes articles to Natural News, constantly promotes bicarbonate of soda, magnesium, and iodine as more important and effective for health than most realize.

Now, Dr. Jeffrey Dach has grabbed the iodine talking stick, producing several international clinical, lab, and case study reports that demonstrate the efficacy of iodine ingestion for breast cancer.

Dr. Dach on iodine
Salt used to be iodized with elemental iodine to prevent goiter, but no more. So what little protection that offered has vanished. Dr. Dach notes that iodized salt is not sufficient for supplementing iodine.

Iodine’s RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) is 150 mcg (micrograms) per day. Dr. Guy Abraham, who initially mentored Dr. Brownstien, insists we should be taking in 12.5 mg (milligrams) of elemental iodine daily. This is 100 times greater than our RDA.

It’s also the estimated iodine per individual intake from seaweed and seafood among Japan’s population. Japan has the lowest rates of thyroid, prostate, and breast cancer. Some might argue that the Japanese get their iodine from food, but iodine supplements are unsafe.

Well, the FDA recommends 165 mg of iodine to prevent thyroid cancer in the event of a radiation emergency, and iodine has been used medicinally with even higher doses in the past.

Speaking of thyroid cancer, there has been an upsurge of thyroid nodules, leading to complete removal of thyroid glands to determine whether the nodules are cancerous.

Some biopsy! Even if no cancer is detected, the person is sentenced to a lifetime of synthetic prescription thyroid hormones. Iodine can prevent that unhealthy scenario.

In addition to preventing some cancers, there are several studies and actual case histories demonstrating iodine’s ability to cure breast cancer.

Lab studies and breast cancer case histories
Here’s that option for stemming genetically predisposed breast cancer. Iodine has been determined to actually alter breast cancer associated gene expressions. It turns off cancer promoting genes and turns on genes that promote cancer cell apoptosis or cellular destruction. (http://www.medsci.org/v05p0189)

Another study proves that large iodine intake does not adversely affect thyroid hormone production or quality. The researchers did this to allay concerns in the medical profession about potential downsides for using iodine against breast cancer. Downsides don’t prevent using chemo and radiation though.

Dr. Dach lists many international in vivo studies using rats, epidemiological human surveys, and in vitro (petri dish) lab studies demonstrating the efficacy and safety of ingesting elemental iodine for cancerous tumors. All of these studies, with a few actual case histories, are available in Dr. Jeffrey Dach’s articles sourced below.

Dr. Guy Abraham developed a product called Idoral. And Dr. Edward Group, DC, ND, lists four types of iodine supplements that vary in bio-availability: Nascent iodine, Lugol’s solution, potassium iodide, and transformative nano-colloidal detoxified iodine.

The cancer industry’s willful denial of iodine for breast cancer is not because it’s ineffective and dangerous. It’s because supplemental iodine can’t be patented.

Sources for this article include:

http://open.salon.com

http://jeffreydach.com/2007/05/05/jeffreydachdrdachiodine.aspx

http://jeffreydach.com

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/iodine-supplements/

About the author:
Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding others toward a direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom. You can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041059_iodine_breast_cancer_trace_minerals.html#ixzz2Y1GnZmqg

All of those antiquated government talking points about the alleged dangers of drinking raw milk have once again been debunked, this time by a series of scientific risk assessments recently published in the Journal of Food Protection. A press release published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) explains that, based on the results of three new quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs), as well as the review of dozens of other scholarly papers on the subject, raw milk is very clearly a low-risk food that is generally safe for everyone, including pregnant women and young children.

Presented at a recent meeting of the Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, the groundbreaking results of these QMRAs were offered up as some of the latest scientific evidence proving the safety of fresh milk during a presentation entitled Unpasteurized milk: myths and evidence. The main reviewer, Nadine Ijaz, M.S.c, divulged during this presentation how raw milk has been unfairly and wrongly categorized as a high-risk food since the 1930s when filthy, urban distillery dairies were churning out toxic “swill” milk that had to be pasteurized because it was causing people to become ill.

Distillery dairies were eventually decommissioned and replaced by real farm dairies, which eliminated virtually all the risks associated with raw milk, but the “science” behind milk pasteurization became crystallized into the American psyche thanks to tremendous pressures by many state departments of agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA, as many NaturalNews readers are well aware, still clings to the outmoded theory that all milk has to be pasteurized in order to be considered safe.

Leafy green vegetables more dangerous than raw milk, data shows
But when it is produced safely in accordance with accepted sanitary standards, raw milk is not at all the villain that the government continually claims it is. In fact, raw milk is among the safest foods a person can eat, ranking higher than other common foods like processed lunch meat, factory-produced chicken eggs, and even conventional vegetables. It may come as a shock, but the latest research shows that leafy green vegetables actually carry with them a higher food safety risk than raw milk.

“While it is clear that there remains some appreciable risk of food-borne illness from raw milk consumption, public health bodies should now update their policies and informational materials to reflect the most high-quality evidence, which characterizes this risk as low,” said Ijaz during the presentation. “Raw milk producers should continue to use rigorous managements practices to minimize any possible remaining risk.”

Naturally-occurring probiotic bacteria in raw milk protects it from deadly pathogens
Included within the peer-reviewed data sets that were used for the analyses was evidence showing that the pathogenic risk of raw milk is also particularly low. Contrary to popular belief, pathogens like Campylobacter, Shiga-toxin inducing E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus are not very common in raw milk, and this is due to the fact that raw milk contains its own beneficial, probiotic pathogens that generally prevent them from forming.

“The scientific papers cited at the BC Centre for Disease Control presentation demonstrated a low risk of illness from unpasteurized milk consumption for each of the pathogens,” explains a press release about the finding. “This low risk profile applied to healthy adults as well as members of immunologically-susceptible groups: Pregnant women, children and the elderly.”

To learn more about the health benefits of raw milk, and where to find some in your area, visit:

Home

Also, be sure to check out the comprehensive blog The Complete Patient, which contains all sorts of pertinent information about raw milk, health freedom, and the political structures that interfere with humanity’s access to clean food:
http://thecompletepatient.com/

Sources for this article include:

Home

http://thebovine.wordpress.com

http://thecompletepatient.com

According to an analysis just published by the Wall Street Journal, healthy people will pay double or triple their current health insurance rates under Obamacare. Rates for those with chronic disease, however, will be reduced as all the healthy people subsidize their disease lifestyles.

The net effect is that people who choose to follow a healthy lifestyle — eating well, taking nutritional supplements, exercising and avoiding junk foods — will be financially punished by the federal government while those who choose to follow a disease and sickness lifestyle — eating junk foods, taking meds, refusing to exercise, etc. — will be rewarded by government.

This is the essence of socialized medicine: punish responsible citizens while rewarding those who refuse to take care of their health.

Disease is a matter of cause and effect, not luck
Obamacare, like all socialized medicine systems, is based on the false premise that health outcomes are a matter of pure luck. Disease just “randomly strikes people,” the thinking goes, and individuals have nothing to do with their own health. This false belief fits nicely with the financial interests of Big Pharma and doctors, of course, because it puts the power of health in the hands of corporations and medical personnel.

But the premise is utterly false. Health is almost never a matter of luck. It’s a matter of cause and effect. What you eat, what you’re exposed to, what you absorb and how much time you invest in exercise almost entirely determines the health outcome you experience. Choose to eat healthy foods and you get vastly improve health outcomes. Choose to exercise on a daily basis (even with something as simple as walking), and you also get vastly improved health outcomes.

The Obama administration claims to be “pro choice” on the issue of abortion, yet it denies the existence of “choice” when it comes to personal health. Why is that?

Obamacare is actually designed to punish you for making wise choices about your health. It actually creates a financial disincentive for people to take care of their own health, as it allows people to conclude, “Well what does it matter whether I eat well? The government covers my health insurance costs now, so even if I get a disease, it’s all paid for.”

Seriously, many people actually think that way, and Obamacare encourages more and more people to abandon healthy eating as a form of disease prevention which used to be tied to economic savings. Now, instead, it costs you more to be healthy. So the economics are upside down.

The upside-down economics of Obamacare
This is the new America: a nation where you are rewarded for being sick, or addicted to junk foods, or sitting at home watching television while sipping liquid ice cream all day long. Meanwhile, the burden of actually paying for all this falls on the shoulders of the ever-shrinking few who actually make informed decisions about their own personal health and therefore tend to be far healthier than the norm.

When governments intervene to such extremes, twisting the laws of economics to the point where up is down and down is up, it only leads to enormous confusion and poor decision making on the part of consumers. A sensible health care system should reward people for making smarter investments in their own health. Those who take responsibility for their health and choose to eat well, exercise regularly and avoid toxic chemical exposure should pay LESS for health care, not more.

In a sensible system, there would be a strong economic disincentive for living a lifestyle of eating junk foods and sitting on the couch all day. But apparently, even recommending that people are responsible for their own health is a violation of political correctness which says that “you can’t blame people for their own actions.” Criticizing people for making poor decisions about their own health is strongly condemned in today’s upside-down culture. Today, we are all encouraged to REWARD poor decision making at every level: personal health, personal finance, government regulation and even bankster bailouts, where the government rewards people who lose trillions of dollars by giving them trillions more!

Get cancer, win $100,000!
So don’t be surprised if Obamacare actually announces a disease reward system where Americans get cash prizes for being diagnosed with cancer. “Get cancer, win $100,000!” will be the new motto, because the average cancer patient is worth over $1 million in revenues to the medical system.

“Get diabetes, win $50,000!”

“Get Alzheimer’s, win $200,000!”

And sure enough, where there is a reward, people will find a way to achieve it, even if it means killing themselves with junk food and chemicals.

So all of you who choose to take care of your health and make wise decisions about your diet, exercise and personal care products are about to be economically punished by Obama. You will have to pay double or triple your current rates, and the worst part is that your money will be used to economically reward those who choose to live a life of junk foods, TV watching and toxic personal care products (shampoo, soap, detergents, deodorants, cosmetics, etc.).

This is essentially the U.S. government forcing taxpayers to subsidize disease-promoting lifestyles. And because more and more Americans are getting sick from all the “death culture” foods and products in the marketplace, an increasing financial burden will be place on those who take care of their health. So we become a society of people supported by the healthy who are dragged down by junk food eaters and med-heads who refuse to take responsibility for their own health.

This is not a formula for making America healthier. Rather, it is a recipe for a sickness disaster. And thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the “individual mandate,” now you can’t even opt out of the system. You are forced — at gunpoint thanks to an army of new IRS agents who are being trained with AR-15s — to pay into this system that rewards sedentary junk food lifestyles.

Is it any wonder America’s health keeps deteriorating while the profits of drug companies and cancer centers keep multiplying?

But business is booming, so it must be good!
http://counterthink.com/The_Sick_Care_Economy.asp

Environmental pollution is a significant problem. But while most of the focus is placed on polluting industries, toxins like mercury and small particle traffic pollution, a major source of environmental devastation is caused by modern food production. Far from being life sustaining, our modern chemical-dependent farming methods:
•Strip soil of nutrients
•Destroy critical soil microbes
•Contribute to desertification and global climate change, and
•Saturate farmlands with toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that then migrate into ground water, rivers, lakes and oceans.

For example, many areas of Minnesota, which is prime farmland, now face the problem of having dangerously elevated levels of nitrogen in their drinking water.

The conversion of grasslands and pastures into chemical-driven, industrial crop land has eliminated much of the natural filtering of ground water that such native landscapes typically provide. Health risks of nitrogen include a potential connection to cancer, as well as thyroid and reproductive problems in both humans and livestock.

Looming Fertilizer Shortage Could Spell the End of Modern Agriculture

Modern fertilizer consists of varying amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). These three are believed to be essential for plants to grow, (below, I’ll discuss why NPK may not be as necessary as we think.), and are extracted from the soil with each harvest.

This is why farmers spread fertilizer on their fields, to replace the nutrients lost. It’s certainly not the ideal and sustainable way to farm, but it’s thought to be the most efficient for large-scale farms. Strategies like crop rotation and allowing large fields to rest would cut too deep into profits that are based on quantity, opposed to quality.

Unfortunately, the Earth’s soil is now being depleted of nutrients at more than 13 percent the rate it can be replaced. Not only that, but according to some, we may also be facing looming shortages of two critical fertilizer ingredients: phosphorus and potassium.

A 2012 article in Mother Jones1 discussed “peak phosphorus and potassium,” drawing lines of similarity between the diminishing reserves of these natural elements and “peak oil.”

Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium cannot be synthesized, and our aggressive large-scale farming methods, which deplete soils of nutrients that then must be replaced, are quickly burning through available phosphorus and potassium stores.

According to well-known investor Jeremy Grantham, writing for Nature:

“These two elements cannot be made, cannot be substituted, are necessary to grow all life forms, and are mined and depleted. It’s a scary set of statements. Former Soviet states and Canada have more than 70 percent of the potash. Morocco has 85 percent of all high-grade phosphates. It is the most important quasi-monopoly in economic history.

What happens when these fertilizers run out is a question I can’t get satisfactorily answered and, believe me, I have tried. There seems to be only one conclusion: their use must be drastically reduced in the next 20-40 years or we will begin to starve.”

This largely unknown issue may end up playing a more significant role than you can currently imagine, because it cuts to the heart of the sustainability of modern agricultural practices, or rather the lack thereof.

“[T]he next time someone facilely insists that the ‘industrial farms are the future,’ ask what the plan is regarding phosphorus,” Mother Jones writes. “Developing an agriculture that’s ready for a phosphorus shortage means a massive focus on recycling the nutrients we take from the soil back into the soil—in other words, composting, not on a backyard level but rather on a society-wide scale.

It also requires policies that give farmers incentives to build up organic matter in soil, so it holds in nutrients instead of letting them leach away… Both of these solutions, of course, are specialties of organic agriculture.”

Monoculture vs. Polyculture

Monoculture (or monocropping) is defined as the high-yield agricultural practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land, in the absence of rotation through other crops. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and to some degree rice, are the most common crops grown with monocropping techniques. In fact, corn, wheat and rice now account for 60 percent of human caloric intake, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.2

By contrast, polyculture (the traditional rotation of crops and livestock) better serves both land and people. Polyculture evolved to meet the complete nutritional needs of a local community. Polyculture, when done mindfully, automatically replenishes what is taken out, which makes it sustainable with minimal effort.

If it’s true that we may at some point face a shortage of phosphorus and potassium, large-scale farming facilities would be hard-pressed to produce much of anything after a short while. Such shortages might even lead to geopolitical strife, as phosphate rock is primarily concentrated in the occupied territory of the Western Sahara region of Morocco. It may sound farfetched to some, but how far would a nation go to secure access to such a location if the future of the entire agricultural industry and food supply depended on it?

Monocropping Is NOT the Way to Feed a Growing Population

The evidence tells us that forging more sustainable alternatives is imperative if we hope to survive. Yet proponents of factory farms and genetically engineered crops argue that monocropping, or crop specialization, is the only way to feed the masses and that it’s far more profitable than having small independent farms in every township.

But is this really true? A number of studies show just the opposite! In fact, studies are showing that medium-sized organic farms are far more profitable than ANY sized industrial agricultural operation.

For example, researchers at the University of Wisconsin’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute3 (results published in 2008 in the Agronomy Journal)4 found that traditional organic farming techniques of planting a variety of plants to ward off pests is more profitable than monocropping. The organic systems resulted in higher profits than “continuous corn, no-till corn and soybeans, and intensively managed alfalfa.”

Not only that, but organic farming practices use natural, time-tested techniques that naturally prevents soil depletion and destruction, and doesn’t use chemical fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals that pollute our soil, air, and waterways.

In the study just mentioned, the researchers concluded that government policies supporting monoculture are “outdated,” and that it’s time for support to be shifted toward programs that promote crop rotation and organic farming. As it turns out, when you eliminate the agricultural chemicals, specialized machinery and multi-million dollar buildings, fuel costs, insurance costs, and the rest of the steep financial requirements of a big industrial operation, your cost of producing food takes a serious dive into the doable. And did I mention… the food from organic farms tend to be far more nutritious, besides being free of toxic contaminants?

Even the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is starting to question our current path of monoculture. It recently released a report titled: “Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States.”5 According to the report, our current agricultural system, which is dominated by corn and soy, is unsustainable in the long term. Should temperatures rise as predicted, the US could expect to see significant declines in yields by the middle of this century. Food shortages would be inevitable, since little besides these crops are grown. (Keep in mind the primary crops grown in the US are used in processed food production, so countless numbers of food products would be affected by massive crop loss.)

Nitrogen Overuse Threatens the Environment

Going back to where we started, the overuse of nitrogen in farming is causing far more environmental devastation than many currently comprehend. A recent National Geographic article6 addresses this issue:

“’Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?’

China, the world’s largest producer of synthetic nitrogen, has hundreds of nitrogen factories, and the country’s farmers apply vast amounts of nitrogen to their fields. One rice farmer reports spreading no less than 530 pounds of urea, a dry form of nitrogen, on each acre. Vegetable farmers use even more than that. According to the featured article,7 some use upwards of two tons of nitrogen each hectare (2.47 acres).

‘Few of them think they’re doing anything harmful. No, no pollution,’ says Song, when asked about the environmental effects of fertilizer,’ the article states. “Scientists tell a different story. ‘Nitrogen fertilizer is overused by 30 to 60 percent’ in intensively managed fields, says Xiaotang Ju, of the China Agricultural University in Beijing. ‘It’s misuse!’ Once spread on fields, nitrogen compounds cascade through the environment, altering our world, often in unwelcome ways. Some of the nitrogen washes directly from fields into streams or escapes into the air. Some is eaten, in the form of grain, by either humans or farm animals, but is then released back into the environment as sewage or manure from the world’s growing number of pig and chicken farms.”

Water pollution, as mentioned earlier, is one of the side effects of such overuse. In a matter of decades, rivers that used to run crystal clear though Chinese provinces are now cloudy from overgrowth of phytoplankton, fed by fertilizer runoff from the fields. According to National Geographic:

“A recent national survey of 40 lakes in China found that more than half of them suffered from too much nitrogen or phosphorus. (Fertilizer containing phosphorus is often to blame for algal growth in lakes.)

The best known case is Lake Tai, China’s third largest freshwater lake, which regularly experiences huge blooms of toxic cyanobacteria. A spreading bloom in 2007 contaminated water supplies for two million people in the nearby city of Wuxi. Excess nutrients are damaging fisheries in China’s coastal areas in the same way that fertilizer runoff flowing down the Mississippi has destroyed fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico: by creating dead zones in which algae and phytoplankton bloom, die, and decompose, using up oxygen and suffocating fish.”

Finding the Middle Ground of Good Harvests with Reduced Fertilizer Pollution

National Geographic describes a research project in Michigan that has been ongoing for the past two decades. The project is part of Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station, near Kalamazoo. Here, fields that are exactly one hectare in size provide side-by-side comparisons of four different farming methods, ranging from conventional to organic. Everything that is added to or removed from each field is carefully measured, including rainfall, fertilizer, nitrous oxide, water that leaches into groundwater, and the harvest itself. According to the article:

“Each field planted according to standard plowing and fertilizer recommendations released 610 pounds of nitrogen per acre into Michigan’s shallow groundwater over the past 11 years… The organic fields in Robertson’s experiment, which received no commercial fertilizer or manure, lost only a third as much—but those fields also produced 20 percent less grain.

Intriguingly, the ‘low input’ fields, which received small amounts of fertilizer but were also planted with winter cover crops, offered the best of both worlds: Average yields were about as high as those from the conventional fields, but nitrogen leaching was much reduced, almost to the level of the organic fields.

If America’s farmers could cut their nitrogen losses to something close to this level… restored wetlands and revived small streams could clean up the rest. As in China, though, many farmers find it hard to change. When a family’s livelihood is at stake, it may seem safer to apply too much fertilizer rather than too little. ‘Being a good steward currently has economic consequences that are unfair,’ says Robertson.”

How Sustainable Soil Science Can Help Rescue Our Environment and Food Supply

I recently interviewed Dr. Elaine Ingham,8 an internationally recognized expert on the benefits of sustainable soil science. I also recently visited her at her new position at the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. According to Dr. Ingham, a key component of successful agriculture lies in having the right helper organisms in the soil; beneficial species of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, beneficial nematodes (not the weedfeeders), microarthropods, and earthworms—all of which contribute to plant growth in a number of different ways.

Nutrient cycling is another major issue. According to Dr. Ingham, there’s no soil on Earth that lacks the nutrients to grow a plant. She believes the concept that your soil is deficient and needs added phosphorus or nitrogen etc in order to grow plants is seriously flawed, and largely orchestrated by the chemical companies, because it’s based on looking at the soluble, inorganic nutrients that are partly present in your soil.

The real nutrition your plants require is actually derived from microorganisms in the soil. These organisms take the mineral material that’s in your soil and convert it into a plant-available form. Without these bioorganisms, your plants cannot get the nutrients they need. So what you need is not more chemical soil additives, what you need is the proper balance of beneficial soil organisms. According to Dr. Ingham:

“It’s very necessary to have these organisms. They will supply your plant with precisely the right balances of all the nutrients the plant requires. When you start to realize that one of the major roles and functions of life in the soil is to provide nutrients to the plants in the proper forms, then we don’t need inorganic fertilizers. We certainly don’t have to have genetically engineered plants or to utilize inorganic fertilizers if we get this proper biology back in the soil.

If we balance the proper biology, we select against the growth of weeds, so the whole issue with herbicides is done away with. We don’t need the herbicides if we can get the proper life back into the soil and select for the growth of the plants that we want to grow and against the growth of the weedy species.”

Interestingly enough, you can use a starter culture to boost the fermentation and generation of beneficial bacteria much in the same way you can boost the probiotics in your fermented vegetables. For compost, this strategy is used if you want to compost very rapidly. In that case, you can use a starter to inoculate the specific sets of organisms that you need to encourage in that compost.

For optimal physical health, you need plant foods to contain the full set of nutrients that will allow the plant to grow in a healthy fashion, because that’s the proper balance of nutrients for us human beings as well. Dr. Ingham has written several books on this topic, including The Field Guide for Actively Aerated Compost Tea, and The Compost Tea Brewing Manual.

How to Help Support Sustainable Agriculture

If you want to optimize your health, you simply must return to the basics of healthy food choices and typically this includes buying your food from responsible, high-quality, sustainable sources. This is why I encourage you to support the small family farms in your area. This includes not only visiting the farm directly, if you have one nearby, but also taking part in farmer’s markets and community-supported agriculture programs.

Not only is the food so much tastier and healthier when you get it from sustainable, non-CAFO sources, but there is something about shopping for fresh foods in an open-air, social environment that just feels right. An artificially lit, dreary supermarket — home to virtually every CAFO food made — just can’t compete. If you want to experience some of these benefits first-hand, here are some great resources to obtain wholesome food that supports not only you but also the environment:
1.Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
2.Farmers’ Markets — A national listing of farmers’ markets.
3.Local Harvest — This Web site will help you find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
4.Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals — The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.
5.Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) — CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.
6.FoodRoutes — The FoodRoutes “Find Good Food” map can help you connect with local farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSAs, and markets near you.

Green tea, prized for many generations in China, Japan and even Britain, has made a name for itself in the US, where many now drink it daily due to its many associated health benefits.

However, while green tea is recognized as an abundant source of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a catechin polyphenol, and other antioxidants, not all green teas are created equal.

If you’re drinking green tea hoping to increase your antioxidant levels, you should know that some green tea brands contain very little antioxidants, while others may contain significant amounts of lead.

One Variety of Tea Tested Contained Almost No EGCG

EGCG is easily the most talked-about green tea compound. As one of the most powerful antioxidants known, the health benefits of EGCG include a lower risk of heart attack and stroke, glaucoma, high cholesterol and more. Several studies have also found that EGCG can improve exercise performance, increase fat oxidation, and may help prevent obesity, as it’s known to have a regulatory effect on fat metabolism.

If you drink green tea, you probably assume you’re getting a healthful dose of EGCG with each cup, but new research shows that’s not necessarily the case. An analysis of the strength and purity of more than 20 green tea products by ConsumerLab.com found that EGCG levels in bottled green tea can range from just 4 milligrams (mg) per cup to 47 mg, while brewable green tea (from tea bags, loose tea or a K-cup) contained levels ranging from 25 mg to 86 mg per serving.1

One variety, bottled Diet Snapple Green Tea, reportedly contained almost no EGCG, while Honest Tea Green Tea with Honey contained only about 60 percent of the 190 mg of catechins claimed on the label.2 Added sugars or artificial sweeteners were also common in the bottled tea brands.

This Type of Green Tea Contained the Most Antioxidants

Green tea brewed from loose tea leaves appeared to offer the most potent source of antioxidants like EGCG. One variety, Teavana contained 250 mg of catechins per serving; green tea sold in bags from brands like Lipton and Bigelow contained lower levels, although represented a more cost-effective alternative.

The different tea brands also varied significantly in the amount of caffeine the products contained. While some contained virtually none, others contained 86 mg per serving, which is similar to the amount of caffeine in a regular cup of coffee.

One green tea supplement even contained 130 mg of caffeine in a single capsule, which is more than is found in a cup of coffee! But higher antioxidant levels is only one reason why you may want to choose loose tea over bags…

Some Tea Bags May Leach Hazardous Compounds Into Your Tea

Some tea bags are made with synthetic polymers, such as nylon, thermoplastic, PVC or polypropylene. While these compounds have high melting points, the temperature at which the molecules in polymers begin to break down is always lower than the melting point, which could allow the bags to leach compounds of unknown health hazards into your tea when steeped in boiling water.

Paper tea bags are also potentially problematic, as they are frequently treated with epichlorohydrin, which hydrolyzes to 3-MCPD when contact with water occurs. 3-MCPD is a carcinogen associated with food processing that has also been implicated in infertility and suppressed immune function. I recommend purchasing tea from manufacturers who can certify that their tea bags do not contain epichlorohydrin, and avoid plastic tea bags. Alternatively, you can opt for loose tea instead.

Why Your Green Tea Should Come From Japan, Not China

Green tea plants are known to be especially effective at absorbing lead from the soil, which is then taken up into the plant’s leaves. Areas with excessive industrial pollution, such as China (where nearly 90% of the world’s green tea is produced),3 may therefore contain substantial amounts of lead.4

According to the ConsumerLab.com analysis, tea from brands like Lipton and Bigelow contained up to 2.5 micrograms of lead per serving compared to no measurable amounts in Teavana brand, which gets its tea leaves from Japan.

While the lead in the tea leaves is not thought to leach very effectively into the tea you end up drinking, if you’re consuming Matcha green tea, one of my favorites, it’s especially important that it comes from Japan instead of China. Matcha tea contains the entire ground tea leaf, and can contain over 100 times the EGCG provided from regular brewed green tea.

That said, because you’re consuming the entire leaf, you want to be sure it comes from a non-polluted, high-quality source. The best Matcha green tea comes from Japan and is steamed, rather than roasted or pan-fried. As a result, Matcha green tea retains all the nutrient-rich value possible from the tea leaf, without additives or contaminants.

A Word of Warning About Fluoride in Tea

Both black and green teas are naturally high in fluoride, even if organically grown without pesticides. This is because the plant readily absorbs fluoride thorough its root system, including naturally-occurring fluoride in the soil. According to fluoride expert Jeff Green, there are reports of people who have developed crippling skeletal fluorosis from drinking high amounts of iced tea alone.5

If you live in an area with fluoridated drinking water, as the majority of Americans do, then you could be getting a double dose of fluoride when you drink tea. When selecting tea of any kind, it should preferably be organic (to avoid pesticides) and grown in a pristine environment because, as mentioned, tea is known to accumulate fluoride, heavy metals and other toxins from soil and water, so a clean growing environment is essential to producing a pure, high-quality tea.

What Does the Research Say About Drinking Tea?

Although I still believe pure water should make up the majority of your daily fluid intake, high-quality tea has numerous health benefits to offer, which vary by type. In addition to Matcha tea, I personally enjoy Tulsi tea (aka Holy Basil tea), which is a powerful adaptogenic herb that provides important therapeutic benefits. There is also growing evidence that the polyphenols in tea, including EGCG and many others, may be protective against cancer. Beyond this, the beneficial properties in tea have been known to:
•Neutralize the effects to your body of harmful fats and oils
•Inhibit bacteria and viruses
•Improve digestion
•Protect against oxidation in your brain and liver
•Help promote healthy gums

Drinking tea has also been linked to:

Improved mental alertness and slowing of brain-cell degeneration

Reduced blood pressure

Protection against type 2 diabetes

Lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Lower risk of breast, colon, lung, ovarian and prostate cancers

Reduced risk of heart attack and stroke

How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Loose-Leaf Tea

Choosing high-quality tea is extremely important. As the ConsumerLab.com analysis showed, the type of tea you purchase can make all the difference in the amount of beneficial antioxidants it contains, with loose-leaf teas appearing to provide the most. There is an art to brewing tea using loose tea leaves, but once you find your “sweet spot” you may never go back to bagged tea again. Here are a few simple guidelines for making the “perfect” cup of tea:
•Bring water to a boil in a tea kettle (avoid using a non-stick pot, as this can release harmful chemicals when heated)
•Preheat your teapot or cup to prevent the water from cooling too quickly when transferred. Simply add a small amount of boiling water to the pot or tea up that you’re going to steep the tea in. Ceramic and porcelain retain heat well. Then cover the pot or cup with a lid. Add a tea cozy if you have one, or drape with a towel. Let stand until warm, then pour out the water
•Put the tea into an infuser, strainer, or add loose into the tea pot. Steeping without an infuser or strainer will produce a more flavorful tea. Start with one heaped teaspoon per cup of tea, or follow the instructions on the tea package. The robustness of the flavor can be tweaked by using more or less tea
•Add boiling water. Use the correct amount for the amount of tea you added (i.e. for four teaspoons of tea, add four cups of water). The ideal water temperature varies based on the type of tea being steeped:
◦White or green teas (full leaf): Well below boiling (170-185°F or 76-85°C). Once the water has been brought to a boil, remove from heat and let the water cool for about 30 seconds for white tea and 60 seconds for green tea before pouring it over the leaves
◦Oolongs (full leaf): 185-210°F or 85-98°C
◦Black teas (full leaf) and Pu-erhs: Full rolling boil (212°F or 100°C)
•Cover the pot with a cozy or towel and let steep. Follow steeping instructions on the package. If there are none, here are some general steeping guidelines. Taste frequently as you want it to be flavorful but not bitter:
◦Oolong teas: 4-7 minutes
◦Black teas: 3-5 minutes
◦Green teas: 2-3 minutes
•Once the desired flavor has been achieved you need to remove the strainer or infuser. If you’re using loose leaves, pour the tea through a strainer into your cup and any leftover into another vessel (cover with a cozy to retain the heat)

The start of National Pollinator Week was marked by a tragic and perhaps eerily prophetic event, as an estimated 25,000 bumblebees were found dead in an Oregon parking lot.

Over a period of several days, multiple calls to the Oregon Department of Agriculture reported bees and other insects falling out of 55 blooming European linden trees near a shopping center.

The damage was so severe that Dan Hilburn, director of plant programs at the state Agriculture Department, said:1 “I’ve never encountered anything quite like it in 30 years in the business.”

Neonicotinoid Pesticide Is the Suspected Culprit

The 55 trees where the dead bees were found had been sprayed with Safari, a neonicotinoid insecticide, on the same day the first bees were reported dead. Neonicotinoids are the most widely used pesticides in the world, and they are used on most American crops, especially corn.

These chemicals are typically applied to seeds before planting, allowing the pesticide to be taken up through the plant’s vascular system as it grows. As a result, the chemical is expressed in the pollen and nectar of the plant, and hence the danger to bees and other pollinating insects. It states directly on the label that these insecticides should not be used if bees are in the area. As the Cornucopia Institute reported:2

“Safari is part of the neonicotinoid pesticide family. When it is sprayed on a plant, the leaves, flowers and nectar become toxic to almost all insects. The product’s label on the distributor’s website warns it is ‘highly toxic’ to bees and tells applicators not to apply it ‘if bees are visiting the area.’”

If tests show that the insecticide is responsible for the bee deaths, the company that rents and manages the shopping center could be guilty of violating state or federal laws related to pesticide regulations, which can carry fines of up to $10,000.

In the meantime, the Agriculture Department installed bee-proof nets over the trees to prevent any further bee deaths. Unfortunately, there’s still a much larger issue at hand, which is the ongoing use of these toxic insecticides.

How Many Bees Have to Die Before Action Is Taken Against Neonicotinoids?

A general consensus among beekeepers is that the ongoing honeybee die-offs are most definitely related to toxic chemicals, and neonicotinoids in particular.

The disappearance of bee colonies began accelerating in the US shortly after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allowed these new insecticides on the market in the mid-2000s. In May, beekeepers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the agency over its failure to protect bees from these toxic pesticides.

Meanwhile, France has banned Imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid, for use on corn and sunflowers after reporting large losses of bees after exposure to it. They also rejected Bayer´s application for the neonicotinoid Clothianidin, and other countries, such as Italy, have banned certain neonicotinoids as well.

The EPA acknowledges that “pesticide poisoning” may be one factor leading to bee die-offs known as colony collapse disorder,3 yet they have been slow to act to protect bees from this threat. The current lawsuit may help spur them toward more urgent action, which is desperately needed as the food supply hangs in the balance.

There are about 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of food globally; of these, 71 are pollinated by bees. In the US alone, a full one-third of the food supply depends on pollination from bees. Apple orchards, for instance, require one colony of bees per acre to be adequately pollinated. So if bee colonies continue to be devastated, major food shortages could result.

More Bees Dying as Monsanto and Bayer Enter the Bee Business

Serious honeybee die-offs have been occurring around the world for the past decade, but this year the US experienced the highest losses of honeybee populations so far, with most of the nation’s beekeepers losing anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of their bee population.

Pesticide manufacturers are likely none too pleased about the recent accusations hurled against their products, so they’ve taken matters into their own hands and purchased leading bee research firms, ostensibly to study colony collapse disorder and other bee research.

Monsanto, which is the world leader in genetically modified (GM) crops (and the pesticides and herbicides that go along with them), recently bought Beeologics, a company whose primary goal is finding a solution to the colony collapse disorder.

Bayer CropScience – a leading manufacturer of the neonicotinoid pesticides – plans to open the North American Bee Care Center by the end of 2013. The Center is intended to be a research hub as well as promote “the active promotion of bee-responsible use of Bayer products along with communication activities worldwide.”4

Can Monsanto and Bayer’s Bee Research Really Be Trusted?

Clearly, the forthcoming research from Beeologics and the North American Bee Care Center may now be tainted with regard to these companies’ products and their impact on bee populations. In other words, they are going to stop at nothing to make sure their pesticides and GM crops are completely cleared of any wrongdoing.

Already, in 2010 a study by Montana bee researcher Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk found that CCD was not caused by pesticides but rather a combination of fungus and virus, found in all collapsed colonies, may be the culprit… what was not widely reported in the media, however, was that Dr. Bromenshenk received a significant research grant from Bayer to study bee pollination – a massive conflict of interest that is likely to be carried over into any upcoming research from Bayer and Monsanto.

Further, one of the observed effects of neonicotinoids is weakening of the bee’s immune system, allowing them to fall prey to secondary, seemingly “natural” bee infections, such as parasites, mites, viruses, fungi and bacteria. Pathogens such as Varroa mites, Nosema, fungal and bacterial infections, and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) are found in large amounts in honeybee hives on the verge of collapse, and this allows researchers to blame the deaths on these “natural” causes when the insecticides were ultimately the cause.

Tips for Helping the Bees and Other Pollinators

The Pollinator Partnership, which initiated Pollinator Week, has released many ways you can help the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.5 Clearly major steps need to be taken on a national level to protect pollinators from toxic chemicals and other threats, but you can even make a difference right in your own backyard:
•Reduce or eliminate your use of pesticides
•Plant a pollinator-friendly garden by choosing a variety of plants that will continue flowering from spring through fall; check out the Bee Smart Pollinator App for a database of nearly 1,000 pollinator-friendly plants
•Choose plants native to your region and stick with old-fashioned varieties, which have the best blooms, fragrance and nectar/pollen for attracting and feeding pollinators
•Install a bee house
•Supply water, even a dripping faucet or a suspended milk carton with a pinhole in the bottom, for insects and animals

Most of us know that GMOs are required to be labeled or even completely banned in some other nations. Some nations have even outlawed certain pesticides and insecticides from agricultural use that are heavily promoted in the United States.

Those items are not surprising for most of us. But you will be surprised at how many toxic food processing agents and additives used in our foods are completely banned in many other nations.

Hopefully, this list will encourage you to avoid processed foods even more. Many of these items are even in processed foods sold from health foods.

Some sneaky toxic items allowed on USA grocery shelves
Synthetic food colorings are banned in the UK, Austria, France, Finland, and Norway. Just about all American candies and most cereals, especially cereals marketed to children, contain food colorings. They’re also used in sports drinks and packaged macaroni and cheese products, cakes, and pastries.

These dyes are petroleum based. They have been linked to hyperactivity and ADD among young children. Despite efforts to ban them in the USA, the FDA has decided to let them continue, even overruling their own scientists.

There are some naturally based dyes that are made toxic from the way they’re processed, and there are some wholesome natural dyes also. Find out more here (http://www.naturalnews.com/033820_food_coloring_chemicals.html).

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is so bad it’s banned in 100 countries. It’s used to keep synthetic dies from separating from sports drinks and some popular sodas. Without it, that lovely homogenized color would vanish as the dyes separate and collect at the bottom.

Bromine is a fire retardant, considered an environmental toxin even when it’s used in clothing, furniture, or carpeting (http://www.naturalnews.com/038869_Gatorade_BVO_flame_retardants.html).

Potassium bromate is derived from the same source as BVO. It’s banned in Canada, Europe, and China. Brominated or bromated flour is used to expedite commercial baking and make more stuff faster of course. Brominated flour has been linked to neurological disorders, kidney problems, and cancer.

Dairy hormones rBGH and rBST are GMO-derived synthetic growth hormones, first introduced by the biotech corporate monster Monsanto as recombinant bovine growth hormone and now as recombinant bovine somatrophin.

Monsanto owns the FDA so of course it was approved and even enforced here in the USA (http://www.naturalnews.com/023929_rBGH_health_Monsanto.html).

This growth hormone forces milking cows to produce more milk faster while causing gross udder infections. It’s also bad for humans, having been linked to various cancers while passing cow puss and more antibiotics through dairy products.

These synthetic growth hormones for dairy cows have been banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and 27 European countries.

Olestra or olean is a substitute cooking oil created by Proctor and Gamble and used for fat free processed fried foods, including chips of several types. It blocks mineral and vitamin absorption and can cause cramps and leaky bowels. So far it’s banned in the UK and Canada.

Azodicarbonamide is used to bleach flour and foamed plastic. It’s ubiquitous in white flour baked breads, cakes, and pastries. White flour in France and other nations are bleached from the sun. Most EU countries, the UK, and Australia have banned this bleaching agent. It has been linked to asthma and other health issues.

Arsenic is used in chicken feed to help make chicken meat look pink and fresh. Its use in chicken feed is banned by the European Union because some arsenic does wind up in meat sold from poultry fed arsenic (http://www.naturalnews.com/032659_arsenic_chicken.html).

Do you feel comforted when you hear or see the phrase FDA approved or USDA sanctioned? Don’t. They’re not here for you. These federal agencies are infiltrated and corrupted by large corporate interests, and corrupt politicians keep enabling them.

They protect Big Food, Big Ag, and Big Pharma, not us.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.buzzfeed.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_somatotropin

Don’t be brainwashed into believing these common healthy eating myths

Formulating a healthy eating plan that is both balanced and nutritious can be difficult in today’s world, especially when the guidelines pertaining to what constitutes healthy food vary dramatically depending on who you ask. Consequently, there are several healthy eating myths of which you will want to be aware, particularly if you are in the process of trying to reformulate your dietary habits. These myths include:

1) ‘Low-fat’ is good for you. Modern society has largely been indoctrinated into the mindset that fat clogs your arteries and makes you fat, and should thus be avoided. But nothing could be further from the truth. Tropical oils like coconut and palm, as well as grass-fed butter and meat fat is actually quite healthy for you. These saturated fats help promote healthy brain function and regulate proper hormone production. Popular vegetable oils, on the other hand, which oftentimes are hydrogenated and morphed into trans fats, are a primary cause of heart disease and other illness, and should be avoided.

2) You need to eat less salt for better health. This claim assumes that most people are consuming high amounts of synthetic, refined table salt, which is highly toxic and responsible for causing widespread cellular inflammation, hence the many warnings about salt intake. But what most people do not know is that unrefined, all-natural sea and mineral salts are completely different, as they are packed with health-promoting minerals, electrolytes, and other important nutrients. Eating lots of sea and mineral salt, in other words, is actually good for your health.

3) Replacing refined sugar with agave, honey is better for you. In most cases, switching out that table sugar for honey or agave nectar in the name of improving health is a misnomer, as these popular sugar substitutes are sometimes just as refined and unhealthy as regular sugar. Agave, for instance, contains high levels of fructose, which is metabolized directly by the liver and turned into fat. And unless your honey is raw, unprocessed, and locally sourced, it is also a toxic offender when consumed liberally.

4) Eating eggs raises your cholesterol. The medical system has gone back and forth on this one, but the truth about eggs will always remain the same – pasture-raised eggs from healthy chickens are an excellent source of both protein and cholesterol, and are not in and of themselves a cause of heart disease. And removing egg yolks and eating only the whites, as many people now do, can actually be detrimental to your health, as eggs should be eaten in complete form for optimal nutrition.

5) Organic produce is no better than conventional produce. There are many who would have you believe that conventional produce grown on factory farms is no different than organic produce grown without synthetic interventions. But as evidenced by numerous studies over the years, including a 1993 study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition, organic foods are higher in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, and are far less contaminated with toxic pesticide and herbicide residues compared to conventional produce.

6) All red meat is unhealthy. The mainstream media loves to target red meat these days, but the problem with telling people to limit their consumption of red meat in order to avoid heart disease is that not all red meat is the same. In fact, red meat from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle is actually just as healthy as, and potentially even healthier than, wild-caught salmon. This contrasts sharply with factory-farmed red meat which is high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. It is all about how the animals are raised and what they are eating that determines the nutritional profile of meat in general, which is why it is always best to choose meat from local, naturally-raised sources.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.charlespoliquin.com

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-healthy-eating-myths-debunked.html

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/10-reasons-why-fructose-is-bad/

http://www.naturalnews.com/040560_thyroid_iodine_Dr_Brownstein.html