Rather Be Healthy

I don’t know how many times I’ve said this and I’m sure a lot of people will be shaking their heads and saying “here he goes again, harping on about sugar”. But please understand this…everyone has cancer cells in their body…Everyone, the difference between the cancer cells growing and becoming deadly is down to what you put into your body so yes you are in control….. Get this into your heads… Cancer feeds on sugar

Over a million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Most patients don’t succumb to the initial tumor, but rather to metastatic (spread to another body site) tumors, or drug side effects. For instance, melanoma comprises four percent of skin cancers, but 80 percent of skin cancer deaths, due to its metastatic potential. Keeping cancer from spreading starts with a healthy anti-inflammatory diet.

Most cancers can be traced to environmental and lifestyle factors, like smoking, alcohol, sunburn, pollution, infection, stress and obesity. Good nutrition serves to counteract these risk factors. Micronutrients prevent initiation and survival of mutations, reduce tumor size, and keep tumor cells from entering the bloodstream. Diets high in fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices are linked to reduced cancer rates and spread. It also helps to avoid processed, factory-farmed and overheated foods, restrict calories, opt for organic, fresh foods and take high-quality supplements.

Cancer loves sugar. High blood sugar and insulin increase inflammation, which promotes cancer spread. Conversely, low-carb diets suppress cancer growth. The damage by sugar and other toxins are mitigated by antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods, including fiber-rich foods, mushrooms, green tea, turmeric, ginger, omega-3 (fish, walnuts, flax), cruciferous vegetables, thyme, celery, rosemary, berries, whole citrus, red wine and dark chocolate. High quality fish oil, vitamin D and curcumin are the best supplements for inflammation. High-dose vitamin D may reduce cancer incidence by more than 70 percent.

Blood clots, which are linked to inflammation, provide havens for tumor cell attachment and spread. Micronutrients intervene at all stages of cancer, through a wide range of mechanisms, including anti-oxidation (carotenoids, selenium, vitamin C and E), differentiation (vitamins A, D, calcium), and immunity (vitamins A, C, selenium, zinc). Natural anti-blood clotting agents include magnesium, vitamin E complex, garlic, and omega-3 fatty acids. Dietary fiber and healthy gut microbes also play vital roles in cancer prevention by neutralizing toxins. Metastasis is also promoted by stress, which is relieved with magnesium, B and C complex vitamins, calming herbs, and high-quality protein.

Wandering tumor cells are eliminated by a healthy immune system, which requires many nutrients. Garlic inhibits cancer cell proliferation and migration. Cumin and turmeric spices suppress metastasis in animal research models, and are linked to lower cancer rates. Broccoli lowers invasiveness and metastasis in cancer cells. Pomegranate inhibits cancer cell movement and attraction to bone. Selenium and vitamin D promote glutathione, the major cellular antioxidant. Copper, zinc and manganese activate enzymes like catalase and superoxide dismutase, which devour free radicals that damage DNA. Spices like rosemary help neutralize cancer-causing toxins in the body, on the shelf, and when frying foods. Vitamin K is a potent inhibitor of tumor colony formation. Indeed, a wealth of nutrients are involved.

Don’t worry much about how nutrients and phytochemicals affect anti-cancer drug therapy. Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies, including 50 human studies involving thousands of patients, have consistently shown that these food substances do not interfere with therapy for cancer. Instead, they enhance cancer drugs, decrease their side effects, and protect normal tissue. In 15 human studies, thousands of patients taking antioxidants and other nutrients actually showed increased survival. Diet is paramount to preventing cancer and metastasis.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.sciencedaily.com
http://www.indiadivine.org
http://www.raysahelian.com/melanoma.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515569/
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://cancertreatmentmx.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17283738
http://books.google.com
Klement RJ. Nutrition & Metabolism 2011, 8:75
http://www.dimfaq.com/index.htm)

About the author:
Dr. Phil Domenico is a nutritional scientist and educator with a research background in biochemistry and microbiology. Formerly an infectious disease research scientist, he now works as a consultant for supplement companies and the food industry. Visit Dr. Phil’s blog at:

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog.

Very easy to make using a blender, green smoothies have become a staple of healthy diets, whether raw, vegan, or otherwise. They are prepared by adding fresh green leafy vegetables, such as kale, spinach, collard Swiss chard, and wild greens to a fruit smoothie base (typically consisting of a banana and frozen berries).

For example, the simplest of green smoothies could contain one banana, 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, one cup of fresh greens (a couple of chard leaves and a handful of spinach), and pure water to obtain the desired consistency. Many raw foodists may add other ingredients to green smoothies, such as seeds and nut milk, usually for more flavor and better health benefits. Some smoothies can be packed with enough fibers and protein to replace an entire meal, and are an excellent choice of food for weight loss diets.

While a regular blender usually gets the job done quite nicely, those looking for a time efficient device, as well as the ultimate smoothie experience, usually opt for one of the top two brands on the market – the Vitamix or the Blendtec blenders. More expensive than regular blenders, they are also considerably more powerful, and can turn any fruits, vegetables, nuts or seeds into a smooth paste within just a few seconds. The Vitamix can sell for up to $500 on Amazon (some models are even more expensive), but most buyers say that a powerful blender is well worth the investment.

Meet the Boutenkos

The Boutenko family, commonly known as The Raw Family, are green smoothie advocates that have turned their attention to nutrition in 1993, when all family members (the parents and their two children) inexplicably came down with various ailments, including asthma, obesity, diabetes, chronic fatigue, and hyperthyroidism.

Through dietary and lifestyle adjustments, they were able to overcome their many health problems and eventually attain vibrant health. Since their recovery, they’ve dedicated their time to educating other families about natural healing and healthy nutrition, through a series of websites, films, lectures and books. Green smoothies are central to The Raw Family’s diet, and several of their books, websites and lectures focus on educating people about the many benefits of fresh green vegetables.

Vitoria Boutenko has written books about the benefits of consuming greens and green smoothies. Green For Life, published in 2010, takes the reader through all the advantages of adding more greens into any diet, the easiest way possible – by consuming green smoothies. Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Towards Natural Health, published in 2009, explains how any person can consume more greens than ever before with 200 unique and easy to prepare green smoothie recipes.

Top 6 benefits of green smoothies

1. Support optimal health. Green smoothies are very healthy, with the optimum fruit-greens ratio for human consumption being 60% fruit and 40% greens. Green leafy vegetables can also influence pre-existing medical conditions. For example, a diet high in greens can help lower blood cholesterol, help manage hypertension, unclog arteries and promote overall cardiovascular health.

2. Loaded with nutrients. Green leafy vegetables are not only rich in vitamins, including vitamins C, A, E, B2, B6, and K, and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, iron, copper and zinc, but also contain generous amounts of folate, niacin, protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Yes, all of these vital nutrients can be found in green leafy vegetables and can be included in a diet by consuming a couple of green smoothies each day.

3. Easy to digest. They are easy to digest and rich in fiber, which protects the stomach lining and improves colon health.

4. Support blood health. Chlorophyll, a green plant molecule that resembles human blood, was found to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties. Holistic health practitioner, Dr. Ann Wigmore, explains that consuming chlorophyll is much like receiving a blood transfusion, and some evidence suggests that it may actually help improve the oxygen-carrying capacity of human red blood cells.

5. Easy to prepare. Green smoothies are very easy to make, and allow for a lot of creative freedom. There are hundreds of green smoothie recipe variations to be found on the Internet, with new smoothie recipes being discussed every day on nutrition blogs and forums. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your green smoothies by adding in new ingredients, within reason, of course.

6. Ideal for kids. Green smoothies are also a great way to add more fruits and greens into the diets of children, who can sometimes be capricious when it comes to food. Adding in a couple of figs or dates can make a smoothie sweeter, while still preserving all of its nutritional benefits!

Sources for this article include:

http://www.nutritional-supplements-health-guide.com/chlorophyll-benefits.html
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/beverage1/qt/What-Are-Green-Smoothies.htm
http://greensmoothiesblog.com/health-benefits-green-smoothie/

About

http://greensmoothiesblog.com/who-is-victoria-boutenko/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinach#Nutrition
http://rawfoodhealthwatch.com/raw-food/green-smoothies-recipe/

New 3D Mammograms May Triple Your Radiation Exposure

Breast cancer has become big business, and routine mammography is one of its primary profit centers. While mammograms are touted as the best way to prevent breast cancer death, studies suggest otherwise.

The fact that you are reading this article gives you an enormous advantage, as most women are unaware of the mounting research indicating routine mammograms harm far more women than they save.

Despite the facts, the industry is fighting tooth and nail to keep mammography alive by downplaying or outright ignoring its significant risks.

One of industry’s latest tactics is introducing a “new and improved” type of mammogram called 3D tomosynthesis, which is basically a CT scan for your breasts. Tomosynthesis is a clever re-branding of the status quo.

The multi-millions of dollars spent on creating these invasive machines could have been better utilized for educating women about cancer prevention; developing less dangerous technologies, such as ultrasound and infrared imaging; and inventing completely new and safer technologies.

3D Tomosynthesis: Three Steps Down on the Ladder of Progress

Two of the greatest mammogram risks are high radiation exposure and compression of breast tissue, which potentially causes cancer cells to spread. 3D tomosynthesis does not reduce or eliminate either of these risks!

In fact, with this “new and improved” technology, your radiation exposure is even greater than from standard mammograms—and by a significant margin. This is disturbing, as we know that all levels of ionizing radiation can cause cancer.

According to one study,1 annual screening using digital or screen-film mammography on women aged 40–80 years is associated with an induced cancer incidence and fatal breast cancer rate of 20–25 cases per 100,000 mammograms. Meaning, annual mammograms cause 20-25 cases of fatal cancer for every 100,000 women getting the test.

The 3D mammogram requires multiple views in order to achieve three-dimensionality, so it stands to reason your total radiation exposure would be considerably higher than from a standard 2D mammogram.

With mammography, each breast is X-rayed at least twice—once from top to bottom and once diagonally from the outside in. With tomosynthesis, the X-ray tube rotates around the breast. Twenty-five exposures are taken, with up to two pictures per second. Multiple images result in higher radiation exposure. But the picture gets even worse…

3D mammography is not a stand-alone diagnostic test—it’s typically an add-on to the standard mammogram. So, not only do these 3D images prolong your exposure to radiation, but if you’ve already had a regular mammogram, they further compound your risk. This is certainly NOT progress—it’s a huge step backward, making breast cancer screening even more dangerous than before.

3D Mammograms May Actually TRIPLE Your Radiation Dose

Just how much more radiation are you getting with these new 3D mammograms? There are different estimates in circulation, partly because some folks are not including the radiation exposure from the standard mammogram into the total. When you add the 2D and 3D scans together, utilizing tomosynthesis at least doubles your radiation exposure, and some estimates have your exposure tripling, such as this 2011 study published in Radiology Today,2 which states that:

“Because the digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) exam requires two additional exposures over a standard mammogram, the total radiation dose from the combined 2D and tomosynthesis examination is three times that of a standard mammogram.”

The authors note that both scans (2D and 3D) are required because studies done prior to FDA approval failed to conclusively show better sensitivity of 3D alone, compared to 2D imaging.3 They also state that it’s too early to know how useful this new breast imaging technology will be. Some insurance companies—Aetna4 for one—have rejected it, citing “insufficient evidence of its effectiveness.”

The bottom line is, the industry reports tomosynthesis has 1.5 to 2 times the radiation dose. The FDA reports it has double the dose. And the radiologists, who are looking at total exposure, report triple the dose over conventional mammograms. You can see this comparison in a chart on page 8 of an FDA Executive Summary, “Average Glandular Dose per Breast.”5

Tomosynthesis is being touted by the industry as being particularly helpful for identifying cancer in women with dense breast tissue. However, these women already have a four to six times greater risk of developing breast cancer. Knowing that ionizing radiation is a direct cause of cancer, how can a test that triples your radiation exposure be of any benefit if you have potentially cancer-prone breasts to begin with?

Smarter CT Scanning of Kids Would Prevent Over 3,000 Childhood Cancers Each Year

Women are not the only ones being excessively irradiated with unnecessary medical scans. Children are receiving more CT scans than ever, and CTs expose them to much more radiation than standard X-rays. The average American child gets seven radiation scans by the age of 18.

One CT scan exposes your child to 100 to 500 times more ionizing radiation than a standard X-ray. Your child’s growing body is even more sensitive to radiation than yours, being more likely to develop radiation-induced cancers, such as leukemia and cancers of the brain, lungs, thyroid and colon.

Previous studies have estimated that at least one-third of CT scans in children are medically unnecessary. How many children could be saved from cancer if these unnecessary CTs were eliminated and replaced with safer diagnostic tests? A team of researchers actually set out to answer this question. They calculated that smarter CT scanning of kids would prevent 3,020 children from developing radiation-induced cancers each year.6

Did You Know That 30 Percent of Breast Tumors Go Away on Their Own?

Getting back to breast cancer, it is important to realize that, if your immune system is healthy and strong, it’s capable of ridding your body of tumors—even cancerous ones. According to breast surgeon Susan Love of UCLA, at least 30 percent of tumors found on mammograms would go away if you did absolutely nothing.7 These tumors appear to be destined to stop growing on their own, shrink, and even go away completely. Nearly everyone has cancerous and pre-cancerous cells in their bodies by middle age, but not everyone develops cancer. The better you take care of your immune system, the better it will take care of you.

One way to strengthen your immune system is to minimize your exposure to mammograms and other sources of ionizing radiation, especially mega sources such as these new 3D scans and CTs. But you can also build up your immune system DAILY by making good diet and lifestyle choices.

Breast Cancer Prevention Strategies

Cancer screening does NOT equate to cancer prevention. Although early detection is important, using a screening method that in and of itself increases your risk of cancer is simply not good medicine. Preventing breast cancer is far more important and powerful than simply trying to detect it after it has already formed, which is why I want to share my top tips on how to help prevent this disease. The American Institute of Cancer Research estimated that about 40 percent of US breast cancer cases could be prevented if people made wiser lifestyle choices, and I believe that estimate is far too conservative.8, 9 Below are my top breast cancer prevention strategies.
•Avoid sugar, especially fructose. All forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer. Fructose, however, is clearly one of the most harmful and should be avoided as much as possible.
•Optimize your vitamin D Levels. Vitamin D influences virtually every cell in your body and is one of nature’s most potent cancer fighters. Vitamin D is actually able to enter cancer cells and trigger apoptosis (cell death). If you have cancer, your vitamin D level should probably be between 70 and 100 ng/ml. Vitamin D works synergistically with every cancer treatment I’m aware of, with no adverse effects. I suggest you try watching my one-hour free lecture on vitamin D to learn more.

Please consider joining one of GrassrootsHealth’s D*Action vitamin D studies to stay on top of your vitamin D performance. For more information, see my previous article “How Vitamin D Performance Testing Can Help You Optimize Your Health.”
•Get Vitamin K2. Remember that if you opt for oral vitamin D3 supplements, you also need to increase your vitamin K2 intake, as vitamin D increases the need for K2 to function properly. See my previous article “What You Need to Know About Vitamin K2, D and Calcium” for more information.
•Get plenty of natural vitamin A. There is evidence vitamin A also plays a role in helping prevent breast cancer. It’s best to obtain it from vitamin A-rich foods, rather than a supplement. Your best sources are organic egg yolks, raw butter, raw whole milk, and beef or chicken liver.
•Lymphatic breast massage can help enhance your body’s natural ability to eliminate cancerous toxins. This can be performed by a licensed therapist, or you can learn to do it yourself.
•Avoid charring your meats. Charcoal or flame-broiled meat is linked with increased breast cancer risk. Acrylamide—a carcinogen created when starchy foods are baked, roasted or fried—has been found to increase breast cancer risk as well.
•Avoid unfermented soy products. Unfermented soy is high in plant estrogens, or phytoestrogens, also known as isoflavones. In some studies, soy appears to work in concert with human estrogen to increase breast cell proliferation, which increases the chances for mutations and cancerous cells.
•Improve your insulin receptor sensitivity. The best way to do this is by avoiding sugar and grains and making sure you are exercising, especially with Peak Fitness.
•Maintain a healthy body weight. This will come naturally when you optimize your diet and exercise. It’s important to lose excess body fat because fat produces estrogen. One of the most effective strategies I’ve found for this is intermittent fasting.
•Drink a half to whole quart of organic green vegetable juice daily. Please review my juicing instructions for more detailed information.
•Get plenty of high-quality animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. Omega-3 deficiency is a common underlying factor for cancer.
•Curcumin. The active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin in high concentrations shows immense therapeutic potential in preventing breast cancer metastasis.
•Avoid drinking alcohol, or at least limit your alcoholic drinks to one per day.
•Breastfeed exclusively for up to six months. Research shows breastfeeding can reduce your breast cancer risk.
•Avoid wearing underwire bras. There is a good deal of data that metal underwire bras can increase your breast cancer risk.
•Avoid electromagnetic fields as much as possible. Even electric blankets can increase your cancer risk.
•Avoid synthetic hormone replacement therapy. Breast cancer is an estrogen-related cancer, and according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer rates for women dropped in tandem with decreased use of hormone replacement therapy. (There are similar risks for younger women who use oral contraceptives. Birth control pills, which are also comprised of synthetic hormones, have been linked to cervical and breast cancers.)

If you are experiencing excessive menopausal symptoms, you may want to consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy instead, which uses hormones that are molecularly identical to the ones your body produces and do not wreak havoc on your system. This is a much safer alternative.
•Avoid BPA, phthalates, and other xenoestrogens. These are estrogen-like compounds that have been linked to breast cancer. An alarming new study about glyphosate (the active chemical in Roundup weed killer) found it to be highly estrogenic, driving breast cancer cell proliferation at extremely low exposures—in the parts-per-trillion range.10
•Make sure you’re not iodine deficient, as there’s compelling evidence linking iodine deficiency with breast cancer.
•Get enough sleep: Proper sleep is essential for optimal health, and it helps metabolize stress hormones better than any other known entity.
•Epsom salt baths (20 minutes, three times per week) are a simple, inexpensive way to get magnesium into your body.

Take Control of Your Health to Avoid Becoming a Statistic

Most women are unaware of the mounting research indicating routine mammograms harm far more women than they save. Many also don’t realize the “new and improved” 3D tomosynthesis mammogram actually ends up exposing them to more cancer-causing radiation than the older version.

Please understand that there are other screening options, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and you have a right to utilize them all. Also remember that in order to truly avoid breast cancer, you need to focus your attention on truly preventative strategies, which may necessitate your making some lifestyle changes.

Educating yourself is a major part of being proactive with your health. Peter C. Gotzche, MD of the Nordic Cochrane Centre recently published a groundbreaking book, Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy.11 It offers a comprehensive take on the evidence, and a critical look at the scientific disputes and the information provided to women by governments and cancer charities. It also explains why mammography screening is unlikely to be effective today.

Why Coke is a Joke—New Ad Campaign Defends Aspartame

Earlier this year, Coca-Cola Company rolled out an ad campaign encouraging people to unite in the fight against obesity. The irony of the situation was not lost on most people however, and the ads drew fire from consumers, consumer advocates and obesity experts1,2 alike.

After all, there’s no doubt that soda is one of the primary beverages responsible for skyrocketing obesity rates, and Coke’s campaign was seen as little more than an effort in damage control.

Soda sales are down, and Coca-Cola should be applauding this fact as it is matched by some small improvements with our childhood obesity rates. Instead, they are marketing sodas harder than ever to make up for lost sales.

Coca-Cola believes a calorie is just a calorie, and if you consume more than you burn – that’s why you become obese. In other words, their products and marketing to children are not to blame – the problem is that Americans just don’t exercise enough.

Now, Coca-Cola Co. has launched another ad campaign—this time to assure consumers that its no- or low-calorie beverages containing the artificial sweetener aspartame are a safe alternative. As reported in the featured article by AdWeek3:

“It’s Coca-Cola’s first ad explicitly defending its use of artificial sweeteners in an ad, but the print execution is an extension of the company’s campaign, launched this January, to combat detractors who blame it for contributing to obesity, by pointing to the host of diet and other beverages it sells beyond traditional, sugary cola.”

According to the ad, aspartame is a “safe, high-quality alternative to sugar.” Clearly they’ve not reviewed the hundreds of studies on this artificial sweetener demonstrating its harmful effects… Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI) Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson issued the following statement in response to Coca-Cola’s new ad4:

“Aspartame has been found to cause cancer5 — leukemia, lymphoma, and other tumors—in laboratory animals, and it shouldn’t be in the food supply.

We certainly want Coca-Cola to shift its product mix toward lower- and no-calorie drinks, but aspartame’s reputation isn’t worth rehabilitating with this propaganda campaign. The company would be better off phasing out its use of aspartame and accelerating its research into safer, natural sweeteners such as those extracted from the stevia plant.”

Sweet Beverages Linked to Skyrocketing Childhood Obesity Rates

As recently reported in the Guardian Express6, kids are 40 percent heavier today compared to just 25 years ago, and a growing number of studies have linked rising childhood obesity rates to increased consumption of sugary beverages—including those sweetened with no- or low-cal sweeteners:

“Aspartame has arguably been found to have the effects of increasing the appetite, fat storage stimulation, carbohydrate cravings and weight gain.

In addition to aspartame, one cup of your child’s favorite sugary drink contains nearly 11 teaspoons of sugar, at 128 calories per serving. If you equate that to a child having, on average, one cup of any soft drink containing these ingredients with each meal that is an additional 384 calories or more each day just in beverages,” the Guardian Express writes.

As a general rule, the beverage industry has denied or strongly downplayed its role in the childhood obesity epidemic, despite the fact that beverage companies spend over $1 billion annually on youth-targeted marketing—especially in school settings. According to the Guardian Express, 80 percent of American schools have contracts with Coke or Pepsi to stock their products in school vending machines.

It’s an untenable position, really. Clearly, marketing WORKS, or else they wouldn’t be doing it, and when ads target an audience of 2 to 17-year olds, it’s hardly an accident that kids in that age range opt for soda whenever they’re given a chance!

Americans currently get a majority of their daily calories from sugar, primarily in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in soda and other sweetened beverages.

Half of the US population over the age of two consumes sugary drinks on a daily basis7, and this figure does not even include 100% fruit juices, flavored milk or sweetened teas, all of which are sugary too, which means the figure is actually even higher.

Yet this is only one side of the equation. On the other, you have artificially sweetened beverages (and other “diet” foods), which, contrary to popular belief, carry just as much responsibility for the stubborn rise in obesity. Your body simply isn’t fooled by the lack of calories in these sweetened products, and studies have repeatedly confirmed that artificial sweeteners appear to cause even greater weight gain than calorie-laden sweeteners.

Falling for Flawed Calorie-Counting Advice Is a Costly Mistake

Coca-Cola’s multi-million dollar “anti-obesity” campaign focuses on the outdated idea that all calories are equal, regardless of where they come from, and that consuming more calories than you burn off results in weight gain8. It’s well worth noting that this “conventional wisdom” has been firmly debunked by science. It is in fact FAR more important to look at the source of the calories than counting them. Even Weight Watchers, the world’s largest diet company, finally recognized this two years ago.

The truth is, you do not get fat because you eat too many calories and don’t exercise enough. You get fat because you eat the wrong kind of calories. At the end of the day, your consumption of carbohydrates, whether in the form of grains and sugars (especially fructose), will determine whether or not you’re able to manage your weight and maintain optimal health.

This is because these types of carbs (fructose and grains) affect the hormone insulin, which is a very potent fat regulator. Meanwhile, fats and proteins affect insulin to a far lesser degree.

Unfortunately, calorie-counting is still a popular misconception, around which an entire industry of “diet” foods and beverages utilizing artificial no- or low-calorie sweeteners has been built. Alas, research has repeatedly shown that artificially sweetened “diet” drinks and foods actually tend to:
•Stimulate your appetite
•Increase cravings for carbs, and
•Stimulate fat storage and weight gain

Artificial Sweeteners Actually INCREASE Weight Gain

It is my belief that the FTC should sue Coke and the other diet soda manufacturers, for fraudulent advertising as there are no studies showing that the use of diet sodas cause one to lose weight. In fact, they actually have been shown to cause weight gain. A 2012 study published in the journal Appetite9 showed that saccharin and aspartame both cause greater weight gain than sugar. In this study, rats were fed plain yogurt sweetened with either aspartame, saccharin, or sugar, plus their regular rat chow, for 12 weeks. According to the researchers10:

“Results showed that addition of either saccharin or aspartame to yogurt resulted in increased weight gain compared to addition of sucrose, however total caloric intake was similar among groups.”

The reason for the similar calorie consumption between the groups was due to increased chow consumption by the rats given artificially sweetened yogurt. This type of compensation has been found in previous studies11 as well, indicating that when your body gets a hit of sweet taste without the calories to go with it, it adversely affects your appetite control mechanisms, causing increased food cravings. This connection between sweet taste alone and increased hunger can be found in the medical literature going back at least two decades. These two studies, for example, dating back to the late 80s and early 90s, both showed this link between artificial sweeteners and increased hunger:
•Physiology & Behavior, 198812 – In this study, they determined that intense (no- or low-calorie) sweeteners can produce significant changes in appetite. Of the three sweeteners tested, aspartame produced the most pronounced effects.
•Physiology & Behavior 199013 – Here, they again evaluated whether or not the mere taste of “sweet” increases hunger, by having human subjects chew gum for 15 minutes containing various levels of aspartame (0.05%, 0.3%, 0.5%, or 1.0%).

Interestingly, although those who chewed artificially sweetened gum reported increased hunger compared to the control group who were given nothing or unsweetened gum base to chew, the increase did not directly correlate with the aspartame concentration in the gum. Women experienced the greatest increase in hunger after chewing gum containing 0.3 percent aspartame (the second lowest concentration amount), while men were the hungriest after chewing on gum containing 0.5 percent aspartame. The authors stated:

“The highest aspartame concentrations had a time-dependent, biphasic effect on appetite, producing a transient decrease followed by a sustained increase in hunger ratings. Thus, the concentration of the sweetener, the sex of the subject, and the time after chewing, were all important determinants of whether ‘sweetness’ increased hunger”.

Diet Soda Linked to Same Health Problems as Regular Soda

Artificial sweeteners also appear to cause many other health effects typically associated with high sugar consumption. Most recently, a report published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism14 highlighted the fact that diet soda drinkers suffer the same exact health problems as those who opt for regular soda, such as excessive weight gain, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke15,16. The authors—who were “shocked” at the results—looked at studies published in the past five years that examine the relationship between diet soda consumption and health outcomes:

“This paper discusses these findings and considers the hypothesis that consuming sweet-tasting but noncaloric or reduced-calorie food and beverages interferes with learned responses that normally contribute to glucose and energy homeostasis. Because of this interference, frequent consumption of high-intensity sweeteners may have the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements,” they write.

Recent research has also demonstrated that aspartame worsens insulin sensitivity to a greater degree than sugar, which is quite the blow for diabetics who obediently follow the recommendation to switch to diet sodas to manage their condition. The researchers used a dosage of aspartame that approximates the ADI for aspartame in the US (approx. 50 mg/kg body weight), and not only was aspartame found to decrease insulin sensitivity compared to controls, it also wrought havoc on brain function.

The Biological Explanation Behind Aspartame’s Harmful Side Effects

According to the “aspartame safety” page 117 issued by the Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness, “when aspartame is digested, your body breaks it down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol.” Methanol is one of the root problems with aspartame. However Coca-Cola (and many other food and beverage manufacturers) often misleadingly counter the claims of methanol being a harmful aspect of aspartame by pointing out that it also occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables.

For instance, Coca-Cola writes:

“Compared to amounts obtained from an aspartame-sweetened beverage, these components are consumed in much greater amounts from a variety of foods, including milk, meat, dried beans, fruits and vegetables… a serving of tomato juice provides about six times more methanol, compared to an equivalent serving of a beverage sweetened with aspartame.”

So why would methanol cause a problem in aspartame if it’s harmless in fruits and vegetables? There are two main points that need to be understood here:
1.Aspartame is primarily made up of aspartic acid and phenylalanine. The phenylalanine has been synthetically modified to carry a methyl group, which provides the majority of the sweetness. That phenylalanine methyl bond, called a methyl ester, is very weak, which allows the methyl group on the phenylalanine to easily break off and form methanol. This is in sharp contrast to naturally-occurring methanol found in certain fruits and vegetables, where it is firmly bonded to pectin, allowing the methanol to be safely passed through your digestive tract.
2.Your body metabolizes methyl alcohol differently than every other animal. All animals, with the exception of humans, have a protective mechanism that allows methanol to be broken down into harmless formic acid. This is why toxicology testing on animals is a flawed model. It doesn’t fully apply to humans.

Here’s how this works: Both animals and humans have small structures called peroxisomes in each cell. There are a couple of hundred in every cell of your body, which are designed to detoxify a variety of chemicals. Peroxisome contains catalase, which help detoxify methanol. Other chemicals in the peroxisome convert the formaldehyde to formic acid, which is harmless, but this last step occurs only in animals. When methanol enters the peroxisome of every animal except humans, it gets into that mechanism. Humans do have the same number of peroxisomes in comparable cells as animals, but human peroxisomes cannot convert the toxic formaldehyde into harmless formic acid.

So, in humans, methanol ends up acting as a Trojan horse. It’s carried into susceptible tissues in your body, like your brain and bone marrow, where an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) converts it into formaldehyde. And since there’s no catalase present, the formaldehyde is free to cause enormous damage in your tissues.

Are Your Health Problems Related to Aspartame?

Symptoms from methanol poisoning include headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioral disturbances, and neuritis. The most well known problems from methanol poisoning are vision problems including misty vision, progressive contraction of visual fields, blurring of vision, obscuration of vision, retinal damage, and blindness. Meanwhile, formaldehyde is a known carcinogen that causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication and may cause birth defects.

Symptoms of methanol poisoning are very similar to the side effects of aspartame. Unfortunately, aspartame toxicity is not well known by physicians, despite its frequency. Diagnosis is also hampered by the fact that it mimics several other common health conditions. It’s quite possible that you could be having a reaction to artificial sweeteners and not even know it, or be blaming it on another cause. To determine if you’re having a reaction to artificial sweeteners, take the following steps:
•Eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your diet for two weeks.
•After two weeks of being artificial sweetener-free, reintroduce your artificial sweetener of choice in a significant quantity (about three servings daily).
•Avoid other artificial sweeteners during this period.
•Do this for one to three days and notice how you feel, especially as compared to when you were consuming no artificial sweeteners.
•If you don’t notice a difference in how you feel after re-introducing your primary artificial sweetener for a few days, it’s a safe bet you’re able to tolerate it acutely, meaning your body doesn’t have an immediate, adverse response. However, this doesn’t mean your health won’t be damaged in the long run.
•If you’ve been consuming more than one type of artificial sweetener, you can repeat steps 2 through 4 with the next one on your list.

If you do experience side effects from aspartame, please report it to the FDA (if you live in the United States) without delay. It’s easy to make a report — just go to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator page, find the phone number for your state, and make a call reporting your reaction.

Improve Your Health by Ditching Sweetened Drinks

Perhaps one of the most powerful scientific discoveries to emerge in the past several years is that the old adage “a calorie is a calorie” is patently false. The research clearly demonstrates that even if you control the number of calories you eat, if those calories come from fructose, you are at increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome, or prediabetes, which includes insulin resistance, fatty liver, high blood pressure and high triglycerides.

So please, do yourself and your family a huge favor, and don’t allow yourself to get swept up in Coca-Cola’s multi-million dollar ad campaigns, which are based on flawed, inaccurate, misleading, and patently false conventions of thinking about obesity and the role of aspartame. Let’s not forget: Coca-Cola spent $1.2 million to defeat California Proposition 37 last November, which would have required genetically engineered (GE) foods to be labeled as such (which could have included soda containing GE high fructose corn syrup). That, in and of itself, is proof positive that Coca-Cola has no concern for health conscious consumers.

Sweetened beverages, whether it’s sweetened with sugar, HFCS, naturally-occurring fructose, or artificial sweeteners like aspartame, are among the worst culprits in the fight against obesity and related health problems, including diabetes, heart and liver disease, just to name a few. Ditching ALL of these types of beverages can go a long way toward reducing your risk for chronic health problems and weight gain. So what should you drink?

Your best most cost effective choice is to drink filtered tap water. The caveat though is to make sure you filter your tap water. I’ve written a large number of articles on the hazards of tap water, from fluoride to dangerous chemicals and drugs, to toxic disinfection byproducts and heavy metals, so having a good filtration system in place is more of a necessity than a luxury in most areas.

Remember, nothing beats pure water when it comes to serving your body’s needs. If you really feel the urge for a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water with a squirt of lime or lemon juice.
Another option to consider is to bottle your own water from a gravity-fed spring. There’s a great website called FindaSpring.com where you can find natural springs in your area. This is a great way to get back to nature and teach your children about health and the sources of clean water. The best part is that most of these spring water sources are free! Just remember to bring either clear polyethylene or glass containers to collect the water so no unsafe chemicals can contaminate your water on the way home. If you choose to use glass bottles, be sure to wrap them in towels to keep them from breaking in the car.
Tell Coke They’re a Joke!

Obesity is a serious public health problem in the United States, and you are being sorely misled by companies pretending to have a solution that, in reality, only worsen the problem. I strongly urge you to let the Coca-Cola Company know how you feel by telling them to stop their deceptive marketing of soda products.

Join me in taking a stand against false advertising and let your voice be heard. If you’re on twitter, send a tweet to #CokeCEO to let the Coca-Cola Company know you are not happy with their deceptive advertising. If you’re on Facebook, please share your thoughts with them on their Facebook Page. Please also email the Coca-Cola Company to let them know how you feel!

Coconuts are among the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet and have been a dietary staple for millennia. Western science is now “playing catch-up” to what natives of tropical regions have known for thousands of years. One of the reasons coconut is so special is that it’s a natural antimicrobial food.

Coconut, especially its oil, is a powerful destroyer of all kinds of microbes, from viruses to bacteria to protozoa, many of which harm human health.

Researchers at the Athlone Institute of Technology’s Bioscience Research Institute in Ireland set out to test coconut oil’s biocidal properties against the bacteria responsible for tooth decay.

Dental caries is a commonly overlooked problem affecting 60 to 90 percent of children and the majority of adults in industrialized countries, according to chief researcher Dr. Damien Brady. His research team tested the antibacterial action of coconut oil in its natural state and coconut oil that had been treated with enzymes, in a process similar to digestion.

The oils were tested against strains of Streptococcus bacteria, which are common inhabitants of your mouth.

They found that enzyme-modified coconut oil strongly inhibits the growth of most strains of Streptococcus bacteria, including Streptococcus mutans, an acid-producing bacterium that is a major cause of tooth decay1. It is thought that the breaking down of the fatty coconut oil by the enzymes turns it into acids, which are toxic to certain bacteria.2 Enzyme-modified coconut oil was also harmful to the yeast Candida albicans, which can cause thrush.

Dr. Brady said:

“Incorporating enzyme-modified coconut oil into dental hygiene products would be an attractive alternative to chemical additives, particularly as it works at relatively low concentrations. Also, with increasing antibiotic resistance, it is important that we turn our attention to new ways to combat microbial infection.”

The work also contributes to our understanding of antibacterial activity in the human gut, which helps maintain the balanced flora necessary for a strong immune system.

“Our data suggests that products of human digestion show antimicrobial activity. This could have implications for how bacteria colonize the cells lining the digestive tract and for overall gut health,” explained Dr. Brady.

The Many Health Benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil offers an impressive array of health benefits. In addition to its antimicrobial properties, coconut oil is beneficial for:
•Promoting heart health
•Supporting proper thyroid function
•Strengthening your immune system
•Providing an excellent “fuel” for your body and supporting a strong metabolism
•Maintaining healthy and youthful looking skin

One of the primary reasons coconut oil’s benefits are so broad is that 50 percent of the fat in coconut oil is lauric acid, which is rarely found in nature. In fact, coconut oil contains the most lauric acid of any substance on Earth. Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, a monoglyceride that can actually destroy lipid-coated viruses such as HIV and herpes, influenza, measles, gram-negative bacteria, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia.

Another of coconut oil’s antimicrobial components is capric acid, present in lesser amounts.

Coconut oil is also comprised of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which are smaller than the long chain fatty acids that are much more common to vegetable and seed oils. MCFAs are easily digested and readily cross cell membranes, and are sent directly to your liver, where they are immediately converted into energy rather than stored as fat. Coconut oil is easy on your digestive system and does not produce an insulin spike in your bloodstream.

A Traditional Diet Might Not Guarantee You Perfect Oral Health

In the 1900s, Dr. Weston A. Price did extensive research on the link between oral health and physical diseases. He discovered that the most successful primitive groups health-wise were those who paid attention to and integrated beneficial ancient knowledge and dietary wisdom into their lives. The difference, Price reasoned, between primitive cultures who were healthy and those who were diseased came not from solely eating a traditional diet (as they all did), but in the accumulated wisdom enjoyed by certain populations, which allowed them to enjoy optimal health.

One of the keys to oral health is eating a traditional diet rich in fresh, unprocessed vegetables, nuts, and grass-fed meats that are in line with your genetic ancestry. However, as beneficial as that diet is to your dental and overall health, it might not be enough to guarantee perfect oral health.

We know, of course, that eating junk food and sugar certainly causes and worsens dental decay in humans, but there must be more to the story. There is evidence of tooth decay in ancient populations, long before there was exposure to refined sugar and white flour, as well as among wild animals today. Even some dolphins, which generally eat no carbohydrates whatsoever — only fish, squid, and crustaceans — have problems with tooth decay. Clearly, simply following a traditional diet is not enough to explain this phenomenon, or else there would be no dental decay in ancient peoples or wildlife.

Plaque-Busting Strategy No. 1: Fermented Vegetables

In the past, I was also challenged with plaque accumulation which resulted in my having to make monthly visits to the dental hygienist. It seemed no amount of brushing, flossing, and even using a dental irrigator diminished this problem. However, in November of 2011, I was introduced to the first of two natural strategies that have significantly improved my plaque problem. The trick? Simply adding healthy amounts of high quality fermented vegetables to my diet.

Fermented vegetables are loaded with friendly flora that not only improve digestion but alter the flora in your mouth as well. Since the addition of these foods into my diet, my plaque has decreased by 50 percent and is much softer. I later further refined my approach by doing oil pulling with coconut oil and learning how to specifically target the primary source of plague, which is the junction of the tooth and gum surface by carefully directing my toothbrush at the appropriate angle.

Download Interview Transcript

Plaque-Busting Strategy No. 2: Oil Pulling

The second technique I’ve been using for the past year is called “oil pulling” with coconut oil, which has reduced my plaque by another 50 percent, allowing me to go two months between visits to the hygienist, instead of one. Oil pulling is a practice dating back thousands of years, having originated with Ayurvedic medicine. When oil pulling is combined with the antimicrobial power of coconut oil, you have one very powerful health tool.

Sesame oil is traditionally recommended, but it has relatively high concentration of omega-6 oils. Therefore, I believe coconut oil is far superior, and, in my mind, it tastes better. But from a mechanical and biophysical perspective, it is likely that both work.

Oil pulling is simple. Basically, it involves rinsing your mouth with coconut oil, much like you would with a mouthwash. The oil is “worked” around your mouth by pushing, pulling, and drawing it through your teeth for a period of 15 minutes. If you are obsessive like me and want even better results you can go for 30-45 minutes. This process allows the oil to “pull out” bacteria, viruses, fungi and other debris. The best time is in the morning before eating breakfast, but it can be done at any time, the important point is to just do it. I seek to do it twice a day if my schedule allows. The used oil is discarded and your mouth rinsed with water. You should not swallow the oil because it’s loaded with bacteria, toxins, pus, and mucous.

When done correctly, oil pulling has a significant cleansing, detoxifying and healing affect, not only for your mouth and sinuses but for the rest of your body as well.

Candida and Streptococcus are common residents in your mouth, and it’s these germs and their toxic waste products that cause plaque accumulation and tooth decay, in addition to secondary infections and chronic inflammation throughout your body. Oil pulling can help lessen the overall toxic burden on your immune system by preventing the spread of these organisms from your mouth to the rest of your body, by way of your bloodstream.

The potential benefits of oil pulling extend well beyond your mouth. Oil pullers have reported rapid relief from systemic health problems, such as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. According to Bruce Fife, naturopathic physician and expert in the healing effects of coconut3, the cleansing effect of oil pulling can be understood with the following analogy:

“It acts much like the oil you put in your car engine. The oil picks up dirt and grime. When you drain the oil, it pulls out the dirt and grime with it, leaving the engine relatively clean. Consequently, the engine runs smoother and lasts longer. Likewise, when we expel harmful substances from our bodies our health is improved and we run smoother and last longer.”

Additional Tips for Improving Your Oral Health

Total Video Length: 01:12:05

Download Interview Transcript

Proper dental hygiene is important for optimal health in your mouth and in the rest of your body, as discussed by Dr. Bill Osmunson in the interview above. When it comes to preventing cavities, drinking fluoridated water and brushing your teeth with fluoridated toothpaste is not the answer, because fluoride is more toxic than lead. The key is your diet and proper dental care: good old brushing and flossing. By avoiding sugars and processed foods, you prevent the proliferation of the bacteria that cause decay in the first place.

Practicing twice daily brushing and flossing, along with regular cleanings by your biological dentist and hygienist, will ensure that your teeth and gums are as healthy as they can be. You may want to try oil pulling to enhance your current dental hygiene routine.

In addition to consuming foods that are part of the “traditional diet” and avoiding processed foods and refined sugar, make sure you are getting plenty omega-3 fats. The latest research suggests even moderate amounts of omega-3 fats may help ward off gum disease. My favorite source of high quality omega-3 fat is krill oil.

And speaking of sugar, a particular type of honey from New Zealand called Manuka honey has also been shown to be effective in reducing plaque. Researchers found Manuka honey worked as well as chemical mouthwash — and better than the cavity fighting sugar alcohol, xylitol — in reducing levels of plaque. This is most likely due to the honey’s antibacterial properties. Clinical trials have shown that Manuka honey can effectively eradicate more than 250 clinical strains of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant varieties.

I still believe that oil pulling with coconut oil gives you more bang for your buck for your oral health, but just realize you have natural options to harsh and often toxic chemicals.

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog.

“Pepsi Special” is the latest “healthy soda” to hit the market, this time in Japan. Infused with dextrin, a type of fiber that’s popular in fiber supplements in the U.S., Pepsi Special is being marketed as a “fat-blocking soda,” as it claims to help reduce your body’s absorption of fat.

How Can Soda Claim to Help You Absorb Less Fat?

Pepsi’s Japanese partner, Suntory Holdings Limited, is reportedly basing their claim, in part, on a 2006 study that found rats fed dextrin absorbed less fat from their food,1 and Japan’s National Institute of Health and Nutrition now allows it to bear the designation as a “food for specified health use.”

These are foods that are meant to be consumed “by people who wish to control health conditions, including blood pressure or blood cholesterol.”2 But can soda really be healthy?

Not likely.

Pepsi Special is far from a health food. Adding fiber to a disastrous combination of high fructose corn syrup, phosphoric acid, caffeine and coloring does not make it good for you. But it may “fool” some people into thinking it does, which could make them drink even more of it, further damaging their health.

Soda is a leading contributor to the rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases facing much of the developed world, and any claims to the contrary are dangerously misleading. As Dr. Walter Willett, chair of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, told Time:3

“Unless Pepsi can provide data from controlled studies in humans to the contrary, their claim should be regarded as bogus and deceptive.”

Pepsi’s Eager to Cash In on Health-Conscious Consumers

Remember Pepsi Raw, which was introduced in the UK in 2008? This was another one of the soda company’s ridiculous creations – a concoction of sugar, caramel coloring, coffee leaf and sparkling water that was supposed to be another “healthy” version of soda.

While it had 10 percent less sugar than regular Pepsi, Pepsi Raw was simply another sugar-sweetened beverage, not a health drink. It was removed from the market just two years after its release.

Earlier this year, Pepsi Next was released. Pepsi Next claims to have 60 percent less sugar without sacrificing taste, but the secret to keeping its sweet taste comes from the use of not only high fructose corn syrup, but also THREE artificial sweeteners: aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose, all of which are linked to several dozen serious health risks.4

It’s all part of the company’s plan to beef up their share of profits from the “healthy foods” category, with reports noting they hope to boost their nutrition business from $10 billion to $30 billion by 2020.5

This is a classic corporate move. Find something that people are interested in and sell it to them even if it is deceptive and worsens their health. Most of these companies have absolutely ZERO interest for your health; they are only focused on their bottom line profits. So the age old adage is appropriate, Buyer Beware.

Is “Healthy” Soda Too Good to be True?

In a word, yes.

There’s nothing healthy about soda, even if it contains fiber or is sugar free. Drinking soda is in many ways worse for you than smoking, and it is only because of massive marketing campaigns from the industry that these sugary beverages are deemed so acceptable, including for our most vulnerable members of society – our kids.

If I asked you to quickly recall a commercial or slogan from leading soda companies, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, chances are you’d have no trouble recalling the friendly polar bear commercials or “the real thing” logo, and if you asked your kids, they’d probably come up with a few too.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for how beverage bigwigs have gotten their products firmly embedded into the homes and psyches of millions of Americans and others worldwide. Coca-Cola, for instance, spends close to $3 billion a year on advertising. With that amount of money it’s no wonder the company has managed to hold on to its wholesome reputation.

They, and other beverage giants, are also in the habit of forming strategic alliances with ostensibly health-focused organizations that make it appear as though they are looking out for your health, which is about as laughable as Big Tobacco sponsoring a marathon. For instance, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are sponsors or partners of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and have featured exhibits at their annual conference.

Diet Coke has also teamed up with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to raise awareness for women’s heart health program, even though Coca-Cola is one of the main retailers of sugar in the United States and it is very clear that sugar and fructose are actually leading causes in the increasing rates of heart disease.

Fructose: Soda’s Dirty Secret

The primary reason why soda is so dangerous to your health?

Fructose.

The fructose content of the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used in many popular soda brands has been grossly underestimated. Around 100 years ago the average American consumed a mere 15 grams of fructose a day, primarily in the form of fruit, not industrially produced isolate, which is infinitely different on a physiological level. One hundred years later, one-fourth of Americans are consuming more than 135 grams per day, largely in the form of soda.

Fructose at 15 grams a day or less is generally harmless (unless you suffer from high uric acid levels). However, at nearly 10 times that amount it becomes a major contributor to obesity and nearly all chronic degenerative diseases. Instead of consisting of 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose, many soda brands, including Coke, Pepsi and Sprite, contain as much as 65 percent fructose, nearly 20 percent higher than originally believed.6 Thanks to the excellent work of researchers like Dr. Robert Lustig, and Dr. Richard Johnson, we now know that fructose:
•Is metabolized differently from glucose, with the majority being turned directly into fat
•Tricks your body into gaining weight by fooling your metabolism, as it turns off your body’s appetite-control system. Fructose does not appropriately stimulate insulin, which in turn does not suppress ghrelin (the “hunger hormone”), doesn’t drive glucose into the cell to create satiety, and doesn’t stimulate leptin (the “satiety hormone”), which together result in your eating more and developing insulin resistance.
•Rapidly leads to weight gain and abdominal obesity (“beer belly”), decreased HDL, increased LDL, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and high blood pressure — i.e., classic metabolic syndrome.
•Over time leads to insulin resistance, which is not only an underlying factor of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but also many cancers.
•Leads to a dopamine-mediated hedonistic syndrome, which causes an insatiable desire to consume more of the same, despite the broad range of adverse, even life-threatening health effects caused by excessive fructose consumption.

Diet soda, by the way, is NOT a healthy alternative, even though it’s fructose-free. People who drink diet soft drinks daily may be 43 percent more likely to suffer from a vascular event, including a stroke or heart attack,7 as well as are more likely to experience weight gain, increased waist size, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Warning: 5-Hour Energy Shots Linked to Deaths

If you’re thinking of ditching your soda in favor of another caffeine kick like 5-hour Energy, be warned that 13 potentially related deaths and more than 90 adverse reaction claims (including 33 hospitalizations) following its consumption have already been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although the product’s label does not disclose how much caffeine it contains per serving, it’s been estimated at over 200 milligrams (compared to about 100-150 for a typical 8-ounce cup of coffee). Consuming large quantities of caffeine in energy drinks can have serious health consequences, especially in children and teens, including caffeine toxicity, stroke, anxiety, arrhythmia, and in some cases even death.

Are You Hooked on Soda and Energy Drinks to Give You a Boost?

There are a number of reasons why people drink soda, but many do so because they’re addicted to the ephemeral energy boost they get from the caffeine and sugar. There are, however, natural ways to give your body lasting energy without any of the downsides of consuming fructose, excessive caffeine or artificial sweeteners.

These include:
•Eating a healthy diet with limited sugar, fructose and processed foods. See my nutrition plan for a naturally energy-enhancing diet.
•Increasing your intake of animal-sourced omega-3 fatty acids, e.g. krill, wild salmon, free-range eggs, to support your energy levels
•Release draining emotional stress and negativity with the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT); this (and Turbo Tapping) can also help you to beat soda cravings
•Sleep when you’re tired, and make sure you’re getting high-quality sleep while you’re at it
•Exercise, and be sure to include high-intensity interval exercises like Peak Fitness for near endless energy
•If you need a supplement, do the above steps first and then try ones that are designed to increase your level of foundational energy at the mitochondrial level. Some of the best are vitamin B12, Ubiquinol and magnesium.

If you like what you read, please consider donating to help support my blog.

I am thankful I have never had a migraine headache before, but migraine headaches are one of the most common health conditions in the world—more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined.1 They’re also one of the top 20 causes of disability among adults.

More than 37 million Americans suffer from migraines; nearly five million of them experiencing at least one migraine attack per month.2 In all, an estimated 13 percent of the world’s population suffer with migraines to a greater or lesser degree.

The condition is more prevalent among women, with about 15-18 percent of women worldwide getting them, compared to six to seven percent of men. About 60 percent of women affected have menstrual-related migraines, meaning they tend to coincide with their menstrual cycle.

Despite its prevalence, migraines are still one of the most poorly understood medical disorders out there. Part of the problem has been that the experiences of those suffering from migraines vary greatly.

Aside from throbbing, searing pain, which may or may not be one-sided, some experience “auras” prior to onset, while others do not. There may also be nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, sweating, and/or sensitivity to light, sound, and smells.

Those who have never had a migraine before can be quite frightened by the neurological symptoms, which can simulate a stroke where you start to have disturbed vision, and even short term visual loss and/or seeing spots or wavy lines, and/or tingling in your arm or leg.

Migraines May Be Linked with Abnormal Blood Vessel Structure

One long-held theory was that a migraine is caused by vascular changes in your brain, from initial blood vessel constriction and a drop in blood flow, followed by dilation and stretching of blood vessels, which activates pain-signaling neurons.

Newer research has negated this theory however, as researchers eventually determined that migraines are not preceded by constriction and decrease in blood flow, but rather by a blood flow increase of nearly 300 percent. Despite that, circulation appears normal, or even slightly reduced, once the attack is in full swing.

Most recently, a small observational study3 found that so-called migraineurs—people who get migraines—tend to have a different blood vessel structure in their brains compared to those who do not get migraines.

Three types of test subjects were included in the study. Out of 170 subjects, 56 had migraines with aura, 61 had migraines without aura, and 53 were included as controls.

Using Magnetic resonance angiography, the researchers examined the structure of blood vessels and the changes in cerebral blood flow, focusing on a system of arteries that deliver blood to the brain called “circle of Willis.”

They found that an incomplete circle of Willis was significantly more common in those who get migraines, with or without aura, compared to the control group (73 percent and 67 percent versus 51 percent respectively).

As a result, compared to those with a complete circle of Willis, those with an incomplete circle had greater asymmetry in hemispheric cerebral blood flow. According to one of the authors of the study, Dr. John Detre, M.D., a professor of neurology and radiology:4

“Abnormalities in both the circle of Willis and blood flow were most prominent in the back of the brain, where the visual cortex is located. This may help explain why the most common migraine auras consist of visual symptoms such as seeing distortions, spots, or wavy lines.”

Other Hypotheses

There are other hypotheses as well. For example, a meta-analysis of 29 genome-wide association studies recently identified five genetic regions linked to migraine onset and 12 genetic regions linked with migraine susceptibility.5, 6 In addition to that, they also found a whopping 134 genetic regions that appear to heighten migraine susceptibility.

Another study7 published earlier this year suggests that the searing, throbbing pain that is the hallmark of a migraine may be due to overactive pain-signaling from sensory neurons in your brain.

A third hypothesis is that a migraine arises as a result of a disorder of your nervous system, most likely in your brain stem.8 Although most regions of your brain do not register or transmit pain signals, a network of nerves called the trigeminal nerve system does. Pain is relayed through the trigeminal network to an area in your brain stem called the trigeminal nucleus.

From there, it is conveyed to the sensory cortex in your brain, which is involved in your awareness of pain and other senses. What first activates your trigeminal nerves, setting off your migraine, however, is still under debate, but some researchers believe that a wave release of neurotransmitters across your cortex can directly stimulate your trigeminal nerves, setting off the chain reaction that ends in the transmitting of pain signals. No one hypothesis has yet emerged to explain the occurrence of migraine in all sufferers. Besides those already mentioned, other theories include:
•Changes in the brain chemical serotonin. When levels drop, blood vessels including those in your brain become swollen and inflamed, which can lead to migraine pain.
•A disruption of the subtle energies circulating throughout your body, along with unresolved emotional issues that manifest in your body as headaches.
•Vitamin B deficiency. In one study,9 vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid supplements were found to produce a two-fold reduction in migraines over a six-month period. Previous studies, such as a 2004 study in the European Journal of Neurology,10 have also reported that high doses of B2 (riboflavin) can help prevent migraine attacks

Common Migraine Triggers

Environmental factors appear to play a significant role in triggering a migraine attack. While there are many potential triggers (and what triggers a migraine for one might not trigger it in another), the following are some of the most commonly reported:

Food and Drink: Many people experience migraines when they eat certain foods, especially: wheat, dairy, sugar, artificial preservatives or chemical additives, cured or processed meats, alcohol (especially red wine and beer), aspartame, caffeine, and MSG. Caffeine can also trigger an attack – and sometimes excess nuts

Changes in sleeping cycle: Both missing sleep and oversleeping can trigger a migraine

Hormones: Some women experience migraines before or during their periods, during pregnancy or during menopause. Others may get migraines from hormonal medications like birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy

Allergies: Including food allergies and food sensitivities, and chemical sensitivities

Stress/Post-stress: Any kind of emotional trauma can trigger a migraine, even after the stress has passed

External stimuli: Bright lights, fluorescent lights, loud noises and strong smells (even pleasant ones) can trigger a migraine

Dehydration and/or hunger: Skipping meals or fasting are also common triggers

Physical exertion: Extremely intense exercise or even sex has been known to bring on migraines

Weather changes, and/or changes in altitude

Are Food Allergies Causing Your Migraines?

Searching the medical literature in PubMed.gov using the search terms “migraine” and “food allergies” will provide you with nearly 160 different studies11 of this kind, so do yourself a favor and don’t dismiss this potential connection. One randomized, double blind, cross-over study published in 201012 found that a six-week long diet restriction produced a statistically significant reduction in migraines in those diagnosed with migraine without aura. Some of the top migraine-inducing foods identified include:13, 14

Wheat and gluten

Cow’s milk (including yoghurt and ice cream)

Grain cereals

Cane sugar

Yeast

Corn

Citrus

Eggs

Aspartame

MSG

I’d advise you to avoid as many processed foods as possible, as they contain a variety of food colorings, flavors, preservatives, and other additives that might promote headaches and migraines, in addition to other food allergy symptoms. Questions that can help you determine whether or not you might have a food sensitivity or allergy include:
•Do you experience bloating after meals, gas, frequent belching, or any kind of digestive problems?
•Do you have chronic constipation or diarrhea?
•Do you have a stuffy nose after meals?
•Do you have low energy or feel drowsy after eating?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may want to investigate further. Keeping a detailed food diary is the easiest way to start tracking down potentially migraine-inducing foods. Keep in mind that eliminating your migraines is not the only health benefit you can reap from identifying food allergies or sensitivities. Eliminating food antigens is also critical for gut health. I’ve written extensively on this topic, as medical science is now beginning to realize just how important your gut is, not just for physical health, but emotional and psychological health as well.

One of the best things you can do if you believe you are suffering from a food allergy is to do a diet elimination challenge. Simply remove all foods that contain what you believe you are allergic to and see if your symptoms improve over the next several days. If you don’t have an idea of what foods you are allergic to, you can stop all the ones in the chart above. Keep in mind that depending on your typical migraine frequency, you may need to avoid the suspected food(s) for a few weeks in order to evaluate whether it had an effect or not.

To confirm the results, you’ll want to reintroduce the food or drink (on an empty stomach). If the suspected food is the culprit, you will generally be able to feel the allergy symptoms return within an hour, although migraines can sometimes have a longer lag time than, say, bloating or drowsiness.

Beware of Aspartame and MSG

Both aspartame and MSG are notorious for causing headaches and triggering migraines. Aspartame can also trigger other neurological symptom such as visual disturbances and tingling in the extremities. I actually diagnosed my sister, who was also my office manager when I started practicing, with a migraine. She had the visual aura that is common and makes you feel like you are having a stroke. She was highly reactive to aspartame and if she even sniffs any, she will get a migraine.

One of the primary problems with aspartame is the methanol it forms in your body. Methanol acts as a Trojan horse, being carried into susceptible tissues in your body, such as your brain, where an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) converts it into formaldehyde. This in turn can wreak havoc with sensitive proteins and DNA.

All other animals have a protective mechanism that allows methanol to be broken down into harmless formic acid, but according to aspartame expert Dr. Woodrow Monte, there’s a major biochemical problem with methanol in humans, because humans simply do not have this protective metabolic mechanism. Migraineurs will likely recognize several of the symptoms of methanol poisoning, which include headache, throbbing migraine, ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioral disturbances, and neuritis.

Diet for Migraine Relief

Quite a few people have reportedly rid themselves of migraines on the Paleo diet, which can be summarized as “any food that can be eaten without being processed.” That means no grains, bread or pasta, and no pasteurized dairy, but does include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, some nuts and oils along with wild caught fish, organic poultry and grass-fed lean meats.

I believe a return to “real food” is one of the most profound interventions for the 21st century. We’ve strayed so far from the foods we are designed to eat, going back to basics and refocusing your diet on fresh, whole, unprocessed, “real” food can improve just about anyone’s health, regardless of what health issues you need to address. You can easily mold your diet around the principles of Paleo eating by following my nutrition plan. The full details are described in the plan, but generally speaking, the following key factors apply to anyone seeking a “healthy diet”:

Eliminate all gluten products

Organically grown produce, and grass-fed or pastured animal products that are free from additives and genetically engineered ingredients

Eliminate all artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame. My sister is one of many who will get a guaranteed migraine if she consumes any aspartame. Obviously, even if you don’t have migraines, there simply is no reason to ever consume aspartame

Carbohydrates primarily come from vegetables (except corn and potatoes, which should typically be avoided). Dramatically lowering your intake of non-vegetable carbs could improve leptin and insulin signaling which could also improve migraines

Focus on unprocessed, whole foods, eaten raw or only lightly cooked (ideally, try to eat at least one-third of your food raw, or as much as you can manage)

Food from high-quality, local sources

Quick, Natural Tips to Relieve a Migraine

Preventing migraines begins by avoiding the triggers. Most often this means eating healthy whole foods (avoiding most processed ones) and managing your stress effectively. Following my eating plan seems to reduce migraines by about 80 percent, although it does take some time to work. It’s a lifestyle switch, not a quick and easy fix. Avoiding wheat, grains, sugar and all fluids but water seem to be particularly effective.

Regular exercise may also help to keep migraines at bay by improving your response to stress along with the underlying inflammatory conditions that can trigger migraines. Ideally, those are the things to focus on so that you can reduce your migraines altogether. That said, should a migraine strike and you need immediate relief, you could try one or more of the following:

Stimulate your body’s natural painkilling ability. By putting pressure on a nerve just under your eyebrow, you can cause your pituitary gland to release painkilling endorphins immediately

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Newcomers who use this simple process by themselves achieve relief 50 percent to 80 percent of the time and, in many cases, the relief is complete and permanent. More sophisticated uses by an EFT expert may be required for some migraine sufferers

Take a couple of teaspoons of cayenne pepper in a glass of water. Endorphins are released by your brain when the cayenne hits your stomach lining. Another alternative is to swallow a dollop of wasabi paste

Green apple scent. One study found that the scent significantly relieved migraine pain. This may also work with other scents that you enjoy so consulting with an aromatherapist may be beneficial

Hot/Cold compress: Alternate hot and cold compresses on your forehead and/or behind your neck

Massage your ears, ear lobes, and the “crown” of your head — the ring of muscles that circle your head where a crown would sit

Ever heard of “shift work disorder?” It’s a new disease being played up by the pharmaceutical industry to sell drugs so dangerous that even the home page of the drug website admits the drug may kill you.

One such drug is called “Nuvigil,” sold by Cephalon, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. The warning text on the Nuvigil website says:

NUVIGIL (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV] may cause serious side effects including a serious rash or a serious allergic reaction that may affect parts of your body such as your liver or blood cells, and may result in hospitalization and be life-threatening. If you develop a skin rash, hives, sores in your mouth, blisters, swelling, peeling, or yellowing of the skin or eyes, trouble swallowing or breathing, dark urine, or fever, stop taking NUVIGIL and call your doctor right away or get emergency help.

Wow, mouth sores? Yellowing eyes? Trouble breathing? Dark urine? Hospitalization? Where do I sign up!

According to the Nuvigil website, the drug is, “a prescription medicine used to improve wakefulness in adults who experience excessive sleepiness due… shift work disorder (SWD)”

Yet another fictitious disease
SWD, of course, is a made-up “disease” now being propagandized for the sole purpose of selling drugs like Nuvigil. The pushing of fictitious disorders is generally known as “disease mongering” across the industry. The premise of so-called Shift Work Disorder is that the tiredness you feel when you stay up all night working a night shift is actually some sort of disease requiring chemical intervention.

You’re not simply tired because you’re out of sync with the sun, the fictional narrative says: you’re tired because you have a disorder! And unless you pop these pills — which might kill you — you’ll never be normal again!

This is the incessant lie of all drug advertisements: these pills will make you normal and healthy, they claim. Yet people who take their pills aren’t normal and healthy; they’re chronically diseased and suffering kidney failure, liver failure, skin disorders, sleep disorders and often dying from FDA-approved medications.

An incredible 783,000 Americans die each year from conventional medicine. Roughly 100,000 of those are killed by FDA-approved prescription medications. Yet the industry’s answer is to keep inventing more and more medications to add to the toxic burden patients are already experiencing from the half-dozen meds they’re already popping on a daily basis.

That’s the business model of Big Pharma, of course: invent a fake disease, promote the disease to push a new pill, then get as many people to take those pills as possible while government Medicaid and Medicare programs write the checks.

The patient, in essence, is just a proxy for profit. The patient’s body is essentially a chemical dumping ground so that drug companies can collect profits while claiming to have offered some sort of “treatment” that never actually treats anything other than symptoms.

“NUVIGIL may help the sleepiness caused by these conditions, but it may not stop all of your sleepiness and does not take the place of sleep,” says the Nuvigil website. In other words, you’d probably have similar results by slamming a couple of Monster energy drinks (not that I’m recommending energy drinks, of course).

Highly addictive controlled substance
But wait, there’s more: “NUVIGIL is a federally controlled substance (C-IV), so use NUVIGIL only as directed and keep in a safe place to prevent misuse and abuse. It is against the law to sell or give NUVIGIL to another person.”

Ah, and now we get to the real heart of the matter. Nuvigil is a highly addictive controlled substance.

“NUVIGIL is a federally controlled substance [C-IV] because it has the potential to be abused or lead to dependence,” says the Nuvigil website. “Selling or giving away NUVIGIL may harm others and is against the law.”

What they mean, of course, is that you selling Nuvigil to someone else is against the law, but it’s not against the law for the drug industry to conspire with your doctor to sell you the drug. Keep this in mind when you hear about front groups like the Partnership For A Drug-Free America. Nearly all these front groups are funded by Big Pharma, and their goal is to get drugs off the streets so that people have to buy those very same drugs via prescription. It’s a turf war, and Big Pharma wants to be your dealer.

By the way, the company that makes Nuvigil is running clinical trials now in an effort to get the pill approved for treating depression and “bi-polar disorder,” yet another fictitious disease invented by the psychiatric industry to sell more high-profit pharmaceuticals that harm people. If they get their way, you’ll soon be able to buy highly addictive, class IV controlled substances to treat your “bi-polarness.”

One of the most common side effects of Nuvigil is insomnia
“In placebo-controlled studies, the most commonly observed side effects were headache, nausea, dizziness, and insomnia,” says Wikipedia, a website I don’t always trust but nevertheless tends to have useful information about drug side effects.

So wait, let me get this straight: The pill people are supposed to take when they feel too sleepy and can’t stay awake somehow causes insomnia? Say it isn’t so…

Taking the pill, then, can cause you to be unable to attain normal, healthy sleep. This causes your next night shift to be worse than the previous one, making you feel so tired you start popping extra Nuvigil. Then the hallucinations from sleep deprivation start to kick in, probably, and you find yourself playing out the opening sequence of “Fight Club” starring Ed Norton.

Keep in mind that the people who are likely to be targeted for this drug are paramedics, EMTs, doctors, nurses and other night-shift workers who need to have their heads on straight. If I’m in a late-night car accident and end up in the emergency room, I don’t want some pill-popping medical addict trying to patch me up.

A safer alternative: phototherapy
So what can late-night workers do to stay alert on their night shifts? The answer is found in nature: phototherapy (light therapy).

Your endocrine system has its own light sensors that control the levels of hormones like melatonin. When your body senses light, it tells you to wake up and be alert. When it senses an absence of light, it tells your body to produce hormones that wind you down and help you go to sleep.

The simple solution for late-night work shifts is therefore twofold:

1) Avoid all light sources when sleeping (wear a blindfold or have window shades that can block out nearly 100% of outside light).

2) Supplement your light before or during night shifts. This may mean purchasing and using a high-intensity phototherapy device. Sunlight is quite intense, after all. Search for “light therapy device” or “Seasonal Affective Disorder” lamp to locate such products.

In addition, having a healthy endocrine system will further support your ability to work late-night shifts without compromising your overall health. This means avoiding all hormone mimickers such as BPA and drastically reducing your exposure to heavy metals.

In the end, however, there is no replacement for natural sunlight. Your body is engineered to work in harmony with Mother Nature, and that means waking and sleeping in rhythm with the orbit and rotation of planet Earth. Working late-night shifts will inevitably accelerate your aging, suppress your immune system, worsen your moods and disrupt your hormones. No drug will reverse this. Ultimately, the best solution is to work night shifts only temporarily and return to normal waking schedules as quickly as you can.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041769_Shift_Work_Disorder_Nuvigil_phototherapy.html#ixzz2d6wnRWSh

Why Do Kids’ Vitamins Contain Aspartame, GMOs, and Hazardous Chemicals?

As a parent, one of the best gifts you can give your child is a strong nutritional start. The first years of life represent a time of rapid development, during which your child’s language, cognitive, social and motor skills are developed.

During the first three years of life, the brain also grows at its fastest rate, and this represents a crucial window of development during which proper nutrition is essential.

If your child does not get healthy foods (and ideally breast milk) during this time, his future intelligence could be impacted.

A 2010 study1 revealed just how big an impact a poor nutritional start can have on your kids. Those who ate a predominantly processed food diet at age 3 had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured increase in processed foods, participants had a nearly two point decrease in IQ.

As you might suspect, the opposite also held true, with those eating healthier diets experiencing higher IQ levels.

As a parent, it is important to carefully consider the types of foods you give your child at home and in restaurants, as research has shown that repeated exposure builds taste preferences very quickly.

Potentially reduced IQ is not the only health risk your child faces if he eats a diet consisting mainly of processed foods and snacks.

A junk food diet can also set the stage for obesity, asthma, eczema, and a variety of allergies, behavioral problems—from hyperactivity to aggression—as well as inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases. In fact, many of the top diseases plaguing the United States are diet-related, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The National Institutes of Health even states that four of the six leading causes of death in the US are linked to unhealthy diets.

So the importance of proper nutrition simply cannot be overstated. Yet despite all this knowledge, food and beverage companies and even supplement makers are foisting products on children that are FAR from health-promoting, making your role as an educated parent all the more important…

Girl Scolds McDonald’s CEO

At a recent shareholder meeting, nine-year old Hannah Robertson had some pointed questions for Don Thompson, CEO of McDonald’s Corp2.

“Something that I don’t think is fair is when big companies try to trick kids into eating food that isn’t good for them by using toys and cartoon characters,” Hannah told the attendees at the meeting.

“If parents haven’t taught their kids about healthy eating then the kids probably believe that junk food is good for them because it might taste good… I make cooking videos with my mom that show kids that eating healthy can be fun and yummy.

We teach them that eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies makes kids healthier, smarter and happier because that is the truth… Mr. Thompson, don’t you want kids to be healthy so they can live a long and happy life?”

Thompson’s reply? “… [W]e don’t sell junk food, Hannah,” he said. He also denied marketing to children. His response left her unimpressed, and rightfully so, if you ask me. Children are clearly a primary market for McDonald’s. In fact, America’s 52 million kids under the age of 12 represent one of the most powerful markets for American businesses, influencing adult spending worth $700 billion a year.

Children age 2-11 now see an average of more than 10 television food ads per day, and 98 percent of food advertisements viewed by children are for products that are high in fat, sugar or sodium, like McDonald’s and other fast food joints.

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Absurd Lies Told By McDonald’s CEO

A related article3 pointed out the many lies spouted by McDonald’s CEO during this shareholder’s meeting, including but not limited to:
•Claiming “chicken nugget Happy Meals and fat-free milk” are healthy…

Chicken McNuggets contain roughly 30 ingredients, including: sodium phosphates, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate and calcium lactate. The “fat-free milk” Thompson touted numerous times is actually chocolate milk, containing 10 grams of added sugar…
•“We provide high-quality food, we always have. It’s real beef, it’s real chicken, it’s real tomatoes, real lettuce, real fruit, real smoothies, real dairy, real eggs.”

Really? The “real eggs” in an Egg McMuffin are “prepared with” the following: Liquid Margarine: Liquid Soybean Oil and Hydrogenated Cottonseed and Soybean Oils, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta Carotene (Color).
•“Globally, we follow guidelines on responsible marketing to children.”

… Just last month, McDonald’s was fined $1.6 million by the consumer protection agency in Sao Paulo [Brazil] for violating local laws on targeting children… A report from Yale University found that… “Although McDonald’s pledged to improve food marketing to children, they increased their volume of TV advertising from 2007 to 2009.” Preschoolers saw 21 percent more McDonald’s ads and older children viewed 26 percent more ads in 2009 compared to 2007…
•“And we are not marketing food to kids.”

Two words: Happy Meals.

The author, Michele Simon, a public health lawyer specializing in industry marketing and lobbying tactics, suggests adding your voice by signing the petition created by Corporate Accountability International, urging CEO Don Thompson to stop marketing McDonald’s to children.

What’s in That Big Mac?

A cross-sectional study of 1,877 adults and 330 school-age kids who regularly ate at fast-food chains revealed that meals consumed at these restaurants were very high in calories, and that both children and adults underestimated the amount of calories their meals contained. As reported by Time Healthland4:

“The investigators collected receipts from the participants in order to calculate how many calories the participants consumed from their meals. They also asked the volunteers to estimate the number of calories they had just ordered. At the time of the study, none of the restaurant chains included calorie information on their menus, as many now do.”

On average, each adult fast-food meal came out to 836 calories, teens’ meals were about 756 calories, and kids consumed a whopping 733 calories in one sitting. But it’s not all about calories per se, because a calorie is NOT a calorie. What matters most is the source of those calories, and this is where fast food fails miserably. The ingredients used simply cannot be compared to whole, unprocessed foods.

As a general rule, “food” equals “live nutrients.” Nutrients, in turn, feed your cells, optimize your health, and sustain life. Obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and heart attacks are hallmark diseases associated with a fast food diet – a CLEAR indication that it does not provide the appropriate nutrition for your body. And, if lack of healthful nutrition isn’t enough of a deterrent, perhaps the fact that some fast foods have been found to be impervious to decomposition, even after more than a decade, will get you to reconsider feeding it to your children.

Thompson denies McDonald’s sells junk food. However, looking at the lists of ingredients in McDonald’s meals, I find this to be an undefendable stance. When you consider the fact that a large number of the ingredients in a fast food meal exist nowhere in nature, but are rather concocted in a lab, it’s just not ‘real food’; it’s junk. As just one example, what kind of bread can lie out for years on end without developing so much as a trace of mold? According to McDonald’s website5, their hamburger buns consist of:

“Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzymes), water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, wheat gluten, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide, soy flour), calcium propionate and sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin.”

Interestingly, analyzing this list of ingredients offers clues not only for how these buns remain unblemished for years on end, but also to some of the health ramifications you may experience when eating a McDonald’s hamburger. For example, if you’ve ever felt it just “sitting” in your gut like a brick, perhaps the plaster of Paris, aka calcium sulfate6 isn’t quite as digestible as you’d hoped. Or if you’ve had to run to the bathroom shortly after your meal, perhaps the ammonium sulfate and the ammonium chloride are to blame. Both of these chemicals cause gastrointestinal irritation with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Processed Food Contains Many Potentially Dangerous Ingredients

Fast food hamburgers are not the only type of heavily processed food that is questionable in terms of whether or not it should be considered real food. The following are just a few more examples, but you get the idea – any time a food is heavily processed, it typically ceases to be beneficial for your child’s health. Many processed foods also contain dangerous MSG, to give the otherwise bland mixture some flavor.
•Chicken McNuggets, for example, have made it into mainstream news because of the potentially hazardous additives they contain.
•Soda can contain any number of health harming substances, from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to benzene and aspartame.
•French Fries are loaded with the worst types of fat on the planet — typically highly refined and genetically modified omega 6 oils, such as corn, canola, and soybean oils.
•Breakfast cereals are little more than disguised forms of high fructose corn syrup and many are loaded with genetically engineered grains.

Diet Soda Found to Be as Bad as Meth or Crack Cocaine for Your Teeth

A recent article in the New York Daily News7 highlighted study8 findings that a steady consumption of diet soda can result in the same type of tooth decay and erosion as that caused by methamphetamines and crack cocaine:

“The report, which was recently published in the journal General Dentistry9, found that a woman in her 30s who drank two liters of diet soda every day for three to five years had eroded teeth similar to those of a 29-year-old meth addict and a 51-year-old longtime crack user. ‘You look at it side-to-side with ‘meth mouth’ or ‘coke mouth,’ it is startling to see the intensity and extent of damage more or less the same,’ said Dr. Mohamed Bassiouny, a professor of restorative dentistry at the Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia.

Diet and regular soda are highly acidic, like methamphetamine and crack cocaine. Paired with poor dental hygiene, the citric and phosphoric acid in soda can lead to substantial damage and decay, Bassiouny said.”

The American Beverage Association (ABA), which represents soft drink manufacturers, issued a statement noting that the woman did not receive dental health services for more than 20 years, and that “To single out diet soda consumption as the unique factor in her tooth decay and erosion — and to compare it to that from illicit drug use — is irresponsible.” The ABA also stated that these findings do not justify never drinking soda again; rather you should be aware that soda is highly acidic, and that you should rinse your mouth after drinking it, and brush your teeth twice a day.

I disagree. Soda, whether regular or diet, has no positive place in a healthy diet. There’s simply no reason to ever give your child soda. To learn more, please see this previous article, where I review my many reasons for this hardcore stance.

Why Do Kids’ Vitamins Contain Aspartame, GMOs, and Hazardous Chemicals?

Another industry that is shockingly irresponsible when it comes to children’s nutrition is that of dietary supplements. Take Flintstones Vitamins, for example, which is marketed as the “Pediatricians’ #1 Choice” of supplement for kids. A recent article by GreenMedInfo.com10 reveals several of the horrid ingredients in this well-known kids vitamin—ingredients that can have adverse health effects severe enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.

Flintstones Vitamins is produced by the pharmaceutical company Bayer. I’ve revealed some of the many skeletons in Bayer’s closet in the past — including their numerous drug-related lawsuits and intentional selling of AIDS-infected drugs in Europe and Asia. With that in mind, perhaps it’s not so surprising to find that their wildly successful kids vitamin contains some shockingly unhealthy ingredients, including:

Aspartame, perhaps the most dangerous artificial sweetener on the market, aspartame converts into toxic methanol and formaldehyde in your body. The featured article lists over 40 adverse health effects of aspartame11 found in the biomedical literature, including neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity

Cupric Oxide, listed as the ‘nutritional’ source of ‘copper,’ supplying “100% of the Daily Value (Ages 4+). However, the European Union’s Dangerous Substance Directive lists Cupric Oxide as a Hazardous substance, classified as both “Harmful (XN)” and “Dangerous for the environment” (N)

Coal tar artificial coloring agents (FD&C Blue #2, Red #40, Yellow #6). All of these are well-known for their adverse effects on children and are banned in certain European countries for this very reason

Zinc Oxide. Also widely used in sunscreens, the EU’s Dangerous Substance Directive classifies it as an environmental Hazard, “Dangerous for the environment (N).” It causes the death of phytoplankton (the plankton absorbs it until they burst)

Sorbitol. Higher amounts have been linked to gastrointestinal disturbances from abdominal pain to more serious conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome

Ferrous Fumarate, the form of iron used in Flintstones Vitamins, is actually an industrial mineral not found in nature as food. It is extremely toxic, and accidental overdose of products containing this form is “a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6”

Hydrogenated soybean oil. This is one of the most harmful ingredients in processed foods. Part of the problem with hydrogenated soybean oil relates to the health hazards of soy itself. An added hazard factor is the fact that the majority of soybeans are genetically engineered. Hydrogenated soybean oil has been linked to over a dozen adverse health effects, from coronary artery disease to cancer, violent behavior and fatty liver disease

Genetically engineered corn starch. According to the featured article, the ‘vitamin C’ listed as ascorbic acid in Flintstones is likely produced from GMO corn. (Bayer’s Ag-biotech division, Bayer CropScience, donated $381,600 to defeat California’s Prop. 37 GMO labeling bill)

Kids Chemotherapy Rebranded as ‘Superformula’

Yet another area where kids are being increasingly targeted for brainwashing is with regards to pharmaceuticals. One of the most shocking and recent examples is the rebranding of chemotherapy as ‘superformula’ for children. As reported by iO9.com12:

“Chemotherapy is never fun, but A.C.Camargo Cancer Center in São Paulo is trying to make it easier for children to accept the treatment. They’re rebranding the treatment as ‘superformula’ and using comics to help kids understand chemo…. [T]he cancer center is working with ad agency JWT, which also works with Warner Bros. The idea was to help children believe in the power of chemotherapy to make them ultimately better. They’re not just covering the chemo cases with superhero logos; they’re also giving pediatric cancer patients comic books in which the heroes experience something similar to cancer and must receive a similar treatment formulated by doctors. And in the comics, the cases for the treatment bags look just like the cases the kids get over their own chemo bags.”

How Do You Determine Whether or Not a Supplement Is a Good Choice?

To optimize your child’s health, your BEST solution is to choose the highest quality foods possible, and serve a wide variety of whole locally grown minimally processed organic foods. But how do you pick a high quality supplement, should you or your child need one? For starters, make sure it has the following characteristics:
•It is as close as possible to its natural (whole food) form, and ideally certified organic
•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.

Your Child’s Healthy Diet Is Up to You

Children will simply not know which foods are healthy unless you, as a parent, teach it to them. Remember, wholesome food is “live” food, and the hallmark of live food is the fact that it will wilt and decompose. The fact that fast food burgers, buns, and fries do not decompose, even after a decade, is a clear sign that it’s just not real food and serves no beneficial purpose as part of your diet. It’s very simple: Kids need real nutrients, not man-made chemicals that are nonexistent in natural food! These substitutes are NOT equivalent to the real deal.

Food is a part of crucial lifestyle choices first learned at home, so you need to educate yourself about proper nutrition and the dangers of junk food and processed foods in order to change the food culture of your entire family. To give your child the best start at life, and help instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime, you must lead by example. If you’re not sure where to start, I recommend reading my nutrition plan first. This will provide you with the foundation you need to start making healthy food choices for your family.

The simplest way back toward health, for children and adults alike, is to focus on WHOLE foods — foods that have not been processed or altered from their original state; food that has been grown or raised as nature intended, without the use of chemical additives, pesticides and fertilizers. You, a family member, or someone you pay will need to invest time in the kitchen cooking fresh wholesome meals from these whole foods so that you can break free from the processed food diet that will ultimately make you sick.

By doing this, and eating meals together as a family, your children will receive the proper nutrition their bodies need during the important developmental years while also developing a love for whole fresh foods that will last them a lifetime.

Its been about two weeks that I’ve been using this little godsend, the benefits of using it daily have been wonderful.
The Citrus Zinger is easy to use and very efficient for me being able to add a good tasting and nutritious litre of water has been great.

I mentioned that having to glug almost three litre’s of water can be quite challenging to say the least but flavouring it with lemon or lime has been great.

My observations of the product are that it’s well made and very easy to use, that being said the cost is within easy reach of the majority of budgets.

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=4880&awinaffid=164818&clickref=&p=

If the above link doesn’t show as html then I suggest copy and paste it into your browser.