1: Cardio is One of the Best Types of Exercise

In recent years, researchers have begun to realize that conventional cardio, such as jogging, is not all it’s been cracked up to be, and that you can actually improve your health and increase fat burning by making slight modifications to your cardio routine.The problem is that traditional cardio only works on the slow twitch muscle fibers in your red muscle, completely ignoring your white muscle super-fast twitch fibers.

“Peak 8” refers to peak exercises done once or twice a week, in which you raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery period.

To perform these properly you will want to get very close to, if not exceed, your maximum heart rate by the last interval. Your maximum heart rate is calculated as 220 minus your age. You will need a heart rate monitor to measure this as it is nearly impossible to accurately measure your heart rate manually when it is above 150.

Researchers have found that interval cardio produces a unique metabolic response that is in large part responsible for its superior benefits. Intermittent sprinting produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under your skin and within your muscles. The resulting increase in fat oxidation is thought to drive the increased weight loss.

It is also the only type of exercise that will increase growth hormone levels. This becomes especially important after the age of 30, when growth hormones steadily decline. It is much safer and far less expensive to have your body make growth hormone naturally though Peak 8 type exercises than inject it like many athletes do to the tune of $1500 per month.

2: Vaccines are Safe and Effective and Prevent Disease

I completely understand that for many this issue is not debatable as they believe that vaccines are one of the greatest gifts to public health in the history of civilization.

If you believe that, then let me encourage you to open your mind and explore other views held by many well respected physicians, scientists, clinicians and pro-vaccine safety educators.

You might want to review the article Read This Before Vaccinating for Anything, to help you start your exploration process.

When it comes to vaccines, there are three primary questions that need to be considered.

• First, is the vaccine in question safe?
• Secondly, does it effectively prevent disease?
• And third, which vaccines can safely and effectively be given together or in close succession?

Unfortunately, these issues have not been sufficiently studied for most vaccines, and those vaccines that have been studied frequently show that they are either unsafe or ineffective, or both!

Pro-vaccine-safety educators have long been saying that vaccines can over-stimulate your child’s immune system, sometimes causing the very disease it’s designed to protect against, or worse. And, when several vaccines are administered together, or in close succession, their interaction may completely overwhelm your child’s developing immune system.

This is one of the primary problems with vaccines in general - their detrimental impact on your body’s primary, natural defense against ALL disease.

Now consider that if your child is vaccinated according to the CDC’s recommended schedule, by the time your child starts kindergarten he or she will have received 48 doses of 14 vaccines. Of these, 36 doses will be given during the first 18 months of life - a time when your child’s body and brain is undergoing massive development!

Public health officials have NEVER proven that it is indeed safe to inject this volume of vaccines into infants. What’s more, they cannot explain why, concurrent with an increasing number of vaccinations, there has been an explosion of neurological and immune system disorders in American children.

This issue covers so much ground, it’s impossible to even try to summarize the many hazards and the lack of efficiency data for all the vaccines currently being given, in this article.

3: Fluoride in Your Water Lowers Your Risk of Cavities

The theory behind the introduction of fluoride in your water supply initially seems beneficial - to reduce the incidence of dental caries in children. However, the health dangers of fluoride are so numerous; they far outweigh any benefit to your teeth, and that’s IF water fluoridation actually did what its claimed to do.

Today, even promoters of fluoridation concede that the major benefits are only from topical applications; fluoride works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside of your body, so why swallow it?

Statistics tell us that water fluoridation is ineffective for preventing caries. There is practically no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries, and no difference between states that have a high- or low percentage of their water fluoridated.

Meanwhile, fluoride can cause significant harm, from dental fluorosis to thyroid damage to reduced IQ… and much more.

4: GMOs Crops are Safe, Well Tested and Economically Beneficial

GMOs may be the greatest health disaster in the American diet. Within 9 years of their introduction in 1996, multiple chronic illnesses jumped from 7 percent to 13 percent of the population, food allergies doubled in less time, and many other ailments have exponentially increased with the introduction of GM foods.

Millions may already be suffering health problems caused by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their diet. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has already urged doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients, citing studies that show how GMOs cause disorders such as vital organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system problems, accelerated aging, infertility, and dysfunctional regulation of insulin and cholesterol.

But not only are GM foods a health disaster, they also pose a significant environmental threat, and industry promises of financial benefits have turned out to be false as well.

5: Sun Causes Skin Cancer

There are many misconceptions about melanoma - the most dangerous type of skin cancer that accounts for more than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths. But despite all the bad press linking sun exposure to skin cancer, there’s almost no evidence at all to support that stance. There is, however, plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Over the years, several studies have already confirmed that appropriate sun exposure actually helps prevent skin cancer. In fact, melanoma occurrence has been found to decrease with greater sun exposure, and can be increased by sunscreens.

How does sunlight prevent, rather than cause, skin cancer?

In short, it’s the vitamin D formed in your skin from exposure to sunlight that provides this built in cancer protection.

The vitamin D goes directly to genes in your skin that help prevent the types of abnormalities that ultraviolet light causes. Unfortunately, if you follow the conventional recommendation to avoid sun exposure or always use sunscreen, your skin will not make any vitamin D, leaving you without this built-in cancer protection.

Statistics confirm the truth of these findings, as melanoma rates have increased right along with sun avoidance and increased use of sunscreens. If avoiding the sun actually was the answer, then melanoma rates should have decreased exponentially over the past couple of decades…

Instead, sun avoidance and the excessive use of sun screen are actually the two primary reasons for the rise in melanoma.

6: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease

As recently as 2002, the “expert” Food & Nutrition Board issued the following misguided statement, which epitomizes this myth:

“Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet.”

This dangerous recommendation, which arose from an unproven hypothesis from the mid-1950s, has been harming your health and that of your loved ones for about 40 years now.

The truth is, saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances, without which your body cannot function optimally.

They also act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes.

In fact, saturated is the preferred fuel for your heart!

7: Artificial Sweeteners are Safe, Well Tested and Help Promote Weight Loss

Most people use artificial sweeteners to lose weight. The amazing irony is that nearly all the studies that have carefully analyzed their effectiveness show that those who use artificial sweeteners actually gain more weight than those who consume caloric sweeteners.

In 2005, data gathered from the 25-year long San Antonio Heart Study showed that drinking diet soft drinks increased the likelihood of serious weight gain - far more so than regular soda. On average, each diet soft drink the participants consumed per day increased their risk of becoming overweight by 65 percent within the next seven to eight years, and made them 41 percent more likely to become obese.

The reasons for this ironic reality are still being investigated, but there are several potential causes, including:

• Sweet taste alone appears to increase hunger, regardless of caloric content.
• Artificial sweeteners appear to simply perpetuate a craving for sweets, and overall sugar consumption is therefore not reduced-leading to further problems controlling your weight.
• Artificial sweeteners may disrupt your body’s natural ability to “count calories,” as evidenced in studies such as this 2004 study at Purdue University, which found that rats fed artificially sweetened liquids ate more high-calorie food than rats fed high-caloric sweetened liquids.

In the end, the research tells us that artificial sweeteners are NOT a dieter’s best friend, because contrary to what the marketing campaigns claim, low- or no-calorie artificial sweeteners are more likely to help you pack on the pounds than shed them.

There are also a large number of health dangers associated with artificial sweeteners and aspartame in particular. 

8: Soy is a Health Food

The meteoric rise of soy as a “health food” is a perfect example of how a brilliant marketing strategy can fool millions. But make no mistake about it, unfermented soy products are NOT healthful additions to your diet.

On the contrary, thousands of studies have linked unfermented soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility-even cancer and heart disease.

Not only that, but more than 90 percent of American soy crops are genetically modified, which carries its own set of health risks.

Here is a sampling of the detrimental health effects that have been linked to soy consumption:

• Breast cancer
• Brain damage
• Infant abnormalities
• Thyroid disorders
• Kidney stones
• Immune system impairment
• Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
• Impaired fertility
• Danger during pregnancy and nursing

I am not opposed to all soy, however. Organic and, most importantly, properly fermented soy does have great health benefits. Examples of such healthful fermented soy products include tempeh, miso and natto.

9: Whole Grains are Good for Everyone

The use of whole-grains is an easy subject to get confused on especially for those who have a passion for nutrition, as for the longest time we were told the fiber in whole grains is highly beneficial.

Unfortunately ALL grains, including whole-grain and organic varieties, can elevate your insulin levels, which can increase your risk of disease.

It has been my experience that more than 85 percent of Americans have trouble controlling their insulin levels — especially those who have the following conditions:

• Overweight
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Protein metabolic types

In addition, sub-clinical gluten intolerance is far more common than you might think, which can also wreak havoc with your health.

As a general rule, I strongly recommend eliminating grains as well as sugars from your diet, especially if you have any of the above conditions that are related to insulin resistance. The higher your insulin levels and the more prominent your signs of insulin overload are, the more ambitious your grain elimination needs to be.

If you are one of the fortunate ones without insulin resistance and of normal body weight, then grains are fine, especially whole grains. It is wise to continue to monitor your grain consumption and your health as life is dynamic and constantly changing. What might be fine when you are 25 or 30 could become a major problem at 40 when your growth hormone and level of exercise is different.

10: All Plant Based Supplements are as Good as Animal Supplements

The primary example here is that of omega-3’s. It’s very important to realize that not all omega-3 fats are the same, and that the type and source of your omega-3 will make a big difference in the health benefits it provides.

There are three types of omega-3 fats:

• DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid)
• EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid)
• ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid)

Many people do not realize that most of the well-known health benefits associated with omega-3 fats - such as mental health, stronger bones and heart health — are linked to the animal-based omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA), not the plant-based omega-3 fat (ALA).

ALA, which is the type of omega-3 found in flaxseed and nuts, is converted into EPA and DHA in your body, but only at a very low ratio.

So even if you eat large amounts of ALA, your body can only convert a relatively small amount into EPA and DHA, and only when sufficient enzymes are present.

This does not mean plant-based omega-3 fats are intrinsically harmful or that they should be avoided, only that you ideally want to include an animal-based form as well. Personally, I regularly include omega-3 (ALA) plant-based foods, like flax and hemp, in my diet, but these are always combined with animal-based omega-3 fats.

11: Milk Does Your Body Good

Can milk do your body good?

Yes, if it’s RAW.

Unfortunately, this myth insists that conventional pasteurized milk has health benefits, which is far from true. Conventional health agencies also refuse to address the real dangers of the growth hormones and antibiotics found in conventional milk.

Please understand that I do not recommend drinking pasteurized milk of any kind, including organic, because once milk has been pasteurized its physical structure is changed in a way that can actually cause allergies and immune problems.

Important enzymes like lactase are destroyed, which causes many people to not be able to digest milk. Additionally, vitamins (such as A, C, B6 and B12) are diminished and fragile milk proteins are radically transformed from health nurturing to unnatural amino acid configurations that can actually worsen your health.

The eradication of beneficial bacteria through the pasteurization process also ends up promoting pathogens rather than protecting you from them.

The healthy alternative to pasteurized milk is raw milk, which is an outstanding source of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamins and enzymes, and it is, in my estimation, one of the finest sources of calcium available.

12: Low-Fat Diets are Healthy

The low-fat myth may have done more harm to the health of millions than any other dietary recommendation. Again, just as the recommendations to avoid sunshine has increased melanoma rates, the low-fat craze led to increased consumption of trans-fats, which we now know increases your risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

To end the confusion, it’s very important to realize that eating fat will not make you fat!

The primary cause of excess weight and all the chronic diseases associated with it, is actually the consumption of too much sugar — especially fructose, but also all sorts of grains, which rapidly convert to sugar in your body.

If only the low-fat craze had been a low-sugar craze… then we wouldn’t have nearly as much chronic disease as we have today.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there’s no shortage of health myths out there, and it only seems to be getting worse… The 12 myths reviewed above are but a sampling, because there are still many more.

by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, degenerative disease of the nerves in your brain and spinal column, caused through a demyelization process.  Myelin is the insulating, waxy substance around the nerves in your central nervous system.  When the myelin is damaged by an autoimmune disease or self-destructive process in your body, the function of those nerves deteriorate over time, resulting in a number of symptoms, including: muscle weakness, imbalance or loss of coordination, astigmatism and vision loss, and tremors

MS may progress steadily, or acute attacks may be followed by a temporary remission of symptoms.
In the video below, Dr. Terry Wahls tells the inspiring story of how she reversed multiple sclerosis after seven years of deterioration on the best conventional treatments available — simply by changing her diet!

17min video>http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/23/overcoming-multiple-sclerosis-through-diet.aspx?e_cid=20111223_DNL_art_1

Nutrition for Your Brain and Central Nervous System

Through her research into MS, Dr. Wahls discovered that, for some unknown reason, in addition to the commonly known symptoms, MS patients’ brains also tend to shrink. This roused her curiosity, and led her to research other diseases that have similar brain shrinkage, namely Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease. One common denominator is poorly functioning mitochondria. Mitochondria are like little ‘batteries’ in your cells that manage the energy supply to the cell, and unless you consume the correct nutrients, eventual mitochondrial malfunction is the obvious result.

She discovered that three nutrients in particular are essential for proper mitochondrial function:

1. Animal-based omega-3 fat
2. Creatine
3. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) or better yet the reduced version known as Ubiquinol

Just by adding those three to her diet, her decline began to slow. But she wasn’t improving, so she continued sleuthing through the medical research in search for an answer. When she discovered the Institute for Functional Medicine, Dr. Wahl began to find more clues.

As mentioned earlier, myelin is an insulating, waxy substance that sheathes the nerves in your central nervous system. Your myelin also needs specific nutrients to function properly, such as:

• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin B9
• Vitamin B12
• Animal-based omega-3 fat
• Iodine

Furthermore, the neurotransmitters in your brain need sulfur and B6 for optimal functioning. Eventually, Dr. Wahls designed her own eating plan, based on the nutrients she now knew she needed for optimal mitochondrial-, myelin-, and neurotransmitter function, because while your body can create some nutrients, others must be provided through your diet.

A Paleo Diet Success Story

The majority of Americans eat high amounts of processed foods, which are loaded with high fructose corn syrup, grains, and harmful chemical additives of all kinds, such as MSG, and artificial sweeteners like aspartame. Unfortunately, this kind of diet is a near-foolproof prescription for chronic disease… Not only are you getting lots of what you don’t need, you’re quite simply not getting enough real nutrients!  While two-thirds of American adults are now either overweight or obese, many if not most of them are also, simultaneously, malnourished.

According to the graph shown during Dr. Wahls speech, less than half of all Americans get enough vitamin B6 and magnesium in their diet. More than 70 percent do not get sufficient amounts of iodine, and a whopping 80 percent do not get enough omega-3 fat from their diet. This, by the way, is why animal-based omega-3 is one of the few supplements I recommend to virtually everyone. In comparison, ancient peoples and natives around the world who have not significantly altered their diet over time, consume anywhere between two-fold to 10-fold the amount of today’s recommended daily allowances (RDA) of nutrients!

Dr. Wahls altered her diet to reflect the Paleo-style diet of the hunter-gatherers of old as follows:

• 3 cups daily (equal to one dinner plate, piled high) of green leaves, such as kale, which are high in vitamins B, A, C, K, and minerals
• 3 cups daily of sulfur-rich vegetables from the cabbage- and onion- families, mushrooms and asparagus
• 3 cups daily of brightly colored vegetables, fruits and/or berries, which are a good source of antioxidants
• Wild fish for animal-based omega-3’s
• Grass-fed meat
• Organ meats for vitamins, minerals and CoQ10
• Seaweed for iodine and selenium

She eliminated processed foods, grains, and starches (which includes potatoes and corn). Amazingly, she began to notice significant improvement in just three months, and at the nine-month mark of her new diet, she was able to go on an 18-mile bike ride! This is astounding when you consider that over the past seven years her condition had deteriorated to the point that she had to sit in a reclined zero-gravity chair and could only walk short distances using two canes.

That is the power of nutrition!

I’d like to add a few suggestions though. Two factors in particular that can have a profound impact are vitamin D and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. Vitamin D deficiency can play an important role in MS, and aspartame toxicity has been known to mimic diseases such as MS, so addressing these two items should be at the top of your list-in addition to improving your diet, of course; not in lieu of dietary changes.

The Links Between Lack of Sun Exposure, Epstein-Barr Virus, and MS

Optimizing your vitamin D levels, which is one of the best things you can do for your health in general, is also one of the best preventive strategies against autoimmune diseases like MS.  A large number of studies have confirmed that your risk of MS increases the farther away you live from the equator. In fact, a lack of sunlight was identified as a risk factor for MS as early as 1922. Within the United States, your risk of developing MS roughly doubles if you spend your childhood-up to the age of 15-in northern states than if you live in the south.

Another previously established risk factor is the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever. Over a decade ago, German researchers demonstrated the association between EBV and MS, showing that in contrast to control populations, 100 percent of MS patients had antibodies against EBV! The authors suggested that EBV might play an indirect role in MS as an activator of the underlying disease process.

In one recent study, published in the journal Neurology, researchers assessed the relationship between ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) exposure in British MS patients.  Using English national Hospital Episode Statistics, they obtained the prevalence of MS and infectious mononucleosis (caused by the Epstein-Barr virus) during the seven-year period from 1998 to 2005. The UVB intensity data was collected from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. After evaluating the relationships between these three variables: MS prevalence, Epstein-Barr virus prevalence, and UVB intensity, they found that UVB exposure alone could explain 61 percent of the variations of MS cases across England.

When they combined UVB exposure and incidence of glandular fever, 72 percent of the variations could be explained.  The authors concluded that:

“UVB exposure and infectious mononucleosis (IM) together can explain a substantial proportion of the variance of MS. The effect of UVB on generating vitamin D seems the most likely candidate for explaining its relationship with MS. There is a pressing need to investigate the role of vitamin D and EBV and how they might interact to influence MS risk to identify potential prevention strategies.”

Guidelines for Optimizing Your Vitamin D Levels

Ideally, you’ll want to optimize your vitamin D levels by getting regular sun exposure (either outdoors or using a safe tanning bed) as your skin also creates vitamin D sulfate, which is water soluble and can travel freely throughout your body. As Dr. Wahls mentions, sulfur is one of the essential nutrients missing in MS, and according to research by Dr. Stephanie Seneff, vitamin D supplements are unlikely to provide the identical benefits that you get when exposing large amounts of skin to the sun, as oral vitamin D supplements are unsulfated.

Still, studies using oral vitamin D supplements have had positive results, so if you don’t have access to regular sun exposure, taking a supplement would definitely be wise. One such study, published in 2004, found that women who took vitamin D-containing multivitamin supplements were 40 percent less likely to develop MS than women who did not supplement. Keep in mind that this study was based on FAR lower vitamin D dosages than what we now know are needed, so if you optimize your levels, you’re likely to reduce your risk by more than 40 percent…

From my point of view, there’s simply no question that one of the most important physical steps you can take to control your health is to make sure your vitamin D levels are optimized to between 50-70 ng/ml year-round for general health, and between 70-100 ng/ml when treating autoimmune diseases such as MS, heart disease, or cancer.

As for dosage, if you’re taking an oral supplement, it’s important to understand that there’s no dosage at which “magic” happens. The most important factor is your serum level, so you’ll want to get your level measured regularly to determine if you need to take more or less than the general recommendation to stay within the optimal range. That said, based on the most recent research by GrassrootsHealth-an organization that has greatly contributed to the current knowledge on vitamin D through their D* Action Study-it appears as though most adults need about 8,000 IU’s of vitamin D a day.

The Dangers of Aspartame

According to some experts, such as Dr. Russell Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, the damage caused by ingesting excessive amounts of aspartic acid from aspartame can cause serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute symptoms.  Aspartic acid is an amino acid. Taken in its free form (unbound to proteins) it significantly raises the blood plasma level of aspartate and glutamate.

Dr. Wahls mentions the importance of antioxidants for proper cell- and brain function. The aspartate and glutamate in aspartame have the opposite impact. Too much aspartate or glutamate in your brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells. This is why aspartate and glutamate are referred to as “excitotoxins,” as they “excite” or stimulate your neural cells to death. Aspartame also rapidly metabolizes to methanol, another potent neurotoxin.

Aspartame toxicity often reveals itself through central nervous system disorders and compromised immunity, and can mimic the symptoms of and/or worsen several diseases that fall into these broad categories.
Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Multiple chemical sensitivity, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Attention deficit disorder, Panic disorder Depression, and other psychological disorders, Lupus, Diabetes and diabetic complications, Birth defects, Lymphoma,
Lyme disease, Hypothyroidism

How to Treat Multiple Sclerosis Without Dangerous Drugs

The conventional treatment plan for MS includes extremely toxic medications, such as:
• Prednisone, a steroid hormone that can significantly impair your immune system, and cause diseases like osteoporosis and cataracts
• Interferon. This drug is quite deceptive, because even though it’s a natural substance, it’s typically given in a dose that shuts down your body’s natural feedback loop. As a result, it tends to do more harm than good.
It is my strong recommendation to not use these drugs, as they are some of the most toxic drugs used in the field of medicine. Dr. Wahls is a poster-child for the complete lack of benefit gleaned from such drug treatments, and the profound healing that can be achieved using nutrition, and her dietary recommendations are spot-on.

Below is a summary of my lifestyle recommendations for MS. Many are identical to the general-health principles I’ve been teaching for years, but a few stand out as being specifically applicable to the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as MS.

• Optimize your vitamin D levels - This is an essential step, and while the optimal level for general health lies between 50-70 ng/ml, when treating diseases such as cancer, heart disease, or autoimmune diseases, your level should ideally be somewhere between 70-100 ng/ml. The preferred method to raise (and maintain) your vitamin D levels is by regularly exposing large amounts of your skin to sunshine, or by using a safe tanning bed. If neither is available, you can use an oral supplement of vitamin D3.As a general guideline, vitamin D experts recommend 8,000 IU’s per day for adults, and about 35 IU’s per pound for children, but you should take as much as is necessary to elevate and maintain your blood levels within the optimal range.

• Get plenty of animal-based omega-3 fats - Secondly, make sure you’re getting a good supply of animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. You also need to avoid damaged, processed fats found in most all processed foods. Especially damaging are the omega-6 fats found in soy-, canola-, and corn oil. These are usually highly oxidized and also contain trans fats and cyclic fats that imbed themselves into your cell membranes, distorting the cellular functions. The majority of these three oils are also genetically engineered, which can have its own set of health ramifications.

• Eliminate sugar, particularly fructose - Another crucial element is to eliminate as much sugar and fructose as possible from your diet. Cutting out processed foods and sweetened beverages will go a long way to reduce excess fructose, in addition to eliminating the majority of damaging fats in your diet. You simply must keep your daily total fructose intake below 25 grams.

If you haven’t yet grasped the toxic nature and profound health dangers of fructose, now’s the time to get with it. Sugar can contribute to the development of a number of autoimmune diseases, such as arthritis, asthma, and multiple sclerosis. It also increases uric acid levels, which leads to chronic, low-level inflammation, which has far-reaching consequences for your health.

• Eliminate pasteurized milk and dairy-This is another critical element. Studies have shown that cow’s milk consumption is correlated with MS prevalence (Neuroepidemiology 1992;11:304-12, and Neuroepidemiology 1993;12:15-27).

• Avoid aspartame and commercial fruit juices. Aspartame rapidly metabolizes to methanol, a potent neurotoxin. Additionally fruits and vegetables are also loaded with methanol but when they are consumed fresh it is bound to pectin and your body does not have the enzymes to break it down. However when fruits and vegetables are processed and put into glass jars or cans the methanol dissociates and can be liberated in high quantities.

• Eat plenty of raw food - This is an important principle for optimal health that I normally recommend for everyone. However, I’ve found that for people with severe autoimmune disease, it’s even more important. Some of the most dramatic improvements we’ve seen in patients using nutritional changes have come about as the result of eating a majority of their food raw instead of cooked.

• Fermented Vegetables. Optimizing your gut bacteria may be one of the most profound ways to improve your health. In the near future I will be doing a large number of interviews with Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride that goes into great detail on how to implement these valuable foods and many other details of recovery.

• Check your iron levels– Excess iron can cause damage to the endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels as well as create massive amounts of free radicals. It can also damage your DNA. Therefore, if you have MS it is very important to check your blood for iron overload, a process that is easily done through a simple blood test called a serum ferritin test. The healthy range of serum ferritin lies between 20 and 80 ng/ml. Below 20, you are iron deficient, and above 80, you have an iron surplus. Ferritin levels can go really high. I’ve seen levels over 1,000, but anything over 80 is likely going to be a problem. The ideal range is between 40-60 ng/ml.

If you find that your iron levels are high, simply donate your blood. Normally a person would require 1-3 blood draws per year, up to as many as one per month if your system can tolerate it, until your ferritin levels have been sufficiently lowered.

• Low-dose Naltrexone and alpha lipoic acid - One of the newer treatment strategies for MS is low dose Naltrexone (LDN), along with alpha lipoic acid. Naltrexone (generic name) is a pharmacologically active opioid antagonist, conventionally used to treat drug- and alcohol addiction - normally at doses of 50mg to 300mg. As such, it’s been an FDA approved drug for over two decades.

However, at very low dosages (3 to 4.5 mg), naltrexone has immunomodulating properties that may be able to successfully treat cancer malignancies and a wide range of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis. As explained on the informative website www.lowdosenaltrexone.org, when you take LDN at bedtime — which blocks your opioid receptors for a few hours in the middle of the night — it is believed to up-regulate vital elements of your immune system by increasing your body’s production of metenkephalin and endorphins (your natural opioids), hence improving immune function.

Dr. Bert Berkson is an expert on this regimen. For more information about his findings and successes using this combination, please review this previous article.

• Mercury detox - Mercury is clearly a neurotoxic poison that should be avoided, so avoiding fish and refusing or removing mercury dental amalgams are also important aspects. Certain supplements can also help eliminate mercury from your system, such as chlorella, and OSR (Oxidative Stress Reliever) developed by Dr. Boyd Haley.

• Address early childhood emotional traumas-Last but certainly not least, in my experience with MS patients, there is nearly always a precipitating traumatic emotional event that causes your immune system to crash, leading to the disease. Just as vitamin D deficiency seems to be present in most cases of autoimmune disease, there is also typically an emotional element involved. More often than not, some form of hidden emotional wound can be found in patients suffering with autoimmune diseases like MS.

Typically, this wounding occurred at a very young age, almost always before the age of seven; often before the age of five. Issues related to this event need to be addressed by using an effective energy psychology tool like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), but only with the help of an experienced practitioner.

Related Links:

Can an Abnormality in Your Neck Cause MS?
Insights on Multiple Sclerosis
MS Drug Continues to Cause Disastrous Side Effects

Two years ago, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that high urinary BPA concentrations appear to be linked to increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and abnormal concentrations of liver enzymes.

Then just a few days ago, JAMA published another BPA study that gives us a good idea of the upper range of BPA concentrations. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health recruited healthy subjects for the first randomized intervention study of BPA. Subjects who ate freshly made soup every day for five days had an average BPA level of 1.1 micrograms per liter of urine. Average BPA in subjects who ate soup from cans was an astounding 20.8 micrograms per liter! That level is common for people exposed to BPA as an occupational hazard, but these subjects were mostly Harvard students and instructors. Even the researchers described the results as “quite surprising.”

They could have added “quite distressing” if they had seen another recent study from the Breast Cancer Fund. When BCF researchers tested six canned foods marketed to kids, all six tested positive for BPA. The highest levels were found in two Campbell’s products: Toy Story pasta in chicken soup, and Disney Princess pasta in chicken soup.

Of course, Campbell’s is a worldwide giant in food production, with annual sales that reached nearly $8 billion in 2008. That’s a lot of soup going out into the world. And with many Campbell’s brands costing less than a dollar, there may be millions of consumers pushing BPA levels that are closer to 20.8 than 1.1.

But I don’t mean to single out Campbell’s. Their BPA use is apparently no different than scores of other major food and beverage producers that sell canned products.

There are exceptions. More than 10 years ago (WAY ahead of the curve) Eden Foods went to great lengths to make the switch to BPA-free cans. Hain Celestial, Heinz, ConAgra, and other brands are beginning to phase out BPA use.

You can easily shop for BPA-free containers and feeding bottles for infants. Just google “BPA-free” and you’ll find plenty of products that won’t increase your diabetes and heart disease risk.

- Jenny Thompson
——————————–
Canned soups loaded with dangerous chemicals

- by William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

You’d have to have a death wish to eat anything that comes in a can — and not just because of the factory-floor refuse they scrape into those things.

The cans themselves are lined and sealed with BPA, a dangerous endocrine-disrupting chemical that mimics estrogen so well that it essentially acts like the hormone once it gets inside your body.

And if you’re eating canned foods, there’s TONS of this stuff in your body right now –  BPA has been linked to positively everything under the sun, from sexual dysfunction to obesity, diabetes and heart disease — and it’s hardly the only thing in those cans that’ll do a number on you.

Canned soups are also overflowing with soy protein, which is yet another form of estrogen — giving you double the surge in unnecessary hormones. Many soups also contain MSG, a dangerous additive linked to everything from headaches to mental illness.

And let’s not forget the rest of the ingredients, which include words no one outside the food chemistry business can even pronounce.

By Sylvia Booth Hubbard                                                                          December 18, 2011 

The government is ratcheting up its efforts to convince Americans to get flu shots. “You can’t walk into a pharmacy without seeing lines, and the government is now telling preachers to tell their congregations to get flu shots,” says Dr. Russell Blaylock, renowned neurosurgeon and editor of the Blaylock Wellness Report. “I’ve never seen anything like it.  “The incidence of flu across the United States is extremely low - there are virtually no outbreaks - and not a single child has died. Yet, the flu vaccine is being pushed as if it’s the greatest health advance ever discovered.

“The vaccine is completely worthless, and the government knows it,” says Dr. Blaylock. “There are three reasons the government tells the elderly why they should get flu shots:secondary pneumonia, hospitalization, and death. Yet a study by the Cochrane group studied hundreds of thousands of people and found it offered zero protection for those three things in the general community. It offered people in nursing homes some immunity against the flu - at best one-third - but that was only if they picked the right vaccine.

“The government also says that every baby over the age of six months should have a vaccine, and they know it contains a dose of mercury that is toxic to the brain. They also know the studies have shown that the flu vaccine has zero - zero - effectiveness in children under 5.

“Here’s the bottom line: The vast number of people who get the flu vaccine aren’t going to get any benefit, but they get all of the risks and complications.”

Flu vaccines contain mercury in the form of thimerosal (ethylmercury), a brain toxin, which accumulates in the brain and other organs. “It’s incorporated into the brain for a lifetime,” says Dr. Blaylock. “After five or 10 years of flu shots, enough mercury accumulates in the brain that every single study agrees is neurotoxic. Mercury is extremely toxic to the brain even in very small concentrations, and there are thousands of studies that prove it.

“The changes that we see in the brain associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are all easily produced by mercury in these doses.

“Epidemiological studies show no harm from vaccines containing mercury, but if you read the studies, you’ll find that all of the control subjects had already been given mercury vaccines at some point in their lives. In other words, none of the controls were mercury-free to begin with,” he says.

“You don’t do studies to find out if something is toxic and give the control subjects the toxin. They know that, and their excuse was that they couldn’t find people who hadn’t taken mercury vaccines. But that’s not true. The Amish don’t take vaccines, and many home-schooled children haven’t had them.

“The government also refuses to fund studies that use controls who have never been vaccinated. They know what the studies would show.”

Mercury is such a strong immune depressant that a flu shot suppresses immunity for several weeks. “This makes people highly susceptible to catching the flu,” says Dr. Blaylock. “They may even think the vaccine gave them the flu, but that’s not true - it depressed their immune system and then they caught the flu.”

Mercury overstimulates the brain for several years, says Dr. Blaylock, and that activation is the cause of Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases.

Flu isn’t a big health risk, especially not this year, says Dr. Blaylock, but the single best way of protecting yourself is not through a shot, but through your diet. These five simple tips can help protect you from the flu as well as any other viruses and bacteria this winter:

1. Don’t eat large amounts of sugar. “Sugar is an immune-suppressant,” says Dr. Blaylock.

2. Avoid omega-6 fats. “These oils, such as corn oil and canola oil, are powerful immune suppressants,” says Dr. Blaylock. Don’t use canola oil in salad dressings, and don’t eat processed foods which are filled with omega-6 fats.

3. Boost your intake of vitamin D3. “Studies show that increased amounts of vitamin D3 dramatically reduce complications and death rate from flu in people of all ages,” he says. Elderly people are almost always deficient in vitamin D3. “Most people should be getting a minimum of 2,000 IU a day,” says Dr. Blayock, but between 5,000 IU and 10,000 IU is optimal.

4. Add astaxanthin to your daily regime. The body’s immune system’s becomes less efficient as we age. “Studies show that astaxanthin can restore the immune system to the way it was in your 20s,” says Dr. Blaylock.

5. Take beta glucan. “Beta glucan selectively stimulates cellular immunity, which fights viruses,” says Dr. Blaylock.

“Taking these steps will help you avoid the flu,” says Dr. Blaylock. “And if you do get it, it’ll be milder, you’ll get over it more quickly, and you’ll avoid complications such as pneumonia.”

Why the big vaccine push? “It’s all about money,” he says. “Vaccines are a pharmaceutical company’s dream. Pharmaceutical companies have a product that both the government and the media will help them sell, and since vaccines are protected, they can’t be sued if anyone has a complication. If hundreds of millions of people get a shot and a million get serious complications, no one can get sued. Vaccines are a pharmaceutical company’s dream.”

© 2011 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Read more: Dr. Russell Blaylock Warns: Don’t Get the Flu Shot - It Promotes Alzheimer’s
Important: At Risk For A Heart Attack? Find Out Now.

by Heidi Stevenson

Medical science is rampant with fraud. At the Mayo Clinic, ten years of research that appeared to be leading towards harnessing the immune system to fight cancer is worthless because of fraudulent studies and later research based on the fraudulent ones.  Retraction of medical research papers is at an all-time high. Though error was cited at a 3 to 1 rate over fraud, one must seriously question whether simple error is the primary reason. After all, these studies are peer-reviewed. They are supposed to have passed rigorous examination. But, what’s the reality?The reality is that flaws in much of medical research are blatant. Often, merely examining a study, instead of taking it at face value, demonstrates that the conclusions are not supported by the evidence.  Nonetheless, those same studies are cited as evidence of efficacy of drugs and procedures. Even after papers have been retracted, the impression they’ve given doesn’t disappear. Research based on those papers is already designed and in process.

Doctors are loathe to change their practices on the basis of bad studies. Changes are made more readily as new drugs and procedures are advocated, not as old ones are discredited. Just take a look at doctors’ continuing to prescribe bisphonates for the nonexistent disease, osteopenia (pre-osteoporosis), and hormone replacement therapy for another nonexistent disease, menopause-or even the routine prescribing of fever-reducing drugs, which is nearly always counter-productive.

Does Better Error Detection Explain the Retractions?

Some medical journals are claiming that they’re better at detecting errors, implying that there really isn’t an increase in fraudulent papers. That explanation simply doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. They offer no explanation as to what might make them better at detecting errors now. In other words, the august journals are basing the claim on absolutely nothing but wishful thinking.

Worse, some are claiming that the advent of plagiarism software explains it. But how does finding plagiarism in papers explain fraudulent studies?

The simple fact is that they’re finding more fraudulent studies because they’re actually looking for them. And not as a result of their own internal reviews, but because of fraud scandals that reached mainstream media.

Why So Much Fraud in Medical Studies?

There is a tremendous amount to be gained by getting away with fraud in medical studies. The reason is simple. According to Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet:

A single paper in Lancet and you get your chair and you get your money. It’s your passport to success.

It’s all about money. Get published in a major medical journal and your future is made. Most peer reviewers are doing their own studies. That’s what makes them peers. They want to be able to publish. Therefore, they are not particularly inclined to make more than perfunctory negative comments. Obviously, they don’t want to alienate the authors of papers, since they either are or hope to become published themselves.

Peer review is a farce. The only kind of review that makes real sense is professional independent reviewers. Yet, for decades we’ve had peer review trotted out as the be-all and end-all in determining the legitimacy of papers. It’s been unquestioned, while a little examination of the concept demonstrates that it’s nearly certain to result in fraudulent work being passed as good science.

Fraud Is a Scar on Science

Richard Horton says that this fraud “is a scar on the moral body of science.” That’s certainly true. How many patients have been harmed? We’ll likely never know, as these examples show:

• Vioxx, the pain medication that causes heart attacks.
• The deeply flawed statin studies that hide the adverse effects, not to mention lack of efficacy.
• The antidepressant and antipsychotic studies that have hidden adverse effects and lack of efficacy, too.
• The misguided studies on salt that continue to claim that lower salt intake needs to pushed, when the opposite is probably true. In most people, there is a direct relationship between salt intake and death rates. The lower the salt intake, the greater the death rate, as demonstrated by a good study published in JAMA.

Even the system that’s supposed to control fraud in studies before they ever reach the stage of publication is corrupt, as documented in this sting operation. The fraud is systemic, from the start of drug trials that are financed directly and indirectly by Big Pharma, to the competition among researchers hoping to make their first million, to the journals that accept the fraudulent reports, using an obviously biased system of peer review to hide behind and financed almost totally by Big Pharma ads, to the doctors who choose to blindly accept whatever the journal reports say because it’s easy, gives them cover, and also brings patients to them.

Signifying the Inherent Corruption in Conventional Medicine

Yes, this is the system of evidence that conventional medicine claims justifies its existence. Instead, it demonstrates that conventional medicine is anything but evidence-based. There is no sound basis for most of modern medicine’s treatments, as should certainly be obvious with the constantly increasing rate of chronic disease.

Take a look at the advent of drug resistant diseases, which are growing rampant and often far more virulent. Or look at the false claims of disease eradication through vaccines, when any rational look at the evidence shows that it’s not modern medicine we need to thank, but adequate food, good water, and good sanitation systems. Consider the advent of a new kind of whooping cough, 10 times more virulent than the old version and caused by the vaccine itself, while being blamed on the unvaccinated!

Even when there has been apparent success, we often find that it’s short-lived and has presented us with worse problems than the ones apparently resolved.

We are, indeed, entering a brave new world of conventional medicine. Unfortunately, the ones who need to be brave are the patients, because they’re going to need every bit of resource and resilience they can find to avoid being little more than recipients of whatever modern medicine’s pseudo-science manages to spew forth.

While Dr. Horton’s comment about fraudulent studies being a “scar on the moral body of science” is true, the whole truth is far more disheartening. The entire system of conventional medicine has become a scar on the psyche and soma of humans.

———–
Surgeons hide bone treatment risks

by William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

Medical research is a pay-for-play business. If you’re willing to pay, researchers will play.

Here’s the latest: A handful of surgeons came out with a series of glowing “studies” claiming that a new bone treatment procedure had virtually no risks.

No risks, huh?

Nothing sets off my BS meter like those two little words — especially when you’re talking about something as complex as a bioengineered protein used to spur bone growth during spinal fusion surgeries.

Sure enough, a new look at the data found that anywhere between 10 percent and 50 percent of patients suffered conditions such as male sterility, infection, increased pain, bone loss and — picture the horror of this one — unwanted bone growth.

Are we talking an extra arm here… or just a sixth finger?

Of course, there’s a reason researchers were so willing to overlook these risks — 62 million reasons, to be precise. Fifteen of the key surgeons behind 13 Infuse studies collected a combined $62 million in payments from Medtronic for other work, according to The Spine Journal, which devoted an entire issue to the scandal.

And to this day, some of those researchers remain positively delusional.

Dr. Thomas A. Zdeblick, who co-authored three of the studies, told the New York Times he had no “direct financial interest in the success of Infuse or Medtronic.”

Is this guy for real?

The Times says Zdeblick collected more than $20 million in royalties from the company for his patents on several devices, including one used with Infuse.

“No direct financial interest” my rear end!

But there’s a bigger problem here — way bigger than Zdeblick or Infuse — and that’s the peer review process, which is now exposed for the joke that it is.

Every one of those 13 studies made it through — which shows that peers aren’t doing a whole lot of reviewing.

Think about THAT the next time you read a breathless report on the next big drug or medical device.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff

NaturalNews) Consuming sodium fluoride, a toxic chemical commonly added to US water supplies to allegedly help prevent tooth decay, definitively causes neurodegenerative damage in the brain, spinal cord, and sciatic nerve. These are the findings of a recent study published in the Journal of Medical and Allied Sciences, and ones that, by all scientific standards, put to rest the failed myth that fluoride consumption is in any way safe.Conducted by K. Pratap Reddy of Osmania University in India, the study confirms that fluoride chemicals “cross the blood-brain barrier and alter the structure and function of neural tissue.” Repeated exposure to fluoride chemicals in test rats was found to lower body weights; reduce the organic somatic index of their brains; and contaminate their hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum, spinal cord, and sciatic nerve tissues with persistent fluoride chemicals.

The blood-brain barrier is the body’s natural way of protecting the brain and central nervous system from damage by harmful toxins. In other words, it is meant to allow only nutrients and other beneficial metabolic products access to the brain, while filtering out all other materials.

But fluoride chemicals possess uniquely harmful characteristics that allow them to bypass this protective barrier and lodge themselves within brain tissue. The end result is a cascade of neurodegeneration throughout the brain and central nervous system, which in turn can lead to a host of severe and potentially deadly conditions, some of which are irreversible.

Compared to rats not given sodium fluoride, those given the chemicals as part of the study experienced “vacuolation of Schwann cells with enlarged axons and disrupted myelin sheaths” in their sciatic nerves; “irregular nuclei with normal nucleoli, vacuolated cytosol and axons with split myelin,” in their spinal cords; and altered morphology in cerebellar tissue that resulted in “dumbbell shaped and [crenulated] nuclear membrane.”

You can read the full study for yourself at:
http://static.infowars.com/2011/12/…

In simple terms, these changes signify severe neurological damage that can manifest itself in a variety of different ways. Lowered IQ, reduced cognitive function, learning disabilities, and hyperactivity are some of the forms of brain damage caused by fluoride consumption.

“Who in their right mind would risk lowering their child’s intelligence in order to reduce a small amount of tooth decay, for which the evidence is very weak?” asked Tara Blank, PhD, the Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) Science and Health Officer, after the release of a Chinese fluoride study earlier this year that found similar results.

Editor’s Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support the implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and well-being of all living creatures.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/study-p…

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034399_fluoride_brain_damage_water_supply.html#ixzz1gzpi3JXo

In just the past three decades, the number of people with kidney stones in the United States has been on the rise — most likely as a result of modern diets — and the condition is now incredibly common. Nearly 3 million people visit a health care provider and more than half a million go to the emergency room each year due to problems with kidney stones, according to the National Kidney & Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC).Records of kidney stones, which are mineral crystallizations that form from imbalanced mineral ions in your urine, can be found since the beginning of civilization. Lithotomy, a surgical procedure for removing stones, is one of the earliest known surgical procedures. In fact, a caution about the dangers of surgically removing stones is found in the text of the Hippocratic Oath, and there is even evidence of kidney stones in a 7,000-year-old Egyptian mummy.

Just recently, someone in my family had a mild case of kidney stones. I also  treated my brother-in-law 20 years ago for recurrent stones and he underwent several rounds of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. Eventually I had to refer him to the University of Chicago Center where they were able to develop a dietary program that essentially eliminated them.

In all, an estimated 1 million Americans develop kidney stones each year. Unfortunately, this makes the chance of getting another one very high, as once you have had one kidney stone attack, your chance of recurrence is about 70 to 80 percent. So, as with most health conditions, prevention is the best route of attack for kidney stones.

What are Kidney Stones?

Kidney stones form when minerals in your urine crystallize, forming a “stone.” Typically, compounds in your urine inhibit these crystals from forming. Some people form stones when their urine contains more crystal-forming substances, such as calcium and uric acid, than the available fluid can dilute. This can happen when urine is highly acid or highly alkaline.

The conditions allowing kidney stones to form are created by problems in the way your body absorbs and eliminates calcium and other substances. Sometimes the underlying cause is a metabolic disorder or kidney disease, although certain drugs, such as Lasix (furosemide), Topomax (topiramate), and Xenical, can also promote kidney stones. Many times, it is a combination of factors that creates an environment favorable to stone formation.

As such, most kidney stones contain crystals of multiple types, but determining the predominate type helps you identify the underlying cause:

1. Calcium stones: The most common type (four out of five cases) is usually in the form of calcium oxalate. Oxalate is found in some fruits and vegetables, but your liver produces most of your oxalate. If you are found to have oxalate stones, your physician may recommend avoiding foods rich in oxalates, such as dark green vegetables, nuts and chocolate.
2. Struvite stones: Found more often in women, these are almost always the result of urinary tract infections.
3. Uric acid stones: These are a byproduct of protein metabolism. They’re commonly seen with gout,and may result from certain genetic factors and disorders of your blood-producing tissues. However, fructose also elevates uric acid, and there is evidence that fructose consumption is helping to drive up rates of kidney disease.
4. Cystine stones: Representing only a very small percentage of kidney stones, these are the result of a hereditary disorder that causes your kidneys to excrete massive amounts of certain amino acids (cystinuria).

Do Kidney Stones Require Medical Help?

If the stone remains small, it will pass through your urinary tract unnoticed, but if it is large it can be one of the most excruciatingly painful conditions you can experience. Kidney stones can range in size from a grain of sand to larger than a golf ball, and if a stone fails to pass, permanent damage to your urinary tract can result.

So this is not something to ignore — not that you could easily ignore such a painful episode — but in most cases the best solution is letting the stone pass on its own. This might take days, or weeks in some cases, but the key is to drink enough pure water — NOT soda or fruit juice — to decrease the concentration of solids in your urine to the point that the stone will be dissolved.

Most kidney stones will pass on their own without medical intervention, but in some cases, such as if a stone blocks the flow of urine, damages kidney tissues, or is simply too large to pass on its own, you may need more aggressive treatment. There are several medical procedures and surgical techniques that can be used to treat kidney stones, but the risks are high enough that physicians typically shy away from them, unless there’s no other choice.

Fortunately, there are now some more advanced options other than surgery, such as extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. This treatment entails being submerged in a tub of water where sound waves traveling through the liquid shatter the stones. They then pass as gravel through your urine in a few days or weeks.

You Can Prevent Kidney Stones with Lifestyle Changes

Many people mistakenly believe that there’s nothing you can do to prevent kidney stones. In reality, many risk factors are under your control, and many are remarkably simple.

1. Drink Plenty of Water

The number one risk factor for kidney stones is not drinking enough water. If you aren’t drinking enough, your urine will simply have higher concentrations of substances that can form stones. NKUDIC recommends drinking enough water to produce at least 2 quarts of urine in every 24-hour period, but a simpler way to know if you are drinking enough water is to check the color of your urine; you want your urine to be a very light yellow.

Every person’s water requirement is different, depending on your particular system and activity level, but simply keeping your urine light yellow will go a long way toward preventing kidney stones. Remember to increase your water intake whenever you increase your activity, and when you’re in a warmer climate.

If you happen to be taking any multivitamins or B supplements that contain vitamin B2 (riboflavin), the color of your urine will be a very bright nearly fluorescent yellow and this will not allow you to use the color of your urine as a guide to how well you are hydrated.

2. Make Sure You Get Adequate Magnesium

Magnesium is responsible for more than 300 biochemical reactions in your body, and deficiency of this mineral has been linked to kidney stones. It also plays an important role in your body’s absorption and assimilation of calcium, as if you consume too much calcium without adequate magnesium, the excess calcium can actually become toxic and contribute to health conditions like kidney stones.

Magnesium helps prevent calcium from combining with oxalate, which is the most common type of kidney stone.

Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are excellent sources of magnesium, and one of the simplest ways to make sure you’re consuming enough of these is by juicing your vegetables. Vegetable juice is an excellent source of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts and seeds, like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Avocados are also a good source. However, surveys suggest that many Americans are not getting enough magnesium in their diets.

It’s been estimated that up to 80 percent of the U.S. population is deficient in this important mineral, according to Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, author of The Miracle of Magnesium.

If you decide to supplement with magnesium it is important to understand that its complementary partner is calcium. So you should use both. Typically you would use twice as much elemental magnesium relative to the elemental calcium. That ratio works out quite well for most.

3. Avoid Sugar, Including Fructose and Soda

A diet high in sugar can set you up for kidney stones, since sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body by interfering with calcium and magnesium absorption. The consumption of unhealthy sugars and soda by children is a large factor in why children as young as age 5 or 6 are now developing kidney stones.

One South African study found that drinking soda exacerbates conditions in your urine that lead to formation of calcium oxalate kidney stone problems. Sugar can also increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in your kidney such as the formation of kidney stones.

4. Exercise

You’re more prone to kidney stones if you’re bedridden or very sedentary for a long period of time, partly because limited activity can cause your bones to release more calcium. Exercise will also help you to resolve high blood pressure, a condition that doubles your risk for kidney stones.  

5. Eat Calcium-Rich Foods (but be careful with supplements)

In the past, kidney stone sufferers have been warned to avoid foods high in calcium, as calcium is a major component of the majority of kidney stones. However, there is now evidence that avoiding calcium may do more harm than good. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a study of more than 45,000 men, and the men who had diets rich in calcium had a one-third lower risk of kidney stones than those with lower calcium diets.

It turns out that a diet rich in calcium actually blocks a chemical action that causes the formation of the stones. It binds with oxalates (from foods) in your intestine, which then prevents both from being absorbed into your blood and later transferred to your kidneys.

So, urinary oxalates may be more important to formation of calcium-oxalate kidney stone crystals than is urinary calcium. It is important to note that it is the calcium from foods that is beneficial — not calcium supplements, which have actually been found to increase your risk of kidney stones by 20 percent.

6. Avoid Non-Fermented Soy

Soybeans and soy-based foods may promote kidney stones in those prone to them, as they may contain high levels of oxalates, which can bind with calcium in your kidney to form kidney stones.

This is just one reason why unfermented soy — the type found in soy milk, soy burgers, soy ice cream and even tofu — is not a health food. If you were to carefully review the thousands of studies published on soy, I strongly believe you would reach the same conclusion as I have — which is, the risks of consuming unfermented soy products FAR outweigh any possible benefits.

If you’re interested in enjoying the health benefits of soy, choose fermented soy, as after a long fermentation process, the phytate (which blocks your body’s uptake of essential minerals) and anti-nutrient levels of soybeans (including oxalates) are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to your digestive system.

As you can see, the best and most natural ways to prevent kidney stones are some of the easiest, if you’re willing to make some lifestyle alterations.

(NaturalNews) Recently someone in my community asked how to get rid of pesky critters. A neighbor who own a garden center said that they use Diatomaceous Earth. Well - that seemed to me to be a golden opportunity to reveal my little secret to the world - that I have been eating Diatomaceous Earth for about a year now.

D.E. has many beneficial effects, but it is the anti-aging effect that I have seen most pronounced as a change in myself. Rather remarkably, since I have been eating D.E., I have stopped needing to bleach my hair. It has gone from a mousy mostly grey to a luscious blond/brown (my pre-65 year old hair color). I am really happy about this change - as it is saving me tons of money ($300 a pop for tin-foil bleaching). Even my hairdresser is surprised at the change, and keeps telling me how nice the color of my hair is. However, the good news for my hair dresser is that my hair is now growing wildly faster, and so I am able to keep her happy by needing more frequent haircuts.

Diatomaceous Earth is a fossilized deposit of microscopic shells created by one-celled plantscalled Diatoms. These plants inhabit all the waters of the earth, and serve as the basic food for aquatic life, just as grass is the basic food for land animals. This mineral-based compound contains silicon, magnesium, calcium, sodium, iron and other trace minerals that the body needs to stay healthy. All Diatomaceous Earth is 84% Silicon Dioxide (Silica).

Here is the science behind my peculiar habit of eating this stuff:

Diatomaceous Earth is the hands-down best source of the minera silica. In 1939, Nobel Prize Doctor Butenant showed the importance of silica for life itself. It may be true that silica is the most important trace element in human health. Silica plays an important role in many body functions. The human body holds approximately seven grams of silica, a quantity far exceeding the figures for other important minerals. Years ago, the silica found in our foodstuffs was adequate for our needs. But with today’s hybrids and depleted soils, only about 1/3 of the silica needed is supplied in our food.

Diatomaceous Earth looks like a cylinder full of holes–kind of like Rice Chex Cereal. This cylinder has a very strong negative charge while pathogens have a positive charge. As these millions of cylinders move through the stomach and digestive tract, they attract and absorb fungi, protozoa, viruses, endotoxins, pesticides and drug residues, E-Coli, and heavy metals. These are trapped inside the cylinder and passed out of the body. In addition, any larger parasites that happen to be in the stomach or digestive tract are “cut up” and killed by the sharp edges of the diatomaceous earth. All of these activities result in a much healthier body with less sickness.

Detoxification Benefits:

The spa that I own in Manhattan, emphasizes therapies that detox the body. Last month, we wrote our 50,000th receipt. That’s 50,000 detox treatments we have done in 18 years, a lion’s share of those being colonics. We want all people to continue to have colonics because colonics give a thorough cleansing of the colon. But we also want people to know how to continue colon cleansing at home. D.E. is the perfect home remedy.

Diatomaceous Earth is very hard. On the hardness scale where diamonds are a 9, Diatomaceous Earth is a 7. This hardness is important because as those millions of tiny hard and sharp diatomaceous earth cylinders pass through the small and large intestines, they “scrub” the walls. After only a few months of taking Diatomaceous Earth, the intestine wall is no longer coated with mucus and molds but has become clean. The advantages of this are several:

-regularizes bowel movements (this is the most frequently mentioned benefit about D.E.)
-creates a healthier colon environment (a cleaner colon helps to keep away polyps, cancers,
and ulcers)
-gives increased energy and less need for sleep (with a cleaner colon, food and nutrients are
better absorbed into the blood stream)
-reduces inflammation of the intestinal tract (can prevent or clear up diarrhea and, rather
intelligently, also cures the opposite condition of constipation)
-helps to normalize hemorrhoidal tissues
-alleviates lower back pain that is caused by a too-full colon

But the health benefits of D.E. only begin with colon detoxification. Other benefits of Diatomaceous Earth can be organized around three principles: over-all health; anti-aging; weight loss.

Over-All Health Benefits:
-helps repair and maintain vital lung tissues and protects them from pollution
-lowers high blood pressure
-lowers high cholesterol
-addresses osteoporosis & joint problems
-acts as a cough decreasing agent; tones the upper respiratory tract (nose, pharynx, larynx)
and reduces swelling because of its positive action on the lymphatic system
-helps to prevent many unwanted side-effects of menopause
-helps to prevent kidney stones
-heals infections of the urinary tract; is a natural diuretic which can increase excretion of
urine by 30 percent, thus flushing the water-excreting system and restoring normal
function to these vital organs
-effective with female discharge, abscesses and ulcers in the genital area and cervix, as well
as mastitis (especially for breast feeding mothers).
-acts as a supportive treatment for inflammation of the middle ear (effective in reducing
swelling of the lymph nodes in the throat)
-has anti-inflammatory disinfecting, absorbing and odor binding effects
-normalizes circulation and regulates high blood pressure (hypertension)
-decreases vertigo, headache, tinnitus (buzzing of the ears) and insomnia
-promotes synthesis of elastase inhibitor by the pancreas, thus helping to normalize diabetes
-strengthens blood vessels
-helps to prevent Tuberculosis.
-improves the elasticity of the joints; helps rheumatism
-stimulates metabolism for higher energy levels

Weight Loss:

One of the benefits of silica is that it helps to destroy bad fats. Taken in the morning, it helps to curb appetite throughout the day.

Anti-Aging:

Hair (90 micrograms per gram) needs almost as much silica as bone (100 micrograms per gram). Eating D.E., with its rich supply of silica, should be part of any ongoing hair revitalization program. Silica helps to prevent baldness, stimulates healthier hair growth and assures beautiful shine, luster and strength.

D.E. serves as nature’s internal cosmetic for skin, nails and teeth as well as hair.  Collagen underneath the skin enhances elasticity and beauty. Collagen is largely made up of silica. As we age, tissue degeneration accelerates because our connective tissue begins to lose the ability to retain moisture. Silica helps to slow down the degenerative/moisture-losing process of aging connective tissue.
Silica also protects our teeth and gums. By hardening the enamel, silica prevents cavities and preserves teeth. Silica also helps to prevent bleeding gums, gum atrophy, and recession.

Finally, silica can help avoid or alleviate Alzheimer’s by preventing the body from absorbing aluminum.
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Diatomaceous earth

by Luella May

Diatomaceous earth does not have an unpleasant taste. Simply mix 1 to 2 tablespoons daily in liquid or food. Since diatomaceous earth does not dissolve, it may be necessary to stir a few times while drinking to prevent settling. As some people experience high energy levels, it is best to take it in the morning hours.

Diatomaceous earth benefits pets and other animals similarly to the way it does humans, and it can have other benefits as well. For example, rubbing diatomaceous earth on their coats will ward off fleas and ticks and given internally, it is an excellent de-wormer.

When giving pets diatomaceous earth orally, just mix it in their food. Kittens should receive 1/4 of a teaspoon while large cats should be given 1 teaspoon.

The dosage for dogs is as follows:

*Very small dogs should receive 1/2 teaspoon.
*Dogs under 50 pounds - 1 teaspoon.
*Dogs 50 to 100 pounds - 1 tablespoon.
*Dogs more than 100 pounds - 1 to 2 tablespoons.

Diatomaceous earth can also be added to kitty litter and pet carriers to reduce odors.

Gardeners can find that diatomaceous earth is a dream come true. The sharp points scratch the exoskeleton of insects causing them to dry out and die and the powder also absorbs fats (lipids) from the hard exoskeletons of the insects, drying them even further. It makes an excellent pesticide, effectively controlling aphids, thrips, mites, snails, and slugs without harming worms or beneficial soil microorganisms.

IMPORTANT NOTES: Industrial grade diatomaceous earth, which has larger quantities of a highly crystallized form of silica, should never be inhaled due to possible health risks for the lungs. When using food grade diatomaceous earth externally, such as in the garden or on pets, it is probably a good idea to wear a dust mask and gloves. Breathing in too much food grade diatomaceous earth may irritate the mucus membranes in the nose and mouth and it may dry out your skin. Once the dust settles, it does not pose a threat.

(NaturalNews) It is no surprise that the medical community cannot establish a root cause for Raynaud’s, referring to it as either idiopathic, or more commonly, a phenomenon.

Also known as RS, Raynaud’s is a vasospastic disorder, or constriction of blood vessels, which severely decrease blood supply to the extremities, causing discoloration of the fingers and toes, and sometimes the nose and ears. RS is basically an exaggerated response to cold or emotional stress, or both. It affects up to 160,000 Americans, most of which are female.Raynaud’s is the initial disease, and secondary RS is regarded as a syndrome or Scleroderma, suspected of being caused by some other initiating factor. Both conditions are the typical Western Medicine enigmas, calling for expensive, dangerous pharmaceuticals to relieve and suppress the symptoms, leading to more compounded issues in the long term.

With RS, color changes in the skin are noticeable, beginning with a pale look that turns blue because of the lack of blood and oxygen, and then has localized red flushing when the blood returns. It begins with a loss of sensation, followed by a prickling or throbbing sensation, much like a pins and needles feeling when frostbite thaws.

Some focus group studies suggest prescribing calcium channel blockers Amlodipine or Nifedipine to block the movement of calcium in the blood. Side effects include dizzy spells, shortness of breath, swelling of the arms and legs, and vision problems. Plus, if the problem is calcium overload, and the drugs just re-route the calcium, then the patient is heading for gall stones, kidney stones, or other calcium overload depositories that carry with them their own host of critical issues.

Magnesium, medicinal mushrooms, and MSM (biological sulfur) are known to flush excess calcium out of the body’s system, so why would any doctor recommend calcium channel blockers, with all their side effects and long term dangers? Remember, in the U.S., there are no bonuses or profit sharing incentives for doctors who send their patients to health food stores, only to never see them again.

Some doctors prescribe alpha-beta blockers, which affect receptor cells in the smooth muscles of blood vessels. This prevents cells in the brain and heart from receiving catecholamines, so the heart beats more slowly and with less force. Why on earth would anyone want to change the way their heart functions, when the problem can be cured with nutrition and supplements? Other Western Medicine “treatments” involve using paraffin, laser irradiation, and surgery.

Since the Middle Ages, beetroot was used for illnesses relating to blood. The Romans used beetroot to treat fevers, and Hippocrates used it for binding wounds. It increases the level of antioxidants in the liver, reduces cholesterol and decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Beetroot also fights arteriosclerosis and arthritis. Beet juice powder is a nutrient rich food that improves general circulation. Drinking 500ml of beetroot juice can reduce blood pressure levels within one hour.

L-Arginine is an amino acid that has been shown to reverse tissue damage caused by RS and improve symptoms in subsequent attacks. It stimulates production of nitric oxide, thus helping to keep arteries open and relaxed. Also, vitamin E is a key antioxidant and vitamin C improves blood flow. Magnesium maintains relaxation of the smooth muscle of the small arteries affected by RS. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are anti-inflammatory and help relieve symptoms of RS. Fish oil also improves tolerance to cold exposure by increasing blood pressure in the fingers.

Also, since Scleroderma, or secondary Raynaud’s, is a type of autoimmune disorder, do not rule out Aspartame, a nerve toxin, as a possible cause. When it all boils down, attack the root of the problem, not the symptoms. Pursue aggressive antioxidant therapy that lowers the risk of developing more serious conditions.

Story at-a-glance

• Statin drug side effects can easily be misdiagnosed as unrelated health problems, which leads to polypharmacy and unnecessary drug treatments.
• Statins are known to cause nerve- and muscle damage, and are contraindicated during pregnancy due to high risk of birth defects. They can also lead to a number of other health complications.
• The true dangers of statin drugs, which suppress the synthesis of cholesterol, are becoming increasingly apparent. Dr. Seneff provides a dozen sources for you to review to increase your knowledge base about this hazardous drug.

The trials that a new drug goes through can only achieve limited testing, and, almost always, the tests used to evaluate the side effects of a drug are too short due to expediency and cost.

It is only once a drug is unleashed upon the real world, and enough time passes, that we learn how its toxic effects can manifest themselves after years of treatment.

Fortunately, the internet holds the key to answers obtained by millions of patients who have unwittingly offered themselves up as guinea pigs in the experiment of living long-term with a given drug.

Statin drugs are particularly problematic because they suppress the synthesis of a biological wonder drug, namely cholesterol.

Repeatedly, retrospective studies have shown an alleged benefit for statins, which is actually a benefit derived from the many years of high cholesterol that preceded statin treatment.

This game has been played out for sepsis, pneumonia, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, and these are just the ones I’m aware of.

When the proper placebo-controlled study is done, the effect reverses — statins make the situation worse.

But these negative results are kept well concealed from the public’s eyes. This is how the myth has been kept alive that statins, instead of cholesterol, are the wonder drug.

Below are 13 links to Web sites that contain useful information about statin drugs and cholesterol. Spend some time perusing these links, and then you will be better informed to decide for yourself whether or not to take a statin drug.

 #1. Biological Mechanisms Behind Statin Side Effects: Duane Graveline, the M.D. who goes by the nickname “Spacedoc” has done everything he can to inform the public of the dangers of statin drugs. Dr. Graveline is a former NASA astronaut and Air Force flight surgeon. His reasons for taking on the challenge of debunking statins are very personal, because he developed global transient amnesia while taking Lipitor, an unnerving experience that deprives you of all memory of events in your life looking back several decades.

Since then, he has conducted extensive research on the biological mechanisms behind the diverse severe side effects of statin drugs. The link above is but one branch of a vast network of frightening yet informative information about the potentially devastating long-term effects of statin therapy.

#2. Statins and Nerve Damage: The People’s Pharmacy is a wonderful forum that allows patients to share their experience. This is one of many examples of adverse side effects of statin drugs available on that site.

#3. Statins and Pregnancy: Like thalidomide, statin drugs are a class X drug with regard to pregnancy, meaning they are contraindicated and should NOT be taken by pregnant women. They can cause significant damage to the nervous system of a developing embryo.

#4. New York Times  Exposes Potential for Misdiagnosis Caused by Statin Use: This article points out some of the severe side effects statins can cause, and illustrates with a poignant story about a woman from Kansas. She had been taking a statin for years to reduce her cholesterol. Over that same time period, she experienced chronic muscle pain which neither she nor her doctor attributed to the statin therapy. It even led to a useless shoulder operation.

Her problem eventually escalated into skin lesions caused by a reaction to toxic protein by-products released by her disintegrating muscles. She was given an antifungal to treat the skin lesions, another misdiagnosis. But the antifungal interacted with the statins to further increase the severity of her muscle disorders. Three months later, she could barely stand, and her pulmonary muscles were so weak she couldn’t breathe. She died shortly thereafter.

#5. The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS): Dr. Uffe Ravnskov has campaigned tirelessly to fight the myth that high cholesterol is damaging to your health. This web page contains valuable information about all the ways in which cholesterol keeps you healthy.

#6. The ASEPSIS Trial: The statin industry continues to claim that statins protect against sepsis because of several retrospective studies that show that those who take statins have less risk than those who don’t.

What these studies are proving is that cholesterol protects from sepsis. The media keep saying that what is needed is a double-blind placebo controlled study, but they already have one they could talk about. It’s just that you can’t find out anything about it except that it was completed in January, 2008. You can read my take on statins and sepsis here.

#7. Statins Increase Pneumonia Risk: Just as for sepsis, the statin industry likes to claim that statins improve your chances against pneumonia. But a double-blind placebo controlled study proved them wrong. The risk for pneumonia that required hospitalization was increased by 61 percent in the statin group compared to the controls.

#8. WebMD Article on Muscle Pain and Weakness: This relatively benign article on WebMD provoked a firestorm of responses; each comment tells the story of another tragedy unfolding. To understand the biological mechanism behind the process by which statin drugs destroy muscles, see this link.

Here’s a typical comment from that site:

“I was prescribed Crestor 20mg 2 weeks ago with cholesterol level 7.6. First time on any medication. After approx. 4 days I started to experience severe muscle pain, thigh, buttocks, arms, legs to the extent that I can hardly get out of bed in the morning. Have been back to Dr. who advised stopping tablets. Have been off them for 3 days, very little difference. I am hoping these pains will go away soon. I will never take a statin drug again - would rather take the healthy option, diet and exercise and take the risk. Have never felt so bad. Usually very healthy, fit person.”

#9. Statins and Heart Failure: Dr. Peter Langsjoen believes that statin drugs greatly increase your risk of heart failure. I have argued why this might be true here.

#10. JUPITER Trial and Diabetes: The JUPITER trial, which was terminated prematurely after less than two years, was widely heralded for showing that statins reduce the risk of heart attacks in the short term for people with high levels of C-reactive protein but without high cholesterol.

However, little note was made of the fact that the JUPITER trial also showed a 25 percent increased risk to new-onset diabetes in the treatment group. Since diabetes is a strong risk factor for heart disease, one wonders how the trial would have turned out if it had been allowed to run to completion.

#11. High Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s: This is the article that inspired the Newsweek article, #12 below, with the lead story that statins “protect from” Alzheimer’s — which is the exact opposite of the truth about statins and Alzheimer’s.

The only relationship between high cholesterol and Alzheimer’s the authors could find was if they looked back 30 years. What they’re not saying is that, in the intervening years, cholesterol levels fell for those who later developed Alzheimer’s. While no one has said exactly why their levels might have fallen, statin drugs are a good bet.

Here’s the only thing that the article above has to say about statin drugs:

“Information on lipid-lowering treatments, which have been suggested to decrease dementia risk, was not available for this study.”

You can be sure that, if there was any inkling that the statins might have helped, these researchers would have been allowed access to those statin treatment data. You can read my essay on statins and Alzheimer’s to learn why statins would likely cause Alzheimer’s.

#12. Glowing Newsweek Article on Statins:This article illustrates how thoroughly the statin industry has succeeded in brainwashing the media into believing that black is white. The lead story is that statins protect against Alzheimer’s. If you have read my essay on statins and Alzheimer’s, you will think otherwise.

The only two placebo-controlled studies mentioned in that article were “underway” at the time. Interestingly enough, the media have kept mum on one of these studies: “S5-01-05: Multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of Simvastatin to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease,” Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, Volume 4, Issue 4, Supplement 1, July 2008, Page T200, now that it’s done. I wonder why?? Unfortunately, there’s not even an abstract available in the public domain for this study.

The other study, on multiple scerosis, failed due to the fact that they couldn’t get enough people to agree to participate. I think people with multiple sclerosis were wise to stay away from it. Here’s an article that shows that statins increase damage in multiple sclerosis.

About the Author:

Dr. Stephanie Seneff is a senior scientist at MIT and has been conducting research there for over three decades. She also has an undergraduate degree in biology from MIT, and a minor in food and nutrition. She’s affiliated with the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Related Links:

  Do YOU Take Any of These 11 Dangerous Cholesterol Drugs?

  How Statin Drugs Wreck Your Muscles

  New Bombshell of Disastrous Side Effects from Statins…