Radiation

Radiation - How to protect yourself from its effects safely and naturally

 Whether concern stems from the possible exposure to drifting radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan or from every day sources of non-ionizing radiation (i.e., cell phones, computers, Wi-Fi, smart meters, etc.), exposure to radiation is a reality.

The constant exposure to electromagnetic fields results in DNA fragmentation which can lead to cancers of the parotid salivary gland, the thyroid gland, and the head. Kids are even more susceptible, with evidence of brain and spinal tumors appearing in children exposed to radiation.

Powerwatch, a non-profit organization prominent in the United Kingdom Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Radiation health debate, shares further consequences resulting from exposure to radiation, including:

• Cognitive dysfunction
• Failed pregnancies
• Certain types of dementia
• Overtiredness
• Compromised immune system function
• Headaches

Protection from radiation and its impending consequences is imperative as well as feasible through safe, natural sources.

Potassium Iodide

Potassium iodide, simply composed of the elements potassium and iodine, is the most familiar solution for protection from radiation exposure. Potassium iodide, taken in supplement form, is also used to treat overactive thyroid.

While natural, does it work? Is it safe?

Potassium iodide is effective, yet contraindicated for a multitude of medications, can damage the thyroid, and brings with it other side effects in the form of:

• Red, bumpy, itchy skin
• Painful joints
• Facial and body swelling

After using potassium iodide for a long period of time, a series of other serious health complications may also surface.

The Natural Approach

A strong, healthy thyroid is the best protection from radioactive iodine-131 (nuclear power plant steam), and EMF exposure. Steven Schacter, author of Fighting Radiation with Food, Herbs and Vitamins, explains, "If sufficient amounts of natural iodine are available, radioactive iodine will not be absorbed." Schacter advises eating seaweed (kelp) to obtain natural iodine.

Eating foods naturally high in iodine will supply the thyroid with adequate amounts of iodine, discouraging the absorption of radioactive iodine, and protecting it from EMF damage.

These foods are high in iodine and part of a natural, safe approach.

• Other seaweeds and sea vegetables
• Cranberries or cranberry juice
• Potatoes with the skin
• Beans - especially navy beans
• Himalayan crystal salt

For protection from cancers induced from radiation eat a variety of:

Dark leafy greens and orange starchy foods - (sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots).

Additional protection:

• Milk thistle - a proven detoxifier
• Siberian ginseng - facilitates overall cellular health, strengthens body against all types of stress, including cancer treatments
• Curcumin - antioxidant and scientifically proven anti-inflammatory, protects and helps tissue healing
• Ecklonia cava - antioxidant seaweed extract
• Drink plenty of pure water every day to eliminate toxins
• Visual imagery - the power of positive thinking through the visualization of wellness throughout the body

Loss of Minerals

Radiation exposure sets the stage for the release of specific minerals from the body which are necessary for optimal protection from electromagnetic fields.

These minerals are:

• Potassium
• Lithium
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Calcium
• Selenium - especially important as a co-factor of iodine for cell regeneration and protection

Because the body works synergistically to heal and protect, consume a variety of organic, whole plant-based foods in a variety of colors to guarantee a good supply of antioxidants and the elimination of free radicals.

Multi-vitamin supplements are a poor substitute but may be used from time to time to cover any missing nutrients.

It's not practical in today's society to completely eradicate all sources of radiation; however, the best protection comes from minimizing exposure in the first place. This approach along with the others mentioned here offers the best scenario for minimizing the dangerous effects of radiation exposure.

Meditation videos

A beautiful video to relax and awaken

So Hum meditation technique

 

Guided Meditation - Blissful Deep Relaxation
 

These videos always relax me:)

Pain is in Your Brain

Pain is in Your Brain and How to Fix It

By Dr. Mercola

Did you know that meditation provides greater reductions in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness than medications like morphine?

This is because pain stems from your brain ... and retraining your brain is often one of the best pain-relieving solutions there is.

As mentioned in the video above, most pain stemming from tissue damage, such as an injury, goes away in three to six months – the time it takes for most tissues to fully heal.

More persistent or chronic pain that goes on even after a physical injury has healed is often the result of a more complex issue, one that stems from sensitivities in your nervous system, including your brain.

How Your Brain Causes Pain

If you've ever wondered how your body's aches and pains tie in to brain processes, and how your attitude and emotions can affect them, watch the video above. It's a complex process that's still being unraveled, but what is known is that your brain, and consequently your thoughts and emotions, play a key role in your experience of pain.

For instance, meditation appears to work for pain relief because it reduces brain activity in the primary somatosensory cortex, an area that helps create the feeling of where and how intense a painful stimulus is. Laughter is also known to relieve pain because it releases endorphins that activate brain receptors that produce pain-killing and euphoria-producing effects.

Other research has shown that in people with chronic pain, a front region of the brain cortex mostly associated with emotion never shuts off. The brain region remains in active mode, which eventually wears out neurons and alters the way they connect to one another, potentially leading to permanent damage and pain-related symptoms like depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and problems with decision making.

In much the same way that a person can experience phantom limb pain after losing a limb, it's thought that your central nervous system "remembers" any pain that lasts more than a few minutes at the neuronal level. The memories can become so vivid that the pain persists even after the injury has healed, or re-occurs when it shouldn't, such as from a gentle touch. Researchers are actually working on ways to ease chronic pain by erasing neuronal memories using capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers... but addressing your emotions using mind-body therapies may work just as well.

Rewiring Your Brain for Pain Relief

I've mentioned meditation and laughter, but these are just two examples of a burgeoning new field looking at mind-body therapies to address chronic pain.
Sean Mackey, chief of the division of pain management at Stanford, and colleagues recently received a $9-million grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to look into some of these very approaches. At Stanford University's Neuroscience and Pain Lab, people are able to watch their brains' reaction to pain on a screen, and then consciously learn how to control it.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

" ...subjects can watch their own brains react to pain in real-time and learn to control their response—much like building up a muscle. When subjects focused on something distracting instead of the pain, they had more activity in the higher-thinking parts of their brains. When they "re-evaluated" their pain emotionally—"Yes, my back hurts, but I won't let that stop me"—they had more activity in the deep brain structures that process emotion. Either way, they were able to ease their own pain significantly ...
That doesn't mean that the pain is imaginary, experts stress. In fact, brain scans show that chronic pain ... represents a malfunction in the brain's pain processing systems. The pain signals take detours into areas of the brain involved with emotion, attention and perception of danger and can cause gray matter to atrophy ...
The dysfunction "feeds on itself," says Dr. Mackey. "You get into a vicious circle of more pain, more anxiety, more fear, more depression. We need to interrupt that cycle.

This is where techniques such as distraction can be so effective for pain relief,⁷ as can other options like guided imagery, hypnosis and Tai Chi. My personal favorite, however, and the one routinely used in my practice is the Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT.

How to Use EFT for Physical Pain

In the video above, EFT practitioner Julie Schiffman shows how you can use EFT to relieve your pain. EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over five thousand years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to transfer kinetic energy onto specific meridians on your head and chest while you think about your specific problem -- whether it is a traumatic event, an addiction, pain, etc. -- and voice positive affirmations.

This combination of tapping the energy meridians and voicing positive affirmation works to clear the "short-circuit" - the emotional block -- from your body's bioenergy system, thus restoring your mind and body's balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of physical disease. Some people are initially wary of these principles that EFT is based on -- the electromagnetic energy that flows through the body and regulates our health is only recently becoming recognized in the West.

Others are initially taken aback by (and sometimes amused by) the EFT tapping and affirmation methodology.

But believe me when I say that, more than any traditional or alternative method I have used or researched, EFT has the most potential to literally work magic. Clinical trials have shown that EFT is able to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories and incidents that trigger emotional distress. Once the distress is reduced or removed, the body can often rebalance itself, and accelerate healing.

This Can Help You Avoid the Prescription Painkiller Trap

One of the best parts about EFT and other mind-body tools to relieve pain is that they can free you of toxic prescription painkillers. Aside from significantly increasing your heart risks (such as a two to fourfold increase in the risk of heart attacks, stroke or cardiovascular death), NSAIDs, which are taken by millions of Americans, are linked to serious gastrointestinal risks, like bleeding of the digestive tract, increased blood pressure and kidney problems. Remember, this applies not only to prescription medications like Celebrex but also over-the-counter drugs like aspirin, Advil and Motrin.

As for the opioid painkillers like OxyContin, they are among the most commonly abused prescription drugs and are a leading contributor to the rising rates of fatal prescription drug overdoses. Many become addicted after using them to treat conditions like back or neck pain, and research has, in fact, shown that using these drugs for even a short period leads to structural and functional changes in reward- and affect-processing circuitry in your brain.
Researchers noted that "morphologic changes occur rapidly in humans during new exposure to prescription opioid analgesics," which may explain why so many people struggle with their addiction.

If you have chronic pain of any kind, however, please understand that there are many safe and effective alternatives to prescription and over-the-counter painkillers. You'll want to start taking a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fat like krill oil, as omega-3 fats are precursors to mediators of inflammation called prostaglandins. Addressing your diet by eliminating or radically reducing most grains and sugars (including fructose) is also important, as avoiding grains and sugars will lower your insulin and leptin levels. Elevated insulin and leptin levels are one of the most profound stimulators of inflammatory prostaglandin production. That is why eliminating sugar and grains is so important to controlling your pain.

I also recommend optimizing your production of vitamin D by getting regular, appropriate sun exposure, which will work through a variety of different mechanisms to reduce your pain. While you are outdoors, staying active is important to avoid muscle atrophy and to stimulate the production of natural pain-killing hormones and neurotransmitters.

But along with these strategies, be sure you are also tending to the emotion-brain element. Your stress, your anxiety and your perceptions of pain all play a major role in how you experience pain, and addressing these elements may be the solution in your search for lasting pain relief.

Sleep

This Nightly Activity Can Have a Profound Influence on How Much You Weigh

 By Dr. Mercola

A new study of 1,800 pairs of twins found that even if you're genetically predisposed to being overweight, there is one easy thing you can do to put yourself in control of how much weight you gain.
As reported by CNN, researchers found that genes accounted for 70 percent of the differences in body mass index (BMI) in those who slept less than seven hours per night. Environmental factors, such as diet and exercise, accounted for just four percent of the differences. But in twins who slept nine or more hours per night, environmental factors shot up to 51 percent, and genetic influences dipped to 32 percent. So, sleep deprivation appears to have a significant influence over your genetic expression.
According to CNN Health¹:

"Getting adequate sleep, in other words, appears to dampen genetic risk and allow the influence of diet, exercise, and other controllable lifestyle factors to "surface," the researchers say."

Sleeping Well Matters if You're Struggling with Your Weight

Previous research has already shown that people who sleep less than seven hours a night tend to have a higher body mass index (BMI) than people who get more sleep. The biological mechanisms linking sleep deprivation and weight gain are numerous.
Alterations to your metabolism account for some of this effect, because when you're sleep deprived, leptin (the hormone that signals satiety) falls, while ghrelin (which signals hunger) rises. In one 2010 study², researchers found that people who slept only four hours for two consecutive nights experienced:

• 18 percent reduction in leptin
• 28 percent increase in ghrelin

This combination leads to an increase in appetite. Additionally, sleep deprivation tends to lead to food cravings, particularly for sweet and starchy foods. Researchers have suggested that these sugar cravings stem from the fact that your brain is fueled by glucose (blood sugar); therefore, when lack of sleep occurs, your brain starts searching for carbohydrates to keep going. If you're chronically sleep deprived, consistently giving in to these sugar cravings will virtually guarantee that you'll gain weight.
Sleeping less than six hours per night can also radically decrease the sensitivity of your insulin receptors, which will raise your insulin levels. This too is a surefire way to gain weight as the insulin will seriously impair your body's ability to burn and digest fat. It also increases your risk of diabetes. In short, sleep deprivation puts your body in a pre-diabetic state, which can lead to increased weight and decreased health.

Sleep Deprivation, Stress, and Weight Gain

Biological stress is another mechanism that can help explain the link between poor sleeping habits and increased risk of weight gain. According to the featured article on CNN Health³:

"Sleep deprivation puts stress on your body, and that stress could help explain the relationship between sleep and gene expression seen in the study, says Carl Boethel, M.D., director of the Sleep Institute at Scott & White Healthcare, in Temple, Texas. "When you are constantly depriving yourself of sleep, you are keeping yourself in a state of stress, and the genes that encode for that stressful environment start saying, 'I need to hold on to calories,'" Boethel says".

When your body is under stress, it releases hormones that increase your heart rate and blood pressure. Your muscles get tense, your digestive processes stop, and certain brain centers are triggered, which alter your brain chemistry. For example, it tends to raise your levels of corticosterone, the stress hormone associated with road rage. Left unchecked, this stress response can eventually lead to a variety of health problems including:

• Headaches
• Indigestion
• Increased anxiety
• Depression
• High blood pressure

Unfortunately, precious few are willing to take a much-needed look at their sleeping habits and make the required readjustments to their schedules and habits. I strongly urge you not to be part of the majority in this regard...

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Chronic lack of sleep has a cumulative effect, so you cannot skimp on sleep on weekdays and then try to "catch up" over the weekend. In order to benefit your health, you need to be consistent in your sleeping habits.
As a general rule, adults need between six and eight hours of sleep every night. However, there are plenty of exceptions. Also, as the featured study on twins suggests, you may need upwards of nine hours a night in order for it to outweigh certain genetic predispositions, by allowing your body to reap maximum benefits from a healthy diet and exercise regimen. The amount of sleep you need can also drastically change depending on your circumstances, such as illness or going through an emotionally stressful time.
Pregnant women also typically need more sleep than usual during the first trimester. My advice is to pay close heed to your body, mind and emotional state. For example, if you consistently feel tired upon waking, you probably need to sleep longer. Frequent yawning throughout the day is another dead giveaway that you need more shut-eye.

Optimizing Your Sleep Sanctuary

There are many factors that can influence your sleep, but one that many fail to consider is the use of light-emitting technology, such as your TV, iPad, and computer, before going to bed. These emit the type of light that will suppress melatonin production, which in turn will hamper your ability to fall asleep. Ideally, you'll want to turn all such light-emitting gadgets off at least an hour prior to bed time.  Next, making some adjustments to your sleeping area can also go a long way to ensure uninterrupted, restful sleep:

1. Cover your windows with blackout shades or drapes to ensure complete darkness. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin, thereby disrupting your sleep cycle.
So close your bedroom door, get rid of night-lights, and refrain from turning on any light during the night, even when getting up to go to the bathroom. If you have to use a light, install so-called "low blue" light bulbs in your bedroom and bathroom. These emit an amber light that will not suppress melatonin production.

2. Keep the temperature in your bedroom at or below 70 degrees F (21 degrees Celcius). Many people keep their homes and particularly their upstairs bedrooms too warm. Studies show that the optimal room temperature for sleep is quite cool, between 60 to 68 degrees F (15.5 to 20 C). Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep.
3. Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields(EMFs). These can also disrupt your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well. To do this, you need a gauss meter. You can find various models online, starting around $50 to $200. Some experts even recommend pulling your circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in your house.
4. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your head. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least three feet. 

If you're feeling anxious or restless, try using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which can help you address any emotional issues that might keep you tossing and turning at night. For many more recommendations and guidelines that can help you improve your sleep, please see my article 33 Secrets to a Good Night's Sleep.

Antibiotics Effects

How antibiotics destroy your immune system 

Your immune system is constantly on a seek-and-destroy mission status - on the lookout for foreign invaders, naturally occurring cell defects and mutant cells. The immune system has a vast capacity to remember bad guys and deploy tactics that worked in the past to annihilate the enemy. Some of the fastest growing cells in the human body are immune cells.

Over 80 percent of the body's immunity is built in the intestinal tract by the friendly bacteria balance that resides there. The intestinal flora starts building in an infant while in the womb but doesn't really take off until after eight days of age. Starting with the colostrum milk, the gut begins to populate with more bacteria while the infant's immune system starts an inventory of good and bad cells in the body. This inventory is a life-long process and the immune system never forgets an invader.

Where the problem begins

The absolute worst thing to do to any infant is to give them an antibiotic. Antibiotics indiscriminately kill bacteria, both good and bad. One round of antibiotics will permanently change the baby's immune system, and because a majority of neuro-chemicals are also made in the gut, the baby's neurology is also altered. The antibiotics that have been touted as the savior of mankind from disease are costing us in cancer and degenerative, chronic diseases.

Once the very first antibiotic is administered to the infant or child, the bacteria in the gut is wiped out and the immune system is permanently altered in its ability to manufacture appropriate immune cells. Fungus in the gut is now unopposed and begins to proliferate unchecked by the friendly bacteria. After fungus sets up strongholds then parasites move in to share the bounty of food and minerals meant to feed the body. This is the first step for chronic disease and cancer.

The same process happens when an adult takes even one round of antibiotics. Everything changes permanently and takes years of targeted nutrition and probiotic therapies to recover a semblance of normalcy in the body systems.

The role of heavy metals

Over 80 percent of heavy metals are removed from the body via the friendly bacteria in the gut. Certain bad bacteria and fungus actually prefer to retain and move heavy metals into the body and transport these metals to different tissues and organs to weaken them for future invasion. Fungus is a clean-up organism that feeds on compromised tissues. Eventually a bad fungus will invade healthy tissues as it gains strength and your body weakens.

The cancer double-whammy

Once the bad bacteria balance occurs and the fungus sets up shop, the intestinal wall becomes leaky, allowing partially digested foods, bacterium and allergens to cross into the blood. Now the already weakened immune system has double-duty to perform trying to clean up the gut while tracking down these new threats to the body. To think this all started with a well-meaning but seriously wrong pediatrician and misinformed parents.

Cancer is a disease of inflammation. The gut compromises and leakage of particles into the blood causes inflammation throughout the body. Chronically inflamed organs become targets of heavy metals, viruses, bacterium and fungus. But the damage doesn't stop there as the highly processed foods we eat cross the now compromised gut barrier; causing pancreas stress and trouble. Chronic stress weakens organs to make them more susceptible to disease and cancer.

Where it ends

It ends with you making informed decisions before submitting to any medical treatment, including taking antibiotics. You are the one who gleans the benefits or suffers the consequences - not the doctor who collects your co-pay up front and makes you sign "informed consent" papers before treatment.

Light & Color Therapies

 Modern science validates light and color therapies in promoting full-spectrum health

The ancient practices of phototherapy and chromotherapy are gaining momentum as valid science. Researchers are now able to study how light and color not only affect psychological behavior, but also physiological systems of the body. An article in The New York Times explores how color and light influence well-being in a variety of circumstance; from prison cells to neonatal units, coal mines to classrooms.

Early use of light and color for healing

Phototherapy (utilizing full-spectrum white light for healing) and chromotherapy (using specific colors to influence health) have been used since 2000 BC. Ancient Egypt, Greece, China, and India all practiced light therapy while the Egyptians and Greeks also embraced color therapy. In the hermetic traditions of Egypt and Greece, colored stones, minerals, and crystals were used in chromotherapy. Treatment sanctuaries were also common. These spaces were painted in specific colors recognized for their healing qualities.

The modern age of phototherapy and chromotherapy

As reported in The New York Times, light and color both powerfully affect the body and mind. Take the color pink. When violent juveniles under detention in San Bernardino County, California are placed in a cell painted bubble gum pink, they relax, stop banging and yelling, and often times fall asleep within 10 minutes. It is estimated that 1,500 hospitals and correctional facilities throughout America have also implemented the shade bubble gum pink in at least one room.

According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology nutritionist Richard J. Wurtman, research has shown that individual colors influence respiration rates, blood pressure, along with biorhythms and brain activity. Due to these findings, color is used as a treatment for a wide-range of illness and disease.

For instance, blue light has been used for the last decade in neonatal units to treat jaundice. Approximately 30,000 premature babies each year in America are treated with baths of blue light, thereby avoiding dangerous blood transfusions.

In Russia, ultraviolet light is showered upon coal miners to prevent black lung disease while classrooms utilize ultraviolet lamps. According to Faber Birren, a leading color consultant, "children grow faster than usual, work ability and grades are improved and catarrhal infections are fewer [when exposed to ultraviolet light]." Additionally, ultraviolet light is used as the standard treatment for psoriasis in the Untied States.

Full-spectrum white light has been shown to influence brain chemistry. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a stunning example of how a deficiency of sunlight can cause severe depression. When a person who suffers from this malady is exposed to full-spectrum light, either through the sun or an artificial light box, SAD symptoms disappear.

Mr. Birren concludes in The New York Times:

"Perhaps these are new beginnings. The magical properties of light and color, granted by men since the earliest of times, accepted, renounced and accepted again through the ages, have forever held fascination. It would be delightful, of course, if a thing of such psychological beauty - color - also held a mundane role in human physiological well-being."

Worse than BPA?

Toxic BPS chemical found hiding in receipts, recycled paper

The only thing more upsetting than a poison in a product...is when they switch if for another poison to sell it as a product free from poison number 1!

 

Growing awareness about the prolific presence of the hormone disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) in plastics, receipt paper, money, and various other consumer products and materials has led to the widespread removal of this highly toxic chemical from many products in recent years. But bisphenol S (BPS), the chemical now being used in place of BPA in many "BPA-free" products, may be just as harmful -- if not more harmful -- than BPA.

A new study published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology is the first to analyze the presence of BPS in consumer products, and particularly in both thermal and recycled paper products. According to Kurunthachalam Kannan and colleagues who conducted the study, BPS is similar to BPA in that it mimics estrogen, and can cause severe endocrine disruption as a result of repeated exposure.

For their study, which was funded in part by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province, Kannan and the team tested 16 different types of paper and paper products, including thermal receipt paper, paper currencies, flyers, magazines, newspapers, food contact papers, airplane luggage tags, printing paper, paper towels, and toilet papers.

They found that every single tested sample of thermal receipt paper, which is used by most retailers nowadays to print purchase receipts, tested positive for BPS at concentrations ranging from 0.0000138 milligrams per gram (mg/g) to 22.0 mg/g. This is roughly the same range level that has been observed in thermal receipt paper for BPA in earlier studies.

BPS is up to 19 times more absorbable in the skin than BPA

The research team also found that 87 percent of currency bill samples, which were collected from 21 different countries, contained BPS in varying levels. BPS was also observed in 14 of the other paper products sampled as well, including in 52 percent of recycled paper samples tested, which indicates that this largely unknown chemical is quietly hiding in all sorts of paper products that millions of people are exposed to every single day.

Perhaps the most disturbing finding about BPS; however, is the fact that BPS absorbs into the skin at much higher rates than BPA. According to the study, BPS is capable of absorbing at a rate up to 1900 percent higher than BPA, which makes it potentially much more harmful than BPA at altering hormone levels.

According to a 2005 study out of Japan, BPS is only slightly less potent than BPA at mimicking the female hormone estrogen in the body. However, other studies have shown that BPS is far less biodegradable than BPA, and is actually the most persistent bisphenol compound among eight of the most common bisphenol compounds tested. (http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org)

Cranberries & Urinary Tract Infections

 Science proves that cranberries stop urinary tract infections, but it's still illegal to say so

Let food be thy medicine!
A fresh review of previously compiled literature on the healing power of cranberries once again affirms that drinking cranberry juice or taking cranberry supplements is a great way to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). Published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, the updated findings have the potential to change the mainstream approach to preventing and treating UTIs, that is if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not censor the truth.

Dr. Chih-Hung Wang from National Taiwan University Hospital and his colleagues reviewed 10 earlier studies on cranberries for their new study. These studies collectively included 1,500 participants, all of whom were given either daily cranberry products, a cranberry-free placebo, or nothing at all. And at the conclusion of each study, rates of UTI were evaluated amongst the various groups.

In some of the studies, participants took as little as a one-gram capsule of cranberry as part of their daily treatments, while others drank as much as 200 grams of cranberry juice a day for their treatments. Some participants also took both cranberry capsules and juice, while others took just one or the other.

Overall, it was observed that there was a 38 percent reduction in UTI rates among participants taking some kind of cranberry product, compared to participants taking no cranberry product at all. And particularly among women with a history of UTI, those who took a cranberry product were nearly 50 percent less likely to develop an infection than when they were taking no cranberry product.

"What this is doing is solidifying what has been folklore for quite some time," said Dr. Deborah Wing, a researcher at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) who was not involved in the study, but who has been studying urinary tract infections for quite some time. "Finally, the science is catching up to what our mothers have been telling us for so many decades."

FDA prohibition of health speech will keep millions in the dark about cranberries

The findings of the cranberry review are remarkable, as they scientifically reinforce what many of us have known for quite some time about this amazing fruit. But because the FDA prohibits the dissemination of truthful, scientific information about the health benefits of food, millions of Americans will likely continue to remain ignorant about how cranberries, as well as a host of other natural foods, can improve their health and prevent disease.

The FDA has, on several occasions, gone on a censorship rampage to stop companies from publicly sharing the health benefits of various foods. In 2005, for instance, the FDA sent warning letters to 29 companies that market cherries, warning them that they could not reference any valid science in their marketing materials that explained how cherries reduce inflammation and essentially cure arthritis. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019366.html)

The FDA did the same thing in 2010 to walnuts, threatening the Diamond Foods company that if it did not stop telling its customers about how walnuts can help lower bad cholesterol levels, prevent stroke and heart disease, and even fight cancer, among other things, that the agency would basically shut the company down. (http://www.lef.org)

We expect nothing different from the FDA concerning cranberries, as the agency bizarrely considers any food that has health benefits attached to it to be a drug, at least when the company growing, marketing, or selling said food is the one making the claims. Fortunately; however, the natural health community is still free to spread the truth, as is NaturalNews, and we fully intend to continue spreading this truth far and wide to all who will listen.

Garden Update & Harvest 7/22

 7/22/2012 - Moon and Star watermelon growing well...the pretty stars are more vibrant...next time I will bring a tape measure to track its progress...there are about 3 other large ones on their way too:)

7/20/2012 - I have found several watermelon starting...the problem? a few of them up up the fence! This one is about 4 feet high, and very tightly intertwined up the fence

7/20/2012 -  my 2 watermelon plants from a different angle...from the other side of the fence (taken from out of my garden)

7/20/2012 - Chocolate cherry tomato plant already taller than the tomato cage and branching out very widely!

7/20/2012 - A few "not so good" things I noticed in my garden today...this is the cucumber plant that is quite spotty...however it has in no way hindered production overall! So far I have harvested 30 cucumbers and several more ready to be picked tomorrow

7/20/2012 - Secondly is my zucchini plant...their leaves are turning white. Not really sure why, but I chopped them off...many healthy leaves yet

7/20/2012 - Like the cucumber, production hasn't been affected in this zucchini plant:)

7/20/2012 -  Harvest - 1 black beauty zucchini, 7 cucumber, Curled Scotch kale, Dino kale, Red Russian kale and Swiss Chard

7/20/2012 - This is what happens when I don't visit my garden daily! It rained for 2 days so I didn't need to water my garden and didn't check on it. Guess I'll be making some zucchini bread!

Negative effects of GMO

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF GMOs ON HUMANS

 Following up on yesterday's blog, here are a few summarized reasons why GMOs are not a good thing, and you don't want to consume genetically modified organisms, as in the canola oil previously discussed.

1. Toxicity

Apparently they have GMO Christmas trees that glow in the dark. Slightly cool, but kind of disturbing. They can also make pigs glow in the dark by injecting them with jellyfish.

2. Allergic reactions

Our bodies were not built to recognize and consume GMOs. They are foreign substances in our digestive system and in our bloodstream.

3. Antibiotic resistance

Many plants are engineered to become resistant. We consume those same toxins and may in turn develop resistances.

4. Cancer

GMOs are an offense to our cells. They depress our immune system and may allow for the onset of cancer.

5. Immuno-suppresion

Our immune system doesn’t recognize GMOs. It works to expel them from our bodies as soon as possible, and has less time to work towards our general well being.

Besides the above, GMOs have a negative effect on nature. It upsets the balance of the earth, harms wild plants, and disturbs the life cycle of wild animals.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

After learning the above, you can choose to make some changes, as I have chosen to do having learned this information. They’re small, but it makes a difference.

1. Choose not to buy or use anything that contains canola.
2. Choose not to buy or use any Kellogg’s products.
3. Look at the produce stickers on my fruits and vegetables. Just in case.
4. Choose to stay away from processed foods, as they are most likely GMO (remember no requirements yet to label!

GMOs are a big scary topic, which is why I have many blog posts discussing it. But even without labeling, most of us can incorporate small changes to eat more naturally:)

Start growing your own food has been the biggest, and most beneficial change I have currently made to better my quality of life and health! How will you better your health today?

Canola oil

Why you should never use Canola oil

Olive oil comes from olives. Sesame seed oil comes from sesame seeds.

But what is a canola? Canola is actually a made-up word for a genetically modified product.

Canola stands for “Canadian oil low acid.” It’s a Canadian invention and subsidized by the government. The subsidies make it very cheap to use, so almost all processed or packaged foods contain canola oil. Be sure to read the ingredients. Here’s why you should:

 

THE SCOOP ON CANOLA

Canola oil is developed from the rapeseed plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants. These oils have long been used for industrial purposes (in candles, lipsticks, soaps, inks, lubricants, and biofuels). It’s an industrial oil, not a food.

Rapeseed oil is the source behind mustard gas, and on its own it causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness. But through the beauty of genetic modification, we now sell it as an edible oil.

The claim is that canola is safe to use because through modification it is no longer rapeseed but “canola.” Except… canola is just genetically modified rapeseed. It has been marketed as a wonder oil that is low in saturated fats with a beneficial omega-3 fatty acid profile. It is recognized by the American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association based on the belief that the absence of saturated fats alone makes it healthy.

It is now believed that rapeseed has a cumulative effect, taking almost 10 years before symptoms begin to manifest. One possible effect of long-term use is the destruction of the protective coating surrounding nerves called the myelin sheath. This is like having raw, open wires in the body. Some symptoms include:

• tremors and shaking
• uncoordination when walking or writing
• slurred speech
• deterioration of memory and thinking processes
• fuzzy or low audio levels
• difficulty urinating/incontinence
• breathing problems/short of breath
• nervous breakdown
• numbness and tingling in extremities
• heart problems/arrhythmia

From a nutritional perspective, canola oil has been found to deplete Vitamin E. It has a tendency to inhibit proper metabolism of foods and normal enzyme function. It also depresses the immune system.

 

THE SCOOP ON GMOs

Today, 72% of all products from the United States are genetically modified. As mentioned before in previous blogs, the top 3 genetically modified foods are:

1. canola
2. corn
3. soy

Not too far behind them are potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, peanuts, and sunflower.

Companies that commonly use genetic modification are:

• Kellogg’s
• Kraft
• Miss Vickie’s
• Hershey’s
• Coke
• Gatorade
• General Mills
• Labatt beer
• McCain
• No Name
• President’s Choice
• Quaker Oats
• Ragu

When an attempt was made for new legislation to force the labeling of genetically modified products in grocery stores, the three companies of Kellogg’s, Monsanto, and DuPont spent $55 millions to fight it and eventually won. It is not mandatory for companies to let the consumers know when they have used genetic modification at this time, but there sure is an uproar with the public trying to make it happen! Personally I try to stay away from all processed foods, which is why my meals mostly are composed of my veggies from my garden or organic produce from the store, fresh fruit, nuts and seeds.  All the while making note of GMO produce and trying to avoid them at all costs.  Produce that is genetically modified is sometimes identified by a 5-digit number on its sticker that starts with an 8. But not always.

 

Garden update & harvest 7/19

 7/19/2012 - Garden update left 2 rows

7/19/2012 - Garden update right 2 rows. In the empty space used to be the huge Michihili cabbages....i accidentally replanted some Dino kale seeds there...because on the package for some reason there is a picture of a cabbage! oh well...i love kale...but have so much dino kale!

 7/19/2012 - my Chamomile makes me so happy^_^ I should really harvest some and learn how to make it into tea

 7/19/2012 - My tomatillo plant is looking alive again! I'm surprised, because it bent and almost snapped all the branches off the day after transplant

 7/19/2012 - Tomato plants getting huge...the pepper in the far off spot however is tiny compared to the rest! I think it's depleted of nutrients maybe because I put a lot more azomite where I was planting the tomatoes, and that one pepper plant went where the radishes grew.

 7/19/2012 - more tomatoes popping up on other plants:)

 7/19/2012 - This pepper plant is doing wonderful though and has blessed me with my first pepper, yay!

 7/19/2012 - Spotted yet Another watermelon starting to grow!

 7/19/2012 - Another Moon and Star watermelon starting to grow...the problem? It's about 3.5 feet off the ground! The vine climbed up the fence because it needed so much more room...now it's way up there, no way a 15-20 lb fruit will hang...if it grows I might need to get creative.

7/19/2012 - Look at my monster Black Beauty zucchini...it really does remind me of a monster lol...but is so good to me with giving me lots of yummy zucchinis ^_^ Although squash bugs have kept me on my toes!

7/19/2012 - My zucchini from the other side...you can see some zucchini in there...one of which I harvested today

 7/19/2012 - As plentiful as my 2 zucchini plants have been with fruit, this one is a casualty! 1st I've noticed. However bugs have gotten to the lower stem of one of the plants that is producing waay less. I believe the squash bugs are accountable...i plucked this off and on it I saw what looked like a squash but but smaller and white...i think a baby one! Saw another one that was too fast for me...they sure dodge you when you try get them, it's almost like playing tag...they don't run away right away though just keep dodging you!

7/19/2012 - 10 Dino kale, 18 Red Russian kale, 13 Curled Scotch kale, 5 Swiss Chard, 6 Marketmore 76 cucumber and 1 Black Beauty zucchini.

Herbs That Halt Headaches

When your head hurts, a pain pill is an easy way to silence the throbbing. But did you know there are herbs that may help, too?

James A. Duke, PhD, author of The Green Pharmacy, offers five options for you to consider.

• Feverfew and ginger: Research suggests that regularly taking feverfew reduces migraine frequency, while ginger may soothe symptoms.
• Willow: The herb contains salicin, an aspirin-like substance. White willow (S. alba) is rather low in this pain-relieving stuff, so if you want more headache relief per cup of tea, look for species that are more potent, like S. daphnoides or S. fragilis. (Find out why aspirin is also a "brain pill.")
• Red pepper: Studies show that its heat-giving ingredient, capsaicin, may help prevent cluster headaches. (Here's why you should add the food to an egg-white omelet.)
• Thyme: Thyme can be used in a compress to ease achy muscles in the neck, shoulders, and back that contribute to tension headaches. You can also drink thyme tea. (Check out how this herb can healthy-up a salad, too.)

Ask Your Doc
Remember, just like pharmaceutical drugs, herbs can cause side effects or interact with medications. So before running to the health-food store, clear your plans with your doctor, and ask about the appropriate dose.

Garden harvest & update

7/15/2012 - I'm happy to see my calendula flowers surviving under my Moon and Star watermelon plants, which have completely covered them, and bound them with their tendrils

7/15/2012 -  And I was super excited to see my first tomato sightings...not sure which variety this one was from

7/15/2012 -  But this is the chocolate cherry tomato...there are several starting in several of my cherry tomato plants!

 7/15/2012 -The Chamomile bloomed beautifully

 7/15/2012 -My newly tomatillo plant on the other hand looked very sad the day after transplant...in fact I didn't have the stakes next to it for support at the time the plant was given to me, so the plant completely bend...I hope it perks up! I'm sure it will:) Unfortunately it was planted in a paint can, so removal was impossible without losing half the roots!

 7/15/2012 -this is the only other Calendua flower in bloom apart from the one in the watermelon row...the 2 flower plans next to this one are just small greenery. The heat has been brutal...so I think the watermelon shade and moisture retention actually helped my calendula there

 7/15/2012 - The purple Kohlrabi is starting to form its bulb now ^_^

7/15/2012 -  I notice a little bit of spotting on some of my cucumber leaves...but it hasn't affected production whatsoever! So far I've harvested well over 17 cucumbers so far

7/15/2012 -  there are carrots growing somewhere at the base of the cucumbers...hidden

 7/15/2012 - There are bees everywhere polinating my garden ^_^ This one is in my Moon and Star watermelon plants...so far I have 3 big sized ones on their way and 4 small ones ranging from golf ball to softball size

7/15/2012 - Harvest - 1 zucchini

 7/15/2012 -10 Curled Scotch kale, 10 Red Russian kale, 4 Collard Greens, 6 Five color rainbow Swiss Chard, 2 Marketmore 76 cucumber and one Black Beauty zucchini

7/17/2012 - Harvest - 2 Marketmore 76 cucumbers