Spiritual Plan for Life

A good spiritual plan includes the following. If you are not doing any of these add one at a time until it becomes a habit then add another. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day.

-Daily Mass
-Daily Rosary
-Frequent Confession
-Morning Prayers including the morning offering
-Evening Prayers including examination of conscience
-Spiritual reading
-Formative reading
-Bible reading
-Annual retreat
-Monthly day of recollection
-Particular examin

Stressed About Office Work? Here’s How to Relax

Posted by: Dr. Mercola Identifying Your Sources of Stress

The first step to dealing with work-related stress is identifying the source of it.
There are two types of factors that cause work-related stress, internal and external. Once you determine the types of stress factors affecting you, you will be able to effectively find coping strategies to dealing with it.
Some external factors may include:

• Personality conflicts with a co-worker or dealing with a difficult supervisor.
• Technology overload--attached to work through e-mail, pagers, cell phones and faxes.
• Understaffed due to cutbacks and downsizing.
• Lack of training or supervision.
• Working an excess number of hours and finding you are spending more time at work than at home.
  

Internal factors include:

• Perfectionism--setting unrealistic expectations for yourself.
• Having unrealistic expectations of your job.
• Taking on too much and ignoring your limitations.

Finding effective ways of dealing with stress while you’re at work can help you improve your sense of control over your life at work and better prepare you to plan and prioritize your time at work and at home.
How to Deal With Stress at Your Desk

If your job involves working on a computer all day, you may not be able to find the time to take many breaks away from your desk. However, for your mental health it is important to make a point of practicing occasional stress reduction techniques throughout the day. This will allow you to clear your mind so you’re able to produce quality work and reenergize your body physically. For those aches and pains and moments of stress during your workday, you could try these simple tips sitting right at your desk:

• Raise your shoulders and try to touch your ears. Stay in this position for a couple of seconds, then release. Try this about 10 times or until your shoulders feel less tense.
  
• For at least 30 seconds, shake your wrist.
  
• Take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds, then slowly exhale. Do this five times.
  
• Quickly rub the palms of your hands together until they get hot, then close your eyes and place your palms over your eyes. You will find the heat relaxes the eyeballs.
  

De-Stressing at the End of the Workday
Unwinding from the stresses of your workday should begin before you leave the office. Here are some great tips that will help you leave stress at the office where it belongs:

• Start winding down from your workday 30 minutes before you leave for the day. You can do some professional reading, straightening or cleaning your office area or putting away files. This should be any task that is not demanding and can be done leisurely.
  
• Make a tomorrow’s to-do list and put a star by two items that will give you a sense of accomplishment.
  
• If you have to deal with traffic on your way home, try picking up books on tape or a comedy tape. Music is great therapy so why not put on your favorite CD and belt it out.
  
• Aromatherapy produces a calming effect, particularly the scent of lavender, which you could spray on your dashboard or buy a lavender-scented air freshener.
  
• Take some winding down time for yourself when you get home. This could be some kind of aerobic activity or reading a book or favorite magazine.
  
• Put the thoughts from your day out of your mind and get a good night’s sleep.
  

The Powerful Stress-Relieving Benefits of Exercise
Exercise is also an excellent way to relieve tension and ward off the physical consequences of stress. Studies have shown that during exercise, tranquilizing chemicals, endorphins, are released in the brain. Exercise is a natural way to bring your body pleasurable relaxation and rejuvenation.
Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Jogging
• Bicycling
• Hiking
• Cross-country skiing
• Volleyball

Using Humor to Relieve Stress of the Workday
In addition to these tips, many studies have shown that humor has increased work productivity. It has been cited as the best antidote to stress. A good hearty laugh has been proven to increase the immune system’s activity, lower stress hormones and increase the antibody immunoglobulin A, which protects the upper-respiratory tract. Other benefits of humor that make your work environment a more pleasant place to be includes that it shows you are easy to work with, it makes people like you and want to be around you, it enhances your creativity and can change a negative perception into a positive one.
Since stress in the office has become such a prominent issue in our society, people have resorted to seeking a variety of products from the practical to the bizarre to help alleviate their stress at the office.
These products range from:

• Punching bags
• Desk pillows
• Stress relief aromatherapy kits for the office
• Having a dog at the office
• Essential oils in vaporizers
• Stress reduction office massages

With stress-related complaints accounting for 75 percent to 90 percent of all physician office visits and all of the medical ailments related to it, choosing not to deal with stress is not an option. Sleep, exercise and following a nutritious eating program are the foundation of relieving stress and maintaining your optimal health both in and out of the office.
For people constantly "on the go" and contending with overwhelming schedules daily, I recommend you consider the book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. In this book you will find practical and realistic approaches to improving your personal productivity. It is also available on audiocassette, which is great because you could listen to it while in traffic and discover ways to effectively manage your time and prioritize your goals.

(The best thing to do for dealing with stress is to put God first--prioritize your spiritual life. Have a spiritual plan and try to stick with it at least 80% of the time. You will definitely start to progress and with progression comes peace. You see things clearly. Things that used to stress you don't. Life is short the only thing that matters is loving God and doing His holy will so you can get to heaven. This isn't something to stress about either.)

Destress Tips

Here is a list of de-stressing tips.

from: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/relieve.html#relievequick

Relax Now List
Visualize yourself in a tranquil place.
Gain control of your breathing.
Repeat a helpful quote or word.
Get away from the noise.
Use your imagination.
Use good scents. (essential oils)
Laugh.
Cry.
A List of Relaxing Thoughts
See problems as opportunities.
Don't take it personally.
There is no right answer.
It's not a perfect world.
Let go, and let God.
This too shall pass.
Refute negative thoughts.
Stop overgeneralizing.
Control yourself, not others.
Be yourself.
De-Stress List
Exercise .
Meditate .
Take a nap.
Get a massage .
Practice yoga or tai chi. (pray and/or exercise)
Listen to soothing music.
Use guided imagery tapes. (?)
Take an aromatherapy bath.
Use biofeedback or hypnotherapy. (?)
Take time-out: a short walk or a long vacation .
Take a news fast: stop being a receptacle for the world's problems.
Let's Get Physical List
Do exercises that work your leg muscles, as in "Run away!"
Bounce on a rebounder or jog in place.
Climb stairs or use a stair-stepper.
Walk it off or run around the block.
Use a treadmill. (It works for lab rats.)
Use short bursts of muscular energy, as in "Put 'em up!"
Shadowbox or have a punching bag handy.
Do push-ups, sit-ups, and other upper body work with dumbbells.

Soy

From Mercola.com:
It is crucial, however, to make a distinction between the health effects from fermented versus non-fermented soy, which I will go over toward the end of this comment, because as you will see, fermented soy dishes do have some redeeming qualities that conventional soy products lack.
Perfect Food or Brilliant Propaganda?
In recent years soy has emerged as a 'near perfect' food, with supporters claiming it can provide an ideal source of protein, lower cholesterol, protect against cancer and heart disease, reduce menopause symptoms, and prevent osteoporosis, among other things.
But how did such a 'perfect' food emerge from a product that in 1913 was listed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) handbook not as a food but as an industrial product?
Lipid specialist and nutritionist Mary Enig, PhD shed some light on this issue when she said, "The reason there's so much soy in America is because they [the soy industry] started to plant soy to extract the oil from it and soy oil became a very large industry. Once they had as much oil as they did in the food supply they had a lot of soy protein residue left over, and since they can't feed it to animals, except in small amounts, they had to find another market."
In short, the soy industry CREATED a market where there was none, to profit from their waste products. It required multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and intense lobbying to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but now about three-quarters of U.S. consumers believe soy products are healthy.
It's like a re-run of the water fluoridation propaganda machine, which began in the 1940s as solution to the fluoride pollution from aluminum plants. The disposing of fluoride had become a costly problem that needed a radical solution. The solution was to create the false belief that fluoride had some health benefit, and today, not only are you likely consuming this toxic waste product in your municipal tap water, but you may even believe it's good for your teeth, AND industry is getting PAID rather than paying for toxic waste removal…
Soy has become a grossly misunderstood food category, to be added to the ranks of coconut oil, saturated fats and vegetable oils. The two former have gained a negative reputation where a good one actually applies, whereas vegetable oil, along with soy, have emerged with sparkling reputations that cover up an unsavory truth.
The Truth About Soy
For just a brief look at what's really going on, consider that numerous studies have found that soy products can actually:

• Increase thyroid damage, especially in women
• Increase the risk of breast cancer in women, brain damage in both sexes, and cause abnormalities in infants
• Contribute to thyroid disorders, especially in women
• Promote kidney stones
• Weaken your immune system
• Cause severe, potentially fatal food allergies

Despite these findings, many people still want to believe the hype, thinking that these studies must somehow be wrong. But the content of soy itself should be a clue. For example, non-fermented soy products contain:

• Phytoestrogens (isoflavones) genistein and daidzein, which mimic and sometimes block the hormone estrogen
• Phytates, which block your body's uptake of minerals
• Enzyme Inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion
• Haemaggluttin, which causes red blood cells to clump together and inhibits oxygen take-up and growth
• High amounts of omega-6 fat, which is pro-inflammatory

Furthermore, most soybeans are grown on conventional farms that use toxic pesticides and herbicides, and many are from genetically engineered plants. When you consider that two-thirds of all processed food products contain some form of soy, it becomes clear just how many Americans are consuming GM products, whose long-term effects are completely unknown.
Like Feeding Birth Control Pills to a Baby
One of the most disturbing ill effects of soy has to do with its phytoestrogens, which can mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen. These phytoestrogens have been found to have adverse effects on various human tissues, and drinking just two glasses of soy milk daily for one month has enough of the chemical to alter a woman's menstrual cycle.
The FDA regulates estrogen-containing products, however no warnings exist on soy.
Soy products are particularly problematic for infants, and soy infant formulas should be avoided at all cost. It's been estimated that infants who are fed soy formula exclusively receive the equivalent of five birth control pills worth of estrogen every day!
When testing the blood of soy formula-fed infants, concentrations of isoflavones have been found to be 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than natural estrogen concentrations in early life. It should be obvious that the potential damage to your child can be quite significant. Not to mention the fact that soy formula lacks other vital nutrients for normal and healthy brain- and biological development.
Soy Also Contributes to Dangerously Lopsided Intake of Essential Fats
One of the most important things you can do for your overall health is to balance your intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These two types of fat are both essential. However, the typical American consumes far too many omega-6 fats in their diet while consuming very low levels of omega-3.
The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is probably close to 1:1. But the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 today averages from 20:1 to 50:1!
That spells serious danger for your health. Even the mainstream health media is now reporting that lack of high quality omega-3 is one of the most serious health issues plaguing contemporary society.
The primary sources of omega-6 are corn, soy, canola, safflower and sunflower oil; oils that are overabundant in the typical American diet. And when you consider the fact that some form of soy or corn (oftentimes both) is found in just about every processed food product on the market, it really helps to explain these excessive omega-6 levels.
What About Soy as a Source of Protein?
While soybeans are relatively high in protein compared to other legumes, they are still a poor source of protein because other proteins found in soybeans act as potent enzyme inhibitors.
These "anti-nutrients" block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion, effectively cancelling out any potential benefit you may have thought it had.
Regular soy consumption can also lead to chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake.
It is believed that it is this ability to interfere with enzymes and amino acids that might be one of the reasons for why soy has such a negative effect on your brain. Isoflavones in tofu and other soy foods might exert their influence by interfering with the tyrosine kinase-dependent mechanisms required for optimal hippocampal function, structure and plasticity.
High amounts of tyrosine kinases are found in your hippocampus, a brain region involved with learning and memory. One of soy's primary isoflavones, genistein, has been shown to inhibit tyrosine kinase in the hippocampus, effectively blocking the mechanism of memory formation.
If You Want to Benefit From Soy, Make Sure it is Fermented !
There are some redeeming qualities to soy, however these are found primarily in fermented soy products like tempeh, miso, natto and soybean sprouts. If you want to get some health benefits from soy, stick to these four forms and pass on ALL processed soy milks, tofu, soy 'burgers', soy 'ice cream', soy 'cheese', and the myriad of other soy junk foods that are so readily disguised as health foods.
The study above affirms this as well, showing that consumption of tempeh was related to better memory, particularly in participants over 68 years of age. Their explanation for this difference between (unfermented) tofu versus (fermented) tempeh is that the fermentation process produces high amounts of folate, which might have a protective effect against the phytoestrogens.
Additionally, not only does the fermentation process blunt the anti-nutritive effect of the soybeans' phytic acid, it also produces probiotics -- the "good" bacteria your body is absolutely dependent on – that increase the quantity, availability, digestibility and assimilation of nutrients in your body.
As a side note, formaldehyde (used as a preservative) was also introduced as a potential culprit rather than the tofu itself in this article. Granted, formaldehyde is somewhere at the very bottom of the list of things you want to consume for good health, but even so, there are so many studies confirming the benefits of fermented soy and the dangers of non-fermented soy products in general that I believe preservatives play a secondary role in the outcome, if any.
Soy is a broad and deep subject that cannot be fully covered in a single article, so for further reading, I recommend you review my related articles below as well as my Soy Index Page, which contains links to many of my best articles and important research findings on soy.

Vanillin --bad for you

From reader post from Mercola.com

With respect to vanillin, I fully agree with Larisa 67. I am rather too fond of dairy-free dark chocolate and usually puchase Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa, which contains natural Bourbon vanilla beans. When New Zealand based Whittakers began selling their 72% Dark Ghana slabs in Australia at less than half the price per gram of Lindt, I decided to give it a go. But every single time I did so, within 36 hours of consuming their chocolate, I became almost psychotic. I carefully studied both labels. They appeared to have the same ingredients. Then I suddenly noticed one extra word - "flavour" - on the Whittaker's packaging so I telephoned Whittakers and asked exactly what flavour they used. Their answer was "vanillin". At that stage, I had never even heard of vanillin. I immediately consulted a book by Australian additives expert Sue Dengate and was informed that vanillin was generally OK. But this contradicted what I knew was happening to me whenever I consumed the Whittakers chocolate! So I googled" vanillin +anger" and "vanillin +rage" and came up with thousands of hits. World economic crisis or not, I now studiously avoid any chocolate that lists vanillin or simply the word "flavour" as an ingredient!

Artificial additives like artificial colors and flavors in sweets & artificial vanilla (called vanillin) in chocolate are the cause of behavior issues with children. My kids become very aggressive if they eat sweets with artificial additives or artificial vanilla, which are in most all of the mainstream candies kids have access to. There are all natural candies available and parents should look for these to give their kids. Sugar/sweets are not the culprit, it is the non-food petroleum based artificial additives causing the problems. I am a volunteer for The Feingold Assn. of the U.S. (a 30 yr old non-profit) and help 100's of families each year take artificial additives out of their children's diets. The families I help, see improvements in behavior, learning and health when these harmful additives are removed. They do have an addictive quality like most chemicals do, and many kids actually go through a detox when 1st starting the Feingold program, but the results are so worth it. More info an be found at www.feingold.org .

top 10 anti-pollutant houseplants

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
October 20 2009 | 20,540 views
Over the years there has been quite a bit of debate about whether houseplants really can filter indoor air by removing toxins and particles. NASA tests in a spacecraft packed with plants showed markedly better air, but proving that plants are efficient filters in other situations hasn't been so easy.
But houseplants can't hurt. Not only might they take out some of the air pollution, but some think they may offer some protection against electromagnetic radiation. But which houseplants should you pick?

The New Ecologist made a list of the top 10 anti-pollutant houseplants. They rate the best as:

The Feston Rose plant
Devil’s Ivy
Phalaenopsis
English Ivy
Parlor Ivy
African Violets
Christmas Cactus
Yellow Goddess
Garlic Vine
Peace Lily

Underground Wellness videos

I just ran across this guy who does these videos. He is a bit entertaining and has some videos promoting the truth about many health issues. For the most part he is pretty much on target. They can be good to pass on to friends and family who may have fallen for some health lies like: 'saturated fat is bad for.'

stupidity of the avoidance of saturated fats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjdy0n_gJq8&feature=channel

Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jYhv6Zi-Us&feature=response_watch

deceptive fat loss products: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjN0gCZtTwc&NR=1&feature=fvwp

on sleep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeeAVkF_TeE&NR=1

Carbs and blood sugar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu8XMP_J19o&feature=channel

on fluoride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEKSU5FaVYA&feature=channel

on water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcgXKpXNyvs&feature=channel

on splenda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYh5bkwyuRs&feature=channel

on stevia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6079M5nPtsE&feature=channel

on aspartame: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nscWKkAGAw&feature=channel

on vegetable oil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T5nhFJPyN0&feature=channel

Depression hypothyroidism fuoride etc

Misc. posts from vital vote at Mercola.com:

I've gotten a few requests about what exactly I did to get off the meds. I actually thought I was doing all this to deal with candida and inflammatory polyarthritis and being able to get off meds was a pleasant surprise. I was on Cymbalta, Klonopin, Neurontin, Wellbutrin and Buspar at the time I decided to change my life. I had been on various antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs for most of my adult life.

Diet changes included no sugars, no grains, nothing processed, no starchy veggies, no root veggies except garlic and onions, no fruit except occasional berries and granny smith apples, no soy, plenty of good fats. Only dairy is raw milk kefir and occasional sheep's milk cheese. My meat is from a local farm and is largely free range/grass fed. Produce is 99% organic and mostly from a local farm. About the only organic exception is avocados. I did not go to these extremes with produce, pretty much sticking to the EWG guidelines, but I've started reacting to unknowns in many non-organic produce and don't feel safe doing otherwise. I have multiple chemical sensitivity.

Supplements that helped get me off the drugs I attribute mostly to 6 grams of fish oil/day and at least 1 gram of elemental magnesium per day, usually in the form of mag citrate but I also like magnesium malate. About 2 years ago, I posted here on Dr. Mercola's site for help getting off these drugs. The outpouring of support was amazing. Although I couldn't afford many of the things suggested, just people's kindness and caring went very far. If you are on antidepressants, especially SSRIs and SSNRIs, go to www.theroadback.org.

I now also know that know that hypothyroidism, even subclinical is a major factor in depression, so if you are suffering from depression I'd advise getting FREE T3 and FREE T4 tested and getting it interpreted correctly which is near impossible. For more information on hypothyroidism go to www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

I second what she said about Free T3 and Free T4 levels to detend hypothyroidism, but would recommend avoiding the Website she mentions. That Website thinks there is only one medication that should be used to treat hypo, and the truth is that no one medication is right for everyone.

I wanted to bring up a point about the hypothyroidism that you may or may not be aware of. Fluoride's potential to impair thyroid function is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that -- up until the 1970s -- European doctors used fluoride as a thyroid-suppressing medication for patients with HYPER-thyroidism (over-active thyroid). Fluoride was utilized because it was found to be effective at reducing the activity of the thyroid gland - even at doses as low as 2 mg/day. Today, many people living in fluoridated communities are ingesting doses of fluoride (1.6-6.6 mg/day) that fall within the range of doses (2 to 10 mg/day) once used by doctors to reduce thyroid activity in hyperthyroid patients. While it may be that the thyroid in a patient with hyperthyroidism is particularly susceptible to the anti-thyroid actions of fluoride, there is concern that current fluoride exposures may be playing a role in the widespread incidence of HYPO-thyroidism (under-active thyroid) in the U.S.

Hypothyrodisim, most commonly diagnosed in women over 40, is a serious condition with a diverse range of symptoms including: fatigue, depression, weight gain, hair loss, muscle pains, increased levels of "bad" cholesterol (LDL), and heart disease.. The drug (Synthroid) used to treat hypothyroidism is now one of the top five prescribed drugs in the U.S. All of this information and more is available at the Fluoride Action Network in the Health effects Database look in the thyroid section or click here: www.fluoridealert.org/.../thyroid

8 ounces of water fluoridated to 1 ppm has a quarter milligram of the drug fluoride in it drink 1 liter or 32 ounces of water and you have consumed 1 milligram of fluoride. Drink 1 gallon and you have taken a 4 milligram dose of fluoride. www.youtube.com/.../FluorideIsBad <>

I have to agree that proper nutrition is a huge key to resolving depression and also to living well with thyroid issues. In 2002, I had RAI for hyperthyroid and gained a ton of weight. I was put on Synthroid at a dose where my doctor thought my levels were optimal, but I was unable to lose the weight, even with more exercise and good mutrition. I found STTM and discovered that there were alternative meds to Synthoid, about which my endo was totally clueless. I tried one of the alternatives, with the help of a new doctor, and discovered I also had adrenal issues. Now, 6 years later, most of my health issues have been totally resolved, and I am doing very well. I didn't feel that STTM pushed one particular thyroid replacement, only that it told me of alternatives to synthetic meds.

Nobody's mentioned gluten intolerance! I was on Wellbutrin and Celexa for almost 5 years. Terrible brain zaps getting off! I hated it. My dermatologist suggested a blood test for gluten intolerance and I was positive. I am now gluten free and drug and depression free. If I eat something that is cross contaminated with gluten, I get depressed and irritable! Read the side effects of gluten intolerance and depression and irritability is always there. Get off gluten!

I just want to encourage anyone reading this. I got off over 25 years of antidepressants with diet, magnesium and fish oil and am more emotionally stable than at any time in my life.

Depression is also linked to chronic low level inflammation. It is no accident that the supplements mentioned are also anti-inflammatory in nature.

By using Turmeric, Ginger and Krill Oil, I accidentally resolved a life long depression problem brought on by undiagnosed Crohn's Disease.

When you spend some time investigating, you will find most all inflammatory diseases have depression and/or anxiety as symptoms. Most doctors and Psychiatric professionals do not make this correlation.

As a nurse and after a breast cancer diagnosis in 1999 I went on a raw food diet and still eat that way today. My depression magically lifted. I was so full of energy and my mood was constantly up from the nutritious food I was giving my body as noted at http://www.RawFoodDietCure.com . Eating 2 bananas in a row can often lift a depression, low mood or low energy levels through its effect on serotonin and dopamine.

I would consider protein intake to be the major factor in diet that can alleviate depression and Isay this from personal experience of going from a low protein diet and feeling depressed, to a high protein diet and feeling much better, along with scientific evidence as supplied by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. www.radiantrecovery.com

The feel good brain chemicals rely so much on tryptophan, the amino acid found in some protein foods and also the trytophan has to be able to cross the blood brain barrier, so some healthy carbs can assist with that.

So I do believe diet can help with depression, omega 3s I agree and also though and maybe even more important, is a good intake of protein so that your body has the basic building blocks it needs to create the feel good chemicals.

St. John Wort tea is the best for depression. Make sure to buy organic. Omega-3 is also great for depression.

Last year I cured myself of life-long depression & anxiety by going gluten-free. The only time that I've become depressed since I started the GF diet was after I had a food that contained 'natural flavors' which turned out to be MSG (gluten). I'm interested in trying the Krill oil to supplement my diet and I highly encourage everyone to attempt natural and dietary methods to treat depression. Life CAN be good! :)

laundry detergent, shampoo, or air freshener? Fragrances

( from: www.hsibaltimore.com )

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that indoor air is often 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. And according to Anne C. Steinemann, Ph.D. – an environmental engineering professor at the University of Washington – the contents of many air freshener brands and scented products may actually INCREASE indoor pollution. Dr. Steinemann became interested in air fresheners and other household products after hearing numerous reports from people who believed these items made them feel sick. When she conducted a chemical analysis of three best- selling air fresheners and three laundry products, she says, "I was surprised by both the number and the potential toxicity of the chemicals that were found." To avoid legal issues, Dr. Steinemann didn't reveal any brand names of the products tested.

STUDY RESULTS:

• In six products, Dr. Steinemann found nearly 100 volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• 10 of the VOCs are regulated as either toxic or hazardous
• Three are classified as carcinogenic hazardous air pollutants, which have no safe exposure level according to the EPA
• One of the VOCs was methyl chloride, linked to nervous system, liver, and kidney damage in animals
• Each of the six products contained at least one of the 10 toxic or hazardous VOCs

None of the product labels listed any of these VOCs. No surprise there because U.S. laws don't require manufacturers of household products to list contents. Reacting to this study, one toxicologist told the Baltimore Sun: "At the very minimum, we should have a right to know what is in these product

So what's the real danger in getting an occasional whiff of laundry detergent, shampoo, or air freshener?

In the e-Alert "Something in the Air" (2/14/05), I told you about a UK study in which researchers monitored VOC levels for one year in 170 homes where mothers spent their days at home with children.

STUDY RESULTS:

• In homes where air fresheners were used daily, mothers averaged nearly 10 percent more frequent headaches than mothers in homes where air fresheners were used once a week or less
• In the "daily" homes, mothers had more than 25 percent higher risk of depression compared to mothers in the "once a week" homes
• In the "daily" homes, infants were 32 percent more likely to suffer from diarrhea
• Infants in the "daily" homes had a significantly higher rate of earaches than infants in "once a week" homes

Researchers noted that the daily use of air fresheners and other aerosol products created a gradual accumulation of VOCs.

Dr. Steinemann suggests that consumers avoid air fresheners and choose fragrance-free products. But beware – some manufacturers simply use a masking fragrance to neutralize the aroma of scented products.

Another thing that fragrances have that are bad for you are phytoestrogens which we know cause prostate problems in men and wreak havoc in women and mess up everyone's thyroid. Other things to avoid besides fragrances that have phyotestrogens are plastics, soy, and pesticides. Fragrances that the dear good God made are fine as in the completely natural ones found in flowers and herbs which can be distilled and found in essential oils.

Diabetes

From westonaprice.org:

Complications of diabetes include heart disease and circulation problems; kidney disease; degeneration of the retina leading to blindness; neuropathy resulting in numbness, tingling, pain and burning in the extremities; foot ulcers leading to gangrene; and high risk of infection.

Compared to dozens of hormones that are produced when our blood sugar drops too low, the body has only two mechanisms to deal with blood sugar that goes too high. One is exercise--any muscular activity drives the sugar from the blood into the muscle cells where it is used as fuel. The second is the production of insulin. Insulin production is the body’s way of saying that the sugar level is too high, that the body is overfed with sugar. Insulin helps remove sugar from the blood into the cells where it is stored as fat. (It is interesting to note that the type of fat that is made by the body under the guidance of insulin is saturated fat.)

The second conclusion we can draw is that the cause of type II diabetes is actually quite simple. Type II diabetes occurs when for many years the consumption of foods that raise the blood sugar chronically exceeds the amount of sugar needed by the muscles for exercise. This forces the body to gradually make more and more insulin in order to bring this sugar level down. Eventually, the body cannot make enough insulin to lower the sugar level, the sugar level remains chronically high and the patient is diagnosed with diabetes.

Along the way a curious thing happens called insulin resistance. This means that as the blood sugars are chronically elevated, and the insulin levels are rising, the cells build a shield or wall around themselves to slow down this influx of excess sugar. Insulin resistance is a protective or adaptive response, it is the best the body can do to protect the cells from too much glucose. But as time goes on the sugar in the blood increases, more insulin is made by the pancreas to deal with this elevated sugar and the cells resist this sugar influx by becoming insulin resistant, in a sense by shutting the gates. This leads to the curious situation in which blood sugar levels are high but cellular sugar levels are low. The body perceives this as low blood sugar. The patient has low energy and feels hungry so he eats more, and the vicious cycle is under way.

Having a chronically elevated insulin level is detrimental for many other reasons. Not only do high insulin levels cause obesity (insulin tells your body to store fat), but they also signal that fluid should be retained, leading to edema and hypertension. Chronic high insulin provokes plaque development inside the arteries and also suppresses growth hormone needed for the regeneration of the tissues and many other physiological responses.

During the 1980s, researchers began to ask whether obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension and other common medical problems that occur together are really separate diseases, or manifestations of one common physiological defect. The evidence now points to one defect and that is hyperinsulinemia, or excessive insulin levels in the blood. Hyperinsulinemia is the physiological event that links virtually all of our degenerative diseases. It is the biochemical corollary or marker of the events described in heart disease.

The question we need to answer, then, is what causes hyperinsulinemia? In basic biochemistry we learn about the three food groups: fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Under normal circumstances it is the carbohydrates that are transformed into the sugar that goes into the blood. Fats are broken down into fatty acids and become the building blocks for hormones, prostaglandins and cell membranes. Proteins are broken down into amino acids which then are rebuilt into the various proteins in our bodies. Carbohydrates are used for one thing only and that is energy generation. This allows us to define a "balanced" diet, which is one where the energy used in movement and exercise equals the energy provided by the carbohydrates we consume.

For a person of a given size, protein and fat requirements are relatively fixed and can be controlled with the appetite. (It is actually difficult to overeat fats and proteins, as our bodies make us nauseous when we do.) However, carbohydrate intake should be intimately related to our level of activity. If we run a marathon every day, a balanced diet would probably include about 300 grams of carbohydrates per day, the amount contained in 20 potatoes or 6 brownies. If we sit on the couch all day, obviously our requirement for energy food will be less. In this case a balanced diet would include only about 65-70 grams of carbohydrate per day. Any more, and our bodies are forced to make more insulin and the whole vicious cycle begins.

The problem of diabetes can be summarized by saying that the western diet has us eating like marathon runners, when in fact most of us simply sit on the couch. When we regulate the carbohydrate intake to match our exercise level, type II diabetes cannot develop, and in fact, I have found that most cases of type II diabetes respond well to treatment when these basic principles are kept in mind. Type I diabetes responds equally well to a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet. In fact, before insulin was available, the only way to treat type I diabetes was a high-fat diet from which carbohydrate foods were completely excluded because the body does not need insulin to assimilate proteins and fats.

Unless eaten to great excess, fats do not contribute to diabetes--with one exception. Trans fatty acids in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils can cause insulin resistance. When these man-made fats get built into the cell membrane, they interfere with the insulin receptors. In theory, this means that one could develop insulin resistance without eating lots of carbohydrates. But in practice, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are always used in the very high-carbohydrate foods--french fries, cookies, crackers, donuts and margarine on bread or potatoes--that flood the bloodstream with sugar. Trans fatty acids in modern processed foods present a double whammy for which the human species has developed no defenses.

DIET FOR DIABETICS

Studies of indigenous peoples by Weston Price and many others reveal the wisdom of native diets and life-style. For not only did so-called primitive peoples follow the "perfect" anti-diabetes life-style program, but their diets incorporated specific foods only recently discovered to play an important role in the prevention and treatment of this disease. In general, indigenous peoples had a low carbohydrate intake coupled with a lot of physical activity. In fact, those peoples especially prone to diabetes today, such as northern Native Americans and Inuits, consumed virtually no carbohydrate foods. In warmer climates, where tubers and fruits were more abundant, these foods were usually fermented and consumed with adequate protein and fat. It is only in the change to Western habits that their so-called "genetic" tendency to diabetes manifests.

There are three other nutritional factors in indigenous diets that are helpful for diabetics. First, the diets were rich in trace minerals. Modern science has shown us that trace mineral deficiencies--particularly deficiencies in zinc, vanadium and chromium--inhibit insulin production and absorption. Without vanadium, sugar in the blood cannot be driven into the cells and chromium is necessary for carbohydrate metabolism and the proper functioning of the insulin receptors. Zinc is a co-factor in the production of insulin. Traditional foods were grown in mineral-rich soil, contained mineral-rich bone broth and salt, and included mineral-rich water or beverages made with such water. In the modern diet, the best sources of zinc are red meats and shell fish, particularly oysters. Extra virgin unfiltered olive oil supplies vanadium, and chromium is found in nutritional yeast, molasses and organ meats like liver.

Second, indigenous peoples ate a portion of their animal foods, such as fish, milk or meat, uncooked--either raw or fermented. This strategy conserves vitamin B6, which is easily destroyed by heat. Vitamin B6 is essential for carbohydrate metabolism; it is often the rate-limiting vitamin of the B vitamin complex because it is one of the most difficult to obtain in the diet. Indigenous peoples intuitively understood the need to eat a portion of their animal foods completely raw.

Third, traditional peoples consumed foods rich in fat-soluble vitamins, including butterfat from grass-fed animals, organ meats, shellfish, fish liver oils and the fats of certain animals like bear and pig. High levels of vitamin A are absolutely essential for the diabetic because diabetics are unable to convert the carotenes in plant foods into true vitamin A. Vitamin A and vitamin D also protect against the complications of diabetes, such as retina and kidney problems. And vitamin D is necessary for the production of insulin.

Putting all these rules together, we find that a nutrient-dense traditional diet fits all the requirements for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. The diet should include sufficient trace minerals from organic and biodynamic foods, Celtic sea salt, bone broths, shellfish, red meat, organ meats, unfiltered olive oil and nutritional yeast. High levels of vitamins A and D are essential, as are raw animal foods to provide vitamin B₆.

Most importantly, diabetics must strictly limit their daily carbohydrate intake. While the optimum amount of carbohydrate foods depends somewhat on activity levels, most diabetics need to start on a 60-gram-per-day carbohydrate regimen until their sugars normalize. I recommend The Schwarzbein Principle as a guide to carbohydrate consumption. The book contains easy-to-use charts that allow you to assess carbohydrate values. During the initial period of treatment, which can take up to a year, average blood sugar levels should be determined by a blood test that measures HgbA1c, a compound that indicates average blood sugar levels over a period of about 6 weeks. Carbohydrate restriction will also help with weight loss.

For Type II diabetics, this diet should help both blood sugar levels and weight to normalize, after which the daily carbohydrate intake can be liberalized to about 72 grams per day. This level should be maintained throughout the life of the diabetic. The same approach applies to the Type I diabetic, although it may not allow him to get off insulin. However, strict carbohydrate restriction should reduce insulin requirements, help keep blood sugar stable and, most importantly, prevent the many side effects associated with diabetes.

Please note that in this approach there are no restrictions on total food intake, nor do we pay attention to the so-called glycemic index of various carbohydrate foods. Fats consumed with any carbohydrate food will lower the glycemic index. Worrying about glycemic indices adds nothing to the therapy and only increases time spent calculating food values rather than enjoying its goodness. One should eat abundantly from good fats and proteins--only carbohydrate foods need to be restricted.

With this approach, diabetics can expect greatly improved quality of life and even a complete cure.

Eggs and Cholesterol busting a myth

From HSI:
Two years ago the British Heart Foundation (BHF) acknowledged new evidence about dietary cholesterol in eggs. Previously, the BHF had advised against eating more than three eggs per week.

Victoria Taylor – a BHF dietician – told the BBC: ""There is cholesterol present in eggs but this does not usually make a great contribution to your level of blood cholesterol."

Finally! A little common sense from the mainstream! Thank you, Victoria.

More recently, University of Surrey researchers evaluated a variety of egg nutrition studies and found that the misconception that eggs raise cholesterol levels is based on out-of-date evidence.
Professor Bruce Griffin of the Surrey team told the BBC that the idea that egg intake is linked to high cholesterol and heart disease "must be corrected." And as if he were reading from a past e-Alert, Prof. Griffin added that eggs are in fact quite nutrient-dense.

So how in the world did eggs get such a bad rap in the first place? In case you missed it, here's how HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., explained it in the e-Alert "Egging On" (3/18/09): "The studies on cholesterol/eggs and heart disease were done using POWDERED eggs! However, there is a familial hypercholesterolemia where some have to ease up on egg intake, but primarily the problem has always been OXIDIZED cholesterol – cholesterol heated and exposed to air for an extended period...not an issue in a real egg, where the yolk sac insulates the cholesterol from oxidation."

Dr. Spreen adds that eggs are a rare good source of sulfur. In addition, you'll get plenty of protein, essential amino acids, vitamins B, D, A, and riboflavin, and minerals, including calcium, potassium, and iron.
(www.hsibaltimore.com)

Espom Salt Baths

By Melissa Breyer, Senior Editor, Healthy & Green Living

Many of us are deficient in magnesium, and by simply soaking in a relaxing bath with magnesium-rich Epsom salt we can boost our levels of this important element. “Magnesium,” you might wonder, “what’s the big deal?” Find out the importance of magnesium and discover the many surprising health benefits of using Epsom salt in your bath.

We all know about the importance of iron and calcium, but what about magnesium? It is the second-most abundant element in human cells and the fourth-most important positively charged ion in the body. Surprisingly, it helps the body regulate over 325 enzymes and plays an important role in organizing many bodily functions, like muscle control, electrical impulses, energy production and the elimination of harmful toxins.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, most Americans are magnesium deficient, which the academy says helps to account for high rates of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, arthritis and joint pain, digestive maladies, stress-related illnesses, chronic fatigue and a number of other ailments. Who knew?!

Americans’ magnesium levels have dropped by half in the last century due to changes in agriculture and diet. Industrial farming has depleted magnesium from soil and the typical American diet contains much less magnesium than that of our forefathers. And in fact, the modern American diet with its fat, sugar, salt and protein actually works to speed up the depletion of magnesium from our bodies.

Interestingly, our focus on getting enough calcium is another factor in decreased magnesium levels. In a delicate dance of balance, calcium depletes magnesium yet calcium functions best when enough magnesium is present. Studies indicate that taking a calcium supplement without enough magnesium can increase the shortage of both nutrients. Researchers have found that many Americans have five times as much calcium as magnesium in their bodies, although the proper ratio for optimum absorption of both minerals is two to one.

With such widespread magnesium deficiency one might think that magnesium supplements would be called upon, but studies show that magnesium is not easily absorbed through the digestive tract. The presence of specific foods or drugs, certain medical conditions, and the chemistry of a person’s stomach acid can render magnesium supplements ineffective.

This brings us to Epsom salt. Known scientifically as hydrated magnesium sulfate, Epsom salt is rich in both magnesium and sulfate. While both magnesium and sulfate can be poorly absorbed through the stomach, studies show increased magnesium levels from soaking in a bath enriched with Epsom salt! Magnesium and sulfate are both easily absorbed through the skin. Sulfates play an important role in the formation of brain tissue, joint proteins and the proteins that line the walls of the digestive tract. They stimulate the pancreas to generate digestive enzymes and are thought to help detoxify the body of medicines and environmental contaminants.

Researchers and physicians suggest these health benefits from proper magnesium and sulfate levels, as listed on the web site of the Epsom Salt Industry Council:

• Improved heart and circulatory health, reducing irregular heartbeats, preventing hardening of the arteries, reducing blood clots and lowering blood pressure.
• Improved ability for the body to use insulin, reducing the incidence or severity of diabetes.
• Flushed toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances.
• Improved nerve function by electrolyte regulation. Also, calcium is the main conductor for electrical current in the body, and magnesium is necessary to maintain proper calcium levels in the blood.
• Relieved stress. Excess adrenaline and stress are believed to drain magnesium, a natural stress reliever, from the body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to bind adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of well being and relaxation.
• Reduced inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps.
• Improved oxygen use.
• Improved absorption of nutrients.
• Improved formation of joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins.
• Prevention or easing of migraine headaches.

All this from a bath, hurray! While there are many different brands of Epsom salt, they are all the same product chemically, and can be found at most drug stores. Add two cups of Epsom salt and soak for at least 12 minutes. Do this three times weekly.

If you are pregnant or have any health concerns, check with your doctor before using Epsom salts.

Depression and Vitamin D Deficiency

I don't know where I copied this from:

"i recently spoke with several counselors & psychiatric physicians in charge of an emergency psychiatric in-patient clinic in Texas & posed the question to the following questions to them: 1) in your experience approximately what percentage of the patients who revolve through this ward are suffering from some form of depression? "a very high percentage", "90 percent", & "100 percent" were the replies. 2) since we know that there is a correlation between mood & sunlight exposure, & vitamin d deficiency is known to induce depression in the winter months, why not administer a 25(OH)D test on every patient who comes in? invariably they enthusiastically agreed that this would be a great idea! alas, for the doctors to try this would require the persistent demand for this from every patient in the ward..."

Magnesium Deficiency and Type 2 Diabetes and Gallstones Link

from HSI:
Dear Reader,

If you don't have a gallstone story, you probably know someone who does.

My friend Emily has one. After a few weeks of coping with what she thought was nagging acid reflux, she woke up late one night with an abdominal pain so severe she thought she was dying. Removal of her gallbladder took care of the problem.

A new study shows that Emily might have entirely avoided the brutal pain and the surgery if her magnesium intake had been sufficiently high.

Magnesium has a type 2 diabetes connection, which in turn has a gallstone connection.

Last summer I told you about a meta-analysis of seven large magnesium/diabetes studies from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Six of the studies found a significant link between high magnesium intake and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. And the sources of magnesium (either from diet or supplements combined with diet) were equally effective.

The Karolinska team found that diabetes risk dropped by 15 percent for every 100 mg increase in magnesium intake.

Unfortunately, magnesium deficiency can develop fairly easily. Menstruation, prolonged stress, a high intake of starches, alcohol, diuretics and some prescription drugs (such as antibiotics) have all been shown to reduce magnesium levels. [Conventionally grown food is magnesium deficient]

In the February 2008 issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology, researchers at the University of Kentucky Medical Center note that low magnesium levels have been associated with high insulin concentrations. They write: "Chronic hypersecretion of insulin, a feature of insulin resistance, may increase the cholesterol saturation index in the bile, and thus may facilitate gallstone formation."

Magnesium deficiency may also increase gallstone risk by raising triglyceride levels while lowering HDL cholesterol levels.

To investigate the effect of long-term magnesium intake on the risk of gallstone disease, the Kentucky team (in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the National Cancer Institute) launched a study to follow magnesium intake and medical records for more than 42,000 men. ...

HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., recommends 500 mg of magnesium per day, with the added note that magnesium gluconate and chelated magnesium are the preferred supplement forms. Talk to your doctor before adding a magnesium supplement to your daily regimen.

Dietary sources of magnesium include leafy green vegetables, avocados, nuts, and whole grains. [Take an Epsom salt bath one a day for thirty days, then once a week]

(www.hsibaltimore.com)

Gout

From westonaprice.org:

Finally, it will probably come as no surprise to the readers of Wise Traditions that the specific nutrient that seems to prevent the buildup of uric acid is vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that is particularly associated with the kidney. In fact, gout can be seen as a problem of the kidneys not being able to excrete enough of the uric acid to prevent the buildup, rather than simply a matter of excessive protein intake.
In my years of treating patients with gout, a program of decreasing protein intake along with liberal use of all the usual animal fats (butter from healthy cows, cream, etc) and the regular use of gelatinous stocks has been the key to preventing uric acid buildup and further attacks of gout.
As for other medicines, cherry juice is a virtual specific for preventing uric acid buildup and further attacks of gout. I have patients with gout take 1 teaspoon 2 times per day of cherry juice concentrate (without the sugar), literally for the rest of their lives. I also make sure they take 1 teaspoon per day of high-vitamin cod liver oil to supply the vitamin A [Green Pasture's Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil--the only brand acceptable], which antagonizes the uric acid buildup and also nourishes the kidneys. Of course, the patient should avoid refined carbohydrates and alcohol (which contributes to syndrome X).
As for medicines, I use arginex from Standard Process at a dose of 1-2 tablets three times per day. Arginex is made from fermented beets and helps stimulate excretion via the kidneys. For acute attacks, I use the antiinflammatory Boswellia comp from Mediherb 1-2 tablets three times per day. Hopefully, with these measures your client will be able to overcome the tendency for these painful attacks.
From me:
Below my note are a bunch of cut and pasted notes from various sources all concerning gout. The things that seem to work are the raw apple cider vinegar (Braggs), Buffered vitamin C with bioflavinoids (3000-5000 a day separated), Celery Seed extract, cod liver oil, digestive enzymes, grape seed extract, vit E, sour unsweetened cherry juice and sour cherries. And putting DMSO on it for pain relief. Cut out all sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fried foods and processed foods, pop (especially diet pop), alcohol and coffee. When one does this it seriously subsides within several hours. If one would do this for two weeks it would go completely away. Eating eggs either over easy, soft boiled or raw is good. If you are going to eat beef make sure it is good quality and cooked rare or raw. Cooked beef is no good for gout. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Strawberries are good too. Eat no margarine, vegetable oils or shortening. The fats that are allowed are butter, extra virgin olive oil, lard (from a good source) and organic coconut oil, raw milk and plain yogurt and kefir (plain). Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Salads with either the raw apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice with olive oil. I would have to say drinking the apple cider vinegar (2 T in a cup of water) a couple times a day (up to 5 times a day) is the most important thing to do. Balance your pH. Chew your food well!

----

I had gouty arthritis last summer and went to earthclinic.com to find a remedy. The number one remedy was raw apple cider vinegar. I used 2 tablespoons in about 12 ounces of water 3 times per day and the pain was gone within hours. The swelling mostly gone in less than one day and all gone in two days. My mother saw my swollen foot and ankle which were huge and could not believe it when it was mostly gone the next day! I had the problem which was worsening day by day for weeks and couldn't believe how quickly it was gone myself. I also noticed how much better I felt on the ACV so still use it twice per day.

While most of the comments are saying that sour cherries or its juice has shown to help, it seems that most do not understand the reason why. Cherries, and to be more specific sour cherries, are an alkaline fruit. The alkalinity helps reduce the acidic effect of our diets and life styles. As stated in my earlier comment, drinking alkaline water does the same thing but with greater efficiency. Kangen Water is water that has had the molecular structure of the water broken down so that it has a greater absorbency factor, thus allowing it to more readily enter your blood stream. I as well as many others I know have had miraculous results from drinking Kangen Water.

I think that saying gout is caused by excessive uric acid not the whole story. The inflammation in gout is triggered by the tissue deposition of uric acid crystals, but why does one have excessive uric acid in the first place. Yes gout is an inflammatory disease and as such is influenced by all major inflammatory triggers like Insulin and prostaglandins - resulting from high glycemic foods, to much arachidonic acid (one of the omega 6 fats) and trans and long chain saturated fats. Obviously leaky gut, ( and thus candida and heavy metal toxicity ) poor digestion (too much cooked food and lack of digestive enzymes) and circulating immune complexis can increase inflammation. An acidic environment will lead to earlier crystallization and poorer excretion, but where does uric acid really come from. In the catabolic pathway DNA is converted (with Xantienoxidase) to Uric acid - a means to make it more water soluble. I believe any catabolic trigger is the real cause of gout and that proper nutrition with all that it entails is your best anticatabolic means. Decrease catabolism and thus formation of uric acid, support the kidneys and excretion of uric acid by taking water and alkalinizing the body. Decrease inflammation. Gerrit Gouws

This is a very old time farm based recipe for gout based on one of the most successful ways of addressing removal of excess uric acid from the body through the use of pure celery juice. and raw cider vinegar...especially if you prefer to enjoy your medicine! Try this really tasty salad and add to your regular diet..... 3-4 stalks of organically raised green celery chopped - add chopped cucumber (skin removed) and chopped or thin sliced onion (yellow), raw cider vinegar and blend well with raw organic honey to sweeten very lightly and be very sparing on seasonings if any at all - 1 clove crushed garlic pieces and/or just a bit of sea salt and pepper is enough - you will be amazed at the results.

Kris sometimes the pain is in the big toe but it can also be any part of the foot. I would add that the real cause of gout is really your kidneys are not functioning correctly. The kidneys are not filtering out the waste ( uric acid). Some of the comments on how people dealt with gout here supports this. It is thought that purine in the diet is causing the problem but I have read doctors will use a high purine diet ie grass fed meats and home made broths to correct the problem. Kidney function is really the root of the problem

I posted this in a previous article regarding HFCS:
Well I have 2 anecdotes for you that (to me at least) proves there are not the same.
1) If I drink typical "corn syrup" Cokes regularly (1+ every day) for an extended time (week or so) I will develop gout in my foot. I can switch imported Cokes (from Mexico) that are sweetened with sugar and the gout will go away.
2) My mother (in her late 50's) was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (shortly after being treated with major antibiotics for a suspected MRSA infection). She can drink a bottle of US Coke and her blood sugar will spike extremely high (I can't remember the #'s, but 600-900 sticks in my head). If she drinks the Mexican Cokes it is unaffected...
But you can rest assured that there is no difference, because those pushing this crap on us tells us so! (Coke is not recommended)

My husband has gout. The cure for him is Apple Cider Vinegar. Works wonders!
Since gout is like a symptom of kidney failure, those who "died of gout" in reality probably had undiagnosed kidney failure.
Alcohol, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) , poor food choices contribute to gout.

used celery seed for his gout and many others have. As for the celery seed pills- save your nickels and buy celery seed in bulk at your Health Food Store. Make it in to a tea. don't drink more than 1/2 cup 2x a day, and don't take it indefinitely. Celery Seed is a potent cleanser of the kidneys and used long term can be irritating.
Sour cherry juice.
My brother juices celery for his gout and it works great, but I just buy a gallon of aloe vera juice at Sam's Club for under $6 and it also works great with less fuss. I wonder how much the celery seed pills are?
relieving a potassium deficiency can relieve it somewhat

As we all know, gout is caused by uric acid. Most all of the health problems we have are caused by too much acid in our bodies. Interesting that some of the responses talk about coke and its effect on gout. All soft drinks are very, very, very acidic. What I have found, and have gotten almost 100% relief from, is drinking electrolyzed water that turns ordinary tap water into alkaline hexagonal water. I have Kangen Water machine attached to my tap that changes my tap water to Kangen Water. I have many testimonials from people that are using Kangen Water to relieve symptoms of many various problems such as acid reflux, diabetes, arthritis etc. All of these are the result of to much acid in our systems. Relief could be a glass of water away. You can check it out at www.water4unow.com
I have had the question in my mind for awhile of whether or not excessive coffee drinking could cause gout. As it leeches calcium from the bones, and causes dehydration as well, it makes sense that it would increase uric acid levels.

In another narration by Abu Dharr (A.S.), he said, "The Prophet (PBUH) was given a basket full of figs as a present. He said to us, "Eat!" He ate of it and said: "If I could say that a fruit was sent down from Heaven, it would be this, as the fruit in Heaven has no stones. Eat it, as it cures hemorrhoids and it is useful for treating gout (or arthritis)."

I have had gout for many, many years. During that time, I have taken white willow and MSM to reduce inflammation. I also drank cherry juice. All of these things helped incredibly. Also, chocolate, black tea and coffee seemed to cause it to flare up. We finally bought a water ionizer or alkalizer. In three days, my back pain and leg cramps, which I had also had for years, went away and they never came back! My gout went away a little more gradually, but after a month, it was hardly noticeable. My husband also got rid of heartburn and bloating after twenty years. We bought the Alkalizer and I would highly recommend it to any one as the single most important step you can take to improve your health.

In my chiropractic practice we prescribe tea made from celery seeds. Take two to four cups per day works just about every time. I do agree with staying away from bad fats and sugars, this will inflame the condition every time. Also, EXERCISE(pain free range) and vitamin D.
Thank you for talking about Uric Acid and how it affects the joints when it crystallizes in the joints. This is all because we are over acidic. If you ever drink any soda pop, sports drinks, vitamin water, or even reverse osmosis or distilled water, you are drinking highly acidic around 2.5PH. There are all very toxic.
The key to eliminating gout and any of the arthritic conditions we suffer from is drinking Alkaline, Anti-Oxidant Water. This water is produced in your home by a device that has been used in Japanese hospitals and clinics for nearly 40 years. Good health is as simple as the water you drink.

You can get information on the internet, just look for Whole Life Water. I got one nearly 2 years ago and the arthritis in my hands that I had suffered with for 5 years was gone in less than 24 hours. It works just as well for Gout as it dissolves the Uric acid crystals and flushes them out of your body.

I take a 600 mg tablet of Bromelain on an empty stomach 2 times/day when I feel a twinge of gout (also arthritic twinges). Usually takes care of the problem before the 2nd dose. I did the same thing both times I had a synovial cyst on the back of my hand (from surgical excision of trapezoid, each hand). Surgeon expected to do second surgeries for the cysts but I wiped each one out using Bromelain within 2 days. They never returned. Now he recommends it to his patients (quite a sacrifice for him, income-wise!).
Bromelain seems to consume uric acid (and some other bad proteins) in the joints and surrounding tissue. I'm sure Doc Mercola could expand on Bromelain's uses...

I agree. I have seen much quicker relief from gout by using bromelain than cherries or other diuretics. I like plain bromelain over enzyme combinations with acidic ingredients because it can be taken in very large amounts without stomach upset. I have seen gout cured in a single day with 10 capsules of high potency (2000GDU) and drinking a cup of water every couple of hours.
Uric acid is a byproduct of incomplete protein digestion so using protein digesting enzymes should always stop it from occurring.

I would suggest that anyone who accepts that uric acid is the cause of gout has been misinformed. Dr Mercola in the above article says this:
"Because the REAL underlying problem causing the inflammation, and subsequent damage, is likely due to having chronically elevated blood sugar. (The sugar molecule causes far more damage than any other molecule.) And, your number one way of normalizing your blood sugar and insulin levels is through your diet".
To this, I subscribe. Serendipitously I discovered that the cause of my own gout was indeed diet and principally the high intake of carbohydrates. Immediately those were reduced in the diet the gout disappeared. This problem is not connected to animal protein which, together with saturated fat, is our body's natural food.
The problem, however, and many other health problems, is not always directly related to diet (which, obviously is a contributory factor) but more connected to digestion. It is not easy to distinguish this difference but leptin studies are indicating that the stomach needs longer periods of fasting between meals than traditionally we have allowed. Furthermore, to those who suffer from nocturnal cramp then do two things, stop snacking between meals (which is not as easy as it sounds) and have the last meal of the day at least three hours prior to retiring; it is best to go to sleep on an empty stomach. Nocturnal cramp will then be found to have decreased by 95% and what little one suffers will be of a milder form.
inadequate magnesium can also cause nocturnal cramps. I tell my patients to take 1 tbsp liquid calcium/magnesium and it works within a day or two. even for those with long term muscle cramps.

May I add that blood thinners (taken over a long time) causes gout in some people, such as Plavix and Aspirin.

Thank you, Kerstin, that was my impression from personal experience (the only time that I had gout). And it wasn't only taken over a long time. I was forced to take these drugs in four days and caused horrendous symptoms - gout was one of the adverse reactions.

True Story: I had a heart attack at age 30. My cholesterol had been 250 or higher for 5 consecutive years. My blood pressure was never lower than 135/85. After the mild heart attack I was put on blood pressure, blood thinning, and cholesterol medication. For the next 3 years I was on this medication and I was on a very strict diet and I was running 2 miles a day in 15 minutes (started out 25 minutes). I was also doing strength training 3 days a week for 45 minutes each day. My blood pressure stayed the same and my cholesterol went up over 300. The last 4 months I was on this low fat (no fat) high carb diet I actually grew my own garden. It included corn, okra, purple hull peas, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, and water melon. The garden itself was a major work out because I had no tiller. It required at least an hour of my time every day. My cholesterol went to over 350. I told my doctor what my diet was and that I only ate foods I grew out of my own garden and that I did hard labor at least an hour a day on top of my 2 mile run a day and he called me a liar. Needless to say, I changed doctors. I found a doctor in Little Rock. AR who has a reputation for thinking outside the box. He has a PHD in Bio-Chemistry and Psychology and he has an MD. I told him I would rather die than to continue this unsustainable life style of growing my own foods and working out every day while taking tons of medication. I gave him the whole spill of the medications I was on, the heart attack I had, and the diet I was own and told him I was going to end all of it and go back to eating the foods I love like Ribeye steak!! He told me that was a great idea which totally blew me away. He told me to stop exercising because it maybe aggravating inflammation due to arthritis. He told me to stop eating anything "low fat" and anything containing sugar. Then he said for 2 weeks to limit my total carb intake to 3 grams/day. I immediately felt better. I was able to sleep and much of my pain went away. Within another 2 weeks I went to the local clinic to have my cholesterol checked and to my surprise it was 140. For the first time in 10 years it was normal!! That was 1998. 10 years later, I still don't exercise and I still eat mostly high protein/high fat foods. The highest my cholesterol has been in the last 10 years is 190 (lots of vegetables and so called "health food" contributed to that 190). I continue to amaze myself every 6 months when my cholesterol comes back 120, 135, and sometimes 160. All the joint pain and gout I experienced my entire life is gone. I rarely even have a stiff neck at 43 years of age. There were days when I was 30 that I missed work due to neck and back pain. All this low fat high carb diet the doctors promote is for one thing: to keep you coming back to their office. It's a money making machine. For all you people that are tired of being sick do something different. Buck the system. Tell your doctor to K.Y.A.!!! Guess what? Most diseases are related to chronic inflammation. Medications treat the symptoms and not the causes of the inflammation. Get off the insulin producing foods and your life will change.......
The best rule of thumb is this: If you can make bread or alcohol out of it don't eat it. If it is out of a can or box don't eat it. If it says "LOW FAT" don't eat it. If it says "Contains Alcohol Sugars" don't eat it. If it is green, yellow, orange, or red you can eat it. If it is white or brown don't eat it. You can eat any meat in any quantity you like. Of course, meats high in Omega 3's is best but you have to be concerned about heavy metals. Therefore, stick to beef and preferably GRASS fed beef. Try this for 4 weeks and see if your not able to quit your "anti-inflammatory" drugs.

Every one is different! My husband suffered gout for years, and we tried everything! Best for short term was taking baking soda in water (alkalizes the body). Consuming huge amounts of water and sweating is what works for him. I'm sure a sauna would work too.
... lead toxicity causing gout is interesting...

High Blood Pressure revisited

Swanson's is the place to get certain supplements. Lee Swanson Signature Line Ultimate Probiotic Formula , Alpha Lipoic Acid, digestive enzymes, Kyolic Digestion garlic , buffered vitamin C with bioflavinoids 1000 , magnesium (espsom salt baths). Swanson Health Products

Things one can do if one has high blood pressure:
1. Eat lots of raw cloves of garlic. Eat it on your salads and in your
soup (squeezed in your bowl) or you can take garlic caps (Kyolic Digestion garlic). My grandmother brought her blood pressure down by eating fresh garlic when she had it really high and was hemorrhaging from the nose profusely.
2. Eat good fats: raw organic butter, coconut oil, lard(homemade), and raw animal foods (raw dairy and meat--raw yolks, over easy eggs, soft boiled eggs, meat cooked rare or just seared or raw--only high quality, pastured), unfiltered extra virgin cold pressed olive oil.
3. Eat bone broths, organic leafy green veggies especially salads, and live sour kraut (homemade from organic cabbage). Look for foods high in potassium and magnesium.
4. Take cod liver oil every day (the only one to take: Green Pasture's Blue Ice fermented cod liver oil).
5. Avoid all processed foods and commercial salt, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, aspartame, sucralose, sugar and white flour products, unfermented soy in any form. Do use Celtic sea salt.
6. Avoid alcohol, coffee, soft drinks, and fruit juices from concentrate.
7. Temporarily avoid all grains for a few weeks then use only sparingly.
8. Exercise, I can't stress this enough. Walks are great and use the rebounder.
9. Pray. This is good for your soul and it helps reduce stress, but most importantly you're loving God.
10. Do deep breathing exercises and make sure you breath deeply. Many people especially in America breath shallowly thus causing stress and a lack of oxygen.
11. Get enough regular sleep--set bedtime and wake time preferably be asleep by 10:00pm.
12. Drink enough good water (spring water, Perrier (expensive and some say the carbonation is bad--it makes me feel hydrated the best) or Reverse Osmosis with minerals added back, I put a pinch of Celtic sea salt in).
13. Herbs: cayenne (capsicum), chamomile, fennel, hawthorn berries, parsley, and rosemary. You can get these in teas, capsule form or tinctures from Swanson Health Products
14. Probiotics and digestive enzymes seem to help just about everyone.
15. Kumbacha tea (make your own) essiac tea (make your own).
16. Balance your pH. (fresh lemon juice and/or raw apple cider vinegar with water)
17. Take Epsom salt baths-- this is very important. Lack of magnesium plays a significant role in hypertension. This is a great way to absorb and utilize magnesium.
18. I also like to use essential oils.
19. Eliminate stress--it can kill you. Laugh.

But consult your doctor or alternative health practitioner if you want to. I am not a doctor, every body is different, use your own best judgment. See what works for you.

Why MSG is so Dangerous

From Mercola:

One of the best overviews of the very real dangers of MSG comes from Dr. Russell Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon and author of “Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills.” In it he explains that MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain damage to varying degrees -- and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and more.

Part of the problem also is that free glutamic acid is the same neurotransmitter that your brain, nervous system, eyes, pancreas and other organs use to initiate certain processes in your body.[4] Even the FDA states:

    “Studies have shown that the body uses glutamate, an amino acid, as a nerve impulse transmitter in the brain and that there are glutamate-responsive tissues in other parts of the body, as well.

    Abnormal function of glutamate receptors has been linked with certain neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's chorea. Injections of glutamate in laboratory animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain.”[5]

Although the FDA continues to claim that consuming MSG in food does not cause these ill effects, many other experts say otherwise.

According to Dr. Blaylock, numerous glutamate receptors have been found both within your heart's electrical conduction system and the heart muscle itself. This can be damaging to your heart, and may even explain the sudden deaths sometimes seen among young athletes.

He says:

    “When an excess of food-borne excitotoxins, such as MSG, hydrolyzed protein soy protein isolate and concentrate, natural flavoring, sodium caseinate and aspartate from aspartame, are consumed, these glutamate receptors are over-stimulated, producing cardiac arrhythmias.

    When magnesium stores are low, as we see in athletes, the glutamate receptors are so sensitive that even low levels of these excitotoxins can result in cardiac arrhythmias and death.”[6]

Many other adverse effects have also been linked to regular consumption of MSG, including:

    * Obesity

    * Eye damage

    * Headaches

    * Fatigue and disorientation

    * Depression

Further, even the FDA admits that “short-term reactions” known as MSG Symptom Complex can occur in certain groups of people, namely those who have eaten “large doses” of MSG or those who have asthma.[7]

According to the FDA, MSG Symptom Complex can involve symptoms such as:

    * Numbness

    * Burning sensation

    * Tingling

    * Facial pressure or tightness

    * Chest pain or difficulty breathing

    * Headache

    * Nausea

    * Rapid heartbeat

    * Drowsiness

    * Weakness

No one knows for sure just how many people may be “sensitive” to MSG, but studies from the 1970s suggested that 25 percent to 30 percent of the U.S. population was intolerant of MSG -- at levels then found in food. Since the use of MSG has expanded dramatically since that time, it’s been estimated that up to 40 percent of the population may be impacted.[8]

To be on the safe side,you should also know what ingredients to watch out for on packaged foods. Here is a list of ingredients that ALWAYS contain MSG:

 Autolyzed Yeast Calcium Caseinate Gelatin 

 Glutamate Glutamic Acid Hydrolyzed Protein 

 Monopotassium Glutamate Monosodium Glutamate   Sodium Caseinate 

 Textured Protein Yeast Extract Yeast Food 

 Yeast Nutrient    

       

These ingredients OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing:[10]

 Flavors and Flavorings Seasonings   Natural Flavors and Flavorings   Natural Pork Flavoring Natural Beef Flavoring 

 Natural Chicken Flavoring Soy Sauce   Soy Protein Isolate   Soy Protein   Bouillon 

 Stock   Broth   Malt Extract   Malt Flavoring   Barley Malt 

 Whey Protein Carrageenan   Maltodextrin   Pectin   Enzymes 

 Protease   Corn Starch   Citric Acid   Powdered Milk   Anything Protein Fortified 

 Anything Enzyme Modified Anything Ultra-Pasteurized        

So if you do eat processed foods, please remember to be on the lookout for these many hidden names for MSG.

Antibiotics

Comment on Mercola site:

As far as antibiotics go, I won't use them. We use colloidal silver for infections. I worked in the hospital way too much to see how often they are over-used and the nasty side effects (C-Difficile). Most uneducated or undereducated people run to the doctor for every little thing and want antibiotics as a cure all. This is why there are so many resistant super bugs. Prevention is really key here. Take care of yourself. Get rest, exercise, eat healthy, organic foods. If I need it, I use colloidal silver and probiotics. Works like a charm. It all really starts in the gut. You want to stay healthy and have a great immune system, keep your digestive system healthy and you won't need antibiotics.

Excerpts from Pope Benedict's Lenten Message on Fasting

prayer, almsgiving, fasting -- to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God's power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, "dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride"

fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it.

Saint Peter Chrysologus writes: "Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God's ear to yourself" (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).

In our own day, fasting seems to have lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one's body. Fasting certainly bring benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in the first place, a "therapy" to heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God.

...to mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and neighbor, the first and greatest Commandment of the new Law and compendium of the entire Gospel (cf. Mt 22, 34-40).


The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. Saint Augustine, who knew all too well his own negative impulses, defining them as "twisted and tangled knottiness" (Confessions, II, 10.18), writes: "I will certainly impose privation, but it is so that he will forgive me, to be pleasing in his eyes, that I may enjoy his delightfulness" (Sermo 400, 3, 3: PL 40, 708). Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.

Clothes cause SIDS? (flame retardants plus)

from Daily Dose:

Clothing chemical could cause SIDS

"Organic" is another trendy product claim, but it's far more tightly regulated than "natural." But while we normally associate the term "organic" with foods, there's increasing demand for organic floors, carpets, mattresses, window covering, and clothes. Some may think this could be taking the whole "goodness of mother Earth" thing a little far – myself included. As much as I advocate all things natural, I'm not sure I care too much about how organic the floors in my house are, or that my shirts are made from organic cotton.

But a new study is making me wonder if I should start caring. Quickly.

Most consumers believe that cotton is the most healthy and natural material available. It's by far the most popular clothing material out there. But even though cotton makes up just 2.4 percent of the world's total agricultural acreage, 25 percent of global pesticide use is applied to cotton crops. That's a lot of chemicals. In fact, it takes about a third of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt.

But it doesn't stop with crop dusting. Cotton is saturated with herbicides before it's harvested in order to defoliate the crop so it's easier to pick. Then it's off to the textile mills where even more chemicals are applied — bleaching agents, dyes, stain and odor resistance formulas, wrinkle reducers, static-reducers, flame retardants and a dozens more.

But wait! There's more! Then the finished products must be washed before shipping, so there are detergents and fabric softeners, which leave their residue in the clothes. The finishing process uses chemicals like formaldehyde, caustic soda, sulfuric acid, and halogens.

Is this a T-shirt they're making, or Frankenstein's monster? With all that processing, it can be hard to tell.

These chemicals are no joke, and allergies and skin irritations are the least of your worries. A European study discovered that the fire retardant chemical antimony used in some crib mattresses can actually leach through the mattress into a baby's skin – and they've connected these findings to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The livers of autopsied SIDS victims were found to contain high levels of antimony.

Another study on flame retardants found an 18-month-old baby with chemical flame retardant levels in the blood that were two or three times the levels that are known to cause neurological damage in laboratory rats.

Here's what's frightening about that: US law mandates that flame-retardant chemicals be applied to children's CLOTHING. Imagine: if chemicals like antimony have the ability to be absorbed into the skin through a mattress with a sheet over it, how much is being absorbed by children wearing it NEXT TO THEIR SKIN?

Next time you're out shopping for kids clothes … think organic.

Naturally,

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

B Vitamins Offer Migraine Relief

from Mercola.com:

B Vitamins Offer Migraine Relief

Vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid may reduce the frequency, severity and disability of migraines, according to new research. Daily vitamin supplements were found to produce a two-fold reduction in migraine disability.

About 12 to 15 percent of people suffer from migraines, with twice as many women as men affected. The headaches are sometimes preceded by flashes of light, blind spots, tingling in the arms or legs, or anxiety. Sufferers generally experience a pounding sensation on one side of their head and many undergo nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and noise. The symptoms are often severe and debilitating.

Scientists recruited 52 people diagnosed with migraines. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin supplements or a placebo for six months. The supplements were associated with a reduction in the prevalence of migraine disability from 60 percent at the start of the study to 30 percent after 6 months. No reduction was observed in the placebo group.

Reductions in the frequency of the headache and the severity of the pain were also observed in people in the B vitamin group, while no such changes were observed in the placebo group.

Sources:

NutraIngredients.com April 2, 2009

Pharmacogenetics and Genomics In press “The effects of vitamin supplementation and MTHFR (C677T) genotype on homocysteine-lowering and migraine disability"

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

More than 300 million people worldwide -- about 6 to 7 percent of men and 15 to 18 percent of women -- suffer from migraine headaches, which can last anywhere from a few hours to three days. An estimated 20 million migraine attacks occur every single day.

Despite that, it’s still one of the least understood and poorly treated medical disorders, as they are likely due to a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and neurological factors that vary from person to person.

Adding to the complexity is that the experiences of those suffering from migraines also vary greatly. Aside from throbbing, searing pain, which may or may not be one-sided, some experience “auras” prior to onset, while others do not. Other symptoms that may or may not be present include nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, sweating, and/or sensitivity to light, sound, and smells.

What Causes Migraines?

There are a number of different theories about the cause of migraines, but no one hypothesis can explain the occurrence of migraines in all sufferers. These (sometimes conflicting) theories include:

• Changes in your brain chemical serotonin. When levels drop, blood vessels including those in your brain become swollen and inflamed, which can lead to migraine pain.
  
  
• Vascular constriction in your brain; from initial blood vessel constriction and a drop in blood flow, followed by dilation and stretching of blood vessels, which activates pain-signaling neurons.
  
  
• Excessive increase of blood flow in your brain. In direct contrast to the preceding theory, other research has found that migraines are not preceded by constriction and decrease in blood flow, but rather by an increase of nearly 300 percent. However, circulation then appears normal, or even slightly reduced, once the attack is in full swing.
  
  
• A neurological disorder related to nerve cell activity that sweeps across your brain, causing pain. In this case, it is thought that a wave release of neurotransmitters across your cortex can directly stimulate your trigeminal nerves, setting off the chain reaction that ends in the transmitting of pain signals.
  
  
• A nervous system disorder originating in your brain stem. Your brain stem is your control center for alertness, perception of light, noise and smell, cerebral blood flow, cardiovascular function and pain sensitivity -- many, if not most, of which are part of the symptoms of a migraine attack.
  
  Research has revealed that three clusters of cells in your brain stem are active during and after migraine. According to this hypothesis, abnormal activity in those cells could induce the sensation of pain, even when there are no pain signals being received from your brain membrane or blood vessels.
  
  
• A disruption of the subtle energies circulating throughout your body, along with unresolved emotional issues that manifest in your body as headaches.
  
  
• Mutation or dysfunction of certain genes.

Are Your Migraines Due to a Vitamin Deficiency?

In this latest study, vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid supplements were found to produce a two-fold reduction in migraines over a six-month period. Previous studies, such as a 2004 study in the European Journal of Neurology, have also reported that high doses of B2 (riboflavin) can help prevent migraine attacks.

Certain gene mutations and dysfunctions can lead to higher levels of homocysteine production, which can make you more susceptible to migraine attacks. Here they found that vitamins B6 and B12 work by reducing your homocysteine levels. They also discovered that depending on your genotype, you may need a higher or lower dose in order for it to work. Said Professor Lyn Griffiths:

“… if all patients received the same vitamin dosage for the same period of time it would be expected that those with TT genotypes, having a reduced enzymatic rate, would metabolise less homocysteine over the treatment period compared to C allele carriers, thus resulting in a smaller reduction in homocysteine and consequent migraine symptoms.

Indeed, it may be that TT genotypes although having a higher risk of disease actually require a larger dosage of vitamins to exhibit the same effect as C alleles. Further clinical trials of much larger patient cohorts are required to test this hypothesis.”

According to Professor Griffiths, their aim is to determine the optimal dosage of B vitamins based on your genetic profile.

"The success of our trial has shown that safe, inexpensive vitamin supplements can treat migraine patients,” she said.

However, there may be yet another, even more widespread, vitamin deficiency underlying your migraine symptoms.

Just last year, researchers presented results of an observational study at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Headache Society, showing that nearly 42 percent of patients with chronic migraine were deficient in vitamin D. The study also showed that the longer you suffered from chronic migraines, the more likely you are to be vitamin D deficient.

This is yet another brand new discovery that can be tacked on to the literally hundreds of health ramifications of being vitamin D deficient.

For more information on getting tested, and how to optimize your vitamin D levels, please see this previous article. I also recommend you take the time to view my free one-hour video lecture on vitamin D, in which I go over the nearly unbelievable benefits you will receive by understanding this essential nutrient.

Common Migraine Triggers to Avoid

However, it is important for everyone to fully appreciate that treating migraines by using a simple remedy is rarely effective. So while using supplements like these B vitamins might be useful, this is still an allopathic approach that is very similar to using medications.

It is my belief that pain can be one of your strongest allies if you use it to help you to find what is truly contributing to the cause of the problem.

Just as there are numerous theories on the actual mechanics of migraine pain, there are a wide number of potential triggers -- and what triggers a migraine for you might not trigger it in someone else. So rather than just popping some B vitamins you will want to consider a more comprehensive strategy.

However, here are several of the most commonly reported triggers:

• Food and Drink: Many people experience migraines when they eat certain foods, especially wheat, dairy (especially pasteurized), sugar, artificial preservatives or chemical additives. Cured or processed meats, alcohol, aspartame, caffeine, and MSG are common culprits.
• Allergies: Including food allergies and food sensitivities, and chemical sensitivities.
• Dehydration and/or Hunger
• Changes in sleeping cycle: Both missing sleep and oversleeping can trigger a migraine.
• Stress: Any kind of emotional trauma can trigger a migraine, even after the stress has passed.
• Physical exertion: Extremely intense exercise or even sex has been known to bring on migraines.
• Hormones: Some women experience migraines before, or during their periods, during pregnancy, or during menopause. Others may get migraines from hormonal medications like birth control pills, or hormone replacement therapy.
• External stimuli: Bright lights, fluorescent lights, loud noises and strong smells (even pleasant ones) can trigger a migraine.
• Weather changes, seasonal changes, and changes in altitude

How to Relieve Migraine Pain Without Dangerous Drugs

Migraine pain can be seriously debilitating and may be one instance where you could justify popping a pill for instant relief. Unfortunately, migraine medications tend to only work in 50 percent of people, half the time...

They also have intense side effects such as “medication overuse headache,” which often occurs when people take too much of a headache drug. Worse than that, if you take tryptamine-based drugs, which bind to serotonin receptors to constrict your cranial blood vessels, but your pain is not due to engorged blood vessels, then constricting them can potentially do a lot of harm. And, lo and behold, serious cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke, are in fact side effects of these types of drugs.

Fortunately, there are better ways to treat migraines than pharmaceutical drugs.

First, you’ll want to make sure you avoid the triggers.

Most often this means eating healthy whole foods and avoiding processed ones. Avoiding wheat, grains, sugar and all fluids but water also seem to be particularly effective. In fact, following my eating plan typically reduces migraines by about 80 percent, as it virtually eliminates all common food-related causes of headaches.

Regular exercise will also help to keep migraines away by improving your response to stress, along with the underlying inflammatory conditions that can trigger migraines.

Those are the lifestyle choices that you’ll need to focus on long-term, if you want to reduce your migraines. But if a migraine does strike and you need immediate relief, here are a several safe, healthy alternatives that you can try:

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

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

3. Take 10 teaspoons of cayenne pepper in a glass of water. Endorphins are released by your brain when the cayenne hits your stomach lining.

4. Sniff green apple scent. One study found that the scent significantly relieved migraine pain. This may also work with other scents that you enjoy so consulting with an aromatherapist may be beneficial. Other aromas that stand out of the crowd include peppermint, sandalwood, lavender, and eucalyptus.

5. Hot and cold packs. For some people, heat will do the trick, while others get more relief from cold. Experiment to see which one works for you, but avoid extreme temperatures. You can also try placing your hands in hot (but not scalding) water, which seems to pull pressure from your head.

I recommend trying all of them, and in various combinations, to find the one that works best for you.

Related Links:

Acupuncture 'Beats Headache Pain'

Migraine Headache Relief Without Medication

The Dangerous Link Between Migraines and Heart Attacks

comments from:
foxtroter_203 :We must be careful here in evaluating this. While capsaicin is a natural substance that is well established in its pain control ability by depleting Substance P, it is still just treating the symptom .

KelleyEidem :Of course it can. There's already a series of cayenne products made by SinusBuster that uses hot peppers. They have a headache formula and a separate migraine formula. I've seen it work in two minutes. A customer came into my store with a significant headache. He tried the SinusBuster. He came out of the bathroom two minutes later. He said it was working, that his headache was much better already.

Dr Rik :The most common form of Headache is Tension Headache; diagostically the same as Cervicogenic Headache (caused by the cervical spine). The research group that formulated guidelines for Chiropractic care for Low Back Pain, AHCPR, started research for Headache Guidelines. Forces in Government promptly dismantled that guideline group. Their research wasn't giving the results that those in power want to see. Most Headaches improve or are cured by appropriate Chiropractic care. You won't see that on any front page. Good luck on getting the rest of the story.

leppert :Dr. Donsbach has a pain remedy on his site that I've used for years now. It helps take the edge off my pain. I'm disabled and yes, I'm doing therapy now for the last five years that is really helping. At any rate I was in a meeting a few years ago with a gal who looked like death warmed over. She'd been suffering from a migraine for four days and all her heavy duty meds didn't work. I gave her one of my RE-LEV-IT and told her it would take about 45 minutes. She wanted another one 1/2 hour later(she was impatient) and I gave it to her. 15 minutes later she was smiling. It uses curcurmin and a few other goodies. www.letstalkhealth.com is the site.

Conjeanneal :One thing missing from Dr. Mercola's article that I have found to be a HUGE trigger for migranes/headaches is the use of MSG....to be found in countless foods today, even foods from the health food store! (Did we ever think that one day we would have to read the labels on foods from the HEALTH FOOD STORE?!!!)

aussieman : My 11 Y.O daughter had a blood nose so I gave her a pinch of Cayenne in warm water and within 10 sec the nose bleed stopped , then she said "and my headaches gone too dad! This was just amazing , I have used it directly on any cuts and it stops the bleeding immediately.

Birdlady :I used to get headaches and migraines all the time a few years ago. Finally I made the decision to get off of birth control pill and about 6 months later my headaches had gone away completely. I think it took 5-8 months for my body to heal itself from all those artificial hormones!

minister :When dealing with a headache, I have always found that a teaspoon of powered ginger (fresh ground or packaged) in a full glass of water gave relief to my pain, no matter how intense. I received this this method from a Chiropractor many years ago, and it works. Plain and simple and all natural.

T_rex :Caveat emptor on the publicity about the capsaicin in cayenne, to quote Dr Mercola,"...even though they are narrow-mindedly focusing on picking out the active ingredients to be able to patent it and put it in a pill" While the natural capsaicin in cayenne is no doubt greatly beneficial, the synthetic "equivalent" can no more be trusted than synthetic vitamin C or synthetic hormones or synthetic anything.

LEWRA : This whole concept of the "active ingredient" should be rejected by all sane people. As Dr. Mercola alluded to above, they only do this to make a patent possible. Implied in the concept of "active ingredient" is that the rest of the herb is irrelevant. What could be further than the truth? I studed with world famous herbalist Dr. John R. Christopher. He used to say that when they isolate the "active ingredient" from an herb to make a drug out of it, it becomes a poison. But then, why should we expect big pharma to have any respect for plants? Yes, cayenne pepper really is good for numerous ailments, but always use the whole herb.

Magnolia : I used to get them years ago while working for a company that used overhead fluorescent lighting. Drinking plenty of water seems to be the best remedy for me, and as I am a certified aromatherapist, I have found that both lavender and peppermint essential oils are soothing. I use them in a burner/diffuser. I get very few headaches these days as I stay hydrated and eat right for my nutritional type (most of the time).

happydee: Your mention of fatigue and caffeine makes me think that you might have a rare type of headache that may go undiagnosed often. You could have a spontaneous leak of spinal fluid through a tiny hole in your spinal dura. (The caffeine helps your brain keep floating up where it belongs in spite of the depleted fluid.) It's diagnosed by MRI - don't let anyone give you a spinal tap to diagnose it! I've dealt with this twice, have talked to practitioners who know about it, have tried lots to fix it and would be glad to share what I've learned. I'd also love to talk to anyone else who's had this!

mohammad kazemi :BUTTERBUR (petasites hybridus) CO2 Extract (root). Also Riboflavin and ginger WORKS!!!!! DO THE RESEARCH PEOPLE Cayyene probably helps too.

Drywall from China

From Daily Dose or HSI:

Yet another Chinese-made good is threatening the health of people here in the U.S. This time the culprit isn't something that you'd have your kids play with – like a toy coated with toxic paint. Or something you'd put in your mouth – like poisonous toothpaste, or tainted milk, or corrupted pharmaceutical ingredients. No, this time it's none of those – but it could be even worse. It's drywall.

Florida homeowners have complained that the drywall in their homes, which was imported from China, is not only giving off a foul odor like sulfer, but is also emitting corrosive gases that are destroying home appliances. There's one documented case of the sulfide gases from this drywall rotting the copper coils of an air conditioner.

So you can just imagine what it's doing to people's lungs.

In fact, some homeowners with this drywall have already filed lawsuits against builders and suppliers, claiming that they're not only surrounded with walls smelling of rotten eggs, but that they're also suffering from sore throats and headaches as a result.

The rotten egg smell is no surprise. The Chinese drywall has large amounts of sulfer in it. In the U.S., the chief component of drywall is gypsum. It's just a shot in the dark, but I'm guessing the reason there could be high levels of sulfer in the Chinese drywall is that sulfer is cheaper than gypsum.

The Chinese drywall entered the country during a building material shortage from 2004 to 2007 (spurred by the rebuilding boom in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina), so the homes using it were completed recently.

The Florida Department of Health is looking into all this, but claim that more time and testing are needed to find out if the drywall is indeed a health hazard to homeowners. According to the state toxicologist of Florida Dr. David Krause, this determination could take months.

Of course it could.

Florida's hot, humid climate could play a large role in the drywall's stink. It's similar to a story I told you about last year about formaldehyde seeping from the walls of FEMA trailers in New Orleans due to the rapid deterioration of the materials because of the moist conditions.

This is hardly an excuse. I don't recall any U.S.-made drywall that causes copper coils to corrode, regardless of the climate. I know there are American companies at stake – and they will be at the business end of the lawsuits about this shoddy drywall from China, the world capitol of useless and dangerous goods.

I've said it before, and here I go again: If you value your health, don't buy anything from China. 

Video Games

From: Daily Dose

But when the Brigham Young team surveyed more than 800 U.S. college students, the results linked these effects to extended game play:

    * Poor relationship quality with parents and friends

    * Poor academic performance

    * Greater risk of alcohol and drug use

    * Lower self-worth

    * Lower perceived social acceptance 

As you might expect, violent games increased the risks of these effects. 

Foot patches for detoxing

from vital votes on mercol.com
first post by kansasherbalist:
As a natural health practitioner I have used a certain kind of foot patch with success. I have also used foot baths with success. (I do not have a foot bath machine...I send clients to get them.) I have been practicing for 25 years or more. Several caveats here: Nothing works for all people all the time. Some things do not work ever due to poor quality of ingredients, methodologies, equipment etc. However, high quality foot patches and foot baths done appropriately by the right people with the right equipment at the right time are very effective. I never assume that anything will work for a person or not work. I use muscle testing and try to avoid bias.The "lab tests" could easily be inconclusive because a) the patches were genuinely worthless b) the person who used it did not need it, at least at that time c) the lab does not test for all possible results d) the person did not use it correctly for them i.e. know which foot to place it on or elsewhere on the body.

Natural health practices, supplements, are subject to being fraudulent just as in mainstream practice. Dr. Mercola needs to consider the above paragraph before being too hasty in judgment, however. Just because the FDA or some lab "disqualifies" a product or therapy may not make it so. The reverse is also true: Just because a lab endorses something does not mean it is always effective for everyone either. I have yet to find one product or therapy that everyone needs all the time.

You cannot put people, their health or lack thereof, in a box. Each person is an individual and requires individualized therapies. I do not recommend foot baths or patches to everyone...in fact, to only a few and with very specific instructions for them when I do recommend them. There are many, many possibilities for therapies, many of which cost very little or nothing.

second post by 2fit4u:
I work very closely with several companies who have had tremendous results with reversing terminal illnesses. I have several clients who have not only beat the odds their medical doctors gave them...but are experiencing life and life abundantly after their treatments. Myself included. I had adrenal tumors and breast cancer and I worked with organizations like spicemedint.com and Lectro Chi Premier Energy Foot Spas and of course structured water...oral chelation and proper lifestyle management (eating right, exercising, massage, chiropractic, EFT, etc)! I am not only cancer free, I have already outlived the "time frame" my doctors gave me. I am a fitness and lifestyle instructor and trainer...living life to the fullest. I have used most of the major reputable companies with ionic cleansing and the Lectro Chi is by far the best. In regards to the foot patches, I have some clients who have gone on camping trips and needed to continue their "foot bath treatments" and took the patches...I agree that some are better than others...but if you are in the backwoods and are not up to date with the latest techno tools...using the patches to balance and stimulate the body's energy zones...meridians, even a foot soak in an epsom salt foot soak is beneficial...or a foot massage...proper fitting shoes. Research your products...try them for yourself...and make quality decisions. Don't take just anyone's word for it...try it!!!!

A way to get rid of Arthritis?

first post by David VanOsdol, from Mercola's vital votes:
I have found the best detox is Microstructured Alkaline Water. My Arthritis went away over night and it had been a problem for over 5 years. It was to the point that I couldn't even shake hands without stabbing pain. The pain and swelling was gone by morning after drinking 3 quarts of 9.5 PH alkaline water and the hard bumps on my finger joints were gone within 30 days.

It does this by neutralizing the acitic waste which crystalizes in the joints and causes inflamation and pain. The uric acid crystals look like ground glass under a microscope and the alkaline microstructured water disolves the crystals and flushes them out of the body provided you drink enough volume. The proper amount of Whole Life Water to drink is half your body weight in ounces minimum to ideally one ounce per pound of body weight. This is true detoxification and will also help remove heavy metals and other industrial and food toxins.

Also a by product of drinking this water is weight loss as toxins are stored in fat cells to protect the rest of the body. The body will not release the fat cells until the toxins are gone. I believe toxins stored in the body are the main cause of most if not all disease. Cancer for instance will manifest itself in the weakest part of the body and many times this is genetic and a certain cancer will "Run in the Family" because the entire family will have the same genetic weakness.

The bottled water most of us drink is also acidic as are pop and sports drinks which are about 2.5 PH. If you drink a 12 OZ soda pop you whould need to drink 3.5 gallons of 9.5 Alkaline water just to neutralize the acid.. I have read that the average child in the US drinks 56 gallons of soda per year. It's no wonder cancer is the #1 killer of children.

second post by Loki1181:
I googled 'alkaline water', and I found this website that claims to use scientific evidence to debunk these detox scams. I'm no scientist, and I never did well with high school sciences, so, I'll leave it up to you to decide if he's right or not. Sounds legit, but, then again, so do a lot of scams. You can't trust anyone trying to sell you something, lol. www.chem1.com/.../ionbunk.html

third post by Chilepalm:
you can buy an expensive, tasteless clear liquid alkalinizer, or you can add baking soda, which accomplishes the same thing, you just have to not care about the slight taste it adds. If you add green powder as well, or some other element that adds flavor without acidifying, it will mask it.

I received the benefits that David did, by simply going raw (fruits and vegetables) and focusing on low GI, higher alkaline foods. I had read about toxins storing in fat cells and came to believe. Released quite a bit of weight too.

Are Weeds Taking Over Your Yard?

From Six Wise:

It's time to fight back, using all-natural methods of course. (The last thing you want to do is douse your outdoor living space with toxic yard chemicals.) Fortunately, the following non-toxic methods are all very effective at killing weeds (and are totally harmless to you as well):

Pour boiling water on them (this works best for weeds in driveway cracks and sidewalks).
      

Pull them out by hand.

Spray them with vinegar (be careful not to spray plants you want as it will kill them too).

Apply mulch, it will help to keep weeds away. For even more weed prevention, put a barrier such as newspaper or paper bags underneath the mulch.

To fertilize your plants naturally use crushed eggshells or even the water from boiled eggs. Certain plants like roses, evergreens, hydrangeas and gardenias also love coffee grounds.

Migraines

From Mercola?

What Typically Triggers Migraine Headaches?

There are many potential triggers, and what triggers a migraine for one might not trigger it in another. However, here are several of the most commonly reported triggers:

* Food and Drink: Many people experience migraines when they eat certain foods, especially wheat, dairy, sugar, artificial preservatives or chemical additives. Cured or processed meats, alcohol, aspartame, caffeine, and MSG are common culprits.
* Allergies: Including food allergies and food sensitivities, and chemical sensitivities.
* Dehydration and/or Hunger
* Changes in sleeping cycle: Both missing sleep and oversleeping can trigger a migraine.
* Stress: Any kind of emotional trauma can trigger a migraine, even after the stress has passed.
* Physical exertion: Extremely intense exercise has been known to bring on migraines.
* Hormones: Some women experience migraines before, or during their periods, during pregnancy, or during menopause. Others may get migraines from hormonal medications like birth control pills, or hormone replacement therapy.
* External stimuli: Bright lights, fluorescent lights, loud noises and strong smells (even pleasant ones) can trigger a migraine.
* Weather changes, Seasonal changes, and changes in Altitude

Quick, Natural Tips to Relieve a Migraine

Preventing migraines begins by avoiding the triggers. Most often this means eating healthy whole foods (avoiding most processed ones) and managing your stress effectively.

Avoiding wheat, grains, sugar and all fluids but water seem to be particularly effective.

Regular exercise will also help to keep migraines away by improving your response to stress along with the underlying inflammatory conditions that can trigger migraines.

Ideally, these are the things to focus on so that you can reduce your migraines altogether.

But if a migraine does strike and you need relief NOW, try:

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

2. Taking 10 teaspoons of cayenne pepper in a glass of water. Endorphins are released by your brain when the cayenne hits your stomach lining.

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

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

Other useful techniques include:

o Putting a cold compress on your forehead or behind your neck
o Massaging your ears and ear lobes
o Massaging the "crown" of your head -- the ring of muscles that circle your head where a crown would sit

Some people even say that having a purring cat, which sends out low frequency vibrations, next to their head relieves migraine pain.

The point is that there are many, many, non-drug options out there, and finding the one that works for you is likely just a matter of trial and error.

Also see my other posts on this subject

If you have psoriasis

Here are some ideas from HSI:

Both psoriasis and seborrhea are fungal afflictions fed by faulty nutrition. Many have eliminated either condition by eating two eggs every day. Results are seen in under thirty days. Temporary topical treatment consists of 1 % hydrocortisone cream (with aloe vera is best) twice a day."

"Get a small bottle of oil of oregano. Mix a few drops into your shampoo. It will kill the fungus within a few days. These symptoms are also the same for the onset of type 2 Diabetes...itchy skin that flakes, even in moustache or eyebrows."

Steve: "For psoriasis and eczema you can use Olive leaf extract internally. You can also do colon and liver cleanses which can help clear many diseases and skin conditions. I think Eastpark Research is the best brand, it is antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, antiparasitic and your condition could be related to any one of these or all. You can use Eastparks topical cream as well. I have also seen excellent results applying colloidal silver spray topically. Sovereign Silver is an excellent brand but others will work as well. The key with colloidal silver is that if it is wet it is working, if it's dry reapply. Wet gauze with colloidal is a good way to apply if the rash is localized."

Mary Heckler: "I had a friend who had psoriasis really bad. She started going to the beach everyday and swimming in the salt water... her psoriasis started clearing up a lot."

Let's do the math: If milk thistle supports liver health, and if poor liver function is one of the triggers that sets off psoriasis, then…I'll let this message from an HSI member named Angus complete the equation. "I tried the usual psoriasis remedies from the MDs and had no success. Three months ago I started getting psoriasis on my legs, up until then it had remained on my scalp. Something in the back of my mind (I read all your emails and monthly newsletters) said to me that when the liver can't clean the blood properly the results can show up on the skin. So I got out a bottle of liquid milk thistle and started taking two tablespoons a day. One in the morning and one in the late evening. The result is – drum roll please – the psoriasis on my legs has cleared up and gone away, and my scalp is almost completely cleared up (this has been confirmed by my barber). I expect within a couple of months I will be psoriasis free for the first time in about 15 years.

Cancer

Some info on alternative cancer care: CancerTutor.com has a lot of different information. (I found out about this site from a man from church. He has stage 4 cancer, please pray for him.) I also like Gerson.org, and  curezone.com. Other sites with good eating info are westonaprice.org and mercola.com. 

Some different things I heard that other people have done to cure themselves from cancer is: drink Young Living's NingXia Red, drink a cup of fresh juiced veggies at least 5 times a day, eat only raw food, cut out all garbage from the diet (eat things as closely to the way God made them, no: MSG, aspartame, spenda, HFCS, white flour, refined anything, fluoride, chlorine, pasteurized anything, preservatives, pesticides, margarine, vegetable oils, sugar etc.) this means eat organic and buy your eggs, milk and meat and poultry from a farm you know raises these things correctly. Good bone broth. Coffee enemas described at Gerson and CureZone. Eliminate toxins from the house: plastic, any new carpeting and furniture (it out-gasses higher amounts of formaldehyde) chemical cleaners and products. Do cleanses of parasites, colon, bladder, liver and heavy metals. Sleep and good water and relax and pray and trust. God's most holy will be done. Research and do things specific to your type of cancer. Garlic, habanero peppers, cod liver oil. Increase vitamin D, A, B12 and K2, get a lot of sunshine. Most (if not all) people who get cancer are deficient in vitamin D, this is very important. Do not put anything on your skin or in your mouth that you wouldn't eat. Detoxify. Clean out electromagnetic pollution. As always this is not to be construed as medical advice. These I things I have heard helped other people in various combinations. I am not a doctor. You have to take your health into your hands. See a doctor if you can find a good one that will work with you. Use essential oils (ones that don't use solvents to extract oils). 

Go Barefoot

My kids have always really liked going barefoot. I'm glad I never forced them to wear shoes constantly! This is from Mercola.com---
One of the classic works on the topic of going barefoot is Take Off Your Shoes and Walk by Simon J. Wikler D.S.C. In it he explains that improperly shaped shoes -- including high heels and pointed toes -- are responsible for modern-day foot troubles. In fact, the book describes a study from the late 1950s that found children who were allowed to go barefoot had:
-Greater agility
-Denser muscles on the bottom of their feet
-Less deformed toes
-Greater flexor strength
-More ability to spread the toes
-More flexibility of the gluteal and hamstring muscles
Meanwhile, an article last year suggested that shoes lead to what's called "cow-walk." Cow-walk puts tremendous pressure on your joints. Starting with the squeezing of your foot inside the shoe, jarring the knees as they're locked straight upon the pole-driving impact of the heel, which then travels straight up your spine, all the way up your neck.In contrast, "fox-walking" is the walk of the natural hunter-gatherer -- the graceful flow of your body in total synchronization. Your knees are bent, rather than locked, the ball of your foot touches the ground first, followed by your heel, in a virtually soundless step motion. If you've ever seen a baby walking barefoot, they actually display the correct walking technique that we adults have lost touch with.
Should You Go Barefoot? Bunions are non-existent in barefoot populations of the world, but from a practical perspective, going barefoot all the time is just not an option for most people. But you can certainly do so inside of your home or backyard -- and you may even feel some benefits, particularly from walking on a natural surface.If you decide to go barefoot, do it slowly, progressing to more and more time spent without shoes.
There have been some very compelling studies suggesting that when you are "grounded" free electrons can easily come up from the earth and essentially nullify free radicals in your body. So walking barefoot -- on clean, natural surfaces -- could be an easy way to contribute to your overall health.

Bad Breath

All this is from Mercola and his vital votes: It can be caused by several factors, including systemic diseases, gastrointestinal and/or upper respiratory tract disorders, and microbial metabolism from your tongue, saliva or dental plaque.
Certain bacteria residing on your teeth or tongue surface, or in periodontal pockets are particularly odor-inducing, as are bacterial species associated with gingivitis.
Mouthwashes are only effective against bad breath caused by intraoral factors. Gargling and swishing can't help you much if your problem stems from an imbalance of bacteria in your intestinal tract, for example.
Treating Bad Breath from the Inside Out
Maintaining a healthy digestive system is far more important than most people can imagine. An imbalance between healthy and unhealthy bacteria here can lead to a wide variety of health problems; foul breath and body odor being some of the least problematic.
However, if you suffer from either, I'd highly recommend limiting the primary fertilizer for the bacteria that cause bad breath and that is, you guessed it: SUGAR, and grains that rapidly break down to sugar. When you eat these highly processed foods they cause bad odor-causing bacteria to grow out of control.
Once you have cut down the fuel that causes them to grow you can then replenish the good bacteria by taking probiotics to re-establish proper balance and health to your digestive system. By keeping your digestive system healthy, combined with an all-natural essential oil mouth rinse, bad breath should be a thing of the past.
(The smell of rot is what we are talking about. That unmistakable smell of putrefaction associated with rotten eggs, decomposing abscesses, periodontal diseases, sinus and lung infections, rotting undigested fecal matter, or spoiled fish. Putrefaction is the rotten egg smell of scavenging bacteria digesting and decomposing structural sulfur-bonds in proteins. An inflammatory crisis has occurred. Significant numbers of immune cells are dying.........
Sometimes the source of odor is a thick coating on top of the tongue. Sugar disables protein-digesting enzymes produced by the pancreas and puts our patrols of cleansing gobbler white blood cells to sleep.........
When one has bad breath or smelly tongue or gums, the brain is frying and thought processing is fuzzy. Bad breath is immune and metabolic crisis.......
Support your health of your mouth and body with the proper diet for your metabolic type and supplement with whole food supplements.)"--vital votes

"A 1995 study by Nicole Didry at the College of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences in Lille, France, found that thyme oil at very small concentrations (<500 ppm) killed the pathogenic organisms responsible for tooth decay, gingivitis, and bad breath, and a six-month, double-blind controlled clinical study at the University of Maryland similarly found that the essential oils of thyme, peppermint, wintergreen, and eucalyptus dramatically improved oral hygiene. "

"The essential oils most commonly used for mouthwashes and herbal rinses include:
Thyme
Peppermint
Wintergreen
Eucalyptus
(I use the most divine mouthwash which is great for a pick up after brushing or as needed. It is certified organic and has the following ingredients: aloe vera, spearmint essential oil, peppermint essential oil, sea salt, cinnamon, clove essential oil, nyrrh essential oil, sage extract and thyme extract.)"--vital votes

(Swishing around hyrdogen peroxide before I brush my teeth helps take my bad breath away.
I also take the Standard Proccess protocol for halitosis [bad breath]. It also seems to be working, which is the good thing!)--vital votes

(Instead of using artificial mouthwash, try this: chew cinnamon, or cardamom, if brave, cloves. Brush your teeth by sea salt.)

(For the past several months we have been cleaning our teeth with a paste made of approx. 2 parts baking soda (1-1/2 cups), to 1 part coconut oil (3/4 cup), 1/2 part olive oil (about 1/3 cup) and about 1+ tsp essential oil - peppermint and/or spearmint - I prefer peppermint. I adjust all ingredients, it's never exact. Store in small baby food jars - when it's very warm you have to stir this up sometimes. I love this recipe because my mouth always feels clean, placque is history, no more sensitive teeth, and our toothbrushes and sinks never have all that gunk buildup. I even notice a difference in my mouth when I wake up in the morning. After reading this article I can see why it works, and I will add a little thyme essential oil and perhaps some eucalyptus.)

(We've used a special formula I came up with in my house for a while now. I take a pint mason jar as my start and fill it 1/3 of the way up with raw apple cider vinegar. The rest is clean filtered water. I decant that into blue, green, or amber bottles with corks or lids so light can't penetrate. To each bottle, I add anywhere from 5-10 drops each of usually two essential oils. I like to experiment with the flavors, but you can use lemon, tea tree (great if you have gum disease), tangerine, rosemary, peppermint, spearmint, lavender, myrrh, lime, bergamot. All of these have some anti-microbial type protection in one form or another. You don't have to mix them, but we like lemon-peppermint and lavender-peppermint a lot here. I also like to switch off different oils each time I make it so the bacteria doesn't build a resistance to whatever oil we're using.)

[See post on Teeth and Gum Health for other tips. Also if you have Candida (yeast) you should get rid of it as it can cause bad breath. See post relating to that.]

Nature's Natural Chemotherapy (Two ways)

As always, this is not to be construed as medical advise. See your doctor if you are so inclined. You do what you want. It's your life and your health

1. From vital votes:
"An old fellow now has 3 patents on his discovery that Chocolate and lots of veggies and weeds contain Oxalic acid, which He believes when is in VERY small amounts found in all mammals blood, could be part of mother nature's natural chemotherapy.
He suggests no alcohol except 1 glass of red wine, also avoid dairy and any product that contains citric acid added to it because it destroys all the oxalic acid in your system. Any source of Free calcium is dangerous to upsetting oxalate levels in the blood. If one takes calcium, it is best to have some chocolate or tea some hours later to restore it. B-6 will also destroy all of it.
He discovered this by accident by eliminating all oxalic acid from his diet and promptly got a cancerous melanoma on his (unexposed to direct sunlight) inner leg.
He went back to eating weeds, veggies and foods high in oxalic acid and the tumor went away. He is in his 80s when this happened, and he is now in his mid 90s. coljoe.com is his site and he has a book out which has some more dietary info. "Hart Dietary plan"
I absorb one small square of 73% dark chocolate from Trader Joe's every day by putting it between my gums and teeth for absorbing into the many blood vessels in the gums. It takes a long time to dissolve,, Yumm!
Or I take a small cup of green tea with 3 bags and sip and hold the tea in my mouth as long as I can stand it, then spit out and sip another sip.
Too much oxalate in the blood can kill. Don't go down to the chemist and take a bunch of it direct, it will shut down Your kidneys and you will be gone. When eating veggies or strong green tea or too much chocolate a backache around the kidney area may be a sign that Your levels are getting high. Joe suggests 50 mg of B-6 to lower levels.
A friend who was air sampling in the B-29 over Trinity atomic test got a rare blood cancer in 2005, eats some 73% choc. every day. His strength came back and he can walk now. Beats living of of transfusions. "
-------------------

"I believe they are called 'cacao nibs' when they are raw, crushed beans. "

-------------------
[A yummy recipe I made up (you have to have a vita-mix) is a few tablespoons of cocoa nibs, a quarter to half cup of cream, a little vanilla, several dates (for sweetener and their good qualities), ice, optional: walnuts and raw egg yolks. My kids think of this as a healthy cookies and cream shake as it had the appearance and texture of it. (And a much better taste, my personal opinion)]

2. Another person cured his cancer with:

"How I cured my stage 4 cancer:
http://www.squidoo.com/stage4cancer
(1) Grate one habeneros pepper each day, putting it on bread [a possible substitution is fresh grated ginger]
(2) Grate two cloves of garlic each day, putting them on bread
(3) 1-2 Tablespoons of Emulsified cod liver oil each day.*

(4)Smother the grated garlic and habeneros peppers with real butter and eat it. No margarines of any type, etc.

The potent active ingredients from the peppers and the garlic disperse quickly. So they must be grated each day, and eaten immediately. You're probably thinking, whoa that's gotta be hot
Yes, it is. And it will make you breathe deeply! That's a good thing, because heavy breathing pumps the lymph system. As you know, cancer cells often gather there. What I did was put the habeneros and the garlic on one side of the bread and folded it over. Plus, it's handy to have another half slice at the ready to cut the burning sensation in my mouth. So let yourself breathe deeply for a minute or two and then eat the extra half slice of bread."

EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) Pollution (Two Views)

From various people posting on Mecola's vital votes:

"I just posted on the recent cell phone-brain tumor epidemic article where I shared my clinical findings about wireless EMF combined with underlying heavy metal toxicity in the body or what I like to call 'The Antenna Effect' (currently working on a book about this). I strongly feel that those with EHS (highly sensitive to EMF) ALL have significant levels of heavy metals in their body acting like an antenna source drawing in the EMF around them and that combo is what makes them very sick. This is what I find in my clinical practice. Here is part of my post from the previous cell phone-brain tumor article as it seems to fit: This is a tradegy waiting to happen of course but my view is slightly different. A great deal of my work is focused on heavy metal and chemical toxicity as it relates to illness and dis-ease in the body. My clinical findings suggest that those with the highest level of metals in their body have the most difficulty with EMF (their cell, pda, microwave oven at home, and even the electronics in their car can occasionally cause rather bizarre symptoms in these patients but not always as most of the time people are completely unaware that they have metals as this truely is a silent epidemic). The metals in your body simply acts like an antenna drawing in EMF. That is why it is my mission to educate everyone to get screened for metal and chemical toxicity and God willing our healthcare system will catch on to environmental causes. It is a tradegy that we all have to tolerate the increase in unavoidable EMF from wireless emissions among other sources. The jury is out as far as what effects the radiation alone will do to our delicate brains but eliminating 'The Antenna Effect' by cleaning the metals out of the brain and nerve tissue may very well be one of the best forms of prevention within our control."

"The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution" published by the National Foundation for Alternative Medicine. www.electricalpollution.com/.../NFAMemf.PDF

"New Cell Phone Study Says Hang Up & Use a Land Line:

www.seventhgeneration.com/.../new-cell-phone-study-says-hang-use-land-line

By the Inkslinger - April 30, 2008

"The new study, Mobile Phones and Brain Tumors – A Public Health Concern, was conducted by noted Australian brain surgeon Dr. Vini Gautam Khurana. Dr. Khurana analyzed more than 100 separate studies, both pro and con, on the potential health effects of cellular phone usage and concluded that the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted by cell phones will likely lead to an epidemic of brain cancers within the next decade.
Among the points the new research phones home:

• There is a "significant and increasing body of evidence" that demonstrates a link between "excessive and/or prolonged" cell phone usage and certain brain tumors.

• This link should be taken seriously and no longer regarded as a myth.

• The time between the start of regular cell phone usage and the diagnosis of a brain tumor in susceptible individuals can be anywhere from 10 to 20 years. Thus, a statistically significant spike in brain cancer rates should be seen sometime in the next four years (assuming the mid-90s marks the moment cell phone adoption became widespread).

• Enough evidence currently exists to compel government and the cell phone industry to take immediate action to alert consumers to the hazards posed by cell phone EMR.

• This evidence suggests that cell phone radiation will eventually pose a larger threat to public health than asbestos or smoking."

"I don't agree with this. The entire Earth is a magnet. This is why we have a North/South pole. This magnetic field is constantly changing and works at many many frequencies including 2.4GHz. The power of a wifi magnetic field doesn't even come close to the frequency / power of the sun. Numerous things in history have operated at 2.4GHz. HAM radio operators for instance have used this frequency on huge amplifiers. This frequency has also been used for data transmission VIA packet radio for HAM operators. Pagers amplified off huge towers.
Everything has a magnetic field working at numerous frequencies. Blenders interfere with televisions for example. 2.4 GHz is a high frequency, but no way near unheard of. (even a chunk of wood has a molecular magnetic field). 2.4GHz, is just the wavelength of the radio signal. Smaller (less broad) and not broad makes more penetration at less power. Lower frequencies are more broad and take more power to amplify. So for a police radio, operating in the 40MHz frequencies, penetrate your body at 4 Watts (usually minimum, but often upwards of 7 watts for hand held units) Wifi on the other hand from most routers, operate around 20-28 mw (milliwatts). 28 ten thousandths of 1 watt. or 28 X 10 to the -3 power. Wifi barely makes it through a wall, while things like police radios make it through cities & buildings. Police radios also can truncate at 2.4GHz as well shoving 7 watts @ 2.4 GHz right through your body. There's nothing that can be done about this. Your body is bombarded with radio signals at huge wattages, powers, and frequencies constantly - either naturally, or man made."

From the research I've done I am convinced EMF pollution is not good for you. A concentration of Negative ions are healing, where as a concentration of positive ions are not. Ways to get negative ions: walk barefoot on grass or lay on the grass, be near large evergreen trees or running water or the sea or ocean, etc. on mountains, basically in nature far away from electro magnetic pollution (high in positive ions) and such. This is why TB was treated with those infected being sent to the sea or mountains. Many air purifiers use negative ions. Negative ions are supposed to kill molds. Be careful if you are making bread or kumbacha tea or kefir and using one of these air purifiers it can kill your starter. I have also heard it is most healing to sleep with your head to the North because the magnetic pull is most healing and rejuvinating. Who knows? If you are desperate you just might try this.

Yeast overgrowth and vaginal yeast overgrowth:

The following remedies were from various people who posted on Vital Votes at Mercola.com.

"oregano oil is a good treatment and maintenance for previous candida ; take oregano oil for about a week every month and supplement, daily, with All Flora probiotics."

"Take Colloidal silver: a tablespoon 2 x a day for about 5 days "

re: Garlic, a couple contradictory bits of info:
1."I would not use garlic with a yeast infection. Garlic is an anti-bacterial and ALL anti-bacterial products are the opposite of what is used with yeast infections. Garlic kills too many essential bacterias, which help to kill yeast, so you don't want to kill those off. "
2."I don't know what other people's 12 hour cure is, but mine IS using garlic. Peel the clove, put a few little nicks in it. Insert it high in the vagina and leave it for 24 hours. After a few hours you will feel relief, in 12 hours you will feel much better. If it is a particularly bad infection I will exchange the clove for a new one for up to 72 hours. Don't be alarmed if the clove looks blue when you take it out. You will taste garlic in your mouth for as long as you use this treatment, so some people only use it overnight. I find it easiest to just insert the clove on its own, some practitioners suggest wrapping it in gauze and tying it off with floss for easier removal but that seems like too much work for me. In addition to the garlic, make the dietary changes and get plenty of water and sleep. You'll feel better and be taking steps to prevent another one. "

"Tea tree oil is excellent for a yeast infection. A few drops in cool water for a twice-daily douch is a good remedy. You can also use something like coco butter and tea tree oil to make a suppository." [NOTE: If you think you are ovulating avoid douching if there is even a remote possibility you can get pregnant.]

"Tea tree oil and clove oils and buds are old fashioned herbal remedies for vaginal yeast infections. "

"Douching with a vinegar wash morning and night (2 tbsp apple cider vinegar with 4 cups warm water), followed by insertion of an acidophilus capsule every night for a good 10 days seems to take care of it."

"I would like to suggest that douching that often may be slowing your recovery. You wash out all the good stuff and have to start over again. Ten days worth of capsules seems like kind of a long regimen. In my experience, the yogurt works the best and almost always within 2-3 days at MOST. Give it a try?..."

"Systemic candida overgrowth can be quite a bit more complex to relieve than what is suggested here for many people. There is a correlation between mercury toxicity and candida overgrowth. Apparently the candida absorbs the mercury. So until the toxicity issue is dealt with, the candida may not go away permanently. It also accounts for the extremely difficult detox symptoms that may result when one uses diet and supplements to attempt to get rid of the candida - it may be much more than just "die-off". Also, many people with impaired digestion which is largely caused by chronic candida and related issues may not do well on the high meat protein diet that is typically advocated. The solutions to these concerns are all addressed by Donna Gate's Body Ecology."

"Some other good natural internal and external yeast remedies can be found at: www.tbyil.com.yeast_infections.html "

"Be sure to avoid sugar and bleached flour and use a good probiotic such as the one Dr. Mercola sells."

"Insert a tampon saturated with plain all natural yogurt Works every single time. No joke.---"

"I insert the yogurt manually, but then wear a pad for awhile for any "overflow". I also, have never had this method fail. "

"For a free recipe on how to get rid of yeast overgrowth, which I've shared with customers at the health food store where I work, go here: www.squidoo.com/foodcravings
I've seen people lose 90 pounds, completely eliminate painful "geographic tongue" (the tongue looks like a map, hence the name), etc. I mention a product called PB-8 for the probiotic, but Dr. Mercola's probiotic would be a good one to use in its place.
The best to you.
Kelley Eidem, author"

"Well, she told me that candida albumen HATED the herb oregano. She gave me a bottle of Oreganol oil the no sugar/yeast/grain/fruit diet, told me what to expect and booked me in for another test in 4 weeks (using the non invasive MORA RM10 machine). When I returned I couldn't believe it - the candida had gone."

"I found that adding water kefir and kombucha tea as well as eating raw garlic daily and kefir grains daily have really helped. (They are true raw lacto-fermented products-big difference between them and the pasteurized fermented vinegars, etc. you find in stores.)"

"I think the homemade water kefir and kombucha put lots of good bacteria in my body that help me fight yeast-and the raw garlic kills lots of narsty bugs from yeast to viruses. Keeps the mosquitos away, too!"

"I self-diagnosed myself as having candida based on all my symptoms which included : bad breath after eating sugar and fruit, feeling lousy after eating sugar, etc. Yet the worse one was constant body aches. Changing my diet to eliminate sugar, vinegar products, yeast products, and using probiotics & oil of oregano really helped, but the body aches only slightly got better. A doctor suggested I go to a website www.miraclemineral.org (or .com - can't remember), read the online book, and try the solution recommended: a sodium chlorite mixture. You drink it. It oxygenates your blood, aiding your immune system to kill pathogens, and is 8 times stronger than using stabilized oxygen. The solution can be found anywhere by searching for "MMS solution". It taste nasty after you get up to high doses of 15 drops a day, but my body aches have diminished by 80%!!!! It's like a miracle!!! The stuff is an actual CURE for malaria, but also works for alot of other things. Do your research, that's all I'm asking, and try the stuff. A 4 oz bottle can be bought for only $20 and that will last about 6 months. A lot of people all over the world sell it, it's not just one person or a company. I truly believe I have found the 'secret' cure out there for a lot of illnesses."

"the yeast connection diet and donna gates BED diet are good for some people. but others need to avoid some of the foods they recommend. not everyone can continue eating whole grains and beans and other carbohydrate foods and still get rid of candida."

www.candida-cure-recipes.com

"Grapefruit Seed Extract as an all natural Candida cure."
"I use a whole garlic clove(with about 6 cuts in it from my fingernail) as a suppository(no need for string), I get a new one 2x a day. Sometimes I coat it in tea tree or neem oil around it as well. NO you will NOT get burned by the garlic clove juice."

"Kill ALL your sugar, glutan(wheat), bread, and corn intake.(I did this for 2 months...) This even includes carrots."

"You wont believe how sugar will make it worse FAST. I was experimenting and even a carrot made it worse after a couple hours. I really could tell : ( If you go on the candida diet, start to feel better, then screw up by eating something even a little sweet, you WILL feel it)."

"I also took paragone (from renew life) and Yeast Fighter (from twinlab) for about a month."

"- The MDI News forum at games.groups.yahoo.com/.../MDI_News says cream of tartar cures Candida within 3 months for some at least. MDI largely promotes MMS, which is good for many infections. I'm starting a discussion of MMS at http://nhc.lefora.com/forum and I have a lot of info about it at http://freewebs.com/sc2p "

"Dr. Whiting says hydrogen peroxide therapy. He states that oxygen kills yeast and a lot of other illnesses. Phoenixnutritionals has his product. I don't know if it works, haven't tried it, but thought I'd add this in case it does help someone. Dr. Whiting's website is ........... www.healthyinformation.com "

"healingwithnutrition.com has an oxy rich aloe toddy"

"The Yeast Connection misses a few important points. (I was put on an anti-candida diet by a homeopath...it worked). 1. Yes, a diet high in nuts and seeds. But avoid peanuts and coconut, as these are prone to fungal outbreaks on their own. 2. Avoid root vegetables, especially potatoes. Root vegetables, like peanuts, are prone to fungal growths. Potatoes, however, are very special in that they ferment faster than anything else (hence the popularity of vodka in Russia in times past). However, some yellow root vegetables are acceptable for nutritional purposes. 3. Avoid ANYTHING that ferments. I was told to consume minor amounts of fruits, because with the yeast already present they are more likely to ferment. 4. Avoid anything fermented. This may seem obvious, but, while soy sauce is a great way to make vegetables taste better, it is fermented and can be an issue. 5. Avoid soy in general, because the phytoestrogens, like other hormones and hormone precursors, is sugar-based and will encourage yeast-growth. 6. Avoid artificial sweeteners, as these cause insulin release, and insulin, being a sugar-based molecule, will feed candida.
Also, there are natural remedies that can be used in conjunction with the anti-candida diet. The extract of the inner hull of black walnut, Pau D'arco, caprylic acid, extract of grapefruit seed have all been used with good results. For most, the problem will go away within two weeks."

"Dr.Reddy I read an article advising to eat 3 cloves of garlic a day for six(6) weeks for the treatment of candida infection, especially woman suffering candida albicans, popularly known as thrash.. Garlic is the best natural treatment of fungus infections. Then how to eat Garlic. First slice them into small bits , leave them for ten(10) minutes to the air. Then swallow the bits with water or fruit juice. Garlic is also good for reducing cholesterol. In fact American scientists have shown that Garlic acts like a natural statin in dissolving already built up fat in the arteries. Fantastic. Only problem is , some people cannot tolerate garlic as it causes rash on the body apart from the strong smell which is anti -social. However, if one has no such problems, try garlic to prevent Blooc Pressure, Fungus infections and heart attacks."

"I have found kefir mixed with flax seed to be excellent, and I couldn't make it without jordin rubin's primal defense probiotic"

Gum and Teeth health

This information was taken from a forum at CureZone. This post is on Oil Pulling (OP) and other things you can do to keep your teeth and gums healthy. My disclaimer is this: this is information not a diagnosis or prescription for anything. You use all info at your own risk or benefit. OP is when you swish oil in your mouth for 15 minutes then spit it out. It pulls a bunch of toxins out of you and can potentially heal gum disease. It is also recommended to rinse your mouth with salt water (use Celtic sea salt, or some other totally unrefined sea salt, it should be grayish in color) afterwards.

"OP removes harmful bacteria from the mouth. Bacteria that cause havoc with your gums, as well as other organs. There are just some bacteria that cannot be killed by conventional means, and we believe that these bacteria are oil soluable, meaning they are attracted to the properties of the oil. "I would immediately start using unrefined (and organic if you can get it) Sesame Oil. I would also try some coconut oil just to hedge your bets. We don't know which one will work better for you, but they both have anti-bacterial properties.

You should also swish with a few drops of Oil of Oregano (make sure it's pure, not mixed with olive oil) in your pulling oil. It's very strong, like a natural broad spectrum anti-biotic. Peppermint Oil and Clove Oil are also good things to have in your arsenal.

Another very good thing to do for gum and teeth health is to use a Waterpik, I know many that add H202 to their waterpik with great results."

From another post: "Any oil will do right now. Oils to avoid (even eating) are Canola, Soy or Peanut. If you have any of these, throw them away right now. (I'm sorry I sound pushy, but it's for your health). The Oleic acid in Olive Oil is superb for sublingual absorbtion of fatty acids. While you are removing your bad bacteria, you are also dosing your body (and I mean directly into your blood system) all those great EFA's. That is why it's so important to have good quality oils. You will notice the effect because the heels of your feet and your elbows will get softer. It's unreal when this happens, but it does happen to most people."

If your body is acidic your teeth will be prone to cavitations. Coffee makes you acidic as does sugar and white flour, see other posts on balancing your pH.

If you have pain from a cavity use clove oil or tea tree oil (brush your teeth with a drop or two or swish with them) and/or hydrogen peroxide (swish and spit) to get immediate relief. A water pic is supposed to be very beneficial if you use H2O2. Then make sure you balance your pH. Take high vitamin butter oil with cod liver oil to regenerate the tooth. Yes, cavities can be reversed if you haven't had it drill and filled. You also have to eat right too.