Natural Communities Magazine A magazine devoted to the local natural wellness culture.

We create with our thoughts and with our words. When we give voice to positive thoughts, we create positive situations and energy for ourselves. When we’re not as impeccable with our words, we create something less than what we really desire.

Speaking negative thoughts out loud gives them a boost of energy. Even innocent comments made in passing transmit to the Universe, who hears our request and steps forward to help us manifest our reality.

Most of us have probably made a comment like, “I hope I don’t have problems with ___________________.” And what happens? We experience trouble with that exact thing.

Or, “If such-and-such happens, I’ll feel sad.” And what happens? When that thing comes to pass, we feel sad. We created our mood ahead of time.

Bringing awareness to these kind of self-fulfilling statements helps us be more mindful of what we’re creating. If we slip and hear ourselves making an offhand comment, we can stop and ask for a do-over. When I catch myself, I say out loud, “Stop! Rewind. I didn’t mean that.” Sometimes I also visualize myself plucking the words from out of the air and pulling them back. These two simple acts erase the energy. Then we can follow up with a positive statement.

We constantly create. By watching our words, we can remain aware of what we’re creating and create positive instead of negative.

By Debra Morrill,

Source: http://debramorrill.posterous.com/

Drug companies spend $18.5 billion per year promoting their drugs to physicians.

With that kind of marketing budget, it’s easy to understand how drugs have become the first line of defense in many physicians’ offices, rather than the last resorts they should really be. But when you uncover the tactics used by drug representatives it goes way beyond “marketing.”

Psychological warfare would be a better way to describe it.

Drug Reps Use Unbelievable Tactics to Manipulate Doctors

Drug reps are taught tactics for manipulating doctors for industry benefit; it’s a standard part of their training because doctors are essentially their “dealers.”

Shahram Ahari, who was featured in the above video, is a former drug rep who has spoken out before. He spent two years selling Prozac and Zypraxa for Eli Lily and told a Senate Aging Committee that his job involved “rewarding physicians with gifts and attention for their allegiance to your product and company despite what may be ethically appropriate.”

Ahari describes sales tactics that were openly taught to new reps during a training class, including:

• How to exceed spending limits for important clients
• How to be generous with free samples to leverage sales
• How to use friendships and personal gifts to foster a “quid pro quo” relationship
• How to exploit sexual tension

If you think that last one is a stretch, think again. Drug companies commonly hire former cheerleaders, ex-models, former athletes and military members to ensure their reps have a certain appealing look and outgoing personality.

Pharmaceutical sales reps are trained in tactics that are on par with some of the most potent brainwashing techniques used throughout the world, according to one PLoS report co-authored by Ahari.

The report states:

“Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars annually to ensure that physicians most susceptible to marketing prescribe the most expensive, most promoted drugs to the most people possible.

The foundation of this influence is a sales force of 100,000 drug reps that provides rationed doses of samples, gifts, services, and flattery to a subset of physicians …

Physicians are susceptible to corporate influence because they are overworked, overwhelmed with information and paperwork, and feel underappreciated. Cheerful and charming, bearing food and gifts, drug reps provide respite and sympathy; they appreciate how hard doctor’s lives are, and seem only to want to ease their burdens.

But … every word, every courtesy, every gift, and every piece of information provided is carefully crafted, not to assist doctors or patients, but to increase market share for targeted drugs.”

The Brainwashing Begins in Medical School

Unsuspecting medical students and residents are among the drug companies’ best targets. Drug reps can take advantage of their naivety and inexperience to successfully “train” them to be top prescribers even before they finish medical school.

Drug companies are allowed to develop their own education curriculum for medical students and residents, lavishing them with gifts, indirectly paying them to attend meetings and events where they promote the company’s products.

Even Harvard Medical School, one of the most prestigious in the United States, recently earned an F for its policies regarding accepting money and gifts from drug companies.

The grade came from the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), which ranked 150 medical schools according to their ties to industry. The more money and other incentives a school was receiving from the pharmaceutical industry, the worse grade they got.

Harvard earned the lowest grade possible. According to AMSA:

• Out of Harvard’s 8,900 professors and lecturers, 1,600 admit that they or a family member have ties to drug companies that could bias their teaching or research.
• The pharmaceutical industry contributed more than $11.5 million to Harvard in 2008 for “research and continuing education classes.”

Impressionable medical students are being indoctrinated into the drug-based model of disease care as we speak. It goes on all the time, and I can vouch for this personally as I, too, was brainwashed in medical school to favor the drug paradigm.

In the mid ’80s, I was actually a paid speaker for the drug companies. They would fly me to various physician education events around the country and pay me a very generous stipend to lecture to these groups. That was more than two decades ago, before I was able to remove myself from their very powerful brainwashing techniques — and I was finally able to understand the truth of what they were doing.

Your Physician is Likely Influenced by These Persuasive Tactics

If you think your physician will be able to see past these persuasive tactics, think again — and it’s not about intelligence or even ethics. Your physician may be very intelligent, and he or she may have every intention of NOT listening to a drug rep’s sales pitch.

But maybe she just wants to take advantage of the free samples they’re handing out to offer them to her patients. And there the rep gets a foot in the door, and even if he doesn’t say another word is able to keep a certain drug’s name upfront in this physician’s mind. And maybe he’ll drop off a few pens and pads of paper, also with the drug’s name, in case it starts to wear off.

Even if your doctor isn’t prescribing many targeted drugs, there are ways that drug reps will get that to change.

Drug companies have been hiring outside firms to purchase data on doctors from pharmacies since the mid-1990s. The reports let drug sales representatives see a doctor’s prescribing habits, among other things, which lets them know:

1. If their sales pitches are working
2. How to change their sales pitch if they’re not

For example, if the report shows a doctor generally prescribes a drug’s competitor, they can prepare a sales pitch specifically to discredit the competing drug. Meanwhile, those doctors who do regularly prescribe their drugs would likely be singled out to receive some “incentives” to keep doing so.

As Ahari said:

“It’s my job to figure out what a physician’s price is. For some it’s dinner at the finest restaurants, for others it’s enough convincing data to let them prescribe confidently and for others it’s my attention and friendship … but at the most basic level, everything is for sale and everything is an exchange.”

How to Stay Safe in a Medical System Run by Drug Pushers

If you’re prescribed a drug, how do you know that it’s really necessary and safe, as opposed to one made by a company that’s paying off, or essentially brainwashing, your doctor?

You don’t, and that’s why you’ve got to learn to get your own information. Do not take a drug just because your doctor prescribes it. First, learn what the drug is supposed to do, how it may help you, how it could harm you and, most importantly, what alternatives there are.

Drug companies are willing to do just about anything to make you, and your physician, think their drugs are great — quietly devising a hit list of doctors to silence, collecting secret reports on doctors, buying off Congress, advertising to you in your living room, even corrupting studies in medical journals so they show only favorable results.

It isn’t always easy to fight back against this system, but know that the drug companies are not going to protect you.

And it is unlikely that your physician can protect you either — even a well-meaning one — when he or she is operating within a system that has become RIGGED for Big Pharma profit.

You are the only one that can protect yourself and your family.  You need to Take Control of Your Health. Search my Web site and the Web for answers. Don’t trust what your doctor tells you at face value.

Make sure you double and triple check every recommendation, as your health is too precious a commodity to lose to some carefully manipulated recommendation by the drug company.

So remember to stay alert and informed before taking any new drug, and maintain a naturally healthy lifestyle that will optimize your body’s innate healing abilities and minimize your need for the drug companies’ latest concoctions.

And for those of you in medical school right now, or planning to enter soon, please become familiar with AMSA’s PharmFree campaign. Aside from being a great source of information, their site offers guides and kits to help you make positive changes, including major policy reforms, at your own school.

By Dr. Mercola.
Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites……

Life seems almost perfectly arranged to keep us guessing as to why we are here … about our role, our place, in this world. At one moment the problems of the wider world seem to call to us with the greatest urgency. In the next, these vanish as we’re called to our own urgent needs. The sublime achievements of others can inspire us, exciting our deepest aspirations – and at the same time confound us, fearing we can never approach such mastery. And when we see so many struggling to find their way, how can we feel certain of our own? The answer is that, for the vast majority of us, we will not be certain. Nor should we expect to be.

Growing into our role

Why should we not expect to sense clearly our life purpose? Because this “purpose” is a direct, natural extension of who we are … and few, if any of us, enter this life complete in this realization. Indeed, few of us gain this realization before living a very great deal of our life. Our gifts, our deeper interests, our strengths, and our wholeness grow and “unfold” only with time. And these are the foundations and keys to our greater purpose in life. In a more perfect, more orderly world, we would perhaps complete this foundational learning and growth first – before we choose our path in the world and seek to fulfill our role in it. But since, in this world, these two processes evolve concurrently, we must be prepared to venture forth with some uncertainty … and with some faith that we will discover both our purpose and ourselves as part of this process.

We will define our path

So we should not feel discouraged or off-track because we don’t currently sense our “mission” in life. Nor should we feel unsupported or tentative because the world is not beating a path to our door. On the contrary, often the best antidote for feeling a bit “lost” is simply to begin. Often we must simply step out upon a path or an endeavor even though we’re not certain it’s the “correct” one. And to some extent only by proceeding do we begin to “attract” the learning and support we will need to continue and finish. This is not to say that we should not form some kind of plan, an intended purpose, and goal before beginning an endeavor. But, because of the nature of creation, it’s often only by acting that our path and purpose begin to take shape. We must be like the painter who with his first brush stroke may have an inkling of the final work, but cannot yet see its complete form. Like the painter, we must also be prepared to re-evaluate our direction as we go and adjust or even change our course. We will make mistakes. We will have setbacks. But these challenges and course-corrections actually play a critical role in defining our path … and in developing the personal skills and the balance essential for our success down the line. They are part of the process. So hitting a dead-end or detour here and there or having to slow down and regroup from time to time should not discourage us.

Getting off on the right foot

There is, however, one common pitfall we should try to avoid from the start. Certainly, in pursuing our purpose, we hope to experience greater fulfillment and a deeper sense of value in our life. But to the extent we’re trying to prove our worthiness and justify our value, our pursuit can lead us a bit astray. Though a powerful motivator, the belief that we’re inherently unworthy or “not enough” is nonetheless a wounded belief. And try as we may, we will find it very difficult to generate enough external “success” and validation to answer this false belief. We’ll find it very hard to disprove outside what we secretly believe inside. So, rather than “serve” that false, wounded belief, we must heal it. Fortunately, the most direct and natural way to heal this wounded belief and recover our true sense of worthiness is in pursuing what we love: in doing what speaks to our heart. The distinction here is that this fulfillment and affirmation comes primarily with the doing of this thing, rather than external reaction. This is not to say that we should not enjoy and take satisfaction from our “successes” and acknowledgments. But we can only disprove – or more precisely “displace” – the wounded belief about our value by reawakening our true, innate sense of value beneath it. The wounded belief separates us from our true self; a full heart reconnects us with it.

A good starting point

Not coincidentally, pursuing what we love will always keep us on the path of our larger purpose. So, this quality should mark our starting place. The pursuit we love today may evolve into a different pursuit we love more deeply later, but we cannot go astray when what we do nourishes our heart and being. If we’re not sure what we love and where our gifts might reside, we may have to experiment a bit in order to discover this. As noted earlier, this trial and error is part of the process and should not discourage us. And if you’re looking for a good starting point in pursuing your purpose, here’s a hint. Look for what is finest within you, and pursue this. The key to your purpose and your value is who you are. The path to discover these will always lie in what you most love. Know that on this path the universe supports all your endeavors and all your creations … and on this path you become the blessing.

by Rob Brookler

Source: http://www.meditation……..

There is no shortage of real health myths that can, and do, have a massive impact on tens of thousands if not millions of people. Here is my list of the top 12 health myths:

1: Cardio is One of the Best Types of Exercise

In recent years, researchers have begun to realize that conventional cardio, such as jogging, is not all it’s been cracked up to be, and that you can actually improve your health and increase fat burning by making slight modifications to your cardio routine.

The problem is that traditional cardio only works on the slow twitch muscle fibers in your red muscle, completely ignoring your white muscle super-fast twitch fibers.

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

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

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

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

2: Vaccines are Safe and Effective and Prevent Disease

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more information please visit our vaccine section at http://vaccines.mercola.com/

3: Fluoride in Your Water Lowers Your Risk of Cavities

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

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

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

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

I’ve joined forces with the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) to help end water fluoridation poisoning in Canada and the United States.

For more about the dangers of fluoride, and information about how to get involved in this campaign, please see this recent article, which also includes an excellent interview with Dr. Paul Connett, who created FAN and is one of the foremost experts on this topic.

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

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

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

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

For a quick introduction, I recommend reading the article 10 Reasons to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods, which delves into everything from the health problems associated with eating GM foods to the evidence against GM crops as a sustainable, economically and environmentally viable alternative to traditional farming.

5: Sun Causes Skin Cancer

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

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

In my interview with vitamin D expert Dr. Robert Heaney, he explains how the conventional recommendations are in fact causing the very health problem they claim to prevent.

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

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

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

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

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

6: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more information about saturated fats and the essential role they play in maintaining your health, please read my previous article The Truth About Saturated Fat.

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are also a large number of health dangers associated with artificial sweeteners and aspartame in particular. I’ve started compiling a growing list of studies pertaining to health problems associated with aspartame, which you can find here. If you’re still on the fence, I highly recommend reviewing these studies for yourself so that you can make an educated decision.

For more information on aspartame, the worst artificial sweetener, please see my aspartame video.

8: Soy is a Health Food

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

If you find this recommendation startling then I would encourage you to review my Why Soy Can Damage Your Health, which contains links to dozens of articles on the topic, and a video I recently did.

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

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

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

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

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

9: Whole Grains are Good for Everyone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are three types of omega-3 fats:

1. DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid)
2. EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid)
3. ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid)

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

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

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

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

But in order to reap its most important health benefits, your omega-3 needs to be from an animal source. For more information on this topic, please read through my previous article, Are You Getting the Right Type of Omega-3 Fats?

11: Milk Does Your Body Good

Can milk do your body good?

Yes, if it’s RAW.

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

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

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

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

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

For more details please watch the interview I did with Mark McAfee, who is the owner of Organic Pastures, the largest organic dairy in the US.

12: Low-Fat Diets are Healthy

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

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

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

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

For an explanation of why and how a low-fat diet can create the very health problems it’s claimed to prevent, please see this previous article.

By Dr. Mercola
Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar……

For years we have been told to avoid the sun due to the “damaging” effects of UV radiation. The newest research has shown that the sun’s rays do much more good than harm. The sun’s ability to charge our bodies with vitamin D makes it extremely powerful at minimizing free radical damage and maintaining moisture in the skin. Aging well is absolutely dependent upon healthy sun exposure.

Many experts believe that Vitamin D is incorrectly named. Vitamins are substances that are crucial to normal everyday life function, but cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by the body. However, your skin has the ability to manufacture as much as 10,000 IU of Vitamin D after 20-30 minutes of summer sun exposure.

Vitamin D more resembles a hormone than vitamin by function. Hormones are chemical messengers that interact with cell receptors to produce specific biological responses. Calcitriol, the active form of Vitamin D, is arguably the most powerful hormone in the body. It has the ability to activate over 2,000 genes (roughly 10% of the human genome).

Too much sun exposure causes free radical damage leading to wrinkles and cancer cell growth. However, an appropriate amount of sun exposure everyday is one of the healthiest things you can do for your skin.

The skin is your first line of defense against pathogenic invaders and is under constant onslaught by the outside environment. In fact, the body must replace approximately 30,000-40,000 skin cells every minute. This constant renewal takes place in specialized cells called keratinocytes which account for about 95% of all cells in the epidermis (outer layer of skin). Healthy cellular division and differentiation at this level locks in moisture and keeps the skin soft and subtle.

Vitamin D is directly involved in cell proliferation and differentiation as well as optimal immune function making it the most important nutrient for healthy skin. If the body is deficient in Vitamin D, the epidermal cells will not differentiate optimally. This causes the outer layer of the skin to become fragile and thin. Dryness and wrinkles set in as moisture is lost and the skin begins to sag.

Your skin is an extremely absorbent organ. What we apply on our skin enters directly into the bloodstream. The majority of sun screens and sun lotions contain toxic chemicals that are harmful for the body. The most damaging ingredients include sodium lauryl sulfates, parabens, oxybenzones, & padimate O. Many of these are known xenoestrogens that interfere with healthy hormonal function. All are linked to higher rates of cancer.

Additionally, sunscreens block out the valuable effects of vitamin D. For example, if you wear sunblock SPF 8, you reduce your body’s ability to make vitamin D by 90%. If you choose a sunblock with a SPF of 30, you reduce your body’s ability to produce vitamin D by 99%.

Natural skin moisturizers include coconut & olive oil which harmonize the sun and allow for a natural tan development. It is also critical to get lots of anti-oxidants applied topically to enhance our skin’s health and ability to synthesize vitamin D. Great lotions include green-tea extract, aloe vera, & clove oil which provide anti-oxidant protection for the skin.

Tips For Healthy Sun Exposure:

1. Light skin = 15-20 minutes daily
Medium Skin = 25-30 minutes daily
Dark Skin = 40-45 minutes daily

2.Use coconut oil, aloe vera, clove oil, and/or green tea extract as a moisturizer before and after sun exposure for added anti-oxidant protection

3. If you are going to have long exposure wear layers or use a natural sun screen with no man-made ingredients.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/029764_…..

Recent studies show that people with certain variants of the “fat mass and obesity associated” gene, or FTO gene, are more likely to become overweight.

The FTO genes acts in your hypothalamus, the part of your brain that regulates appetite and satiety, and certain variants have been linked to increased energy intake, especially in the form of fat.

It’s estimated that about 17 percent of the U.S. population has double copies of the FTO gene linked to obesity, meaning they inherited it from both of their parents, while another 40 percent inherited a single copy.

There are other gene variants linked to obesity as well, and according to researchers the more copies of the gene you have, the more likely you are to become obese … but this does NOT mean that some people are simply destined to be fat.

The good news is that you can quite literally turn the effects of your “fat genes” on or off, and one of the ways to negate them is as simple as getting regular exercise.

Exercise Turns Off Fat Genes

Remember that it is NOT your genes that dictate your health and weight but rather the expression of your genes. You have the ability to easily turn genes on and off with your lifestyle and emotional state.

One such example has to do with genetic markers that may make you more prone to obesity. You can very effectively reduce the effects of these genes by increasing your physical activity.

According to researchers from Great Britain’s Medical Research Council in Cambridge, regular exercise reduces the genetic tendency toward obesity by 40 percent!

A separate study among Amish people also found those who had the FTO gene but were very physically active weighed about the same as others who did not carry the gene.

To illustrate this point you can look at my family where one of my younger sisters weighs more than 100 pounds more than I do, but she is the only one of my four siblings who has chosen not to exercise. My other siblings have exercised for decades, like me, and are all normal body weight.

Most all of my paternal relatives died from diabetes. I am confident that I would have diabetes and likely weigh 300 pounds if I ever stopped exercising. It is the “drug” that regulates my genetic expression away from obesity and disease.

In essence, you ARE changing your genetics daily and perhaps even hourly from the foods you eat, the air you breathe, the exercise you do, and even by the thoughts you think. That you can modify your genes is the focus of a new field known as epigenetics, and it is probably the most important biological discovery since DNA.

No matter what hand you were dealt at birth, you can take steps to “activate” the disease-busting, health-boosting genes and suppress those that will cause you harm. This is evidenced perhaps most clearly by identical twins, who start out with the exact same genetic code … but end up very different.

Epigenetic “malleability” helps to explain why identical twins become distinct as they age. For instance, why does one identical twin become obese and another remain lean?

As you age, your genome does not change but your epigenome changes dramatically, especially during critical periods of life, such as adolescence. This helps explain why a study out of New Zealand confirmed that genetic pre-disposition to obesity is entirely preventable through good nutrition in early childhood.

The good news is that no matter what your age, you can help your genes to express in a positive manner just by leading a healthy lifestyle, and this includes getting regular exercise.

What Type of Exercise is Best for Your Weight?

The Great Britain researchers noted that even 30 minutes of exercise a day, including activities such as walking your dog or biking to work, could have a beneficial influence on obesity genes, but I suggest you take it a step further than that.

If you are overweight, you will need at least 30 minutes of exercise a day to experience any weight loss benefits. Major studies have shown that 60 minutes a day is best, and in my experience, these findings hold true, although you may be able to significantly reduce the time you spend exercising by incorporating the right type.

Avoid the mistake I made for over 30 years by just assuming that aerobic cardio type exercises are going to do the trick for you. I can confidently tell you that you need to have a comprehensive exercise strategy that includes far more than conventional cardio.

One of the “secrets” that can boost your weight loss is actually to alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods.

If you’re just getting back into exercising, you’ll need to work your way up slowly. Trying to do too much at once can lead to burnout and make you less likely to continue your program.

To start, you might try jogging for a very short period and increasing it slowly over time. Or you might try walking interspersed with a period of fast walking to incorporate the Peak 8 ideology. Then, as your body grows more conditioned, you can increase to a higher intensity workout.

Exercise is Beneficial Even if You Don’t Have the “Obesity Gene”

Whether you have genes that make you more prone to obesity or not, carrying around extra pounds will inevitably increase your risk of developing just about every chronic degenerative disease there is, while exercising creates the opposite effect — helping you reduce your risk of disease and increase your chances of living longer.

This is because the underlying cause of excess weight is typically an unhealthy diet paired with insufficient exercise, which leads to surging insulin and leptin levels that eventually results in insulin resistance. And it is insulin resistance that is one of the primary causes of many of these chronic diseases.

So exercising sets into motion a beneficial feedback loop that leads to ever greater levels of health, while lack of exercise makes your health spiral downward and opens the door to disease and premature aging.

If you have genes that may predispose you to obesity, exercise will help to negate their effects, and if you don’t, exercise will still help you maintain an ideal body weight and remains one of the most important tools available to help you gain optimal health.

By Dr. Mercola

Source: http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitn…

Ever since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force took a look, finally, at the scientific evidence and announced new recommendations earlier this month for routine mammograms — specifically that women under 50 should avoid them and women over 50 should only get them every other year — the reactions from many women, doctors and the mainstream media have reached the point of near hysteria (http://www.naturalnews.com/027558_m…). Not getting annual mammograms, some say, means countless women will receive a virtual death sentence because their breast tumors won’t be discovered. But what is rarely discussed about mammograms is this: the tests could actually be causing many cases of breast cancer.

In fact, a new study just presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), concludes the low-dose radiation from annual mammography screening significantly increases breast cancer risk in women with a genetic or familial predisposition to breast cancer. This is particularly worrisome because women who are at high risk for breast cancer are regularly pushed to start mammograms at a younger age — as early as 25 — and that means they are exposed to more radiation from mammography earlier and for more years than women who don’t have breast cancer in their family trees.

“For women at high risk for breast cancer, screening is very important, but a careful approach should be taken when considering mammography for screening young women, particularly under age 30,” Marijke C. Jansen-van der Weide, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in the Department of Epidemiology and Radiology at University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, said in a statement to the media. “Further, repeated exposure to low-dose radiation should be avoided.”

Dr. Jansen-van der Weide and colleagues analyzed peer-reviewed, published medical research to investigate whether low-dose radiation exposure affects breast cancer risk among high-risk women. Out of the six studies included in this analysis, four looked at the effect of exposure to low-dose radiation among breast cancer gene mutation carriers. The other two studies traced the impact of radiation on women with a family history of breast cancer. The researchers took the combined data from all these research projects and then calculated odds ratios to estimate the risk of breast cancer caused by radiation.

The results? All the high-risk women in the study who were exposed to low-dose mammography type radiation had an increased risk of breast cancer that was 1.5 times greater than that of high-risk women who had not been exposed to low-dose radiation. What’s more, women at high risk for breast cancer who had been exposed to low-dose radiation before the age of 20 or who had five or more exposures to low-dose radiation were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than high-risk women not exposed to low-dose radiation.

Bottom line: any supposed benefit of early tumor detection using mammograms in young women with familial or genetic predisposition to breast cancer is offset by the potential risk of radiation-induced cancer. “Our findings suggest that low-dose radiation increases breast cancer risk among these young high-risk women, and a careful approach is warranted,” Dr. Jansen-van der Weide said in the press statement.

The mammogram scam exposed

Incredibly, although it is rarely reported in the mainstream media, the new study follows on the heels of several others that have already sounded the warning that mammograms may cause breast cancer. For example, NaturalNews covered a Johns Hopkins study published earlier this year in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (http://www.naturalnews.com/025560_c…) that warned radiation exposure from annual mammograms could trigger breast malignancies in women with a strong family history of breast and/or ovarian cancers who have altered genes (identified as BRCA1 or BRCA2).

And it may not be only women with a familial risk for breast cancer who are at extra risk from mammography radiation. As NaturalNews covered last year, a report published in the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine found breast cancer rates increased significantly in four Norwegian counties after women there began getting mammograms every two years. In fact, the start of screening mammography programs throughout Europe has been linked to an increased incidence of breast cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/024901.html).

Comments by the Health Ranger, Editor of NaturalNews.com

Mammogram pushers now have nothing left to stand on. The complete and utter hoax of mammography has now been wholly discredited through a flurry of groundbreaking studies performed by conventional medicine researchers! Yes, even the industry’s own former advocates now admit mammography harms far more women than it helps.

Why? Because mammography causes the very disease it claims to “detect”. It’s much like a clever sleight-of-hand magician’s trick where they reach for your ear and suddenly produce a coin that was presumably hidden there. But as everybody knows, they put it there themselves! Mammograms offer a similar kind of sleight-of-hand trick (or sleight-of-breast, as the case may be) by actually generating the very disease they claim to find. If so many women hadn’t already been harmed by mammography, the whole thing would be quite hysterical.

“Early detection saves lives,” they say. Except they stupidly forget to tell women the other side of the story: “Mammograms cause cancer.” And if you’re gullible enough to actually irradiate your breasts every year, don’t be surprised — shocked! — if they someday find tumors in them.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/027641_mammograms_brst_cancer.html

Vaccinating children has become sacrosanct in our culture. Doctors and government officials insist that vaccines are safe, and parents are pressured into compliance. In fact, parents have been reported to social services by doctors who consider not vaccinating to be a form of medical neglect or child abuse. Legislators across the country are attempting to pass laws in which parents will have no rights to refuse what is injected into their children.

The inconsistency of rules involving the care of children is striking. Mothers are in complete control of their child’s health while in the womb. They make choices against eating tuna, taking medications, smoking cigarettes and avoiding alcohol. Mothers may choose to even terminate the pregnancy. But the moment the baby arrives, control over their child’s body is forcibly surrendered to healthcare providers and the government. The leg is jabbed with shots, eyes are gooped with antibiotic ointment and the heel is poked to get a drop of DNA-containing blood. With the passage of the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007, signed into law April 24, 2008, the blood will be collected and warehoused for scientific research. Parents have little or no say in any of these events.

Vaccination is promoted by an industry that capitalizes on fear and the perceived necessity of the procedure has become multi-generationally entrenched. We have been programmed by the medical community and the media to believe that everyone – children and adults — will become sick, and likely die, unless they are vaccinated. This explains why not vaccinating can be unfathomable to new parents who are unreasonably terrified of what were considered normal childhood illnesses only a few decades ago. The majority adults over 50 years of age remember having measles and the chickenpox. Both were mostly mild diseases, lasting seven to fourteen days, and leaving behind lifetime immunity.

And even though chickenpox is rarely fatal, most parents opt to vaccinate. Merck & Co. estimated that as of December 31, 2007, 80 to 85 percent of all four to six-year-olds had received two doses of Varivax®, at one year and a booster before school. With little attention on the problems with the chickenpox vaccine cited in the media, most don’t realize that it can cause harm. Research shows that nearly 1 in 5,000 children who receive the chickenpox inoculation develop shingles within ten years of being vaccinated. Shingles, an intensely painful, blistering rash, is most commonly seen in the elderly or the chronically ill. It was rarely, if ever, seen in healthy children before the introduction of this vaccine. Other serious side effects, such as seizures, pneumonia, and anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction), have been reported as a result of Varivax. Before it became available, about 50 children died every year from rare or unusual complications of the chickenpox. Put in perspective, 53 children died in drowning accidents in the [U.S.] state of Georgia in 1999.

Vaccination has been cited as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. However, it doesn’t require an advanced degree in science to grasp that the public health accolades, celebrating high vaccination rates and low infection rates, have lead to serious health consequences across the globe. Vaccine ingredients seem to be playing a substantial role.

Problems With Vaccine Ingredients

Gelatin, one of many ingredients in vaccines, is known to cause allergies and asthma. Allergies are now the most frequently reported chronic condition in children, limiting activities in four out of 10 children. Asthma, the second most common chronic childhood disease, affects more than one child in 20. The combined healthcare costs of asthma and allergies have soared to more than $25 billion/year. Vaccines that contain gelatin include chickenpox, MMR, Boostrix (teen pertussis booster), Tripedia (DTaP) and the adult shingles vaccine, Zostrix. Vaccine gelatin may be contributing substantially to the skyrocketing incidence of, and expenditures on, asthma and allergies.

Another vaccine additive, formaldehyde, can interrupt the normal function of the immune system. A colorless, pungent-smelling gas, formaldehyde can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, difficulty in breathing and asthma attacks when exposed to amounts as small as 0.1 parts per million. It is listed as a hazardous chemical on eight federal regulatory lists and considered to be one of the ten worst compounds on the ecosystem and health. Between 10 and 20 percent of general population has a reaction coming in contact with formaldehyde. Topical exposure can cause a mild reaction, such as dry skin and redness. The California Indoor Air Quality Fact Sheet states there is no known threshold level below which cancer risk does not exist. The World Health Association (WHO) recommends that an exposure should not exceed 0.05 ppm or 0.05 mg/kg. So, for 12 pound baby (about 5kg), the maximum exposure should be below 0.25 mg. But with the current schedule, children receive more than ten times that amount, more than 3.5 mg, if they receive every mandated vaccine. Vaccines that contain formaldehyde include DTaP, polio, influenza, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.

Thankfully, mercury (in the form of thimerosal) has been removed from most vaccines. However, measurable amounts are still found in multi-vial flu shots, tetanus boosters, Energix-B (hepatitis B vaccine), Menomune (college meningitis vaccine), TriHiBit and Tripedia (both DTaP vaccines), and Twinrix (a combination hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine). Trace amounts remain in many more. Countless children have developed autism and there is strong evidence that their brains were injured by the preservative thimerosal.

Follow the Money

Positioned as a loss leader, vaccines appear to be the economic drivers of both the medical and the pharmaceutical industry. A loss leader is a business technique in which a less-expensive product is sold or given away for the sake of offering another product at a greater profit. This common practice is utilized to introduce new customers to a product, to build a new customer base and/or to secure future recurring revenue. Using a loss leader is more than just a nifty business trick - it can be a very successful economic strategy when executed properly. The classic example of a loss leader is the sale of razor blades. Companies like Gillette essentially give their razor units away for free, knowing that customers will buy their replacement blades, where the company makes all of its profit, for as long as they use the razor.

Vaccines play a similar role for the drug companies. The cost of a vaccine is relatively inexpensive compared to the billions of dollars spent on medical interventions, medications—and even more vaccines—dispensed as a result of a vaccination side effect.

Consider this example: the potential consequences of an inoculation with one of the two newly approved vaccines to prevent a rotavirus diarrheal infection, RotaTeq® and Rotarix®.

Side effects listed on the package insert for RotaTeq include diarrhea, vomiting, irritability, fever, wheezing and coughing. RotaTeq has also been associated with bloody stools, a warning sign of a serious complication called an intussusception. Triggered by the vaccine, intussusception is an event where a portion of the bowel slides into the next, much like the pieces of a telescope, causing an obstruction. Swelling, inflammation, and decreased blood flow to the fragile lining of the bowel cause the intestine to die. Between February 3, 2006, when RotaTeq was licensed, and January 31, 2007, twenty-eight cases of intussusception were reported in infants who received RotaTeq in the U.S. Sixteen of the 28 infants required hospitalization and surgery on their intestine.

In February, 2008, the FDA issued a warning that there was a “statistically signficant increase in pneumonia-related deaths and seizures” associated with the other vaccine for rotavirus infection. To reduce the risk of pneumonia, doctors promote the pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar®. A side effect of Prevnar, as listed in the package insert, is ear infections, increasing the use of antibiotics. The many rounds of antibiotics required to treat recurring ear infections can cause serious bowel problems, leading to blood tests and evaluations by the pediatric gastroenterologist. The cause of all these additional problems is rarely indentified as a side effect of a vaccination.

All of this can result from a Rotarix or a RotaTeq shot, given to avoid a common infection that most children contract, and recover from uneventfully, by the time they are three years of age.

Another example is the hepatitis B vaccine, given at birth, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and dyspepsia (a condition associated with gnawing or burning stomach pain and persistent vomiting). Tiny children receive x-rays, undergo procedures such as endoscopy, and are given adult medications such as Prilosec® or Nexium® to resolve their discomfort. Unfortunately, since the dyspepsia is not recognized as a vaccine side effect, additional dosages of the hepatitis B vaccine are administered, often compounding the problem.

Vaccines are the bedrock of expanded illnesses, skyrocketing medical costs and exponential drug sales. But it is more than individual vaccines that are cause for concern. The sheer number of vaccines children now receive between birth and six years of age is staggering and include: Diphtheria (a rare throat infection), pertussis, and tetanus (the DTaP shot); Haemophilus influenza type b (the Hib vaccine); measles, mumps, and rubella (the MMR shot); pneumococcus (the Prevnar vaccine); polio (three strains); rotavirus (five strains); and individual vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, and meningitis. Flu shots (three strains) are now given annually, beginning at six months of age. That adds up to 113 vaccine antigens by kindergarten given in about 33 shots.

Parents are becoming wary of the many needles being jabbed into their precious babies at the tender age of two, four and six months. In response, the drug companies are combining several vaccines into a single injection. Comvax (hepatitis B and HiB), ProQuad (MMR and chickenpox), Pediarix (DTaP, polio and hepatitis B) and two newly approved vaccines, Kinrix (DTaP and polio) and Pentacel (DTaP, polio and HiB) have been developed. Parents are deceived into believing that the combination shots are fewer vaccines; they are not: The number of jabs is reduced, but the number of antigen doses remains the same.

A significant problem with the combo shots is that, in the event of an adverse reaction, there is no way to determine which component caused the problem. This eliminates the ability to refuse additional doses of a particular vaccine. The ability to make a claim with the Vaccine Injury Compensation program is likewise negated.

For adults who believe the days of deciding about vaccines are over because their children are now teenagers, think again: Teenagers are the new target market for the vaccine industry. Boosters are being recommended for vaccines given before five years of age and the new teen vaccines, Gardasil (for cervical cancer) and Menactra (for college-type meningitis), are being heavily marketed by doctors and the media. The additional vaccines add substantially to the total number of vaccine antigen. If little girls receive all doses of all recommended vaccines, they will have received 156 vaccine antigens and about 45 shots by middle school. Boys, not yet approved for Gardasil, receive slightly fewer: only 144 vaccine antigens and about 42 shots.

Many more vaccines in the pipeline will put teens and adults in the industry crosshairs. In 2007, adult-teen vaccine sales overtook pediatric sales, the first time ever, accounting for 50.6% of all revenues. This development has been attributed to robust sales of influenza vaccines and the success of Merck’s advertising to promote Gardasil for the HPV virus. Gardasil alone posted $1.5 billion in sales in 2007.

And yes, it’s about the money. In addition to driving revenues as a loss leader, the newer vaccines are driving revenues through direct sales of expensive vaccines. According to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News,

In 2007, the world market for preventive vaccines totaled $16.3 billion, up more than 38%, from $11.7 billion, in 2006. The market is predicted to increase at a compound annual rate of 13.1% during 2008. This growth rate is unheard of in other drug categories, especially since this is expected to be a challenging year for the pharmaceutical industry. Few other drug categories will see as many new product introductions and such public-policy attention.

In 2007, global sales of pediatric vaccines exceeded $8.0 billion, an increase of 25.2% over 2006 sales of $6.3 billion. This high growth was due in part to continued heavy gains of Wyeth’s pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar, as well as the introduction of Merck’s, RotaTeq….This will result in an overall market expansion of 14.2% per year from 2008 to 2013, with total sales reaching $18.8 billion at the end of the forecast period.

Vaccines are promoted as a way to boost the immune system. It only stands to reason that injecting multiple doses of pathogens and measureable amounts of chemicals taxes the immune system instead of enhancing it. I’ve observed in families who have more than one child and have chosen to vaccinate the first, but not subsequent children, the younger siblings seem to come down with fewer infections and are much healthier overall. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence.

Preventive measures aimed at enhancing health can be incorporated into simple, lifestyle changes. Here are a few helpful suggestions:

• Staying away from white (refined) sugar and opting for healthy foods and sugar-free snacks is the first step.

• A high-quality, sugar-free, multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement is recommended for all ages, too, not just for picky eaters.

• The benefit adequate sleep has on health cannot be overstated. Without adequate sleep, the body is much more susceptible to illness. Toddlers need up to 14 hours a day of sleep, but they typically get only about 10½. Children between the ages of three and six need at least 10 to 12 hours per night; between seven and twelve years of age, 10 hours; and teens and adults need at least 8 hours. Most children get far less; and parents need to enforce bed times for their children, and for themselves.

• Provide your family with clean, filtered water.

• Encourage regular—but not obsessive—hand washing.

• Make sure to get away from the TV and the computer several hours a day to run and play outside. Exercise stimulates the immune system and has a whole cascade of positive effects.

Persons who investigate both sides of this issue rarely continue vaccinating. That speaks volumes. If you do decide to “Say No to Vaccines,” you’re not alone. Thousands of parents who have experienced first-hand the consequences of vaccination, including autism, are not looking for “something to blame.” They are begging other parents to learn about the risks before they proceed. Learn to trust your intuitive sense and investigate the full spectrum of the vaccination issue. You’ll be glad you did.

Sherri J. Tenpenny, D.O., is regarded as one of the country’s most knowledgeable and outspoken physicians on the negative impact vaccines can have on health.  www.DrTenpenny.com, www.SayingNoToVaccines.com

Source: http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpenny/sherri19.htm

Simple household chores can bring great joy when we approach them like a meditation.

Try it for yourself the next time you’re doing a repetitive task like folding laundry, vacuuming or dusting. Choose something you can do without much thought, then begin. Focus your attention on what you’re doing.

Use your senses to stay with the task. What do you smell as you rake the leaves or take the laundry out of the dryer? What colors do you notice as you chop vegetables or weed the garden? What do you taste, hear or feel?

When your mind wanders and you find yourself having a thought, refocus by returning to your senses again.

For me, doing the dishes turns into a meditation. The smell of the lemon-scented dish detergent captures my attention. The feel of my hands in warm water and the glide of the washcloth over the dishes relax me. The glistening of rainbows reflected in the soap bubbles engages my fancy.

When I stay in the moment with this simple task, it seems less like a chore and more like meditation. My senses sharpen, my mind stills, my breathing deepens, and I find joy in doing the dishes.

Finding pleasure in the small things like the glorious array of colors in the garden, the softness of the laundry, or the sweetness of a single fresh strawberry helps us reach a place of peace and gratitude.

By Debra Morrill

Contrary to popular belief, yawning is not necessarily an indicator of boredom, restlessness, disinterest or even sleepiness. Yawning is actually an important function of the body that helps the brain both to function better and to maintain appropriate temperature.

According to researchers from New York University in Binghamton, yawning is the body’s way of regulating the temperature equilibrium so that we can think better. This is why many people feel the need to yawn when sitting in warm rooms regardless of whether or not they are physically tired.

The research is contradictory to older research that pegged yawning as a response to reduced brain oxygen levels, and instead attributes it to a reenergizing process by which the body is able to transition from one state of mind to another, such as from being asleep to being awake.

“Yawning helps us relax,” explains Patt Lind-Kyle, therapist and educator, in her book Heal Your Mind, Rewire Your Brain. “It lifts our moods. It’s good stuff. And it’s free.”

Other research indicates that yawning acts similarly to antidepressants in that it helps block the reuptake of serotonin in the brain so that these neurotransmitters can instead be more readily available for use in brain receptors.

Andrew Gallup, author of the 2007 study that made these discoveries, was cited in a recent Chicago Tribune article as saying that sleep deprivation can raise body and brain temperature as well, so there can be a connection between yawning and sleepiness.

While he encourages the sleep deprived to get more sleep, he also believes that doing things to cool yourself down, such as taking a cold shower or jumping in a pool, will help to alleviate yawning as well.

According to a January 2010 article at kpcnews.com, yawning is also associated with an increase in dopamine, the “pleasure and relationship-bonding” chemicals in the brain. Dopamine levels are raised in response to yawning, and vice versa, bringing about feelings of happiness and connectedness with the people around us.

Source: www.naturalnews.com