We hear a lot today about pH balance and about balancing one’s pH. What exactly is pH? The term pH stands for “Potential” of “Hydrogen.” Thus, pH refers to the amount of hydrogen ions in a particular substance. The more hydrogen ions, the more acidic. Fewer hydrogen ions, the more alkaline.

Measuring pH

pH is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 with 7 being neutral. As we drop down below 7 the substance is more acidic. Above 7 the substance becomes more alkaline. In other words, the lower the pH number the more acidic it is and the higher the number the more alkaline. For example, a pH of 3 is more acidic than a pH of 5 and a pH of 9 is more alkaline than a pH of 6.

In its natural state, the human body is slightly alkaline. The alkaline body reflects normal, optimal pH levels. In fact, the body must maintain this slightly alkaline state for its survival. This state is called pH balance.

Homeostasis
Proper pH balance is the foundation for optimal health. The body is alkaline by design, but acidic by function. 

The most critical pH is in the blood. All other organs and fluids will fluctuate in their range in order to keep the blood at a strict pH between 7.35 and 7.45 (slightly alkaline). Although the blood needs to be slightly alkaline, the stomach digests best when it is acidic, between 1 and 2 pH. 

The body is continually striving to maintain a proper balance between the two. This process is called homeostasis. The body makes constant adjustments in tissue and fluid pH to maintain this very narrow pH balance range in the blood. It even goes so far as to dissolve bones in order to maintain necessary pH of blood.

Balance your pH

What can we do to insure a proper pH balance in the body? Diet is probably the single most important factor in maintaining a proper pH balance. To assure a proper pH balance, avoid consuming excessive amounts of meat, alcohol, soft drinks, caffeine, coffee, most nuts, eggs, vinegar, sauerkraut, ascorbic acid, cheese, white sugar and medical drugs. Instead, eat more ripe fruits, vegetables, bean sprouts, water, milk, onions, figs, carrots, beets, and miso.

ALKALINE ASH FOODS
(Common Foods that help to control acid in your internal environment)

ACID ASH FOODS
(Common Foods that leave strong acid in your internal environment)

Alkaline-ash foods are foods that leave high concentrations of calcium, magnesium, potassium and/or sodium in their ash. These minerals, in turn, are used to form alkaline compounds (called bases) in the body. Vegetables and most (but not all) fruits are alkaline-forming.

Acid-ash foods are those that contain chloride, iron, phosphorus or sulfur, minerals that form acid compounds. These include phosphorus-rich foods such as meat, fish, poultry, legumes and grains, as well as mustard and eggs, which contain sulfur.

To sum up, the pre-metabolized acid content of a food is not an indicator of the acid/alkaline balance in the blood. The acid ash, however, is.

pH of Stomach vs Blood

Extended acid imbalances can overwhelm the body, resulting in low energy levels, fatigue, excess weight, headaches, occasional constipation and frequent colds. An alkaline stomach on the other hand can cause indigestion. Microorganisms in food that would perish in an acid stomach are likely to survive in an alkaline stomach, causing all kinds of health problems. Food can start to putrefy and cause heartburn. 

Digestive Powers
If you determine that you have an alkaline stomach, you can temporarily increase the acidity of your stomach at mealtime with either Betaine Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) capsules or Liquid HCL 5%.

You don’t need to worry about the HCL making you blood permanently acidic because the little amount (500 to 1000 mg) you take gets used up in the digestive process. Compare that to eating a ¼ pound (113,400 mg) of meat which will surely create a more acidic body.

Supplements such as calcium and magnesium are best taken between mealtimes so they don’t reduce acidity of the stomach. Ultimately it’s best to take them in the evening as they tend to relax your muscles and make you sleepy.

Testing your pH Level

Testing saliva is the most effective way to gauge the body’s pH. You can use a simple pH test, consisting of test strips and a color chart.

You can test both saliva and urine. An optimal reading of saliva is 7.5. This indicates a slightly alkaline body.

A neutral result is 7.0. A reading of 6.5 is slightly acidic. A reading below 6.5 is very acidic.

Proper pH Balance for Optimum Health
Your body works with the materials you give it. Preserving your health is your job, not your doctor’s. Monitoring your personal pH is a tool. It's not a self-diagnostic device. Monitoring your urine pH and saliva pH can help you take charge of your health. In the final analysis, you, and only you, can lead your life in ways that promote health.

Researchers Acknowledged Limitations of their Study when Applied to Most Healthy People
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2004) - Despite the literally thousands of studies on vitamin E, many confirming its positive effects on cardiovascular health and other conditions, an article published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine that studied just a handful suggests that “high-dose” vitamin E (400 international units (IU) or more) is associated with a greater risk of dying.

Although the researchers themselves acknowledged the limitations of their study when applied to most healthy people, they have nevertheless called for a reduction in U.S. dietary guidelines for vitamin E, which currently recommend an upper limit of 1,500 IU.

The research, which analyzed clinical trial data from 19 studies, focused on nine that involved dosages of vitamin E over 400 IU. Most of the patients in the studies were over 60-years of age and had chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and Alzheimer's. The reported increased risk of deaths associated with higher doses of vitamin E was only slightly higher than the risk among those not taking the supplement. The studies reviewed, some of which were more than 10 years old, were of varying quality and contained a wide range of dosages.

“This is arm chair science at its worst,” said David Seckman, NNFA's executive director and CEO. “Researchers are well aware that casting doubt on any product that has had overwhelmingly positive findings is a formula for getting noticed. Unfortunately, many in the press are all too willing to lend credence to research that is not conclusive.”

For more information on vitamin E, including its health benefits, clinical applications and other science-based findings, go to: http://www.supplementinfo.org/.
http://www.naturalproductsassoc.org/site/News2?abbr=pc_&page=NewsArticle&id=5229

Vitamin E Trials 'Fatally Flawed'
ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2007) — Generations of studies on vitamin E may be largely meaningless, scientists say, because new research has demonstrated that the levels of this micronutrient necessary to reduce oxidative stress are far higher than those that have been commonly used in clinical trials.

In a new study and commentary in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, researchers concluded that the levels of vitamin E necessary to reduce oxidative stress -- as measured by accepted biomarkers of lipid peroxidation -- are about 1,600 to 3,200 I.U. daily, or four to eight times higher than those used in almost all past clinical trials.

This could help explain the inconsistent results of many vitamin E trials for its value in preventing or treating cardiovascular disease, said Balz Frei, professor and director of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, and co-author of the new commentary along with Jeffrey Blumberg, at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

"The methodology used in almost all past clinical trials of vitamin E has been fatally flawed," said Frei, one of the world's leading experts on antioxidants and disease. "These trials supposedly addressed the hypothesis that reducing oxidative stress could reduce cardiovascular disease. But oxidative stress was never measured in these trials, and therefore we don't know whether it was actually reduced or not. The hypothesis was never really tested."

The level of vitamin E that clearly can be shown to reduce oxidative stress, new research is showing, is far higher than the level that could be obtained in any diet, and is also above the "tolerable upper intake level" outlined by the Institute of Medicine, which is 1,000 I.U. a day. OSU researchers are not yet recommending that people should routinely take such high levels, but they do say that controlled clinical trials studying this issue should be aware of the latest findings and seriously consider using much higher vitamin E supplement levels in their studies.

In lab, animal or human studies, there's evidence that vitamin E can reduce oxidative stress, inhibit formation of atherosclerotic lesions, slow aortic thickening, lower inflammation, and reduce platelet adhesion. Some human studies using lower levels of vitamin E supplements, such as 100 to 400 I.U. a day, have shown benefits in reducing cardiovascular disease risk, and others have not. An underlying assumption was that these levels were more than adequate to reduce oxidative stress, since they far exceeded the "recommended dietary allowance" or RDA for the vitamin, a level adequate to prevent deficiency disease.

"What's now clear is that the amount of vitamin E than can conclusively be shown to reduce oxidative stress is higher than we realized," Frei said. "And almost none of the studies done with vitamin E actually measured the beginning level or reduction of oxidative stress."

Proper studies of vitamin E, researchers say, must be done carefully and take into account the newest findings about this micronutrient. It's now known that natural forms of the vitamin are far more readily absorbed than synthetic types. It's also been discovered that supplements taken without a fat-containing meal are largely useless, because in the absence of dietary fat vitamin E is not absorbed.

Some clinical trials may wish to study the long term effect of vitamins on healthy individuals. But if a clinical trial seeks to learn the value of reducing oxidative stress, they should select patients in advance for those who have high, measurable oxidative stress -- often people who are older or have a range of heart disease risk factors, such as obesity, poor diet, hypertension or other problems. Cognizance should also be taken of people with health issues that may further increase their vitamin needs, such as smokers.

"A pill count simply isn't enough to determine the value of vitamin E," Frei said. "We need to select people for trials properly, make sure they are taking the right form of the vitamin, at the right levels and at the right time, and then verify the metabolic results with laboratory testing."

"Only when we do these studies right will we answer questions about the value of vitamin E in addressing cardiovascular disease," he said. "So far we've been flying blind."

A parallel, Frei said, would be presuming to test the value of a statin drug, which lowers cholesterol, without ever measuring cholesterol levels in the test subjects, neither at the beginning nor at the end of the study. Such trials would be ridiculed in the science community.

So far, that's the way vitamin E has been studied.
The use and intake of vitamins, experts say, has traditionally been thought of in terms of overt deficiency -- for example, not enough vitamin C causes scurvy. Much less research has been done on the levels that can help create optimum health. The issue is of special importance with modern populations that have very different diets, activity levels and increased lifespan, and are dying from much different causes -- predominantly heart disease and cancer -- than people of past generations. Adapted from materials provided by Oregon State University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070923193622.htm

New JAMA Study on Ginkgo Biloba and Alzheimer's 'Misses the Boat Entirely'
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Study Too Limited and Ignores Critical Risk Factors, Says Natural Products Association
November 18, 2008, Washington, DC -- A new study questioning the benefits of Ginkgo biloba on preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) late in life “misses the boat entirely” because the universe of people studied is too limited to make broad statements about the benefits of the popular dietary supplement, said the Natural Products Association.

The study’s conclusions are also in direct contrast to other peer-reviewed studies that show benefits, and will almost certainly be questioned, the association said. The study was released November 18, 2008, in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“This study is not irrelevant, but it can not be used to make broad conclusions about Ginkgo biloba and the general population.  In fact, it misses the boat entirely in two critical areas.  One, it looks exclusively at people almost 80 years old who are far more likely to have Alzheimer’s, while ignoring those in middle ages, where the risk for developing the disease rises quickly and prevention could best be analyzed.  Two, it excludes completely any consideration of the strong and established role that family history plays with Alzheimer’s.  You can’t do a study on the weather without looking at wind and rain,” said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Natural Products Association. 

“This study is also in direct contrast to other research.  Unfortunately, there is still no proven treatment to prevent Alzheimer’s, but reputable research has shown that Ginkgo biloba can play a constructive role in improving the symptoms related to this debilitating disease and possibly delaying its onset,” said Fabricant.

BACKGROUND: According to the National Institute on Aging, age is the most important known risk factor for AD. The risk of developing the disease doubles every 5 years over age 65. Several studies estimate that up to half the people older than 85 have AD. These facts are significant because of the growing number of people 65 and older. More than 34 million Americans are now 65 or older. Even more significant, the group with the highest risk of AD—those older than 85—is the fastest growing population group in the country.

 A 1997 study in the U.S. suggested that a Ginkgo extract may be of some help in treating the symptoms of AD and multi-infarct dementia, but no evidence exists that Ginkgo biloba will prevent AD.

 Research shows that risk for the disease becomes significant in middle age for most of the population, yet this study ignores that completely.

http://www.naturalproductsassoc.org/site/News2?abbr=pc_&page=NewsArticle&id=10219

Stevia Hits the Big Time
The low-calorie sweetener hailed as "natural" is coming to a grocery store shelf near you. Coke will start delivering stevia-sweetened Odwalla Mojito Mambo and Odwalla Pomegranate Strawberry nationwide this week and plans to introduce Sprite Green in New York and Chicago before the end of the year. Pepsi is expected to follow with SoBe Lifewater in three flavors (black and blue berry, Fuji apple pear and yumberry pomegranate) as well as a 50% reduced calorie orange juice, Trop50. Both use Cargill's Stevia Sweetener, branded Truvia.

The news is heating up the financial markets: will the natural low-cal sweetener sweeten profits as well? But what interests us is the safety of the new ingredient. The FDA is expected to give stevia-derived sweeteners the status of generally recognized as safe (known as GRAS in the industry), but is GRAS the same as SAFE?

Is Generally Recognized as Safe the Same as Safe?
GRAS is a short-cut to get approval for an ingredient without going through the usual array of studies on the safety and health effects intended to prove an ingredient safe. This short-cut saves industry a lot of money and potential test animals a lot of suffering, so in general it is reasonable that the agencies responsible for food safety have a method to approve ingredients based on the weight of evidence for chemicals which have been in use for many years.

GRAS has another benefit too: advocates of stevia-based sweeteners feared that sweetener manufacturer Cargill would get an approval exclusive to their highly purified version of stevia sweetener, called Truvia. But GRAS status should allow competitors to enter the market. Some stevia based sweeteners and even softdrinks are available on the market now, being marketed under the "dietary supplement" loophole, which allows sale of products with less safety testing.

But if stevia is banned in Europe and not approved for use as a food additive in the US, where is FDA getting information as a basis to decide that stevia is safe? The stevia plant has been used by inhabitants of its native growth zones for centuries. Of course, it has been used as a sweetener, but some tribes using stevia believe chewing the leaf is an effective birth control method. Which leads to obvious questions: if the plant can reduce fertility, it is certainly having health effects.

The Good News and the Bad News
Studies have suggested that stevia sweeteners can have cancer-causing effects and mutagenic effects, as well as reducing male fertility. But all the news is not bad. Preliminary study results also suggest that stevia may have positive effects beyond weight control, including vasodilation (an effect that can be therapeutic for high blood pressure) and improved regulation of blood glucose levels (possibly beneficial in relation to diabetes).

More recent human experience suggesting stevia based sweeteners are safe comes out of Japan, where the natural low calorie stevia sweeteners have been preferred over artificial sweeteners for the past four decades. Food standards agencies in Australia and New Zealand have also published stevia safe intake levels that equate to drinking two cans of diet softdrink per day (see the link for the basis for this calculation).

As is the case with trans-fats and high fructose corn syrup, scientists are about to get a lot more data for continuing studies on the safety of this sweetener. The best advice is moderation in all things, and remember that there are risks with artificial sweeteners as well. Stevia sweeteners offer an "all natural" option for people when the health risks from obesity outweigh other concerns.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/coke-truvia-stevia-fda-safe-pepsi.php

B12 Might Help Retain the Brain
Vitamin B12 may protect older people from losing brain mass and ultimately reduce the risk of developing dementia, suggests a new study from the University of Oxford. Previously, increased levels of vitamin B12 and other B vitamins were linked with lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid reported to increase the risk of dementia or cognitive impairment. The study followed 107 volunteers between the ages of 61 and 87. Researchers collected blood samples to measure levels of vitamin B12 and holoTC levels. In fact, people with lower levels of B12 were six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage, said the researchers. On the other hand, high levels of methylmalonic acid or homocysteine, or low folate levels were not linked to brain volume loss. It is important to note that none of the volunteers were vitamin B12 deficient. (Neurology, September 2008, vol. 71, pp. 826-832)

Could your Spice rack Battle Foodborne Pathogens?

Oils or compounds extracted from the oils of herbs and spices like oregano, thyme, cinnamon and clove are reported to pack enough of an antimicrobial punch that they could stop such food borne pathogens as E. coli, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni, or Listeria monocytogens. Scientists studied the potential of these oils several years ago, and are currently taking a second look at the research on the hope of developing tools to make foods safer. For example, scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service are evaluation the highest-ranking botanical bactericides as potential ingredients in what are known as “edible films.” A thin, pliable, edible film for the future might be made of pureed spinach containing carvacrol, a compound from oregano oil, which was found to be a top fighter of E. coli. The scientists want to find out whether adding small squares of carvacrol enhanced spinach puree film to bags of chilled ready-to-eat spinach leaves would help protect this salad green against E. coli. (www.ars.USDA.gov)

Gardasil Vaccine:
(NaturalNews) Reports of adverse reactions to the new HPV vaccine are escalating. One particularly heart-wrenching example is the story of an active 12-year-old little girl named Brittany who recently lost all feeling in her leg and collapsed two weeks after receiving the Gardasil vaccine.

Although she once had dreams of earning an athletic scholarship, she now struggles to hobble around each day with the aid of braces and a walker, First Coast News reports. According to the article, she has been diagnosed with Acute Demyelinating Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a condition characterized by inflammation of the brain and associated with the vaccination.

Adding insult to injury, people who are injured by the vaccine cannot even sue Merck, the maker of the Gardasil vaccine, because it is part of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund.

Dr. Clark has warned about the “preservatives” found in vaccines. HPV vaccines are not different, in addition to four types of HPV proteins, girls and women who receive this vaccine should know what else is in the shot.

Dr. Mercola has uncovered the following as ingredients:

1. Aluminum adjuvants, which have been linked to neurological damage including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
2. Polysorbate 80, which has been linked to infertility in mice.
3. Sodium borate, a main ingredient in roach killer.

(NaturalNews) While the FDA claims adverse reactions to Gardasil are rare, a review of the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) data shows that several thousands of adverse reactions have been reported in the United States alone. And hundreds of Australian girls have experienced side effects like paralysis, dizzy spells and seizures, but Australia‘s Department of Health and Ageing refuses to release any details.

The Financial Times also reported that there have been 11 deaths and a wide array of other adverse reactions, including:

Bells Palsy
Guillan-Barre syndrome
Seizures
Blood clotting and heart problems
Miscarriages and fetal abnormalities amongst pregnant women who received the vaccine
Please educate your relatives during the holidays about vaccines.

Links:

http://www.naturalnews.com/023080.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/gardasil-vaccine-bad-medicine.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/did-the-gardasil-vaccine-cause-teens-paralysis.html

Are Vaccinations Causing Early Alzheimer’s Disease?
(NaturalNews) The issue of cognitive decline and the more advanced Alzheimer's disease is predicted to be a public health crisis in America over the next 20 years, as the swell of baby boomers hits the age when problems manifest. This past week the Wall Street Journal ran an article on a man getting Alzheimer's in his 40s, one of 500,000 Americans with early onset. The notion that this problem is striking ever earlier sent shock waves through the country and left people wondering why this is happening.

Clearly, there are many inflammatory factors in a person's life and gene-related weaknesses are involved. However, theoretical data on the inflammatory nature of vaccines, especially in the large numbers given to children at an early age while their nerves are developing response patterns for future life, means that they cannot be ruled out as one main factor that primes the Alzheimer's pump.

Links:

http://www.naturalnews.com/024867.html

Link:

http://www.naturalnews.com/003166.html

In discussion with Dr. Clark about the Bee Problem she surprised me by telling me that she was once a beekeeper and that she knew exactly why the bees were dying off in record numbers. In her opinion the bees are dying off because farmers are pressing the bees to become larger and thereby more productive. The bees are crossbred to jumbo size. Then they are supplied with ready-made plastic honeycombs covered with wax that most likely contains various chemicals. The cells in the honeycombs are much larger than the bee would make themselves.

Due to the fact that the cells in the honeycombs are both deeper and have a larger diameter the bees have to work extra hard to fill it with honey – exhausting them.

Unfortunately all kinds of pollutants such as fungus have an easier time to settle into those king-size cells.

As far as we can gather, most commercial beekeepers treat the bees with an onslaught of chemicals:

 • anti-fungus
 • antibiotic medicines
 • pesticides
 • fumigation

The chemicals reduce the immunity of the over worked and over-sized bees even further, Dr. Clark mentioned to me.

A few months passed. When I looked into this problem again I found this headline online:

Surprise! Organic Beekeepers Reporting Zero Losses

Apparently thousands of organic beekeepers, including commercial beekeepers have healthy bees and experience no colony collapses.

Why didn't I hear about this from the mainstream media? Like with alternative medicine the mainstream media does not report but one side of the problem. Big media usually take the side of big industry that pay the advertising bills.

Should they dig deeper they would come up with headlines that read something like this:

Chemicals Used By Beekeepers Responsible for Colony Collapse Worldwide.

Here is the quote from the obscure article that I found online:

"I'm on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list." said Sharon Labchuck.

Attached to the article is a discussion board of organic beekeepers. Click Here to see the Article

Thank you organic beekeepers… for saving the world! I sure will only buy organic honey from now on! But wait there is more we can all do! Please contact your local editor of a newspaper and put them on the right track on reporting on this important problem.

Finally you can help the bees (and everyone) by reducing pollution.

Drive less, bicycle and walk more = less air pollution
Drive a more fuel efficient car = less air pollution
Keep your car maintained = less air pollution

Why is it so easy to get sick in winter? Why does this happen and how can we help our body's immune system do its job properly?

Winter months bring much dryer air, which dries out our skin and mucus membranes. You many not realize this but the mucus membranes need moisture in order to trap bugs that float in the air. Bugs have a much easier time floating in the air when the air is dry. When the air is moist the many micro droplets floating in the air gather together, form a larger drop, and fall to the ground, taking the bugs with them. So that is why you don't breath as many bugs when the air is moist. Generally winter-time brings dry air while summer brings moisture in the air. This is one of the reasons you may already be using humidifiers.

Besides frequent hand washing, using and carrying with you sanitation spray, and covering your mouth when you sneeze its important to keep your mucus membranes moist. A trick I learned from my Health Professional is to put a little bit of oil (coconut, olive) inside your nostrils when dry. We offer several supplements that support your immune system at this time of year. The first we recommend is our exclusive Dr. Clark Airways Respiratory Defense. This is a highly effective blend formulated by Dr. Clark which includes Boneset, Epazote, Elecampane, Cleavers Herb. Other supplements that we carry that are known immune boosters are:

• Vitamin C
• Echinacea
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin Super B100
• CRaNiULS Multi Vitamins and Minerals

In Case Of a Concussion

A blow to the head. Painful, yes. But it could be worse than that. A danger exists in the form of intracranial bleeding (IB), which may have been caused by the impact. Fortunately, research conducted at Tufts University in Boston indicates that less than 10% of head injury patients have IB and, of these, fewer than 2% require neurosurgery. The problem is that even when a patient’s post-accident neurological testing comes up normal, doctors still cannot completely rule out lB.

Testing is important
What does this mean, if you are the patient? It means that if you experience even the slightest hint of IB (recurring or worsening headache) you must go to a hospital right away for a CT (computed tomography X-ray) of the head, so that the interior of your skull and your brain can be checked for signs of hemorrhage.

What to look for
You should seriously consider the possibility of IB if you suspect a skull fracture (depressed bone, seepage of clear fluid from the nose or ears), or experience a steadily worsening headache, drowsiness or short-term memory loss. IB is also more likely to be present if the injured person is more than 60 years old, intoxicated, or taking an anticoagulant drug such as coumadin. If you are the aid giver, be sure and check to see if the patient is wearing a MedicAlert necklace or bracelet.

Better safe than sorry
Head injury victims who present with no symptoms of IB should nevertheless be kept under observation for at least two hours before being allowed to go on their way. Even then, they should be released only in the care of a responsible adult. Be sure to warn the victim that she may not resume normal activities until completely free of headache and dizziness. If new symptoms arise, or if difficulty is experienced with speech or in moving one side of the body, it may signal the onset of delayed IB. Get the patient to a hospital without delay.

Who is at risk
Athletes in particular are at risk. An athlete who has had a previous concussion or who has a history of concussions, has a higher than normal risk of developing IB. Hockey players, soccer players, football players, and especially boxers run a high risk of experiencing IB. Repeated concussions, even without IB, can cause permanent cognitive decline. This is most commonly seen in boxers who have been knocked out repeatedly, and even in highly successful boxers who have had a long career and have absorbed a great many punches. Source: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE (356:166,'07).

Four Important Minutes: CPR

When a person collapses and has no pulse, there is a four-minute window of opportunity for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to get the heart beating again and save the person's life. The sooner you start CPR, the more likely you are to succeed in restarting the heart. Moreover, the chances of preserving normal brain function will be greatly improved if the circulation to the brain is be restored without delay.

Classical CPR
Present CPR Guidelines call for chest compressions (at a rate of about 100 per minute),interrupted after every 30 compressions for two mouth-to-mouth ventilations of the victim's chest. However, many people fear giving CPR to strangers, who may have AIDS or tuberculosis. Furthermore, experts point out that stopping chest compressions to give mouth-to-mouth respiration wastes precious time that would be better spent in continuing chest compressions, which are more likely to get the heart beating again.

A better way
Cardiologists in Japan recently studied the outcome of bystander-administered CPR in 4,068 adults who collapsed in public. They discovered that only 10% of those who received classical CPR (chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth) survived without brain damage, compared with 22% of those who received only chest compressions. Clearly, the chest-compressions-only method is the superior technique. Will the AHA updates its CPR guidelines? One hopes so, because many lives may depend upon their decision. Source: LANCET (369: 920,'07).

Car Seat Safety
Of course children must be placed in car seats and restrained whenever they travel by car. That’s in stone. And although the middle of the rear seat is the recommended place for the child-restraint system (CRS), studies show that all children are not placed in that position.

CRS positions
A recent study in Philadelphia, for example, addressed CRS placement of children in accidents. 5000 crashes involving 5300 children were studied. Figures show that 41% of these children were placed in the right "outboard" position in the back seat behind the driver. The next most common placement was the left "outboard" (31%). Ironically, the least common placement was the recommended center position (28%). Child occupants who sat in the center had an injury risk 43% less than children seated in either of the rear outboard positions.

Center CRS is best
The investigators learned that the injury risk for all children aged zero to three years in a CRS was less than five injured children per 1000 child occupants. This demonstrates extremely effective protection for children in a CRS regardless of their seat position. While the study does not indicate that a CRS restrained in an outboard position is a poor choice for children, it does demonstrate that restraining a CRS in the center rear position is the best possible choice. Source: PEDIATRICS (lQ:r38, '08).

Dr. Clark's favorite plastic containers are made out of HDPE (high density polyethylene). Her second favorite is LDPE (low density polyethylene). She does not recommend colored plastics, only "natural" color, such as the clear plastic used for gallon milk bottles. Bags made out of polypropylene, such as Ziploc bags, are also non-polluting and very handy. These bags can safely be used as liners for liquid content stored in containers.

Plastic is ubiquitous in our lives. It’s everywhere. In fact, there is now six times more plastic than plankton floating around in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Plastic is used in contact with nearly all packaged foods. Most cardboard milk containers are now coated with plastic rather than wax. Plastic is sprayed on both commercial and organic produce to preserve its freshness. Plastic is even used to irrigate, mulch, wrap, and transport organic food. Organic bananas now come from wholesalers with a sticky plastic wrapping the cut stem to protect the bananas from a black mold. Dentists coat children’s teeth with plastic sealants that harden (polymerize) within the mouth. Food and beverages cans are coated with a BPA-containing plastic.

While it’s impossible to avoid all plastics, we must rid our diets and lives of this toxic material as much as possible.

Dr. Clark has always been ahead of the curve, while she is no longer alone in warning people about plastics, she now points out that some plastic and glassware contains potentially toxic metals. This, she points out, you can test by using a conductivity meter. Pour some distilled water into the container and measure it with the conductivity meter. If you get conductivity, it means that tiny metal ions have leached into the water.

There is plenty of information available about this subject both in books and online. Since it’s impossible to avoid the presence of plastic in our lives, it’s essential to understand the different varieties. Please check out the quick reference guide below.

HDPE (high density polyethylene)

1. Found In: Milk jugs, juice bottles; bleach, detergent and household cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles; some trash and shopping bags; motor oil bottles; butter and yogurt tubs; cereal box liners.
2. Recycling: Pick up through most curbside recycling programs, although some only allow those containers with necks.
3. Recycled Into: Laundry detergent bottles, oil bottles, pens, recycling containers, floor tile, drainage pipe, lumber, benches, doghouses, picnic tables, fencing.
4. HDPE carries low risk of leaching and is readily recyclable into many goods.

LDPE (low density polyethylene)

1. Found In: Squeezable bottles; bread, frozen food, dry cleaning and shopping bags; tote bags; clothing; furniture; carpet.
2. Recycling: LDPE is not often recycled through curbside programs, but some communities will accept it. Plastic shopping bags can be returned to many stores for recycling.
3. Recycled Into: Trash can liners and cans, compost bins, shipping envelopes, paneling, lumber, landscaping ties, floor tile.
4. Historically, LDPE has not been accepted through most American curbside recycling programs, but more and more communities are starting to accept it.

V (Vinyl) or PVC

1. Found In: Window cleaner and detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, cooking oil bottles, clear food packaging, wire jacketing, medical equipment, siding, windows, piping.
2. Recycling: Rarely recycled; accepted by some plastic lumber makers.
3. Recycled Into: Decks, paneling, mudflaps, roadway gutters, flooring, cables, speed bumps, mats.

PVC contains chlorine, so its manufacture can release highly dangerous dioxins. If you must cook with PVC, don't let the plastic touch food. Never burn PVC, because it releases toxins.

PP (polypropylene)

1. Found In: Some yogurt containers, syrup bottles, ketchup bottles, caps, straws, medicine bottles.
2. Recycling: Number 5 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs.
3. Recycled Into: Signal lights, battery cables, brooms, brushes, auto battery cases, ice scrapers, landscape borders, bicycle racks, rakes, bins, pallets and trays.

Polypropylene has a high melting point, and so is often chosen for containers that must accept hot liquid. It is gradually becoming more accepted by recyclers.

PS (polystyrene)

1. Found In: Disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons, carry-out containers, aspirin bottles, compact disc cases.
2. Recycling: Number 6 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs.
3. Recycled Into: Insulation, light switch plates, egg cartons, vents, rulers, foam packing, carry-out containers.

Polystyrene can be made into rigid or foam products. In the latter case it is popularly known as the trademark Styrofoam. Evidence suggests polystyrene can leach potential toxins into foods. The material was long on environmentalists' hit lists for dispersing widely across the landscape, and for being notoriously difficult to recycle.

The pomegranate is a red fruit with a tough outer layer. It looks pretty ordinary, right? But cut it open and—such jewelry! A cluster of rubies, deep crimson juice-filled gems. With most fruits, you spit the seeds out. With pomegranates, the seeds are what you eat. The mysterious, tangy flavor of the juicy pulp that surrounds each crunchy seed is unlike any other fruit. In your mouth, these ruby pearls burst with pure sweet juice.

Pomegranates are loaded with flavonoids and antioxidants. A glass of pomegranate juice provides more antioxidants than red wine, green tea, blueberries or cranberries. For these reasons and many more, the pomegranate is one fruit that you can't afford to exclude from your diet.

Pomegranates appear in grocery stores and farmers markets from October to December. Don’t miss out. When choosing, pick large, red fruit that feels heavy for its size. Avoid fruit with cracks in the skin, which indicates overripeness.

Pomegranates are fun to eat but they can be mighty messy. That crimson juice can stain hands and clothes. So is there any way to prepare a pomegranate and still keep your kitchen from looking like a crime scene? Fortunately, the answer is yes. Here’s how:

1. Fill a medium-size bowl with water.
2. Cut off the crown of the pomegranate and cut pomegranate in quarters.
3. Place the cut pomegranate in the bowl of water.
4. Holding the fruit under water, break sections apart with your fingers, separating seeds from membrane. The seeds will sink to the bottom.
5. Discard skin and membranes.
6. Strain the water from the seeds.
7. Place the seeds in a container. Store in the fridge (provided you can keep from eating them).

A simple way to use the fruit is to sprinkle those precious little rubies over salads, omelettes and breakfast cereals. Use pomegranate juice in marinades, lemonade, or in homemade grenadine syrup.

Pepitas aren’t just for roasting anymore.

You can sprout them. How? It’s easy. All you need is an empty jar, a piece of plastic screening and a rubber band. Put your pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) in the jar, add water, and fasten the screen over the top with the rubber band. Soak for one hour. Drain. That’s it!

Why sprout? The answer: sprouted pumpkin seeds are delicious. They have a nutty, buttery taste. You won’t be able to eat just one. But that’s only the beginning. Seeds undergo an amazing transformation when they begin to germinate. They’re bursting with energy, on their way to becoming a full fledged plant. Your plain old pepitas, in just one hour, have become nutritional dynamos!

Sprouts are live food. According to the naturopath and herbalist Isabell Shipard: “Sprouts are a tremendous source of digestive enzymes. Estimates suggest there can be up to 100 times more enzymes in sprouts than in fruit and vegetables.”

Raw food advocates promote sprouting as an effective way to increase the nutrient value and digestibility of beans, seeds and nuts. Sprouts are in fact the most nutrient dense food on earth, rich in digestible energy, bioavailable vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins and beneficial enzymes. The vitamin content of some seeds can increase by up to 20 times their original value within several days of sprouting.

Most sprouts, such as mung bean and lentil, are soaked overnight and allowed to grow for three days or so. Not pepitas. Pepitas are a quick crop. One hour soaking time and they’re crunchy, delicious and super nutritious. 

Note: pumpkin seeds do not store well, so sprout only as many as you’re going to consume right away. You can store them in the fridge for a maximum of 1-2 days—if you can keep from eating them.

Happy Sprouting!

Washing your hands is one of the best ways to fight germs. But do you really need an antibacterial soap to do the job? Some researchers say no, and they caution that antibacterial products may do more harm than good.

Only the strong survive

Recent research indicates that antibacterial agents contained in soaps may kill off ordinary bacteria, creating an environment for resistant, mutated bacteria that are impervious to antibacterials, including antibiotics.

"These mutated bacteria get wise to antibacterial agents," says Eli Perencevich, M.D., a research fellow in infectious diseases at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. By using antibacterial soaps over and over, more bacteria will become resistant to the products, Perencevich says. In that respect, antibacterial agents behave like antibiotics which, when overused, promote the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Read the label

Consumers should pay close attention to labeling when buying soap, Perencevich says, because an increasing number of products contain antibacterials. "With so many of these products on the market, consumers may not even realize they are purchasing soaps that contain antibacterials," he warns.

More than 75 percent of all liquid hand soaps and nearly 30 percent of bar soaps for sale nationally contain antibacterial agents. In a survey of national chain stores, regional stores and e-commerce sites, researchers found nearly half of all commercial soaps contain the antibacterial agent triclosan.

Triclosan

Triclosan has been used as an antibacterial for many years. However, it only recently raised a red flag as researchers have learned how it acts on bacteria.

Triclosan does not actually cause a genetic mutation in the bacteria, but by killing the normal bacteria, it creates an environment where mutated bacteria that are resistant to triclosan are more likely to survive and reproduce. Antibiotic resistance has become an increasingly serious problem worldwide, and overuse of triclosan may exacerbate this problem. The concern is that bacteria will become resistant to antibacterial products like triclosan, rendering those antimicrobial products useless to those who truly need them, such as people with compromised immune systems.

The use of triclosan is alarmingly widespread. It is found most commonly in hand soaps, cleaning supplies and dish detergents, but it also shows up in products that don't claim to be antibacterial. Some toothpastes, kitchen utensils, garbage bags, toys and bedding contain triclosan.

Plain old soap and water

Despite Americans' concern with germ control, at least a third have forgotten the basics. A recent survey conducted for the American Society of Microbiology found that while 95 percent of men and women surveyed say they wash their hands after using a public restroom, only 67 percent actually do wash before leaving the restroom.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says antibacterial soaps are not necessary. Hand-washing with regular soap and warm water is the simplest, most effective thing people can do to reduce the spread of infectious diseases," says CDC director Julie Gerberding, M.D. In fact, the agency deems hand-washing so important in preventing the spread of infections that it offers guidelines for how and when the hands should be washed:

· Always use warm, running water and a mild, preferably liquid, soap. Antibacterial soaps may be used but are not required.
· Wet hands and apply a small amount (dime to quarter size) of liquid soap. Rub hands together vigorously until a soapy lather appears and continue for at least 15 seconds. Be sure to scrub between fingers, under fingernails, and around the tops and palms of the hands.
· Rinse hands under warm running water. Leave the water running while drying.
· Dry hands with a clean, disposable (or single use) towel. Turn the faucet off using the towel as a barrier between your hands and the faucet handle. Remember, dirty hands turned the faucet on.

There are thousands of species of molds. Most of them are “bad,” but some are “good.” Alexander Fleming’s famous discovery of the antibiotic penicillin, for example, involved the mold Penicillium chrysogenum. And friendly molds are used to make certain kinds of cheeses. Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola and Stilton cheeses have blue veins of mold throughout the cheese. Brie and Camembert have white surface molds. Other cheeses have both an internal and a surface mold. The koji molds, a group of the Aspergillus species, have been cultured in eastern Asia for many centuries. They are used to ferment the soybean and wheat mixture from which soy sauce and miso are derived.

Molds reproduce through tiny spores. Some spores can remain airborne indefinitely, and many are able to survive extremes of temperature and pressure.
Although molds grow on dead organic matter everywhere in nature, their presence is only visible to the naked eye when mold colonies form.

Common molds

Common molds include Rhizopus stolonifer (black bread mold), Stachybotrys (appears on water-damaged building materials) and Botrytis cinerea or gray mold rot (strawberries, raspberries and other fruits). Leave a slice of bread out on the counter for a few days and Rhizopus stolonifer, black bread mold, will soon set up housekeeping. The stubborn mildew that appears so persistently on your shower walls is probably Stachybotrys. And that nice juicy peach you forgot about in the fruit basket is now playing host to a thriving colony of Botrytis cinerea.

Friendly fungi
There are three main categories of cheese in which the presence of mold is a significant feature: soft ripened cheeses, washed rind cheeses and blue cheeses.

Soft-ripened cheeses start out firm and rather chalky in texture. They are aged from the exterior inwards by exposing them to mold. The mold may be a velvety bloom of Penicillium candida or P. camemberti that forms a flexible white crust and contributes to the gooey texture and intense flavor. Brie and Camembert, the most famous of soft-ripened cheeses, are made by allowing white mold to grow on the outside of a soft cheese for a few days or weeks.

Washed-rind cheeses are soft in character and ripen inwards like those with white molds. However, they are treated differently. Washed rind cheeses are periodically cured in a solution of saltwater brine and other mold-bearing agents, making their surfaces amenable to the reddish-orange Brevibacterium linens. The result is a pungent odor and a distinctive flavor. Washed-rind cheeses can be soft (Limburger), semi-hard (Munster), or hard (Appenzeller).

Blue cheese is created by inoculating a cheese with Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium glaucum. The mold grows within the cheese as it ages. These cheeses have distinct blue veins and assertive flavors. Their texture can be soft or firm. Some of the most renowned cheeses are of this type, each with its own distinctive color, flavor, texture and smell. They include Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Stilton.

The not-so-nice guys

Molds are ubiquitous in nature, and mold spores are a common component of household and workplace dust. However, when mold spores are present in large quantities, they may constitute a health hazard to humans, causing allergic reactions and respiratory problems. Because of this, mold allergy has become a serious problem for many people.

Some molds generate toxic liquid or gaseous compounds, called mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are harmful or lethal to humans and animals when exposure is high enough. Serious neurological problems can result from prolonged exposure to mycotoxins. One example of toxic mold is Stachybotrys chartarum, which has been associated with sick building syndrome. Farm animals frequently suffer from mycotoxin poisoning and may die as a result. Mycotoxins resist decomposition from cooking, and remain in the food chain.

Dermatophytes are parasitic fungi that cause skin infections such as Athlete's foot and Jock Itch. Most dermataphyte fungi take the form of a mold, as opposed to that of a yeast.
 
Opportunistic infection by molds such as Penicillium marneffei and Aspergillus fumigatus is a common cause of illness and death among immunocompromised individuals, including AIDS victims.

Your kitchen game plan
When you see mold on food, is it safe to cut off the moldy part and use the rest? For most foods the answer is no, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Discard soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert if they display molds that are not a part of the manufacturing process. Infected soft cheeses, such as cottage cheese, cream cheese, Neufchatel and crumbled, shredded and sliced cheeses, should be discarded. Such foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface.

For hard cheeses in which mold is not part of the processing, it’s safe to remove the mold and eat the cheese. USDA recommends cutting off at least one inch around and below the mold spot. Be sure to keep the knife out of the mold itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese. After trimming off the mold, re-cover the cheese in fresh wrap. Mold generally cannot penetrate deep into the product.

Small mold spots can be cut off fruits and vegetables with low moisture content such as cabbage, bell peppers and carrots. Cut off at least one inch around and below the mold spot. Keep the knife out of the mold itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the produce. Discard fruits and vegetables with high moisture content that can be contaminated below the surface.

Although most molds prefer higher temperatures, they can grow in your refrigerator. Check for mold in refrigerated jam and jelly and on cured, salty meats such as ham, bacon, salami and bologna. Discard jams and jellies infested with mold. The mold could be producing a mycotoxin. Hard salami and dry-cured country hams normally have surface mold. Some salamis have a characteristic thin, white mold coating that is safe to consume, but they shouldn’t show any other mold. Dry-cured country hams normally have surface mold that must be scrubbed off before cooking.

Clean the inside of your refrigerator every few months with one tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in a quart of water. Keep your dishcloths, towels, sponges and mops clean and fresh. A musty smell means they’re spreading mold around.
Keep the humidity level in the house as low as practical—below 40 percent, if possible.
 
Empty opened cans of perishable foods into clean storage containers and refrigerate them promptly. Don’t leave perishables out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. Use leftovers within three or four days so mold doesn’t have a chance to grow.

When you handle mold-infested foods, do not to sniff the moldy item. This can cause respiratory problems.

Bottom line: in some cases you can cut away the moldy part and use the food item—provided you know what you’re doing. But generally speaking, if food is covered with mold, discard it. If in doubt, throw it out.

When the soybean was originally introduced into the United States around 1900, it was used in the manufacture of industrial products such as oil, plastic, and ink, but it was not considered it to eat. Today, soy-based food products like hotdogs, sausage, bacon, cheese and frozen desserts abound in mainstream supermarkets and even in natural food stores. This soy invasion has been accompanied by a tremendous amount of soy-industry carnival ballyhoo regarding soy’s alleged health beneits.

The demonizing of traditional whole foods
The soy industry has shown remarkable ingenuity in overcoming consumer resistance to soy products, which were formerly perceived as tasteless poverty foods.

The soy industry’s agenda:
demonize whole foods such as butter, whole milk, meat, cream, cheese and eggs, and offer supposedly “high protein, low fat, no cholesterol” soy substitutes to the upscale consumer increasingly concerned about his health. We are talking of course about such now-familiar substitutes as soy milk for cow’s milk, soy baby formula, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, soy cheese, soy lour for baking and textured soy protein meat substitutes.

Specious health claims As we noted, an extraordinary amount of hype and hoopla has accompanied the meteoric rise of soy as a desirable food. A popular booklet sold in many health food stores, for example, describes soy foods as “uniformly high in protein, but low in calories, carbohydrates and fats, entirely devoid of cholesterol, high in vitamins, easy to digest, tasty and wonderfully versatile in the kitchen.” Does this sound too good to be true? Yes? Well, that’s because it is.

Soy must be fermented
As we know, the soybean originated in ancient China. But it is important to note that the ancient Chinese did not eat unfermented soybean products. They recognized that soybeans were toxic, unlike the other legumes such as lentils, because the soybean contains large quantities of a number of harmful substances. First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors, which block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These enzyme inhibitors are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking and can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deiciencies in amino acid uptake. Soybeans are also high in phytic acid or phytates. Scientists agree that the high phytate content of soy-based diets prevents the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc present in foods. Moreover, soybeans contain hemoglutinen, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together.

Tofu is not for you
Harmful substances such as enzyme inhibitors and and hemoglutinen are deactivated during the process of fermentation. Some examples of fermented soy products are: miso, tempeh, natto, and traditionally fermented soy sauce. These products are safer to eat than tofu, however we know that Dr. Clark has not recommended any products made out of soy, including miso, tempeh, or natto. It is important to note that tofu is not a fermented product. Sorry, tofu lovers! Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral defiencies. The mineral that unfermented soy blocks the most is zinc. Zinc is called the intelligence mineral because it is needed for optimal development and function of the brain and nervous system.

What’s cooking in the gene kitchen
Soy is basically a monoculture requiring massive amounts of pesticides and herbicides. It is for this reason that the Monsanto Corporation developed a genetically-engineered strain of soy that is resistant to the herbicide Roundup. Proponents of GMOs (genetically modiied organisms) conidently predict that within two decades, 75% of all our foods will come from genetically-engineered seeds, with soy foods at the top of the pyramid. The disastrous long-term effects of genetically engineered seeds on our ecology can only be guessed at, but this trend towards GMOs will continue to edge out the small farmer and will progressively centralize and industrialize our food production. Allergies from soy It is obvious that when our food supply is sprayed with pesticides, we end up eating it and suf fering the consequences. Mr. Graham, of York Nutritional Laboratory (March 1999), said researchers tested 4,500 people for allergic reactions to vegetables including soya. Among the range of chronic illnesses it caused were irritable bowel syndrome, digestiontion problems and skin complaints including acne and eczema. “People also suffered neuro- logical problems with chronic fatigue syndrome, headaches and lethargy. It is worrying,” Mr Graham added.

The politics of soy
The soybean industry in America is highly monopolistic, controlled by a small number of huge companies like Cargill Corporation, and Archer, Daniels, Midland Company (ADM). ADM, the world’s major soy processor, yearly spends $4.7 million for advertising on Meet the Press and $4.3 million on Face the Nation. ADM also has holdings in major newspapers. They control the media, so naturally the press presents soy in a favorable light.

Buyer beware
In the Orient these soy-based foods are eaten in small amounts as condiments and not as a replacement for animal foods. Highly processed soy protein isolates and textured vegetable protein have little in common with traditional soy products. Tofu and soy milk are high in MSG. Bottom line: soy is big on hype and hoopla and small or worse than that on food value. Buyer beware! Research in this article is fully referenced in Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, New Trends Publishing, 2001; and Soy Allergies Up Along With GMOs Mark Townsend / Daily Express March 12, 1999.
January: Soy: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

More than 70 million people today suffer from digestive upsets at least once a week. Indigestion, bloating and heartburn are common complaints. Almost all digestive upsets have a common cause: inability to properly digest food. The solution? Digestive enzymes.

What digestive enzymes do
The digestive enzymes that we are born with occur naturally in the body. Their purpose is to aid the food enzymes in digestion. What are digestive enzymes? Digestive enzymes are secreted from the pancreas into the stomach and small intestine. They are protease, which breaks down proteins, amylase for breaking down carbohydrates, lipase for the breakdown of fats, and cellulase for iber. Digestive enzymes are responsible for breaking down the foods we eat and delivering the resulting nutrients to every cell of the body. They also lush out toxins.

The heat is on
Unfortunately, cooking destroys enzymes. Digestive enzymes are killed when we cook our food at over 118 degrees. There are no living enzymes in cooked foods. If you want the best chance of ingesting live enzymes, you will need to consume your food raw. If you can’t always eat raw food, the next best thing is to take digestive enzymes along with your meal.

Gas and bloating
Undigested foods tend to rot and ferment in the intestines and colon, feeding bacteria that create gas as a by- product. The better you digest your food, the less these bacteria have to feast on, thereby reducing the amount of gas they produce.

Fatigue after meals
If you don’t have enough digestive enzymes to break down the food you eat, your body has to work a whole lot harder to help break down these foods. Digestive enzyme supplements help break down food so that your body can be freed from this drudgery.

Bowel Complaints
Most bowel problems are caused by a build-up of toxins in the bowels. Where do these toxins come from? The answer is, undigested foods, which provide a veritable banquet for the hordes of bacteria that make their home in the large intestine. Supplementing with digestive enzymes may help reduce the amount of undigested foods that enter the colon and may also help to break down the toxic build-up on the colon walls.

Heartburn and Indigestion
Heartburn is caused by excessive stomach acid. Excess stomach acid is frequently caused by simply having too much food in the stomach. Digestive enzymes help to break down foods immediately, so that they can move from the stomach area more readily. Indigestion, by deinition, means “the inability to digest.” Digestive enzymes help digest foods into nutrients that the body can effectively utilize.

Digestive enzymes: a magic bullet
You can eat all the healthy food and take all the vitamins in the world, but unless digestive enzymes are present your process of digestion will remain incomplete. For this reason the practice of taking digestive enzymes with meals makes excellent sense.
February: The Magic of Digestive Enzymes

Once, not so long ago, our ancestors got their drinking water directly from streams, rivers and lakes. This water was pure, uncontaminated and rich in mineral content.

Perilous waters
Today our drinking water comes from a spigot or from a plastic bottle. Purity is a thing of the past. Pollutants and contaminants such as acetone, butyl acetate, defoliants, dissolved oil, formaldehyde, methyl ethyl ketone and potassium permanganate are commonly found in public water supplies. As a result, municipal water-purification facilities have intensified their efforts to remove these contaminants and others from drinking water. Unfortunately, modern water-treatment methods also depletes drinking water of precious minerals like calcium and, most importantly, magnesium.

Because of the poor quality of municipal tap water, health-conscious people are increasingly relying on bottled or home-filtered water for their drinking needs. The problem is, once again, that most filtered and bottled waters provide little or no magnesium at all.

Magnesium’s Crucial Role
Magnesium plays many crucial roles in the body, including suppressing unstable heart rhythms, controlling blood pressure, maintaining insulin sensitivity, and regulating over 300 enzymes. Attaining optimal magnesium levels is an absolute requirement for good health.

The implications of magnesium deficiency are serious. Communities with low magnesium content in drinking water show increased rates of sudden death.

"According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1977) there have been more than 50 studies, in nine countries, that have indicated an inverse relationship between water hardness and mortality from cardiovascular disease. That is, people who drink water that is deficient in magnesium and calcium generally appear more susceptible to this disease. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has estimated that a nation-wide initiative to add calcium and magnesium to soft water might reduce the annual cardiovascular death rate by 150,000 in the United States (1)."

Too Little Too Late
The bottom line is that we cannot rely on our drinking water, bottled or filtered, to provide us with adequate magnesium. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for magnesium—that is, the amount required to prevent severe deficiency—is 420 mg a day for men and 320 mg a day for women. In cities with the highest magnesium water content, only 30% of the RDA can be obtained by drinking two liters of tap water a day (2). In most cities, only a meager 10-20% of the daily requirement can be obtained. That leaves 70-90% of the daily magnesium requirement that must be obtained from other sources.

What Your Doctor Won't Tell You
Medical ignorance, or worse, willful medical ignorance, continues to be a major cause of death in the US. Doctors prescribe expensive patented drugs, while low-cost nutrients such as magnesium remain overlooked. Although more and more cardiologists are recommending coenzyme Q10 and fish oil, hardly anyone points out the critical importance of magnesium. As a result, startling numbers of aging Americans suffer the often lethal consequences of magnesium deficiency.

What You Can Do
To begin with, you can eat magnesium-rich foods. Green vegetables such as spinach are good sources of magnesium. Some legumes (beans and peas), nuts, seeds, and whole, unrefined grains are also good sources of magnesium. Refined grains, on the other hand, are generally low in magnesium. When white flour is refined and processed, the magnesium-rich germ and bran are removed. Bread made from whole-grain wheat flour provides more magnesium than bread made from white refined flour.

Another way to optimize your magnesium intake is to choose water that is rich in magnesium. Unfortunately in the US this is easier said than done.  The FDA regulates bottled water and mandates that the only additives permitted are fluoride and antimicrobials to deter bacterial growth.  With the exception of Florida's Original Fountain of Youth Mineral Water, drinking an entire liter of many so-called mineral waters provides only a minimal amount of magnesium. Of course dietary supplements are not intended to treat or cure any disease.  However, by adding a magnesium supplement to your diet, you can easily meet your RDA without drinking gallons of expensive mineral water.

What You Need To Know About Magnesium

1. Magnesium is critical to human health, helping the body perform functions as varied as blood pressure regulation, muscle contraction, heart rhythm stabilization, and nervous system communication.
   
2. Modern water-purification techniques, consumption of magnesium-depleted bottled waters, and poor dietary habits contribute to widespread magnesium deficiencies in the US and around the world. Although the US RDA for magnesium is 420 mg per day for adult men and 320 mg for adult women, most Americans ingest only about 270 mg of magnesium per day.
   
3. Magnesium deficiencies have been linked to sudden death from cardiac arrhythmias, along with conditions such as muscle cramps, migraine headaches, and metabolic syndrome.
   
4. Optimal magnesium intake, by contrast, is associated with improved insulin sensitivity, optimal lipoprotein levels, suppression of abnormal heart rhythms, reduced blood pressure, relief from migraine headaches, and improved exercise capability, among other health benefits.
   
5. Strategies for optimizing daily magnesium intake include consuming foods high in magnesium content, supplementing with the soluble fiber known as inulin, drinking magnesium-rich mineral waters, and taking magnesium supplements.

1. 1. Dr. Harold D. Foster, "Groundwater and Human Health,” Groundwater Resources of British Columbia, Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks and Environment Canada, pp 6.1-6.3 (reprint), 1994.
   
2. 2. Available at: www.mgwater.com. Accessed June 6, 2005
   March-April: The Dangers of Magnesium Deficiency

Sweet nothings
Aspartame is the technical name for such brand names as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure. Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965, when G.D. Searle Company chemist James Schlatter was testing an anti-ulcer drug. Aspartame was approved for carbonated beverages in 1983. In 1985, Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle and made Searle Pharmaceuticals and The NutraSweet Company separate subsidiaries.

Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: Aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a professor of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, recently published a book called Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, which thoroughly details the damage that is caused by the ingestion of excessive aspartic acid from aspartame. Blaylock makes use of almost 500 scientific references to show how excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid in our food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute symptoms.

The taste that kills
Dr. Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon, presents the latest research findings to demonstrate how exposure to excitotoxins will damage nerve cells in the brain. Unfortunately, and to our peril, the use of aspartame, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and monosodium glutamate in prepared foods and beverages continues to increase on a yearly basis. Dr. Blaylock clearly demonstrates that the neurotoxic potential of excitotoxins such as MSG and aspartame is so overwhelming that it can no longer be ignored.

Aspartame is by far the most dangerous food additive on the market today. Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death as recently disclosed in a February 1994 Department of Health and Human Services report.1 Some of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame are: headaches, vertigo, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, memory loss, and joint pain.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame: brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes." (2)

Rumsfield’s Disease
The history of aspartame and its approval has a political history as well as a scientific one. When Donald Rumsfeld was CEO of Searle, the company manufactured aspartame. For 16 years the FDA refused to approve aspartame, ruling that aspartame is a deadly neurotoxic drug masquerading as an additive.

After leaving Searle, Donald Rumsfeld joined President Reagan's transition team. The day after he took office he appointed an FDA Commissioner who would approve aspartame. The FDA set up a Board of Inquiry of top scientists who said that aspartame is not safe and causes brain tumors, and the petition for approval was thereby revoked. The new FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, overruled that Board of Inquiry and then went to work for the PR Agency of the manufacturer, Burson-Marstellar, rumored at $1000.00 a day, and has refused to talk to the press ever since.

The constellation of deadly and devastating symptoms associated with Aspartame Disease are now called, appropriately enough, “Rumsfield’s Disease.”

Revolving doors
The FDA and the manufacturers of aspartame have had a rovolving door of employment for many years. In addition to the FDA Commissioner and two US Attorneys leaving to take positions with companies connected with G.D. Searle, four other FDA officials connected with the approval of aspartame took positions connected with the NutraSweet industry between 1979 and 1982 including the Deputy FDA Commissioner, the Special Assistant to the FDA Commissioner, the Associate Director of the Bureau of Foods and Toxicology and the Attorney involved with the Public Board of Inquiry. (3)

It is important to realize that this type of revolving-door activity has been going on for decades. The Townsend Letter for Doctors (11/92) reported on a study revealing that 37 of 49 top FDA officials who left the FDA took positions with companies they had regulated. They also reported that over 150 FDA officials owned stock in drug companies they were assigned to manage. Many organizations and universities receive large sums of money from companies connected to the NutraSweet Association, a group of companies promoting the use of aspartame. In January 1993, the American Dietetic Association received a $75,000 grant from the NutraSweet Company. The American Dietetic Association has stated that the NutraSweet Company writes their own “Facts” sheets. (4)

Death-dealing diet drinks
The United States government, in conjunction with soda companies, succeeded, unintentionally or otherwise, in performing a large-scale aspartame experiment on humans. During the Persian Gulf War, truckloads of diet soda were sent to the troops. The cans sat for up to eight weeks on pallets in the 120+ degree Arabian sun. Thirsty soldiers drank it up, can after can. Is it any surprise that Desert Storm Syndrome symptoms are identical to aspartame disease? Thousands of troops returned home complaining of memory loss, vision problems, chronic fatigue syndrome, confusion, dizziness, joint pain, headaches, equilibrium problems and manic depression. The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Immunologic Disease Society (CFIDS) claim that some 6000 soldiers, to date, have perished as a result of the Desert Storm Syndrome.

The NSDA also said (Docket No. 82F-0305) “Aspartame is inherently, markedly and uniquely unstable in aqueous media. In a liquid, such as a soft drink APM will degrade as a function of temperature and pH. Higher temperatures and more acidic liquids increase the rate of degradation. Higher temperatures may also affect the degradation products which are formed.” (6)

Coke and Pepsi knew all this and yet sent diet pop to the Persian Gulf. American soldiers were, in effect, drinking formaldehyde cocktails.

It’s about the money
Of approximately 100 independent studies conducted on aspartame, over 90 percent have demonstrated significant health risks. This would lead to the question, “Why hasn't aspartame been banned?” The answer is, sadly, that it’s about the money. In 1996, ignoring the fact that aspartame breaks down faster when heated above 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the FDA decided to remove any remaining limitations on its use. Presently, there are thousands of companies using aspartame in diet sodas, powdered drinks, gelatin, tea, coffee, cocoa, juices, frozen desserts and even vitamins and medications. This translates to billions of dollars worldwide. Unfortunately, this is more than enough to provide agency officials with lucrative future employment, politicians with campaign funds, non-profit foundations with endowments, scientists with research grants and the media with advertising dollars.

1. Aspartame Toxicity Info Center. http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
2. Ibid
3. News with Views. http://www.newswithviews.com/NWVexclusive/exclusive15.htm
4. Christine Lyndon, MD, “Could There Be Evils Lurking In Aspartame Consumption?” http://www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
   May Issue: Aspartame: A Clear and Present Danger

Through the ages, turmeric has been sought as a medicinal herb. In Sanskrit Turmeric is called “Kanchani, the “Golden Goddess.” This amazing herb has long been revered by ayurvedic healers for its diverse and powerful healing properties. Herbalists familiar with turmeric’s stimulant and tonic effects have prescribed the juice extracted from the root of the plant as an internal antiseptic and an antidote to blood poisoning. In traditional folk medicine, the dried root is ground and rubbed on the skin to maintain a healthy skin. Mixed with coconut oil, it speeds the healing of wounds and minimizes scarring.

Turmeric has been valued for centuries as a natural cosmetic and dye. It is turmeric that gives the robes of Buddhist monks their vibrant saffron hue. The bright red forehead mark worn by some Hindu women is created by mixing turmeric with lime juice.

Turmeric is what makes mustard yellow. It is also the principal ingredient in curry powder. It is turmeric, in fact, that gives curry powder its characteristic deep yellow color. Turmeric is also used to add color to foods such as butter, margarine, and cheese, to tint cotton, silk, paper, wood and cosmetics, as a food preservative, and to make pickles.

A relative of ginger, Turmeric is a perennial plant that grows up to five feet high in the tropical regions of Southern Asia. It has trumpet-shaped yellow flowers. Turmeric is fragrant and has an earthy, bitter, peppery taste. Like ginger, it creates a sensation of warmth when eaten. The dried roots of Turmeric are ground into a deep yellow spice commonly used in curries and other South Asian dishes. Sangli, a town in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra, is the largest and most important trading center for Turmeric in Asia and perhaps in the entire world.

In the West we are primarily familiar with turmeric in its dried, powdered form, but in the East fresh turmeric is widely used. Fresh turmeric has a distinct flavor, very pleasing though delicate. The deep orange color of chopped fresh turmeric root imparts a rich yellow to curries, soups and stews and rice dishes. It is also used along with chopped garlic and ground white pepper to flavor the delicious turmeric fried fish so popular in Southern Thailand.

Therapeutic use of turmeric was described in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine as early as the 7th century AD. Asian folk medicine used turmeric to treat diarrhea, fever, bronchitis, colds, parasitic worms and leprosy, as well as bladder and kidney inflammations.

In India and Malaysia, homemade turmeric paste is applied directly onto the skin to resolve nutritional deficiencies typically found in cancer patients, a practice which is now being investigated by Western scientists. In India turmeric is used for minor cuts and burns. Whenever there is a cut or a bruise, the home remedy is to reach for turmeric powder.

Today, scientists in the Western world are beginning to suspect what the people of rural India have known for centuries. Modern science is catching on to the amazing healing qualities of turmeric and research is being kicked into high gear.

According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Common Indian Spice Stirs Hope,” research activity into curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is exploding. Two hundred and fifty-six curcumin papers were published in the past year, according to a search of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Supplement sales are on the increase, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health has four clinical trials underway to study curcumin treatment for pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer’s and colorectal cancer. (1)

The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties of curcumin derived from turmeric are undergoing intense research. While researchers had originally thought curcumin primarily has anti-inflammatory properties, the growing realization that cancer can result from inflammation has spurred mounting interest in this versatile and valuable spice. It is surely significant that the incidence of the top four cancers in the US—colon, breast, prostate, and lung—is ten times lower in India. 2 Moreover, recent studies have noted that elderly individuals living in Indian villages appear to have the lowest incidence of Alzheimer's disease in the world, with just 1% of those aged 65 and older contracting the degenerative brain condition. (3)

Turmeric—the Golden Goddess—is clearly coming into its own.

1. A Spice Takes On Alzheimer's Disease. (Science News, Dec 8, 2001)
2. "Spicing up" of the Immune System by Curcumin. (J Clin Immunol. 2007 Jan;27(1):19-35 ).
3. The Natural Way To Ward Off Alzheimer’s Disease. (Hornell Evening Tribune, Feb 26 2007)
   June: Turmeric: The Golden Goddess

Did you know that much of mass-marketed soap available in stores today is not really soap at all, but detergent? Detergents are a petroleum-based product, like gasoline and kerosene. Some ingredients in mass-marketed corporate soap have been proven harmful to human health and can cause severe skin irritations and worse. We are talking about additives such as DEA, Isopropyl Alcohol, BHT and Triclosan (a common component of anti-bacterial soap).

Below, for example, are the listed ingredients of a leading corporate “cleansing bar.”

Triclosan, Sodium Cocoyl Bethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Water, Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate, Sodium Cocoate, PEG-20, Sodium Chloride, Masking Fragrance, Sodium Isethionate, Petrolatum, Sodium Isosteroyl Lactylate, Sucrose Laurate, Titanium Dioxide, Pentasodium Pentatate, Tetrasodium Etidronate.

Petrolatum speaks for itself. PEG compounds have been linked to breast cancer,(1) and Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate is a pesticide. And that’s just for starters.

Corporate Soap’s butter-tongued spin-doctors refer to this noxious chemical cocktail as a “Gentle Cleansing Bar” with “unique dual-action moisturizing benefits.”

Therapeutic use of turmeric was described in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine as early as the 7th century AD. Asian folk medicine used turmeric to treat diarrhea, fever, bronchitis, colds, parasitic worms and leprosy, as well as bladder and kidney inflammations.

In Corporate America one hand washes the other
It’s a fact that commercial soaps are commonly made with slaughterhouse tallow (Sodium Tallowate) from cows or even animal fat from euthanized cats and dogs. Animal ingredients such as Sodium Tallowate are used in the cosmetics industry not because they are better than vegetable-derived ingredients but rather because they are cheaper. Today's slaughterhouses must dispose of the byproducts of the slaughter of billions of animals every year and they have found an easy and profitable solution in selling them to food and cosmetics corporations. The slaughterhouses get rid of their waste and the cosmetics industry in turn gets a dirt-cheap base for their products.

A case of one hand washing the other, you might say.

Color me toxic
Many synthetic colors used in commercial cosmetics are derived from coal tar, aluminum salts and lead. Lead toxicity targets the nervous system, kidneys, bones, heart and blood. Lead toxicity poses greatest risk to infants, young children and pregnant women. Toxic lead-laden coloring agents are commonly used in corporate shampoos, conditioners, eye shadow and lipstick.

TCarmine, a red coloring agent regularly used by industry giants in foods and cosmetics, is extracted from the bodies of female cochineal beetles by means of harsh chemical solvents. In the past several years, doctors in Switzerland and France have proven that this insect-based coloring agent can cause several allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock. (2)

More than skin deep
Endocrine disruptors in commercial skin care products and shampoos can cause children to develop embarrassingly large breasts (gynecomastia) long before puberty. Early-onset puberty—including premature breast growth and pubic hair development—is on the rise in America. Until very recently such cases were thought to be caused by hormonal imbalance, in which the body produces an excess of female hormone. However, in many cases of prepubertal breast development, no abnormality in estrogen or androgen blood levels was found. Instead, these abnormalities have been linked to exposure to additives such as lavender and tea tree oil fragrances commonly found in corporate personal-care products like shampoos, soaps and skin creams.(3)

Additionally, many epidemic health problems such as asthma, migraines, hyperactivity disorder, rashes, depression and even seizures, have been linked to synthetic chemical fragrances.

Lethal lather
Emollients are liquid substances that help prevent drying of the skin by providing a barrier to trans-epidermal water loss. There are two basic types of emollients: natural and synthetic. Certified organic fixed or base oils are cold-pressed from fresh fruit and seeds or nuts to preserve the beneficial nutrients. Synthetic emollients, on the other hand, are “cooked” using fossil fuels at temperatures of 500 to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 24 hours. This violent industrial process splits the natural vegetable oil molecules into new, synthetic molecules. The temperature and pressure extremes are very much like those found in the core of a nuclear reactor.

Synthetic emollients thus produced readily cross the trans-dermal barrier. Recent studies show that we may in fact be getting more toxins through skin absorption than through the foods we eat. When you rub commercial cosmetic creams loaded with harmful chemicals on your skin, those chemicals can pass straight through the skin and enter your bloodstream within minutes.

Getting under your skin
Below are just a few of the synthetic emollients manufactured by the superheated industrial “nuclear fission” process discussed above.

Butyl Adipate, Butylene Glycol, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Cetearyl Glucoside, Cetyl Palmitate, Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Glycerol-Mono-Di-Stearate, Isostearyl-Isostearate, Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Petrolatum.

Is this the sort of concoction you want to put on your skin? Would you go to the store to buy the aforementioned ingredients? Are they what you would prepare for your dinner? And if these ingredients are not safe enough to eat, then why put them on your skin?

What, then, is the alternative to participating in this sorry Corporate Soap Opera? The answer is: handcrafted soaps.

Handcrafted soaps
Handcrafted soaps are typically additive-free. They are made the traditional way, by the process of saponification. Unlike corporate soaps, handcrafted soaps will not coat your body with dangerous chemical additives and pollutants.

What exactly is saponification? Saponification is the chemical reaction created by combining natural oils—usually olive oil, coconut oil or palm oil—with lye and water. Most handcrafted soap makers use what is called the “cold process” saponification method, allowing the lye and water alone to do the job rather than “cooking” the mixture. Saponification is complete after the soap mixture has been poured into molds, cut into bars, and allowed to cure for several weeks.

The oils used in handmade soap are carefully chosen by the soap maker for the character they impart to the final soap. Coconut oil, for example, creates lots of glycerin, makes big bubbly lather, and is very stable. Olive oil has natural antioxidants and its soap makes for a creamier lather.

Pure, natural moisturizing glycerin
An important natural byproduct of saponification is glycerin. Glycerin is a humectant, that is, a substance that promotes the retention of moisture. During saponification, one molecule of glycerin is created for every three molecules of soap. Commercial soap makers promptly yank the glycerin out of their soap, thus robbing their product of its moisturizing qualities. The reason? You guessed it. They use the glycerin in fancy lotions and other cosmetics that command a higher price. Very often the same company that sells you the corporate soap that dries out your skin also sells you a lotion to moisturize your body after your shower.

Handmade soaps, crafted in small quality-controlled batches, retain all of the precious moisturizing glycerin, so your skin feels soft, silky and healthy. With handcrafted soap, all of the naturally-occurring glycerin stays in the soap, where it belongs. You may notice that when your handcrafted soap is fresh it will draw moisture from the air into small beads that will make the soap bar’s surface wet. This indicates that your handcrafted soap has a high glycerin content. For a fraction of the cost of the average skin conditioner, you can experience the purest soap you can get, and restore your natural skin balance within a few weeks.

As we’ve just indicated, the commercial cosmetics makers embrace the money-driven philosophy of mind over matter: they don’t mind and you don’t matter. So boycott the corporate giants. Put them on a cross-town bus. Burst their bubble. Scrub these hucksters right off your slate! Instead, buy pure, natural, mild handcrafted soaps. You’ll be glad you did.

1. Johnson, W., Jr. & Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel. "Final report on the safety assessment of PEG-25 propylene glycol stearate, PEG-75 propylene glycol stearate, PEG-120 propylene glycol stearate, PEG-10 propylene glycol, PEG-8 propylene glycol cocoate, and PEG-55 propylene glycol oleate." Int J Toxicol, 2001;20 (Suppl 4):13-26.
2. CSPI News Release (http://www.cspinet.org/new/carmine_8_24_98.htm), August 24, 1998.
3. Henley, D. The New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 1, 2007; vol 356: pp 479-485. News release, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health.
   July-August: Time to Come Clean About Corporate Soap

Bread-heavy diet linked to kidney cancer
A diet high in bread may boost your risk of kidney cancer, according to an Italian study that compared the food intake of kidney cancer patients and those without the disease. Researchers say those consuming the highest amounts of bread doubled the risk for kidney malignancy, compared to those eating the smallest amounts.

Further study indicated
Although the indings are dramatic, the study’s lead author, Francesca Bravi, a researcher at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, cautioned, “Further studies are needed to conirm the link between bread and kidney cancer.”

Pass the vegetables
In the study, Bravi’s team compared 767 men and women with kidney cancer to 1,534 men and women who did not have the disease. Those who ate the highest amounts of bread—28 portions a week—had nearly two times the risk of kidney cancer as those who ate the lowest number of portions per week, 9, Dr. Bravi discovered. Even though more study is needed, Bravi said, “Our study suggests that a diet poor in reined cereals and rich in vegetables may have a favorable role in reducing the risk of renal cell carcinoma.”

Your kidneys
The function of the kidneys is to excrete urine, and to help regulate the electrolyte and acid content of the blood. With their miles of microscopic tubules, the kidneys receive blood from the aorta, ilter it, and send it back to the heart with the right balance of chemicals and luid for use throughout the body. The kidneys also rid the body of excess water and waste in the form of urine.

A toxic world
In our toxic world, it is easy for the kidneys to become overwhelmed and weakened when exposed to common pollutants and microorganisms. Kidney stones are an accumulation of mineral salts that lodge anywhere along the course of the urinary tract and kidneys.
November: Kidney Health in a Toxic World

In 1990, manufacturers were supposed to get the benzene out of their soft drinks. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which discovered the prob- lem, never made it public because the US soft drinks association promised to “get the word out” and fix the benzene problem themselves. 1

The “word” to “get out” is sodium benzoate, a common preservative. In the presence of an acid it breaks down into several things, including benzene, a carcinogenic, highly regulated chemical. Unfortu- nately, many soft drinks are naturally acidic, espe- cially fruit based ones that contain vitamin C (ascor- bic acid). The remedy is simple if you know it: don’t use sodium benzoate to preserve acidic drinks. But in Europe, Latin America and North America over 1,500 soft drink products containing sodium benzoate and either citric acid or ascorbic acid have been intro- duced since January 2002. In formulations like that the FDA has confirmed that benzene does form at parts per billion (ppb) levels.

Are parts per billion levels dangerous? Yes, ac- cording to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2 . The safe level is zero ppb because anything above that is hazardous, although the maximum al- lowable level in drinking water is 5 ppb only because at the present time we can’t reliably remove benzene any better than that. Some soft drinks tested by an independent lab show benzene levels at 10 ppb! How dangerous? Short-term effects include tem- porary nervous system disorders, immune system depression, anemia, and long-term effects are chro- mosome aberrations and cancer. That’s what you are risking when you consume a soft drink from an American or foreign source that didn’t “get the word”.

Minutes from a meeting between FDA and the National Soft Drinks Association in 1990-1 show FDA officials chose to protect soft drink manufactur- ers from “adverse publicity associated with this prob- lem”. Instead of litigation, or legislation, they near- sightedly chose to trust the industry to “get the word out”. Legislation prohibiting sodium benzoate in acidic beverages would have served the public better, because although FDA tests in 1993 indicated the problem was gone, obviously the verbal solution did not last.

The FDA should not have covered up the benzene problem because their first duty is to citizens. These days, if a water district found benzene above 5 ppb the FDA would require them to “notify the public via newspapers, radio, TV and other means. Additional actions, such as providing alternative drinking water supplies, may be required to prevent serious risks to public health.” I suppose we should be thankful that, at least to- day, we are getting an investigation rather than a private deal with vested interests.

Good old milk often unfairly accused
Even without the possibility of benzene pollution, soft drinks are not a healthy choice. Virtually devoid of nutrients, adults get 14% of their daily calories from soft drinks (which includes “fruit” drinks with less than 10% fruit juice). 3 These drinks have sur- passed white bread as the largest calorie source.
When you try to switch your kids to milk, how- ever, you may run into gastrointestinal complaints. A Finnish study indicates cow’s milk is usually not the cause. The cause is more often a different food allergy. 4 So it’s worth giving milk a second look. Cost of shipping rising Although for years we have resisted any signifi- cant increase to our shipping charges, the rising price of fuel has caused sharp increases by the US Postal Service and United Parcel Service, which we can no longer afford to ignore. New rates effective June 12.

1 http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=65840-soft-drinks-fda- benzene 2 http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/dw_contamfs/benzene.html
3 http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050618/food.asp
4 http://www.ucsfhealth.org/childrens/health_library/reuters/2005/12/ 20051214elin002.html
April: Soft drink makers’ verbal promises not worth the paper they are printed on

Science has not had time to rigorously test every botanical for every traditional use, and I used to think that was bad. Now I think “Hey, science, take your time. I’m willing to accept some uncertainty.” Why did I change my mind? Why do I now embrace traditional uses, which may or may not be accurate?

For instance traditional uses for butterbur (Petasites vul- garis) include a heart stimulant, diuretic, fever remedy, ulcer remedy, poison antidote, and love divination. Love divination? Apparently if a young, unmarried woman sows butterbur seeds half an hour before sunrise on a Friday morning, in a lonesome place and sings “I sow, I sow! / Then, my own dear, / Come here, come here, / And mow and mow!”, she will see her future husband mowing a short distance away. 1 Of all these traditional uses, which ones have been scientifically proven? None that I know of, but other surprising uses have. Several scientific studies find butterbur (Petasites hybridus root) to be effective at preventing migraine headaches in adults, adoles- cents, and children. In adults, for example, 150 mg of a stan- dardized extract per day reduced the number of migraines per month for most participants by half or more. This is signifi- cantly better than the placebo used, and comparable to ob- served benefits from prescription medications. It should be noted that although the frequency lessened, the duration and intensity of the migraine appeared unchanged. 2 In another clinical trial a carbon dioxide extract of butterbur was found to be as effective as fexofenadine (Allegra ?) for allergic rhinitis (hay fever). 3

It looks like science has given migraine and hay fever suf- ferers a safer, cheaper remedy that’s just as effective as con- ventional drugs. If butterbur becomes popular, you can bet there will be many more studies.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is one of the top three dietary supplements sold (the other two are garlic and glucosamine) so ginkgo is one of the most studied botanicals with an estimated 140+ published clinical trials involving both healthy adults and adults suffering from dementia and other cognitive impair- ment. What do they tell us?

According to a review of scientific literature through Sep- tember 2004, 11 out of 16 studies involving healthy, cogni- tively intact adults found significant positive results including enhanced performances involving memory, attention, and speed of processing abilities. 4 But ginkgo did not benefit from the weight of all these positive studies because recently the media focused on one of the clinical trials 5 that did not find significant positive results and generally reported that ginkgo did not work! Thanks, science.

What if a dietary supplement had a great and important benefit which was scientifically proven with little dispute, and the media had nothing bad to say about it. Would that get everyone excited?

Red yeast rice is rice that has been fermented by red yeast (Monascus purpureus). Chinese peoples have been eating it for over one thousand years without reports of toxic- ity. One traditional use was for improving blood circulation. Science had little difficulty validating that claim because the red yeast makes monacolin K, also known as lovastatin, marketed as Mevacor, a studied and approved drug that lowers cholesterol. 6 With science on its side, Pharmanex, Inc. fermented selected strains of red yeast that would produce a concentration of lovastatin and marketed it as the dietary supplement Cholestin, claiming, correctly, that it will help reduce cholesterol. After much litigation the FDA successfully got Cholestin reclassified as a drug, which destroyed its biggest assets: cheap, safe availability.

Science starts off helping the dietary supplement industry by validating uses for botanicals, then kills it because negative studies get media attention and positive studies get FDA attention (to be fair, neither of these is the fault of science). Is the answer to shun studies and go back to traditional uses before science robs us of them? When my daughter grows up and is ready to settle down should I give her some butterbur seeds to sow?

The answer is “yes” to everything. Yes, science, keep studying. Yes, health-conscience consumer, subscribe to HerbalGram, the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Botanical Council to find out the latest scientifically accurate information. 7 Yes, pass on the information to your family and friends as humans have traditionally done (don’t tell the popular media). And yes, rely on unstudied traditional uses, too. For example, I’m 100% convinced butterbur seeds can get my daughter a date. After all, if you put a young, unmarried, lonely woman singing all alone in a field at harvest time just before the weekend, she won’t fail to attract muscular, em- ployable suitors!
1 Grieve, Mrs. M., A Modern Herbal, Vol 1., Dover Publications, Inc., 1971, p. 148.
2 Research reviews, HerbalGram, 67:2005, p. 28.
3 Schapowal, A. Treating Intermittent Allergic Rhinitis: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo and Antihistamine-controlled Study of butterbur Extract Ze 339. Phytotherapy Research 2005;19(6), p. 530.
4 Crews, W. David, Jr., et. al. The Neuropsychological Efficacy of Ginkgo Preparations in Healthy and Cognitively Intact Adults, Herbal- Gram 67:2005, p. 43.
5 Solomon PR, et. al. Ginkgo for memory enhancement, JAMA, 2002; 288(7), p. 835.
6 Lee, Dennis, MD. Red Yeast Rice and Cholesterol – A critical review. www.medicinenet.com, article 14999 viewed Mar. 2006.
7 www.herbalgram.org or send $50 for membership and one year of HerbalGram to American Botanical Council, 6200 Manor Rd, Austin, TX 78723, or call (512) 926-4900.
February: Anecdotal Medicine is Best!

Lets just consider one fact in order to get a perspective on what is going on in healthcare research. The same corporations that make and CONTROL the creation of dangerous chemicals, like pesticides, that are proven to cause cancers also make it their business to produce and CONTROL the sale of “drugs that cure” cancers.

In addition they also restrict and CONTROL the research funding to beneit more drug production and draw attention away from environmental factors that are a contributing factor in cancers and AIDS as well as most other diseases. The whole drug system is self-enriching at the cost of humanity.

Usually corporate magazines such as Fortune, only publish the pro corporate views, since the survival of all ad-supported media is entirely CONTROLLED by the maia-like run ad agencies, that can pull the plug on ALL the major advertisers and seriously jeopardize, even large and established magazines, like Fortune. This is why I am really pleased that Fortune and Seattle Times actually did publish articles that expose the systematic corporate CONTROL in research and handling of toxic wastes.

Why We’re Losing The War On Cancer (and how to win it)
Quotes from the Article:
1. “Americans dying from cancer is still what it was in 1970... and in 1950.”
2. “If you look at the millions of mice that have been cured of cancer, and compare it to humans, you realize there just has to be something wrong with those models.”
3. “Metastasis is a big idea. It’s hard to do replicable experiments with so many variables. But it’s the kind of research we need.” [March issue, 2004]

"Fear in the Fields: How hazardous wastes become fertilizer"
by Duff Wilson, Seattle Times Staff Reporter

Like you know legislative CONTROL is the way to corporate riches and that is why they now want CODEX to become the law in USA. Tim Bolen, a Consumer Advocate states that “We’re in trouble in the US over the “Co- dex” problem. Why? Because there is too much conlict among the people who should be working together to solve the problem”.

This is consistent with my experience, after sending out the November 2005 email newsletter explaining the strategies explaining how www.healthfreedomusa.org wants to stop CODEX, I was contacted by John Ham- mel from International Advocates of Health Freedom (www.iahf.com). He adamantly does not agree with the view that we can change CODEX and claims the only solution is to kill CAFTA/ FTAA. You can see the letter at http://www.drclarkstore.com/inadofhefr.html. March 2006

What action can we take?
Most people don’t take any action, never write their Government Servants, the politicians know that only one in about 10,000 people bother to write them about their views. This is why you can have the power of 10,000 people behind you when you spend 5 minutes on the computer.
March: Corporations that Control

The agave (ah-gah-vay) plant is both beautiful and useful. The leshy leaves of the agave plant cover the pineapple shaped heart, which contains a sweet, sticky juice called aguamiel. Traditionally, the agave plant is allowed to reach a certain age, then farmers dig the trunk out of the ground, split it open, and after removing the core, extract the precious sap, or aguamiel.

The Aztecs held the agave to be sacred, and agave juice played a prominent part in their religious ceremonies. Agave juice was also a favorite food of the Aztecs. Today the agave is considered by natives to be the Mexican Tree of Life and Abundance because of the aguamiel, honey-water, that lows from the leaves and roots when cut. The fermented juice from the agave plant forms the basis of the popular Mexican drink known as tequila.

Agave syrup—or nectar—is about 90 percent fructose. Yet only recently has it been adapted as a sweetener and a safe and delicious sugar substitute. Agave syrup has a low glycemic level, and unlike the crystalline form of fructose, which is reined mainly from corn (corn syrup), agave syrup is already fructose in its natural form. Therefore it does not need to be reined, and consequently it contains no processing chemicals. Moreover, because agave syrup is 25 percent sweeter than sugar, less of it is needed in your recipes or on your cereal, and one-third fewer calories are consumed. This can be a boon to people who are diabetic, have insulin resistance (Syndrome X), or are simply watching their carbohydrates.

Fructose, as we said, has a low glycemic value. But, according to recent research, if fructose is consumed with high glycemic foods, it loses its low glycemic value. In fact, it will take on the value of the higher glycemic food. Therefore, use fructose products such as agave syrup sparingly. It’s a good policy to eat fructose-based desserts on an empty stomach, in between meals or in combination with other low-glycemic foods.

Our Naturel Agave Syrup is a Certiied Organic, high fructose, low-glycemic sweetener naturally extracted from the trunk of the wild agave plant. Use it with conidence on your cereal, for baking, and whenever a recipe calls for sugar.

For baking, replace 1 cup of sugar with ¾ cup of Naturel. To replace liquids, reduce by 1/3 cup. Reduce cooking temperature by 25 percent.

• Serving size: 1 tsp
• Calories: 20
• Total Carbohydrates: 5g (2 percent)
• Sugar: 5g

January: Agave: The Tree of Life and Abundance

Body products are my concern right now, but it’s evident in general, too. Automobiles have more features than they did 50 years ago, and those features didn’t all appear last year, they appeared gradu- ally. We have more kinds of kitchen appli- ances, office machines, fabrics, television programs, shoes, sports and ethnic restau- rants than ever before. In general more variety is good, and interesting, so we may not think about the downside of “new” and “improved” products. But for body care products, we should.

Everything you put on your skin will potentially be absorbed; therefore every product should be scrutinized for safety. Which ingredients are beneficial for you? Which benefit the manufacturer at your expense? Which ingredients have a history of safety? Which ones are newly approved? Which ones aren’t listed on the label?

Take soap, for in- stance. The basic recipe is lye, water, and lard (or oil). But you can’t buy plain soap off the shelf anymore. It all has additives like fragrance, deodorant, color, bactericide, or exfoli- ant. A good consumer should not assume that just because it was simple to buy soap in the past it is still that way. Each ingredient should be scrutinized before you can feel confident about using it on your skin. At best, each ingredient should be something you recognize as edible, because some is going in your body. We feel good about every ingredient in our Pearl products. We would not hesitate to eat most of them! (I dare you to try that with your deodorant!) But it’s not easy coming up with products that work using only food ingredients. How do you keep them from going bad? How do you compete with chemicals honed to perfec- tion in extensive laboratories and testing facilities? To be honest, we can’t. But we come close. For instance our hairspray uses a little gelatin for stickiness. It won’t hold as well as a concocted can of chemicals, but it’s pretty good, and yes, you can eat it.

We don’t use much fra- grance, but when we do be assured it didn’t come from a laboratory. For instance our lavender scent is the oil that comes from real, crushed lavender flowers. It costs $1.30 per table- spoon, but at least it’s safe to eat. Lavender is classi- fied as safe for human consumption by the F.D.A. 1 Same with sage.

So you can purchase Pearl body care products with great confidence. Every ingredient is on the label. Check the ingredients for yourself. And taste!

Do You Need More?
We are working to perfect a safe, plant-based shampoo. We know how desirable that would be, considering the frightful ingredient list shampoos usually have. Check with us next time you order. What other body products are we missing? What would you like to see? Please let us know.
December: Sophistication creeps up on us

If you were the CEO of a large food conglomer- ate, and if you wanted to design and manufacture the ideal breath freshener, what would you choose? For a zesty flavor, a blend of natural and artifi- cial ones will make a nice balance of taste and economy. For a gooey center you use vegetable oil. To keep it from sticking to your filling machines, you use a little FDA-approved mineral oil. Sweet things have the most appeal to humans, but sugar is avoided by health-conscious consumers, so use sucralose and neotame (8,000 times sweeter than sugar). Finally, a soft gelatin capsule with a smooth coat of carnauba wax, colored with an eye-catching mix of blue #1 and red #40, and you have a sure winner in the marketplace. The flashy package is probably the most expensive ingredient, but at $1.99 (retail) you will easily hit your profit target. 1

Proudly you go home with the first package off the assembly line and tell your family, “Look what’s going to make us some money.” Your family is impressed and proud of you. Your five-year-old daughter says, “Can I try one, please?” “Oh, no,” you tell her, “too many possibly dan- gerous chemicals for you!” “You aren’t going to sell them to chil- dren?” she asks. “Yes, they’re for everyone,” you tell her. “Except me?” she asks. “Why?”

You explain that just because certain chemicals are legal, it doesn’t make them good, and it doesn’t make them healthful, and it doesn’t guarantee further studies won’t find them unsafe. “Then why did you use them to make these great looking pills?” your daughter wonders.

You explain about the competitive marketplace and the gross margin and how it’s quite possible that all the chemicals used will continue to be found safe in the long run. “Or at least until the CEO who succeeds me signs off on my retirement package,” you mutter softly.

Now again pretend you are that CEO wishing to design and market the ideal breath freshener, only this time your primary concern is to come up with a formula that you wouldn’t mind if your five-year- old daughter ate a whole container of.

It suddenly occurred to me that some of the bo- tanicals we sell would be perfect. Like cinnamon. One pinch and your mouth wakes up like your daughter on Christmas morning. Plus there’s no doubt cinnamon is safe because humans have been using cinnamon in their food, with no adverse af- fects, for centuries. And it may even be good for you! Studies have shown cinnamon appears to push down both triglycerides and cholesterol, and also boosts insulin’s effect so diabetics need less. 2

So we put pure cinnamon, no sugar, no coloring, in small gelatin capsules for quick mouth freshen- ing. Usually you try to swallow capsules and avoid bad-tasting contents, but in this case, you crunch up the capsule and pow! It hits you like opening your daughter’s first straight-A report card!

I think cinnamon tastes the best, but a close sec- ond is spearmint. Others include peppermint, fennel, cardamom, cloves, coriander and anise. They cost $1.95 each. I hope you find a Breath Bite you like. My daughter is not five, she’s ten, but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about how many Breath Bites she eats. After all, she’s my retirement package.

More Good Stuff
In addition to Breath Bites, we are working on other safe and healthy personal products. Watch for them in our new Pearl packaging. Check with us next time you order!
1 Ingredients listed on Cool Mint Ice Breakers, Hershey Foods Corpo- ration, purchased September, 2005.
2 Using cinnamon for health benefits, San Diego Union Tribune, August 9, 2005, p E2.
August: Feel Good About Fresh Breath

In the supply catalog, vitamin A has a poison warning label on it. When it arrives we have to handle it very carefully. However once we mix it with filler, like cornstarch, so it is not overpower- ing, it becomes an essential nutrient. Too much causes liver abnormalities and birth defects, not enough causes night blindness, reproduction prob- lems, immune system dysfunction, and other prob- lems. How do you know what is the “right” amount for you? Today, the US government’s Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is 5000 IU, 1

but is this the right amount for you? To get RDI’s, the government relies on a consensus of scientific opinion to gauge the quantities necessary to assure the performance of recognized and essential physiological functions, but one problem with this approach is: we don’t know everything about the human body. Scientific consensus is capricious; it changes as we learn more. For instance the 1968 RDA for vitamin C was 60 mg. In 1974 that changed to 45 mg., but in 1980 it went back to 60 mg. 2

What if tomorrow scientists find out that lots more would have been better? In fact there are well-documented benefits of nutrient quantities above the RDI for folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, selenium and chromium, according to Vitamin and Mineral Safety, 2nd Ed. (VM Safety3 ).

We should ask ourselves: Is there a better yardstick to measure our optimal intake, than RDI’s? Scientists may argue incessantly over “optimal”, but there is much more agreement about “too much”. Many studies vary the dosages of nutrients, and often note when adverse effects appear. The safe upper limit is therefore somewhat apparent, and government agencies are very interested in that in order to protect consumers. For instance the US Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) sets their upper limit of safety for vitamin A at 10,000 IU. The European Commission Scientific Committee on Food upper limit is also 10,000 IU. The United Kingdom Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals Guidance Level is 5,000 IU. It should be noted that these are safe daily limits. Children in some parts of the world are given a 50,000 to 200,000 IU dose of vitamin A once every 3 to 12 months to treat and prevent deficiencies (VM Safety).

Looking at the available research as reviewed in VM Safety, the Council of Responsible Nutrition (CRN, www.crnusa.org) has come up with its own Upper Level of Supplementation (ULS), and based on upper safety levels minus the amounts you al- ready get in foods. For instance, the CRN ULS for vitamin C is 2000 mg, much more than the 60 mg RDI, because vitamin C has such a well-studied safety record.

It is the CRN ULS that makes more sense for an optimal intake level than the RDI. We should strive for maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals, while still knowing such levels have been shown to be safe.

Everyone should read VM Safety, because it is so informative and because a few items depend on individual circumstances. For instance high con- sumers of fortified foods and liver have a lower CRN ULS for vitamin A, and they recommend smokers not supplement with beta-carotene at all. But we were so impressed with the report we will be attempting to make a supplement that suits most adults and supplies most of the CRN ULS nutrients. Check with us next time you order!

Product labels on website
We strive to make sure all the information on our label is available online, at www.shrc.net. If you have a question, and it is after hours, try the inter- net. Also sign up for The Signal, an infrequent but informative health newsletter.
1 http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/ CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=101&showFR=1
2 http://www.crnusa.org/about_recs3.html
3 Hathcock, John N., Vitamin and Mineral Safety, 2nd Ed., 2004. http://www.crnusa.org/safety/
January-August: Optimizing Vitamin and Mineral Intake for Yourself

Mel Gibson starred in a 1997 movie entitled "Conspiracy Theory". What was funny about the movie is that he had many far-fetched conspiracy theories like the new $100 bills had tracking devices in them, or NASA had a satellite that could cause earthquakes. I always thought dietary supplement conspiracy theories stretched the imagination until I read the headline "Vitamins 'may raise death risk from cancer'". Vitamins? Bad for you?

We all know there are physicians who advise patients not to take vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements because they feel (a) you get enough in the food you eat, or (b) they don't do any significant good. I'd like to think these physicians are not part of a conspiracy and just honestly have their head in the sand.

We all know there are publications biased against dietary supplements. Consumer Reports ran an article in the May 2004 issue sharply criticizing the Dietary Supplement industry. Entitled "Danger- ous Supplements: Still at Large", it cast an inaccu- rate picture of dietary supplements in general ac- cording to the Council for Responsible Nutrition. 1

The American Botanical Council spends a lot of time fighting false and misleading information, too (see their website www.herbalgram.org). When I read articles in the mainstream press that attempt to scare me away from dietary supplements, like the recent ephedra reporting, I try to forgive editors because they are just trying to sell periodicals by sensationalizing issues, and I don't think they are part of a conspiracy.

We all know the federal Food and Drug Ad- ministration (FDA) is biased against dietary sup- plements because it sees them as a threat to pharma- ceuticals. As recently as the Spring of 2003 the FDA proposed a redefinition of disease that would classify any deviation from a state of "normal" as a disease, even if that deviation is universal or a normal part of aging, such as onset of menses or menopause. Under the proposed new definition of disease, any dietary supplement with virtually any effect on the body could be reclassified as a drug. 2

Special interests influencing government isn't new, and doesn't prove there is a conspiracy. But "Vitamins 'may raise death risk from can- cer'" goes too far! No responsible editor in the mainstream press would publish such drivel unless pressured to do so, in my opinion. Read it for your- self and judge if the headline is merited. 3

So who is behind this conspiracy? Who wants to mislead our health choices? I'm going to call up Mel Gibson and see if he wants to investigate with me....

Connecticut school goes candy cold-turkey
I’m happy to report that the Nathan Hale School in New Haven, Conn., is junk-food-free. Candy bars are confiscated. Vending machines sell baked chips instead of fried; water, milk or juice instead of soda. The cafeteria serves baked chicken instead of nug- gets and French fries. Even bake sales, traditional fundraisers, are being discouraged in favor of plant sales and penny drives. You go, Principal Johnsky! 4

Where is my order?
When we ask for your email address on our website, or on the phone when you order, it is not just to email you our health-related newsletter, the Signal. A more important reason is to send you an email with the tracking number of your order. Our website is at www.shrc.net. 1 for CRN’s rebuttal see their website www.crnusa.org/pdfs/CRNConsumerReports0504.pdf
2as reported by www.herbs.org/current/rsmdshea.html
3http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1317198,00.html
4San Diego Union Tribune, April 29, 2004 (AP).
October-December: Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you

The Self Health Signal is an email newsletter with short summaries of health-related news. I try to select topics that show new approaches to existing conditions. However, it is not intended to be medi- cal advice.

To sign up for The Self Health Signal simply send an email to signal-on@mail.shrc.net. You do not have to write any Message. You don't even have to write a Subject. Whichever email address you use to send the signal-on message will begin receiving The Self Health Signal. A new one is emailed every two to four weeks, although it may be longer or shorter because there is no fixed schedule. Instruc- tions for discontinuing the newsletter are included at the bottom of each issue (it's as simple as sending a "signal-off@mail.shrc.net" email).

Following are some of the articles that have already been covered:

Vitamins ward off Alzheimer's
A study begun in 1995 on 4,740 people aged 65 or older found those who had been taking vitamin supplements had a 78% lower risk of getting Alz- heimer's. The particular supplements were high doses of vitamin E (up to 1,000 iu) and vitamin C (up to 1,000 milligrams --note the article says "mi- crograms" but I think that must be a misprint -Ed.). The authors cautioned that a controlled trial was needed to confirm these results. 1

Clove extract neutralizes asbestos fibers Asbestos is dangerous and difficult to handle. But Italian chemists at the University of Turin found that eugenol and hydrogen peroxide instantly hardens asbestos into a polymer. Eugenol is a chemical found in cloves. The team of scientists hopes to develop a commercial spray that can be used on buildings to provide a safer and cheaper way of neutralizing the threat of exposure from asbestos previously used in building materials. 2

Is the spread of corn syrup causing the spread of your tummy?
High-fructose corn syrup is an inexpensive corn sweetener that gained popularity in the early 1980s, coinciding with the start of the American obesity epidemic. Studies at UC Davis and the University of Michigan have shown that fructose is more read- ily converted to fat by the liver than other types of sugar. Although fructose is a sugar that does not stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin, benefiting diabetics, it also fails to increase leptin production. Both insulin and leptin signal the brain to turn down the appetite. Some doctors say, however, that it is not the type of sugar we are eating that is getting us in trouble, it's the fact we are eating too much of it. A single 12-ounce can of soda has as much as 13 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup. That would be a lot of sugar, even if it wasn't high-fructose. 3

Consumers look to vitamins to boost eye health
Three vitamins (C, E, beta carotene) and zinc, have been shown to slow progression and associ- ated vision loss by 25% among patients with mod- erate to advanced macular degeneration. The dis- ease is caused by the incurable breakdown of the macula (the central part of the retina) and is the leading cause of blindness in people over 65. Other dietary supplements with less scientific data behind them are also gaining popularity. 4

Where is my order?
When we ask for your email address on our website, or on the phone when you order, it is not just to send you the Signal. A more important rea- son is to send you an email with the tracking num- ber of your order. Our website is at www.shrc.net.
1 Reuters, Jan 19, 2004
2 Chemical Communications, 2001, p2182
3 http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8075662.htm
4 LA Times Feb 23, 2004
February-August: More Interesting Articles

I read an article by a prominent doctor in which he expressed his view that humans eating a normal diet don’t need dietary supplements. This angered me because it lulls ordinary folks into thinking they don’t need vitamins. After all, who among us think they eat an abnormal diet?

In reality, the entire civilized world eats an ab- normal diet. We have been humans for 2 million years, but most of the basic cultivated, processed, preserved food we eat has only been around for several thousand years, and junk food has only gotten plentiful in the last few decades. A normal diet would be nothing but wild, raw vegetables, meats and berries. And yes, if you only ate that you certainly wouldn’t need any extra vitamins! What do modern people think a normal diet is? I’ve seen adults just eat a doughnut and coffee for “breakfast.” You can probably name lots more examples. But what I worry most about is what our children think. The food industry uses celebrities and popular cartoon characters to tout junk food and fast food. Our schools sell soft drinks, junk food and fast food to our children. To make matters worse, portion size is out of control. 1

According to Dr. Michael Holick, a Boston University vitamin D specialist, there is actually an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in teens. 2

This is due to their typical habits of little outdoor exercise (preferring movies and video games) and little milk (preferring soft drinks). Dr. Catherine Gordon, a Boston pediatric endocrinologist, says her research suggests as many as 20 percent of healthy children in Boston may be vitamin D deficient. That’s going to haunt them all their life. German researchers say there are “clear indications” that heart disease may be caused by vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D blood levels were up to 50 percent lower in patients with chronic heart failure than in a control group. 3

Let’s face it: our diet is not “normal,” and we would benefit from supplements. Fortunately, not all doctors have their heads in the sand. A review of scientific articles on the sub- ject came to this conclusion: “Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements.” 4

The study recommends “Physicians should make specific efforts to learn about their patients' use of vitamins to ensure that they are taking vitamins they should, such as folate supplementation for women in the childbearing years, and avoiding dangerous prac- tices such as high doses of vitamin A during preg- nancy or massive doses of fat-soluble vitamins at any age.” When was the last time your doctor initi- ated such a discussion with you? Fortunately, I think our schools are improving. California would be the first state in the nation to ban school soda sales to elementary school students if Gov. Gray Davis signs a new bill passed by the state Senate in August. There is a ban scheduled to take effect January 1, but only if schools get addi- tional funding for nutrition programs (not likely). This new bill doesn’t depend on schools getting additional money and would take effect next July 1. 5

Our schools are cleaning up their act. And you should also tell your kids that cartoon characters love junk food only because they don’t eat it! Out of 13,000 men and women aged 35 to 60 cancer was the major cause of death in a recent French study. But a vitamin cocktail reduced the risk of cancer in men by 31%. Women did not benefit, possibly because their diet was better than the men’s to begin with. 6

Let that inspire us to eat healthy and take our vi- tamins! 1 Brakes on the Scale, Nanci Hellmich, USA Today, 8/03. 2 Doctors: Teens’ vitamin D deficiency an epidemic, CNN.com, 9/1/03 3 www.foodnavigator.com/news/news.asp?id=6770, 1/15/03. 4 Fletcher, R., Fairfield, K., JAMA, 2002;287:3127-3129. 5 State Senate approves ban…, San Diego Union Tribune, 8/29/03. 6 News.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/3122033.stm, 8/4/03.
October: Vitamins As Valuable As Ever

“Our kids seem to really like the fruit and vege- table snacks,” said Muscatine High School principal Dennis Heiman. Can this be true? Can teenagers like normal, healthy food such as carrots, star fruit, broccoli, plums, cauliflower for snacks instead of junk food? A $6 million program is going to find out. 1

Since fruit and vegetable snacks were intro- duced at this Iowa high school, sales of candy and soda have dropped 25%. Heiman said “I see a world of difference.”

Why all the big funding? This answer is it is all part of the fight against the obesity epidemic. Teens in the last 10 years increased from 11% obese to 15% obese. Smaller children and adults have be- come more overweight, too.

Health officials recommend five servings a day of fruit and vegetables (seven to nine for adults). A 1996 National Cancer Institute study found that French fries made up nearly a quarter of all vegeta- bles consumed by children and adolescents aged 2 to 18. French fries shouldn’t count. Kids need their eyes opened. “Some kids have never had a tanger- ine before,” said Heiman.

I think these healthful snacks are fantastic, of course. Now lets get the rest of the junk food out of our schools. When you offer a child a fresh straw- berry, you shouldn’t have to apologize that it doesn’t taste like a candy bar.

Be Thin To Win I don’t mean an unhealthy thinness that comes from deprivation or starvation, I mean being lean. I mean eating the right amount of healthy food to keep you slim. What you win is longevity. Mice or monkeys given 50% less food lived 50% longer! Obviously these animals, when al- lowed to eat instinctively, are eating more than what is advisable for a longer life. Are humans doing the same?

An NIA study of 700 healthy men over 25 years who ate as they wished found those who were slim lived longer than those who were overweight. For some genetically lucky people slimness runs in the family; for the rest of us permanent restriction of food intake, and lots of exercise, is required. 2,3

Anti-antibiotic I admit I’m prejudiced against antibiotics. I think too many people use them as a first line of defense instead of a last line. In April 2002 a woman with painfully infected foot sores finally had to have doctors amputate one of her toes. Doctors then discovered why she had not responded to the numerous antibiotics they had given her. The bacterium, staphylococcus aureus, was a strain that was totally resistant to our most powerful antibiotics. (Fortunately three drugs were found that were effective, and the woman got well.) To combat resistance, health officials want peo- ple to do without antibiotics when infections are not life-threatening. 4

This means stop using that fancy anti-bacterial soap! We sell homemade plain soap, so I may be biased, but in my defense, a one-year study shows plain soap just as effective as antimicrobial or anti- bacterial soaps. 5

Plain & Pure Products Ever since we encapsulated our first product we have specialized in Plain & Pure Products. The bottles and labels are plain, and less expensive. The contents are plain—typically a single ingredient— and thus as pure as we can make them. We offer some products in bulk, so you don’t even eat the capsule. I had one highly allergic customer tell me our vitamins were the only ones she could tolerate. We listen to you. Call us with suggestions. Thanks.

1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22311-2003Feb17 2 JAMA 288:1342, 2002 3 Science 297:811, 2002 4 http://www.freep.com/news/health/nstaph12_20021112.htm 5 http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/10/24/antibacterial.soap.reut/ index.html
Summer: Can Cauliflower Compete With Candy?

At a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, investigators from Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital reported results of their ex- periments with human immune protein (HIP) and curcumin. HIP is found in high concentrations in our blood unless we have cancer. Curcumin is the compound that gives turmeric it’s characteristic color and flavor. The researchers found HIP slows the growth of human prostate cancer cells in the laboratory; curcumin quickly kills a lot of those cells; but both together are even more effective than each alone! 1

Here’s the hope: that we enjoy curry dishes, the curry powder contains turmeric, the turmeric con- tains curcumin, the curcumin assists our own HIP to keep us cancer-free! Because curry has been eaten for centuries without adverse effects there is no reason not to indulge ourselves. Or is there? In Britain curry dishes have exploded in popu- larity, and some scientists report evidence of a physical addiction as a possible explanation. Blood pressure rose 4.9% in subjects presented with tikka masala, versus just 1.8% for traditional food. Curry anticipation caused a larger increase in heart rate also. But other scientists attribute these phenomena to the simple fact that British food is boring. They say Brits crave curries, but it doesn’t rise to the level of addiction. 2

Mainlining Fast Food Fast food is very popular in the United States. Is that because it’s addictive, or just a craving? Re- searches say as you put on weight, you become more resistant to the hormone leptin, and this in turn causes the brain to lose its ability to respond to other eating-related hormones. So maybe getting fatter isn’t just lack of self-control. Maybe an addic- tive change is taking place.

Many fast food “meals” let you consume all the calorie and fat content a person needs for a day in just a few minutes. One scientist speculated such an overdose might be capable of activating the dopa- mine system like addictive drugs do. 3 Inconclusive, but interesting.

Hooking Our Kids Whether it’s a craving or an addiction, we par- ents should strive to keep fast food and junk food away from our children.

I wish we were more like Belmont Middle School in North Carolina. Susan Chase, the princi- pal, removed all soda and snack vending machines except for two that dispense water. She said “I can make that money in other ways. We don’t need to exploit the children by selling them drinks.” Bravo! Their school superintendent Mike Ward sent infor- mation to schools that said “Fund education so that schools do not compromise the health of children and youth by raising funds through the sale of foods and beverages low in nutrients and high in calo- ries.” 4

Bravo again! It takes strength not to support a worthy group’s on-campus fund-raising candy sale, but now you know you have to raise your voice like Ms Chase and Mr. Ward did!

New Products We now carry anise seed, coriander, alfalfa, birch bark, rose hips, flax seed oil, and a few other new products, but the most exciting new product is Super A! We had been having trouble for over a year getting liquid vitamin A for our drops. So we chose a dry form and added anti-oxidants zinc, vitamin E, selenium, and beta-carotine. This is a powerful combination in a tiny, easy-to-swallow capsule.

1 Science News, 161:317, 2002.
2 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/988978.stm
3 Scientists Question Whether Fast Food is Addictive, Reuters, Jan. 29, 2003.
4 Hendersonville Times-News (AP) Dec. 1, 2002.
Spring: "Flurry Over Curry" - "Mainlining Fast Food" - "Hooking Our Kids"

Ethically-Challenged Coca-Cola Makes Effort
As previously reported, Coca-Cola’s stated cor- porate goal is to be “…the preferred drink for any occasion….” The way they intend to achieve this goal is by being “…wherever you look…soccer field…gas station—everywhere.” (1997 Annual Report.) Ethically I think it’s reprehensible to pro- mote unhealthy foods, especially to kids, and espe- cially on the scale of Coca-Cola (see www.saveharry.com for example).

But Coca-Cola has a solution! Let no one think they don’t care about all those kids they make obese and diabetic with their liquid candy concoctions. Their new campaign is called “Step With It,” and it encourages kids to take a minimum of 10,000 steps a day for good health. The program will challenge about 50,000 middle-schoolers in nine cities. 1

Don’t misunderstand me; I would like Step With It to succeed. What I hope is clear is that doing one thing right doesn’t make any of a thou- sand wrongs any better.

Coca-Cola needs to correct their corporate fo- cus. Schools are starting to wake up to their ethical responsibilities and ban soft drink sales even if it costs them $14,000 in annual revenue (average per Los Angeles middle school 2 ).

And don’t think the students will die of thirst. LA is not planning on banning water, milk, bever- ages that are at least 50% fruit juice, or sports drinks with less than 42 grams of sugar per 20- ounce serving. Ironically, some of these may be Coca-Cola products. According to their website “…we offer nearly 300 brands across almost 200 countries. Many of these brands, including soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled waters and sports drinks, are only available in specific regions of the world, sometimes in just a single country. The reason for this is simple: different people like different bever- ages at different times, for different reasons.” 3

So come on, Coke. You have more healthful products. Promote them here in the United States. Promote them to children. Do the right thing. Diet Drinks? Forget It! Maybe sugarless soft drinks are okay, because they arguably don’t make you fat or diabetic. Unlikely. Last September a study at Texas Christian University found that even moderate amounts of aspartame (artificial sweetener used in most diet drinks), consumed regularly, interfere with long- term memory (but not short-term memory). This research needs to be confirmed, but wouldn’t it be tragic if the diet sodas students drink while studying prevent them from reaping the benefits of their education? 4

Vegetables Need Airtime, Too
Part of the tobacco industry settlement goes to purchase anti-smoking advertising. Similarly, we should tax junk food and spend that money on promoting carrots. Or kale, cabbage, chard or canta- loupe. 77% of Americans don’t eat even the mini- mum recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily! 5

The public obviously needs to be educated. Kids need to be shown (on TV, so they believe it!) how essential fruits and vegetables are.

1 Reuters, Coca-Cola Starts Youth Physical Fitness Program, 7/16/02. 2 Erica Werner (AP), L.A. School District Set to Extend Ban on Soft Drink Sales, San Diego Union Tribune, 8/26/02. 3 http://www2.coca-cola.com/ourcompany/ourbrands.html. 4 FDA Consumer, 36#3:2, 2002. 5 Produce Consumption Not Up Much Despite Health Push, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/24/02, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/88248_tf224.shtml.
Autumn: "Ethically-Challenged Coca-Cola Makes Effort"- "Diet Drinks? Forget It!"- "Vegetables Need Airtime, Too"

UK Parents Saving Kids From Themselves Judging from BBC News, parents in the United Kingdom are much more aware of their children’s deteriorating food choices than we are. Here are some headlines:

Children ‘eating themselves ill’, June 1, 2000. Five-year-old girls ‘weight conscious’, Sep 7, 2000. Childhood obesity soars in UK, Jan 5, 2001. TV ‘encourages poor eating habits’, Jan 7, 2001. Chil- dren ‘breakfast on junk food’, May 21, 2001. Junk food ads ‘targeted at children’, July 9, 2001. Jury to vote on children’s foods, April 23, 2002. The last one caught my eye. This “jury” will be composed of parents of kids aged between two and 16. They will examine products and selling tactics used by food manufacturers, vote, and pass on their comments to an independent watchdog agency. Some awards being considered are the “Additive Nightmare”, for the product that most relies on artificial sweeteners, colors and flavorings for its appeal. Another award is “Pester Power” for the marketing technique that most encourages children to nag their parents for junk food. There are positive awards, too, like “High Five” for the best promo- tion of fruit and vegetables to children. 1

The idea that companies target children with ads promoting unhealthy food didn’t bother me much because I thought kids can only eat what their par- ents shop for, so it doesn’t matter what they see on television. The article on junk food ads made me change my mind. After monitoring commercial television programs for 40 hours, a report found nearly half of all the food advertised during chil- dren’s television hours were for cakes and confec- tionery. There were no ads for fruits and vegeta- bles. 2

The problem is this disparity causes children to think of unhealthy food as desirable and healthy food as unimportant, and that in turn will do them a disservice both during childhood and as adults. Perhaps the marketing damage is already appar- ent because the Children ‘eating themselves ill’ article states 80% of [British] children aged four to 18 regularly eat snack foods such as chips, biscuits [cookies] and chocolate. In addition, 20% ate no fruit at all during the one-week survey. 3

Are fruits too unglamorous? Dry Days at Middle School Parents and students are sharply divided at Coronado Middle School, and the heart of the dis- pute is soda. The school board enacted a two-day- per-week soda sale ban at the school, and kids are griping. One student philosophized “What’s the point of your youth if you can’t enjoy it?” 4

Another stated soda is needed to “keep us awake during class.” Nancy McRae, a parent leader, is unsympa- thetic. “I believe it is unethical for the school dis- trict to generate revenues by selling products that are unhealthy for children.”

As previously reported, California recently passed a state law banning soda sales at middle schools starting in 2004. We were unhappy that high schools weren’t included, but this is a good start. I suggest students ignore marketing that pro- jects the message that soda is an essential part of an “enjoyable” youth, and kids should be told that there are other tricks to use for staying awake, like getting enough sleep!

1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1945000/1945538.stm 2 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1429000/1429830.stm 3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_772000/772744.stm 4 School no-soda days no hit, San Diego Union Tribune, Feb 16, 2002.
Summer: "UK Parents Saving Kids From Themselves" - "Dry Days at Middle School"

Evil Plot to Capture World Exposed And the mastermind is proud of it!
Coca-Cola’s goal, stated in their 1997 annual report, is to “make Coca-Cola the preferred drink for any occasion, whether it’s a simple family supper or a formal state dinner.” To help achieve that goal, the company is “putting ice-cold Coca-Cola Classic and our other brands within reach, wherever you look: at the supermarket, the video store, the soccer field, the gas station—everywhere.” 1

Note that their goal is not to improve the health of humankind, because that would be impossible due to the lack of nutrition in their soft drink products. In fact their goal of increasing sales can be restated as “to decrease the quality of life for ourselves and our children by promoting junk foods over healthy foods.”

The United States currently spends about $14 billion for the treatment of osteoporosis, and that’s just one of the illnesses linked to a poor diet and nutrition. In previous issues of Self Health News, I have discussed studies that focus on others, like type 2 diabetes in children. 2

So maybe another Coca-Cola goal could be “to burden all citizens with higher health care costs and destroy their home lives by ruining their children’s health.” They have already achieved that goal, but I doubt they will tout it in their Shareholder’s Report.

A generation ago teenagers drank twice as much milk as soda. Today it is the opposite. Why is Coca- Cola winning the war to drain our wallets and health? Perhaps it’s tactics like spending $150 million to exclusively sponsor the movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” According to www.saveharry.com, J. K. Rowling is getting $15 million of that. Expect Harry Potter and Coca-Cola to be linked in a variety of promotions. Visit the website and urge Ms Rowling to rethink her deci- ion. Otherwise, what’s next? Harry smoking Cam- els when he turns 21?

The Line to Take Over the World Lengthens
Margarine is another unhealthy replacement food. Companies profit by making this artificial but cheaper butter substitute. Beware of their promo- tional tactics, too.

In addition to the many things we already know that are wrong with margarine, a new Australian study suggests toddlers who consume large amounts of margarine and foods fried in vegetable oil are twice as likely to develop asthma. 3

The report cautions that it is “too soon to make any dietary recommendations to children.” I disagree. Take the tub of margarine away from your toddler, now! If the study is validated you will be glad you did.

1 Lieberman, T., Got Soda? Why Kids Drink Less Milk, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2001.
2 Comas, Martin E., http://OrlandoSentinel.com, September 16, 2001.
3 Rostler, S., Diet May Raise Asthma Risk in Children, Reuters, July 19, 2001.
Winter: "Evil Plot to Capture World Exposed" - "The Line to Take Over the World Lengthens"

Schools Side With Junk-Food Vendors …is the headline of an article in the August 23, 2001 San Jose Mercury News 1 . Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk) authored legislation that would have banned the sale of soda and high-fat or sugary snack foods in California schools. But the bill was op- posed by about two dozen school districts. The result was that the bill was heavily amended to apply mainly to elementary schools.

Sen. Escutia is quoted as saying, “…they have put profit at the expense of the health of our kids, and I don’t think that is right.” Brett McFadden, legislative advocate for the Association of Califor- nia School Board Administrators, is quoted as saying “That argument is a load of crap. This bill was not attached with the appropriate funding. To live with the mandates of the program, we would have to take dollars out of the classroom. The fact that they can’t get funding, and still stick us with the bill so they can have a political and legislative victory, is morally wrong.”

What’s wrong with this picture? For one thing, Sen. Escutia’s argument is not a load of crap, it is exactly correct: McFadden admits the reason Cali- fornia School Board Administrators oppose the bill is they want the money junk food sales bring in. And morals? How moral is it to say lets get more money for the school by ruining our students’ health? No, Mr. McFadden, and any other school principle that thinks the way you do, remove junk foods now, place our children’s health first, and worry about closing the funding gap second! Did it ever occur to you when you allowed vending ma- chines in the cafeteria that maybe they would com- pete with the healthy school lunch program? Duh! As an example, food-service officials in the Fol- som/Cordova Unified School District said they went from an operating deficit to a $226,000 sur- plus after banning junk food in high schools! But even if a school district wasn’t quite as successful, they should never stoop to selling junk food to close a budget gap. It’s bad for kids.

In previous issues of Self Health News, I have discussed studies that show how devastating junk food malnutrition is, but let me add experts are now telling us school junk foods are contributing to “an epidemic explosion of children with type 2 diabetes.”

2 Parents should work on stopping this now.
Autumn: Schools Side With Junk-Food Vendors

Why You Must Get The Lead Out Metal is so prevalent in our society we tend to forget how unnatural it is in its pure form. Take pure lead. It has wonderful properties: easy to form, easy to melt, doesn’t corrode easily. Ancient Ro- mans used lead to make water pipes 1 and water tanks. 2

Lead carbonate, (PbCO3)2·Pb(OH)2, called white lead, has been used for over 2000 years as a white pigment. 3

More recently, lead tetraethyl (Pb(C2H 5)4) was the chief constituent of the anti- knock compound added to gasoline to prevent premature detonation in internal-combustion en- gines. 4

Today, all of these uses and more are illegal in the United States because of the dangers of lead poisoning. Lead taken internally in any of its forms is highly toxic; the effects are usually felt after it has accumulated in the body over a period of time. The symptoms of lead poisoning are anemia, weak- ness, constipation, colic, palsy, and often a paralysis of the wrists and ankles. Flaking lead-based paints and toys made from lead compounds are considered serious hazards for children. Children are especially at hazard from lead, even at levels once thought safe. Lead can reduce intelligence, delay motor development, impair memory, and cause hearing problems and troubles in balance. In adults, one lead hazard at levels once thought safe is that of increased blood pressure. 5

Was lead a factor in the decline of the Roman Empire? Unfortunately, there may be a secret source of lead poisoning still in your home! Lead is used as a wick stiffener in some candles. As they burn, the lead goes into the air your breathe, and not insig- nificantly. The Public Citizen’s Health Research Group (HRG) found the level in indoor air suffi- cient to raise blood levels of lead above the thresh- old level for brain damage.

In 1974 the candle-making industry promised to stop using lead for stiffening wicks, but HRG found about 10% of candlewicks still contain lead. HRG also found that people who frequently burn candles have higher than normal blood levels of lead. 6

If you burn candles regularly, have everyone in your family get a blood test to see if you need treat- ment for elevated lead levels. Best would be to postpone burning candles until we have protective legislation in this area. Given how much we have learned about how dangerous this common metal is, I think it should be a crime to knowingly use lead in anything that humans (or animals!) come in contact with.

Chocolate Is Looking Better As previously reported, chocolate may have health benefits, and that is spurring interest in more studies. A recent study showed a “chocolate- flavored, low-fiber breakfast cereal” might have cholesterol lowering and blood pressure lowering properties. 7

1 "Lead," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
2 www.ehs.pvt.k12.ca.us/projects/9798/AnCiv6/Rome/ACyan
3 Encarta, ibid.
4 Encarta, ibid.
5 Encarta, ibid.
6 JAMA, 284:180, 2000.
7 Archives of Internal Medicine 2000;160:2374-2379.
Autumn: Why You Must Get The Lead Out

In the Woody Allen movie Sleeper, one of the funniest jokes was how people in the future ate. They ate lots of junk food because after hundreds of years of research “junk” food turned out to be the healthiest! I think what makes this irony so hilari- ous is that we have all had the experience of seeing Great New Things crumble under scrutiny. If you liked Sleeper, there is a report in Science News (157:188, 2000) that should make you smile.

Lots of people love chocolate, and we all “know” that it’s bad for you. However several recent studies have revealed that chocolate is high in flavonoid antioxidants! These flavonoids help prevent atherosclerosis (the narrowing of arteries by deposits of cholesterol), stabilize blood platelets, and they are especially good at raising your level of HDL (“good” cholesterol). So chocolate turns out to be good for your heart!

Now before you go out and hit the candy aisle, remember a few things. First, a “chocolate” bar is not usually pure chocolate. It has sugar added, and often fats or fatty things like nuts and caramel. Unfortunately no research we know of indicates sugar will double your IQ, and no studies have shown fat consumption gives you big muscles. Those two are still on the “bad” list. Secondly, until more is known, only about two ounces of chocolate per day is recommended. So if you eat the whole box of chocolates, you are still going to have to feel guilty about most of it. Finally, almost all of these reports have come from research funded at least in part by the chocolate industry. Let’s remain a little skeptical until some independent confirmation comes in!

Good Is Bad
Hot tubs can be very therapeutic. Now it turns out they can harbor bacteria. Doctors at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver recently treated nine people for lung disease. Four were children. The lung disease was caused by nontuberculosis mycobacteria found in hot tub water or in the air of their homes! Apparently re- searches at National Jewish found several strains of the bacteria can thrive in the floating “slime layers” in ornamental waterfalls, heated pools, hot tubs, and even hot water heaters!

Fortunately, these bacteria are not contagious like tuberculosis. They way they get into your body is by air. The hot tub jets “aerosolize” the bacteria; so can your showerhead. If you are healthy, that steamy shower poses little threat, but if you already have a lung disease you have a greater chance of becoming infected. Symptoms include fever, fa- tigue, night sweats, coughing, and weight loss. For mild cases the best thing to do is remove the hot tub from the home. For severe cases antibiotics are prescribed.

Now if only life were a Woody Allen movie so all our harmful bacteria turn out to be beneficial! Another Revealing Study

Do balding men get more heart attacks? Or less?
A study at Harvard University deemed this question worthwhile. Archives of Internal Medicine (160: 165, 2000) reported an analysis of the hair loss and heart problems of almost 20,000 physicians. It turns out that if you are starting to get bald in the front by age 45 you have a 10% increased risk of developing angina (chest pain due to heart disease), a heart attack, or to require coronary artery bypass surgery over the next 11 years. “Vertex pattern baldness,” which is losing a roundish patch of hair on the top of your head, indicates a 25% risk of heart trouble, and both types of baldness indicates a 75% risk of heart problems by age 56. As if men with hair loss don’t already have enough to worry about!
Summer: Bad Is Good

A recent article in prominent health supplement magazine started like this: “Widely used, dependable and safe, excipi- ents will never be the subject of a New York Times exposé. But tablets and capsules couldn’t exist without them.” 1

Both sentences are false! But I can see how a pro-manufacturing publication would have that viewpoint. Got a problem making your product? Just throw in an additive! If it’s too dull, add dye. Too thin, add a thickener. Spoils easily, add pre- servative. Separates, add emulsifiers. Sticks to the container, add a release agent. There are excipients that help stick together, help dissolve, help lubri- cate, help harden, help soften, and so forth. No argument, excipients are useful. But are they safe and necessary as the article claims?

Here at Self Health Resource Center we are do- ing more manufacturing for one primary reason: control over what goes into each product. We don’t want additives. But as a result of trying to live without them, I’ve become much more sympathetic to manufacturers who use them. We tried putting digestive enzymes in one of our encapsulating machines and after five minutes or so, the machine ground to a halt. It turned out that as the machine compressed the powdered enzymes prior to stuffing the capsule the enzymes became gluey. What to do? If you believe that excipients are safe, you just add a little lubricant, like magnesium stearate. Now your capsules fill marvelously! And the best part is: small amounts like the quarter of one percent you added don’t have to be declared on the label! So the manufacturer is happy and the consumer is happy (but doesn’t know the truth).

If you believe that excipients may not be safe, you have a tougher problem to solve. You can’t use the machine, and doing one capsule at a time, by hand, is not an option either. We ended up looking for other types of encapsulating machines, and found one that used an auger to fill, rather than pins that packed the powder. The digestive enzymes run fine, now, but most manufactures would rather spend a dollar’s worth of magnesium stearate than $50,000 to $100,000 on an encapsulating machine.

Why do we do it? Pollution. When you manu- facture a product it’s very easy for impurities to be introduced. Two metal parts that are not perfectly aligned will rub together, causing minute amounts of metal to shed. The chemicals used to sterilize the machine may not be rinsed off completely. An aluminum scoop is left in the powder overnight and a minor chemical reaction introduces traces of aluminum. The “food-grade” oil that lubricates rotating parts oozes out. I hate to sound so negative, but there are lots of ways for products to pick up pollutants. By minimizing our ingredients, we minimize possible impurities.

We strive to produce vitamins and minerals that have only two ingredients: the vitamin itself, and the gelatin capsule. And it’s also why we don’t make tablets: they require compression agents, disintegration agents, release agents, and often more (check the label on any tabletted product).

There are, however, some situations that require us to add another ingredient. Take folic acid, for instance. One milligram is the dose, but even our smallest capsule holds one hundred twenty milli- grams! So we add filler, which allows the capsules to be loaded. Oat bran is our preferred filler. Oat products typically don’t cause allergic reactions, minimal processing is done to it (minimizing possi- ble pollution), it runs nicely through our encapsula- tor, and it’s a real food that is good for you! But it is chunky, and not well suited for our smaller cap- sules. So we also use cornstarch when needed. That’s why I disagree with the excipient article. It is possible to live without them. Plus I bet if we wait a while the New York Times will discover a problem with some, too!

1 Wagner, J., editor, Nutritional Outlook, Oct 1999, p67.
Spring: