The Most Powerful Anti-Cancer Kernel Known On Planet Earth

By Dr. Veronique Desaulniers

Dr. Ernest Krebs was a biochemist in the early 1950s whose desire to understand what makes cancer cells work led him to discover a possible key to overcoming the disease. Working on a hunch that cancer is ultimately a metabolic reaction to a poor diet, Krebs began studying the lifestyle habits of the Hunzas whose remote country is hidden near Northern Pakistan.

The Hunzas and Apricot Kernels 

Major Sir Robert McCarrison wrote about the Hunzas back in the 1930s when he had a post with the Indian Medical Service. According to McCarrison, the Hunzas enjoyed near-perfect physical and mental health and some of them lived to be over 135 years old. There seemed to be no evidence of diabetes, obesity, or heart attacks among them as well. There was also no evidence of cancer.

What made the Hunzas so resilient? Their vitality had a lot to do with what they ate and their overall lifestyle. Their diet was simple. According to McCarrison, it consisted of raw milk, the occasional meat and bone broth, fresh grains and veggies. They ate very little sugar and their lifestyles as nomads and herders meant they got plenty of vigorous exercise. The other characteristic was that the group ate large quantities of apricot seed kernels. Intrigued by this peculiarity, Krebs researched until he found what he thought was the secret weapon for tumor eradication – amygdalin.

What is Amygdalin?

Amygdalin is a compound that is found in over 1200 edible plants in nature (and, not surprisingly, is also missing in large part from the Standard American Diet). It is found in the highest concentrations and with the most effective accompanying enzymes in apricot seed kernels.

The substance laetrile was created by Dr. Krebs as a concentrated form of amygdalin that is obtained by extracting it from apricot kernels. Amygdalin is a nitriloside and its structure most resembles that of a B complex vitamin, so Krebs named it B17.

What Makes Apricot Kernels a Cancer Killer?

Amygdalin found in apricot kernels and laetrile contains four potent substances: two of which are benzaldehyde and cyanide. You heard that right! Cyanide is one of the substances that makes apricot kernels a force to be reckoned with when it comes to beating cancer, including breast cancer.

Many healthy foods, such as bitter almonds, millet, sprouts, lima beans, spinach and bamboo shoots, actually have quantities of cyanide in them, yet they are still safe to eat. This is because the cyanide remains "locked" within the substance and is therefore harmless when bound within other molecular formations. In addition, rhodanese is an enzyme in the body whose job is to "catch" any free cyanide molecules that may have escaped and render them harmless.

Cancer cells are not normal cells, however; they contain beta-glucosidase, which healthy cells do not. Beta-glucosidase is also the "unlocking enzyme" for the cyanide and benzaldehyde in amygdalin molecules. When the beta-glucosidase in a cancer cell unlocks an amygdalin molecule, a toxic synergy is created that specifically targets cancer cells. With the help of rhodanese and other protective enzymes, healthy cells are not jeopardized by this process.

Laetrile: A Potentially Powerful Cancer Therapy

Laetrile was readily obtainable prior to 1971 when the FDA banned it in the US. Although it is not impossible to obtain laetrile, these days apricot kernels are the easiest way to ingest amygdalin. They are easy to obtain at health food stores or online and are also fairly inexpensive.

Clinics exist outside of the US where B17 or laetrile therapy is still administered. Laetrile is often used in addition to other therapies such as sodium bicarbonate.

If you feel that B17 therapy is the way to go for you, be sure to get the facts about dosage and possible side effects. Talk to your integrated medical practitioner about your particular situation.

While the mystery may remain as to the main cause for the Hunza's amazing vitality, one thing is for certain: their simple and stress-free way of eating, working, interacting and moving their bodies have made them examples of the health that YOU are capable of having when you take proactive steps to heal your body naturally.

Please help bring more awareness about apricot kernels and cancer fighting laetrile by sharing this article with your friends and family below.

Original Article by:  Dr. Veronique Desaulniers for thetruthaboutcancer.com

Sources and References

Oncology’s Greatest Secret Exposed: The REAL Truth About Chemo And Radiation!

Cancer is big business, no doubt about it. But did you know that the treatment your doctor orders could actually increase the likelihood that you will become a repeat customer? Conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation actually promote cancer. Yes, you read that correctly… they promote cancer!

Cancer is increasingly becoming a survivable disease, yet the treatments cause considerable collateral damage – including initiating new, second cancers.

Second cancers are cancers unrelated to the original cancer, which can be triggered by the very same imbalances or cancer-causing agents that led to the first cancer. In fact, doctors sometimes refer to the risk of a second cancer as 'friendly fire' – that is treatment for one cancer resulting in the initiation of a second cancer. How in God's name could any doctor fail to mention to a patient the possibility that second cancers can be created by the very cancer treatment they are administering?

How Long Has it Been Known That Chemotherapy and Radiation Can Lead to Second Cancers?

The link between chemotherapy and radiation and the development of second cancers has been known for decades! Even the American Cancer Society acknowledges that radiotherapy and chemotherapy are carcinogens and may increase risk for developing a second cancer, and that the risk is even higher when both therapies are given together.^[i] Yet still this information is not typically shared with patients or is severely downplayed by oncologists.

Chemotherapy and Second Cancers

Chemotherapy targets the DNA of cancer cells, specifically rapidly dividing cells. However, in the process it also impacts healthy cells. Risk is dose and treatment-duration related.

The most common cancers linked to chemotherapy drugs are AML (acute lymphocytic leukemia) and MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome).^[ii] The recent news of ABC's Good Morning America host Robin Robert's diagnosis of MDS is a perfect example.

Radiation and Second Cancers

Beyond the obvious link from radiation exposure to cancer (Chernobyl, Fukushima and atomic bomb blasts in Japan) and all the credible new information linking cell phones and EMFs to cancer, radiation therapy has been recognized as carcinogenic for many years. Like chemotherapy drugs, radiation destroys cancer cells but also harms healthy cells.

Radiation therapy has been linked to the occurrence of solid tumors of the lung, stomach, and bone, and to various leukemia's such as AML (acute myelogenous leukemia), CML (chronic myelogenous leukemia) and ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia).

The Links Between Chemotherapy and Radiation to Second Cancers are Known and Vast

• Chemotherapy drugs that are alkylating agents such as mechlorethamine, cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, melahalan and others interfere with a cell's DNA that can sometimes cause AML and MDS.
• Non-alkylating chemotherapy agents (platinum-based drugs) such as cisplatin and carboplatin attack cancer cells in a similar way, increasing the risk for leukemia. Risk is dose related and the risk of developing leukemia increases even more if radiation is given along with cisplatin or carboplatin (or other platins).
• In the case of topoisomerase II inhibitors such as Etoposide, Teniposide and Mitoantrone, the drugs stop cells from being able to repair DNA, sometimes causing leukemia, often within as little as 2-3 years. Anthracyclines, while still topoisomerase II inhibitors, are less likely to cause leukemia
• Targeted therapy drugs such as Zelboraf and Tafinlar, which are used to treat melanoma, increase the risk of squamous cell carcinomas of the skin.[i]
• Patients given immunosuppressive medication (they suppress the immune system), such as cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil and nitrogen mustard – for treatment or during organ transplants – are proven to develop second cancers.[ii]
• Radiation treatment for breast cancer significantly increases risk for developing lung cancer.^[iii]
• Radiation treatment to the prostate can result in carcinomas.
• Chemo used to treat lymphomas and breast cancer can initiate bladder cancer.
• Chemo has been linked to the initiation of testicular cancer.
• Prior cancer treatments are a key risk factor for subsequent neoplasms for childhood cancer survivors.
• Stem cell transplants increase risk of second cancers from the chemotherapy and radiation used as well as the associated suppression of the immune system.

While secondary malignancies may be due to many factors, chemotherapy and radiation are both carcinogens; exposure to these therapies can result in an increased risk of second cancers.

Sadly, many oncologists do not inform their patients that the treatments they prescribe could possibly lead to a second cancer. Now you know and The Truth About Cancer is here to educate and empower you with this knowledge and information.

Please help bring more awareness about the dangers of second cancers from chemotherapy and radiation by sharing this article with your friends and family.

By Elyn Jacobs via The Truth About Cancer

This Bath Pulls Toxins Out Of The Body; Improves Muscle And Nerve Function, Reduces Inflammation

Epsom salts have been used by many different cultures for hundreds of years. They have a number of different beneficial properties and are used in gardening, household cleaning and detoxifying the body. These salts are very inexpensive and can be purchased at bulk discounts in garden centers nearly everywhere. Using Epsom salt baths is an advanced detoxification strategy that has remarkable health benefits.

Epsom salts are named for a bitter saline spring located at Epsom in Surrey, England. Epsom is different than traditional salts in that it is actually a naturally occurring pure mineral compound of magnesium and sulfate. These minerals have very powerful health benefits that can enhance the detoxification capabilities of the body.

Magnesium and sulfate are both readily absorbed through the skin and into the body's blood stream. The skin is a highly porous membrane that both takes in minerals and eliminates toxins every day. Using a powerful mineral base such as Epsom salts in a bathwater medium creates a process called reverse osmosis. This process pulls salt and harmful toxins out of the body and allows the magnesium and sulfates to enter into the body.

Magnesium plays a critical role in over 325 enzymes, helps to improve muscle and nerve function, reduces inflammation and improves blood flow and oxygenation throughout the body. Sulfates are necessary building blocks for healthy joints, skin and nervous tissue. Epsom salts replenish the body's magnesium levels and sulfates. This combination helps to flush toxins from the body and helps build key protein molecules in the brain tissue and joints.

The use of regular Epsom salt baths has been shown to improve the symptoms of many health conditions including athlete's foot, gout, toenail fungus, sprains, bruises and muscle soreness. It is also good for anyone dealing with chronic disease or chronic pain to do regular Epsom baths to help detoxify and de-inflame while improving mineral and sulfur balance in the body.

Contraindications to Epsom baths would be if you are pregnant, dehydrated or have open wounds or burns on your skin. Individuals who are suffering with cardiovascular disease should always consult with a natural health physician who is familiar with the health benefits of Epsom salt baths before starting.

The first step is to schedule yourself at least 40 minutes, as you need about 20 minutes to remove the toxins, and for the second 20 minutes, the body absorbs the minerals in the bath water.
Fill up your bath with warm water. Be sure to have a water filtration system in your house, as you don't want to bathe in tap water that has toxic chlorine, fluoride, dioxins and heavy metals. Add in the Epsom salts in the following amounts:

Children under 60 lbs: Add 1/2 cup of salts to a standard size bath
Individuals between 60-100 lbs: Add 1 cup of salts to a standard size bath
Individuals between 100-150 lbs: Add 1 1/2 cup of salts to a standard size bath
Individuals between 150-200 lbs: Add 2 cups of salts to a standard size bath
For every 50lbs larger – add in an additional 1/2 cup of salts.

Adding in a 1/2 cup of olive oil is also very good for the skin, as the polyphenols soak into the skin and give extra antioxidant benefits. Adding ginger or cayenne can increase your heat levels, which will help you to sweat out toxins. You can add anywhere from 1 tbsp to 1/2 a cup to stimulate sweating, and these herbs are loaded with antioxidants that will enhance the detoxification process as well.

Do not use soap with an Epsom salt bath, as it will interfere with the action of the minerals and the detoxification process. Try to rest for an hour or two afterwards unless you have arthritic joints, in which case you will want to stay active as much as possible to prevent congestion in the joints.

(Source)

2 Drops of This In Your Ears and 97% of Your Hearing Recovers!

Auditory problems are most commonly a result of aging, but these days, a growing number of people suffer from issues of this kind.

Hearing loss dramatically impedes your ability to function normally in the world, and it may complicate your life to a high extent. For instance, you might face numerous problems or unpleasant situations at work, or your life might be endangered if you cannot hear the horns of vehicles while walking or driving.

There are many commercial treatments and remedies on the market, but we will reveal an effective natural remedy which will help you recover the hearing ability and reduce the hearing issues.

What's best about this remedy is that it also provides excellent effects in the case of 80 and 90 years old as well. It is believed to be able to recover up to 97% of your hearing.

The ingredient you need to prepare this amazing natural remedy is probably already in your kitchen, and it is one of the healthiest foods on the planet- garlic!

Garlic has potent medicinal properties which are extremely helpful in the treatment of various health issues. This is how to use it to help you recover your hearing:

You will need:

-3 garlic cloves
-olive oil
-cotton or gauze
-dropper

Directions:

Peel the garlic cloves, wash them, and press them firmly to extract the juice. Try to get as much juice as possible.

Then, mix the garlic juice with the olive oil and pour the mixture in a dropper.

Use:

You should pour 3-4 drops of the remedy in the ear. Close the ear with cotton or gauze. Lie down a bit to help the oil penetrate deeply into the ear. You can expect the effects very soon, and you will surely be impressed!

(Source)

Any Type Of Cancer Can Be Cured In Just 2-6 Weeks

Dr. Leonard Coldwell claims that any type of cancer can be cured in just 2 to 6 weeks. Make sure you take a look at the video bellow this article. You will be surprised when you see it. Yes, that's true, cancer can be cured. I hope you'll be amazed as I was when I watched the video for the first time.

Cancer is one of the most dangerous and deadly diseases today. A lot of families have lost a family member cause of this deadly disease. My dad died of cancer when I was 17. That was extremely painful experience for me and it had changed my life completely. The worst thing in your life is to look how the cancer eats your closest family members and friends from the inside and you can't do anything about it. When I saw Dr. Coldwell's video and article I was so happy and amazed, because I don't want to see people die from this terrible disease and their closest friends and family suffer if they lose one. Cancer can attack anyone. You can never know who will be its next victim. So make sure you watch this video bellow and start believing that there is hope for all cancer and future cancer patients.

The Cancer Industry is too Prosperous to Allow a Cure for Cancer

You've probably heard the term "cancer can be treated with the convention chemotherapy treatments and prescribed medications". But do you actually believe that these medications can cure cancer? I don't! We've spent everything we had to pay for my father's chemotherapy treatments and medications. All these treatments cost a fortune, and didn't help my dad with his disease. They even made it worse. In the last few weeks, my dad suffered from agonizing pains, caused by the chemotherapy treatment. Do you know why the cancer industry still offers the chemotherapy and cancer medications to the cancer patients? It's all because of money. Nobody from the medical industry actually cares about the patients. They just care about profit and making money on selling medications that don't work and treat cancer patients with the conventional chemotherapy methods that are killing more good cells, than the cancer ones.

Have you ever heard about Dr. Leonard Coldwell?

Dr. Coldwell's family had some serious cancer problems. All seven brothers and sisters, from his mother's side suffered from carcinoma. His dad and his grandma also died from cancer. He saw how his closest family members and friends die from this terrible disease and he couldn't do anything about it. That's why he dedicated his life in finding an effective cure for cancer.

In his career so far, Dr. Coldwell has seen more than 35,000 patients, around 2.2 million partakers in his workshops who write their life stories and has more than 7 million fans who read his articles and reports. According to some influential people in the medical industry, Dr. Coldwell has one of the leading roles in curing cancer. His website was blocked by the federal government, because of his success in curing cancer.

Dr. Leonard Coldwell claims that cancer can be cured in most patients, without using the conventional chemotherapy treatments or any contact with radiation. But he is not allowed to tell this to anyone. Dr. Coldwell says that's because of the people who make profit from cancer patients and the law doesn't allow him to do so.

The healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry earn millions and millions of dollars through the cancer industry. This situation makes legislators legislate laws that will kill us. Or they will make you sick, and the laws that are supposed to protect us will not allow the right treatment for this deadly disease. They will make you sick and make the disease even worse with the poisonous and harsh "medical" treatments.

Dr. Coldwell – The Only Answer to Cancer

Dr. Leonard Coldwell claims that any type of cancer can be cured in 2 to 16 weeks. And there are some types of cancer, if treated with the right treatment can be healed in few minutes. He says that positivity and hopefulness that really helps in the healing process.

First of all, Dr. Coldwell says that we need to eat more vegetables. This type of diet gives the body lots of oxygen. And if we add calcium and other alkalizing foods we will alkalize our bodies. This is very important for all cancer patients because the progress of cancer stop when the body is alkalized.

Other important thing you should know is that our body has to achieve what is called a therapeutic Ph level. pH has 14 levels from 0 to 14. The lower values are the acidic region and the higher values are the alkaline region. The median neutral level is Ph 7. When the body reaches pH 7 it's alkaline. A level of 7.36 is very good, but when it comes to treatment, a pH of around 7.5 or higher should be present.

Dr. Coldwell claims that the "intravenous" injection of Vitamin C is very helpful. 100 cc every day, 3 times a week or less will give more than amazing results. Believe it or not, the cancer disappears in a few days after the Vitamin C injection.

Other thing you should do is eliminate hypoxia. Dr. Martin, Dr. Coldwell's friend offers a great solution for this – an oxygen therapy which involves several steps. In this method, blood is taken out, it's enriched with pure oxygen and then re-injected into the body 12 times. When the blood is taken out of the body has a shade black color. But with this therapy, the blood that is re-injected has a shade of beautiful pink, like the blood of newborn baby. It's completely fresh. This treatment fills the body with energy.

Vitamin C and E – the miracle cures

Dr. Coldwell says that you need to eat foods, which have high amount of Vitamin C, such as: chili peppers, cabbage, broccoli, papaya, strawberries, cauliflower, pineapples, kiwi fruit, oranges and lemons. But, Vitamin C is not the only vitamin that has healing powers. We can add Vitamin E to this category as well. Vitamin E is extremely helpful with blood pressure. When it's treated quickly and effectively in any form, Vitamin E has shown that I can produce stunning results. But, the best source of Vitamin E should be a natural source, and not the artificially produced ones. A study done with artificial produced Vitamin E has shown that it was ineffective.

Remember, chemicals won't help you with cancer. The nature is the one that brings all these illnesses and the nature again will come to the rescue. We all know that cancer didn't exist 100 years ago and there are no reasons to exist now. We have caused this serious problem by ourselves. As we said before, the best and the most effective way to get rid of cancer is to consume fresh organic vegetables and other fresh raw foods.

Drink Water with sea salt

Other important thing, according to Dr. Coldwell is to drink 4 liters of water with ½ teaspoon of sea salt every day – unless you suffer from any type of kidney problem. If you think that excessive amounts of salt can lead to high blood pressure, Dr. Coldwell says not to worry. He says that even though we thought high amounts of salt is bad, the truth is actually the opposite. In fact, salt is essential. Lack of salt can create problems in your blood. Dr. Coldwell says that the electrical signal transmit only if the required amount of salt is present in our body.

What kind of salt do you use?

The real problem is with the table salt we all consume. The table salt we all consume contains only a third of actual salt. It contains 1/3 of glass and 1/3 of sand. This can cause some serious problems for our bodies. The sand and the glass irritate the blood vessels and they start bleeding. Then cholesterol clogs up to protect the blood vessels. Now you will think that high cholesterol can cause high blood pressure, right? But you are wrong again. This is not true, because you can't die from excessive cholesterol. But you can have some serious problems if you have deficiency in cholesterol. Some people have had cholesterol as high as 60 and haven't had any illness in their life.

HDL and LDL are proteins that move cholesterol?

To be honest, I have never heard about this before. We all know that there is good and bad cholesterol, or the so called HDL and LDL cholesterol. But, Dr. Coldwell disagrees and says that it's not cholesterol. He says that they are proteins that move cholesterol. Everything we thought we knew about this is completely wrong. But, how the doctors who say these things can be wrong too? For this we have Dr. Neal's opinion. Dr. Gray Neal says that according to the statistics the doctors have the shortest life span – they live 56 years, they suffer from alcoholism, drug abuse, as well as has the highest rate of suicides – it is higher only with psychiatrist – and yet we go to ask them how to live longer, happier and healthier life. I believe that you should change your opinion.

Why Mammograms Kill More Women Than They Save

Routine mammograms are far less effective at preventing breast cancer deaths and far more expected to cause unnecessary procedures, over-treatment and ultimately accelerate death.

1. A routine mammogram screening typically involves four x-rays, two per breast. This amounts to more than 150 times the amount of radiation that is used for a single chest x-ray. Bottom line: screening mammograms send a strong dose of ionizing radiation through your tissues. Any dose of ionzing radiation is capable of contributing to cancer and heart disease.
2. Screening mammograms increase the risk of developing cancer in premenopausal women.
3. Screening mammograms require breast tissue to be squeezed firmly between two plates. This compressive force can damage small blood vessels which can result in existing cancerous cells spreading to other areas of the body.
4. Cancers that exist in pre-menopausal women with dense breast tissue and in postmenopausal women on estrogen replacement therapy are commonly undetected by screening mammograms.
5. For women who have a family history of breast cancer and early onset of menstruation, the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer with screening mammograms when no cancer actually exists can be as high as 100 percent.

In 1974, while mammography was in its infancy, the National Cancer Institute was warned by Professor Malcolm C. Pike at the University of Southern California School of Medicine that a number of specialists had concluded that "giving a women under age 50 a mammogram on a routine basis was close to unethical". This warning was ignored.

Also in the 1970's, the Director of Biostatistics at Rosewell Park Memorial Institute for Cancer Research, Dr. Irwin Bross, headed a study involving data from 16 million people. This ground breaking study found that the main cause of the rising rates of leukemia was medical radiation in the form of diagnostic medical X-rays. Applying his findings to the breast cancer screening program, Dr. Bross later elaborated that "women should have been given the information about the hazards of radiation at the same time they were given the sales talk for mammography."

One of the largest mammogram studies ever initiated had to be cancelled because the mammogram group of women developed more cancer than the non-mammogram control group. This study is dismissed now because it was done in the early 70's and radiology has greatly progressed since then [they say].

In the early 1980's as the mammogram began to be rolled out to women across the country in the face of this research, the NCI and ACS jointly urged annual breast X-rays for women under age 50. Doctors assumed there was good evidence supporting the recommendations and became enthusiastically ordered mammograms for all their female patients, even though they should have know better.

In 1985, the Lancet, one of the five leading medical journals in the world, published an article condemning the mammography recommendations under which "Over 280,000 women were recruited without being told that no benefit of mammography had been shown in a controlled trial for women below 50, and without being warned about the potential risk of induction of breast cancer by the test which was supposed to detect it.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's panel last fall recommended against routine screening for women in their 40s. Thousands of scientists and medical professionals are unconvinced from conclusions of the new study and maintain that extreme caution is necessary before recommending a mammogram at any age.

Dr. Jeanne Mandelblatt, a Georgetown doctor who headed six research teams for the government panel, said the new study "does not balance the benefits against the harms," as the panel sought to do.

The new study looked at Sweden's mammography program. Since 1986, the country has required that screening be offered to women over 50 but left it up to each county to decide whether to offer it to younger women. About half of counties did, and researchers compared breast cancer death rates in areas where it was and wasn't offered.

They counted breast cancer deaths of women who had been diagnosed in their 40s and died within 16 years of followup. They compared two groups, one where screening was available and one where it was not.

The number of women in each group studied and the amount of time they were followed differed. Researchers did not express the results in terms of death rates, which would have made comparing these groups much easier.

Researchers did not have information on, and the study therefore could not account for, any differences in general health and other factors that could have affected the number of deaths.

"This is a very unscientific study based on findings and conclusions which completely ignore the potential risks and dangers associated with mammorgrams," said Dr. Kimberely Schor, a panelist who examines medical research.

If mammograms result in unnecessary procedures and over-treatment of what are actually harmless cancers that would go away by themselves, as the panel says, what is not being clearly stated is how many women die from or are seriously harmed by complications from biopsies and chemotherapy. Every surgical procedure carries risk, and women are being regularly subjected to those risks unnecessarily because of a faulty (yet very profitable) tests. Cancer treatment is of course known to carry very real risk, including a non-significant risk of death from the treatment, yet women are being unnecessarily subjected to that too (also very profitable).

In addition, anyone who has experienced a false positive knows just how many subsequent diagnostic mammograms you are then subjected to, which one can only conclude involves a non-trivial amount of radiation (far more than what you receive in a simple screening mammogram).

The research, published in New England Journal of Medicine, is the latest to show that the benefits of mammography are limited and will reignite the debate over the treatment.

The Norwegian research team said inviting women aged 50 to 69 to have routine mammograms and offering them better care from a team of experts cut the breast cancer death rate by only 10 percent, a highly controversial figure.

But the death rate in women over 70 – a group that also got better care but were were not urged to have mammograms – fell by 8 per cent, indicating that the mammograms only produced a slight benefit. The researchers had expected a 30 per cent reduction.

'There is a reduction in mortality, but it's lower than we anticipated,' said lead researcher Dr Mette Kalager of Oslo University Hospital.

Some 2,500 women would have to be regularly screened over 10 years to save one life from breast cancer, Dr H Gilbert Welch of Dartmouth Medical School noted in an accompanying editorial.

Yet as many as 1,000 will be told that doctors have seen something suspicious, around 500 will be subjected to a biopsy, and between 5 and 15 women will be treated unnecessarily for a condition that was never going to bother them.

'It's not the great lifesaver that people think it is. It's not a magic bullet,' said Dr Jeanne Mandelblatt of Georgetown University, who is shaping new mammogram guidelines for a U.S government task force.

If mammograms are both useless and dangerous, why then does the medical community continue to use it and other "heroic" cancer practices? The answer as to why they behave so caustically toward patients has been given many times in the history of medicine with the only difference now being that they have legally suppressed a citizen's right to choice in health care.

Before you decide to have a mammogram make sure you have been told of the risks in advance. Get the facts (the truth is out there) and then make your own conclusions.

Sources:
dailymail.co.uk
preventdisease.com
oprah.com
allvoices.com
sciencedaily.com
drbenkim.com
preventdisease.com

Original source: Prevent Disease

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Sap From Common Garden Weed Cures Skin Cancer

A common weed could help cure skin cancers, claim researchers.

The sap from a plant known as petty spurge or milkweed – found by roadsides and in woodland – can 'kill' certain types of cancer cells when applied to the skin.

It works on non-melanoma skin cancers, which affect millions each year.

They are triggered by sun damage and, although not usually fatal, can be disfiguring without treatment.

The plant has been used for centuries as a traditional folk medicine to treat conditions such as warts, asthma and several types of cancer.

But for the first time a team of scientists in Australia has carried out a clinical study of sap from Euphorbia peplus, which is related to Euphorbia plants grown in gardens in the UK.

The study of 36 patients with a total of 48 non-melanoma lesions included basal cell carcinomas (BCC), squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and intraepidermal carcinomas (IEC), a growth of cancerous cells confined to the outer layer of the skin.

Patients had failed to respond to conventional treatment including surgery, or they refused or were unsuitable for surgery because of their age.

The patients were treated once a day for three consecutive days by an oncologist using a cotton bud to apply enough of the E.peplus sap to cover the surface of each lesion.

The initial results were impressive, says findings to be released this week in the British Journal of Dermatology.

After only one month 41 of the 48 cancers had completely gone.

Patients who had some of the lesions remaining were offered a second course of treatment.

After an average of 15 months following treatment, two thirds of the 48 skin cancer lesions were still showing a complete response.

Of the three types of skin cancer tested, the final outcome was a 75 per cent complete response for IEC lesions, 57 per cent for BCC and 50 per cent for SCC lesions.

Side-effects were low, with 43 per cent of patients in no pain as a result of the treatment and only 14 per cent reporting moderate pain, and only one patient encountered severe short-term pain.

FACTFILE: PETTY SPURGE OR MILKWOOD Latin name: Euphorbia peplus Occurrence: Petty spurge is a small, branched annual, plentiful in gardens and arable fields. It is native and common throughout the UK, in any kind of soil. The plant exudes a milky sap when damaged, which is a severe irritant if applied to the skin. Biology: Petty spurge flowers from April to November. The seed number per plant ranges from 260 to 1,200. Petty spurge may be found in fruit for eight months of the year. Seedlings emerge throughout the year except for in winter but the main flush is from April to May. Most seed germinates within a year of shedding. Just a few seedlings emerge in the following 5 years. Germination occurs at 5 to 10 mm depth in soil. Persistence and Spread: Seed recovered from house demolitions and archaeological digs and dated at 20, 25, 30 and 100 years old has been reported to germinate.

In all cases of successful treatment the skin was left with a good cosmetic appearance.

The researchers, from a number of medical institutions in Brisbane, attribute the benefit to the active ingredient ingenol mebutate which has been shown to destroy tumour cells.

British experts said further studies were needed and people should not try this at home as the weed sap can be harmful to the eyes and should not be eaten.

More than 76,500 people are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer in the UK each year, with 90 per cent caused by ultraviolet light exposure.

Lesions usually appear on the areas most exposed to the sun, such as the head, neck, ears, and back of the hands.

Kimberley Carter of the British Association of Dermatologists said: 'This is a very small test group so it will be interesting to see what larger studies and the development of the active ingredient in E. peplus sap will reveal.

'Whilst it would not provide an alternative to surgery for the more invasive skin cancers or melanoma, in the future it might become a useful addition to the treatments available to patients for superficial, non-melanoma skin cancers.

'Any advances that could lead to new therapies for patients where surgery is not an option are definitely worth investigating.

'It is also very important to note that this is definitely not a treatment people should be trying out at home.

'Exposure of the sap to mucous producing surfaces, such as the eyes, results in extreme inflammation and can lead to hospitalisation.

'The concentration of the active ingredients in the sap also varies between different plants, with high doses able to cause very severe and excessive inflammatory responses.'

Source: Prevent Disease

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One Place You Should Never Buy Seafood From

Big-Box stores and their subsidiaries are generically the worst places to buy seafood from…here's why.

In 2009, Americans spent over $75 billion on seafood. Truly, when that kind of money is talking, the whole world listens.

As such, it's important to be very careful about what message we transmit through this massive microphone. When we spend our dollars at seafood merchants that are pursuing business models which take environmental issues into account, we offer these purveyors financial incentive to continue along this path. On the other hand, if we buy toxic shrimp from the Guld or pirate-caught Chilean sea bass from a seafood merchant that has no compunction about selling it, we reward this type of nefarious behavior and communicate to the marketplace at large that we, the consumers, don't particularly care about the ramifications of our seafood choices.

If we shift our purchasing dollars away from larger companies and toward competitors that operate under a more eco-sensitive paradigm and conscious of toxins in the food supply, perhaps we can encourage these operators to change their ways.

A big-box store (also supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. Costco and Sam's Club are examples of big-box stores which offer discounts to their members by purchasing very large volumes while compromising the integrity and safety of the food supply.

Numerous environmental groups, such as the Mangrove Action Project and a number of Canadian anti-salmon farming organizations, have spoken out against Costco's seafood operation in recent years. Greenpeace, too, has been campaigning on this issue since June 2010, highlighting the company's lack of a comprehensive sustainable seafood policy and willingness to sell unsustainable products as long as they are certified by a "reputable" body (Costco has conveniently left this adjective undefined).

Costco has recently removed a number of key unsustainable species from its shelves, but the company refuses to elaborate on its policy or adopt any strict scientific benchmarks in its sourcing practices, and thus these dubious seafood items may yet reappear in Costco's freezers.

Big-box stores are typically the first to accept genetically modified foods since large biotech companies have direct affiliations via food manufacturers who directly supply them. Costco will certainly be one of the first on board to accept toxic Gulf shrimp, genetically modified salmon, GMO monster fish which have already been given approval by American safety authorities.

Why would scientists be trying to steer people away from safe, responsibly caught fish?

It is true that outdated data is a concern — the dynamic nature of the ocean means we're always playing catch-up — but who is more likely to offer a precautionary and wise course of action: a scientist who remains financially unaffected by the vicissitudes of the seafood market, or a fishmonger who is quite clearly benefiting (in the short run) from the sale of as much fish as he can get his hands on?

Source: Prevent Disease

What Your Blood Type Says About You

Can blood type determine your personality? I have a rare blood type—AB+, which only 4 percent of the U.S. has—and secretly, I always thought it made me kind of special, even though I had no basis for that belief. But in Japan, blood type is used to determine one's personality and temperament. Like astrology, the scientific community often dismisses blood type as an indicator of personality, but that doesn't stop its popularity in Japanese women's magazines, where blood type horoscopes are published. In Japanese video games, blood type is commonly a dimension in character creation. In fact, some Japanese might even be shocked if a foreigner didn't know her blood type.

In 1927, Takeji Furukawa, a Japanese professor, introduced the theory to the Japanese public in a paper entitled, "The Study of Temperament Through Blood Type." Even though he lacked the proper credentials and backed up nothing scientifically, the public embraced the idea of blood type as a determination of personality. The Japanese government even commissioned a study to determine if they could breed better soldiers. In the 1970s, a book by Masahiko Nomi revived the idea, which is still popular with the general Japanese public. In 2008, four books on the topic have hit Japan's top ten bestseller lists.

Find Out Your Blood Type

One of the easiest ways to find out your blood type is to give blood. Since it has to be matched for donation, they type it anyway, so you can always ask. If you're pregnant, doctors administer certain blood tests to assess potential genetic problems, so determining the mother's blood type is standard. You can ask your doctor to perform a test when you get blood drawn, but since it isn't usually medically relevant, you may have to pay for the test. The easiest way? Ask your parents; they probably know.

Type O
You are the social butterflies. Often popular and self-confident, you are very creative and always seem to be the center of attention. You make a good impression on people and you're often quite attractive. Organized and determined, your stubbornness will help you reach your goals. You make good leaders. Lovewise, O is most compatible with O and AB. Common career choices: banker, politician, gambler, minister, investment broker, and pro athlete.

Type A
Type As may seem calm on the outside, but inside, you're filled with anxiety and worry. You're perfectionists and often shy and sensitive. Usually introverted, you're stable and thoughtful. You make good listeners and are sensitive to color and your surroundings. You like to be fashionable and are up on the latest trends, but never flashy or gaudy. You like romantic settings and often shun reality for fantasy worlds. A is most compatible with A and AB in the love department. Common career choices: accountant, librarian, economist, writer, computer programmer, and gossip columnist.

Type B
You can be very goal-oriented and often complete the ambitious tasks set before you. Outgoing and very charming, you're good at reading people and providing support. Though critical of appearance (but not your own), you aren't picky and are unlikely to dwell over the little things. Type Bs are impulsive individualists who often create their own path in life. You are very strong and optimistic. B is most compatible with B and AB lovers. Common career choices: cook, hairdresser, military leader, talk show host, and journalist.

Type AB
Not surprisingly, ABs can be quite dualistic, possessing both A and B traits. You may be shy and outgoing, and hesitant and confident. You often stand out from others, don't like labels, and are nice and easy going. You are logical and determined to do things correctly. Usually trustworthy, you like to help others. You often speak in a serious manner. Your patience, concentration, and intelligence are admirable. AB can find a soul mate with any other blood type. Common career choices: bartender, lawyer, teacher, sales representative, and social worker.

We all love to know things about ourselves and blood type is just another fun way to learn new traits and understand why we do certain things. You don't have to believe in it to get something out of it—just have fun with it and take it with a grain of salt. My blood type is actually considered the worst in Japan; no one wants to work with ABs and most anime villains are that type. Glad I live in America!

By Natalie Josef

Source: Prevent Disease

Image Credits

See How Your Fingers Length Reveals Your Personality!

Can you imagine that the length of your fingers actually reveals details about your personality? Compare your index and ring finger to see if it matches with your personality.

The image below presents three types of finger lengths — A, B and C. Look at your fingers more carefully and check the meaning below.

A) People whose ring finger is longer than their index finger are beautiful and attractive. Their charm is pretty irresistible to others. Moreover, they are pretty aggressive and gladly take risks.

They usually choose to be soldiers, engineers, chess players and they also do good in solving crosswords. Studies have shown that people with longer ring fingers are successful earn more than individuals with shorter ring fingers.

B) People with shorter ring fingers are self-confident, full of themself and quite arrogant. They enjoy their free time and solitude; they sure do not want to be disturbed. Speaking of relationships, they will never take the first step, but they appreciate all the attention they get.

C) People whose ring and index finger are the same length are peace loving and do not like being in a conflict. They are organized and almost always get along with people around. They are faithfull in relationships, full of tenderness and care about their partners.

Source: www.healthylifetricks.com

Healthy Food House

Drink Pineapple Water In The Morning For A Year (And These 10 Things Happen)

According to Ayurveda, your daily routine helps build up resistance to or facilitate specific diseases.  Drinking fresh pineapple water before your breakfast is one those healthy morning rituals that may improve your health.

Pineapple contains a many lesser known micronutrients. It is packed with bromelain and vitamin C, and these both aid in every healing many processes in the body.

10 reasons to add pineapple to your water

1. Fights Inflammation

Bromelain has strong anti-inflammatory properties. It helps the body eliminate toxins by fighting off inflammation that affect tissues and organs. Regular consumption of pineapple aids in the treatment of arthritis and sports injuries by reducing inflammation and relieving pain.

2. Healthy Weight Loss

Thanks to its high fiber content, pineapples take more time to digest, and thus makes you feel full for longer. Pineapple water prevents sugar and fat cravings. Thiamine converts carbohydrates into energy and boosts metabolism.

3. Flushes Parasites From Liver and Intestines

Bromelain has anti-parasitic properties. Some studies have shown that a three-day pineapple fast kills off tape worms.

4. Proper Thyroid Function

Pineapples are rich in iodine and bromelain. These help in the treatment of many autoimmune disorders, and relieve thyroiditis-associated symptoms.

5. Balanced Electrolytes

Potassium found in pineapples make your body stronger and maintain proper electrolyte balance, thus preventing cramps or injuries.

6. Flushes Out Heavy Metals and Toxins

Pineapple is packed with fiber, enzymes and antioxidants that clean the body from heavy metals and toxins.

7. Digestive Aid

Bromelain stimulates the body to digest proteins more efficiently.

8. Strengthens Gums, Whitens and Preserves Teeth

According to Dr Frawley, bromelain is a natural stain remover. It breaks up plaque efficiently.

9. Improves Vision

Beta-carotene and vitamin A are essential for eyesight. A study published in the Archives of Ophtalmology has shown that 3 or more servings of pineapple a day reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), which is cause number one of vision loss in elderly.

10. Anticancer Protection

The journal Planta Medica published a research according to which bromelain is superior to chemo drug 5-fluorauracil in the treatment of cancer. Researchers explained:

"This antitumoral effect [of bromelain] was superior to that of 5-FU [5-fluorouracil], whose survival index was approximately 263 %, relative to the untreated control."

Sources:
organichealth.co
livingtraditionally.com

Healthy Food House

4 Tbsp Of This And You Can Say Goodbye To High Blood Pressure And Clogged Arteries!

High blood pressure is considered a silent killer. It sneaks up on you, carries no symptoms and can put you at risk for heart disease. It can also feel like it came out of nowhere, like it did for survivor, Shermane Winters-Wofford.

Shermane thought she was perfectly healthy – until she suffered a stroke. And as it turns out, her family history of high blood pressure and heart disease had put her at risk all along.

High blood pressure, also known as HBP or hypertension, is a widely misunderstood. We often assume it affects those who are type-A, tense and aggressive. But the truth is, it has nothing to do with personality traits. In fact, you can be the most relaxed, calm person and still suffer from HBP.

This mixture is going to help your blood pressure problems in a very effective way.

Old German Blood Pressure Recipe

Ingredients:

• 68 ounces filtered water
• 4 organic lemons, unpeeled
• 4 organic garlic cloves
• 4 drops lavender essential oil
• 1 thumb organic ginger root

Directions:

1. Wash the lemons well and cut them in tracks. Then, clean the garlic cloves and remove the rind of the ginger root.
2. Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix well until you get a homogeneous mixture.
3. Put the mixture in a pan and turn the fire on while you add the water in it slowly. Stir everything continuously until it starts boiling. Then, remove it from the fire and leave it to cool down.
4. Strain the mixture and then pour it into glass bottles. Store the bottles in the fridge.

How to Consume:

Consume this drink once on an empty stomach, two hours before a meal, on a daily base.

If you think that you cannot take it because of the smell of the garlic, you do not have to worry about that, because the lemon and the ginger combined together neutralize the strong smell of garlic.

Do not forget to shake the drink well before drinking it, because the ginger will probably remain at the bottom of the bottle. Enjoy this powerful and beneficial mixture!

Top Foods For Blood Pressure Diet

High fiber foods – Unprocessed foods high in fiber such as vegetables, fruits, and seeds should be the basis of any healthy diet.
Low sodium foods – Excess salt consumption raises blood pressure.  Limit your consumption to no more than 1500-2000 mg daily.
High potassium foods – Potassium counteracts the effect of sodium and helps lower blood pressure, include foods like melons, avocados, and bananas.
Omega-3 rich foods – Consume omega-3 rich foods like grass-fed beef, wild caught salmon, chia and flax seeds to reduce inflammation.
Dark chocolate – Look for a dark chocolate that contains at least 200 mg of cocoa phenols which can reduce blood pressure.

Blood Pressure Foods to Avoid

High sodium foods -Sodium raises blood pressure, avoid high sodium processed foods, pickles, olives, or canned foods.
Trans fats and Omega-6 fats – These fats increase inflammation and blood pressure and are found in packaged foods and conventional meats.
Sugar – High sugar consumption is connected to high blood pressure.
Caffeine – Too much caffeine can cause an increase in blood pressure.
Alcohol – Narrows arteries and can increase blood pressure.

(Source)

7 Steps To Reverse Diabetes So You Never Have To Take Insulin Or Medication Again

Diabetes is a life-long disease that affects the way your body handles glucose, a kind of sugar, in your blood. Most people with the condition have type 2.

What Causes Diabetes?

Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin. It's what lets your cells turn glucose from the food you eat into energy. People with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their cells don't use it as well as they should. Doctors call this insulin resistance.

At first, the pancreas makes more insulin to try to get glucose into the cells. But eventually it can't keep up, and the sugar builds up in your blood instead.

Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes has tripled its number of cases since the 80s, now affecting one in every four American adults and children. By mid-century, scientists estimate that one in every three Americans will be suffering from the disease.

One in three Medicare dollars are spent on diabetes, making it the biggest driver of the federal debt, and the numbers are continuing to rise. As you can see, the picture is not pretty.

"Diabesity" is a term which can describe health problems from mild insulin resistance to obesity and diabetes. It is often a precursor to heart disease, cancer and premature death. However, you should know that all these conditions are 100% preventable and reversible.

Most people think that diabetes is non-reversible, considering the numerous complications such as kidney failure, stroke, amputation, dementia and stroke. Even some experts claim that managing diabetes is almost impossible, but we disagree.

Science has shown that both diabetes and obesity are preventable and reversible by simple lifestyle changes.

The first culprit for diabetes is food. In the USA, the disease is caused by 152 pounds of sugar and 146 pounds of flour a year eaten by the average American.

It's a fact that obese people can reverse diabetes within a couple of weeks of getting a gastric bypass, which means that reducing their weight even a little will control the disease. This is because food is medicine and can heal your health problems.

7 Strategies to Treat, Prevent and Reverse Diabetes

1. Eliminate the sugar from your diet

A diet full of empty calories and quickly absorbed sugar as well as refined carbs, all of which are converted in sugar in the body, causes high insulin levels and results in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

High insulin levels for a prolonged period can cause inflammation, high blood pressure, increased risk of cancer as well as depression. Cutting out sugar from your diet is the best way of reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

2. Eat whole, unprocessed foods

This kind of foods will balance your blood sugar levels and reduce the oxidative stress and inflammation. Whole foods will also improve your liver detoxification in order to reverse or prevent insulin resistance. We recommend choosing fresh fruit and vegetables and foods rich in omega-3 fats.

You can also consume more olive oil, coconut butter, nuts, seeds and legumes. Whole unprocessed foods will promote a healthy metabolism, reverse insulin resistance and diabetes while preventing age-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

3. Get the right nutrients

Taking certain supplements will help your body metabolize sugar and fat and make your cells more sensitive to insulin. Along with a healthy diet and regular exercise this will regulate your blood sugar levels and reverse or prevent diabetes. Focus on these supplements:

• 1-2 gr. of omega 3 fatty acids
• 1 000 – 2 000 IUs of vitamin D3
• 300 – 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid twice a day
• 200 – 600 mcg of chromium polynicotinate
• 5 to 15 grams of PGX, fiber that support healthy blood sugar levels
• A high-quality multivitamin and mineral supplement

4. Get the right exercise

Don't think that you must spend hours at the gym to benefit from exercise. Even a 30-minute rigorous walk can help to balance your blood sugar levels and lower the insulin levels. The key is to increase your heart rate to 70-80% of its maximum activity for 60 minutes 6 times a week. Go up a notch with HIIT and strength training for a few minutes a day, as studies have shown that HIIT can be of help in cases of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

5. Get more sleep

Lack of sleep will damage your metabolism and cause sugar spikes and cravings, which will make you eat more and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. According to a study, even a portion of poor night sleep may cause insulin resistance.

This is why you need to get 8 hours of sleep a day. If you're having problems, create a sleep ritual that involves total darkness, herbal therapies and relaxation techniques.

6. Control your stress levels

When under stress, the levels of insulin, cortisol and cytokine in your blood increase, which leads to weight gain, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

The links between stress, weight gain, mental disorders and blood sugar imbalance shows that controlling your stress levels is vital for obesity and diabetes management. Of course, stress can't be fully eliminated, but it can be controlled.

Take yoga classes and learn some breathing and meditation techniques to avoid stress and reverse type 2 diabetes.

7. Measure to improve

According to studies, people who track their results lose twice the weight, so you might want to begin a journal to track your progress over weeks. Besides your diet, take note of your height and weight, waist size, BMI and blood pressure. Trust us – the notebook will be of help.

(Source)

Start Eating More Iron If You Experience Any Of These 10 Signs Of Anemia

Iron deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia — a condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body's tissues.

As the name implies, iron deficiency anemia is due to insufficient iron. Without enough iron, your body can't produce enough of a substance in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen (hemoglobin). As a result, iron deficiency anemia may leave you tired and short of breath.

You can usually correct iron deficiency anemia with iron supplementation. Sometimes additional tests or treatments for iron deficiency anemia are necessary, especially if your doctor suspects that you're bleeding internally.

When the body lacks iron to turn it into hemoglobin, the red blood cannot carry oxygenated blood to all the body tissues and this comes with many side-effects you might have noticed.

All people are subjected to iron deficiency anemia, although some are more prone to the disease than others.

The biggest risk group is the vegetarians and vegans, since red meat, the biggest iron source, is omitted from their nutrition. Also, blood donors are exposed to suffering from this disease since they share large quantities of iron with other people.

The same is true for women donors more than men, because of the pregnancy factor as well as the menstrual cycle.

About 3% of the men suffer from this disease but that is very little if compared to the 20% of women and 50% of pregnant women that have experienced iron deficiency anemia.

Iron deficiency anemia mostly impairs the oxygen supply to the cells. There are various factors that can affect the severity of the symptoms, beginning from mild symptoms like tiredness and escalating to more extreme ones.

Iron Deficiency Anemia Symptoms

1. Feeling Extreme Fatigue and/or Weakness

If you're sleeping more than usual, aren't waking as rested as you normally do, or are experiencing over all low energy levels or muscle weakness for an extended period of time, you may need more iron.

2. Headache, Dizziness or Light-headedness, Particularly When Standing

When we stand up we usually get head rushes, since the oxygen flow to the brain is interrupted. This is what actually triggers headaches and dizziness, and can even lead to fainting.

3. Shortness of Breath

Just a simple stair climbing can cause irregular breathing, so you might want to turn to some cardio.

4. Suffering From Frequent Infections

In case you have wounds that take a long time to heal, or cuts that get easily infected, you might be suffering from low hemoglobin levels and should elevate your iron levels.

5. Cold Hands and Feet

Are you sick of people constantly exclaiming "Your hands/feet are so cold!"? Circulation issues affect your digits first, so if your fingers and toes are always freezing, or your nails turn purple, more iron, not more layers, may do the trick.

6. Weak, Brittle Nails

The nails can be a huge indicator of iron deficiency in your body. Should you experience problems with fragile nails or sometimes hair, compensate for lost iron.

7. Increased Heartbeat

The heartbeat is often related to anemia, and if you are lacking oxygen, you might experience heart pounding faster than usual.

8. Unusual And Odd Cravings

The body develops cravings when it lacks something. Normally it is sugar cravings, but if you are experiencing severe needs of it and sometimes even stranger cravings like non-food items, such as chalk or dirt, you might be lacking iron in your system.

9. Restless Leg Syndrome

This is actually a serious condition, and if you have experienced unsettling and a tingling sensation in your leg that won't seem to go away- now you know the reason behind it.

10. Suffering from Chest Pain

This is a sign that must never be ignored. It can mean not only and iron deficiency anemia, but cardiac arrest as well- so treat it as quickly as possible.

What Can You Do?

• Make sure to incorporate a healthy diet and to consume beneficial products.
• Include foods such as meat, eggs, fish and leafy greens or iron-fortified cereals, breads or milk, will increase the iron level in your body and improve your health.
• You can also take iron supplements and get the job done that way. Make sure to make a doctor's appointment before taking anything iron-related on your own.

However, be mindful of the symptoms as well and react on time.

Sources:

Bare Natural Truth

This Ancient Japanese Technique Kills Stress In 5 Minutes!

Researchers have found a strong correlation between chronic stress and many emotional and physical disorders, such as anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, nausea, vomiting, weak immune system, and so on. That's not all, it can also result in the development of many other serious diseases.

In fact, almost everyone experiences stress due to today's lifestyle. But, if you are constantly experiencing stress, you are at a higher risk of developing various health problems. Specifically, in case you do not take certain measure to reduce your stress levels, it can lead to the above mentioned health issues.

In addition, there are actually a number of methods that can help you lower your stress. For instance, some of them include regular massage, exercise, mediation, yoga, etc.

But, we are going to present you an old Japanese self-relaxation technique, which has been proven to be very effective.

You can practice it anywhere in less than 5 minutes.

Before discussing the details of this ancient self-relaxation technique, we have to mention that every finger does represent a different type of feeling or emotion:

• The Little finger can help you reduce stress and improve your self-esteem and optimism.
• The Ring finger can help you eliminate depression and melancholy.
• The Middle finger can help you regulate your emotions and feelings of bitterness and rage.
• The Index finger can help you get rid of your fears.
• The Thumb can help you fight off worry and anxiety.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

The main purpose of this Japanese technique is to create balance of all the opposing energy forces present in your body. Namely, you should take one finger at a time, and grasp it by using the other hand. Next, each finger should be wrapped around it.

Then, it is advisable to hold every finger for one to two fingers until you feel the pulse.

You can also bring yourself into a deeper state of relaxation by putting slight pressure to your palm's center by using the thumb of the other hand. You should hold it for about 60 seconds.

Practicing this self-relaxation technique daily can greatly reduce your stress and balance your spirit.

Watch the video below to find out how to practice the technique properly:

Source: www.davidwolfe.com

References:

• Chun, Jing. "DIY: Reflexology – Learn The Simple Techniques Of Self Massage in order to relieve stress, reduce pain and feel better today"
• Atkinson, Mary. "A Practical Guide to Self-Massage: Over 50 Simple Exercises and Relaxation Techniques to Improve Your Health and Well-Being"

Bare Natural Truth

Most Brands of Chewing Gum Are Extremely Toxic To Your Health

For whatever reason you choose to chew it, the plastic, potentially toxic mish-mash of ingredients in chewing gum are bad for the environment and bad for us.

Football managers chew it to keep their nerves and emotions under control. Lovers chew it to keep their teeth white and their breath kissing fresh. Kids chew it to look cool and – if they're young enough – practice blowing bubbles. Some people even chew for medicinal purposes – for instance as a substitute for smoking or to get a caffeine 'energy' hit.

Humans have chewed gum for millennia but it's only recently that it has become the hi-tech plastic, minty 'treat' choc full of preservatives that it is today.

The ancient Greeks chewed mastiche – a gum made from the resin of the mastic tree; the Mayans chewed chicle which is the sap from the sapodilla tree; North American Indians chewed the sap from spruce trees and passed the habit along to the settlers.

After World War II, chemists learned to make synthetic rubber, which eventually replaced most natural rubber as a chewing gum base. Today the ubiquitous ingredient 'gum base' is label shorthand for an alphabet soup of potentially toxic ingredients.

Because of the vagaries of chewing gum ingredient labels most of us continue to chew in ignorance – and in vast numbers. Americans consume 40 percent of the world's gum. Across Britain, France, Germany, and Spain for instance almost 50 per cent of adults aged 15 and above use chewing gum.

Toxic Chewing

When a market is this profitable, regulators tend to look the other way and questions about long-term safety can get pushed to the bottom of the agenda.

In 2008, however, Canadian regulators did stick their heads over the parapet by publishing a draft list of 17 substances that they felt were toxic and therefore should not be allowed in products like chewing gum. Vinyl acetate, which is used to manufacture the polyvinyl acetate in gum base, was one of these. Canadian concern was raised because of research from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's cancer research arm, which produced some evidence suggesting that vinyl acetate caused tumors in rats.

Vincent Cogliano, head of the IARC program at that time identified environmental factors that can raise the risk of human cancer, says trace amounts of vinyl acetate could make it into polyvinyl acetate, the chewing-gum ingredient.

"Polyvinyl acetate is made from vinyl acetate. Not necessarily one-hundred-point-zero-zero per cent is bound into the polymer, but there may be some," he said.

The Wrigley Company, makers of Doublemint, Big Red, Extra, Hubba Bubba and Juicy Fruit, likewise said its products do not contain vinyl acetate.

The IARC believed that trace amounts of vinyl acetate could make it into the gum base material and the Canadian regulators suggested that a 'precautionary approach' could be justified.

The proposal caused a furore amongst gum manufacturers who argued that even if they did make their gum from vinyl acetate none – or only minute amounts – would remain in the finished product. In 2009 the Canadian regulators backed down.

But vinyl acetate is not only toxic chemical in most chewing gums. Most also have hydrogentated soybean oil, aspartame, soy lecithin. These toxic ingredients are especially evident in brands from Trident, Dentyne and Wrigleys. Ironically, all of these claim that their chewing gum products fight cavities. Unfortunately, any benefit derived from fighting cavities through these types of chewing gum is very quickly negated by the extreme levels of toxicity in their ingredients which are far more detrimental to our health. Of course, they won't tell you that.

Aspartame in chewing gum is absorbed directly though the buccal mucosa of the tongue, mouth, and gums, making it a far worse poisoning than even if it were given intravenously. The nerves serving this area and their vascular supply derive directly from the brain, so the Aspartame absorbed through them goes directly into the brain, by passing the spinal cord and blood brain barrier.

The intact Aspartame molecule and its diketopiperazine form are vastly worse poisonings than any of the other poisonings which arise from it during digestion, and liver processing of the digestive blood, which is delivered directly to the liver via the portal vein. The other poisonings, as mentioned, are indeed horrendous but Aspartame from gum is far worse, making even the smaller amounts contained in chewing gum strikingly dangerous and damaging. This is doubtless why Wrigley placed it in all their products!

Aspartame, via ingestion into the digestive tract, is made into some ten other poisonings by the digestive processes, and then excepting that which is delivered directly to the pancreas, they are transported straight to the liver via the portal vein, where they then are very partially dealt with, and partially reprocessed. Afterwards, they are sent in somewhat lesser concentration to the entire body, lessening the amount which eventually goes to the brain. The amount getting to the brain from either source is devastating to it in many ways. Aspartame is most certainly devastatingly toxic when ingested, but a like amount is immensely worse when obtained from chewing gum.

Overall, unless you find a natural chewing gum (as far away from the conventional brands as possible), it's in your best interest to staying away from chewing gum.

Soures:
wnho.net
theecologist.org
about.com

Original source: Prevent Disease

Image Credits: Flickr

Dental Implants: Not a One-size-fits All Job

Once upon a time, dental implants may have been a fairly standard procedure. In other words, there was just one type available – and we needed to know little else. Suffice to say, the industry has changed. There are now umpteen types of dental implants available, with some sources estimating that there might even be…

How to Cook Perfectly Healthy White Rice – A Simple Trick You Didn’t Know

The health benefits of rice are numerous –it regulates and improves bowel movements, stabilizes blood sugar levels, provides fast and instant energy, and slows down the aging process, while also providing an essential source of vitamin B1 to the human body. Due to its numerous favorable properties, rice is a fundamental food in many cultural cuisines around the world, and it is a common ingredient in our everyday meals.

Its preparation is simple and easy, but it also has its own disadvantages. Namely, just like other cereals, rice leads to weight gain and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

White rice is especially harmful, and a cup of it comprises 200 calories, mostly pure starch without many other nutrients. Nevertheless, the majority of us really like white rice, so this article will reveal you a simple trick that reduces its caloric value, but adds nutrients to it at the same time. Indeed, the trick consists of one and only ingredient: coconut oil.

Dr. Sudhair James, who conducted a study on the nutritional value of rice, explained "We cooked rice as usual, the only difference being that before we put the rice in the boiling water, we added some coconut oil, about 3% of the amount of rice. After it was cooked, we left it in the fridge for about 12 hours. "

The explanation behind this simple trick is the following: frying or other ways of cooking rice don't change the starch and thus, it is hard to digest.

On the other hand, the procedure of cooking white rice in boiling water makes its starch extremely easy digestible, which allows our body to easily convert it into sugar then glycogen, and finally store it as fat.

The co- author of the study, Dr. Pusparajah Thavarajah, reveals that "the addition of lipids (in this case coconut oil or some other cooking fat) drastically reduces the proportion of easily digestible starch.

" This means that the oil reacts with starch and consequently, it changes its structure. He also adds that "cooling the rice helps reinforce the starch in its 'harder' form, thus rice remains less calorific even after being re-heated."

(Source)

How to Unlock Your Body’s True Fat-Breathing Powers

The vast majority of doctors, dietitians, and personal trainers believe that when you burn fat during exercise, that fat is being used up as fuel for energy or heat. Some believe it's excreted through urine or feces, while others think the fat is turned into muscle.

All of these ideas are to some degree incorrect, according to Ruben Meerman, a physicist, and Andrew Brown, a biochemist specializing in lipids, who say there's "surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss."

When You Lose Weight, Where Does the Fat Go?

Their calculations, showing where the fat really goes when you lose weight, was recently published in the journalBMJ.^1,2 As explained by Medical News Today:³

"Excess dietary carbohydrates and protein are converted to a type of fat called triglyceride. When people attempt to lose weight, they are attempting to metabolize these triglycerides while keeping their fat-free mass intact…

Triglycerides are comprised of three types of atoms: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Triglyceride molecules can be broken down only by unlocking these atoms, through a process known as oxidation.

The researchers chose to follow the path of these atoms when leaving the body. They found that when 10 kg of fat were oxidized, 8.4 kg were converted and excreted as carbon dioxide (CO₂) via the lungs, and 1.6 kg became water (H₂0).

In order for 10 kg of human fat to be oxidized, the researchers calculated that 29 kg of oxygen must be inhaled. Oxidation then produces a total of 28 kg of CO₂ and 11 kg of H₂0."

The researchers note that this is not new to science—rather the process has simply been misunderstood. The equation does involve release of energy; it's just that the process isn't as direct as one might think. According to the law of conservation of mass, it's actually quite difficult to convert matter into energy.

As noted by The Atlantic:⁴"If you were able to convert your fat stores [directly] into energy, you would explode in a glorious, catastrophic spectacle…" According to their calculations, you basically exhale 84 percent of your lost fat. The remaining 16 percent is metabolized into water, which is excreted through sweat and urine.

The authors estimate that by substituting one hour of sedentary lounging with one hour of moderate exercise—to increase your respiratory rate—your metabolic rate is increased sevenfold. However, they note that you can easily hamper any potential weight loss by eating too much food—and I would stress, by eating the wrong kinds of foods.

Your Food Choices Make a Huge Difference

It's important to recognize that most people who struggle with excess weight have some degree of insulin and leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that helps you regulate your appetite. When your leptin levels rise, it signals your body that you're full, so you'll stop eating.

As you become resistant to the effects of leptin, you end up overeating, as your body gradually loses its ability to "hear" the signals leptin sends out. Dr. Richard Johnson's research clearly shows that refined sugar (in particular processed fructose) is exceptionally effective at causing leptin resistance. Fructose also effectively blocks the burning of fat.

Basically, if you are insulin or leptin resistant, as long as you keep eating fructose and grains, you're programmingyour body to create and store fat. This is one of the key reasons why, if you are overweight, you'd be wise to restrict your fructose consumption to about 15 to 25 grams of fructose per day from all sources.

This means switching out most processed foods for whole, unprocessed foods, and avoiding any and all sweetened beverages. Clean pure water is really the only type of fluid your body needs. For further dietary guidance, please see my comprehensive nutrition plan.

If you're insulin/leptin resistant and/or are overweight, you can also greatly boost your body's fat-burning potential by incorporating intermittent fasting, as it helps reset your body to use fat instead of sugar as its primary fuel. It is by far the most effective way I know of to shed unwanted fat and eliminate your sugar cravings.

Exercising in a fasted state (such as first thing in the morning) will bring it up yet another notch. A simple way to get started with intermittent fasting is to simply omit breakfast, making lunch the first meal of your day.

Maintain this daily eating schedule until your insulin/leptin resistance improves (weight, blood pressure, cholesterol ratios, or diabetes normalizes). After that, just do it as often as you need to maintain your healthy state.

White versus Brown Fat

While we're on the topic of fat, it's worth noting that there are different kinds of fat cells in your body, and from a metabolic standpoint, they respond differently. They even appear to have different biological functions. None of this was discussed in the featured research, but it likely also plays a role in the big scheme of things. For a number of years, scientists have been studying so-called "brown fat"—a type of fat that generates heat that burns energy instead of storing it. So-called "white fat" is the kind that is primarily stored, and because it's also difficult to burn off, it tends to cause obesity. Research has shown that certain groups of people tend to have more brown fat than others, and there appears to be direct correlations between the activation of brown fat and metabolic measures of good health. For example:

• Slender people have more brown fat than obese people do
• Younger people have more brown fat than elderly people
• People with normal blood sugar levels have more brown fat than those with high blood sugar

How to Transform White Fat into Healthier Brown Fat

Newborns have a supply of brown fat to keep warm, but most of these stores are lost by the time adulthood is reached. However, although you have far less of it as an adult, scientists have found that you can activate the brown fat still present in your body by exposing yourself to cold temperatures. This has the effect of causing your body to burn more calories to keep warm, and there's evidence suggesting ice therapy can be helpful for boosting weight loss. Animal research has also shown that animals convert white fat into brown fat simply by exercising.

The study,⁵ published in the journal Disease Models and Mechanism, found that during exercise the animals' muscles released an enzyme called irisin, which triggered the conversion of white fat cells to brown. Preliminary studies presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association revealed that this holds true in humans as well. Among men, the benefits were found after 12 weeks of training on an exercise bike. One of the researchers, a postdoctoral fellow at Joslin Diabetes Center, said:⁶

"Our results showed that exercise doesn't just have beneficial effects on muscle, it also affects fat… It's clear that when fat gets trained, it becomes browner and more metabolically active. We think there are factors being released into the bloodstream from the healthier fat that are working on other tissues."

As you can see, the human metabolism is extremely complex. On the one hand, exercise helps convert unhealthy white fat into healthier, heat-producing and more metabolically active brown fat. Exercise also increases the oxidation of fat, which then leaves your body via your lungs, in the form of carbon dioxide, and your bodily fluids, in the form of water. What's not so complex however, is how to optimize your metabolism—even if you don't understand the exact mechanisms involved. Following simple basics described below will catalyze your body's ability to achieve your ideal weight and leanness.

Your Weight Reflects Your Lifestyle Choices

Simply eating fewer calories and exercising more usually doesn't work very well, and the reason for that is because not all calories are the same. As mentioned, processed fructose in particular causes leptin resistance far more effectively than other sugars, with refined sugar coming in close second. Glucose is not nearly as harmful in comparison. Fructose also blocks the burning of fat. So, instead of focusing on calories, you need to address thequality of the foods you eat, and avoid chemical exposures. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as BPA and phthalates, for example, can cause or exacerbate weight gain. Following is a short list of proactive, easy-to-remember guidelines that can go a long way toward improving your health, nutrition, and body weight.

• Exercise regularly, and stay active all day long: Engage in high-intensity Peak Fitness exercise to burn fat and increase muscle mass (a natural fat burner). Also, strive to sit less (much less—ideally no more than three hours a day) and walk 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day in addition to your regular exercise program.
• Consider intermittent fasting: If you're insulin/leptin resistant and/or are overweight, boost your body's fat-burning potential by incorporating intermittent fasting. This is one of the most powerful approaches to reverse insulin resistance. It is only necessary to do until your insulin resistance resolves.
• Buy real food, preferably whole organic and locally grown, and cook from scratch. Ditching processed foods will automatically reduce your sugar consumption, which is the root cause of insulin resistance and weight gain. If you buy organic produce, you'll also cut your exposure to pesticides and genetically engineered ingredients, and in ditching processed foods, you'll automatically avoid artificial sweeteners and harmful processed fats like trans fats and vegetable oils (such as peanut, corn, and soy oil), the latter of which actually degrades into oxidation products when heated that may be more harmful than trans fat.

That said, most people do need upwards of 50-85 percent healthy fats in their diet for optimal health. Sources of healthy fats to add to your diet include avocados, butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk, raw organic dairy, coconuts and coconut oil, unheated organic nut oils, raw nuts and seeds, organic pastured egg yolks, and grass-fed meats. For more detailed dietary advice, please see my free Optimized Nutrition Plan.

• Opt for organic grass-fed meats to avoid genetically engineered ingredients, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and other growth promoting drugs.
• Opt for glass packaging and storage containers to avoid endocrine disrupting chemicals.

This article was republished from Mercola.com. 

Image Credits

Keep Pressing This Point For 2 Minutes! Then See What Will Happen To Your Body!

The Chinese culture and medicine believe that our feet are full of different important locations, points, which are linked to various parts and organs of our body. The stimulation and massage of these points may bring relief and improvement of health conditions.

One of these essential points is Tai Chong (LV3), which is located on your foot, between the big toe and the second toe, about two finger widths above the place where the skin of your big toe and the next toe joint.

It is suggested that the stimulation of this point can help in treating headaches, reduce stress, manage anger, lower back pain, high blood pressure, relieve menstrual cramps, limb pain, insomnia and anxiety and also you will help in the regulation and refreshment of the liver.

Moreover, according to Chinese texts, it can be extremely beneficial in the case of digestive issues, genital pain, headaches, canker sores, irritability and eye problems.

Furthermore, scientists prove that a randomized trial has yielded a positive result with acupuncture stimulation on Tai Chong (LV3) and other points, to manage post-stroke depression. On the other hand, animal studies discovered that this point can reduce blood pressure and plasma endothelin-1 levels in hypertension subjects.

In order to use all its benefits, you need to stimulate this point in the following manner: slide your finger along the space between the first and second toe to the tip of the joint. Tai Chong (LV3) is located in the depression before your finger touches the bone (metatarsal joint).

When you find it, apply pressure and massage for 2-3 seconds and make a break for 5 seconds.Do this massage for 2 minutes. Remember, you need to move your finger in a counterclockwise direction over this point.

Also, you need to note that you should not use it when you feel weak or low on energy.

(Source)

15 Warning Signals Your Body is Full of Toxins that Need to Be Cleansed Immediately

Toxins is certainly a buzzword, but is it purely an invention of marketers to coax us into spending money on dubious products?

Well, probably not.

Why else do we get food cravings, difficult-to-budge fat, joint pain, sleeping difficulties, fatigue, headaches, dark circles, heartburn, bad breath, farting, anxiety, sinus congestion, water retention, eczema and cold sores?

Its logical that these and other charming bodily offerings are warning signals. And that our bodies accumulate toxins, and we need to routinely 'take the trash out' to avoid being a walking, talking heap of junk.

So reader, it seems we're both full of crap. But how to get rid of it?

The answer is detoxification.

Detoxing in the spotlight

Doctors and health experts are slowly beginning to recognize the value of some of the elements of detoxing. Fasting, specifically intermittent fasting is getting recognition as a fat loss tool and longevity booster.

Juicing as a health tool is also enjoying a high profile, with people like Joe Cross and Kris Carrsharing powerful stories of turning their health around using juicing.

Another element (see below) of detoxing, colon therapy, has yet to gain much traction as a thing, but I predict it won't be long, especially if sexy health goddesses like Donna Gates continue to promote its benefits.

Overall though, science has remained unconvinced that detoxification and cleansing programs deliver any real benefit – and in some cases, might even cause harm.

Always one to embrace anything potentially health boosting, I first tried a detox program – based around Dr Jenson's approach to detoxification – three years ago. The process was hugely beneficial, giving me access to whole new layer of health (see more below). Since then I have been doing yearly detoxes at a number of retreats around the world offering similar programs.

What's involved?

For seven days, solid foods are replaced by high fiber detox drinks containing a mix of psyllium husk,clay and if you're lucky, mixed with watermelon or pineapple juice, if not, then plain water.

The mixture is designed to absorb toxins from your colon, as well as fill you up so you don't get hungry. You also take juices and supplements containing intestinal cleansers and herbal nutrition throughout the day. This is the 'fasting' element.

The second part of the equation involves daily colonics (usually administered yourself using aColoma board) to remove the toxins that the drinks have helped to loosen from your intestines. You are also provided with 'gut flora grow' tablets to help manage levels of microbes in the gut, which are disturbed by the colonics.

There are usually other things on offer that assist with the process of detoxification, including herbal steaming, abdominal massage, meditation and yoga.

Why I keep detoxing

Here are some of the reasons I go on a detox each year. Afterwards:
• I have a few hours extra energy a day
• I have this feeling of being a 'clean running engine' – so I am like a Ferrari, compared to a gas guzzling Chevy Vega
• I lose fat and it stays off
• I lose food cravings
• My blood sugar levels stabilize
• The quality and tone of my skin improves
• I need less sleep
• When I do sleep, it is restful
• I don't feel like I need coffee or any other kind of pick-me-up
• I drink more water
• I naturally choose foods with a higher nutrient density most of the time
• I eat with greater mindfulness of the digestion process – I chew more slowly
• My taste buds are more sensitive (food tastes better)
• I have a beautiful clean feeling in my mouth
• My bowel movements are more complete (my poos are better)
• I wake up refreshed and clear headed
• I have more mental energy and clarity
• I am more aware of life areas that I want to change and develop
• I feel calmer and less stressed
• I eat out of genuine hunger rather than boredom/other reasons
• I get a good physical rest
• My feelings of resilience and self sufficiency are improved
• I am more creative and easily able to 'think outside the box'
• I feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement

I feel the full effect of those benefits for at least three months after a detox. After that time, they start to reduce.

But do we need to detoxify?

The short answer is – probably, but not conclusively. Long term fasting and detoxification processes like the one I described above haven't been tested by research yet. (When they are, they might actually be taken seriously as a cure for diabetes and other health maladies).

Many doctors and physicians have spoken out about our ability to accumulate toxins. The simple reason is that our bodies, as awesome as they are, cannot break down some of the unnatural and manufactured rubbish we feed them.

Experts say that the presence of these toxins is having some sort of an effect, ranging fromunwanted fat to neurological disorders.

Doctor and author, Joel Fuhrman MD,  says: "You see a buildup of waste products in the cells – AGE, advanced glycation end products – that build up in cellular tissues and lead to atherosclerosis, aging, diabetes, nerve damage, and the deterioration of organs. This is basic science and physiology every doctor learns in medical school."

Health expert, Donna Gates, identifies three reasons why everyone can benefit from colon cleansing:

• The average person has between 7 – 10 pounds of old fecal matter in their colon, even with daily poo
• The build-up of waste on the walls of your colon creates the perfect breeding ground for parasites, yeast, bad bacteria and viruses
• For too many people today, detoxification pathways are essentially blocked. Over time, toxins build up. It is estimated that the average person is exposed to over 123 toxic chemicals each day from food, water, air, stress and personal care products

Dr Bernard Jensen says that blocked detoxification pathways can result in autointoxication, which "produces undesirable consequences in the body and is the root cause of many of today's diseases and illnesses".

Where do toxins come from?

We absorb toxins from all over the place – and we generate them too. Most common toxins are caused by emotional or psychological factors (stress and anger), our environment (pollution),parabens in plastic, beauty products, food, water (parabens or the other nasties in tap water), drugs,heavy metals and mercury.

Aren't our natural detox channels good enough?

Our bodies naturally detoxify us through the processes of breathing, sweating, pooping and urinating.

These require the effective functioning of our respiratory systems, digestive systems, kidneys and livers, and lymphatic systems. We know that, for some of us, the health of these systems becomes compromised over time.

This probably happens because we are subject to more a more toxins than ever in our daily lives, and also because of the way we eat now.

Isn't detoxing bad for you?

We have probably all seen media reports bashing fasting, colon cleansing and detoxing in general.

A closer look at the studies on which the reports have been based show that they have been narrow in scope, looking at a particular aspect of a fasting/colon cleansing. No high quality studies have been carried out on the effects of a long term fast/detoxification.

Naysayers say fasting is damaging for muscles and immunity and won't help weight loss.Controversy around colon cleansing has mostly related to where it has been administered by the unskilled and poorly trained.

As this is an area in which science is ignorant, you have to take your own view on things – which is an excellent habit to be in anyway when it comes to preventative health. If you are afflicted with a certain health condition, then even more care needs to be taken and you should take on board the advice of a trusted doctor.

Is detoxing for you?

If the process of detoxification seems too unpalatable or if you have a particular health condition – then don't do it.

If you are otherwise healthy and interested in giving your body a boost by removing potentially harmful toxins from your body that are keeping you tired, fat and/or sick, then doing it is a no brainer.

For me and for thousands of others, detoxifying has a real edge over other types of health holiday. My experience is that fasting has the capacity to be more transformative, because the effects are holistic – offering something for mind and body/spirit.

Also, tell you a secret – detoxing isn't that hard. If you do your cleanse somewhere decent, you will be provided with juices and other fluids and supplements that help to fill your belly and sustain you, and you'll enjoy the feelings of lightness and of doing something profoundly beneficial for yourself.

The colonics aren't a picnic, but you do learn a new way to take care of your body, which is never a bad thing. Some people even enjoy the process of watching the waste and other potentially harmful toxins leave their systems.

One thing you get very present to whilst fasting is how attached to food we all are. In this way, fasting has the potential to be very healing for those with discipline issues around food. I have found it to have a powerful effect in general on self-esteem and resilience levels too.

Can you do it at home?

You don't need to pay for your detox. I do because I enjoy the opportunity to travel and meet interesting people, and also the luxury of having someone prepare my juices and drinks, so I can completely relax and blob about.

Once you have read up on the process, it should be relatively straightforward to source online the ingredients that make up the detox drink and also the supplements. You can also purchase homeenema kits.

How to help yourself detoxify naturally

It's what you do day-to-day that is going to make the biggest difference to your overall level of toxicity.

Here are some guidelines for living in a way that minimizes your toxic load:

• Drink lots of good clean water
• Reduce the toxins in your environment
• Purchase house plants that help to clean the air
• Switch your personal care items over to natural based ones
• Mange your stress and anger levels
• Include chia seeds and broccoli in your diet – they contain the kind of fiber that keeps your colon healthy
• Eat organic food, especially those on the dirty dozen list
• Bounce around on a rebounder
• Get your mercury fillings removed
• Reduce alcohol
• Don't smoke
• Avoid synthetic supplements
• Move to a less polluted city
• Sweat – exercise and use the saunas and steam rooms at your gym
• Breathe properly
• Use a tongue scraper
• Oil Pull every day
• Practice yoga, especially these three poses
• Take a daily probiotic and eat fermented foods
• For quick detoxification (for e.g. if you have food poisoning), make use of activated charcoal
• Take colloidal silver

Original Article: TheHeartySoul