Valuable Information from Health Blogs and Websites

September 24, 2009 by Standing on Truth  
Filed under Nutritional Living

I am a research junkie.  I love learning new things and researching information that makes a positive impact on my life.  Today I took some time and found some health information that I found quite informative.  Here is that information, taken in snippets from various blogs, with sources shown.

The Natural Keys To Controlling PMS (Dr. Linda Page)

PMS is by far the most common woman’s health complaint. For some women, PMS is a minor inconvenience that lasts a few days. For others, it disrupts the whole month! A woman’s body is delicately tuned, and can become unbalanced easily, causing pain, poor function, and a disconcerting feeling of not being “together,” especially during the menstrual cycle.

Fortunately, women can take relieve PMS effectively with a simple 4 point program.

1. Use essential fatty acids to balance prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are vital hormone-type compounds that regulate body functions almost like an electrical current. Evening Primrose oil 500-1000 mg. daily shows excellent results for many women.

2. Love your liver. The liver is in charge of hormone metabolism, and helps to rebalance estrogen and progesterone levels. Try a cup of Liver Cleanse Flushing tea or dandelion tea each morning to relieve balance hormones, relieve organ congestion and detoxify the liver.

Read the rest at Dr. Linda Page’s Blog:  http://drlindapage.typepad.com/healthyhealing/2009/08/the-natural-keys-to-controlling-pms.html

 

The Ten Commandments of Preventive Medicine (Dr. Walt)

Set a Wise Balance in Your Life – The Essential of Balance

Practice Acceptance and Letting Go – The Essential of Forgiveness

Lighten Your Load – The Essential of Reducing SADness (Stress, Anxiety, and Depression)

Avoid Loneliness Like the Plague – The Essential of Healthy Relationships

Cultivate a True Spirituality – The Essential of Spiritual Well-Being

See Yourself as Your Creator Sees You – The Essential of a Positive Self-Image

Nurture Your Hopes and Dreams – The Essential of Discovering Your Destiny

Read the rest at Dr. Walt’s Blog:  http://www.drwalt.com/blog/?p=759

 

9 Hidden Toxins Lurking in Your Food (Dr. Mercola)

Your grocery store is plentifully stocked with wolves in sheep’s clothing. Here are some tips to help you steer clear of hidden toxins that masquerade as safe products.

Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.

Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. Cans are commonly lined with bisphenol-A, an organic compound that may be associated with diabetes and heart disease.

Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches.

Opt for organic chicken. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.

Avoid Teflon cookware. The Teflon used to create nonstick surfaces can release noxious gases when exposed to high temperatures, which puts you at risk for a large variety of diseases, many of which are not even well documented at this time.

Never microwave food in plastic bowls, containers, or dishes. Exposure to heat causes the bisphenol-A found in plastics to break down and potentially contaminate your food.

Read the rest at Dr. Mercola’s Website:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/01/9-Hidden-Toxins-Lurking-in-Your-Food.aspx

 

Warning: Swine Flu Shot Linked to Killer Nerve Disease (Dr. Mercola)

A warning that the swine flu vaccine has been linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the UK Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter. The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, was leaked to The Daily Mail, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins. 

It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine. GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe, and can be fatal.  

Read the rest at Dr. Mercola’s Website:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/01/Swine-Flu-Shot-Linked-to-Killer-Nerve-Disease.aspx

 

Feeding Toddlers:  17 Tips for Pleasing the Picky Eater (Dr. Sears)

Grazing:  We have noticed that children’s behavior often deteriorates in the late morning and late afternoon, or three to four hours after a meal. Children simply run out of fuel. When blood-sugar levels go down, stress hormones kick in to raise it up again, but this can cause behavioral problems and diminished concentration. To smooth out the blood-sugar mood swings, try the fine art of grazing. Let your child nibble, or graze, on nutritious foods throughout the day. Make them easily accessible in a lunch pack at school. (Smart teachers allow even upper-grade children to have a mid-morning snack.) Carry snacks with you when you are away from home. While at home, keep a supply of healthy snacks readily available in the pantry or refrigerator.

Here’s a trick from the Sears’ family kitchen for the preschool child. Prepare a nibble tray. Use an ice cube tray, a muffin tin, or a compartmentalized plastic dish and fill each section with bite-size portions of colorful and nutritious foods. Give the foods fun names, such as avocado boats (a quarter of an avocado sectioned lengthwise), banana or cooked carrot wheels, broccoli trees, cheese blocks, little O’s (O-shaped cereal), canoe eggs (hard-boiled eggs cut lengthwise in wedges), moons (peeled apple slices, thinly spread with peanut butter), or shells and worms (different shapes of pasta).

Don’t forget that children love to dip. Reserve one or two compartments in the tray for your child’s favorite dips, such as yogurt or guacamole (without the spices). Encourage the child to sit and nibble from the tray frequently throughout the day, especially late in the morning and in the mid-to-late afternoon, when the fuel from the previous meal begins to wear off. Shorten the spacing between feedings and you are less likely to have spacey children.

Read the rest at the Ask Dr. Sears Website:  http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030800.asp#T031200

 

Vaccines: What’s Really at Stake?

I’ve had a couple of friends over the last month ask my opinion about childhood vaccines.  They know that my husband and I chose not to vaccinate our son and they knew this decision came after hours upon hours of reading, research and prayer.  I recognize that our decision is not the most popular one.  In fact, we have faced criticism from the medical community as well as a friend or two.  Although I have done quite a bit of research on this subject, I am not an expert, and I recognize that this is a very personal and difficult decision for many parents so I will never try to force my opinion on others.  However, I think that it is only fair and right that all parents know the whole truth about what they are really being asked to put in their baby’s body.  These children are a gift from God; a blank slate on which we, as their parents, either build good health or poor health.  They have little say at this point over how healthy or how sickly they will be.  But we have much of the say.  We are ultimately responsible for them, and to God, and therefore, I think that having all of the information before making a decision so vital to their health is wise. 

Let’s begin first with vaccine ingredients.  Ask your pediatrician for the informational insert that comes with each vaccine.  This will list the ingredients in that particular vaccine.  If he or she refuses to give them to you, you may want to consider finding another doctor.  No doctor should be intimidated by a parent wanting to be informed.  My son’s doctor gave them to us.  For an online list of the ingredients, click here.  From that list, please notice some ingredients in particular: 

  • Human diploid cells (lung tissue from aborted fetuses)
  • Thimerisol (the toxic compound that, because of it’s mercury content, has been suspected by many as contributing to autism)
  • MSG (monosodium glutamate, a food additive that is best avoided for good health)
  • Formaldehyde
  • Aluminum in various forms (if you recall, there is also speculation about an aluminum-Alzheimer’s link)
  • Various parts from chicks, mice, and monkeys   

Ask yourself, are these “natural” ingredients or manmade additives, chemicals and toxins?  Do these sound like things you want being absorbed into your newborn’s body? 

What about the rise in the number of vaccines included in the schedule today as opposed to 25 years ago.  Generation Rescue (www.generationrescue.org) estimates it to be a 260% increase!  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there are approximately 25 shots scheduled for the first 15 months of life, and many times, a combination of these shots is administered all in one visit.  Isn’t it possible that this amount constitutes immune system overload?  Dr. Mercola, a board certified family physician who has been practicing natural medicine since 1990 says,

“By suppressing our immunity vaccines actually make more diseases available to our body.  Vaccinated children suffer more colds, ear infections, and rhinitis than unvaccinated children as a likely consequence of vaccinations.  Unvaccinated children stand a much better chance at avoiding disease, because their immune system has not been tampered with.”

I have seen this to be true in my own son’s life.  He has had no ear infections, no severe colds, has not required antibiotics since he was 6 months old, and is one of the healthiest children I know.  God knew what he was doing when he created our immune systems.  Our body works best when it is allowed to fight invaders naturally if at all possible.  When we interfere too much and too frequently with toxic ingredients, we run a risk in hindering our children’s immune systems for years to come. 

We are told by Mayo Clinic that, “vaccines help stimulate your immune system to fight off certain diseases,” but that, “a compromised immune system can’t recognize and fight off bacteria, viruses or other germs the way a healthy immune system can”.  Basic biology tells us that a baby’s immune system isn’t fully developed until they are several years old.  But then we are asked to add viruses, germs and some of the most toxic foreign invaders (see vaccine ingredients above) to our child’s admittedly immature immune system.  Am I missing something here?  It seems like a logical A+B=C to me.  To read Dr. Mercola’s full article entitled, “Vaccines Against Natural Processes,” click here

What about the necessity or efficacy of vaccines?  When was the last time that you heard of a major (or minor) outbreak of polio or diphtheria in the United States?  Now, the medical community would say that this is because of vaccination and that unvaccinated children could launch another life-threatening outbreak of some kind.  However, there are plenty of studies that show that these diseases were on the decline even before widespread vaccination, simple due to improvements in sanitation in developed countries (cleaner water, for example).  Dr. Robert Mendelsohn M.D., said “there is no convincing scientific evidence that mass innoculations can be credited with eliminating any childhood disease.”      

We also need to compare risks.  The CDC reports on their webpage that “approximately 30,000 VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) reports are filed annually, with 10-15% classified as serious (causing disability, hospitalization, life-threatening illness or death).”  But those who have studied vaccination and its risks (such as advocacy groups) believe vaccine side-effects to be grossly underreported.  Compare this to a U.S. News & World Report from November 2008 which says that with regards to the risk for these childhood diseases (pertussis in particular), “In 2003, 13 children in the United States died from pertussis.”  I am in no way minimizing those 13 precious children who lost their life to this disease.  What I’m hoping to call attention to, and what I hope all parents consider strongly, is the vast difference in the chance of death from childhood diseases verses the significantly higher chance of life-threatening or life-altering complications over the course of that child’s life from vaccination. 

Let’s consider a child’s overall health.  Are children healthier over the course of their life with or without vaccines?  What we need to remember is this debate is not only about measles or chicken pox, diphtheria or polio.  It’s not even solely about autism or Alzheimers.  And the more research you do, you will find that there are many parents that are convinced that vaccines are responsible for their child’s SIDS, ADHD and asthma as well.   But it goes beyond even these.  Don’t we want our children to be healthier overall, from birth through to their older age?  Don’t we want our children to suffer less colds, ear infections and allergies and grow up to be cancer-free, disease-free, healthy adults?  As Dr. Mercola says in the aforementioned article, “To give one another disease to get rid of one disease is not a fair trade.  Allopathy is pathetic medicine because causing cancer by ‘preventing’ many innocuous childhood diseases is not a fair trade-off.”  Of course, the CDC has not admitted to any link between many of these diseases and vaccines (although the courts have), but when I consider how big the money-making business of vaccines really is, I am not surprised that causal links have not made it definitively to the surface of public knowledge yet.  For example, think of how many prescription medicines have been slapped with a black-box warning years and years after they have been on the market, doing their damage.  I am not willing to take the risk with my children. 

The debate continues.  But for now, we as parents need to decide what is best for our children’s health. . .but only after we have all the information.  Pray for God’s wisdom as you research and see this process as good practice for all the tough decisions we will have to make on behalf of our children. 

For those of you who have already vaccinated your child and would like to look into a gentle detoxification for children, contact a good naturopathic doctor (N.D.) in your area, or try www.naturopathic.org and click on “Find a Doctor.”  He or she will probably do a hair analysis test to check for toxicity and then offer advice for an age-appropriate cleanse.  This can make a world of difference in eliminating vaccine chemicals and additives from your child’s system. 

For more resources:

http://www.whale.to/vaccines.html (This site includes M.D. after M.D. coming out and admitting the dangers of vaccines.)

http://www.thinktwice.com/

http://www.nvic.org/

http://www.generationrescue.org/ (Jenny McCarthy’s website–she is a strong advocate for using an alternative vaccine schedule, at the least)

http://www.informedchoice.info/ 

Vaccinations:  A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide by Aviva Jill Romm

 

Evidence of Harm:  Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic:  A Medical Controversy by David Kirby