BUSTED: This Popular "Independent" Health Website is Deceiving You
Posted By Dr. Mercola | December 14 2010 | 69,721 views
In a shocking report published earlier this year, BNET exposed how WebMD's online test for depression is rigged for profit:
"Feeling depressed? Cheer yourself up by taking WebMD's comical new depression test.
It's sponsored by Eli Lilly (LLY) — maker of the antidepressant Cymbalta – so they must know what they're talking about, right?
In fact, no matter which of the 10 answers you choose on the test, the result comes out the same:
You may be at risk for major depression."
But that's just the beginning. A number of questions about just how 'independent' a source WebMD is have since surfaced, and the answers are not what you'd expect.
Sources:
BNET February 22, 2010
BNET February 26, 2010
Policy and Medicine February 24, 2010
Boston.com March 2, 2010
This entire story reminds me of the old adage, "with friends like that, who needs enemies?"
If you didn't already know this, WebMD is the second most visited health web site on the entire web. The general belief is that it's a first-rate, trustworthy source of "independent and objective" information about health.
In fact, the only health site more popular than WebMD is the National Institutes of Health (NIH). You also might not realize that earlier this year Mercola.com, moved up to the third most visited health site on the internet. Mercola.com has been the most visited natural health site in the world for the last five years.
You can see a complete listing of the top 20 most visited health and natural health sites below.
But as far as being geared for the average person, WebMD is clearly the number one source of health information for a large number of people, which makes the following information all the more disturbing.
If You Weren't Depressed Before, WebMD's Test Guarantees You Will Be
Chances are you've seen WebMD's ad on TV recommending you take their free online depression screening test.
But did you know the test was rigged so that no matter how you responded, the answer was always the same: You may be at risk for major depression, and it would probably do you well to discuss it with your doctor…
As it turns out, the test is sponsored by drug giant Eli Lilly, the maker of Cymbalta, and apparently there's no room for mentally healthy individuals in this scheme.
This is a sad commentary on the current disease paradigm we live in…
Although the test states that it's sponsored by Eli Lilly, how many people would automatically assume that this publicized test, offered on one of the most visited health sites on the web, would give them an entirely false result, perhaps designed to push even the most well-balanced individual into considering taking an antidepressant?
I'm willing to bet quite a few people have taken WebMD's test, and based on the result started thinking that perhaps they're a candidate for a 'happy pill' after all…
Senator Charles Grassley believed this was a very real possibility, and demanded the link between WebMD and Eli Lilly be investigated. As a result, minor changes to the test were implemented. However, the WebMD depression screening test still offers NO objective information whatsoever. Writing for BNET, Jim Edwards posted the following update:
"WebMD has changed its Eli Lilly-sponsored depression test so that not every answer results in a diagnosis of potential major depression. BNET noted on Feb. 22 that if you checked the "no" box to all 10 symptoms in the online quiz, the results page said, "You may be at risk for major depression," and urged users to call a doctor "right away" if they were feeling suicidal.
Now, the result for someone indicating no symptoms of depression says:
Lower Risk
You replied that you are feeling four or fewer of the common symptoms of depression. In general, people experiencing depression have five or more common symptoms of the condition. But every individual is unique. If you are concerned about depression, talk with your doctor.
While "lower risk" is certainly an improvement for someone indicating no symptoms of depression, WebMD is still gilding the Lilly."
I agree. This "screening" test is just a cleverly disguised form of direct-to-consumer marketing.
Selling, or Selling Out?
Sure, WebMD needs to make money just like any other major web site, including mine. They don't sell products, so therefore they rely on advertising.
In reality WebMD is a marvelous example of the brilliant marketing the drug companies are doing. They seek to provide you with the illusion of an independent objective third party that just so happens to confirm their solution is the best choice for your health issues.
But when you draw back the curtains you will find it is the drug companies themselves that are crafting the message and not an independent entity.
They invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year on WebMD alone, in my opinion to distort reality so they can convince you that it's perfectly rational to choose their expensive and, in my opinion, sometimes toxic solutions for your health care challenges.
I've chosen the opposite path – selling a limited number of well-researched and independently tested products that I personally believe in, in order to remain independent and unbiased; free from the spoken or unspoken demands of advertisers.
However, WebMD does not appear to be particularly objective in the types of advertisers they allow on their site. Prescription drugs for every imaginable problem are listed on virtually every page. Along with plenty of processed foods and snacks.
The revenue generated from this advertising is considerable.
According to a recent WebMD press release, the revenue from advertising and sponsorship for the months of July through September, 2010, topped $113 million, up from $89 million for the same quarter last year.
Beware of Subliminal Sales Tactics!
OpEdNews.com also points out the site's habit of offering unmarked product placement to various pharmaceutical companies, which is an insidious, sneaky, subliminal sales tactic:
"Lilly is not the only pharma company receiving unmarked product placement on WebMD," Martha Rosenberg writes for OpEdNews.
"Last summer, a video featured a woman patient confessing she was fearful of life while a voice-over said she needed treatment for "general anxiety disorder" and the camera showed bottles of Forest Pharmaceuticals' antidepressant Lexapro moving down the manufacturer's assembly line.
Get it? No disclaimer on the video or "sponsored content" appeared.
Another unsponsored WebMD video last summer urged people on antidepressants to remain on their therapy "despite side effects" and a third suggested women concerned about cancer, heart attack and stroke risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy should continue their treatment at lowered doses. 'Hang in there, valued customers'..."
The Subsidiaries of WebMD
Furthermore, their partnerships and subsidiaries suggest that WebMD is anything but an independent consumer website offering accurate and independent health advice. (WebMD owns four of the top ten most visited health sites on the web, further extending Big Pharma's influence.)
The WebMD Health empire includes the following subsidiaries:
• Drugs.com
• Medscape
• MedicineNet
• eMedicine / eMedicine Health
• RxList
• theHeart.org
According to Rosenberg, drug giant Eli Lilly was actually one of WebMD's original partners and investors, along with:
• Microsoft
• DuPont
• Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (including his Fox TV networks)
• Silicon Graphics
• Netscape founder Jim Clark
• Eli Lilly
• EDS (computer services company founded by H. Ross Perot)
Just how independent and objective can you be in your health recommendations when one of your investors is a major drug company?
WebMD and most, if not all, of its subsidiaries claim to be "independent." For example, drugs.com has the following statement at the bottom of every web page:
"Drugs.com provides free, accurate and independent advice on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines & natural products."
And yet drugs.com is owned by WebMD, which has close ties to Big Pharma, and recommends drugs for their advertisers and pharmaceutical partners…
WebMD is Partnered with the US FDA – What Does that Mean for Impartial Health Advice?
Even more interesting: The first-ever partnership between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a private company is with, you guessed it, WebMD!
The two partnered up two years ago.
Why?
Well, according to WebMD's own announcement:
"The partnership will enhance the FDA's ability to get crucial information to the American public, FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, said in a news conference.
… "WebMD has been a leader with regard to innovation in the use of the web as a form of communication and service to the public," von Eschenbach said.
"What we will do by virtue of this partnership ... is to really be able to present online ... content material we at FDA feel is extremely important for consumers to be aware of as they are making critically important decisions for themselves and for their families about their health and the products that they use to ensure their health."
This completes the circle of full-on conflicts of interest.
Never-mind the fact that there might be any number of inexpensive, safe alternatives out there for each and every ailment WebMD presents, what you will learn is what the FDA has approved for your condition. And by default, you will be kept in the dark about the strategies that can make a real and lasting difference, courtesy of WebMD's financial ties to the drug- and processed food industries.
WebMD and its subsidiary sites are disguised as "independent consumer sites," when in truth they're paid by the pharmaceutical industry and exclusively and uniquely partnered with the FDA.
These sites contain mainly Big Pharma and advertising, they recommend specific drugs created by their advertisers, and offer questionnaires and medical screening tests created by pharmaceutical companies to create a false "need" for those drugs…
How can this type of government/big industry conflict of interest lead to "independent and objective" reporting and advice?
And how can this create fair competition?
Personally, I think it's a pretty deceitful practice to snooker consumers into taking expensive pharmaceutical drugs for every possible ailment!
According to Boston.com:
"A WebMD spokeswoman… [said] the company believes "our internal process ensures our editorial independence in our programs."
Sure. That process worked so well when devising that depression screening test, which was apparently so good they also spent big money to promote it on TV…
Good for Eli Lilly and their antidepressant Cymbalta, that is. Not for you, the health-conscious consumer. All you got was a sly marketing shtick for the time you invested in answering those questions.
However, that spokeswoman's statement brings up yet another point to remember when you're browsing through the content on WebMD, and that is paying close attention to WHO authored the message.
Financial Backers Include Not Just Drug Companies, but Processed Food Industry Too
In various areas you'll find a small link that says: "From our sponsor." If you click on that link, it will tell you that:
"Content under this heading is from or created on behalf of the named sponsor. This content is not subject to the WebMD Editorial Policy and is not reviewed by the WebMD Editorial department for accuracy, objectivity or balance."
The heading I'm looking at right now, at the time of this writing, is for "snacking smarter without the guilt." So… whatever the sponsor wants to say about "healthful snacking," that's the message you'll get. Obviously.
In this particular case, the sponsor wants you to know that baked potato chips are indeed healthier for you than regular potato chips. Isn't that great news!
The sponsor of this message is General Mills' Fiber One cereal – a breakfast cereal that, aside from being loaded with grain carbohydrates, also contains added sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar, AND sucralose.
Folks, in my opinion, this is about the worst breakfast you could possibly eat, unless you're hell-bent on developing diabetes. And don't get me started on the potato chips…
Again, WebMD is the second most visited health site on the web and if you add in all their other sites, collectively they are easily number one in the world. They attract tens of millions of readers every day looking for accurate and dependable health advice, but what advice can be trusted?
More Conflict of Interest: Medscape's Continuing Medical Education Courses
But the pharmaceutical industry doesn't just target you, they also target your doctor.
Medscape, which is one of WebMD's subsidiaries, administers highly lucrative continuing medical education courses (CME's), which doctors must complete to retain their state licenses. And these courses are, of course, ALSO sponsored by drug companies.
Medical students may have attempted to quench Big Pharma's influence over their medical education, but pharmaceutical companies could easily be considered the number one educators of doctors, in and out of school. Their influence is so significant, broad in scope, persistent, and oftentimes 'hidden' from clear view that many physicians don't even realize where the information is coming from.
And even when they do realize the source, they still oftentimes believe they're getting accurate and truthful information.
Final Thoughts
The WebMD matrix is a maddening, vicious circle of conflicts of interest that creates all manner of deceit and deception. But these shenanigans are still easy to identify and avoid.
Just Follow the Money.
It is an easy trap to fall in. Over 50 years ago JI Rodale founded Prevention Magazine and it was one of the top ten most read magazines in the country. Rodale was a leader in promoting natural medicine, a true pioneer and defender of health truth.
Unfortunately he made the typical mistake of leaving the business to his children. I learned from someone who was their health editor at one time, that his children actually shifted the ads from natural medicine to drugs and processed foods because they could earn substantially more profit.
Had JI Rodale left his business to a foundation, natural medicine would be much further ahead today. Instead Prevention Magazine is now just another mouthpiece for the drug and food industry and virtually everyone who understands natural medicine ignores it.
Similarly, with WebMD in my opinion, if you follow the money behind much of its advice (and definitely all of its subliminal marketing messages), it leads right back to the coffers of the processed food industry and the pharmaceutical cartel, which also, incidentally, pays WebMD's government partner, the FDA, to hurry up and approve their poorly tested drugs – so they can advertise them on WebMD, and so on and so forth.
I'm sure by now you can follow the dots and can draw your own circular maps with arrows marking the many conflicts of interest that exist between this unholy alliance of so-called independent health advisors, pharmaceutical companies, processed food companies, and the regulatory agency, the FDA.
Remember, You Can Take Control of Your Health
Folks, it's time take control of your health, and that includes being able to discern real health advice from shadow marketing machines and propaganda that serves no one but the very industries responsible for much of the ill health in the first place.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Can you commit to 2011
Regular Exercise Reduces a Large Number of Health Risks
Posted by: Dr. Mercola | December 09 2010 | 15,766 views
Regular exercise can reduce the risk and symptoms of more than 20 physical and mental health conditions, and can also slow down how quickly your body ages.
A review of research, which summarized the findings of 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, found that exercise affects conditions including cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.
Science Daily reports:
"... [A]part from not smoking, being physically active is the most powerful lifestyle choice any individual can make to improve their health."
A separate study also found that women who exercise for 150 minutes a week or more could be reducing their risk of endometrial cancer, whether or not they are overweight.
Researchers examined data collected from a case-control study that included almost 700 women with endometrial cancer and compared them to a similar number of age-matched control women. Those who exercised for 150 minutes a week or more had a 34 percent reduced risk of endometrial cancer.
Newswise reports:
"This association was more pronounced among active women with a body mass index (BMI) less than 25, or underweight women, where the reduction in risk was 73 percent compared with inactive women with a BMI more than 25, or what is commonly considered overweight.
Although BMI showed a strong association with endometrial cancer, even women who were overweight, but still active, had a 52 percent lower risk."
Sources:
Science Daily November 16, 2010
International Journal of Clinical Practice December 2010; 64(13):1731-4
Newswise November 12, 2010
Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, Philadelphia, PA, November 7-10, 2010
Exercise is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful ways to improve your health. If you're still avoiding it, perhaps this latest study will be the final straw that motivates you to take action, especially in light of the New Year fast approaching.
After reviewing 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, researchers found that exercise reduces the risk of about two dozen health conditions, ranging from cancer and heart disease to type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia and depression.
Exercise also slows down the rate of aging itself, providing perhaps the closest example of a real life fountain of youth as we will ever find.
Exercise is about so Much More Than Weight Loss
Exercise can help you to lose weight, it's one of its most widely known benefits, but it offers disease protection far beyond that. So whether you are overweight or not, exercise needs to be a part of your lifestyle if you want to achieve optimal health.
Regular exercise, even when initiated late in life, can help slow down the aging process so you'll be less likely to suffer from chronic disease or disability, and more likely to be fit and trim, agile, mobile and happy, even as you get older.
This is in part due to exercise's effects on telomeres. Telomeres are strands of DNA at the ends of your chromosomes that protect them from damage. The progressive and gradual erosion of telomeres leads to aging on a cellular level -- think of them as a kind of biological clock.
As telomeres shorten more, cell death occurs. These cell deaths are associated with serious disease and premature aging.
The leading anti-aging research is on how to prevent telomere shortening and develop therapies to lengthen telomeres, as many experts believe that lengthening telomeres could actually turn the biological clock backward.
Well, exercise has been associated with preventing telomere shortening, so it is clearly a very powerful anti-aging strategy.
Research indicates physically active people have significantly less erosion of telomeres than even healthy, non-smoking, but sedentary folks. Exercise activates the enzyme telomerase, which stabilizes telomeres, producing an anti-aging effect at the cellular level.
What Can Exercise Do for You? What Can't It!
There are just so many benefits of exercise -- far more than I can fit in this space -- so I will highlight just a smattering of them.
One of the primary benefits of exercise is that it normalizes your insulin and leptin levels, with the secondary benefits of weight loss and normalization of blood sugars. These basic factors in turn cascade outward, creating a ripple effect of positive health benefits, which include:
Improving your brainpower and boosting your IQ
Lowering your risk of heart disease and cancer
Building strong bones
Lowering your blood pressure
Curing insomnia
Losing weight
Relieving pain
Balancing your mood and fighting depression
Increasing your energy levels
Acquiring fewer colds
Lowering your risk of diabetes and reversing pre-diabetes
Slowing down your aging process
In fact, a study from 2008 concluded that fitness is a far better indicator of overall health and longevity than even body mass index (BMI). What this means is that even if you're overweight or obese, exercise will still provide you with measurable benefits. It will also most likely help you with weight loss as well.
Exercise also improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. The job of these cells is to neutralize pathogens throughout your body.
The better these cells circulate, the more efficient your immune system is at locating and defending against viruses and diseases trying to attack your body. Your immune system is your first line of defense against everything from minor illnesses like a cold or the flu right up through devastating, life-threatening diseases like cancer.
Further, when researchers measured the biochemical changes that occur during exercise, they found alterations in more than 20 different metabolites. Some of these compounds help you burn calories and fat while others help stabilize your blood sugar, among other benefits as well.
Are You Ready to Get Active?
Lace up a pair of running shoes and hit the gym. Even a brisk walk a few times a week is better than nothing, particularly if you are new to exercise or very out of shape. However, it is not much better than doing nothing as it really provides virtually none of the benefits described above.
To achieve the full range of benefits of exercise you need to exercise more intensely so you will want to tailor your fitness plan to include a variety of more challenging techniques.
You should be getting in not only strength training and aerobics, but also core-building activities, stretching and more.
But please don't make the mistake I did for decades by wasting your time logging in steady, hour-long cardio sessions on the treadmill as your primary form of exercise.
That may sound like a major conflict with everything you have read about exercise but let me tell you that I was a runner for over 40 years and logged in tens of thousands of miles. So I am coming from a background of major personal experience. Most people will experience the most significant benefits from implementing a mixture of burst-type cardio exercises, strength training, and core exercises.
Peak Fitness Will Get You Into Peak Physical Condition in a Fraction of the Time
I recently coined the term "peak fitness" to represent a comprehensive exercise program that includes far more than merely cardio training. It can improve your health in ways you cannot get from typical methods of exercise, including greater weight loss from less exercise time.
While this program still includes some conventional aerobic and core-strengthening exercises, strength training, and stretching, the major change is that twice a week you do 'peak exercises,' which raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery period.
These peak fitness exercises have the benefit of really boosting your fat metabolism, which may be what's missing from many people's routines. But in addition, and perhaps even more importantly, they engage your super-fast muscle fibers, which can increase your production of growth hormone.
Human growth hormone (HGH) strongly influences your biological aging process. The higher your levels of growth hormone, the healthier and stronger you're going to be. And the longer you can keep your body producing higher levels of HGH, the longer you will likely experience robust health and strength.
For a more complete, in-depth explanation of my peak fitness regimen, please review this recent article.
Since I have been doing the Peak Exercise program I have:
• Lowered my overall body fat from 17.4% down to 9.5%
• Lost 16 lbs. while gaining 6 lbs. of muscle
• Lost 3 1/2 inches off my waist
• Gained 1 inch on my arms
• Gained 11 inch on my legs
• Gained 3 inches on my chest
You can experience benefits like this too, as the Peak 8 exercises are incredibly easy to learn, take just 20 minutes from start to finish, and you can do them just about anywhere.
You Say You Don't Have Time to Exercise?
This is probably the most common reason people give for not exercising; they say they just don't have the time. Well let me put it to you this way: exercise is every bit as important as eating, sleeping and breathing!
It should not be viewed as an ancillary part of your day, but rather a necessity. You probably don't go a week without eating, and you should not go a week without exercise either. In fact, you typically shouldn't go more than a couple of days at most without it.
The trick to making time for exercise is to view it as a non-negotiable part of your day. Ideally, schedule it into your appointment book the way you would an important meeting or social event. Set the time for it and then make no excuses about keeping your exercise "appointment."
What you'll find is that the more you exercise, the better you'll feel and the more addictive it will become. Soon you won't want to miss your exercise sessions because you'll notice a dip in your energy or stamina when you back off for too long.
You need to place a HIGH PRIORITY on it and schedule your day around the exercise, not the other way that most people do. This way it will get done and you will serve as a powerful example to those who you love.
When it comes to exercise, there's no time like the present. Don't wait another day to get your program started.
And please don't use your age as an excuse either, because no matter what your age, exercise can provide enormous benefits for your health.
If you happen to be over 40, though, it's especially important to either start or step up your exercise program. This is the time of life when your physical strength, stamina, balance and flexibility start to decline, and exercise can help to counteract that dramatically.
It really is that powerful.
Related Links:
5 Mind-Blowing Benefits of Exercise
The Hidden Benefits of Exercise
Get Busy if You Want to Beat the Middle-Age Spread
Posted by: Dr. Mercola | December 09 2010 | 15,766 views
Regular exercise can reduce the risk and symptoms of more than 20 physical and mental health conditions, and can also slow down how quickly your body ages.
A review of research, which summarized the findings of 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, found that exercise affects conditions including cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.
Science Daily reports:
"... [A]part from not smoking, being physically active is the most powerful lifestyle choice any individual can make to improve their health."
A separate study also found that women who exercise for 150 minutes a week or more could be reducing their risk of endometrial cancer, whether or not they are overweight.
Researchers examined data collected from a case-control study that included almost 700 women with endometrial cancer and compared them to a similar number of age-matched control women. Those who exercised for 150 minutes a week or more had a 34 percent reduced risk of endometrial cancer.
Newswise reports:
"This association was more pronounced among active women with a body mass index (BMI) less than 25, or underweight women, where the reduction in risk was 73 percent compared with inactive women with a BMI more than 25, or what is commonly considered overweight.
Although BMI showed a strong association with endometrial cancer, even women who were overweight, but still active, had a 52 percent lower risk."
Sources:
Science Daily November 16, 2010
International Journal of Clinical Practice December 2010; 64(13):1731-4
Newswise November 12, 2010
Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, Philadelphia, PA, November 7-10, 2010
Exercise is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful ways to improve your health. If you're still avoiding it, perhaps this latest study will be the final straw that motivates you to take action, especially in light of the New Year fast approaching.
After reviewing 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, researchers found that exercise reduces the risk of about two dozen health conditions, ranging from cancer and heart disease to type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia and depression.
Exercise also slows down the rate of aging itself, providing perhaps the closest example of a real life fountain of youth as we will ever find.
Exercise is about so Much More Than Weight Loss
Exercise can help you to lose weight, it's one of its most widely known benefits, but it offers disease protection far beyond that. So whether you are overweight or not, exercise needs to be a part of your lifestyle if you want to achieve optimal health.
Regular exercise, even when initiated late in life, can help slow down the aging process so you'll be less likely to suffer from chronic disease or disability, and more likely to be fit and trim, agile, mobile and happy, even as you get older.
This is in part due to exercise's effects on telomeres. Telomeres are strands of DNA at the ends of your chromosomes that protect them from damage. The progressive and gradual erosion of telomeres leads to aging on a cellular level -- think of them as a kind of biological clock.
As telomeres shorten more, cell death occurs. These cell deaths are associated with serious disease and premature aging.
The leading anti-aging research is on how to prevent telomere shortening and develop therapies to lengthen telomeres, as many experts believe that lengthening telomeres could actually turn the biological clock backward.
Well, exercise has been associated with preventing telomere shortening, so it is clearly a very powerful anti-aging strategy.
Research indicates physically active people have significantly less erosion of telomeres than even healthy, non-smoking, but sedentary folks. Exercise activates the enzyme telomerase, which stabilizes telomeres, producing an anti-aging effect at the cellular level.
What Can Exercise Do for You? What Can't It!
There are just so many benefits of exercise -- far more than I can fit in this space -- so I will highlight just a smattering of them.
One of the primary benefits of exercise is that it normalizes your insulin and leptin levels, with the secondary benefits of weight loss and normalization of blood sugars. These basic factors in turn cascade outward, creating a ripple effect of positive health benefits, which include:
Improving your brainpower and boosting your IQ
Lowering your risk of heart disease and cancer
Building strong bones
Lowering your blood pressure
Curing insomnia
Losing weight
Relieving pain
Balancing your mood and fighting depression
Increasing your energy levels
Acquiring fewer colds
Lowering your risk of diabetes and reversing pre-diabetes
Slowing down your aging process
In fact, a study from 2008 concluded that fitness is a far better indicator of overall health and longevity than even body mass index (BMI). What this means is that even if you're overweight or obese, exercise will still provide you with measurable benefits. It will also most likely help you with weight loss as well.
Exercise also improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. The job of these cells is to neutralize pathogens throughout your body.
The better these cells circulate, the more efficient your immune system is at locating and defending against viruses and diseases trying to attack your body. Your immune system is your first line of defense against everything from minor illnesses like a cold or the flu right up through devastating, life-threatening diseases like cancer.
Further, when researchers measured the biochemical changes that occur during exercise, they found alterations in more than 20 different metabolites. Some of these compounds help you burn calories and fat while others help stabilize your blood sugar, among other benefits as well.
Are You Ready to Get Active?
Lace up a pair of running shoes and hit the gym. Even a brisk walk a few times a week is better than nothing, particularly if you are new to exercise or very out of shape. However, it is not much better than doing nothing as it really provides virtually none of the benefits described above.
To achieve the full range of benefits of exercise you need to exercise more intensely so you will want to tailor your fitness plan to include a variety of more challenging techniques.
You should be getting in not only strength training and aerobics, but also core-building activities, stretching and more.
But please don't make the mistake I did for decades by wasting your time logging in steady, hour-long cardio sessions on the treadmill as your primary form of exercise.
That may sound like a major conflict with everything you have read about exercise but let me tell you that I was a runner for over 40 years and logged in tens of thousands of miles. So I am coming from a background of major personal experience. Most people will experience the most significant benefits from implementing a mixture of burst-type cardio exercises, strength training, and core exercises.
Peak Fitness Will Get You Into Peak Physical Condition in a Fraction of the Time
I recently coined the term "peak fitness" to represent a comprehensive exercise program that includes far more than merely cardio training. It can improve your health in ways you cannot get from typical methods of exercise, including greater weight loss from less exercise time.
While this program still includes some conventional aerobic and core-strengthening exercises, strength training, and stretching, the major change is that twice a week you do 'peak exercises,' which raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery period.
These peak fitness exercises have the benefit of really boosting your fat metabolism, which may be what's missing from many people's routines. But in addition, and perhaps even more importantly, they engage your super-fast muscle fibers, which can increase your production of growth hormone.
Human growth hormone (HGH) strongly influences your biological aging process. The higher your levels of growth hormone, the healthier and stronger you're going to be. And the longer you can keep your body producing higher levels of HGH, the longer you will likely experience robust health and strength.
For a more complete, in-depth explanation of my peak fitness regimen, please review this recent article.
Since I have been doing the Peak Exercise program I have:
• Lowered my overall body fat from 17.4% down to 9.5%
• Lost 16 lbs. while gaining 6 lbs. of muscle
• Lost 3 1/2 inches off my waist
• Gained 1 inch on my arms
• Gained 11 inch on my legs
• Gained 3 inches on my chest
You can experience benefits like this too, as the Peak 8 exercises are incredibly easy to learn, take just 20 minutes from start to finish, and you can do them just about anywhere.
You Say You Don't Have Time to Exercise?
This is probably the most common reason people give for not exercising; they say they just don't have the time. Well let me put it to you this way: exercise is every bit as important as eating, sleeping and breathing!
It should not be viewed as an ancillary part of your day, but rather a necessity. You probably don't go a week without eating, and you should not go a week without exercise either. In fact, you typically shouldn't go more than a couple of days at most without it.
The trick to making time for exercise is to view it as a non-negotiable part of your day. Ideally, schedule it into your appointment book the way you would an important meeting or social event. Set the time for it and then make no excuses about keeping your exercise "appointment."
What you'll find is that the more you exercise, the better you'll feel and the more addictive it will become. Soon you won't want to miss your exercise sessions because you'll notice a dip in your energy or stamina when you back off for too long.
You need to place a HIGH PRIORITY on it and schedule your day around the exercise, not the other way that most people do. This way it will get done and you will serve as a powerful example to those who you love.
When it comes to exercise, there's no time like the present. Don't wait another day to get your program started.
And please don't use your age as an excuse either, because no matter what your age, exercise can provide enormous benefits for your health.
If you happen to be over 40, though, it's especially important to either start or step up your exercise program. This is the time of life when your physical strength, stamina, balance and flexibility start to decline, and exercise can help to counteract that dramatically.
It really is that powerful.
Related Links:
5 Mind-Blowing Benefits of Exercise
The Hidden Benefits of Exercise
Get Busy if You Want to Beat the Middle-Age Spread
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Are you or a Loved one on any these?
15 Dangerous Drugs Big Pharma Shoves Down Your Throat
Writing in AlterNet, Martha Rosenberg says:
"In the pharmaceutical industry's rush to get drugs to market, safety usually comes last.
Long studies to truly assess a drug's risks just delay profits after all -- and if problems do emerge after medication hits the market, settlements are usually less than profits. Remember, Vioxx still made money."
Here are some of the drugs she identifies as being so plagued with safety problems, it's astonishing they're on the market:
Lipitor and Crestor
These worthless statins are so over-prescribed that far too many patients get their side effects -- such as weakness, dizziness, pain and arthritis.
Yaz and Yasmin
These birth control pills were so hyped in their advertisements that they sounded too good to be true -- and they were. 18-year-olds experienced blood clots, gall bladder disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
(I would add ALL birth controls are dangerous and should be avoided. In my view there is virtually no reason to ever take these dangerous and completely synthetic hormones.)
Lyrica, Topomax and Lamictal
These epilepsy seizure drugs are now prescribed for pain. But all seizure drugs increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and all three drugs can make you lose your memory and your hair.
Humira, Prolia and TNF Blockers
Not only are biologics like Humira and Prolia made from genetically engineered hamster cells, and not only do they suppress your actual immune system, but they can lead to tuberculosis, lethal infections, melanoma, lymphoma and "unusual cancers in children and teenagers". In addition, the Humira warns against the possible side effect of "new or worsening" psoriasis -- a condition it is supposed to treat.
(These drugs should be banned. No reason to EVER take any of them as there are loads of natural therapies that are far superior. Please use my site as resource to find out which ones you can use in these autoimmune conditions like MS, RA and Crohn's.Disease)
Chantix
After 397 reported cases of possible psychosis, 227 domestic reports of suicidal behavior and 28 suicides, the U.S. government banned pilots and air traffic controllers and interstate truck and bus drivers from taking Chantix. It is also linked to angioedema, serious skin reactions, visual impairment, accidental injury, dizziness, muscle spasms, seizures and loss of consciousness.
Ambien
Sleeping pills like Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata and Rozerem only decrease get-to-sleep time by 18 minutes. Then Ambien adds in somnambulism side effects -- people walk, drive, make phone calls and even have sex while they are sleeping.
Tamoxifen
Tamoxifen causes cancer and birth defects. One study showed that 57.2 percent of women on continuous Tamoxifen developed atrophy of the lining of the uterus, 35.7 coexisting hyperphasia and 8.1 percent uterine polyps.
Boniva
After you take Boniva, you have to avoid lying down for at least 60 minutes to "help decrease the risk of problems in the esophagus and stomach." Then you need to wait at least 60 minutes before eating or drinking anything except water, and you must never take it with mineral water, sparkling water, coffee, tea, milk, juice or other oral medicines -- including calcium, antacids, or vitamins.
(I would most definitely include ALL the biphosphonates here, like Fosamax. They are dangerous, loaded with side effects, do not lower fracture risk and should never be taken unless you want to further enrich the drug industry coffers)
Prempro and Premarin
The hormone drugs Prempro, Premarin and Provera cause a 26 percent increase in breast cancer risk, 41 percent increase in stroke risk, 29 percent increase in heart attack risk, and double your risk of blood clots. They have also been linked to deafness, urinary incontinence, cataracts, gout, joint degeneration, asthma, lupus, scleroderma, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and lung, ovarian, breast, endometrial, gall bladder and melanoma cancers.
Sources:
AlterNet November 19, 2010
The list above includes many of the most dangerous drugs, but the reality is that there's no shortage of dangerous drugs. Even commonly used over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are not as benign as most people assume. This is because they are fatally flawed from the get-go, as they in no way shape or form address the cause of the disease and only treat symptoms, which is typically a prescription for disaster if used for the long term.
Is there Such a Thing as a Safe Drug?
It's important to understand that even under the best circumstances -- such as with a drug that has gone through unbiased, stringent, long-term testing -- when it is released into the uncontrolled environment of your body, literally anything can happen.
This is largely because the FDA does not require independent testing but relies on the tests the drug company submits to them, which are flawed.
Unfortunately, studies are frequently biased, results are skewed, and drugs are put on a fast-track to be approved long before anyone knows whether they're safe. Additionally, interactions with other drugs are rarely ever investigated
In essence, it's all a gamble, and there are NO 100 percent safe drugs. And the more drugs you combine, the riskier it gets.
More Dangerous Drugs
In addition to the drugs listed above, here are several more that most doctors won't even take themselves, due to the risks involved:
• Advair – This asthma medicine can make your asthma deadly... It contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which researchers have found can increase the severity of an asthma attack. Salmeterol-containing drugs such as Advair contributes to an estimated 5,000 asthma-related deaths each year in the US alone.
• Avandia (rosiglitazone) – This diabetes drug can make your health go from bad to worse, as it can cause a heart attack. One study found that people who took rosiglitazone for at least a year increased their risk of heart failure or a heart attack by 109 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
• Celebrex -- This painkiller has been linked to increased risks of stomach bleeding, kidney trouble, and liver damage. And, according to a 2005 study, people taking 200 mg of Celebrex twice a day more than doubled their risk of dying of cardiovascular disease. Those on 400 mg twice a day more than tripled their risk.
• Insulin. While this hormone can save your life if you are a type 1 diabetic, it is predominately prescribed for type 2 diabetics, which is the kiss of death. If you or anyone you know has type 2 diabetes and is on insulin, have them read this article by Dr. Rosedale and get off this insulin ASAP.
• Ritalin – This drug is commonly prescribed to children diagnosed with ADHD, despite the fact it has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine. By definition, Ritalin stimulates your central nervous system, leading to side effects such as increased blood pressure and heart rate.
When taken over a period of years, as Ritalin often is, the drug can cause severe health problems, including cancer. Short-term, it can still lead to chromosomal damage.
Americans are Dangerously Over-Drugged
It's important to remember that whenever you chose to treat disease symptoms with a drug, if you take that drug long enough it will invariably end up creating other health problems. This frequently leads to yet another prescription to counteract the side effects from the first one, followed by another one, and another…
It's a vicious cycle that is clearly evident when you review the statistics of prescriptions, which have exploded over the last 75 years.
In 1929, the average American received less than two prescriptions per year. According to the latest statistics from 2009, the average annual prescription rate per capita in the United States is now:
• Almost 4 prescriptions per child (age 0-18)
• Just over 11 prescriptions per adult (age 19-64), and
• More than 31 prescriptions per senior, aged 65 and over!
If these drugs could successfully treat and cure disease, the United States would have the healthiest inhabitants on the planet, based on these statistics. Instead, the rates of preventable diseases like diabetes have skyrocketed, and we're seeing a mounting death toll directly attributable to prescription drugs.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adverse drug reactions from drugs that are properly prescribed and properly administered cause about 106,000 deaths per year, making prescription drugs the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S.! As a sobering comparison, illegal drugs claim about 10,000 lives annually...
It doesn't have to be that way. I haven't taken drugs in years and my mother is 76 and my dad is 82 and both are drug free because they have been following my health advice.
Do You REALLY Need Those Drugs?
In more recent years, a growing body of studies shows that simple lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise are effective remedies for many common health problems. At the same time, we're seeing more and more evidence of the lethal harm being brought by poorly tested drugs.
To me, the choice is clear.
But a lot of people still do not realize just how effective lifestyle changes can be in treating their disease. Many diabetics, for example, are convinced they need drugs, and resist the idea that treating or even curing their disease is entirely within their own control.
The truth is, type 2 diabetes is virtually 100 percent avoidable and treatable entirely without drugs. If you're still in the dark about how to accomplish this, please see this link.
Other common conditions that can be managed without medication include:
1. Arthritis
2. Diabetes
3. High cholesterol
4. Depression
5. High blood pressure
6. Osteoporosis
7. Heart disease
8. Insomnia
To Medicate or Not to Medicate, That is the Question
Ultimately, it's your body, and it's up to you to decide what works for you.
However, I urge you to research each drug before taking it. Do not believe for one minute that your physician will have all the answers and all the latest research findings at his or her fingertips. They won't.
Most of the knowledge they have comes directly from the lips of drug reps.
Make sure you are aware of the potential side effects of the drug, read the package insert, and remember that even if it lists a side effect as rare, it can still happen to you. Then decide whether the potential benefits truly outweigh the potential risks.
Take Control of Your Health
If you make drugs a last option, not a first choice, you will have taken a major step in the right direction.
It may require a massive thought shift for some people to accept that your body can heal itself and that drugs oftentimes will only hinder the process. But I can't stress enough the importance of the most basic principle of HOW to resolve an illness: finding the underlying cause of the problem.
Masking it with a drug that lessens your symptoms does not fix anything. Disease can only be resolved by addressing its root cause.
What many people fail to realize is that it is possible to maintain optimal health by simply avoiding unnecessary drugs and by understanding the fundamentals of good nutrition and exercise, which include:
• Eliminating sugar/fructose and most grains
• Eating unprocessed, high-quality foods, preferably organic and right for your nutritional type
• Eating your food as close to raw as possible
• Consuming enough omega-3 fats
• Getting appropriate exposure to sunshine to optimize your vitamin D levels
• Exercising regularly
Related Links:
Do YOU Take Any of These 11 Dangerous Cholesterol Drugs?
7 Drugs That Can Kill Children with a Single Pill
Drug Companies Are Killing You Legally While Robbing You Blind
Writing in AlterNet, Martha Rosenberg says:
"In the pharmaceutical industry's rush to get drugs to market, safety usually comes last.
Long studies to truly assess a drug's risks just delay profits after all -- and if problems do emerge after medication hits the market, settlements are usually less than profits. Remember, Vioxx still made money."
Here are some of the drugs she identifies as being so plagued with safety problems, it's astonishing they're on the market:
Lipitor and Crestor
These worthless statins are so over-prescribed that far too many patients get their side effects -- such as weakness, dizziness, pain and arthritis.
Yaz and Yasmin
These birth control pills were so hyped in their advertisements that they sounded too good to be true -- and they were. 18-year-olds experienced blood clots, gall bladder disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
(I would add ALL birth controls are dangerous and should be avoided. In my view there is virtually no reason to ever take these dangerous and completely synthetic hormones.)
Lyrica, Topomax and Lamictal
These epilepsy seizure drugs are now prescribed for pain. But all seizure drugs increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and all three drugs can make you lose your memory and your hair.
Humira, Prolia and TNF Blockers
Not only are biologics like Humira and Prolia made from genetically engineered hamster cells, and not only do they suppress your actual immune system, but they can lead to tuberculosis, lethal infections, melanoma, lymphoma and "unusual cancers in children and teenagers". In addition, the Humira warns against the possible side effect of "new or worsening" psoriasis -- a condition it is supposed to treat.
(These drugs should be banned. No reason to EVER take any of them as there are loads of natural therapies that are far superior. Please use my site as resource to find out which ones you can use in these autoimmune conditions like MS, RA and Crohn's.Disease)
Chantix
After 397 reported cases of possible psychosis, 227 domestic reports of suicidal behavior and 28 suicides, the U.S. government banned pilots and air traffic controllers and interstate truck and bus drivers from taking Chantix. It is also linked to angioedema, serious skin reactions, visual impairment, accidental injury, dizziness, muscle spasms, seizures and loss of consciousness.
Ambien
Sleeping pills like Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata and Rozerem only decrease get-to-sleep time by 18 minutes. Then Ambien adds in somnambulism side effects -- people walk, drive, make phone calls and even have sex while they are sleeping.
Tamoxifen
Tamoxifen causes cancer and birth defects. One study showed that 57.2 percent of women on continuous Tamoxifen developed atrophy of the lining of the uterus, 35.7 coexisting hyperphasia and 8.1 percent uterine polyps.
Boniva
After you take Boniva, you have to avoid lying down for at least 60 minutes to "help decrease the risk of problems in the esophagus and stomach." Then you need to wait at least 60 minutes before eating or drinking anything except water, and you must never take it with mineral water, sparkling water, coffee, tea, milk, juice or other oral medicines -- including calcium, antacids, or vitamins.
(I would most definitely include ALL the biphosphonates here, like Fosamax. They are dangerous, loaded with side effects, do not lower fracture risk and should never be taken unless you want to further enrich the drug industry coffers)
Prempro and Premarin
The hormone drugs Prempro, Premarin and Provera cause a 26 percent increase in breast cancer risk, 41 percent increase in stroke risk, 29 percent increase in heart attack risk, and double your risk of blood clots. They have also been linked to deafness, urinary incontinence, cataracts, gout, joint degeneration, asthma, lupus, scleroderma, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and lung, ovarian, breast, endometrial, gall bladder and melanoma cancers.
Sources:
AlterNet November 19, 2010
The list above includes many of the most dangerous drugs, but the reality is that there's no shortage of dangerous drugs. Even commonly used over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are not as benign as most people assume. This is because they are fatally flawed from the get-go, as they in no way shape or form address the cause of the disease and only treat symptoms, which is typically a prescription for disaster if used for the long term.
Is there Such a Thing as a Safe Drug?
It's important to understand that even under the best circumstances -- such as with a drug that has gone through unbiased, stringent, long-term testing -- when it is released into the uncontrolled environment of your body, literally anything can happen.
This is largely because the FDA does not require independent testing but relies on the tests the drug company submits to them, which are flawed.
Unfortunately, studies are frequently biased, results are skewed, and drugs are put on a fast-track to be approved long before anyone knows whether they're safe. Additionally, interactions with other drugs are rarely ever investigated
In essence, it's all a gamble, and there are NO 100 percent safe drugs. And the more drugs you combine, the riskier it gets.
More Dangerous Drugs
In addition to the drugs listed above, here are several more that most doctors won't even take themselves, due to the risks involved:
• Advair – This asthma medicine can make your asthma deadly... It contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which researchers have found can increase the severity of an asthma attack. Salmeterol-containing drugs such as Advair contributes to an estimated 5,000 asthma-related deaths each year in the US alone.
• Avandia (rosiglitazone) – This diabetes drug can make your health go from bad to worse, as it can cause a heart attack. One study found that people who took rosiglitazone for at least a year increased their risk of heart failure or a heart attack by 109 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
• Celebrex -- This painkiller has been linked to increased risks of stomach bleeding, kidney trouble, and liver damage. And, according to a 2005 study, people taking 200 mg of Celebrex twice a day more than doubled their risk of dying of cardiovascular disease. Those on 400 mg twice a day more than tripled their risk.
• Insulin. While this hormone can save your life if you are a type 1 diabetic, it is predominately prescribed for type 2 diabetics, which is the kiss of death. If you or anyone you know has type 2 diabetes and is on insulin, have them read this article by Dr. Rosedale and get off this insulin ASAP.
• Ritalin – This drug is commonly prescribed to children diagnosed with ADHD, despite the fact it has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine. By definition, Ritalin stimulates your central nervous system, leading to side effects such as increased blood pressure and heart rate.
When taken over a period of years, as Ritalin often is, the drug can cause severe health problems, including cancer. Short-term, it can still lead to chromosomal damage.
Americans are Dangerously Over-Drugged
It's important to remember that whenever you chose to treat disease symptoms with a drug, if you take that drug long enough it will invariably end up creating other health problems. This frequently leads to yet another prescription to counteract the side effects from the first one, followed by another one, and another…
It's a vicious cycle that is clearly evident when you review the statistics of prescriptions, which have exploded over the last 75 years.
In 1929, the average American received less than two prescriptions per year. According to the latest statistics from 2009, the average annual prescription rate per capita in the United States is now:
• Almost 4 prescriptions per child (age 0-18)
• Just over 11 prescriptions per adult (age 19-64), and
• More than 31 prescriptions per senior, aged 65 and over!
If these drugs could successfully treat and cure disease, the United States would have the healthiest inhabitants on the planet, based on these statistics. Instead, the rates of preventable diseases like diabetes have skyrocketed, and we're seeing a mounting death toll directly attributable to prescription drugs.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adverse drug reactions from drugs that are properly prescribed and properly administered cause about 106,000 deaths per year, making prescription drugs the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S.! As a sobering comparison, illegal drugs claim about 10,000 lives annually...
It doesn't have to be that way. I haven't taken drugs in years and my mother is 76 and my dad is 82 and both are drug free because they have been following my health advice.
Do You REALLY Need Those Drugs?
In more recent years, a growing body of studies shows that simple lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise are effective remedies for many common health problems. At the same time, we're seeing more and more evidence of the lethal harm being brought by poorly tested drugs.
To me, the choice is clear.
But a lot of people still do not realize just how effective lifestyle changes can be in treating their disease. Many diabetics, for example, are convinced they need drugs, and resist the idea that treating or even curing their disease is entirely within their own control.
The truth is, type 2 diabetes is virtually 100 percent avoidable and treatable entirely without drugs. If you're still in the dark about how to accomplish this, please see this link.
Other common conditions that can be managed without medication include:
1. Arthritis
2. Diabetes
3. High cholesterol
4. Depression
5. High blood pressure
6. Osteoporosis
7. Heart disease
8. Insomnia
To Medicate or Not to Medicate, That is the Question
Ultimately, it's your body, and it's up to you to decide what works for you.
However, I urge you to research each drug before taking it. Do not believe for one minute that your physician will have all the answers and all the latest research findings at his or her fingertips. They won't.
Most of the knowledge they have comes directly from the lips of drug reps.
Make sure you are aware of the potential side effects of the drug, read the package insert, and remember that even if it lists a side effect as rare, it can still happen to you. Then decide whether the potential benefits truly outweigh the potential risks.
Take Control of Your Health
If you make drugs a last option, not a first choice, you will have taken a major step in the right direction.
It may require a massive thought shift for some people to accept that your body can heal itself and that drugs oftentimes will only hinder the process. But I can't stress enough the importance of the most basic principle of HOW to resolve an illness: finding the underlying cause of the problem.
Masking it with a drug that lessens your symptoms does not fix anything. Disease can only be resolved by addressing its root cause.
What many people fail to realize is that it is possible to maintain optimal health by simply avoiding unnecessary drugs and by understanding the fundamentals of good nutrition and exercise, which include:
• Eliminating sugar/fructose and most grains
• Eating unprocessed, high-quality foods, preferably organic and right for your nutritional type
• Eating your food as close to raw as possible
• Consuming enough omega-3 fats
• Getting appropriate exposure to sunshine to optimize your vitamin D levels
• Exercising regularly
Related Links:
Do YOU Take Any of These 11 Dangerous Cholesterol Drugs?
7 Drugs That Can Kill Children with a Single Pill
Drug Companies Are Killing You Legally While Robbing You Blind
Saturday, December 4, 2010
SOY
Great info on SOY, and I don't think they touched on the fact that it is the #1 GMO farmed ag product.
Eating This "Healthy" Food? It Could be Slowly and Silently Killing You
The Weston A. Price Foundation provides accurate information about nutrition and is dedicated to putting nutrient-dense foods back on American tables.
Members receive a lively and informative quarterly journal and email updates on current issues and website events. Visit their at www.westonaprice.org
Are you confused about soy?
The Weston A. Price Foundation has compiled a list of soy dangers and myths to get the truth out once and for all.
Soy Dangers Summarized
• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking, but only with long fermentation. High-phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals, soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.
• Soy foods increase the body's requirement for Vitamin D. Toxic synthetic Vitamin D2 is added to soy milk.
• Fragile proteins are over-denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods to mask soy's unpleasant taste.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum, which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.
Myths and Truths About Soy
Here we dispel the myths of the "Diet Dictocrats" and reveal the scientific validity behind our wise ancestors' nutrient-dense diets.
Myth: Use of soy as a food dates back many thousands of years.
Truth: Soy was first used as a food during the late Chou dynasty (1134-246 BC), only after the Chinese learned to ferment soybeans to make foods like tempeh, natto and tamari.
Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.
Truth: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods.
Myth: Modern soy foods confer the same health benefits as traditionally fermented soy foods.
Truth: Most modern soy foods are not fermented to neutralize toxins in soybeans, and are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens.
Myth: Soy foods provide complete protein.
Truth: Like all legumes, soybeans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. In addition, modern processing denatures fragile lysine.
Myth: Fermented soy foods can provide vitamin B12 in vegetarian diets.
Truth: The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body: in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12
Myth: Soy formula is safe for infants.
Truth: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth.
Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc, which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system.
Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.
Myth: Soy foods can prevent osteoporosis.
Truth: Soy foods can cause deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, both needed for healthy bones. Calcium from bone broths and vitamin D from seafood, lard and organ meats prevent osteoporosis in Asian countries—not soy foods.
Myth: Modern soy foods protect against many types of cancer.
Truth: A British government report concluded that there is little evidence that soy foods protect against breast cancer or any other forms of cancer. In fact, soy foods may result in an increased risk of cancer.
Myth: Soy foods protect against heart disease.
Truth: In some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol with soy protein improves one's risk of having heart disease.
Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflavones) are good for you.
Truth: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.
Myth: Soy foods are safe and beneficial for women to use in their postmenopausal years.
Truth: Soy foods can stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors and cause thyroid problems. Low thyroid function is associated with difficulties in menopause.
Myth: Phytoestrogens in soy foods can enhance mental ability.
Truth: A recent study found that women with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood had the lowest levels of cognitive function; In Japanese Americans tofu consumption in mid-life is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in later life.
Myth: Soy isoflavones and soy protein isolate have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
Truth: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) recently withdrew its application to the FDA for GRAS status for soy isoflavones following an outpouring of protest from the scientific community. The FDA never approved GRAS status for soy protein isolate because of concern regarding the presence of toxins and carcinogens in processed soy.
Myth: Soy foods are good for your sex life.
Truth: Numerous animal studies show that soy foods cause infertility in animals. Soy consumption enhances hair growth in middle-aged men, indicating lowered testosterone levels.
Myth: Soybeans are good for the environment.
Truth: Most soybeans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides.
Myth: Soybeans are good for developing nations.
Truth: In third-world countries, soybeans replace traditional crops and transfer the value-added of processing from the local population to multinational corporations.
Soy Infant Formula: Birth Control Pills for Babies
Babies fed soy-based formula have 13,000 to 22,000 times more estrogen compounds in their blood than babies fed milk-based formula. Infants exclusively fed soy formula receive the estrogenic equivalent of at least four birth control pills per day.
Male infants undergo a testosterone surge during the first few months of life, when testosterone levels may be as high as those of an adult male. During this period, baby boys are programmed to express male characteristics after puberty, not only in the development of their sexual organs and other masculinity traits, but also in setting patterns in the brain characteristic of male behavior.
In animals, studies indicate that phytoestrogens in soy are powerful endocrine disrupters. Soy infant feeding -- which floods the bloodstream with female hormones that inhibit testosterone -- cannot be ignored as a possible cause of disrupted development patterns in boys, including learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder.
Male children exposed to DES, a synthetic estrogen, had testes smaller than normal on maturation and infant marmoset monkeys fed soy isoflavones had a reduction in testosterone levels up to 70 percent compared to milk-fed controls.
Almost 15 percent of white girls and 50 percent of African-Americans girls show signs of puberty, such as breast development and pubic hair, before the age of eight. Some girls are showing sexual development before the age of three. Premature development of girls has been linked to the use of soy formula and exposure to environmental estrogen-mimickers such as PCBs and DDE.
Intake of phytoestrogens even at moderate levels during pregnancy can have adverse affects on the developing fetus and the timing of puberty later in life.
For those seeking scientific references please see my earlier artticle
If you were to carefully review the thousands of studies published on soy, I believe you would reach the same conclusion as I have—which is, the health risks associated with unfermented soy products FAR outweigh any possible benefits.
However, there's an important distinction that must be made any time you talk about soy, and that is the difference between traditionally fermented and unfermented soy products.
For centuries, Asian people have been consuming fermented soy products such as natto, tempeh, and soy sauce, and enjoying the health benefits associated with them.
Fermented soy does not wreak havoc on your body like unfermented soy products do.
Additionally, there's the issue of eating genetically modified (GM) soy. In the US, over 90 percent of all soy grown is genetically modified Roundup Ready soy, which has an array of additional health hazards all of its own.
Unfortunately, many Americans who are committed to healthy lifestyles have been mislead and grossly manipulated into believing that unfermented and processed soy products like soymilk, soy cheese, soy burgers and soy ice cream are health foods.
As the Weston A. Price Foundation so clearly shows (above), this is far from true.
Health Dangers of Soy
Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.
If you have symptoms of any of the following diseases, I would strongly urge you to take a closer look at your diet and eliminate unfermented soy:
• Breast cancer
• Brain damage
• Infant abnormalities
• Thyroid disorders
• Kidney stones
• Immune system impairment
• Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
• Impaired fertility
• Danger during pregnancy and nursing
What Soy Products are Good For You?
The only soy with health benefits is organic soy that has been properly fermented, and these are the only soy products I ever recommend consuming.
After a long fermentation process, the phytate and "anti-nutrient" levels of soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to your digestive system.
The primary fermented soy products I recommend are:
• Tempeh a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.
• Miso, a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).
• Natto, fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.
• Soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans, salt and enzymes; be wary because many varieties on the market today are made artificially using a chemical process.
Please note that tofu is NOT on this list. Tofu is not fermented, and is therefore not among the soy foods I recommend.
The Weston A. Price Foundation is a terrific resource and I thank them for allowing me to repost this valuable information.
I've been a member of their organization for a number of years now, and I encourage anyone interested in healthful eating to consider joining. I find their quarterly journal enormously helpful, and I always read it from cover to cover. To sign up, see this link.
Eating This "Healthy" Food? It Could be Slowly and Silently Killing You
The Weston A. Price Foundation provides accurate information about nutrition and is dedicated to putting nutrient-dense foods back on American tables.
Members receive a lively and informative quarterly journal and email updates on current issues and website events. Visit their at www.westonaprice.org
Are you confused about soy?
The Weston A. Price Foundation has compiled a list of soy dangers and myths to get the truth out once and for all.
Soy Dangers Summarized
• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking, but only with long fermentation. High-phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals, soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.
• Soy foods increase the body's requirement for Vitamin D. Toxic synthetic Vitamin D2 is added to soy milk.
• Fragile proteins are over-denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods to mask soy's unpleasant taste.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum, which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.
Myths and Truths About Soy
Here we dispel the myths of the "Diet Dictocrats" and reveal the scientific validity behind our wise ancestors' nutrient-dense diets.
Myth: Use of soy as a food dates back many thousands of years.
Truth: Soy was first used as a food during the late Chou dynasty (1134-246 BC), only after the Chinese learned to ferment soybeans to make foods like tempeh, natto and tamari.
Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.
Truth: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods.
Myth: Modern soy foods confer the same health benefits as traditionally fermented soy foods.
Truth: Most modern soy foods are not fermented to neutralize toxins in soybeans, and are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens.
Myth: Soy foods provide complete protein.
Truth: Like all legumes, soybeans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. In addition, modern processing denatures fragile lysine.
Myth: Fermented soy foods can provide vitamin B12 in vegetarian diets.
Truth: The compound that resembles vitamin B12 in soy cannot be used by the human body: in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B12
Myth: Soy formula is safe for infants.
Truth: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth.
Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc, which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system.
Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.
Myth: Soy foods can prevent osteoporosis.
Truth: Soy foods can cause deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, both needed for healthy bones. Calcium from bone broths and vitamin D from seafood, lard and organ meats prevent osteoporosis in Asian countries—not soy foods.
Myth: Modern soy foods protect against many types of cancer.
Truth: A British government report concluded that there is little evidence that soy foods protect against breast cancer or any other forms of cancer. In fact, soy foods may result in an increased risk of cancer.
Myth: Soy foods protect against heart disease.
Truth: In some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol with soy protein improves one's risk of having heart disease.
Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflavones) are good for you.
Truth: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.
Myth: Soy foods are safe and beneficial for women to use in their postmenopausal years.
Truth: Soy foods can stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors and cause thyroid problems. Low thyroid function is associated with difficulties in menopause.
Myth: Phytoestrogens in soy foods can enhance mental ability.
Truth: A recent study found that women with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood had the lowest levels of cognitive function; In Japanese Americans tofu consumption in mid-life is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in later life.
Myth: Soy isoflavones and soy protein isolate have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.
Truth: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) recently withdrew its application to the FDA for GRAS status for soy isoflavones following an outpouring of protest from the scientific community. The FDA never approved GRAS status for soy protein isolate because of concern regarding the presence of toxins and carcinogens in processed soy.
Myth: Soy foods are good for your sex life.
Truth: Numerous animal studies show that soy foods cause infertility in animals. Soy consumption enhances hair growth in middle-aged men, indicating lowered testosterone levels.
Myth: Soybeans are good for the environment.
Truth: Most soybeans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides.
Myth: Soybeans are good for developing nations.
Truth: In third-world countries, soybeans replace traditional crops and transfer the value-added of processing from the local population to multinational corporations.
Soy Infant Formula: Birth Control Pills for Babies
Babies fed soy-based formula have 13,000 to 22,000 times more estrogen compounds in their blood than babies fed milk-based formula. Infants exclusively fed soy formula receive the estrogenic equivalent of at least four birth control pills per day.
Male infants undergo a testosterone surge during the first few months of life, when testosterone levels may be as high as those of an adult male. During this period, baby boys are programmed to express male characteristics after puberty, not only in the development of their sexual organs and other masculinity traits, but also in setting patterns in the brain characteristic of male behavior.
In animals, studies indicate that phytoestrogens in soy are powerful endocrine disrupters. Soy infant feeding -- which floods the bloodstream with female hormones that inhibit testosterone -- cannot be ignored as a possible cause of disrupted development patterns in boys, including learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder.
Male children exposed to DES, a synthetic estrogen, had testes smaller than normal on maturation and infant marmoset monkeys fed soy isoflavones had a reduction in testosterone levels up to 70 percent compared to milk-fed controls.
Almost 15 percent of white girls and 50 percent of African-Americans girls show signs of puberty, such as breast development and pubic hair, before the age of eight. Some girls are showing sexual development before the age of three. Premature development of girls has been linked to the use of soy formula and exposure to environmental estrogen-mimickers such as PCBs and DDE.
Intake of phytoestrogens even at moderate levels during pregnancy can have adverse affects on the developing fetus and the timing of puberty later in life.
For those seeking scientific references please see my earlier artticle
If you were to carefully review the thousands of studies published on soy, I believe you would reach the same conclusion as I have—which is, the health risks associated with unfermented soy products FAR outweigh any possible benefits.
However, there's an important distinction that must be made any time you talk about soy, and that is the difference between traditionally fermented and unfermented soy products.
For centuries, Asian people have been consuming fermented soy products such as natto, tempeh, and soy sauce, and enjoying the health benefits associated with them.
Fermented soy does not wreak havoc on your body like unfermented soy products do.
Additionally, there's the issue of eating genetically modified (GM) soy. In the US, over 90 percent of all soy grown is genetically modified Roundup Ready soy, which has an array of additional health hazards all of its own.
Unfortunately, many Americans who are committed to healthy lifestyles have been mislead and grossly manipulated into believing that unfermented and processed soy products like soymilk, soy cheese, soy burgers and soy ice cream are health foods.
As the Weston A. Price Foundation so clearly shows (above), this is far from true.
Health Dangers of Soy
Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.
If you have symptoms of any of the following diseases, I would strongly urge you to take a closer look at your diet and eliminate unfermented soy:
• Breast cancer
• Brain damage
• Infant abnormalities
• Thyroid disorders
• Kidney stones
• Immune system impairment
• Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
• Impaired fertility
• Danger during pregnancy and nursing
What Soy Products are Good For You?
The only soy with health benefits is organic soy that has been properly fermented, and these are the only soy products I ever recommend consuming.
After a long fermentation process, the phytate and "anti-nutrient" levels of soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to your digestive system.
The primary fermented soy products I recommend are:
• Tempeh a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.
• Miso, a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).
• Natto, fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.
• Soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans, salt and enzymes; be wary because many varieties on the market today are made artificially using a chemical process.
Please note that tofu is NOT on this list. Tofu is not fermented, and is therefore not among the soy foods I recommend.
The Weston A. Price Foundation is a terrific resource and I thank them for allowing me to repost this valuable information.
I've been a member of their organization for a number of years now, and I encourage anyone interested in healthful eating to consider joining. I find their quarterly journal enormously helpful, and I always read it from cover to cover. To sign up, see this link.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
that time of year again for ear infections
Great article about letting your body do its work, I would put more stock in Probiotics.
A New Study Shows Antibiotics Have Little Impact on Child Ear Infections
Posted By Dr. Mercola | December 02 2010 | 4,559 views
Giving children antibiotics when they get ear infections doesn't do much to speed their recovery. What's more, it raises the risk of side effects.
A study found that 80 out of 100 children, if given only medication to reduce pain or fever, would recover from an acute ear infection within a few days. If they were given antibiotics instead, the number would rise only to 92 -- and 3 to 10 of the children would develop a rash, while 5 to 10 would develop diarrhea.
According to CNN:
"Using antibiotics only when absolutely necessary may allow continued use of antibiotics for future generations, because overuse of the drugs is contributing to antibiotic resistance …"
Sources:
CNN November 16, 2010
Journal of the American Medical Association November 17, 2010; 304(19):2161-2169
Millions of children visit doctors for ear infections each year. This happens to be the most common reason why kids are prescribed antibiotics. Yet, new studies suggest these drugs do virtually nothing to help most kids recover faster.
In the latest study, 80 out of 100 children recovered from ear infections in a few days without antibiotics. When the drugs were given, the number of kids who recovered rose by only 12 children, plus an additional three to 20 would also develop side effects related to the antibiotics, such as rash or diarrhea -- largely canceling out the almost non-existent benefit.
While one of the most common types of childhood ear infections, acute otitis media, may be caused by bacteria, it can be caused by a virus too, which won't be impacted by antibiotics.
Another type, otitis media with effusion, or fluid in the ear, is also caused by a virus, making antibiotics useless for this type of ear infection as well.
Doctors Were Warned to Stop Prescribing Antibiotics for Ear Infections Years Ago
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians have recommended since 2004 that doctors hold off on prescribing antibiotics for ear infections, at least initially.
But even as the number of certain types of ear infection cases have decreased in recent years, the number of antibiotics prescribed have held constant. As the American Academy of Pediatrics states:
"While the number of office visits for otitis media with effusion - middle ear fluid - (OME) have decreased over the past decade from 25 million in 1990 to just 16 million in 2000, the number of antibiotic prescriptions to treat AOM has remained constant. At the same time, concerns about the rising rate of antibiotic -- or antibacterial -- use and resistance have emerged."
AAP recommends that doctors give parents the option of letting their children fight the infection on their own for 48-72 hours, only starting antibiotics if the symptoms do not improve.
Yes, despite this warning and studies that came out over a decade ago saying the routine use of antibiotics for pediatric ear infections produces little health benefit while contributing to the spread of drug-resistant bacteria -- the drugs are still widely over-prescribed for this purpose.
Why You Should Think Twice Before Giving Your Child an Antibiotic
It's easy to believe that one round of antibiotics won't hurt your child.. In fact, many believe it's absolutely necessary for nearly all infections, especially for those in their children.
But bacteria are rapidly growing accustomed to this antibiotic exposure, and they're quickly developing resistance. Antibiotic-resistant infections now claim more lives each year than the "modern plague" of AIDS, and the U.S. health care system spends nearly $2 billion a year to treat these drug-resistant bacteria.
As long as we continue using potent antibiotics for minor infections or those caused by viruses, this trend of creating ever more resistant strains of infections will continue.
Keep in mind that, according to a large meta-analysis, the health risk from over-use of antibiotics is also a very personal one, as opposed to simply raising the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in the general population over time.
Whenever you use an antibiotic, you're increasing your susceptibility to developing infections with resistance to that antibiotic, resistance that can last up to a year -- and you can become the carrier of this resistant bug, and spread it to others.
In fact, a 1997 JAMA study found that frequent use of antibiotics for common ear infections raises risks that children will harbor drug-resistant bacteria during subsequent illness. The researchers found that children whose previous ear infections were treated with antibiotics had a rate of Ampicillin (amoxicillin)-resistant bacteria that was three times higher during subsequent ear infections.
In extreme cases, deaths from drug-resistant meningitis have been linked to built-up antibiotic resistance traced to previous treatment for ear infection.
What Should You do if Your Child Gets an Ear Infection?
First, watchful waiting is a solid strategy before asking your doctor for a prescription. The majority of kids will get better in 48-72 hours with no antibiotics necessary. During this time, you can try the following solutions, which work remarkably well in treating acute ear infections:
• Make garlic ear drops. Ear drops that include extracts of garlic may help reduce the pain of middle-ear infections in children. You can make your own at home by crushing a clove of FRESH raw garlic and dissolving it in some olive oil. Put a few drops of oil in the ear canal, as long as the ear drum is not perforated.
• Use breast milk for ear drops. If you have access to breast milk, put a few drops of breast milk in the ear canal every few hours. This usually works to clear up the infection within 24 to 48 hours and is far safer, less expensive and a better solution than putting your child on antibiotics.
• Apply a poultice. Application of warmth behind the ear can be used to mobilize the post-auricular lymph chain and vasculature and to draw congestion away from the inflamed area of the middle ear.
To do this, heat half of an onion in a toaster oven for a few minutes, until it is warm but not intolerably hot. You could test it by applying to your own ear or inner forearm for several seconds. Next, wrap the onion in cheesecloth or thin dishcloth, and apply the largest side (the cut side, for maximum surface area) to the area just behind the ear.
If your child is not improving or is getting worse after 72 hours, then antibiotics may be required in some severe cases. Make sure you are working with a health care practitioner who is aware of the risks of antibiotic overuse and will work with you to provide alternative options as much as possible.
If your child does take antibiotics, make sure they replenish their supply of beneficial bacteria by taking a high-quality probiotic after the round is complete.
Steps for Prevention
Ear infections are often preventable, and food allergies are one of the number one modifiable causes. Most children will find relief by:
• Following the nutrition plan and cutting out grains and sugars (including soda and fruit juice).
• Avoiding pasteurized milk. Consumption of dairy products, particularly pasteurized dairy, is a culprit for many children.
• Avoid sugars and fruit juices, which will impair your child's immune response and make them more susceptible to these types of infections.
• If your child is consuming any wheat products you might consider eliminating them if they have had recurrent infections, as subclinical gluten intolerance can be a factor contributing to this problem.
Additionally, breastfeeding for at least six months has been linked to fewer ear infections in infants and babies. Exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke also increases the risk of ear infections in children, so make sure your kids are kept away from cigarette smoke.
The bottom line to remember is that if your child gets an ear infection, it doesn't mean he or she needs an antibiotic.
In fact, in most cases the drugs will only do more harm than good. Before following a knee-jerk response to get a prescription as soon as your child gets an ear infection, work with a health care practitioner who will encourage you to watch the illness and let it take its course before intervening with drugs.
Remember, in the vast majority of cases, ear infections will go away on their own in two to three days with no medications necessary.
Related Links:
Earache at Midnight! What Do You Do?
Ear Infection Antibiotics Overprescribed
'Good' Bacteria Prevent Repeat Ear Infections
A New Study Shows Antibiotics Have Little Impact on Child Ear Infections
Posted By Dr. Mercola | December 02 2010 | 4,559 views
Giving children antibiotics when they get ear infections doesn't do much to speed their recovery. What's more, it raises the risk of side effects.
A study found that 80 out of 100 children, if given only medication to reduce pain or fever, would recover from an acute ear infection within a few days. If they were given antibiotics instead, the number would rise only to 92 -- and 3 to 10 of the children would develop a rash, while 5 to 10 would develop diarrhea.
According to CNN:
"Using antibiotics only when absolutely necessary may allow continued use of antibiotics for future generations, because overuse of the drugs is contributing to antibiotic resistance …"
Sources:
CNN November 16, 2010
Journal of the American Medical Association November 17, 2010; 304(19):2161-2169
Millions of children visit doctors for ear infections each year. This happens to be the most common reason why kids are prescribed antibiotics. Yet, new studies suggest these drugs do virtually nothing to help most kids recover faster.
In the latest study, 80 out of 100 children recovered from ear infections in a few days without antibiotics. When the drugs were given, the number of kids who recovered rose by only 12 children, plus an additional three to 20 would also develop side effects related to the antibiotics, such as rash or diarrhea -- largely canceling out the almost non-existent benefit.
While one of the most common types of childhood ear infections, acute otitis media, may be caused by bacteria, it can be caused by a virus too, which won't be impacted by antibiotics.
Another type, otitis media with effusion, or fluid in the ear, is also caused by a virus, making antibiotics useless for this type of ear infection as well.
Doctors Were Warned to Stop Prescribing Antibiotics for Ear Infections Years Ago
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians have recommended since 2004 that doctors hold off on prescribing antibiotics for ear infections, at least initially.
But even as the number of certain types of ear infection cases have decreased in recent years, the number of antibiotics prescribed have held constant. As the American Academy of Pediatrics states:
"While the number of office visits for otitis media with effusion - middle ear fluid - (OME) have decreased over the past decade from 25 million in 1990 to just 16 million in 2000, the number of antibiotic prescriptions to treat AOM has remained constant. At the same time, concerns about the rising rate of antibiotic -- or antibacterial -- use and resistance have emerged."
AAP recommends that doctors give parents the option of letting their children fight the infection on their own for 48-72 hours, only starting antibiotics if the symptoms do not improve.
Yes, despite this warning and studies that came out over a decade ago saying the routine use of antibiotics for pediatric ear infections produces little health benefit while contributing to the spread of drug-resistant bacteria -- the drugs are still widely over-prescribed for this purpose.
Why You Should Think Twice Before Giving Your Child an Antibiotic
It's easy to believe that one round of antibiotics won't hurt your child.. In fact, many believe it's absolutely necessary for nearly all infections, especially for those in their children.
But bacteria are rapidly growing accustomed to this antibiotic exposure, and they're quickly developing resistance. Antibiotic-resistant infections now claim more lives each year than the "modern plague" of AIDS, and the U.S. health care system spends nearly $2 billion a year to treat these drug-resistant bacteria.
As long as we continue using potent antibiotics for minor infections or those caused by viruses, this trend of creating ever more resistant strains of infections will continue.
Keep in mind that, according to a large meta-analysis, the health risk from over-use of antibiotics is also a very personal one, as opposed to simply raising the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in the general population over time.
Whenever you use an antibiotic, you're increasing your susceptibility to developing infections with resistance to that antibiotic, resistance that can last up to a year -- and you can become the carrier of this resistant bug, and spread it to others.
In fact, a 1997 JAMA study found that frequent use of antibiotics for common ear infections raises risks that children will harbor drug-resistant bacteria during subsequent illness. The researchers found that children whose previous ear infections were treated with antibiotics had a rate of Ampicillin (amoxicillin)-resistant bacteria that was three times higher during subsequent ear infections.
In extreme cases, deaths from drug-resistant meningitis have been linked to built-up antibiotic resistance traced to previous treatment for ear infection.
What Should You do if Your Child Gets an Ear Infection?
First, watchful waiting is a solid strategy before asking your doctor for a prescription. The majority of kids will get better in 48-72 hours with no antibiotics necessary. During this time, you can try the following solutions, which work remarkably well in treating acute ear infections:
• Make garlic ear drops. Ear drops that include extracts of garlic may help reduce the pain of middle-ear infections in children. You can make your own at home by crushing a clove of FRESH raw garlic and dissolving it in some olive oil. Put a few drops of oil in the ear canal, as long as the ear drum is not perforated.
• Use breast milk for ear drops. If you have access to breast milk, put a few drops of breast milk in the ear canal every few hours. This usually works to clear up the infection within 24 to 48 hours and is far safer, less expensive and a better solution than putting your child on antibiotics.
• Apply a poultice. Application of warmth behind the ear can be used to mobilize the post-auricular lymph chain and vasculature and to draw congestion away from the inflamed area of the middle ear.
To do this, heat half of an onion in a toaster oven for a few minutes, until it is warm but not intolerably hot. You could test it by applying to your own ear or inner forearm for several seconds. Next, wrap the onion in cheesecloth or thin dishcloth, and apply the largest side (the cut side, for maximum surface area) to the area just behind the ear.
If your child is not improving or is getting worse after 72 hours, then antibiotics may be required in some severe cases. Make sure you are working with a health care practitioner who is aware of the risks of antibiotic overuse and will work with you to provide alternative options as much as possible.
If your child does take antibiotics, make sure they replenish their supply of beneficial bacteria by taking a high-quality probiotic after the round is complete.
Steps for Prevention
Ear infections are often preventable, and food allergies are one of the number one modifiable causes. Most children will find relief by:
• Following the nutrition plan and cutting out grains and sugars (including soda and fruit juice).
• Avoiding pasteurized milk. Consumption of dairy products, particularly pasteurized dairy, is a culprit for many children.
• Avoid sugars and fruit juices, which will impair your child's immune response and make them more susceptible to these types of infections.
• If your child is consuming any wheat products you might consider eliminating them if they have had recurrent infections, as subclinical gluten intolerance can be a factor contributing to this problem.
Additionally, breastfeeding for at least six months has been linked to fewer ear infections in infants and babies. Exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke also increases the risk of ear infections in children, so make sure your kids are kept away from cigarette smoke.
The bottom line to remember is that if your child gets an ear infection, it doesn't mean he or she needs an antibiotic.
In fact, in most cases the drugs will only do more harm than good. Before following a knee-jerk response to get a prescription as soon as your child gets an ear infection, work with a health care practitioner who will encourage you to watch the illness and let it take its course before intervening with drugs.
Remember, in the vast majority of cases, ear infections will go away on their own in two to three days with no medications necessary.
Related Links:
Earache at Midnight! What Do You Do?
Ear Infection Antibiotics Overprescribed
'Good' Bacteria Prevent Repeat Ear Infections
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