How to Heal Yourself in 15 Days

(NaturalNews) Can you really heal yourself in 15 days? Without using prescription drugs, vaccines, chemotherapy or surgery? Absolutely!

Your body strives to heal itself automatically, every single day. The only thing that really needs to happen for your body to begin healing itself is for you to remove the barriers to healing -- the barriers that are holding you back right now.

That's why you'll greatly enjoy this 15-part article series by the Health Ranger, published here on NaturalNews over the next three weeks or so. This isn't a rehash of the health tips you already know -- eat right, exercise more, hydrate yourself, and so on -- it's a completely new way to look at how to unleash the healing potential you already possess.

This information was originally planned for a book to be published by a major publishing house. But the time requirements for mainstream publishing meant that this information wouldn't appear on bookshelves for roughly one year, during which time many people would have missed out on the phenomenal benefits of this program. So I've passed on the conventional publishing route and decided to bring this program directly to you right here on NaturalNews.

So let's get right to it!

Day 1 - Rethink "health"

For many people, the first barrier to healing is found in their mental definition of "health." A lot of people believe that health is defined by having blood certain tests return results within a specific range: Your LDL cholesterol needs to be between X and Y, for example, and your blood pressure needs to be lower than Z. Conventional doctors tend to define health in this way, too, only spreading this misconception even further.

Health isn't defined by a range of numbers. It doesn't mean merely shrinking the physical size of a tumor while the patient continues to waste away. Health isn't measured solely by the number of days someone is kept alive on life support equipment...

Health means exactly what you intuitively thought it meant before you were subjected to so much influence and misinformation by drug company advertisements, conventional doctors and friends or family members -- health means quality of life.

And what is quality of life? Being able to sleep at night, walk without pain, eat and enjoy food, have a working memory, and achieve things in your life that mean something to you. Health means time with family, a walk in the woods, a positive mental outlook and an ability to handle stress without flipping out. Health means treating your body with respect and experiencing the joy of feeling it work well in return. Health means vibrant energy, daily optimism and even good sexual energy, too (and much more).

These are important elements of health and yet none of them are really answered by western medicine. Most of them aren't even considered in the medical textbooks. Modern medicine does not believe it really has any concern about the quality of your life. If you have a problem sleeping, the conventional medical approach is to simply overload your brain with pharmaceutical chemicals that force you to lose consciousness -- and then they call it "sleep." But it isn't really sleep. It's not quality sleep, and it doesn't create quality living.

And that's why if you wish to achieve real quality of life, you must broaden your horizons beyond the limiting laboratory numbers of conventional medicine and explore what "health" really means to you. This doesn't mean laboratory tests can't be useful diagnostic tools; it just means to be cautious of letting the chemical measurement approach to health be your one source of answers for attempting to achieve health and happiness in your life.

So today, I'd like you to think about this for yourself: How do YOU define health? What would you like to do in your day, or FEEL in your day, or experience day to day that would equate to the concept of "health" in your own mind?

Once you have a clear picture of that element, you'll quickly come to realized that pharmaceuticals will never provide that for you. The real answers to health must come from somewhere else... somewhere that's more aligned with the real definition of health that you intuitively know to be more meaningful.

In part two of this article series, we'll explore how to unleash your innate healing potential by altering your frame of mind about how healing really works. Check back here on NaturalNews.com to read that in a day or two.

Israeli Scientists Show DNA Evidence Can be Fabricated

(NaturalNews) Scientists from the Tel Aviv, Israel-based company Nucleix have demonstrated that it is possible to create fake DNA samples and plant them as evidence at a crime scene, in a paper published in the journal Forensic Science: International Genetics.

"You can just engineer a crime scene," said lead researcher and Nucleix co-founder Dan Frumkin. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this."

In addition to having developed a method of fabricating DNA evidence, Nucleix has also developed a method of detecting faked DNA that it plans to sell to forensics labs.

The scientists have developed two different ways to manufacture DNA samples in order to fool law enforcement. The first involves using DNA profiles from law enforcement databases, which record the code at 13 different spots on a person's genome. Using a pooled library of DNA samples from a number of different people, the geneticists were able to physically construct DNA that was identical to a suspect's DNA at those 13 points. It would take only 425 different DNA snippets to be able to construct every possible permutation, the researchers said.

The second method involved collecting actual DNA from the person whose genetic material was to be faked, such as by collecting a strand of their hair or saliva from a cup they had used.

In both cases, the DNA was then reproduced in large quantities using a technique called whole genome amplification. This DNA was inserted into red blood cells, which were then passed off as a real DNA sample.

A normal blood sample would contain both red and white blood cells, and the red blood cells would contain no DNA. In addition to this difference from a normal sample, amplified DNA lacks certain molecules contained by normal DNA. Forensics labs are unlikely to test for either of these anomalies without cause, however.

"DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints," said Tania Simoncelli of the American Civil Liberties Union, in response to the study. "We're creating a criminal justice system that is increasingly relying on this technology."

The researchers warned that their techniques could also be used to replicate enough of a person's DNA to carry out genetic testing on them without their consent, thus violating their right to genetic privacy.

Sources for this story include: www.nytimes.com.

Vitamin D Promotes Weight Loss

(NaturalNews) A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota found that overweight people have better success in losing weight when their vitamin D levels are increased. Dr. Shalamar Sibley, the researcher who headed the study, placed 38 obese men and women on a diet program and discovered that those whose vitamin D levels were increased lost up to a half pound more than those who followed the diet plan only.

When combined with a reduced-calorie diet, it appears that supplementation with vitamin D helps to promote increased weight loss among those whose levels are low to begin with. For each nanogram per milliliter increase in vitamin D precursor in the blood, it was observed that an extra half pound loss in weight was able to be achieved while the diet plan.

A study published earlier this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 75 percent or more of American teens and adults are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to all sorts of serious illnesses including cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Researchers in the weight loss study are unsure whether vitamin D deficiency causes obesity or if obesity causes vitamin D deficiency. Nevertheless, there is a clear connection between the two.

Vitamin D, in conjunction with calcium and sunlight, helps to properly assimilate food and regulate normal blood sugar levels. When there is a lack of calcium, oftentimes due to a vitamin D deficiency, the body increases production of synthase, a fatty acid enzyme that coverts calories into fat. Calcium deficiency can cause synthase production to increase by up to 500 percent, explaining the correlation between low levels of vitamin D and obesity.

Mainstream research has only begun to scratch the surface about the importance of vitamin D in general health maintenance. A clinical study conducted in April of 2000 revealed that patients who were bound to wheelchairs because of chronic fatigue and body weakness became mobile after just six weeks of supplementation with 50,000 IU of vitamin D per week. Other studies are showing remarkable healing from all kinds of diseases when vitamin D is brought up to proper levels.

Although current guidelines suggest daily intake somewhere between 400 and 600 IU, recent research is suggesting that this may be too low. Getting between 4,000 and 10,000 IU a day will have a much more therapeutic effect, boosting health and fending off disease. When natural sunlight is not an option, supplementation with vitamin D3 is the next best option.

Sources for this story include: http://wcco.com/health/vitamin.d.we... http://www.scientificamerican.com/a... http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/art...

Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-aging effect on cells

(NaturalNews) As NaturalNews has previously reported, omega-3s, the fatty acids found primarily in cold water fish like salmon, have a host of health benefits, including alleviating depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/027285_o...), preventing age-related blindness (http://www.naturalnews.com/026856_o...) and protecting against prostate cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/026752_c...). And now there's evidence omega-3s may have a profound anti-aging effect, too.

Telomeres, structures at the end of chromosomes that are involved in the stability and replication of chromosomes, are markers of biological aging. Genetic factors, exposure to certain chemicals and environmental stressors shorten the length of telomeres and are believed to contribute to the aging process. New research just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that omega-3s slow down the shortening of telomeres -- this means omega-3 fatty acids may protect against aging on a cellular level.

Previous studies have shown that people with established cardiovascular disease who have a high dietary intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids live longer than others with the same health problems who do not have adequate omega-3s in their diet. However, the exact way omega-3s exert this protective effect is not well understood, according to background information in the JAMA study.

So Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues decided to investigate whether omega-3 fatty acid blood levels were linked to changes in leukocyte (a type of blood cell) telomere length in a study of 608 people who had stable coronary artery disease. The scientists studied the patients for about five years, measuring leukocyte telomere length at the beginning of the study and at the end of 5 years of follow-up. Their goal? To see if there was any association between baseline levels of two types of omega-3 fatty acids -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) -- in the patients' bodies and any subsequent change in telomere length. There was.

The scientists found that the research subjects with the least amount of DHA and EPA experienced the most rapid rate of telomere shortening. However, those with the highest levels of the omega-3 fatty experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening.

"Levels of DHA+EPA were associated with less telomere shortening before and after sequential adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Each 1-standard deviation increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32 percent reduction in the odds of telomere shortening," the authors wrote in their study. "These findings raise the possibility that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease."

This also raises the very real possibility that an abundance of omega-3s in the diet could offer protection from cellular aging for all people -- whether they have heart disease or not.

For more information:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten...
http://www.naturalnews.com/omega-3.html

GHC's Dr. Ed Group joins Natural News Talk Hour

(NaturalNews) This week's NaturalNews Talk Hour features Dr. Edward Group, D.C., ND discussing "The Green Body Cleanse – Organic Detoxification at its Best". Discover how to reduce and eliminate toxins from your home, workplace and especially your body. It runs this Thursday evening at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern, and registration is FREE. Simply enter your email address in the registration form on the right column of this page and you'll receive call-in details for the broadcast.

The NaturalNews Talk Hour is a "behind the scenes", up close and personal look at the most important issues of our time. Discover what the mainstream media hasn't told you about the secrets of optimal health, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

Jonathan Landsman, host of NaturalNews Talk Hour, says "Dr. Group offers the kind of information that makes it easy for us to enjoy a more rewarding, happy and healthy life. His knowledge, love and compassion are true gifts to us all. I'm honored to be able to share his talents with our listening audience."

With participation by the Health Ranger, the NaturalNews Talk Hour features top-notch guests like Drs. Julian Whitaker, Bernie Siegel, T. Colin Campbell plus many other notable experts on healthy living.

Reader feedback about the talk hour has been extremely positive. One
listener sent us this testimonial about the show:

These high quality interviews that you're doing are a really valuable support for each and every one of us. Thank you for your contribution to TRUE health reform....reliable applicable prevention.
- Kay S.

The NaturalNews Talk Hour is sponsored by the NaturalNews MOXXOR Team. MOXXOR is a NEW class of omegas and antioxidants blended together into a powerful supplement. Improve your mobility, brain function and emotional well-being. To order MOXXOR – email: naturalnewsteam@optonline.net

Each show features many of the top natural health experts from around the world. To receive each week's unique call-in number, simply register by entering your email address in the form on the right.

This week's guest: Dr. Edward Group – "The Green Body Cleanse"

Dr. Edward Group, D.C., ND - "The Green Body Cleanse - Thu. Jan 28th

Dr. Edward Group is a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.), a Naturopathic Physician (ND), a Diplomat of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition (DACBN), and a Diplomat in American Board of Functional Medicine (DABFM). Dr. Group founded Global Healing Center in 1998 and is currently the Chief Executive Officer. Heading up the research and development team, Dr. Group assumes a hands-on approach in producing NEW and advanced health products and information.

Let's face it -- current health care systems are not working and the incidence of disease is climbing at an alarming rate. This show will expose to YOU the hidden truths behind the medical industry, such as how these industries create dis-ease and why modern medicine is designed to treat the symptoms of disease and not the root causes.

Don't miss this amazing event! Register now using the email form in the right column, and you will be emailed show details. Space is limited -- Register Now!

Acupuncture improves sex drive and decreases hot flashes

(NaturalNews) A recent study conducted by Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan revealed that acupuncture has even more benefits than previously thought for patients with breast cancer. In addition to reducing hot flashes better than drug therapy, acupuncture is effective at boosting the sex drive and overall sense of well-being in women undergoing intensive breast cancer treatment.

Published in the Journal of Oncology, the study highlights the superiority of acupuncture in improving the quality of life for breast cancer patients without imposing negative side effects like drugs do. Dr. Eleanor Walker, lead author of the study and division director of breast services in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford, confirmed this to be true when explaining the details of the study.

Two groups, one receiving acupuncture for their symptoms and the other receiving Venlafaxine drug therapy, were observed over a 12 week period. Initially, all the women experienced a 50 percent reduction in hot flash and night sweat symptoms. At the end of the treatment period, however, the group that received Venlafaxine experienced an immediate increase in symptoms while the acupuncture group did not.

The purpose of the study was to focus on alternative treatments to Venlafaxine that would better alleviate the negative side effects of breast cancer treatment and ultimately encourage women to continue participating in it.

According to the National Cancer Institute, 13 percent of women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Since conventional treatment is long and difficult, researchers hope to alleviate some of the associated misery with methods other than drug therapies that only make the situation more difficult.

Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Once again, another clinical study scientifically demonstrates the power of acupuncture to make real, measurable improvements in the health and lives of patients.

It's no surprise, of course: Acupuncture has been used safely and effectively for over five thousand years in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and literally hundreds of clinical trials conducted over the last twenty years have shown it to be remarkably safe and effective in treating a variety of health complaints from back pain to infertility.

Acupuncture works because the body reacts to stimulation with a healing response (well, that's only part of the reason acupuncture works, actually). A skilled acupuncture practitioner can initiate a healing response in the patient that no drug, no surgery and no medical intervention could ever accomplish.

That's what's really interesting about acupuncture: It doesn't do any healing. Rather, acupuncture stimulates the body to heal itself. This idea fails to be recognized at all in conventional medicine, which continues to follow the long-outmoded belief that the doctor heals the patient and that, astonishingly, the patient has no role in his or her own healing.

Practitioners of acupuncture knew thousands of years ago what many western doctors still haven't figure out today: The patient is the healer. The doctor is merely an initiator of the patient's own self-healing ability.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...

90 Percent of Cord Blood from U.S. Babies Tests Positive for BPA

(NaturalNews) For the first time in the history of its testing, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found bisphenol A (BPA) in the umbilical cord blood of American babies. Nine out of ten samples tested positive for the chemical, a shocking number when considering the laundry list of chronic illnesses that are associated with BPA exposure.

Used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, BPA has come under increasing scrutiny over the past several years for its role in contributing to the development of cancer, endocrine damage, reproductive problems, and neurological dysfunction. Many plastics manufacturers have begun removing the additive from their products, despite continued reassurances by the FDA that the chemical is safe.

Studies continue to show that BPA is dangerous, even at minimal levels, and that it should not be used in consumer products. Several groups, including the Endocrine Society and the American Medical Association (AMA), have expressed opposition to the use of BPA. Scientists are finding that low-dose exposure, especially during early developmental years, can actually cause more endocrine and reproductive problems than larger-dose exposure due to the way the body recognizes the chemical.

Not only was BPA found in babies, but 231 other chemicals were detected as well, indicating that human beings are exposed to more toxic chemicals than ever. Experts fear that such an onslaught of toxicity may cause permanent damage to the next generation of Americans.

Public outcry over the FDA's continued approval of BPA despite numerous studies revealing its dangers has led the agency to express that it will reevaluate its position. The agency was supposed to issue an updated review about BPA safety on November 30 but it never actually followed through. The FDA most recently claimed that the report will be made available before the end of the year.

Experts and analysts believe the food industry is behind the push to keep BPA legal, exerting influence on the FDA to conceal the truth about its dangers. Many manufacturers have voluntarily been able to eliminate BPA from their products, illustrating that there is no reason why it should continue to be used by anyone.

The AMA, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have all endorsed a resolution that calls on Congress to minimize or eliminate the use of BPA in consumer products. The EWG hopes that top priority will be given to the issue in light of the group's recent discovery.

Sources for this story include: http://www.ewg.org/minoritycordbloo...

Neurotoxic Chemical Common in Foods

(NaturalNews) A neurotoxic flame retardant resists environmental breakdown and builds up in the food chain, a new study conducted by researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives has found.

"They are persistent in the environment. They don't get broken down," lead researcher Alicia Fraser said. "Therefore, it takes a really long time for the contamination to leave our environment and our bodies. Even though we don't know the health effects at this point, most people would want policies that would stop us from being exposed to them."

The chemicals, known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), are closely related to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were banned in the 1970s after evidence emerged that they produced birth defects and neurological damage. Flame-retardant PBDEs were introduced at roughly the same time and soon became popular in a wide variety of household and consumer products.

Since the 1990s, evidence has increasingly emerged linking PBDEs to neurological damage in animals. Furthermore, study after study has shown that the chemicals can build up in the human body, particularly in breast milk. Every human population on Earth currently carries PBDEs in their bodies.

In the new study, researchers tested 2,000 people for PBDEs, finding that meat eaters had body burdens 25 percent higher than vegetarians. This provided still more evidence that the chemicals build up in animal fat, resisting degradation.

"The more meat you eat, the more PBDEs you have in your serum," Fraser said.

Many PBDEs have already been banned by the European Union, as well as the states of California, Maine and Washington. The new findings suggest that even if the chemicals are banned worldwide, they will continue to plague us for decades to come -- just like PCBs.

"The industry is finding new products to use as flame retardants, and we don't know the health and safety implications of those products either," Fraser said. "We need to test the health and safety implications of products before they go into use, not after."

Sources for this story include: www.wired.com.

NaturalNews announces chemical-free Chia seeds at under $5 a pound

(NaturalNews) As you may already know, NaturalNews has teamed up with The Raw Food World to launch the new NaturalNews store (http://store.naturalnews.com). The combined reach of their customers and our readers is allowing us to make some "screamin' good" high-volume purchases of health-related products that we can offer to readers at ridiculously competitive prices.

Today, we bring you a screamin' good deal on chemical-free Chia seeds. While supplies last, you can pick up a one-pound bag of grown-without-pesticides Chia seeds for the amazing price of just $4.95. They aren't certified organic, but they're grown without pesticides or herbicides of any kind. Both Matt and I regularly eat these ourselves!

This $4.95 / lb. price is only good while supplies last.

See more details at:
http://store.naturalnews.com/index....

Why Chia seeds?

Chia seeds remain one of my favorite superfoods. They're rich in omega-3s like flax seeds, but they taste a whole lot better than flax (in my opinion). I probably don't need to tell you about all the health benefits of omega-3s. Virtually everyone can benefit from increasing their intake of these health-supporting oils.

Chia seeds are also naturally high in calcium, a nutrient necessary for healthy bones (among other functions in the body). This is plant-based calcium, too, not the calcium carbonate you might see in lower-cost vitamins.

Another huge benefit offered by Chia seeds is the Chia gel that forms when you soak them in water. This gel surrounds the Chia seed, and when you eat or drink the Chia seed, this gel physically fills your stomach, helping you feel full faster, encouraging you to eat less at a meal setting. It may also help slow the digestion of dietary sugars because it locks those sugars in this Chia gel, requiring more time for those sugars to be released and digested. (Note, however, that I'm not saying Chia seeds are some sort of magic weight loss product. They aren't. They just really nutritious superfoods!)

How to prepare a "Chia smoothie"

I use Chia seeds in smoothies. It's easy: Just take a few spoonfuls of Chia seeds, place them in a glass jar and add 8 ounces of water (fill the jar). Let that sit for 6 - 8 hours until the Chia seeds are fully gelled up. You now have a "Chia gel" solution that you can pour into smoothies, mix into cereals and add to recipes. In smoothies, they're delicious!

In fact, you can just add a few delicious ingredients to the Chia gel itself and drink that down as a delicious smoothie. Try adding some blended bananas, peanut butter and stevia to the Chia gel: It's a banana-Chia smoothie that's delicious! Or add raw almond milk, and raw honey too -- that's an awesome recipe!

In their dry form, Chia seeds can also be added to bread recipes, pancakes and other baking recipes. And of course, Chia seeds go extremely well in raw foods recipes such as Chia crackers. The Chia gel actually helps all the raw ingredients stick together better.

Chia remains one of my top-recommended superfoods. It's nutrient dense, delicious and loaded with good nutrition. The omega-3 oils they offer are phenomenal because it's usually quite difficult to get those oils from plants. For those who don't want to eat fish or take fish oil supplements, Chia seeds are a smart source of dietary omega-3s. (I also take Moxxor green-lipped mussel oil capsules because I know it's a clean source of marine omega-3s.)

Chia seeds just $4.95 per pound

I don't think you'll see a better price on chemical-free Chia seeds anywhere!

While supplies last only:
http://store.naturalnews.com/index....

Other sources for Chia seeds

Chia seeds are also available at Good Cause Wellness (http://www.goodcausewellness.com/se...), an online retailer I've recommended for nearly two years now.

You can also find Chia seeds as an ingredient in products like Living Fuel (www.LivingFuel.com).

And of course, most health food stores carry Chia seeds, too. So pick up a bag the next time you're there.

Calcium and vitamin D supplements reduce the risk of bone fractures in everyone, young and old

(NaturalNews) In recent years, Big Pharma has produced a variety of widely hyped bisphosphonate drugs including alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva), risedronate (Actonel) and zoledronic acid (Reclast) that are aimed at preserving bone mass and reducing the risk of fractures. Unfortunately, as NaturalNews has reported, the more these medications are pushed on patients, the more serious side effects are being reported, from dangerous heart arrhythmias (http://www.naturalnews.com/026027_d...) to dental problems, esophageal ulcers, abdominal pain and severe damage to the jaw bone. But a new study involving almost 70,000 people from throughout the U.S. and Europe shows that nutrients -- calcium and vitamin D taken together -- offer a natural, side effect-free way to prevent fractures.

Because broken bones are a major cause of disability and loss of independence for elders, these findings are of particular interest to older people. In fact, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), fall-related injuries are the leading cause of accidental death among Americans age 65 and older. However, fractures can be serious at any age, causing pain, sometimes necessitating surgery and almost always restricting activities.

Good news: the researchers found it isn't only the aged whose bones benefit from taking calcium and vitamin D. Remarkably, they found the supplements reduced fractures in everyone -- the young and old, women and men, and even people who had already sustained fractured bones in the past.

The study, published in the January issue of the British Medical Journal, involved an international team of scientists headed by researchers from Copenhagen University in Denmark. They assessed the results of seven large clinical trials from around the world to document whether vitamin D alone or with calcium was effective in reducing fractures.

One of the most important trials included in the new investigation was a long term study conducted at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) in Sacramento as part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). This 15 year long national program was designed to study the effect of calcium and vitamin D supplements in preventing hip, spine and other types of fractures.

"What is important about this very large study is that it goes a long way toward resolving conflicting evidence about the role of vitamin D, either alone or in combination with calcium, in reducing fractures," John Robbins, professor of internal medicine at UC Davis and a co-author of the journal article, said in a statement to the media. "Our WHI research in Sacramento included more than 1,000 healthy, postmenopausal women and concluded that taking calcium and vitamin D together helped them preserve bone health and prevent fractures. This latest analysis, because it incorporates so many more people, really confirms our earlier conclusions."

Bottom line: the researchers concluded that it is the combination of calcium and vitamin D, rather than vitamin D alone, that is most effective in reducing a variety of fractures. "Interestingly, this combination of supplements benefits both women and men of all ages, which is not something we fully expected to find," Dr. Robbins stated. "We now need to investigate the best dosage, duration and optimal way for people to take it."

For more information:
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/newsro...
http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_inf...

Food industry continues to market junk food to children

(NaturalNews) A study conducted by Children Now, a California-based child advocacy group, has been released that indicts the food industry for continuing to market unhealthy food to children. Despite many food companies' expressed willingness in years prior to self-regulate themselves and shift their advertising efforts towards more healthy fare, little change has been seen.

In 2006, the Institute of Medicine (IM) made recommendations to the food industry to reform their marketing strategies towards promoting more healthy, nutritious food rather than junk food. In 2007, the U.S. Council of Better Business Bureaus launched the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, an effort aimed at meeting the IM recommendations. Over 12 of the nation's largest food producers agreed to cooperate in changing their advertising strategies.

The current study found that despite their promises, the food industry has generally failed to adopt any of the primary recommendations. Advertisements continue to entice children with nutritionally-deficient foods that are attractive to them, often trying to pass their products off as healthy when they are not.

Dr. Dale Kunkel, the author of the study, has concluded based on years of research that the marketing of junk food is a substantial contributor to childhood obesity. More than 72 percent of television food advertisements aimed at children today are for food products in the worst nutritional category. Only one percent of all advertising is for truly healthy foods.

Prior to 2005 when the initiative began, 84 percent of television ads were for food products in the worst nutritional category, representing a 14-percent drop since that time. Dr. Kunkel sees this as too little and is hoping that Congressional intervention will be the next step.

Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Let's be straight about this: Any nation that wanted to protect the health of its children would flat-out ban the marketing of junk food to children.

The junk food corporations, of course, now claim "free speech" rights thanks to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively grants corporations the same free speech rights as individuals. So now we're going to be overrun by "free speech" advertisements for junk food, targeted to children and infants in order to hook them on processed junk foods.

Corporations should be stripped of such rights. The corporatocracy cannot be allowed to poison our children with more toxic junk foods and sodas laced with chemical sweeteners.

The United States of America is supposed to be a nation of the People, by the People and for the People... not for the corporations!

Any nation that raises its children on junk foods has no real future. Sadly, that now seems to include the United States of America.

Sources for this story include:
http://uanews.org/node/29055

Compact Fluorescent Lights Dumping Mercury Directly into Landfills

(NaturalNews) Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs have become all the rage over the past several years, touted by many as the preferable "green" way to light a home, save energy, and promote environmental responsibility. While they may use less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, CFL bulbs are filled with toxic mercury that, when disposed of, contaminates landfills and the environment.

A report released in 2008 from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection revealed that when a CFL bulb is broken, it can release dangerously high levels of mercury into the air. Mercury-vapor standards generally allow for 300 nanograms of mercury per cubic meter of air, however a broken CFL bulb can emit upwards of 50,000 nanograms per cubic meter, or more than 166 times the safe upper threshold.

In Toronto, city officials require people to dispose of CFL bulbs at special hazardous waste facilities because they don't want the city's landfills to become contaminated with mercury. While used CFL bulbs are not legally recognized as hazardous waste, they are treated as such because they pose serious environmental threats when broken and released into the environment.

Waste runoff and ground seepage from landfills can contaminate rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and underground water tables. Even though landfills are generally designed to minimize this kind of contamination, the rapidly growing usage of CFL bulbs could have disastrous environmental consequences if they are not disposed of properly.

CFL bulbs also emit high levels of radiation, causing migraine headaches, sleep abnormalities, fatigue, and other health problems. Unlike traditional incandescent bulbs, CFL bulbs emit excessive "dirty energy," or electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs), a fact that has received little attention from those on the mainstream "green" bandwagon who continue to endorse CFLs as the solution to the alleged climate change crisis.

The voltage reduction technology in CFL bulbs causes high amounts of EMF pollution to be emitted. Similar to the kind released from mobile phone antennas and food irradiation machinery, EMF radiation poses serious health threats to humans who are exposed to excessive amounts of it. CFL bulbs have been found to greatly increase EMF exposure as they are often the most significant EMF polluters in homes that use them.

Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, on the other hand, are a much safer alternative to CFL bulbs. Those who wish to transition from traditional incandescent bulbs to something that uses less energy would do well to investigate LED alternatives. Although they are typically more expensive than the other technologies due to limited acceptance in the mainstream, they are better for the environment than CFLs and emit far less EMF pollution.

Sources for this story include: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/fix... http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/s... http://cflsafety.blogspot.com/

Radiation Treatment for Cancer Causes Diabetes in Children

(NaturalNews) People who are undergo radiation therapy for childhood cancers are significantly more likely to develop diabetes as adults, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Emory University and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

A number of studies have found that radiation, chemotherapy, and other such treatments significantly shorten the lives of childhood cancer survivors.

"As a result of their curative therapies, childhood cancer survivors face an increased risk of morbidity and mortality," the researchers wrote. Nearly 75 percent of such children develop a chronic health condition within 30 years of diagnosis, while 42.4 percent develop severe, disabling or life-threatening health conditions. Because cardiovascular disease is a major killer of childhood cancer survivors, the researchers examined the effect of radiation treatment on the risk of diabetes, a major correlate of cardiovascular mortality.

The researchers examined diabetes rates in 8,599 people who had been diagnosed with cancer before the age of 21, between 1970 and 1986. These rates were compared with 2,936 of their cancer-free siblings, who were randomly selected. All participants were screened for diabetes in 2003.

After adjusting for other diabetes risk factors including age, body mass index, ethnicity, exercise, income, insurance and race, the researchers found that those who had undergone cancer treatment as children were 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as adults than their siblings were. Those who had been treated with abdominal radiation were 2.7 times more likely to have diabetes, while those who had been treated with whole-body radiation were a shocking 7.2 times more likely to be diabetic.

Risk increased with radiation dose used, and decreased with age at diagnosis. People diagnosed with cancer before the age of five had 2.4 times the diabetes risk as those diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 20.

A previous study found that childhood cancer survivors were five to 10 times more likely to suffer from heart disease than their cancer-free siblings, and significantly more likely to suffer from kidney disease.

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com; www.sciencedaily.com

Health Ranger is keynote speaker at Health Freedom Expo in Long Beach, CA, March 26 - 28

(NaturalNews) A revolution is coming for health freedom, and Mike Adams the Health Ranger will be unleashing a new call to action as the keynote speaker at the Health Freedom Expo in Long Beach, CA this March 26 - 28. (It's being held at the Long Beach Convention Center.)

This is a rare opportunity for you to meet the Health Ranger in person and see him speaking LIVE to a large audience about the health freedom revolution that's headed our way. You'll be inspired and uplifted by what you'll hear in his speech entitled, "The Coming Health Freedom Revolution."

Also speaking at the event are Ed Begley Jr., the star of the Planet Green series Living with Ed, and Jeffrey Smith, author of the hard-hitting bestseller Seeds of Deception and other books about the dangers of genetically modified foods.

Dr. Leonard Coldwell, creator of "Instinct Based Medicine" is also speaking at the event, which is set to become one of the most exciting gatherings of health freedom advocates across North America.

The Health Ranger will be signing autographs, visiting expo exhibitors and hanging out in the main exhibit area to meet and greet NaturalNews readers and fans. (If you see him at the show, don't be afraid to say hello.)

Get your tickets now

Tickets are just $35 for all three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) which lets you see all the exhibits and attend all the live presentations by the Health Ranger, Ed Begley Jr., Jeffrey Smith and other speakers.

You can download a FREE ticket that gets you in on Friday at this web page:
http://healthfreedomexpo.com/expo/a...

You can order tickets by phone at 888-658-3976 or by purchasing them online at: https://www.healthfreedomexpo.com/expo/tickets/

Learn more about the expo at www.HealthFreedomExpo.com or visit the "About" page at: http://healthfreedomexpo.com/expo/a...

Come join in the fun!

Come join this amazing experience at the Health Freedom Expo at the Long Beach Convention Center on March 26 - 28. It promises to be one of the most memorable experiences you'll have all year!

In addition to the Health Ranger, many other health freedom advocates will be at the show, and you'll have an opportunity to meet new people, exchange ideas, and learn new uncensored information about health and healing that can potentially save your life!

This will put you at the cutting edge of the health freedom movement because you'll hear and see the very latest information from some of the most active health freedom champions in the world today.

Book your tickets today. If you need a hotel room when attending, here's the recommended hotel:

Hyatt Regency Long Beach
200 S Pine Ave
Long Beach, CA 90802
1-800-233-1234 or (562) 491-1234

See you at the Health Freedom Expo!

Even medical students want conventional medicine to include alternative therapies

(NaturalNews) Are up-and-coming young doctors going to practice the same kind of mainstream medicine as their predecessors? Will the next generation of docs turn up their noses at alternative therapies such as acupuncture, yoga, herbs and vitamins -- just like the majority of the current crop of docs? In what may come as a surprise to many mainstream physicians, the answer to those questions may be a resounding "no".

According to research published in the online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM), 75 percent of medical students surveyed think it would be beneficial for conventional Western medicine to integrate with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM places emphasis on natural therapies and using the body's own healing powers instead of relying on drugs, vaccines and other standard Western treatments.

A University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of California, San Diego, research team comprised of experts in the fields of CAM, integrative medicine, Western medicine, medical education and survey development created a first of its kind 30 question survey that was distributed to 126 U.S. medical schools. Some 1,770 medical students completed the survey -- roughly, about three percent of the 68,000 medical students nationwide. Although the response rate to the survey was fairly low, the researchers say it provided valuable insights into current medical students' perceptions of CAM.

For example, the findings revealed that 77 percent of the medical student participants agreed patients whose doctors are knowledgeable about complementary and alternative medicine in addition to conventional medicine benefit more than those whose doctors are only familiar with Western medicine. In fact, 74 percent agreed that a medical system which integrated conventional medicine with CAM could be more effective that either type of medicine used independently.

A whopping 84 percent of the participants surveyed said CAM contains beliefs, ideas and therapies that could benefit conventional medicine. Some of this attitudinal shift in medical students could be the result of personal experiences -- almost half of the participants said they had used complementary and alternative treatments themselves.

"Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, is receiving increased attention in light of the global health crisis and the significant role of traditional medicine in meeting public health needs in developing countries," study author Ryan Abbott, a researcher at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, said in a statement to the media. "Integrating CAM into mainstream health care is now a global phenomenon, with policymakers at the highest levels endorsing the importance of a historically marginalized form of health care."

The study also found that more than 60 percent of the medical student participants want more education related to CAM during their time in medical school. In a press statement, the researchers noted that although more than 50 percent of U.S. medical schools currently offer some type of CAM courses, these studies could be streamlined into more formal curricula as part of standardized medical school education.

"Although the content of integrative medicine programs remains controversial, medical schools across the country are moving forward with ambitious new programs to teach the next generation of health care leaders," concluded Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, the Wallis Annenberg Professor of Integrative East-West Medicine at UCLA, founder and director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, and chair of UCLA's Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine.

For more information:
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal...

EWG Study Finds Hundreds of Pollutants in Nation's Drinking Water

(NaturalNews) The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released yet another report indicting the nation's drinking water supplies are being highly contaminated with pollutants. An analysis of 20 million water quality tests performed between 2004 and 2009 revealed that many local and regional water supplies are tainted with up to 316 different toxic chemicals, many of which are unregulated by current federal standards.

Of the over 300 pollutants found, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set safe maximum limits for only 114 of them, leaving the remaining 64 percent unrecognized as pollutants and unregulated by toxin laws. A few of these chemicals include perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel; freon and radon, two chemical refrigerants; acetone; and metolachlor, a weed killer.

Nearly 10,000 American communities comprised of roughly 132 million people are receiving over 200 unregulated chemicals in their water supplies. Experts question the long-term safety of ingesting such tainted water, citing the fact that even existing federal laws about regulated chemicals suggest that tap water is unsafe for long-term ingestion. Health officials admit that current acceptable water contamination limits render water unsafe to drink.

Jane Houlihan, Senior Vice President for Research at EWG, notes that federal guidelines have failed to keep up with the growing number of toxic contaminants being found in drinking water. Utility companies, she says, are doing their best to purify water and make it safe to drink, but federal laws must be amended to include new chemicals in order to protect water supplies from unnecessary contamination.

Because many of the chemicals being found in water are unregulated and essentially permitted at any level, water utilities concerned about removing them spend more than $4 billion a year on chemicals designed to remove them from water. Only $207 million, or five percent of that amount, is spent protecting water sources from being contaminated in the first place.

Almost all of the unregulated chemicals being found in water are a result of discharge from agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, industrial pollutant runoff, and other wastewater treatment residue that makes its way into aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater supplies. Since there are virtually no laws in place to protect water supplies from these contaminants, industry is essentially permitted to discharge this waste with no consequence.

Experts believe that a federal restructuring of contaminant guidelines would go far to prevent water supply contamination, saving water utilities billions of dollars in treatment costs and maintaining the integrity of water supplies nationwide.

Sources for this story include: http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/pressr...

70 Percent of antibiotics used on animals slaughtered for food

(NaturalNews) Widespread antibiotic use in animal agriculture is drawing increasing fire as a primary cause of the growing prevalence of drug-resistant and ever more lethal superbugs.

"There is clear evidence of the human health consequences [from agricultural use of antibiotics, including] infections that would not have otherwise occurred, increased frequency of treatment failures (in some cases death) and increased severity of infections," the World Health Organization wrote in 2003.

Seventy percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are used promote growth or prevent infection in healthy farm animals -- in other words, animals that are not showing any signs of disease.

"The heavy reliance on routine antibiotic use is a byproduct of the way we raise animals for food: packed into dim and dirty enclosures where they live amid their own filth, eat food that they haven't evolved to digest, and are pretty much stacked atop one another," writes columnist Ezra Klein in the Washington Post.

The food industry claims that such antibiotic use is necessary to keep food prices low for consumers.

"That really is a strange defense," said U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter. "We keep animals in such deplorable conditions that they'll become sick as a dog if we don't dose them?"

The industry's argument is weak on financial grounds as well, Klein says. According to a study conducted by researchers at Tufts University, antibiotic resistant infections cost the U.S. health-care system $50 billion per year. In contrast, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that ending non-therapeutic antibiotic use in farm animals would raise the cost of meat consumption by $5 to $10 per person per year.

"I'd pay that for a lower risk of super-staphylococcus," Klein writes.

Slaughter has introduced a bill, H.R. 1549, that would ban non-medical use of the most effective human antibiotics.

"The bill preserves the seven most effective classes of antibiotics for human use only," she said. "They can be used to treat sick animals, but they can't be used to simply raise animals."

Sources for this story include: www.washingtonpost.com.

New evidence shows selenium and omega-3s prevent colon cancer

(NaturalNews) When scientists gathered in Houston recently for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, they heard groundbreaking evidence about how colon cancer can be prevented. The new data wasn't about drugs or surgery, either. Instead, two separate research groups concluded natural substances appear to protect from often deadly colon malignancies.

Colon cancer, which the American Cancer Society estimates is diagnosed in over 108,000 Americans each year, is intricately linked to adenomas, also called polyps. These lesions grow in the large bowel and start off as benign. However, they can turn into cancerous tumors and 70 to 80% of all cancers of the colon (the longest part of the large intestine) and rectum result from adenomas-turned-malignant.

So, in hopes of preventing future cancerous growths, polyps found during colonoscopies are snipped off and biopsied. Unfortunately though, pre-cancerous polyps often return. But scientists at the National Institute for Cancer Research in Genoa, Italy, conducted a long term study that shows the risk of pre-cancerous polyps (dubbed colorectal metachronous adenomas) coming back after they've been removed can be greatly reduced. The key? Taking specific antioxidants, including a selenium-based compound.

"Our study is the first intervention trial specifically designed to evaluate the efficacy of the selenium-based antioxidant compound on the risk of developing metachronous adenomas," said Luigina Bonelli, M.D., head of the unit of secondary prevention and screening at the National Institute for Cancer Research, in a statement to the media.

40% reduced risk

The research team studied volunteers between the ages of 25 and 75 who had already had one or more colorectal adenomas removed. None of the participants were diagnosed with any additional colorectal disease, cancer or other life-threatening illness and none were taking vitamins or mineral supplements when the study began. The scientists randomly divided the 411 participants into two groups: those in one group received an inactive placebo and those in the second group took a daily antioxidant supplement containing a selenium compound (selenomethionnine 200 ug), zinc 30 mg, vitamin A 6,000 IU, vitamin C 180 mg and vitamin E 30 mg.

"Our results indicated that individuals who consumed antioxidants had a 40% reduction in the incidence of metachronous adenomas of the large bowel," Bonelli said. "It is noteworthy that the benefit observed after the conclusion of the trial persisted through 13 years of follow up."

Omega-3s help prevent colorectal cancer

Another study just released at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference -- this one from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina -- found that omega-3 fatty acids, which are primarily found in cold water fish such as salmon, may be able to prevent colorectal cancer.

The scientists recruited 1,509 Caucasian participants (716 cancer cases and 787 controls) and 369 African-American participants (213 cancer cases and 156 controls). A validated food questionnaire was used to collect information on the frequency and amount of foods typically consumed by the research subjects in the past 12 months. Those who ate more long-chain omega-3 fatty acids had a significantly reduced risk of large bowel cancer. In fact, the highest intake was linked to an almost 40% decreased cancer risk. Unfortunately, the greatly reduced risk was only seen in white research subjects and the scientists are trying to figure out what might account for the racial disparity.

"Experimental data have shown benefits of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in colorectal carcinogenesis, ranging from reduced tumor growth, suppression of angiogenesis and inhibition of metastasis," research leader Sangmi Kim, Ph.D., said in a statement to the press. "Our finding of inverse association between dietary intakes of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and distal large bowel cancer in white participants adds additional support to the hypothesis."

These new studies linking natural substances to colon cancer prevention are part of a growing body of evidence indicating dietary measures can fight this kind of cancer successfully. For example, as NaturalNews has previously reported, the disease is primarily linked to the typical Western diet (http://www.naturalnews.com/025974_c...), so avoiding processed food and trans fats (http://www.naturalnews.com/025880_t...) can go far to prevent it. What's more, blueberries have been shown to slash the risk of colon cancer by 57% (http://www.naturalnews.com/021951_b...) and apples contain natural phytochemicals that have a protective effect against colon cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/023136_c...), too.

For more information:
http://www.aacr.org/home/public--me...
http://www.aacr.org/home/public--me...
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/...

Shorty Awards continues discredited contest, allows hate speech from jackals who attack natural medicine

(NaturalNews) It's been two days since the Shorty Awards fraudulently deleted the votes from all NaturalNews readers and deleted the Health Ranger as a candidate in the health category. Dr. Joseph Mercola is now in the position as the most likely candidate to potentially beat the vaccine-pushing nominee and her supporters who have resorted to some of the most vile hate speech you've ever seen on the 'net.

As I once was, Dr. Mercola is now being defamed, slandered and attacked with utterly false accusations in the voting contest -- and the Shorty Awards continues to allow all this! The dishonorable individuals from the vaccine-pushing camp are now accusing Mercola of voting fraud, trying to get him kicked out of the contest in the same way they managed to get me kicked off. I know for a fact that the accusations being leveled against Mercola are entirely false. I also know this kind of cheating is very typical behavior from vaccine pushers.

Dr. Mercola explained the situation himself in a Facebook post, "An arrogant group of science bloggers that have vilified me for the past few years have started a campaign to have an Australian shill to win a health award on Twitter. This overweight non-physician has arrogantly bashed nearly every alternative therapy and encourages reliance on drugs."

That's why NaturalNews continues to support Dr. Mercola to win the health category. Please vote for Dr. Mercola right now at: http://shortyawards.com/mercola

This is a vote for health freedom. It is a vote against the vaccine-pushers who are the enemies of health and advocates of drugs, chemotherapy and vaccines.

The Shorty Awards fraud explained

If you look at the false claims of vote fraud from the vaccine-pushing opposition, it's all quite hilarious. They accused myself and Dr. Mercola of "breaking the rules" simply because many of our supporters wanted to vote for us so badly that they created their own new Twitter accounts so they could vote!

According to the Shorty Awards rules, votes from newly-created Twitter accounts won't be counted. No problem there. We agree with the rule. Take all the votes for a candidate and simply discount any votes from newly-created Twitter accounts.

But what the Shorty Awards did to myself and NaturalNews readers is they deleted ALL our votes, including legitimate votes from existing Twitter accounts, just because some other people created, on their own, new Twitter accounts out of a desire to try to participate. According to Shorty Awards rules, these votes would simply ignored. This is NOT grounds for removing a candidate and deleting all the votes for a particular candidate.

We've done a little investigation here at NaturalNews, and we've found that virtually all the top nominees in every category of the Shorty Awards have received multiple votes from newly-created Twitter accounts, and this includes the #1 nominee in the health category right now, the shill from Australia who is being fronted by vaccine pushers who mostly don't even know who she is.

What the Shorty Awards has done is selectively decided to disqualify only the Health Ranger for votes that have been cast for EVERY nominee in the top five. And that's where their fraud comes into play. As the organizers of an award contest, they have a professional obligation to apply their rules in a fair and consistent way. This is what they failed to do, and this is why the news about the Shorty Awards losing credibility is now spreading like wildfire across the 'net.

And now -- this gets even better -- these people are creating new accounts on Facebook, then posting violent rantings on my Facebook page while complaining to Facebook to have our account removed for "promoting violence." They are the ones promoting the violence, of course.

You can probably tell by now that these jackals are front-men for Big Pharma. I've seen this behavior enough to know exactly who is behind this: The drug companies and their P.R. hit men. They see natural health advocates as a threat to their business, and they will do anything to try to get you censored, banned, disqualified or otherwise shut down on the 'net. The one thing they absolutely cannot stand is for health freedom advocates to have a voice and tell people the truth about why they don't need pharmaceuticals, mammograms, vaccines and chemotherapy.

Vote for Dr. Mercola and Kevin Gianni

There are only a few short days left before the Shorty Awards nominee voting ends. We want to help natural health advocates win this category. You can help by casting TWO votes right now (yes, you can legitimately vote for more than one candidate in the same category, according to Shorty Awards rules).

Vote for Dr. Joseph Mercola here:
http://shortyawards.com/mercola

And vote for Kevin Gianni here:
http://shortyawards.com/kevingianni

You know Kevin Gianni. He's got a huge Twitter following, and he's all about health freedom. He's standing up for health freedom by joining the race. With your support, we could potentially help Dr. Mercola take first place, and Kevin Gianni could take second or third.

Don't create a new Twitter account to cast your vote, because that's a wasted vote anyway. And the Shorty Awards, it turns out, lies about how they handle these things. Rather than merely discounting votes from newly-created accounts, they malicious disqualify whoever they want.

Your support in all this is greatly appreciated. As you can now tell, this is no longer about me winning the award, as I've been shoved out of the competition. This is about making sure that health freedom advocates are victorious over the vaccine-pushing jackals who have essentially hijacked the Shorty Awards contest because they couldn't stand the sight of a natural health advocate fairly and honestly winning this contest.

Read my previous report about the Shorty Awards here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/028006_S...

That story also reveals the contact information where you can tweet or email your complaints to the Shorty Awards organizers.

'Skeptics' article stirs up condemnation from skeptics, praise from holistic thinkers

(NaturalNews) The article I posted yesterday that exposed the true beliefs of "skeptics" made some major waves across the 'net. Entitled, What "skeptics" really believe about vaccines, medicine, consciousness and the universe (http://www.naturalnews.com/028012_s...), the article turned the tables on the skeptics and detailed their bizarre beliefs for the whole world to see.

This article succeeded wildly in infuriating the "skeptics" across the 'net by simply reminding them what they believe. They then resorted to their same old dirty tricks to attack me by doing things like joining our Facebook page then posting a message that says, "That article made me so mad, I'm quitting this forum!" (Gee, oh well.)

Meanwhile, the article received praise from supporters of natural medicine, the healing arts and holistic thinking -- all of whom have had enough of being labeled quacks and kooks for believing in plant-based medicine, nutritional therapies and the healing potential of the human mind and body.

They're tired of being insulted and demeaned by the skeptics who have for years gotten away with blasting holistic thinkers without receiving much criticism themselves. So we turned the tables on the skeptics and showed the world how crazy some of their beliefs are. It is absolutely true that the most ardent skeptics believe they themselves have no consciousness, no soul, no free will and not even a mind. People thought I made this up, but I didn't. It's one of the core beliefs among classic "skeptics" (they will even tell you this themselves).

Water is magical... really!

One such skeptic accused me of being a quack because he said that I believe "water is magical." Was that supposed to be an insult? I do think water is magical!

I think pregnancy is magical. Human consciousness is magical. Plant life is magical. And water is at the very top of the list of magical substances with amazing, miraculous properties, many of which have yet to be discovered.

Think about it: Water expands when it freezes (almost everything else shrinks). Water is both a solvent and a lubricant. Water is almost impervious to compression. Water can flow upwards, against gravity, into small cracks and crevices. Water is made up of two gases, each of which is a combustible fuel on its own. Do I think water is magical? You bet I do!

I also think magnetism is magical. And gravity. And quantum physics. There isn't a single scientist or skeptic alive today who truly understands magnetism or gravity. Sure, they can mathematically model it. They can describe it and observe it, but they don't understand it. Mass warps the very fabric of reality and causes two objects to magically attract each other? Seriously? That's about as magical as it gets.

Quantum physics is magical, too. As physicist Richard Feynman famously said, "I think I can safely say that no one understands quantum mechanics." To all humans, including skeptics, quantum physics is essentially magic. If they claim to truly understand quantum physics, they are lying.

Feyman was unusually open-minded for a scientist. In fact, he was no closed-minded "skeptic." He was infinitely curious about the way the universe works, and had he lived longer, he may have very well discovered the principles behind homeopathy and water memory. But he also knew that science has its limits -- an idea that still has not occurred to most skeptics today. Feynman said, "I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy." Those are his words, not mine. The words of perhaps the greatest physicist to have ever lived.

Science cannot answer the most important questions

And he's right. Reductionism doesn't work to study holistic phenomena. And that's where most skeptics go completely off track. They think you can isolate, identify and categorize every bit and piece of every single thing if you just look closely enough. In that belief, they are wrong. The universe is holographic. The whole is in the parts. The universe is holistic, and it cannot be understood by ripping it apart into tiny pieces and giving them tiny names.

I wrote about this in an article about the Large Hadron Collider that has been widely read across the 'net. It's entitled The Higgs Boson Particle Isn't a Particle - Why the Search for Subatomic Particles is an Illusion (http://www.naturalnews.com/025486.html)

Reductionist thinking (the preferred worldview of "skeptics") cannot ever hope to understand plant-based medicine. Because plant-based medicine works through the synergistic effects of thousands of phytonutrients working together. Separate them all and the "magic" of plant-based medicine disappears. Western scientists can study every single molecule of a plant in great detail and yet entirely miss the healing effects of the whole plant.

When skeptics demand that we "prove that this plant has medicinal properties," what they mean is that the plant chemicals should be studied in isolation, one by one, to see if any of them work in isolation. And that approach simply won't work. Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example, uses ingredients that when taken in isolation can be dangerous (such as ephedra), but when combined with other supporting herbs are remarkably safe.

Skeptics don't get this. The FDA doesn't get this. And many consumers still don't get this either. Holistic medicine cannot be studied with reductionist thinking.

In a similar way, the holistic nature of the universe cannot be understood, explained or even comprehended by reductionist thinking. The worldview of "skeptics," in other words, limits them to a very narrow understanding of the world around them. That limitation is what prevents them from understanding the healing arts, or homeopathy, or mind-body medicine or any other advanced modality.

Skeptics recruit thousands of new readers for NaturalNews

Getting back to the skeptics themselves, some of them took my article way too personally, attributing every single statement to themselves. Well of course every single belief in that article isn't followed by every single "skeptic" person. Even skeptics disagree amongst themselves on how far to take their "skeptic" beliefs. There is a spectrum of skeptics in the same way there is a spectrum of natural health practitioners.

But by blasting my article all over the web and then attacking it, they accomplished something quite amazing: They brought us over 2,500 new email newsletter subscribers in just 48 hours! As it turns out, many people are skeptical of the skeptics and they're quite open to a differing point of view. They might believe one or two things that typify the skeptics' position, but they don't swallow the whole belief system of the most ardent skeptics.

And that brings me to beliefs. I don't want you to believe anything I say. Not automatically, anyway. I want you to think for yourself. I don't want you to follow holistic thinking just because it sounds pretty; I want you to explore for yourself what seems to be true in your own experience.

If you, in your own experience, find that herbs and massage therapy and nutrition are all utterly worthless, and you want to join the skeptics camp, then go for it! If you've thought about it yourself, and reached your own conclusions, and you've pursued truth with an open mind and an open heart, then whatever conclusion you reach is "your" truth. But don't let your current intellectual position become a prison that prevents you from exploring other possibilities of the way the universe works.

This is the default position of free thinkers, by the way, of which I am a lifelong member. Free thinkers respect the freedoms of others to arrive at their own truths. Skeptics, on the other hand, aggressively attack anyone who disagrees with their conclusions. If you don't believe the things they believe, then you're a quack, or a kook or a woo woo practitioner.

They also tend to jump to false conclusions about what people are really saying. In my previous article, for example, I never stated whether I believed in God, or whether I was an athiest, or whether I followed organized religion and yet people read the article and they leaped to conclusions, assuming I was promoting organized religion, for example, or that I was condemning atheism.

Actually I never stated my position on those matters in the article at all, but the skeptics leaped to the conclusion that I did. This speaks to their tendency to warp all incoming information and restructure it to conform to the beliefs they already carry about the subject at hand.

Above all, skeptics have an extremely limited, distorted view of the world. It is that view that prevents them from grasping more advanced concepts like quantum healing, vibrational medicine, mind-body medicine or even medicinal herbs. The skeptics' view of the universe is that of a child. Embracing the holistic nature of the universe requires a more mature understanding.

Chlorella Superfood Fights Body Fat and Diabetes

(NaturalNews) A superfood known as chlorella has caught on like wildfire in the United Kingdom, and studies continue to emerge linking the algae to improvement in symptoms of people with everything from diabetes and high blood pressure to digestive or immune problems.

Chlorella is a single-celled algae that naturally occurs in freshwater rivers and ponds in East Asia, tinting those bodies of water green. It is gathered from these natural sources, dried, crushed into a powder, and then packed into tablet form for sale as a dietary supplement. It has twice the protein density of spinach, 38 times that of soy beans and 55 times that of rice, providing nine essential amino acids along with a number of vitamins and minerals.

The algae has shown effectiveness at improving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome -- a collection of symptoms linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including high fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and central obesity. Studies have found chlorella supplements to reduce blood pressure in 50 percent of hypertension patients, as well as significantly reduce body fat, blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

"It seems that chlorella turns on the genes that control the way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body," said researcher Randall Merchant of Virginia Commonwealth University. "This research shows that chlorella could in theory help correct the problems of metabolic syndrome. It is not a magic bullet, but taking it is one other preventive thing you can do, like exercise or watching your diet."

Other studies have shown that chlorella encourages the growth of "good bacteria," absorbs toxins from the intestines, improves digestion, and eases the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia. Chlorella supporters claim that it also increases energy levels and fights depression.

After studies showed that chlorella boosts the immune system, preventing secondary infections in people with brain tumors, some British doctors have started using it to complement cancer treatments.

Because chlorella is high in vitamin K1, it can interfere with the effects of blood thinning medications.

Sources for this story include: www.telegraph.co.uk.

What 'skeptics' really believe about vaccines, medicine, consciousness and the universe

(NaturalNews) In the world of medicine, "skeptics" claim to be the sole protectors of intellectual truth. Everyone who disagrees with them is just a quack, they insist. Briefly stated, "skeptics" are in favor of vaccines, mammograms, pharmaceuticals and chemotherapy. They are opponents of nutritional supplements, herbal medicine, chiropractic care, massage therapy, energy medicine, homeopathy, prayer and therapeutic touch.

But there's much more that you need to know about "skeptics." As you'll see below, they themselves admit they have no consciousness and that there is no such thing as a soul, a spirit or a higher power. There is no life after death. In fact, there's not much life in life when you're a skeptic.

What skeptics really believe

I thought it would be interesting to find out exactly what "skeptics" actually believe, so I did a little research and pulled this information from various "skeptic" websites. What I found will make you crack up laughing so hard that your abs will be sore for a week. Take a look...

• Skeptics believe that ALL vaccines are safe and effective (even if they've never been tested), that ALL people should be vaccinated, even against their will, and that there is NO LIMIT to the number of vaccines a person can be safely given. So injecting all children with, for example, 900 vaccines all at the same time is believed to be perfectly safe and "good for your health."

• Skeptics believe that fluoride chemicals derived from the scrubbers of coal-fired power plants are really good for human health. They're so good, in fact, that they should be dumped into the water supply so that everyone is forced to drink those chemicals, regardless of their current level of exposure to fluoride from other sources.

• Skeptics believe that many six-month-old infants need antidepressant drugs. In fact, they believe that people of all ages can be safely given an unlimited number of drugs all at the same time: Antidepressants, cholesterol drugs, blood pressure drugs, diabetes drugs, anti-anxiety drugs, sleeping drugs and more -- simultaneously!

• Skeptics believe that the human body has no ability to defend itself against invading microorganism and that the only things that can save people from viral infections are vaccines.

• Skeptics believe that pregnancy is a disease and childbirth is a medical crisis. (They are opponents of natural childbirth.)

• Skeptics do not believe in hypnosis. This is especially hilarious since they are all prime examples of people who are easily hypnotized by mainstream influences.

• Skeptics believe that there is no such thing as human consciousness. They do not believe in the mind; only in the physical brain. In fact, skeptics believe that they themselves are mindless automatons who have no free will, no soul and no consciousness whatsoever.

• Skeptics believe that DEAD foods have exactly the same nutritional properties as LIVING foods (hilarious!).

• Skeptics believe that pesticides on the crops are safe, genetically modified foods are safe, and that any chemical food additive approved by the FDA is also safe. There is no advantage to buying organic food, they claim.

• Skeptics believe that water has no role in human health other than basic hydration. Water is inert, they say, and the water your toilet is identical to water from a natural spring (assuming the chemical composition is the same, anyway).

• Skeptics believe that all the phytochemicals and nutrients found in ALL plants are inert, having absolutely no benefit whatsoever for human health. (The ignorance of this intellectual position is breathtaking...)

• Skeptics believe that the moon has no influence over life on Earth. Farming in sync with moon cycles is just superstition, they say. (So why are the cycles of life for insects, animals and humans tied to the moon, then?)

• Skeptics believe that the SUN has no role in human health other than to cause skin cancer. They completely deny any healing abilities of light.

• Skeptics believe that Mother Nature is incapable of synthesizing medicines. Only drug companies can synthesize medicines, they claim. (So why do they copy molecules from nature, then?)

• Skeptics do not believe in intuition. They believe that mothers cannot "feel" the emotions of their infants at a distance. They write off all such "psychic" events as mere coincidence.

• Skeptics believe that all healing happens from the outside, from doctors and technical interventions. They do not believe that patients have any ability to heal themselves. Thus, they do not ascribe any responsibility for health to patients. Rather, they believe that doctors and technicians are responsible for your health. Anyone who dismisses doctors and takes charge of their own health is therefore acting "irresponsibly," they claim.

• Skeptics believe that cell phone radiation poses absolutely no danger to human health. A person can be exposed to unlimited cell phone radiation without any damage whatsoever.

• Skeptics believe that aspartame and artificial chemical sweeteners can be consumed in unlimited quantities with no ill effects.

• Skeptics believe that human beings were born deficient in synthetic chemicals and that the role of pharmaceutical companies is to "restore" those deficiencies in humans by convincing them to swallow patented pills.

• Skeptics believe that you can take unlimited pharmaceuticals, be injected with an unlimited number of vaccines, expose yourself to unlimited medical imaging radiation, consume an unlimited quantity of chemicals in processed foods and expose yourself to an unlimited quantity of environmental chemical toxins with absolutely no health effects whatsoever!

All the beliefs listed above were compiled from "skeptics" websites. (I'm not going to list those websites here because they don't deserve the search engine rankings, but you can find them yourself through Google, if you wish.)

Skeptics aren't consistently skeptical

If you really look closely at the beliefs of "skeptics," you discover their skepticism is selective. They're really skeptical about some things -- like vitamins -- but complete pushovers on others such as the scientific credibility of drug company studies.

Here are some of the many things that "skeptics" should be skeptical about, but aren't:

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the corruption and dishonesty in the pharmaceutical industry. They believe whatever the drug companies say, without asking a single intelligent question.

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about medical journals. They believe whatever they read in those journals, even when much of it turns out to be complete science fraud.

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the profit motive of the pharmaceutical industry. They believe that drug companies are motivated by goodwill, not by profits.

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the motivations and loyalties of the FDA. They will swallow, inject or use any product that's FDA approved, without a single reasonable thought about the actual safety of those products.

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the safety of synthetic chemicals used in the food supply. They just swallow whatever poisons the food companies dump into the foods.

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the enormous dangers of ionizing radiation from mammograms and CT scans. They have somehow convinced themselves that "early detection saves live" when, in reality, "early radiation causes cancer."

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the mass-drugging agenda of the psychiatric industry which wants to diagnose everyone with some sort of "mental" disorder. The skeptics just go right along with it without asking a single commonsense question about whether the human brain really needs to be "treated" with a barrage of mind-altering chemicals.

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about mercury fillings. What harm could mercury possibly do anyway? If the ADA says they're safe, they must be!

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the demolition-style collapse of the World Trade Center 7 building on September 11, 2001 -- a building that was never hit by airplanes. This beautifully-orchestrated collapse of a hardened structure could only have been accomplished with precision explosives. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwSc...) Astonishingly, "skeptics" have little understanding of the laws of physics. Concrete-and-steel buildings don't magically collapse in a perfect vertical demolition just because of a fire on one floor...

• Skeptics aren't skeptical about the safety of non-stick cookware, or the dangers of cleaning chemicals in the home, or the contamination of indoor air with chemical fumes from carpets, paints and particle board furniture. To the skeptics, the more chemicals, the better!

Nature is bad, chemicals are good

Summing up the position of the "skeptics" is quite simple: Nature is bad, chemicals are good!

If we only had more chemicals injected into more babies, the world would be a better place, they say. If we could only ban all plants, herbs, vitamins and supplements, we'd all be so much healthier because then we'd take more pharmaceuticals!

Seriously. This is what they believe. They openly admit this is their position.

And all you people drinking green smoothies, and growing your own food, and getting natural sunlight, and taking care of your own health, and drinking herbal tea... well you're all just fools, say the skeptics. You're all just too stupid to understand "real" science. Because if you understood real science, you'd give up all those useless herbs and superfoods and healing vegetables and you'd be taking twenty different prescription medications instead.

Then you'd be really smart, see. Because all those chemicals make you healthy and smart. A few extra vaccine injections will make you even smarter. Then you can join the skeptics because you're smart enough at that point to understand that chemicals are the answer to all of life's problems: Depression, anxiety, digestion, sexual performance, sleep, even test-taking abilities... there's a chemical "solution" to every problem you might experience.

What skeptics really are

I hope it's fairly obvious to you by now that skeptics are the most misinformed people on the planet.

They are the easiest people to fool. They're the easiest to hypnotize, too, because they lack independent thinking skills. Rather than thinking for themselves, they have joined a "club of skeptics" where they can be told what to think and then label themselves "intelligent" for following others in the group.

These are the people who line up to be injected with useless H1N1 vaccines. (The joke is on them, of course. Those vaccines were a complete fraud...) These are the people who stand in line at the pharmacy to buy a dozen different prescriptions (costing sometimes thousands of dollars) that their doctors told them to take. These are the people who eat processed, dead junk food laced with chemicals that make them sick -- and then they wonder why they're sick. These are the people who sit at home watching television and think to themselves how smart they are because they follow the medical advice they learned in drug company advertisements.

These are the real "skeptics." They are so incredibly isolated from reality that they don't even believe in their body's own ability to heal itself.

Skeptics don't believe in a higher power of any kind: No God, no spirit, no angels, no guides, no creative force in the universe... nada. They think the universe is a cold, empty, lonely, stupid place full of soulless, mindless, zombie biological bodies who have no free will and no consciousness.

Gee, no wonder these skeptics are so misguided. They have the most pessimistic view possible. No wonder they seek to destroy themselves with chemicals -- they don't even think they're alive to begin with! Skeptics are bent on self destruction. And they believe that when you die, the lights just go out and you cease to exist. Nothing happens after that. You're just a mindless biological robot whose life has no meaning, no purpose, no higher self.

This is exactly what the skeptics believe. They'll even tell you so themselves!

Never argue with drones

Realizing this, it makes it so much easier to debate with skeptics on any topic. Whatever they say, you just answer, "WHO is saying that? Are YOU, a conscious, free-thinking person with a mind and soul saying that, or are those words simply being automatically and robotically uttered from the mouth of a bag of bones and skin that has no mind and no soul?"

If they answer you honestly, they will have to admit that they believe they are nothing more than a robotic bag of bones and skin that is mindlessly uttering whatever nonsense happens to escape their mechanical lips. At that point, you've already won the debate because YOU have a soul, and THEY don't. You're arguing with a mindless robot.

Seriously. Think about this deeply. If you believe what the skeptics want you to believe (because they are always right, of course), then you must accept the fact that THEY have no consciousness. They are not really "alive." They are just robotic biological machines. They are drones, in other words. And drones are not equal to a being of energy with a consciousness and a soul, inhabiting a human body with purpose and awareness.

Never argue with drones. You only waste your time and annoy the drone.

Skeptics... zombies... drones... different words for the same thing. Soulless, mindless, lacking consciousness and free will, having no awareness of the value of life... these are the skeptics arguing for vaccines, mammograms and chemotherapy today. They are agents of death who can only find solace in an industry of death -- the industry of modern medicine.