Drury Designs Blog

Raw Vegan Avocado Gazpacho

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:05:29 -0700

Fellow avocado lovers, today is your day! Prepare to dip your snouts in the avocado trough of Heaven. For those of you who have not yet embraced the joys of avocado – this avocado gazpacho just might intoxicate you! This quick and easy raw gazpacho is like “liquid guacamole.” Bursting with fresh flavors and a kick at the end to surely having you requests seconds.

Ingredients

3 cups or 3 large avocados chopped

2 cups cubed cucumbers

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped red onion

2 cloves fresh garlic minced

1 Tbsp / 1/2 small green chilli chopped for a bit of heat

3/4 cup filtered water to thin out to desired consistency.

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (juice of 2 juicy limes)

1 Tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt

Garnish

1 avocado diced

2 chopped green onions

1 freshly diced tomato (omit if on Body Ecology)

1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro

Place all the ingredients in your blender (I like to use a Vitamix) and puree until smooth.

Flavour to taste and chill before serving.

Serve with “all the toppings” or on its own in small ramekins or shot glasses. YUM!

Serves 4

Raw Vegan Carrot Ginger Soup

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:26:45 -0700

Utilizing a Vitamix and some fresh ingredients you can blend up this recipe in minutes! This fantastic recipe comes from Joe Cross and the Reboot program from his film. For those of you who have not seen the film Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. (and I highly recommend you do) this chronicles Joe’s personal transformation and journey back to optimal health and vitality. After a realization at the age of 40, weighing more than 100lbs overweight, and heavily medicated for a chronic autoimmune disease, Joe Cross was facing an early death. Taking matters into this own hands, Joe spent 60 days traveling across America consuming nothing but the fresh juice of fruits and vegetables, talking to average people about their relationship to food, and ultimately inspiring and leading others on the path back to health.

3 cups carrot juice

1 ripe avocado

2 Tbsp raw agave or coconut sugar (use stevia if following an alkaline diet)

1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper or more to taste

1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt or more to taste

1/2 cup raw fresh coconut meat (optional)

2 Tbsp cold pressed avocado or olive oil (for garnish)

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)

Puree the carrot juice, avocado, coconut meat, sweetener, ginger, cayenne pepper and salt in your Vitamix or Sous Chef® Food Processor until completely smooth.

Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. I added ¼ tsp more salt.

Garnish the soup with a drizzle of oil and the chopped cilantro. I added some raw hemp seeds for added protein. YUMMO!

Makes 2 servings

Calories: 234 kcal

Protein: 2 g

Fiber: 7 g

Allergy Relief Through Chiropractic Care

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:24:19 -0700

Allergy Relief Through Chiropractic Care: The next time you sneeze, it is a good time to visit a chiropractor. Yes, a chiropractor. Most people never think about it, but chiropractic care can help provide allergy relief. That’s because chiropractic care, often thought necessary for only back and neck problems, can help with keeping the body operating at peak performance. The body’s immune system helps with preventing disease and infection, dealing with stress and overall well being. The immune system also tackles the invasion in a body of foreign substances such as pollution, dust, dead cells, etc. Current research is showing that there is a direct link between the nervous system and the immune system. Chiropractors remove nerve interference and allow the immune system to work optimally.

The immune system is affected by nerves and hormones.

An immune system not operating effectively can:

Fail to recognize and remove abnormal cells such as those that are cancerous.
Be unable to fight infections.
Overreact to things such as bee stings, penicillin, certain foods, pollen etc.
Become depressed making you more vulnerable to disease.

Allergic reactions are the most frequent immune disorders and happen when the body’s immune system overreacts to allergens such as dust, pollen, pet dander, etc. The response is that the body overproduces neutralizing chemicals such as histamines to correct the problem.
What causes allergies? Some research says it’s our increasing sterile environment. Others research indicates the overuse of antibiotics and vaccinations. The idea here is our immune system is at its best when fighting off disease, parasites, and bacteria all by itself. The more we try and help it, the weaker it becomes. It is proven that children who live on farms and are exposed to different animals and the outdoors have fewer allergies than those who are not exposed.
Traditional allergy treatments only deal with the symptom without addressing the cause. This is because western medicine has no cure for allergies. Worse yet, antihistamines used over time or combined with other medication can be deadly. More recently, Canadian researcher Lorne Brandes, in an article published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, has produced research showing that certain antihistamines (Claritin, Hismanal and Atarax) make cancerous tumors grow faster.

How can chiropractors help?
The answer is simple, chiropractic care releases stress on a patient’s nervous system. This allows the immune system to operate more effectively, which is beneficial to anyone and especially those suffering from allergies.

The chiropractic approach is to remove subluxations, a term for a misaligned spinal vertebra pinching a nerve. Subluxations place stress on the nervous system. Free from nervous system stress, your body will work more effectively to neutralize the allergy-causing chemicals in your environment.
No matter what disease or condition you have, you can benefit from a healthy spine. Spinal health can be more important for your overall healing than proper nutrition. Is YOUR family carrying the vertebral subluxation complex in your spines? Only a chiropractic spinal checkup will tell. A healthy spine can improve your life!

Harvest Pancakes Vitamix Recipe

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:16:50 -0700

Pancakes are a favourite breakfast at my house. We have several different recipes that we alternate between, and we always make a big batch so we can freeze some to have on hand. This nutritious recipe smells divine while cooking, and tastes even better. It is such a comforting fall morning breakfast. Click Here to Enter to win a Vitamix

Although this recipe is designed to be made in a Vitamix, instructions are also included at the end to mix these by hand. Halve this recipe if you don't want leftovers (the recipe makes pancakes for eight or nine servings). These pancakes can be frozen and then heated in a toaster oven for a quick breakfast.

2 Tbsp maple syrup

3 Tbsp safflower oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 banana, broken into 2 pieces

1 1/2 cups rice milk

2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix

(or use 1 3/4 cups brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup tapioca flour)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp sea salt

Place ingredients into Vitamix in order listed.

Starting at speed 1, turn on Vitamix. Turn dial to 10 and blend 15 seconds. Turn off Vitamix and scrape sides with spatula to loosen any dry ingredients stuck to the edge. Set dial to speed 1 and turn on Vitamix again. Turn dial to 10, then flip switch to high power and blend 15 seconds or until batter looks smooth.

Heat pan over medium heat. Pour pancake mix directly from Vitamix into hot pan in circles about 2 1/2 inches round. Cook about 2 minutes per side, being careful not to burn pancakes.

If not using a Vitamix, mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients in separate bowls, mashing banana into wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix to combine. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to pour batter into pan. Cook as directed above.

Juicing for Maximum Weight Loss

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:16:16 -0700

Weight loss is a journey. It takes time, thought and effort. There are no quick fixes. No flab to fab in 45 minutes. Still, we want to help you succeed. Focusing on juicing fresh fruits and vegetables as one way to improve your health, nourish your body and lose weight.

Click Here to Join our Free Juicing Meetup for Juicing Classes and Recipes

Why juicing works:

Aside from the fact that juiced fruits and vegetables have very low calories and no fat, they are loaded with a variety of high quality vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes that help your body function at its best. Our bodies spend a good deal of time trying to repair, detoxify and protect cells. When we are undernourished our bodies go into protection mode and store fat for survival (yay, survival instincts, not). But, when your body is functioning at it’s at peak condition and being nourished it can focus energy on fat loss. Juicing delivers a concentrated health cocktail straight into your belly. No extra effort is needed to break down the juice and so it is absorbed quickly and starts working magic immediately.

Keys to weight-loss success while juicing:

Juice mostly vegetables and herbs while limiting fruit. Yes, fruit makes it taste so delicious and yummy! Yes, fruit sugar is better than refined table sugar… but it’s still sugar and will still cause spikes in your insulin and if your body cannot clear those sugars out they will convert to fat stores. Also, watch how many carrots you use, those sneaky guys have a lot of sugar too.

Save juicing fruits for before and/or after workouts. For the same principle as above, when you work out your body becomes primed for using glucose (sugar).

Skip snacking and start juicing. It seems that people always get hungry between meals. The solution to avoid noshing on things you probably shouldn’t be eating right before dinner is to juice up a big green glass of goodness. Hopefully the liquid will tide you over until your next meal or at least gets your brain thinking about health-conscious snacks.

Snack while juicing. Not on cheese and crackers or anything man made but on the vegetables you are getting ready to juice. Sometimes our brains like chewing and feeling food in our mouths and tummies, give it that satisfaction while nurturing you.

Healthy habits don’t end with juicing. Whether you are having 1 juice a day or 10, remember that beyond your green mason jar, you need to be eating healthy all day long. It kind of defeats the purpose of juicing for weight loss when you eat a big bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast, pizza for lunch and burgers and fries for dinner.

Fill up on fresh juice before meals or going out. Even though juice is digested quickly and doesn’t leave you full for long, your hunger may be quenched by the nutrients more than the feeling of full.

Vary you veggies. Two ways that this works: you don’t get bored and you get a variety of nutrients.

Add chia seeds, avocado, or oils. Healthy fats and fibers are not only good for you, but will keep you fuller longer. No one wants to diet, or live with someone who is dieting, who has a big hungry monster in their belly.

Create lasting healthy habits:

Remember, juicing for weight loss is not a diet. Let juicing be your caveat for healthy living. If you are taking the time to wash, chop and juice fresh fruits and vegetables than you should be making time to prep and cook healthy homemade meals.

Some people start cold turkey with a juice fast. Others like to test the water with one, slowly adding more as they feel necessary. If you prefer to start with a balanced, nutrition-rich eating plan, you will find that having at least one glass of vegetable juice per day will make it easier to reach your weight loss goals in the long run. Try replacing your morning, afternoon, or before-bed snack with a juice and you are on your way! And remember, we are in this together.

Morning-time concoction:

1 beet
1 pink lady apple
1 small slice of ginger

Before dinner:

4 tomatoes
2 green onions
½ green pepper
2 carrots
2 celery ribs
Handful of parsley
Handful of cilantro
1 peeled lemon

Before bed:

2 cucumbers
4 romaine lettuce leaves
Handful of mint
(+lime if you want a mojito)

Forget Someone at Home?

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:53:04 -0700

Studies show that stress from the birth process alone is enough to produce pediatric Subluxations – subtle, yet significant vertebral misalignments which alter normal nerve function in children. And don’t forget the stress they experience from falling off bikes, rough housing with siblings or just trying to fit in at school. Kids are inherently Subluxation prone!

If you bring your kids to the dentist for preventative maintenance as soon as they get teeth, it only makes sense you bring them to the Chiropractor as soon as they get a spine. In other words, don’t leave them at home… get them checked EARLY and REGULARLY for Subluxations. You’re investing in their spinal health and their life when you do.

Chiropractic and diabetes - The connection between blood sugar and the spine

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:01:31 -0700

The possibility for chiropractic care to help people with diabetes is an up and coming area of research, and it is an important one. Roughly one out of every three men and two out of every five women born in the year 2000 will suffer from diabetes in their lifetime.

Research points to evidence that chiropractic care may make a valuable contribution to a wellness protocol that helps those diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in the United States and a growing epidemic worldwide, so help is desperately needed!

The average person may not recognize how diabetes and chiropractic are connected. What does the back have to do with blood sugar? Often, an electrician understands this faster than most people. Interfere with the current flowing through the wires and the appliances or areas of the house lose normal function or might even catch fire.

If the nerve supply from the upper neck or middle back (the two areas that supply the pancreas) are disturbed, pancreatic function suffers; maybe in it's ability to produce enzymes to digest proteins, fats and carbohydrates, or maybe insulin production, or both. Blood sugar and digestion become unbalanced, resulting in either in diabetes or hypoglycemia.

Studies suggest a chiropractic-spine-nerve-blood sugar connection

A study published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research illustrated the positive effects of chiropractic when used as part of an integrative treatment for adult onset diabetes diagnosed by a medical doctor. Along with chiropractic care, the patient also received nutritional and exercise guidance.

After one month of being on the program, the patient's glucose blood and urine levels normalized and remained stable. His medical doctor, who monitored his progress, said the patient would not need insulin if the condition remained stable.

Canada is currently leading the research effort

The National Post reported: "DIABETES BREAKTHROUGH: In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body's nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians. Diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.

'I couldn't believe it,' said Dr. Michael Salter, a pain expert at the Hospital for Sick Children. 'Mice with diabetes suddenly didn't have diabetes any more.' The excitement of the team from Sick Kids, whose work is being published today in the journal Cell, is almost palpable.

A recent case study published in the November 2011 edition of the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal, & Family Health documents a case of a four-year-old child who had terrific results stabilizing her blood sugar through chiropractic care. The patient was diagnosed with spinal subluxation in the upper cervical region. She began chiropractic care and was seen a total of 24 times over a two-month period. During this two-month period, she experienced a decrease in hemoglobin A1C from 7.2 percent to 6.5 percent. She also decreased the amount of insulin used from 15 units to 11 units per day.

These results are quite remarkable because the literature states that intensive medical treatment of type I diabetes often does not succeed in lowering A1C levels under 7.0 percent. Chiropractic care works by optimizing the neural connections throughout the body. This enhanced brain-body connection works to better coordinate immunity and hormone function throughout the body.

Article contributed by Murray Galbraith, D.C., of Galbraith Chiropractic.

Original Article: Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035546_chiropractic_blood_sugar_diabetes.html#ixzz2Nqvzk4SO

Which is More Deadly: Aspartame or Sugar?

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:48:49 -0700

Did you know that people who drink diet sodas to lose weight, actually tend to gain weight!? Aspartame is one of those food industry inventions we should have known was too good to be true. A sweet taste, with no calories, that will allow us to consume sweets without the added guilt or damage to our waist lines…who doesn’t wish that was actually possible? But, aspartame is actually linked to over 92 adverse health effects.

Sugar creates its own health problems and aspartame is not a better or healthier alternative, regardless of the calorie savings. Think of this quote, “Would you rather be hit in the head with a wooden bat or a metal bat?”

What is Aspartame?

You probably already know, aspartame is an artificial sweetener known as NutraSweet, Equal, Sweet One or Spoonful, and it’s used in a variety of foods from diet soda, gum, candy, and vitamins.

But, did you know it can be hidden in foods under the name acesulfame potassium. It’s composed of 3 main chemical ingredients: phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol.

Phenylalanine is an amino acid that can be toxic in high doses. Just one diet soda raises the level of phenylalanine in the brain, causing serotonin levels to decrease and may lead to depression. Phenylalanine has been found to be higher in people with cancer.

Aspartic acid is a non-essential amino acid that can over stimulate neurons, causing them to die. It can also cause an amino acid imbalance in the brain. Although phenylalanine and aspartic acid are both amino acids found naturally in foods, they are not meant to be consumed individually and in these particular ratios. The fact that they are separated from food and other naturally occurring amino acids is what leads to the unexpected health consequences seen with aspartame consumption.

Methanol is a type of alcohol that is metabolized into the neurotoxin formaldehyde. It can interfere with DNA formation and lead to birth defects, like spina bifida.

Aspartame and Weight Gain?

Aspartame can stimulate your appetite and increase cravings for carbohydrates. The calorie “savings” from consuming foods sweetened with aspartame ends up not saving you anything due to the increase in appetite and therefore calorie consumption.

The MESA study evaluated the effect of diet soda consumption on rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes in over 6,000 participants. It was found that the consumption of just one diet soda per day significantly increased the risk for increased waist circumference and elevated fasting glucose. Both of these are precursors to diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Aspartame and Illness

The list of medical conditions linked to aspartame consumption is extensive and includes:

anxiety
depression
short term memory loss
multiple sclerosis
fibromyalgia
hearing loss
weight gain
fatigue
brain tumors

Although these illnesses may not all be caused directly by aspartame consumption, they may exacerbate the symptoms. Aspartame can aslo increase risk of strokes and cancer.

Overall, limit or eliminate your consumption of aspartame. Instead of aspartame as a sweetener choose raw local honey, raw coconut nectar, or natural stevia.

Lessons Learned

Even though it has no calories, aspartame is more harmful than sugar.

Aspartame is made up of three highly toxic chemicals.

Consuming diet beverages, sweetened with aspartame, can lead to weight gain.

Several medical conditions have been linked to aspartame consumption from cancer, birth defects, stroke, and autoimmune disease.

Original Article: http://www.draxe.com/which-is-more-deadly-aspartame-or-sugar/

Lack of sleep causes unhealthy eating

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:46:03 -0700

Missing a night of sleep causes you to eat more high-calorie foods the next day, even if you're already full, according to a study conducted by researchers from Uppsala University and published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

"Bearing in mind that insufficient sleep is a growing problem in modern society, our results may explain why poor sleep habits can affect people's risk to gain weight in the long run," lead author Pleunie Hogenkamp said

In a prior study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the researchers had found that when young men of normal weight went for a single night without any sleep, they underwent a significant increase in the activity of a brain region associated with increased appetite.

In the new study, the researchers sought to test whether this activity was actually associated with increased eating. 16 men of normal weight were allowed to choose as much food as they wanted from a buffet under four separate conditions. In one condition, they had already eaten breakfast and had slept for about eight hours the prior night. In a second condition, they had gotten enough sleep but had not eaten breakfast. In the third and fourth conditions, they had not slept at all the night before, and either had or had not eaten breakfast. The buffet consisted of seven food items and six snack items

Sleepless men overeat even when full

The researchers found that after a night without sleep, the men took significantly larger portions of calorie-dense foods from the buffet, even when they had already eaten breakfast and were therefore presumably full.

"We were not overly surprised by the difference in their selected portion sizes," Hogenkamp said, because of the prior research

"However, we were surprised to find a clear differentiation between the two groups after they had eaten breakfast. Even when sleep-deprived participants were satiated, they still opted for larger, higher-calorie meals than their rested counterparts. We did not expect this to be the case after breakfast."

The researchers do not yet know why a night without sleep causes an increase in high-calorie snacking.

"We suspect that after sleep loss, the reward centers of the brain become more sensitive to food-based stimuli," Hogenkamp said.

The findings strongly suggest that lack of sufficient sleep may contribute to weight management problems, the researchers noted. How much sleep you get seems to have a bigger impact than how good the sleep is, Hogenkamp said.

"Quality of sleep definitely plays a role, but then it is closely connected with the amount of sleep that a person gets," she said. "Most research literature in this area points to the fact that the longer you sleep, the better the quality of your sleep is likely to be."

The findings suggest that getting more sleep may also help you lose weight, although further studies would be needed to prove that connection.

"It would be nice to conduct a follow-up study to find out whether longer periods of sleep promote weight loss amongst dieting patients," Hogenkamp said.

Original Article: Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039509_sleep_disorders_unhealthy_eating_habits.html#ixzz2Nqs4mn1i

Excessive texting now causing chronic neck pain

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:42:06 -0700

Modern technology has added yet another entry to the long catalog of lifestyle diseases and injuries that now plague our society: "text neck."

Text neck, a term originally coined by a Florida chiropractor, describes a type of chronic neck and back pain caused by overuse of the head, neck and shoulders due to long periods of time spent looking down at a cell phone, mp3 player, tablet, e-reader, laptop or other mobile device.

"People get so focused on these devices that they end up holding their neck and upper back in abnormal positions for a long period of time; enough that ... people coined the phrase 'text neck,'" said orthopedic surgeon and spine specialist Chris Cornett of the University of Nebraska.

According to Cornett, text neck falls under the category of postural pain, or pain caused due to excessive time spent in an unnatural posture.

"When you hold your body in an abnormal position, it can increase stress on the muscles, cause fatigue, muscle spasms and even stress headaches," Cornett said. "With every degree of motion to the front or side that you move your head, the stress on your neck is magnified beyond just the weight of the head."

In all likelihood, Cornett added, text neck and other postural pain will increase stress on the rest of your neck over the long term, potentially leading to disc or joint problems.

Not just afflicting the young

Text neck can occur in anyone who spends long hours bent over mobile devices.

"We see it as a frequent complaint," Cornett said, "and I would estimate that more and more people over time, as technology use continues to expand, will experience this kind of discomfort and injuries from text neck."

Although there's a cultural idea of young people spending endless hours bent over their phones, Kerry Rodocker-Wiarda, of Kerry's Chiropractic in Grand Island, Nebraska, says she has actually seen a greater increase in postural pain among older people.

"Even the older adults have the games now on their phones and we've seen them coming in," she said.

Postural pain need not come from electronic devices, Rodocker-Wiarda said, noting that even reading a book at the wrong angle can cause your head and shoulders to pull forward, straining your back and neck muscles.

"If you sit and read a book too long, that is the same position."

In addition, heavy backpacks combined with poor posture are a common cause of similar problems in children.

"Eventually, your muscles just can't take it anymore and you can feel the knot at the trigger points where they have tightened up," she said.

So how can you avoid developing text neck? Cornett suggests three major strategies. First, get in good shape, as a strong neck and back are less prone to strain. Second, make sure you have good posture, with your eyes straight forward, when using electronic devices.

Finally, acknowledge how much time you spend using electronic devices and commit to splitting that up into smaller chunks with regular breaks.

Link to the original article below:

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039516_texting_neck_pain_text.html#ixzz2NqrBh2BS

Confirmed Again: Statin Drugs Calcify The Coronary Arteries

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:54:13 -0800

A new study published in the journal Atherosclerosis found that statin use is associated with a 52% increased prevalence and extent of coronary artery plaques possessing calcium.[i] This study, published on August 24th, was preceded only three weeks earlier by one in the journal Diabetes Care, which found that coronary artery calcification "was significantly higher in more frequent statin users than in less frequent users," among patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced atherosclerosis.

Coronary artery disease is one of the primary risk factors for heart attack and cardiac mortality, and calcification marks the end-stage of atherosclerosis, the gradual plaque-driven narrowing of the arteries, as the lumen (opening of the artery) can no longer compensate for the obstructive build-up of plaque by expanding, once the calcification process has taken place.

Statins are increasingly recognized to have profound cardiotoxic properties, despite their widespread use in the prevention and treatment of heart disease.

Here are several ways in which this chemical class of cholesterol-lowering drugs adversely affects heart health:

Statin drugs deplete the heart muscle of coenzyme Q10, a fundamental cofactor for mitochondrial energy production (the heart muscle cells have one of the highest mitochondrial densities (approximately 5,000 mitochondria per muscle cell, versus 50 for skeletal muscle), and therefore are most susceptible to statin-induced coenzyme Q10 depletion, and subsequent mitochondrial dysfunction.
Statins increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition whose hallmark pathology is high blood sugar-induced endothelial dysfunction, which is the beginning stage of cardiovascular disease, as it leads to damage in the arteries, only after which cholesterol-containing plaques form.
Statin drugs are muscle-damaging (myotoxic) and nerve-damaging (neurotoxic). The heart is a highly innervated muscle (densely packed with nerves), indicating that statin drugs are uniquely toxic to heart tissue.
Statin use is associated associated with an increased prevalence of microalbuminuria, a well-known marker of vascular dysfunction, affecting both cardiovascular and kidney disease risk.

Unfortunately, cardiotoxicity is only the tip of a massive iceberg of statin-induced poisoning. There are over 300 known adverse health effects of statin drugs in the biomedical literature. Click the link to view the research on statin drug poisoning.

For natural, evidence-based alternative to statin drugs, visit our biomedical archive on over 125 natural foods, spices and herbs with cholesterol-modulating properties.

Also, take a look at Justin Smith's new documentary called Statin Nation, below.

Written by:

Sayer Ji, Founder

RESOURCES

[i] Ryo Nakazato, Heidi Gransar, Daniel S Berman, Victor Y Cheng, Fay Y Lin, Stephan Achenbach, Mouaz Al-Mallah, Matthew J Budoff, Filippo Cademartiri, Tracy Q Callister, Hyuk-Jae Chang, Ricardo C Cury, Kavitha Chinnaiyan, Benjamin J W Chow, Augustin Delago, Martin Hadamitzky, Joerg Hausleiter, Philipp Kaufmann, Erica Maffei, Gilbert Raff, Leslee J Shaw, Todd C Villines, Allison Dunning, Gudrun Feuchtner, Yong-Jin Kim, Jonathon Leipsic, James K Min. Statins use and coronary artery plaque composition: Results from the International Multicenter CONFIRM Registry. Atherosclerosis. 2012 Aug 24. Epub 2012 Aug 24. PMID: 22981406

Dark Chocolate Relieves Stress and Lowers Blood Pressure

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:50:22 -0800

Ask most women and they'll tell you that a good dose of chocolate really takes the edge off. It's not a joke. Science confirms that eating dark chocolate helps relieve emotional stress and also lowers blood pressure.

A study published in the Journal of Proteome Research found that consuming 40 grams (about 1.4 ounces) of dark chocolate daily for a period of two weeks reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol and catecholamines, the fight-or-flight hormones.

The authors also concluded that their study "provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 g of dark chocolate during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of ... healthy human subjects."

Other studies had already suggested that chocolate relieved stress but this study provided evidence of the biochemical mechanism at work in relieving stress.

Chocolate lowers heart attack and stroke risk

Another study, published in the European Heart Journal, followed almost 20,000 Germans for 10 years and found that those who ate the most chocolate (an average of 7.5 grams a day – or a little more than a quarter of an ounce) had lower blood pressure and a 39% lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke compared to those who ate the least amount of chocolate (1.7 grams a day).

The lead researcher, Dr. Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition commented that "...if people in the group eating the least amount of chocolate...increased their chocolate intake by six grams a day, 85 fewer heart attacks and strokes per 10,000 people could be expected to occur over a period of about ten years."

The investigators had hypothesized that because chocolate appears to have a positive effect on blood pressure, chocolate consumption would lower the risk of strokes and heart attacks and that is, in fact, what the study found.

Since chocolate comes from the cacoa plant (don't forget, it's a vegetable!) it contains flavanols, a type of antioxidant. These antioxidants resist or repair damage caused by free radicals which are formed by normal bodily processes and exertion, or by environmental contaminants.

The researchers believe that these flavanols may explain why chocolate seems to be good for people's blood pressure and heart health.

But remember, the more cacoa is processed, the more flavanols are destroyed, so the best source of chocolate antioxidants comes from dark chocolate. Look for chocolate with a cacoa content of 70% or more.

An even better source of flavanols is raw cacoa. Available as beans, nibs or powder, raw cacao has the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food.

Chocolate's Many Health Benefits

Stress relief and blood pressure regulation can now be added to a long list of rationales we can cite to justify indulging our chocolate cravings. Other health benefits of chocolate include:

Improved blood flow by reducing platelet activation
Prevention of cholesterol oxidation
Improved insulin resistance
Protection against coronary artery disease
Improved cardiovascular health

There are, of course, other sources of antioxidants and other foods that are effective to lower blood pressure and relieve stress, but this research gives all stressed out chocoholics something to celebrate.

Written by:

Margie King, Health Coach

Vitamin D protects against colds, flu and viral infections

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:53:42 -0700

Vitamin D is an essential cofactor in the prevention of a host of conditions ranging from cancer to diabetes, dementia and cardiovascular disease. The sunshine vitamin is a critical part of our evolution as it has been circulating in our ancestral blood for countless generations due to plentiful sun exposure. It has only been the past half-century that we have lathered ourselves with sunscreen and hidden in buildings away from the vitamin D producing effects of the sun, following the sage advice of doctors and other misinformed medical professionals.

Vitamin D is rapidly emerging as one of the most researched natural compounds demonstrated to promote human health. More evidence in support of the prohormone is provided by researchers in Spain publishing the result of their work in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. Scientists have found that insufficient levels of vitamin D are related to a deficiency in our innate immune defenses that protect us from infections, neoplasias, or autoimmune diseases, and can effectively shield us from the common cold and influenza during winter months.

Vitamin D levels diminish with age, increasing risk for colds and influenza

To perform the analysis and gather data for this study, researchers compared the changes in the blood levels of vitamin D among three groups of healthy subjects: youth (aged 20 to 30), middle-aged (aged 31 to 59), and elderly (aged 60 to 86). The scientists found decreased levels of vitamin D with aging, likely due to decreased exposure to the sun and a decline in the native ability of skin receptors to produce precursor levels of vitamin D, commonly found among individuals above the age of 40.

The research team found that the level of circulating vitamin D in the blood affected the toll-like receptor (TLR) expression measured on white blood cell lymphocytes and monocytes. Specifically, they found that the TRL most affected by a vitamin D insufficiency is TLR7, which regulates the immune response against viruses. In many geographic regions, limited sun exposure during darker winter months is closely associated with vitamin D deficiency and increased risk for colds and influenza outbreaks.

The lead study author, Dr. John Wherry concluded "This study shows that sunlight, or more precisely the lack of vitamin D could have a role in the seasonally higher rates of infection... since vitamin D supplements are inexpensive and generally safe, this is a really exciting discovery." It is best not to rely on sun exposure or dietary sources to obtain vitamin D. Most health-minded adults will want to supplement with an oil-based form of Vitamin D3 (experts recommend starting with 5000 IU per day), and test twice a year using the 25(OH)D blood test to confirm optimal levels above 50 ng/mL to achieve optimal protection against colds, flu, and many viral infection strains.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036168_vitamin_D_flu_infections.html#ixzz1xthaFvLU

Poison apples bad for consumers

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 10:29:34 -0700

Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) sifts through USDA testing data and figures out which "Dirty Dozen" fruits and veggies deliver the largest doses and the widest variety of pesticides. This year's winner, announced Monday: apples. According to EWG, 92 percent of the apples tested by the USDA carried two or more pesticide residues. And even as supermarket shelves feature a pretty narrow range of apple varieties -- Red Delicious, Granny Smith, etc. -- farmers are spraying them with a stunning diversity of poisons. Altogether, the USDA picked up no fewer than 56 distinct pesticides on the apples it tested, EWG reports.

Right after EWG shines its bright light on the USDA's pesticide-residue data, the large-scale fruit-and-veg industry typically shrieks the equivalent of "Move along -- nothing to see here!" This year is no different. In a statement released early Monday, the produce trade group Alliance for Food and Farming declared that EWG's list is "misleading to consumers and should not be used when making purchasing decisions about fruits and vegetables." The Alliance has been hectoring the USDA to emphasize the "safety of products [i.e., poisons] used to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to consumers" when the agency issues its annual residue reports. Indeed, the Alliance for Food and Farming's campaign against the Dirty Dozen list was launched with a $180,000 grant from the USDA (administered through the California Department of Food and Agriculture), EWG reports.

The industry wants to assure us that pesticide residues pose no threat. That's specious. Last year, Tom Laskawy pointed to research suggesting that the danger to children posed by ingesting pesticides from fresh produce has probably been underestimated because of seasonal effects. The amount of residue on a single apple might not be enough to cause harm, the researchers found; but during the fall apple season, kids tend to eat more apples, leading to a spike in exposure. Also, the combination of several pesticide residues on a single piece of fruit -- a routine situation, EWG shows -- may pose more of a risk than is suggested by the tolerance levels for each individual pesticide. Such a "synergistic" or "cocktail" effect has been documented in the case of amphibians -- and little tested for on humans. As Pesticide Action Network puts it:

U.S. EPA sets limits on the maximum amount of each pesticide that can be on each food item, but there's no limit to the number of different pesticides that can be on your food, or the total amount of contamination. Interacting chemicals can have synergistic effects at very low levels -- and little research has been done on the impact of such "Chemical Cocktails" on human health.

The industry also fundamentally distorts EWG's efforts. "There are some organizations with agendas that do want to scare people away from fresh produce," one produce industry flack recently told The Washington Post. That's absurd. EWG prefaces its list like this:

Eat your fruits and vegetables! The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure. Use EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides to reduce your exposures as much as possible, but eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all.

The real purpose of the Dirty Dozen -- as well as its companion, the "Clean Fifteen" list of fruits and veggies with the least residues -- is to help consumers decide which items are most important to buy organic. This is crucial information for cash- and time-strapped shoppers trying to put healthy food on their family's dinner table.

My only concern about campaigns like EWG's Dirty Dozen is that they keep the spotlight on consumers and off of another population segment that deserves protection from the produce industry's pesticide habit: farm workers. In The Death of Ramon Gonzalez (1990), Angus Wright showed that in the wake of Rachel Carson's landmark 1962 book Silent Spring, pesticide makers had to fundamentally rethink how they formulated their poisons. Silent Spring sparked a backlash against so-called "persistent" pesticides, which build up over time in soil, groundwater, and the bodies of animals. These dangerous chemicals also tended to cling even more than present-day pesticides to fruits and vegetables in the supermarket.

The agrichemical industry's response -- embraced by farm owners, government regulators, and global aid institutions -- was to promote pesticides that break down rapidly. But these alternatives, known as "non-persistent" chemicals, are much more dangerous at the time of application. That is to say, they're much safer for consumers, and much more dangerous for farm workers. And as Barry Estabrook shows in his masterful new book Tomatoland, workers are still routinely exposed to highly toxic chemicals on U.S. farms, to disastrous effect.

EWG's effort to distinguish between "dirty" and "clean" produce doesn't take any of this into account. It considers only factors that might harm consumers; and says nothing about what goes on in the field. But no fruit or vegetable that harms the people who grow our food can be considered "clean," even if it poses no danger to the people who eat it.

So, bottom line: Eat your fruits and veggies; buy organic when you can; if you have to prioritize, EWG's Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists are the best guides we have; and don't forget the farm workers. Check in with Pesticide Action Network of North America for the latest on the campaign to ban methyl iodide -- a cancer-causing fumigant that will soon be widely used on strawberry and tomato fields. It leaves no residue on produce but severely threatens farm workers.

Original Article (here)

Is the ‘Clean 15’ just as toxic as the ‘Dirty Dozen’?

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 10:24:10 -0700

Recently, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its annual “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists of produce with the most and least pesticide residues. My reaction was: Well done, but what about farm workers? The EWG lists provide an invaluable tool to help consumers reduce pesticide exposure, but tell us nothing about the folks who grow and harvest the great bulk of food we consume.

Well, over on Pesticide Action Network’s Ground Truth blog, researcher Karl Tupper shed some light on the murky question of farm worker exposure to toxic pesticides. Tupper stressed that pesticide residues pose a real threat to consumers. However, he adds “It’s the farmers, farm workers, and residents of rural communities who are really most at risk from pesticides, not consumers.” Tupper explains:

While these folks are exposed to pesticides from food like the rest of us, they also must contend with pesticide fumes drifting out of fields, exposure from working directly with pesticides, and pesticide-coated dust and dirt tracked into their homes from the fields.

Tupper cross-referenced the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists against USDA numbers for total pesticides applied per acre of each item. He found that from the perspective of farm workers, the Clean Fifteen just aren’t much cleaner than the Dirty Dozen.

Overall, the two lists don’t look that different from the standpoint of pesticide use. The average pesticide use intensity for the list are quite similar: 26.2 lbs/acre for the Clean Fifteen and 29.8 lbs/acre for the Dirty Dozen.

Disturbingly, two Clean Fifteen items—sweet potatoes and mushrooms—land on top of Tupper’s list of most pesticide-intensive crops. And the least pesticide-intensive crop by Tupper’s calculations—spinach—took fifth place on EWG’s Dirty Dozen. In short, what’s clean for consumers is too often dirty for farm workers, and vice-versa. One main reason for the dirty-but-clean nature of so many vegetables that reach consumers’ plates: widespread use of highly toxic fumigants. Tupper describes them like this:

They are very drift-prone and very toxic, and they are applied at very high rates compared to non-fumigant pesticides. But because they are applied to soil before crops are planted, and because they are so volatile and so reactive, they don’t stick around on growing plants and they don’t end up contaminating the food you buy at the market.

As Tupper sums it up, “We can’t shop our way out of this: pesticides are a public policy issue.” Currently, public policy around fumigant use is egregious. Nearly a quarter century after it was banned globally by the Montreal Protocol (1987), a fumigant called methyl bromide remains in widespread use on U.S. tomato and strawberry farms. That’s because the United States keeps negotiating “exceptions” to the ban deemed necessary for industrial-scale production of these crops. Methyl bromide is vile stuff—it has been shown to attack the central nervous system, damage the lungs and kidneys, and is linked to reproductive disorders, including birth defects. It also destroys the ozone layer, which is what got it banned by the Montreal Protocol in the first place.

Over the outraged objections of a range of scientists, first the EPA and then the state of California has approved an even more toxic alternative to methyl bromide called methyl iodide. It’s Montreal-friendly, because it doesn’t harm the ozone layer. But methyl iodide will be a disaster for humans who come into contact with it, scientists warn.

original article (here)

Would you eat mutant meat?

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:40:45 -0700

While we all agree that the food industry needs to be able to deliver food free of disease-causing pathogens like E. coli and salmonella, there is no real agreement on exactly how to do that. Irradiation, one of the most controversial of these techniques, is a 50-year-old method that involves exposing the foods to low levels of gamma radiation. This has the effect of killing most (but not all) bacteria on the food (though research indicates it has minimal effect on virus and prions, aka the stuff that causes Mad Cow).

Generally speaking, only a small set of irradiated foods are commercially available; some spices, some mail-order ground beef, and some tropical fruits like mango, papaya, and guava make the grade. But the list of foods legally approved for radiation treatment is actually quite long. From the USDA:

Fresh meat and poultry including whole or cut up birds, skinless poultry, pork chops, roasts, stew meat, liver, hamburgers, ground meat, and ground poultry are approved for irradiation.

U.S. food regulations also allow the irradiation of wheat and wheat powder, white potatoes, many spices, dry vegetable seasonings, fresh shell eggs, and fresh produce.

Radiation vs. radura.The radiation sign and slightly-more-appetizing radura symbol. When stated like this it all sounds fairly reasonable, which is why the industry loves to compare it to widely accepted treatments like pasteurization. Even so, federal regulations require that any food which received radiation treatment must be labeled -- not with the classic scare-the-bejeezus-out-of-you radioactive hazard symbol, but rather with the far more innocent-looking radura. The phrase "treated with irradiation" appears in small print.

In 2005, the beef industry petitioned the FDA to get rid of that minimal label. By classifying irradiation as a cost-saving "processing aid," they hoped to broaden its use -- strange, considering the process could add over 10 cents per pound to the cost of meat, by some estimates.

It's worth noting that such a per-pound price increase is far beyond the few-cents-per-pound cost of other reforms to industrialized livestock practices. Reducing crowding at feedlots, slowing slaughterhouse line speeds, or banning the routine feeding of antibiotics to animals or the use of battery cages for hens or gestation crates for pigs would all improve the health of the animals and decrease the risk of disease-causing pathogens at far less expense.

Food Safety News now reports that the FDA has finally denied the industry petition. Labeling irradiated beef as such will continue for the foreseeable future; Big Food will have to find other ways to produce safe meat. (Here's one suggestion: Stop production processes that end up with meat products covered in sh*t!)

I'm a little bit confused, however, as to why the industry is so enamored with irradiation. In 2006, Food and Water Watch gathered observations and data [PDF] from a wide range of research that had been published between 1995 and 2005 on the effects of food irradiation. Food and Water Watch analysts collected some of the adjectives used by researchers in peer-reviewed studies to describe the irradiated foods:

Published research on irradiated foods repeatedly finds that they smell ROTTEN, METALLIC, BLOODY, BURNT, GRASSY, and generally off. The taste is described as like SULFUR, SINGED HAIR, BURNT FEATHERS, BURNT OIL, and RANCID FAT. Meats can turn GREEN, BROWN, RED, or YELLOW. Irradiated oysters give off a YELLOW SALIVA-LIKE excretion. Serious questions arise as to whether this food is wholesome enough to eat.

Some other yummy words used to describe irradiated foods that appeared in other parts of the report include "rotten egg," "sweet," "metallic," "cooked meat," "barbecued corn," "off-odor," and "burned feathers." Delicious!

Food and Water Watch also quoted research showing that irradiation can change the color of beef to "green/brown" and pork and chicken to an unnatural red. Oh, and the texture of meat as well as vegetables gets trashed, too. Lovely.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like the FDA might've saved the food industry's bacon (literally) by denying their petition and keeping irradiation a little-used technique. But maybe I'm underestimating our appetite for mutant meat.

Common Sense and Vaccination Injuries

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:26:43 -0700

I met another parent whose normal, happy, healthy child received an MMR vaccination and was sucked into the vortex of autism. "One day he was normal, the next day it was lights out," said his father. "You can't tell me there is no connection between vaccinations and autism." Many, many parents have reported the same result. And yet, we are told to ignore these reports, that there is no scientific "proof" of a connection.

For a minute let's ignore the reality that scientific studies regularly contradict one another and let's ask ourselves, "What happened to common sense?" You stick your hand in the fire and it's burned. You give a child a shot and the next day your child's speech disappears, he withdraws from the world, and his life is irrevocably changed. You don't need the scientific method to deduce cause and effect.

The reports we read that refute parents' claims gloss over the fact that the change is dramatic, clear, and immediate. We aren't talking a change in behavior and ability weeks, months, or even days later. We're talking about a 24-48 hour response to a vaccination. When any parent tells me his/her child was normal the day before a shot and autistic the next day I am infuriated when I read reports from the scientific community that deny the possibility of cause and effect.

We are bombarded with propaganda from pharmaceutical companies on a daily basis. We are taught to believe our government protects us. The truth is, our government protects the pharmaceutical companies, not us.

The news is finally reporting a possible connection between vaccinations and autism. But did we really need science to tell us this? Are we so disconnected from common sense we can't open our eyes and see what's right in front of us?

Original Article (here)

Cancel Illness, Order in Wellness 10 Strategies for Disease Prevention

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:21:31 -0700

Reduce Processed Foods: Better yet, entirely eliminate processed foods, sugar, and sugar spiking grains from your diet. Aside from being a poor source of nutrients for your body, many of the above foods create and support insulin issues. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful and effective ways to decrease risk of developing many illnesses.

Eat Real Food: Increase the amount of live and wild foods in your diet. Live food has all of its nutrients, including enzymes, unaltered and intact. Because live foods are whole foods, they contribute to feeling well not only because they decrease the amount of ‘negatives’ that are going into your body, but because they offer more nutrition-wise than food that has been stripped of its nutrients, or otherwise ‘revamped.’ Live and whole foods are fantastic, but taking this a slight step further, the REAL nutritional stars are wild foods! Even the soil that most organic food is grown in these days, has been stripped of many nutrients, leaving far less than intended for the plants to absorb and pass along. A forest, however, has ‘food production’ down with perfection. Due to the continuous cycle of growth and decomposition the soil is rich with health supporting nutrients, and the root systems of most wild plants reach an impressive depth within the soil, pulling up massive amounts of minerals and vitamins.

Get Sunlight: Balance your sun exposure. Spend enough time in the sun each day to normalize your levels of vitamin D. If/when spending time outdoors is not possible, consider mindful supplementation. Vitamin D is a key player in overall health and tests are available from a nutritionally knowledgeable physician if you’re unsure whether you need to supplement.

Balance your Fats: Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by reducing omega-6 rich oils (cottonseed, corn, vegetable, wheat germ, grapeseed, sunflower seed, soybean, sesame seed, olive and safflower) and including more high quality omega-3 rich foods in your diet (omega-3 rich wild fish or fish oil and flaxseed are two good sources).

Exercise: Cultivate a regular exercise routine. As already written above, controlling insulin levels dramatically drops the risk of health decline. Exercise drives your insulin levels down, making it very beneficial from a position of prevention.

Sleep Well: Sleep sound. Historically, sleep was thought to be a passive state. Few things could be further from the truth. Sleep is an incredibly active time for both our brains and our bodies, during which we dreamily dive into all varieties of growth and repair processes- a dynamic biochemical orchestration. Sleep certainly affects our physical and mental well-being, and is essential for the normal functioning of all of the systems of our body, including our immune system.

Avoid Environmental Toxins: Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins. Pesticides, household cleaners, chemically laden paints and stains, conventionally grown food, air fresheners, air/water pollution, plastics, body washes and lotions are just a small sample of things that most of us come in contact with on a daily basis that make an imprint on our internal toxin load. Research all products that enter your home and your body and do your best to find healthy substitutes to support your own health, the health of your family, and the well-being of our planet.

Avoid Harmful EMFs: Limit your exposure to EMF produced by cell phone towers, base stations, cell phones and WiFi stations. (Easier written than done with the profuse integration of all the above into our daily lives and routines). There are several protection devices that are now available and can be worn and/or placed in your home to reduce energetic interference.

Get Grounded: Connect with the Earth (A passion of mine! I cannot write enough about this topic and so it deserves an entire, solo-style article. Click hear to read Touching Earth.

Heal Emotionally: Discover techniques to help rebalance your body from emotional energetic blockages. The Center for Disease Control states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions and stress. Neurological short-circuiting can promote a whole host of health problems, including activating cancer genes. While some people might gloss over this factor due to lack of ‘tangible understanding,’ it may be more important than all the other more physical ones listed above, and is very worthy of being addressed. A couple of energetic rebalancing techniques worth looking into are Bio-Energetic Synchronization Technique ( B.E.S.T.) and Emotional Freedom Technique.

Researchers Link Multidose Vaccinations to 16-Fold Increase in Sudden Infant Death

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:15:48 -0700

A recent study used the self-controlled case series method (SCCS), which was developed to analyze the association between a time-varying exposure and an outcome event, to look at the relationship between multidose vaccinations and sudden infant death.

The researchers looked at 300 cases of sudden infant death, and found a 16-fold risk increase after the 4th dose.

In addition, according to the study as reported by Green Med Info:

“A general 2-fold risk increase after [any] vaccination could be detected with a power of 80 percent.”

Orginal Article (here)

Top Ten Reasons to Get Rid of Mercury Fillings

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:03:05 -0700

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1. Amalgam pollutes our environment: Amalgam pollutes 1) water via dental clinic releases and human waste; 2) air via cremation, dental clinic emissions, sludge incineration, and respiration; and 3) land via landfills, burials, and fertilizer.[1] Once in the environment, dental mercury converts to its even more toxic form: methylmercury and becomes a major source of mercury in the fish people eat.[2] Dental mercury in the environment can cause brain damage and neurological problems, especially for children and the unborn babies, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.[3]

2. Amalgam endangers our health: Amalgam emits mercury vapor even after it is implanted into the body. This mercury is bioaccumulative, and it crosses the placenta to accumulate in fetuses as well. Dental amalgam’s mercury is a known health risk, especially for children, fetuses, nursing infants, and people with impaired kidney function especially.[4] Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concedes that the developing neurological systems of children and fetuses are more susceptible to “the neurotoxic effects of mercury vapor” -- and that there is no evidence that amalgam is safe for these populations.[5]

3. Amalgam damages teeth: Placing amalgam requires the removal of a significant amount of healthy tooth matter. This removal, in turn, weakens overall tooth structure which increases the need for future dental work.[6] On top of that, amalgam fillings -- which expand and contract over time -- crack teeth and once again create the need for still more dental work.[7]

4. Amalgam endangers dental workers: Due to mercury exposure from amalgam in the workplace, studies have shown that dental workers have elevated systemic mercury levels.[8] Few of these dental workers -- mostly women of child-bearing age -- are given protective garb or air masks to minimize their exposure to mercury; many are not aware of the risks of occupational mercury exposure. As a result, dental workers have reported neurological problems, reproductive failures, and birth defects caused by amalgam in the workplace.[9]

5. Amalgam is frequently implanted without informed consent: Most dentists do not inform consumers that amalgam contains mercury. As a result, over 76 percent of consumers do not know that amalgam is mainly mercury according to Zogby polls.[10] But once they are informed, 77 percent of people do not want mercury fillings -- and they were even willing to pay more to avoid this unnecessary source of mercury exposure.[11]

6. Amalgam perpetuates social injustice: While middle class consumers opt for mercury-free filling materials, people in developing nations, low-income families, minorities, Native Americans, military personnel, prisoners, and people with disabilities are still subjected to amalgam. In his testimony before Congress, former Virginia state NAACP president Emmitt Carlton described this injustice as “choice for the rich, mercury for the poor.” A recent study shows that while African-American and white numbers are comparable, a disproportionately high percentage of Hispanics and Native Americans still get amalgam. Of course, any child still getting amalgam is too many.

7. Amalgam costs taxpayers: Taxpayers foot the bill for the environmental clean-up of amalgam and the medical care associated with mercury-related health problems. Meanwhile, the dentists who dump their mercury into our environment and our bodies are not held financially responsible.

8. Amalgam is diverted to illegal gold mining: Amalgam is commonly shipped to developing countries labeled for dental use, but then it is diverted to illegal use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.[12] Not only are the miners exposed to the risks of mercury poisoning, but the dental mercury they use to extract gold is released into the environment.[13]

9. Amalgam can be replaced by mercury-free filling materials: Amalgam is interchangeable with numerous other filling materials -- including resin composites, compomers, and glass ionomers – that have rendered amalgam completely unnecessary for any clinical situation. In fact, the mercury-free alternatives have made amalgam so non-essential that entire nations, such as the Scandinavian countries, have banned the use of amalgam.[14] The American Dental Association spreads the myth that amalgam costs less, but according to the dental cost calculator recommended by the ADA itself, http://www.ada.org/news/6028.aspx , it is always cheaper to get resin in front teeth and only slightly more (and sometimes less) to get resin in back teeth. http://www.fairhealthconsumer.org/ Developing nations have benefitted from modern mercury-free techniques, such as atraumatic restorative treatment (ART), which costs but half as much as amalgam and can be done by trained non-dentists, hence making dental care more accessible for children.[15] The ADA, fearful of losing its monopoly position, opposes it. The beneficiaries of amalgam are not patients or parents, but the dentists who get quick and easy profits.

10. Amalgam drives up the price of mercury-free alternatives: The continued use of amalgam keeps the price of mercury-free filling materials high by decreasing demand for these alternatives. As use of mercury-free materials increases, their price is expected to decrease even further.[16]

Original Article (here)