A newly published study in the Journal of Virology adds additional weight to the case against routine influenza vaccinations. Researchers have found that vaccinating children annually against the flu virus interferes with the development of virus-specific killer T cells. This means that the annual flu vaccine may protect children against the actual viruses in the vaccine; but, at the same time, it makes them more vulnerable to other viruses they are exposed to.

Support Your Immune System Naturally

As an integrative medical doctor, I believe you can support your immune system naturally with a combination of healthy lifestyle choices and targeted supplements for immune support. It is generally not necessary to introduce viruses, chemicals and heavy metals into our bodies in the form of a vaccination. Natural solutions that enhance immune activity while also promoting overall health are always my top recommendation for supporting immunity and vitality in both adults and children.

Common sense and scientific research tell us that one of the most important strategies for staying well is to wash your hands frequently. Washing with soap and running water for 20 seconds is the most effective way to cleanse your hands of all kinds of germs.

It is also important to get enough sleep (more than seven hours per night), get moderate exercise and do not overwork.

Adequate hydration with pure, filtered water is also critical for keeping your immune system healthy and flushing out toxins and harmful invaders. This is one important factor often overlooked in our busy lives.

Nutritional approaches to a healthy immune system include eating plenty of green vegetables; reducing or eliminating consumption of refined sugars and processed/fried foods; and supplementing with immune-boosting vitamins, minerals, herbs and botanicals.

Some of the most widely recommended immune nutrients also offer critical support for overall health and vitality. These include vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D-3, B vitamins with minerals and co-factors, selenium, vitamin A and probiotics. By combining these critical nutrients with other powerful immune-supporting supplements and following a healthy lifestyle, you can protect and support health from multiple angles.

Immune Support Supplements

In addition to immune supporting vitamins and minerals, some of the most powerful immune enhancers are natural formulas and compounds that combine cutting-edge science with traditional botanical wisdom. These powerful immune supplements also offer comprehensive health support and can provide protection against both acute and chronic illnesses, increase vital energy and promote longevity, naturally. Following are some of my top recommended supplements that offer powerful support for immune and overall health, during the winter and year round.

One of my top recommendations is a blend of six medicinal mushrooms with additional immune-boosting beta glucans. The mushrooms in this formula have been used for thousands of years to promote optimal functioning of the immune system and support overall health. However, this formula is unique because the mushrooms are cultivated in the United States on a blend of powerful immune-supporting herbs that enhance the mushrooms’ natural immune-boosting properties. When combined in a comprehensive formula with additional beta-glucans, medicinal mushrooms are an excellent way to boost your body’s natural defenses and combat infection, especially on a long-term basis. Mushrooms are also of great benefit during times of acute stress or infection and they can be taken in frequent doses with no known side effects.

Another recommendation is Padma Basic, which is a Tibetan Herbal Formula, made with a blend of 19 rare and powerful botanicals that contain a multitude of health-promoting tannins, polyphenols, flavonoids and essential oils. This traditional formula has cooling properties that support balanced immune function, increased circulation, healthy responses to inflammation and powerful antioxidant activity.

Last, but most importantly, is modified citrus pectin, the first natural galectin-3 blocker. Scientists are now finding that blocking harmful excess galectin-3 molecules in the body is critical in promoting cellular health and long-term wellness. In addition to binding and blocking galectin-3 throughout the body, research demonstrates that regular use of modified citrus pectin offers powerful immune support and also safely detoxifies harmful heavy metals and environmental toxins without side effects.

Integrative medicine treats the whole person, rather than the symptom or illness. As a result, these and other natural health solutions offer substantiated immune support while simultaneously promoting overall health and protecting against chronic illness over the long term. And that’s an area where many conventional solutions fall short.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/do-you-really-need-a-flu-shot/

by shortening our DNA telomeres. Telomere deterioration puts us at higher risk of developing cancer and other harmful conditions. The good news: There’s an ancient and well-known mind-body practice which is now proving successful in physically repairing this telomere DNA damage, while restoring peace of mind at the same time. What is this practice? Simple meditation.

What Are Telomeres?

Our genes are located on twisted, double-stranded molecules of DNA called chromosomes. At the ends of the chromosomes are stretches of DNA called telomeres. These are essentially caps that protect our genetic data, allow for cells to divide properly and reflect how we age. Similar to the plastic covers on the ends of shoelaces, telomeres protect chromosomes from fraying due to aging, poor health and environmental influences. Telomeres are shortened every time the cells divide; and when they become too short, the cells are not able to divide properly. While researchers are already aware that telomeres shorten and deteriorate with aging, new studies demonstrate that chronic stress also contributes to their reduction. Further research shows that as telomeres shrink, cancer risk grows.

Telomeres And Cancer

There is a scientifically established correlation between shortened telomeres and the incidence of many types of cancers, including pancreatic, bone, prostate, bladder, lung, kidney, head and neck tumors. Shortened telomeres and reduced telomerase activity have also been identified as important contributing factors in prostate carcinogenesis, ovarian cancer, genomic instability and breast cancer pathogenesis.

Without telomeres, chromosome ends can fuse together and cause the health of the cell to deteriorate, making the cell malfunction, become cancerous or die. Research is showing more and more evidence that loss of telomere function, either by altering telomere-binding proteins or by loss of telomeric sequences, is associated with the deterioration of cellular health leading to increased aging and disease.

Meditation Protects Telomeres

The inevitable wear and tear of your telomeres cannot be halted altogether, but it can certainly be delayed and even reversed through the activation of a key enzyme called telomerase. Telomerase protects the ends of telomeres from weakening and fraying. So how do you reap the benefits of this super-charged enzyme? Studies show that psychological changes associated with regular meditation improve your ability to cope with stress and contribute to increased telomerase activity.

“We have found that meditation promotes positive psychological changes, and that meditators showing the greatest improvement on various psychological measures had the highest levels of telomerase,” says Clifford Saron, associate research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain.

Regular, mindful meditation promotes relaxation, stress relief and improved circulation. This allows for advanced telomerase activity, naturally promoting cellular health and longevity.

Simple Practice for Beginners

If you’re not sure how to begin meditating, studies show that even just 10 minutes a day can provide significant mental, emotional and physical health benefits. Here’s a simple technique to get you started: Simply sit quietly and focus your attention, as well as your breathing, on a particular object such as a small stone. As thoughts and emotions arise, simply acknowledge and release them, bringing your attention back to your breath. As your practice unfolds, you may find that there is more and more space between your internal monologues, allowing for a sense of openness and freedom from everyday stresses and distractions. This is where the meditation and healing process truly begins. Initially, you should notice tangible benefits like better mental focus, improved emotional balance and increased energy.

Meditation And Healing Retreat

My own two-year meditation sabbatical has been profound for me; and, as this process winds down, it is my deepest desire to share what I have learned with anyone seeking deep healing and rejuvenation. In this spirit, I invite you to join me April 26 to 29 for a meditation and healing retreat at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, Calif. (For more information, go here.) During this retreat, I will be guiding participants through the practical aspects of meditation and healing, based on my extensive experience in the field combined with insights and techniques I’ve gained from years of dedicated meditation practice. My previous retreat, held in September, was a great success among participants. I am honored to have the chance to share this important aspect of healing again in 2012.

Meditation Can Benefit Anyone

No matter your age, health or belief system, simple regular meditation practice can benefit you on all levels. More and more doctors and health practitioners are recommending this ancient, time-tested practice; and meditation now holds a well-deserved, positive reputation in the medical field. It is a simple yet powerful and safe modality for supporting health, preventing illness and increasing overall quality of life.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/meditation-fights-cancer-and-promotes-longevity/

Sorting Through Gluten’s Damage

Nearly every person has some level of gluten sensitivity, and the digestive discomfort associated with gluten reaction may be only one part of the puzzle. You may find through proper medical testing that your symptoms are due to other food sensitivities, parasites, abnormal bacterial overgrowth, and neurological or emotional triggers. In addition, many people who are gluten-sensitive do not experience digestive symptoms, instead developing neurological or immune symptoms. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is rich with neurological, hormonal and immune system components, so damage to the GI tract because of gluten reactions can have major impacts throughout your body.

False Negative Test Results

Blood testing and allergen testing can determine whether you have a minor gluten intolerance or celiac disease, which damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents certain nutrients from being absorbed. However, the gluten-sensitivity blood tests that have been available for years can frequently and misleadingly show a negative result, even in the presence of a moderate to severe gluten sensitivity. In my clinic, we use saliva and/or stool testing, which looks for an immune reaction directly at the level of contact between your gut lining and gluten-containing foods. This type of testing often gives a more accurate reading as to the level of gluten-sensitivity.

No test is foolproof, and even the newer gluten-sensitivity tests can give you a false negative reading if the immune system within your GI tract is not functioning properly. Digestive-immune impairment often happens after years of eating foods that you are sensitive to, as well from chronic inflammation caused by a variety of conditions. Even with these limitations, the saliva or stool tests are the most accurate we’ve found to date. One stool test that is available online can be found at Enterolab.com, and a saliva test kit can be purchased at Unikeyhealth.com without a doctor’s order.

Alternate Test For Celiac Disease

If you do have gluten-sensitivity, how do you know if it is mild or severe, or if you actually have celiac disease? With severe gluten reactions, continued gluten exposure can damage the lining of your small intestine, reducing the surface area for nutrient absorption and creating a host of related complications. In the past, more in-depth testing for celiac disease was typically performed by taking a sample (biopsy) of the small intestine during an invasive procedure in which a scope is passed down into the small intestine. This test helped to analyze the level of damage to the intestinal lining. Alternately, Enterolab has developed a stool test measuring fat in the stool. If the fat level is abnormally high, this indicates that fat is not being absorbed and is an indirect measure of intestinal damage.

Choosing Gluten-Free Alternatives

Because there is no straightforward test to distinguish between people that are highly sensitive and those who are mildly sensitive, complete avoidance of gluten-containing foods is the universal recommendation to heal gluten problems. However, gluten is often hidden in foods or not obviously listed in the ingredients, so you need to become a careful label reader to keep gluten out of your meals.

If a product is labeled as “wheat free,” it may not be gluten-free. To be safe, the label must be explicitly labeled as “gluten-free.” In addition, many other types of foods, such as nuts or beans are packaged in the same plant as gluten-containing foods, which can contribute to cross-contamination and induce allergies. Thanks to the growing demand for gluten-free foods, many manufacturers now are clearly labeling their products for gluten-free consumers.

Our knowledge of gluten sensitivity and its many complications is constantly evolving as the gluten-free movement gains a significant foothold within conventional and integrative medicine. The avoidance of gluten has restored the health of millions of people — sometimes quickly and at other times more gradually. If you feel you have issues with gluten, remember to always follow your gut and get appropriate testing to increase awareness of your own personal health and wellness.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/clear-the-mystery-over-gluten-misery/

in the origin of chronic diseases [such as pancreatitis] and that diet plays an important role in such processes,” said researcher María Belén López Millán.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/olive-and-fish-oil-found-to-potentially-prevent-pancreatitis/

celiac disease and many others. They are all characterized by inflammatory immune responses that cause the body to turn against its own systems and attack healthy organs and tissues.

You Are At Risk

Many AI diseases almost conclusively are proven to be linked directly to environmental pollution and the everyday poisons found in common foods, electronics, cookware, clothing, body products, mattresses, etc. The rising number of AI cases, particularly surrounding areas of heavier toxin exposure, can no longer be ignored.

At one time, your risk of AI was thought to be determined entirely by your genetics. However, research emerging from the new field of immunotoxicology — the study of the effects of toxins on our immune systems — is debunking that assumption.

While experts still believe that a genetic predisposition to AI disease places someone at a higher risk, data from immunotoxicology studies at top research institutes demonstrate that the epidemic increase of AI disease is being driven by our exposure to an increasingly toxic world. That is why it’s so important for us to actively protect ourselves from the serious health effects that can result.

The Nature Of Autoimmune Disease

In general terms, AI diseases are described as communication breakdowns between our body’s cells, where immune cells can no longer distinguish between our own healthy tissue and a harmful invader. This relates to deregulation of the part of the immune system known as our TH-1 and TH-2 T Helper Cells pathways. With AI diseases, TH-2 cells are over-expressed, overproducing pro-inflammatory cytokines, including those called IL-6.

Autoimmune Diseases In Men And Women

Women are three times more likely to develop an AI disease than men, which is a fact that may never be completely understood by conventional medicine. Examining this issue from holistic as well as biological perspectives can offer some possible insights as to why 75 percent of the 24 million Americans who suffer from AI diseases are women.

From a holistic viewpoint, we can focus on issues of stress, fast-paced lifestyles, exhaustion from multi-tasking careers with parenting, and other lifestyle complications. From a biological perspective, women can have a potentially larger presence of accumulated toxins which bind to estrogen receptors and distort cellular immune signaling, mutate DNA and disrupt vital functions.

Millions of American men are also victims. Certain AI diseases that develop in men tend to be more severe and include conditions like type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, among others. The effects of these AI diseases — including the nerve or vascular damage associated with diabetes — can also contribute to other problems such as impotence, or erectile dysfunction (ED).

Most researchers agree that sex hormones play a large role in the difference between how AI diseases affect men and women. Many immune cells have receptors for sex hormones. When sex hormones or toxins that mimic sex hormones bind to these immune cells, they can change the cell’s behavior. Also, men tend to have a weaker inflammatory immune response than women. Since inflammation is a key component of many autoimmune diseases, the effects in women tend to be more serious.

It’s important to note that both men and women who live and work among environmental pollution and are frequently exposed to pesticides, heavy metals and other pollutants on a daily basis are up to four times more likely to develop an AI disease.

Treatment Protocols

For numerous reasons, many AI diseases have been difficult to diagnose and manage, with no known Western medical cures. Conventional therapies focus on controlling flare-ups with anti-inflammatory drugs, immune suppressors, antiviral drugs and other medications. This is a symptomatic approach that does not address the root cause of the AI disease and can also lead to severe and debilitating side effects.

As an integrative physician, my strategy for managing AI disease is to focus on balance and regulation. Since the immune system has lost control of its regulatory mechanisms, the aim is to help re-establish these critical biological cycles.

Here are my top recommendations:

• Regulate your sleep patterns: Follow a strict sleep schedule to give your body the rest it needs. Going to bed early and at about the same time each night are important steps in helping to regulate other systems in your body, including your immune system.

• Engage in regular exercise: Follow a regular exercise regimen to help maintain proper regulation of immune and other functions. Simple 15-minute walks, as well as yoga and Qi Gong, are excellent forms of exercise that help reduce stress and maintain healthy circulation.

• Follow a strictly whole foods diet: Diet is critical in the management of AI disease. Food allergies to items such as gluten, sugar and dairy can play a large role in triggering flare-ups. Managing AI disease through strict adherence to a healthy, unprocessed diet has proven successful in reducing the severity and frequency of flare-ups.

• Natural Supplements: When selecting nutritional supplements to manage AI diseases, focus on regulation and balance of the immune system, rather than trying to avoid overstimulation of immune responses. This is where medicinal mushrooms play a large, though commonly misunderstood, role. Medicinal mushrooms are immune regulators that help educate immune cells and direct appropriate immune responses, which are critical in the management of AI diseases. Botanicals that regulate inflammation are also critical in the management of AI diseases, along with high-powered antioxidants to scavenge free radicals and soothe inflammatory responses.

• Detoxification: Gentle detoxification through the removal of heavy metals and toxins represents one of the most essential protocols for the management of any AI disease. For natural detoxification, I recommend a combination of modified citrus pectin and modified alginates, which have been proven to safely remove heavy metals and environmental toxins from the body. Avoid further exposure by choosing natural, organic alternatives to conventional food, body and household products that contain harmful chemicals.

Even though modern medicine has yet to offer a cure for AI diseases, it is important to note that these illnesses can often be successfully managed through proper regulation of the body’s response systems using diet, healthy lifestyle patterns and nutritional supplementation.

Source for Story:

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/help-your-body-win-the-battle-against-autoimmune-disease/

Dan Brown, author of the worldwide best seller, The Da Vinci Code, says he practices inversion to get his mind working and spark creativity; while Rosie O’Donnell, star of TV’s The Rosie O’Donnell Show, uses the treatment to fend off occasional bouts of depression. Meanwhile, countless professional and Olympic athletes use inversion for strength, balance, and pain relief.

Inversion therapy could be the answer to years of chronic pain, the solution to mental decline, or the opportunity to recapture your youthful strength and vigor. The practice takes only minutes each day. A regular practice of daily inversion carries long-term powerful benefits forward into getting your overall health right-side-up. As one physical therapist points out, “Gravity never sleeps.”

Body, Mind, and Spirit: Inversion Therapy Can Be a Life-Saver

Inversion therapy shouldn’t be a secret at all. It’s exceptionally simple and easy to do. Moreover, inversion has shown positive results among a surprisingly wide spectrum of conditions.

Recent clinical research has shown that inversion therapy can:

• Relieve chronic back stress by stretching out the spine and reducing pressure on soft tissue between vertebrae

• Reduce arthritis pain by flushing harmful compounds from joint areas

• Stimulate the immune system by circulating lymphatic fluid

• Prevent joint injury by improving ligament strength

• Alleviate varicose veins by enhancing blood circulation

• Improve muscle strength and organ health by stimulating blood flow, cycling fresh oxygen throughout the body

Other research indicates significant benefit to the brain. Just a few minutes a day can…

• Improve mental agility by increasing the flow of oxygen to the brain

• Relieve depression by enhancing blood and cerebral spinal fluid flow, oxygenating more brain cells.

Dr. Karen Koffler, director of Integrative Medicine at Northwestern University, says the reason inversion therapy boost brain health is because it increases blood flow. “If there is increased blood flow to the area, there will be increased bioavailability of oxygen and glucose, the two most important metabolic substrates for the brain,” she says.

Inversion therapy may even play a serious role in arresting the brain’s “aging process.” In his internationally renowned book, The Brain Book, Peter Russell notes that much of mental deterioration can be traced to poor blood pressure and hardening of the arteries, both of which reduce oxygen flow.

Thus, with regular inversion therapy, we can overcome these risk factors and keep the mind from sliding into dementia.

Inversion Therapy Benefits Basics

There are four general options for practicing inversion therapy:

• Yoga-based postures — such as headstands and other head-down postures

• Gravity boots – fit around the ankles and hook onto a horizontal bar for hanging upside down

• Yoga sling — like a trapeze, used to invert from the lower torso or upper legs

• Inversion table — allows a user to start out standing up vertically then gently rotate backward to a suspended inverted position.

For beginners, headstands, gravity boots, and slings can be challenging. Inversion tables, by contrast, are easy to use and offer a high level of support and comfort. “Many of my patients have responded dramatically to only short periods of inversion [table],” says Dr. John Tanner, “and others with chronic problems, which one would not necessarily expect to improve with any form of therapy, have experienced considerable benefit.”

A good inversion table can be rather expensive, however. And as always, quality is key. You should never skimp when it comes to your body. Therefore, purchasing a good table is worth the investment. You should take the time to do some online research and compare online reviews and testimonials before you buy.

Use Caution

Inversion therapy raises blood pressure, so it’s not recommended for people already facing hypertension or other circulatory issues. For the same reason, pregnant women should also be careful. Those who suffer from obesity may experience pulled muscles and strained joints.

The increased blood flow can also put pressure on the eyes, making inversion a problem for those with cataracts or glaucoma. Ideally, if you have any concerns, consult a doctor or physical therapist before starting an inversion routine.

Source for Story:

http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/inversion-therapy-benefits-for-pain

address a recurring emotional or behavioral pattern and strengthen one during a temporary emotional setback. The remedies are gentle and may even be used as a preventative remedy when things start to get out of balance. It may take months, however, to change a long-standing negative pattern of thought.

Do flower remedies work?

Generally considered as nothing more than a placebo by many, others testify to the effectiveness of flower remedies. For example, a widely used flower remedy addresses sleeplessness, anxiety and shock.

Five flower essences make up the core recipe of this line, as follows:

Star of Bethlehem – used for trauma and shock

Clematis – used to bring clarity and alertness

Cherry Plum – used for a fear of losing control

Impatiens – used for stress reduction, irritability, and to alleviate impatience

Rock Rose – used for panic and terror

The combination of essences here make the remedy useful for calming one down in cases of insomnia, job interviews, public speaking, test taking and other stressful episodes.

Each of the 38 remedies discovered by Dr. Bach is directed at a particular characteristic or emotional state. Many practitioners of disciplines such as herbalism, homeopathy and aromatherapy use flower remedies to complement their own remedies. A few flower essence therapists use the remedies exclusively.

Sources for Story:

http://leigh-ann-andersen.suite101….

http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/re…

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Healing Remedies, C. Norman Shealy, Published by Harper Collins, 2002 Edition, pages 218 – 235

http://www.naturalnews.com/034236_flower_remedies_energy_medicine.html#ixzz1f7O9yCxq

Research Shows that Fermented Foods Improve Digestion, Immunity, and Overall Health

Many fermented foods have been extensively studied.  Kimchi—a fermented spicy cabbage, staple in Korea—has proven medicinal, antimicrobial, and anti-aging properties.  Scientists even found that chickens infected with avian flu began to recover when fed a kimchi extract.  Kimchi is served in most Korean restaurants, and is now available in many Western grocery stores.

Natto, a fermented soy product popular in Japan, is another well-studied fermented food.  It is recognized for its ability to lower cholesterol and improve heart health and blood pressure.  Today, natto is the subject of several American scientific studies, and is available at many U.S. grocery stores and restaurants.

Fermented foods also play a role in treating and preventing colds and flu.  A very robust new study of more than 3,000 people has recently demonstrated that those who ate yogurt regularly suffered far fewer colds.

Fermented Foods Deliver Beneficial Probiotics into the Body

Research shows that fermented foods can restore the balance of intestinal flora, and this leads to vastly improved intestinal health and digestion because of the introduction of probiotics into the digestive tract.  Probiotics confer myriad benefits, including protection from colon cancer … relief from lactose intolerance and rotavirus diarrhea … reduction in children’s cavities … and prevention of reoccurrences of inflammatory bowel disease.

There is ample scientific evidence that shows that fermented foods can …

Aid in digestion

Support immune function and prevent illness

Increase overall nutritional status by adding B vitamins and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids

Protect against harmful, pathogenic microorganisms

Getting Started with Fermented Foods: Quality Matters!

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is sorely lacking in fermented food, and the few we do eat regularly are usually cheaply produced for mass consumption.  Most commercial sauerkraut and pickles, for instance, are preserved in vinegar instead of the traditional fermentation using various lactic acid bacteria.  Additionally, commercial sauerkraut is usually pasteurized and lacks both taste and nutrients.

Before you reach for store-bought yogurt, be aware that most commercially available yogurt products are loaded with sugars (usually in the form of unhealthy high-fructose corn syrup) and fillers (such as gelatin).  Whenever possible, look for yogurt that is made of organic whole milk, and sweetened with pure maple syrup or naturally milled sugar.

You might want to try natural, full-fat Greek style yogurt—or make your own yogurt (there are many good recipes online).  Traditional sauerkraut can often be found at co-ops and health food stores.  Kefir, high-quality aged cheeses, and kombucha tea are other options.

Kombucha tea is made from the Kombucha mushroom, which is not actually a mushroom, but rather a flat, pancake-like culture that resembles a mushroom.  The culture used in Kombucha tea consists of several species of yeast and bacteria.  Kombucha enthusiasts assert that the tea can boost the immune system, reverse the aging process and even cure cancer.  Kombucha Botanica, manufactured by a Santa Cruz—based company, offers organic and raw kombucha tea that is refreshing and mildly sweet.

If you simply can’t acquire a taste for fermented foods, probiotic supplements with Lactobacillus and other beneficial bacteria may provide similar health benefits.  But again, quality is paramount.  Many probiotic supplements don’t live up to their promises.  It’s advisable to check consumer reviews before purchasing.

Source for Story:

danica@undergroundhealthreporter.com

Another way to look at is that a food allergy is a toxic reaction, while food intolerance is non-toxic.

The bottom line here is that food intolerances are real. The good news is that the best alternative cure is simply to avoid the offending food. This should clear up any symptoms. You can investigate your own food intolerances by trying an elimination diet. If you find yourself suffering from uncomfortable symptoms and don’t know the cause, try leaving out one food from your daily meals and see if anything improves. The challenge with food intolerances is that symptoms can appear hours and even days after a triggering food is eaten. It may take a little time to zero in on the one food that is causing symptoms to appear.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

• Iron lodged in your heart tissue can cause heart disease.

• Aluminum lodged in your brain tissue can cause Alzheimer’s or clinical insanity.

• Mercury lodged in your brain can cause autism spectrum disorders.

• Lead lodged in your bones can interfere with red blood cell production and even white blood cell production.

To get tested, find a local doctor or naturopath who can run these tests and offer you an intelligent diagnosis. Get your tests done, review your results, and then decide your next course of action.

Step two: Consider treatment to remove the metals

The most widely accepted treatment for removing heavy metals is chelation therapy, and its efficacy for certain metals is widely accepted across both conventional and holistic medical practitioners.

Chelation therapy involves your doctor or naturopath placing an IV line into your arm (or other location), then dripping a chelation agent into your bloodstream. The most common chelation agent used today is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or EDTA. As the University of Maryland Medical Center explains (http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/…):

“Chelation therapy using EDTA is the medically accepted treatment for lead poisoning. Other heavy metal poisonings treated with chelation include mercury, arsenic, aluminum, chromium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, selenium, zinc, tin, and thallium. Chelating agents other than EDTA are also used to clear several of these substances from the bloodstream.”

This page goes on to explain:

“Heavy metal toxicity in humans has been associated with many health conditions, including heart disease, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s disease, immune system disorders, gastrointestinal disorders (including irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS), and autism.”

Be sure to replenish the good minerals

Although there is tremendous controversy about the use of EDTA for removing plaque from arteries, it is widely acknowledged that EDTA very effectively removes metals (and minerals) from the body. The good news is that EDTA binds to heavy metals and allows your body to easily eliminate them. The bad news is that EDTA also binds to beneficial minerals such as zinc and calcium, taking them out of your body as well. For this reason, health practitioners who administer EDTA chelation typically recommend remineralization treatments with healthful minerals following chelation.

There are many other areas to explore in the realm of metals detox. I don’t have all the answers for you here, but you may wish to explore various detox cleanses using apple cider vinegar or lemon juice as the primary liquids. Just “juicing” fresh vegetables and fruits with lemons is, all by itself, somewhat of a heavy metals detox (although it probably won’t eliminate inorganic metals lodged in brain tissue).

Eliminating excess iron, by the way, is easily accomplished by donating blood. But make sure you get tested first, and discuss treatment options with your doctor or naturopathic physician.

This is one topic in which even conventional doctors may have very practical knowledge. Although conventional doctors typically have a poor understanding of nutrition, removing heavy metals from your body is an area in which they may indeed be quite useful. Licensed naturopaths are also an outstanding resource for this.

How to get “good” minerals into your body

It’s simpler than you think: Simply feed minerals to your plants then eat the plants. You can do this seasonally with a home garden or year-round with a sprouting machine. The sprouts will take up inorganic minerals and convert them into organic minerals which are then compatible for human consumption. Obviously, make sure the minerals you feed your plants don’t contain harmful metals (like mercury or cadmium), or else your plants will absorb those, too.

Never consume inorganic minerals or metals (i.e. minerals made from rocks) if you can avoid it. Certain metals should always be avoided where possible, such as mercury, aluminum, cadmium, arsenic and lead.

Source for Story:

http://www.naturalnews.com/034049_heavy_metals_removal.html#ixzz1clK6YYep

you get comfortable with other forms of the practice before it.)

Recently, researchers at the University of Michigan put yoga to a tough test: they wanted to find out whether it could help cancer survivors get a better night’s sleep. According to the researchers,
some 80% of cancer patients have trouble sleeping while undergoing treatment, and about two-thirds say the problems persist after treatment ends — quite a high percentage!

For the clinical trial, the research team recruited 410 cancer survivors, average age 54, who had finished treatment two to 24 months before. All the participants still reported significant sleep disruptions. The participants were randomized to receive regular follow-up care for cancer survivors or to receive regular care plus two 75-minute sessions of yoga per week for four weeks. The yoga sessions emphasized breathing from the diaphragm rather than the chest and focused on mindfulness, visualization and guided meditation.

The research team found that the yoga participants reported an improvement in sleep quality of 22%, while the control group reported an improvement of only 12%. Thirty-one percent of participants in the yoga group who had started out with clinically impaired sleep quality recovered, compared to only 16% in the control group.

So there you have it: some pretty convincing numbers! Why not give yoga a try? It could help you to achieve a healthy balance between body and mind in order to promote and keep good health. While yoga will not bring about good health on its own — you must also incorporate a healthy diet, exercise, fresh air, clean air, and overall calm in your routine — it will pave the way to an environment that encourages good health, including getting a good night’s sleep.

Source for Story:

http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/health-articles/how-yoga-can-improve-your-sleep

and avoiding foods likely to be mold-contaminated.

Probiotics, select herbs, air purification, and other natural therapies have been found to accelerate recovery.

Illnesses caused by mold exposure are a growing problem that few people are aware of, including most primary care physicians.

Environmental health experts are seeing increasing numbers of individuals with a complex myriad of symptoms directly related to mold exposure.

This has resulted in the proposal of a new term to describe this multi-faceted syndrome: Mixed Mold Toxicosis.

Because mold-related disorders are so often unrecognized and misdiagnosed, I have been posting a series of articles about mold and its potential dangers, as well as approaches to treatment.

In the first article, I gave you an overview of the types of mold and the numerous mycotoxins molds can produce, as well as a few tips about how to go about mold remediation if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having a mold-infested home.

In the second article, I outlined the range of health problems that can be directly caused by mold exposure and recommendations about how to find a knowledgeable physician.

In this third article, my focus will be on how you can regain your health after being poisoned by mold, what your best options are for treatment, as well as what to avoid.

Accurate Information Can Shorten Your Road to Recovery

Unfortunately, there is no precise formula for rebuilding perfect health if you have been damaged by mold or its toxins. No one set of interventions will work for everyone. Treatment depends on many factors—the type of mold you were exposed to, length of exposure, your overall health, medications, allergies, genetics, and a host of other factors.

Your best approach is to find a well-informed physician who has expertise in environmental medicine. Together you can devise an appropriate treatment plan, based on your own unique physiology and situation.

That said, there is much to be learned from those who are on the other end of what you’re going through. You are definitely not alone! By finding some good resources and arming yourself with the best information, you’ll decrease the amount of time-consuming “trial and error” along your path to recovery. Many people have suffered for years because they simply didn’t have information like what I am presenting in this report.

One excellent resource is the book Mold: The War Within by Kurt and Lee Ann Billings. The Billings learned the hard way about the damaging health effects of mold—and the level of ignorance about mold’s effects by the medical profession as a whole.

Living in a home in the outer impact zone of Hurricane Katrina, the Billings family suffered a progressive array of symptoms for which their physicians had no solution. They later discovered their illness was due to mold infestation in their home. What started as tightness and burning in their chests and itchy eyes soon progressed into severely diminished lung capacity, thyroid malfunction, and numerous other symptoms that did not resolve, despite moving out of their home.

After extensive research and eventually recovering their health, they wrote the book Mold: The War Within in hopes of educating a poorly informed and disadvantaged public about Mixed Mold Toxicosis. Many of the suggestions I’ll be making come as a direct result of the diligent footwork they have been kind enough to share in the form of a book, for which we can all be grateful.

Physicians All Too Quick with the Prescription Pen

In the early stages of their road to recovery, the Billings went through many physicians who either didn’t believe mold was behind their suffering, or whose treatments were little more than shots in the dark. When they did eventually find physicians who agreed their problems were related to mold poisoning, they offered little help other than prescribing dangerous antifungals and other drugs that contributed nothing to their recovery.

It took years to find the help they needed. I suspect  this experience is probably not unique to the Billings family, as the treatment of mold-induced illnesses is an area for which most physicians are simply ill equipped. All too often, drugs are prescribed that don’t address the underlying problem and have side effects that further compromise immune response, further impairing your body’s natural ability to heal itself.

As an example, consider four of the common drug approaches to treating fungal infections (of which mold is just one type): Nasal corticosteroids, antibiotics, antidepressants, and antifungal medications.

Nasal Steroid Inhalers and Cortisone

Nasal steroid inhalers have become very commonly prescribed for chronic sinusitis. Because people often experience short-lived relief from symptoms, they sometimes believe this treatment is working—at least, initially.

But is it really?

The steroid may temporarily decrease inflammation, which may make you feel a bit better for a short period of time. However, steroids suppress your immune response. If your immune response is compromised, then the infection is actually encouraged, which perpetuates the underlying problem.

It’s like pouring gasoline on a fire…

The fact that steroids suppress your immune system is no secret. Just read the package insert or patient information sheet for any steroid medication—it will warn you that exposure to pathogens like chicken pox or measles while using the drug could result in serious complications, even death, due to immunosuppression.

Board certified environmental medical specialist and pediatric allergist Doris Rapp states that cortisone (a steroid drug) tends to allow infections that normally would be confined to a certain area of your body to spread to other parts of your body. Dr. Rapp is concerned this may be having dire implications for asthmatic children.

Asthma, like sinusitis, often has a fungal origin that is missed in children and adults, so is often inappropriately treated by medical practitioners. Physicians usually prescribe cortisone and steroid inhalers if you or your child has asthma. In fact, cortisone has been one of the “preferred” methods of treating asthma in the U.S. since 1976. And since that time, the mortality from asthma has TRIPLED in the U.S.

The last thing you want to do if you have a fungal infection is suppress your body’s ability to fight it! Yet, that’s precisely what these steroid medications are doing.

Gross Misuse of Antibiotics

You learned in the first article that research suggests more than 90 percent of sinus infections are fungal in origin. Yet more than 90 percent of physicians continue to believe that the vast majority of sinus infections are bacterial—so they prescribe antibiotics that target bacteria, not fungi. Antibiotics create a fungus-friendly intestinal environment. Along with killing the bad bacteria, they kill off your good bacteria and yeast that would naturally keep the pathological fungi at bay. Without these good bacteria, fungi like mold are allowed to spread, unchecked.

Antibiotics (the kind that target bacteria) will not kill mold in sinus cavities. So, if more than 90 percent of upper respiratory infections are fungal, and physicians are throwing antibiotics at them, this points to an enormous number of infections that are being grossly mistreated.

Add to that a steroid nasal inhaler that suppresses your immune response, and you have a recipe for rampant fungal infection that can spread to the rest of your body and possibly progress into Mixed Mold Toxicosis, making you VERY ill.

When the first round of antibiotics doesn’t work, physicians will often try a different type of antibiotic, which of course won’t work either because they are still not treating the right problem. It is understandable, then, how a person suffering this vicious cycle not only becomes more ill, but also frustrated, depressed and hopeless about their situation.  And these mood changes may lead to the next drugs to be prescribed: antidepressants.

Antidepressants: “It’s All In Your Head”

Fungal toxins can affect your brain, and if so, alter your emotional state. Neurological symptoms are commonly seen with mold toxicity. This phenomenon, combined with the fact that mold exposure is often associated with psychologically traumatic environmental disasters such as hurricanes and floods, makes for a complex clinical picture that can superficially appear to the uneducated clinician as depression, anxiety, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Therefore, it’s not uncommon for people suffering from chronic mold-related health problems to be prescribed antidepressant drugs, as if to say the problem is all “in their heads” and lacks any physiological cause. If your psychological symptoms are caused by fungal or chemical exposure, an antidepressant will DO NOTHING to neutralize the toxins causing your psychological symptoms, much less your physical symptoms!

Antidepressants can do more damage than good and come with a slew of potentially serious side effects, to say nothing of failing to address the underlying cause.

Antifungal Drugs… Bye Bye Liver

As a group, antifungal drugs are quite toxic, especially to your liver. For example, the drug Lamisil (terbinafine), used to treat toenail fungus, is so toxic that its manufacturer Novartis warns you in their product insert that Lamisil has resulted in liver failure, the need for liver transplants, and death. Lamisil can also cause loss of taste or smell, depression, suppressed blood cell counts, skin reactions and development of lupus erythematosus (an autoimmune disease). Yet, it is commonly prescribed for toenail fungus because it concentrates in nail tissue.

Nystatin is another antifungal that is used both orally and topically for Candida overgrowth. However, nystatin is poorly absorbed by your gastrointestinal tract and is not intended to treat mold infections or systemic fungal disease.

There are several other oral antifungals, in addition to a number of intravenous antifungals with even scarier side effect profiles.

The reason most antifungal drugs are so toxic has to do with the similarity between your body’s cell membranes and fungal cell membranes. Fungal antibiotics attack the cell membranes of the fungus, and when they do, they also damage human cell membranes. These are some of the most dangerous drugs on the market and are best avoided. Clearly, drugs are not the answer if you’ve been poisoned by mold.

So, what IS the answer?

Cutting off the Fungal Food Supply

It comes as no surprise to me that Kurt and Lee Ann Billings found the most beneficial intervention in their recovery was a radical change in diet. What they did was cut out every food that fuels fungal growth—namely, sugars, grains and grain-based foods, and simple carbohydrates. By eliminating milk, bread, crackers, pasta, cereal, nearly all fruit, and anything made from refined white flour, they literally STARVED the mold out of their bodies.

Fungi, including yeast and molds, need sugar in order to survive. So what you eat really matters, since any organism living in your body depends on your diet to sustain it. Fungi will thrive on a diet high in fructose, sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar) and other sugars.

This is not new information. Low sugar diets have been popularized in the battle against Candida overgrowth (Anti-yeast diet, Candida Diet, etc.), and mold thrives in similar conditions as yeast. It makes perfect sense that people with fungal infections begin to regain their health when they begin taking away the fungus’ food supply.

Sugar also suppresses your immune system and commonly contains mold contamination itself, which are two good reasons to avoid it. But cutting out sugar and grains may not go far enough.

Top 10 Foods to Avoid if You have Mold Sensitivity

People who have been exposed to toxic mold can become “sensitized” in such a way that they react to a variety of different agents in their food and environment, as if they are allergic to them. It may take only a very minute exposure to trigger a major recurrence of symptoms. So you must take steps to make your environment as mold-free as humanly possible—so that you’re not breathing fungi or eating fungi.

There are several types of food that should be avoided if you are mold-sensitive because they are subject to mold contamination. In their book, the Billings include a list of the top-ten mycotoxic foods, compiled by David A. Holland, MD and Doug Kaufmann, which I’m including for you below. As you can see, many of those top-ten foods are grains.

1.  Alcoholic beverages: Alcohol is the mycotoxin of Saccharomyces yeast (brewer’s yeast), and often contains other mycotoxins from mold-containing fruits and grains

2.  Wheat and all wheat products

3.  Rye

4.  Peanuts: Often contaminated with dozens of mold types, one of which is cancer-causing aflatoxin

5.  Cottonseed and cottonseed oil ,

6.  Corn: Universally contaminated with a variety of fungal toxins

7.  Barley

8.  Sorghum: Used in a variety of grain products and alcoholic beverages

9.  Sugar from sugar cane and sugar beets

10.  Hard cheeses

Regarding peanuts, a 1993 study reportedly identified 24 different types of fungi just on the outside of the peanuts in their sample—and these peanuts had already been sterilized. One of the mycotoxins frequently found on peanuts is aflatoxin, which is a known human carcinogen. In terms of hard cheeses, cheeses like Gouda are made with yogurt-type cultures such as lactobacillus, rather than fungi, so these are a better alternative.

There are often fungal components used in food manufacturing that are not necessarily listed on the label. Take soy sauce, for example. Authentic soy sauce is fermented by a fungus, which is what gives soy sauce its distinctive flavor. If your immune system is overly reactive and sensitized, something like this can trigger a recurrence of illness as your body interprets it as a foreign invader, and you jump back into the symptom-producing antigen-antibody cycle.

The Billings wrote that they also reacted adversely to vinegar, beans and canned tomato products.

Basically, the closer you stick to a basic diet of fresh organic vegetables, lean organic meats, and fresh, pure water while recovering, the less risk you’ll have of additional mold exposure and reactions. It’s wise to avoid eating out because you just can’t control what is put into your food unless you prepare it yourself. You have to go beyond being a good label reader and become a “food detective.”

You may want to do some vegetable juicing to accelerate your healing. Juicing helps alkalize your body, and for the most part, fungi can’t grow in an alkaline environment. Juices assimilate very quickly into your system with very little effort or energy by your digestive tract—like an intravenous infusion of whole food nutrition! Juices should be consumed immediately after being juiced (within 15 minutes is best) as the enzymes degrade rapidly thereafter.

Probiotics: Mold’s Worst Nightmare

Probably the most important supplement for recovering from mold-induced illness is a good probiotic. Your gastrointestinal tract is your first line of defense against mold and its toxins, and having a GI tract populated with beneficial flora is crucial for optimal immune function. Probiotics help repopulate your GI tract with these beneficial bacteria.

The “good” bacteria help keep the “bad” bacteria (and other organisms like mold and yeast) in check. This is why, as discussed earlier, antibiotics are so counterproductive if you have a fungal infection.

Without the proper microflora, fungi and their toxins can break through the walls of your intestinal tract and enter your bloodstream. When your bowel is toxic, the rest of your body soon follows. Sensing this toxicity, your immune system reacts with a vengeance, trying desperately to overcome this perceived assault, which results in systemic inflammation. And when your blood is full of toxins, your organs responsible for cleansing it (liver, kidneys, skin, lymph) become overloaded and multi-system health problems can occur—which is what many people experience after mold poisoning.

Your immune system produces antibodies to the mold (the antigen). If your overload is severe enough, you can experience “serum sickness,” which can appear as a severe, unrelenting flu-like syndrome. The worst cases can take years to resolve unless aggressive action is taken.

It is important to remember that the catalyst for the entire illness is disruption of healthy intestinal flora. This is why paying careful attention to your GI health is SO vitally important, and a high quality probiotic is helpful beyond measure. I just can’t emphasize this enough.

The Billings “Magic Four”

In their quest for effective interventions, the Billings sought the advice of a number of healthcare providers from different backgrounds, and had a number of false starts, trying therapies that didn’t end up working. If you are interested in the specifics of those, you can read their book, but there are far too many to include here.

They eventually found the following “magic four” and credited these for advancing their recovery:

Garlic: Garlic is a potent antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, immune system stimulant, and detoxification agent. Garlic also helps clean out the respiratory tract. The best form is raw, whole garlic, rather than a supplement derived from garlic, as it is the synergism of the whole food that makes it so clinically active. Eat the cloves whole, or run them through your juicer alongside your veggies.

Ginger: Ginger is also an antifungal and antibacterial. It helps dislodge congestion in your respiratory tract, and is also a great digestive aid. Ginger also makes a great addition to fresh juice.

Cayenne: Cayenne is a catalyst for the other herbs.

Goldenseal: Goldenseal, with its active ingredient berberine, has antibacterial and immune-enhancing properties. However, it should not be used for long periods of time.

Another herb they found therapeutic is yarrow, which they used topically by infusing it into their bathwater for relief from rashes, hives, and other skin irritations.

Final Recommendations

There are undoubtedly many other helpful natural agents, and you will have to rely on the expertise of your healthcare providers to find which ones are best for you. It will require some degree of trial and error. The take-away is, there ARE options if you suspect you’ve been poisoned by mold. And as usual, the natural approaches are much safer and more effective for restoring your health than antifungal drugs, antibiotics or steroids, which are the worst options by far.

Here are a few strategies I highly recommend incorporating into your recovery plan:

Glutathione is mentioned by Kurt and Lee Ann Billings as being helpful. Glutathione is your body’s most powerful antioxidant and has even been called the “master antioxidant” because it maximizes the activity of all the other antioxidants. The best way to increase your glutathione level is by consuming a high quality whey protein. It should be cold pressed, undenatured, derived from grass fed cows, and free of hormones, chemicals and sugar.

Omega-3 fats are also very important, from a mixture of plant and animal sources. The best source of animal-based omega-3s comes from krill oil.

Artichoke leaf extract: A study published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry in 2004 found that extract of artichoke leaf was toxic to many types of fungi, including both molds and yeasts.

Vitamin D: Research suggests vitamin D may prevent mold allergies, so make sure your vitamin D levels are optimal.

Air purification: To ensure you are breathing the cleanest air possible, I recommend you avail yourself of an air purification system. Air can contain mold and mold spores, among other toxic particles. My favorite are active purification systems that utilize low levels of ozone.

Provocation neutralization: This is a little-known treatment strategy that Dr. Doris Rapp describes as “one of the best hidden secrets.” Provocation neutralization (PN) offers allergy sufferers permanent relief with virtually no side effects, whether the allergy is to mold or something else. The success rate for this approach is about 80 to 90 percent for allergies, and you can receive the treatment at home. It is certainly worth a try if your sensitivity is related to mold.

Provocation refers to “provoking a change” and neutralization refers to “neutralizing the reaction caused by provocation.” During provocation-neutralization, a small amount of allergen is injected under your skin to produce a small bump called a “wheal” and then monitored for a reaction. If you have a positive reaction, such as fatigue or headache, or a growth in the size of the wheal, then the allergen is neutralized with diluted injections (drops that go in your mouth) of the same allergen.

If you are interested in pursuing PN, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has a list of physicians who are trained in this technique.

References:

Mold: The War Within

Lamisil product insert

Environmental Illness Resource

Cornell University Department of Animal Science

GreenMedInfo

Dr. Doris Rapp, M.D.

American Academy of Environmental Medicine

Source for Story:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/01/recovery-from-toxic-mold-exposure.aspx?e_cid=20111101_DNL_art_2

that “the positive effects of strawberries are not only linked to their antioxidant capacity and high content of phenolic compounds (anthocyans) but also to the fact that they activate the antioxidant defences and enzymes of the body.”

The conclusions of the study state that a diet rich in strawberries can have a beneficial effect when it comes to preventing gastric illnesses that are related to the generation of free radicals or other reactive oxygen species. This fruit could slow down the formation of stomach ulcers in humans.

Gastritis or inflammation of the stomach mucous membrane is related to alcohol consumption but can also be caused by viral infections or by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (such as aspirin) or medication used to treat against the Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

Maurizio Battino, coordinator of the research group at the Marche Polytechnic University (UNIVPM, Italy) suggests that “in these cases, the consumption of strawberries during or after pathology could lessen stomach mucous membrane damage.”

The team found less ulcerations in the stomachs of those rats which had eaten strawberry extract (40 milligrams/day per kilo of weight) for 10 days before being given alcohol.

Battino emphasises that “this study was not conceived as a way of mitigating the effects of getting drunk but rather as a way of discovering molecules in the stomach membrane that protect against the damaging effects of differing agents.”

Treatments for ulcers and other gastric pathologies are currently in need of new protective medicines with antioxidant properties. The compounds found within strawberries could be the answer.

Source for Story:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/f-sf-spt102511.php

the condition, and the strength of the patient, any one of them may be used as an emergency line of treatment or as part of long-term management. As a preventive measure, each one is indicated in a certain season to rid the body of toxins which naturally accumulate due to diet and external factors. In either case, an individual course may last 7-14 days or more.

Each treatment is composed of a methodical sequence of internal medicines and external procedures (including massage and steam bath), performed in three distinct stages – a preparatory phase (Purva karma), actual purification (Pradhana karma), and follow-up phase (Paschat karma). Undergoing at least one treatment per year provides significant improvement in overall health along with a greatly strengthened immune system.

One of the most intriguing steps in the sequence occurs during the preparatory phases of Vamana and Virechana. Over several days, increasing amounts of medicated ghee (clarified butter) are required to be consumed early in the morning on an empty stomach. This fat permeates throughout the body and helps to safely free toxins which have been stored deep inside the tissues.

Then, a series of oil massages and steam baths are performed to mobilize these toxins towards the gastrointestinal tract in order to be excreted. On the day of the actual therapy, a medicated paste or decoction may be given to induce the expulsion of these toxins. Afterwards, a very specific meal plan is formulated for 3-7 days to rid the body of any residual toxins and to optimize digestion and metabolism.

Studies are now being done to calculate and quantify the results of these purification methods in conventional terms. In 2002, a pilot study confirmed the effectiveness of one purification method (Virechana) which demonstrated results far beyond scientists’ expectations. Lipophilic industrial toxins like DDT and PCBs, which were thought to be impossible to remove from the body, reduced by an astonishing 50% after a single treatment.

Basti, Nasya and Rakta Mokshana, all vary in their implementation and are comparatively easier for the patient since they do not involve oral consumption of fatty media. Classically, when all 5 are performed in sequence and followed by Rasayana (rejuvenation) in a very restricted setting, it is called “Kaya Kalpa.” This is an ancient technique which is just beginning to become popular again in India.

When performed methodically and according to classical guidelines, the benefits of Panchakarma are profound, multi-systemic and long lasting. The auto-immune system reduces its reaction to allergens, which previously could have caused inflammation, breathing difficulty, indigestion, skin rashes or other problems. Disease-causing toxins are removed from their root. Circulation, digestion and metabolism are optimized; complexion is greatly enhanced; and the mind becomes clear and stable.

Sources for this Story:

- Charaka Samhita, Sutra sthana, Chikitsa sthana & Siddhi sthana, Chowkhamba Publishers (Sanskrit text and translation by Dr. RK Sharma and Dr. Bhagawan Dash)

- Ashtanga Hrdaya, Sutra sthana, Chowkhambha Krishnadas Academy (Sanskrit text and translation by Dr. K.R. Srikantha Murthy)

- http://www.alternative-therapies.co…

- http://robinthomas.biz/2010/11/so-w…

http://www.naturalnews.com/033672_Panchakarma_rejuvenation.html#ixzz1Z6C9PzMh

who suffered the dreaded metastasis and had other tumors as well. It still held up: the highest enterolactone levels related to the most positive disease progression.

This is clear evidence that shows lignans could lower not only your risk of breast cancer — but also your risk of death if you get the disease. Older studies had tried to determine lignan intake through surveys. But since there are unreliable elements involved, they went straight to the blood levels of enterolactone — the mammalian lignan that plant lignans turn into.

Studies on cells and animals have already provided evidence suggesting that the substance has an influence on cancer growth that has nothing to do with estrogen. There is something else about enterolactone. That something, most importantly, means that it promotes cell death and stops the creation of new blood vessels.

What we can do is keep a diet rich in whole grains, seeds and vegetables. That way, along with the great nutrients found in those items, you take in enough lignans. Another observation that flows with this study is that Asian women are less frequently affected by breast cancer. They are also the ones who get high levels of soy in their diet, which is high in phytoestrogens.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

that measures your body surface temperature and presents the information as a digitized image. This tool makes a digital map of your body and very accurately illustrates heat patterns. These patterns may detect some abnormal condition such as cancer cell growth or active infection.

Mammograms look for anatomical changes in the breast such as masses or lumps. Thermograms analyze for vascular changes in the breast. Increased blood into certain regions of the body increases the heat of that region. Areas of inflammation, cancer cell formation and active infection have elevated circulation. Thermal imaging has a great ability to detect subtle physiological changes that accompany pathology.

The body should naturally have thermal symmetry. Areas of asymmetry can indicate problems and are analyzed specifically for underlying pathology. Cancer cells divide very rapidly and demand increased blood flow and nutrient delivery. The metabolic processes in the body cannot differentiate between cancer cells and healthy cells. This results in increased formation of blood cells around these active cancer cells.

Thermography picks up this abnormal blood supply well before the cancer gets large enough to be noticed as a lump on a breast exam. Thermography can see cancer formation at the size of 256 cells, roughly the size of a pinhead. Mammograms can`t detect cancer until there are roughly 4 billion cells clumped together. It is estimated that thermography can detect cancer formation 6-10 years before mammography can identify a tumor.

The breasts do not normally generate much heat. Healthy breasts appear purple during a thermographic exam. This indicates very low heat levels. Red, orange, or yellow spots that appear during a breast thermograph may indicate the presence of cancer and should be analyzed more closely.

Thermography has been studied in detail for over 30 years. The data base is over 250,000 women that have been included as study participants. These large, long-durational studies have shown an average sensitivity and specificity of 90%. The studies show that a persistent abnormal thermo gram carries with it a 22 time higher risk of future breast cancer.

Unlike mammograms, thermo grams emit no harmful ionizing radiation. Mammograms are one of the more dangerous medical tools due to the very high amounts of ionizing radiation. Thermo grams use infrared technology that is completely safe. They also do not compress the breast tissue like mammograms. This compression that takes place during mammograms can cause cancer cells to break off and to create a malignant spread through the blood stream.

The first session one receives provides the baseline reading. Many practitioners call this the `thermal signature.` A second reading is typically recommended 3 months later to test for any changes. After these initial 2 patterns are analyzed the patient is recommended to receive yearly thermographs to detect any subtle changes in vascularity and blood flow dynamics.

Thermo grams are a very reliable, and accurate tool that provide precise and objective data of thermal information. This information can be used for successful diagnosis, treatment, & prognosis. They are quick (15 minutes), non-invasive and completely painless.

Source for Story:

http://naturalhealthcenter.mercola….

http://www.knowcancer.com/cancer-te…

http://www.iact-org.org/patients/br…

http://www.naturalnews.com/033586_thermography_mammography.html#ixzz1YQKqwdXe

in the company of parasites of the intestine, colon, and organs.

When these parasites feed on body tissues, they produce wastes. Instead of your body obtaining the nutrients you need from the food, it allows those wastes to enter into the bloodstream, along with other byproducts of rotting, undigested food. The waste products then pass through the arterial wall and slowly overwhelm your system.

Eventually, these toxins block your body’s natural ability to flush out poisons that — over time — can kill you.

For all of these reasons, colon cleansing is an essential part of routine health maintenance. But professional colonic irrigation (also called colonics or colon hydrotherapy) are expensive and require a visit to a clinic.

For those seeking to detoxify your body naturally, an inexpensive, safe alternative (or supplement) to colonics, the saltwater flush accomplishes a very thorough inner cleanse you can do yourself at home. salt water flush

Saltwater flushes have none of the risks of customary colonics or enemas, and the cleansing effect reaches the entire digestive tract. In contrast, colonics and enemas reach only the colon or a small part of it.

Saltwater flushes are very safe and have no harmful side effects.

What is a Saltwater Flush?

Salt has long been used as a harmless preservative and disinfectant. The salt in the saltwater cleanse stimulates the body to repair itself in the same way as when you soak an external wound in saltwater or gargle saltwater for a sore throat.

Think of the saltwater flush as a bath for the inside of your body, where it draws toxins out from the entire digestive tract. When you imagine all of the waste products trapped in your digestive system — not unlike the slime and build-up that accumulates inside a garden hose or household pipes — it makes good sense that your insides benefit from a good washing.

An Amazingly Simple Procedure

Ingredients:

2 level teaspoons unrefined, non-iodized sea salt (not iodized table salt or Epsom salt)

1 quart (32 oz) purified water, lukewarm

Equipment:

Quart jar (glass)

Straw

Kettle for slightly warming water (do not microwave)

Instructions:

Put 2 teaspoons of salt into quart jar.

Pour in warm water and stir.

Drink the entire 32 oz of saltwater first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, as quickly as possible. Most people find it easier to drink with a straw.

After drinking the saltwater; lie on your right side for 30 minutes. This helps the saltwater reach the lower right hand side of the stomach, where the opening to the small intestine is located.

After 30 minutes, you are free to move about as you wish, though you’ll want to remain near the bathroom.

What to Expect During the Cleanse

Once in the small intestines, the saltwater stimulates contractions that propel the solution through your digestive system. Within an hour you should hear liquids gurgling in your abdomen, especially if you massage the area.

Everyone is unique, but most likely you’ll feel the urge to eliminate within an hour or two. Most people will have multiple eliminations, and intense diarrhea is not uncommon as the saltwater quickly cleanses the entire digestive tract.

Vomiting can also occur. In fact, at one time hospitals used a procedure similar to the saltwater flush to induce vomiting. If you struggle to keep the solution down the first time, take heart that this reaction can be overcome in time.

The flush process is intensified by gravity as it rapidly expels water from the body. As a result, it can be uncomfortable, but the process is swift and the discomfort should improve quickly after the cleanse.

Until you are certain that the flush is complete, take care not to pass gas except on the toilet — what you think is gas may actually be more liquid.

Tips on Practicing the Salt Water Flush

You might want to drink an herbal laxative tea the night before the flush to intensify and speed the cleansing process.

You might also speed the process slightly by crouching down and massaging your abdomen to help break up waste matter. Vigorous abdominal exercise may have a similar benefit.

The saltwater flush is a highly effective way to expel, detoxify your body naturally of toxins and waste. From this salt water flush you will have better digestion, increased energy, feel like a fresher you, and even weight loss.

Source for Story:

http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/detoxify-your-body-naturally

while leaving others untouched. But in any event, take a close look at what follows. The most susceptible nutrients to depletion are folic acid, magnesium, and calcium. They are working against you, hurting your level of nutrients, and leaving you more prone to disease because of it. But let’s get started on that list of potential nutrient-robbing items, with the first four:

1. Processed foods: This one is the biggest source of lost nutrients. If you choose processed grains/white flour over whole grains, your body is being robbed of nutrients. When technology entered the food industry, manufacturers made softer bread, pastries, and cakes that had longer shelf lives. When a grain is processed, its fiber and nutrition germ is removed to create a finely ground flour. Choose products from your bread and cereals food group with careful scrutiny — aim for whole grains, all the time.

2. Diuretics: Simply put, diuretics are used to promote more urination. They have a direct impact on your potassium levels, and are classified either as “potassium- depleting” or “potassium-sparing,” depending on what they do. You should pay close attention to this. Researchers have found that diuretics also lower your level of folic acid — dramatically. For this reason, they suggest if you take diuretics, you should supplement with folic acid as well.

3. Stress: Stress exerts devastating consequences on your body, including your ability to absorb and use vitamins and minerals. Prolonged stress causes gastrointestinal problems and excessive stomach acid, disrupting chemical processes and enzyme activity.

4. Antibiotics: These, as we all know, are drugs used to kill bacteria. Using antibiotics over the long term can deplete your body’s store of essential nutrients — notably vitamins B2, B9, B12, and K. Antibiotics may reduce vitamin K levels especially, and the body’s ability to absorb it. It’s generally accepted now that we have been overusing these drugs for a long time, so only get a prescription if you truly need it.

Source for Story:

doctorshealthpress@lombardipublishing.com

self-produced motor experiences contribute to infants’ understanding of the social world around them. Conversely, this implies that when motor skills are delayed or impaired – as in autism – future social interactions and development could be negatively impacted.

“Our results provide us with a new way to think about typical, and also atypical, development,” said Klaus Libertus, PhD, the study’s lead author and a research scientist at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders. “The mind is not independent from the body, especially during development. As motor skills advance, other domains follow suit, indicating strong connections between seemingly unrelated domains. Such connections have exciting implications, suggesting that interventions could target the motor domain to foster social development.”

Previous research has found that infants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show less interest in faces and social orienting. While the current study was conducted with typically developing infants, it indicates that infants who are at risk for ASD or show signs of abnormal social development may benefit from motor training as early as 3 months of age.

“For parents, this means that early motor development is very important and they should encourage motor experiences and active exploration by their child,” said Dr. Libertus. “Fostering motor development doesn’t have to be complex or require sticky mittens. Any interactions or games that encourage a child to develop independent motor skills are important.”

In the study, the researchers divided 36, typically-developing, 3-month-old infants into two groups – one receiving active motor experiences and the other receiving passive experiences. Infants in the active group were given mittens affixed with strips of Velcro, known as “sticky mittens.” The researchers observed as infants in the active group played with the “sticky mittens” for 10 minutes each day for two weeks. While wearing the mittens, a brief swipe of the infants’ arm made toys, also covered in Velcro, “stick” as if the infant had successfully grasped the object. Parents first demonstrated this by attaching the toy to the mitten, but then the toy was removed and the infant was encouraged to independently reach for the toy again.

In the passive group, infants were fitted with aesthetically similar mittens and toys, but without Velcro. Passive infants also played with the mittens and toys for 10 minutes each day for two weeks, but were only passive observers as parents provided stimulation by moving the toy and touching it to the inside of the infants’ palms.

After two weeks of daily training, the researchers tracked the infants’ eye movements while they watched images of faces and toys flash on a computer screen. Infants in the passive and active groups were compared with each other, as well as to two control groups of untrained infants comprised of non-reaching 3-month-olds and independently-reaching 5-month-olds. Researchers found the following:

• The active group showed more interest in faces rather than objects. In contrast, the passive group showed no preference.
• Infants in the active group focused on faces first, suggesting strengthening of a spontaneous preference for faces.
• When compared to the untrained control groups, the social preferences of the 3-month-old infants who experienced active training were similar to those of the untrained 5-month-olds, indicating advanced development following training.
• Finally, individual differences in motor activity observed between all 3-month-old infants in the study were predictive of their spontaneous orienting to faces. Regardless of training experiences, the more reaching attempts infants made, the stronger was their tendency to look at faces. Thus, motor experiences seem to drive social development.

“The most surprising result of our study is that we see a connection between early motor experiences and the emergence of orienting towards faces,” said Dr. Libertus. “Logically, one would predict exactly the opposite. But in the light of seeing actions as serving a social purpose, it does make sense.”

A key question researchers hope to answer next is whether these early changes will translate into future gains for these children. “Our results indicate a new direction for research on social development in infants,” said Dr. Libertus. Dr. Libertus and his colleagues will continue to observe these children to see if the social development benefits achieved during the current study are sustained one year later.

Source for Story:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/kki-eme090811.php

composed primarily of omega-3 fats.

Researchers found that vitamin K plays an important role in “maintaining the white matter region of the brain by supporting the myelin sheathing that protects axons, connecting glial cells together with axons, and facilitating the speed at which your brain functions.” Animals with the lowest supplemental vitamin K levels displayed the highest degree of cognitive decline as they grew older, compared with the highest vitamin K group.

Scientists publishing in the journal Atherosclerosis determined the effect of vitamin K on 564 post-menopausal women. The study was designed to contrast dietary intake of both the phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinone (vitamin K2) with coronary artery calcification (atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries). Researchers found that the K2 form of vitamin K was associated with a significant decrease in coronary artery calcification, while vitamin K1 did not appear to impact disease progression.

Dark green leafy vegetables provide a healthy dose of vitamin K1 but are not a significant source of vitamin K2, the form shown to yield protection against arterial hardening and dementia. Fermented foods, egg yolks and certain cheeses provide high levels of K2, although many people may choose to avoid these foods. Health-minded individuals will need to supplement with a quality supplement providing the full range of vitamin K isomers (1000 – 2000 mcg per day) to avert atherosclerosis and cognitive function decline.

Sources for Story:

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/ear…

http://www.wellnessresources.com/st…

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009…

http://www.atherosclerosis-journal….

http://www.naturalnews.com/033269_vitamin_K_blood_clotting.html#ixzz1UkiLWr6b