I forgot to mention something about water. Make sure the water that you drink is NOT fluoridated. As discussed in a prior post, the fluoride in drinking water is a man made toxin. Calcium fluoride and sodium fluoride are naturally occurring substances. The kinds of fluoride they put into our water supply includes hydrofluorosilicic acid and other byproducts of things like steel, cement, aluminum and nuclear weapons.
I was having discussions with some of my readers outside the site and it made me realize that I really wasn’t specific enough. I just assume sometimes that my readers have read everything in this blog and I forget that some haven’t seen important posts with information on things like fluoridated water. I feel that it is very important to warn against fluoridated water because if you are decreasing toxicity, the increase of this toxin doesn’t help to steer anyone in the right direction.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
We're Expanding
Sorry about the late notice, but Be Well My Friends will be under construction again this weekend. I will resume posting as usual on Sunday night or Monday morning the latest.
Thanks for your patience!
Be well my friends! :-D
Thanks for your patience!
Be well my friends! :-D
Friday, March 4, 2011
A Discussion About Vaccines
I had an online discussion with two gentlemen about the link between vaccines and autism. This was my response to them:
I believe that the pharmaceutical industry would love for us to believe that there is no link between vaccines and autism. I will admit that even though I know little of Wakefield’s studies, they sounded questionable. He seemed very focused on the MMR, but that wasn’t the only vaccine that parents of vaccine injured children would complain about.
[To address what one individual said about correlation NOT implying causation]; this is very, very true and I agree with you very strongly. Correlation is merely a place to start when investigating cause. So let’s start with correlation in regard to vaccines and autism. Since 1989, vaccine dosages have more than tripled and autism skyrocketed from 1 in 2500 in to 1 in 110. Now, this is just the correlation. Should we be concerned? Absolutely! The question is what is linking these two variables? Is the rise in vaccinations causing the rise in autism or is there another variable that we aren’t looking at? I have a strong suspicion that there is a hidden variable that we aren’t looking at; only it hasn’t been a hidden variable for the last couple of years. Dr. Boyd Haley has been warning about the dangers of thimerosal in the vaccines for the last couple of years. Thimerosal, as you may know, is a preservative used in many vaccines and it contains 49% mercury (ethyl mercury). It doesn’t take an MD to tell most of us that mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin. In most debates that I’ve watched about the link between autism and vaccinations, thimerosal was almost always overlooked. Several studies done by scientists like Dr. Haley showed that thimerosal can damage and even destroy brain cells and cause disabilities like autism. According to Robert Kennedy, the amount of mercury that was injected into children was about 400 times the amount the FDA would normally allow. So why have they continued to use this dangerous neurotoxin as a preservative? Money! It is a very cheap preservative. As the wife of someone who worked for the government for more than 10 years, government will choose the cheapest way the law will allow…ALWAYS! Another variable varies from individual to individual and that is glutathione levels. Why is it that most children survive the vaccine schedule? This is a very fair question. Obviously out of 110 children 109 have enough glutathione to remove the mercury from their bodies before it causes any visible damage. Everyone has different physical strengths and weaknesses. Just because some can smoke and live until they are in their 90s until they die of old age doesn’t mean that smoking doesn’t cause lung diseases.
Just recently, the pharmaceutical industry finally started phasing thimerosal out; thank goodness. There are many vaccines that no longer contain it. It will be interesting to see what will happen as a result of this.
I believe that the pharmaceutical industry would love for us to believe that there is no link between vaccines and autism. I will admit that even though I know little of Wakefield’s studies, they sounded questionable. He seemed very focused on the MMR, but that wasn’t the only vaccine that parents of vaccine injured children would complain about.
[To address what one individual said about correlation NOT implying causation]; this is very, very true and I agree with you very strongly. Correlation is merely a place to start when investigating cause. So let’s start with correlation in regard to vaccines and autism. Since 1989, vaccine dosages have more than tripled and autism skyrocketed from 1 in 2500 in to 1 in 110. Now, this is just the correlation. Should we be concerned? Absolutely! The question is what is linking these two variables? Is the rise in vaccinations causing the rise in autism or is there another variable that we aren’t looking at? I have a strong suspicion that there is a hidden variable that we aren’t looking at; only it hasn’t been a hidden variable for the last couple of years. Dr. Boyd Haley has been warning about the dangers of thimerosal in the vaccines for the last couple of years. Thimerosal, as you may know, is a preservative used in many vaccines and it contains 49% mercury (ethyl mercury). It doesn’t take an MD to tell most of us that mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin. In most debates that I’ve watched about the link between autism and vaccinations, thimerosal was almost always overlooked. Several studies done by scientists like Dr. Haley showed that thimerosal can damage and even destroy brain cells and cause disabilities like autism. According to Robert Kennedy, the amount of mercury that was injected into children was about 400 times the amount the FDA would normally allow. So why have they continued to use this dangerous neurotoxin as a preservative? Money! It is a very cheap preservative. As the wife of someone who worked for the government for more than 10 years, government will choose the cheapest way the law will allow…ALWAYS! Another variable varies from individual to individual and that is glutathione levels. Why is it that most children survive the vaccine schedule? This is a very fair question. Obviously out of 110 children 109 have enough glutathione to remove the mercury from their bodies before it causes any visible damage. Everyone has different physical strengths and weaknesses. Just because some can smoke and live until they are in their 90s until they die of old age doesn’t mean that smoking doesn’t cause lung diseases.
Just recently, the pharmaceutical industry finally started phasing thimerosal out; thank goodness. There are many vaccines that no longer contain it. It will be interesting to see what will happen as a result of this.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Fake Foods
We've been discussing decreasing toxicity for the last couple of posts. We've also discussed the importance of reading labels and keeping the processed junk on the shelves. Some companies aren't interested in selling their customers quality food, they are just interested in selling things that look and taste good so that people will come back an buy more.
Blueberries are considered a super food. So if there are blueberries in your cereal or muffins or any other kind of food, you may think that you are attaining some nutrients. Well that depends, how much of the blueberries are real?
Blueberries are considered a super food. So if there are blueberries in your cereal or muffins or any other kind of food, you may think that you are attaining some nutrients. Well that depends, how much of the blueberries are real?
Decreasing Toxicity: Implementation
Implementation is the unmentioned fourth step in the process of decreasing toxicity. This is when you put your new skills to action. But where does one begin? Well, the good news is, you don’t want to eliminate too many toxins from your diet at once. It wouldn’t be harmful to get a whole new set of nontoxic/eco-safe household products, but as far as toxicity in food and beverages, it is better to decrease toxins more slowly.
The place I ALWAYS suggest for people to start when it comes to decreasing toxicity in the body is with beverages. When my clients were looking to lose weight, the first thing I would have them do is drink more water. As you start drinking more water, start decreasing the amount of sugary beverages that you drink as well. I had my husband do this. He was addicted to diet sodas when I first met him. His cravings for both diet drinks and for sweet beverages decreased significantly within a week after he started drinking more water.
While you are weaning off of sugary (or artificially sweetened) beverages, you may have cravings at times. If you really badly crave for a sugary beverage, have some fresh pressed fruit juice. If you don’t have a juicer, Lakewood is one of my favorite brands of juice because their selection is mostly fresh pressed organic juice (if you would like to buy from amazon below understand that the prices may be very high because the product is sold in a case of six or more. Click the "buy at amazon.com" button below the product of choice for more information).
When I was helping clients lose weight (actually, I was more helping them get healthy), I would also have them keep a journal. This way they keep track of their new lifestyle changes. With the journal, you can show your doctor what you are doing, how you are progressing and where you need some support.
What is the hardest part of making this change for you? Let us help each other. Please start a discussion in the Making Changes forum on the Whole Health Destinations page. As usual, questions, comments and furthermores are more than welcome!
The place I ALWAYS suggest for people to start when it comes to decreasing toxicity in the body is with beverages. When my clients were looking to lose weight, the first thing I would have them do is drink more water. As you start drinking more water, start decreasing the amount of sugary beverages that you drink as well. I had my husband do this. He was addicted to diet sodas when I first met him. His cravings for both diet drinks and for sweet beverages decreased significantly within a week after he started drinking more water.
While you are weaning off of sugary (or artificially sweetened) beverages, you may have cravings at times. If you really badly crave for a sugary beverage, have some fresh pressed fruit juice. If you don’t have a juicer, Lakewood is one of my favorite brands of juice because their selection is mostly fresh pressed organic juice (if you would like to buy from amazon below understand that the prices may be very high because the product is sold in a case of six or more. Click the "buy at amazon.com" button below the product of choice for more information).
When I was helping clients lose weight (actually, I was more helping them get healthy), I would also have them keep a journal. This way they keep track of their new lifestyle changes. With the journal, you can show your doctor what you are doing, how you are progressing and where you need some support.
What is the hardest part of making this change for you? Let us help each other. Please start a discussion in the Making Changes forum on the Whole Health Destinations page. As usual, questions, comments and furthermores are more than welcome!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Decreasing Toxicity: Achieving Step 3
As someone who is constantly doing research on health I will be the first one to tell you that learning about decreasing toxicity can be very scary. It’s very scary sometimes learning what is in our food, water, environment and medications. In fact, sometimes it can be downright overwhelming. This is when we may start creating the excuses to stay in our comfort zones.
One thing that I admire about the doctor that I had in San Diego, is his promise to himself that he would do what he had to not to be in denial about anything. He would force himself to look at facts and to look at himself objectively and go from there. It is hard to accept the truth sometimes, especially when the truth is overwhelming. Sometimes you may need some time to absorb the information that you’ve received before you act on it. To avoid procrastination, don’t take more than three days to act. During those three days, find a support system. Hopefully there are friends and loved ones who can support you. If not, there is always this site. Go to the “Rants” forum and talk about what you’ve learned and how you are overwhelmed and ask for help.
Once you’ve accepted what you have learned and the journey it will take to get there, you are ready to begin your new journey toward a life low in toxins. You’re ready to figure out how to get that whole house filter; you’re ready to read ingredients and leave the toxic stuff on the shelves; you’re ready to decrease your garbage by recycling and composting and you’re ready to get second opinions to be sure that medication is the best way to treat your illnesses. Once you create a routine of your new habits it will become second nature, as though you’ve done it your entire life.
One thing that I admire about the doctor that I had in San Diego, is his promise to himself that he would do what he had to not to be in denial about anything. He would force himself to look at facts and to look at himself objectively and go from there. It is hard to accept the truth sometimes, especially when the truth is overwhelming. Sometimes you may need some time to absorb the information that you’ve received before you act on it. To avoid procrastination, don’t take more than three days to act. During those three days, find a support system. Hopefully there are friends and loved ones who can support you. If not, there is always this site. Go to the “Rants” forum and talk about what you’ve learned and how you are overwhelmed and ask for help.
Once you’ve accepted what you have learned and the journey it will take to get there, you are ready to begin your new journey toward a life low in toxins. You’re ready to figure out how to get that whole house filter; you’re ready to read ingredients and leave the toxic stuff on the shelves; you’re ready to decrease your garbage by recycling and composting and you’re ready to get second opinions to be sure that medication is the best way to treat your illnesses. Once you create a routine of your new habits it will become second nature, as though you’ve done it your entire life.
Decreasing Toxicity: Step 3
Step three is acceptance. This and the first step are the two that people struggle with the most. Step three can be heavily guarded by fear and excuses. The fear alone can be a major road block, but when aided by excuses it's even worse.
We make excuses so that we can feel that we have a GOOD REASON to be afraid. Sometimes there really is a good excuse, but it is really up to the individual to figure that out with or without help from others. One way to avoid being in denial is to ask yourself what is the worst that can happen if you accept the information that you’ve learned. If the answer is that you could truly get hurt, then you may have a good excuse. If the answer is that you don’t have the time or energy, however, you may be trying to get yourself out of something you shouldn’t.
Not trusting a source isn’t an excuse because you could double check with another source like a doctor. Check with both an ND and an MD and compare the sources through which they are getting their information. For example, there is an MD that told a girlfriend of mine that she should take antibiotics because of her sore throat. When she asked him how he knows that she has a bacterial infection he answered “Because I’m a doctor.” As a premed student and someone who knew her science, she knew enough to call him on that rigmarole. If you don't trust a source ALWAYS seek another. There is also the library. There are countless books, magazines and journals to compare information. The internet can be a challenging place to find reliable sources at times, however, the internet can also be the best place to find reliable sources. I usually check the internet first because it is the easiest place to find information.
Once you see that a variety of sources are all saying the same thing but you are still making excuses so that you don't have to accept the information; then obviously the only obsticle in that situation is yourself.
We make excuses so that we can feel that we have a GOOD REASON to be afraid. Sometimes there really is a good excuse, but it is really up to the individual to figure that out with or without help from others. One way to avoid being in denial is to ask yourself what is the worst that can happen if you accept the information that you’ve learned. If the answer is that you could truly get hurt, then you may have a good excuse. If the answer is that you don’t have the time or energy, however, you may be trying to get yourself out of something you shouldn’t.
Not trusting a source isn’t an excuse because you could double check with another source like a doctor. Check with both an ND and an MD and compare the sources through which they are getting their information. For example, there is an MD that told a girlfriend of mine that she should take antibiotics because of her sore throat. When she asked him how he knows that she has a bacterial infection he answered “Because I’m a doctor.” As a premed student and someone who knew her science, she knew enough to call him on that rigmarole. If you don't trust a source ALWAYS seek another. There is also the library. There are countless books, magazines and journals to compare information. The internet can be a challenging place to find reliable sources at times, however, the internet can also be the best place to find reliable sources. I usually check the internet first because it is the easiest place to find information.
Once you see that a variety of sources are all saying the same thing but you are still making excuses so that you don't have to accept the information; then obviously the only obsticle in that situation is yourself.
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