Good afternoon,
I’m a fan of a guy named Dr. Mercola — an osteopath with a writing team and a really good website. I have no idea how I even got on his mailing list, but I get his mailings and they are all valuable; some, like the one I am sharing with you today, are absolutely excellent. (For those with pets, he has a colleague on the site who is doing some great stuff on veterinary medicine.)
The current trend in drug commercials is cholesterol medication. For a while it was prostate, then Viagra comes into vogue, and now every other TV commercial seems to be about lowering your cholesterol to supposedly prevent heart disease and strokes. Well — based on known science, that turns out to be a likely case of bullshit.
In this recent article, Mercola’s writing team takes apart the issue, looking at a number of studies and what they say. One thing he notes is that by drastically lowering cholesterol, we deprive the brain of energy and that is a potential cause of depression. Cholesterol is also a key source of what we need to make sex hormones. So if you want to suppress your sex drive, cutting out cholesterol is a great way to do that.
Though I don’t do much investigative reporting anymore, I know the real thing when I see it. Mercola’s articles read like a very well-crafted set of research notes that could be developed into an investigative series on the issue they cover. I strongly suggest, by the way, that you look into his coverage of vitamin D. This is the vitamin that isn’t really a vitamin — it’s not found naturally in any food. Those links are easy to find, and there is a cholesterol-vitamin D connection: your body cannot synthesize vitamin D from sunlight unless you have a good level of cholesterol in your blood. Vitamin D, in turn, is the easiest way to stack the deck in your favor on heart disease and cancer.
With that, a side note about sun screen lotions: they block the production of vitamin D, which happens naturally only in the skin. We fear that sunlight causes cancer, and by adding SPF, that prevents the cancer-blocking property of sunlight. This is an old story: nearly everything the chemical industry creates backfires.
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I believe we can also synthesize vitamin D from “full spectrum lighting”. Home kitchen lighting is almost always flourscent and can easily be replaced with these bulbs. Feels better too.
AND being in flourscent light keeps me awake for hours just like a good cup of coffee would….so having full-spectrum in the kitchen allows me to sleep at night after late dinner/kitchen clean up (try it if you have trouble sleeping – no tv, no computer (or dim the light), no flourscent lights for at least half an hour before bed.)
Don’t forget pets…..they need sunlight too….
I haven’t had a microwave for about ten years. They just feel wrong. Realised I didn’t need one anyway.
I live in a high elevation place with intense sunlight, but I don’t wear sunscreen anymore. I just wear a wide brimmed hat or carry an umbrella like any good Chinese lady would. I stopped using sunscreen because my brother who is a chemist hipped me to the fact that some scientists are suspecting that sunscreen might actually do all kinds of dreadful things to your skin — especially the formulas involving “nano-particles” and the benzenes aren’t so great either. Also I never liked that stuff to begin with anyway. Then you suddenly realize you can just use something physical rather than something chemical to avoid getting sunburned. The truth is that where I live the sunscreen never really worked anyway — I’d still get burned if I was exposed for very long. I’m fairly certain that even with the parasol or a hat I’m still getting a pretty solid dose of sunshine, it’s just that my face doesn’t get hit so directly. I’m quite fair so a sunburn can be really uncomfortable. Other people who live in sunny places might want to consider such classic methods as these as well….
Hi,
I have just read and highly recommend a short, intelligible book published this year:
‘Vitamin D The Sunshine Vitamin’ by Zoltan Rona, MD, MSc, who practices complementary and alternative medicine in Toronto, Canada. (You can easily find info about him, his website, and the book online.) He explains everything you need to understand about Vitamin D.
Another very credible resource is http://www.naturalnews.com. A variety of authors addressing every subject you can imagine from the perspective of nature.
A reader send this in, grateful for the vitamin D discussion, and wanted to add this:
The Proven Dangers of Microwave Ovens
In short, microwaves distort the molecular structure of the foods. They destroy much of the nutrients and cause many other problems with the immune system over a period of time. If you love your family read this and take the extra couple of minutes to heat the food up the right way.
Radiation Ovens
The Proven Dangers of Microwaves
Is it possible that millions of people are ignorantly sacrificing their health in exchange for the convenience of microwave ovens? Why did the Soviet Union ban the use of microwave ovens in 1976? Who invented microwave ovens, and why? The answers to these questions may shock you into throwing your microwave oven in the trash.
Over 90% of American homes have microwave ovens used for meal preparation. Because microwave ovens are so convenient and energy efficient, as compared to conventional ovens, very few homes or restaurants are without them. In general, people believe that whatever a microwave oven does to foods cooked in it doesn’t have any negative effect on either the food or them. Of course, if microwave ovens were really harmful, our government would never allow them on the market, would they? Would they? Regardless of what has been “officially” released concerning microwave ovens, we have personally stopped using ours based on the research facts outlined in this article.
The purpose of this report is to show proof – evidence – that microwave cooking is not natural, nor healthy, and is far more dangerous to the human body than anyone could imagine. However, the microwave oven manufacturers, Washington City politics, and plain old human nature are suppressing the facts and evidence. Because of this, people are continuing to microwave their food – in blissful ignorance – without knowing the effects and danger of doing so.
How do microwave ovens work?
Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic energy, like light waves or radio waves, and occupy a part of the electromagnetic spectrum of power, or energy. Microwaves are very short waves of electromagnetic energy that travel at the speed of light (186,282 miles per second). In our modern technological age, microwaves are used to relay long distance telephone signals, television programs, and computer information across the earth or to a satellite in space. But the microwave is most familiar to us as an energy source for cooking food.
Every microwave oven contains a magnetron, a tube in which electrons are affected by magnetic and electric fields in such a way as to produce micro wavelength radiation at about 2450 Mega Hertz (MHz) or 2.45 Giga Hertz (GHz). This microwave radiation interacts with the molecules in food. All wave energy changes polarity from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. In microwaves, these polarity changes happen millions of times every second. Food molecules – especially the molecules of water – have a positive and negative end in the same way a magnet has a north and a south polarity.
In commercial models, the oven has a power input of about 1000 watts of alternating current. As these microwaves generated from the magnetron bombard the food, they cause the polar molecules to rotate at the same frequency millions of times a second. All this agitation creates molecular friction, which heats up the food. The friction also causes substantial damage to the surrounding molecules, often tearing them apart or forcefully deforming them. The scientific name for this deformation is “structural isomerism”.
By comparison, microwaves from the sun are based on principles of pulsed direct current (DC) that don’t create frictional heat; microwave ovens use alternating current (AC) creating frictional heat. A microwave oven produces a spiked wavelength of energy with all the power going into only one narrow frequency of the energy spectrum. Energy from the sun operates in a wide frequency spectrum.
Many terms are used in describing electromagnetic waves, such as wavelength, amplitude, cycle and frequency:
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Wavelength determines the type of radiation, i.e. radio, X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, etc.
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Amplitude determines the extent of movement measured from the starting point.
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Cycle determines the unit of frequency, such as cycles per second, Hertz, Hz, or cycles/second.
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Frequency determines the number of occurrences within a given time period (usually 1 second); The number of occurrences of a recurring process per unit of time, i.e. the number of repetitions of cycles per second.
Radiation = spreading energy with electromagnetic waves
Radiation, as defined by physics terminology, is “the electromagnetic waves emitted by the atoms and molecules of a radioactive substance as a result of nuclear decay.” Radiation causes ionization, which is what occurs when a neutral atom gains or loses electrons. In simpler terms, a microwave oven decays and changes the molecular structure of the food by the process of radiation. Had the manufacturers accurately called them “radiation ovens”, it’s doubtful they would have ever sold one, but that’s exactly what a microwave oven is.
We’ve all been told that microwaving food is not the same as irradiating it (radiation “treatment”). The two processes are supposed to use completely different waves of energy and at different intensities. No FDA or officially released government studies have proven current microwaving usage to be harmful, but we all know that the validity of studies can be – and are sometimes deliberately – limiting. Many of these studies are later proven to be inaccurate. As consumers, we’re supposed to have a certain degree of common sense to use in judgment.
Take the example of eggs and how they were “proven” to be so harmful to our health in the late 1960’s. This brought about imitation egg products and big profits for the manufacturers, while egg farms went broke. Now, recent government sponsored studies are saying that eggs are not bad for us after all. So, whom should we believe and what criteria should we use to decide matters concerning our health? Since it’s currently published that microwaves – purportedly – don’t leak into the environment, when properly used and with approved design, the decision lies with each consumer as to whether or not you choose to eat food heated by a microwave oven or even purchase one in the first place.
Motherly instincts are right
On a more humorous side, the “sixth sense” every mother has is impossible to argue with. Have you ever tried it? Children will never win against a mother’s intuition. It’s like trying to argue with the arm – appearing out of nowhere – that pinned you to the back of the seat when your mother slammed on the brakes.
Many of us come from a generation where mothers and grandmothers have distrusted the modern “inside out” cooking they claimed was “not suitable” for most foods. My mother refused to even try baking anything in a microwave. She also didn’t like the way a cup of coffee tasted when heated in a microwave oven. I have to fully agree and can’t argue either fact.
Her own common sense and instincts told her that there was no way microwave cooking could be natural nor make foods “taste they way they’re supposed to”. Reluctantly, even my mother succumbed to re-heating leftovers in a microwave due to her work schedule before she retired.
Many others feel the same way, but they’re considered an “old fashioned” minority dating back to before the 1970’s when microwaves first overwhelmed the market. Like most young adults at the time, as microwave ovens became commonplace, I chose to ignore my mother’s intuitive wisdom and joined the majority who believed microwave cooking was far too convenient to ever believe anything could be wrong with it. Chalk one up for mom’s perception, because even though she didn’t know the scientific, technical, or health reasons why, she just knew that microwave ovens were not good based on how foods tasted when they were cooked in them. She didn’t like the way the texture of the microwaved food changed either.
Microwaves unsafe for baby’s milk
A number of warnings have been made public, but have been barely noticed. For example, Young Families, the Minnesota Extension Service of the university of Minnesota, published the following in 1989:
“Although microwaves heat food quickly, they are not recommended for heating a baby’s bottle. The bottle may seem cool to the touch, but the liquid inside may become extremely hot and could burn the baby’s mouth and throat. Also, the buildup of steam in a closed container, such as a baby bottle, could cause it to explode. Heating the bottle in a microwave can cause slight changes in the milk. In infant formulas, there may be a loss of some vitamins. In expressed breast milk, some protective properties may be destroyed. Warming a bottle by holding it under tap water, or by setting it in a bowl of warm water, then testing it on your wrist before feeding may take a few minutes longer, but it is much safer.”
Dr. Lita Lee of Hawaii reported in the December 9, 1989 Lancet:
“Microwaving baby formulas converted certain trans-amino acids into their synthetic cis-isomers. Synthetic isomers, whether cis-amino acids or trans-fatty acids, are not biologically active. Further, one of the amino acids, L-proline, was converted to its d-isomer, which is known to be neurotoxic (poisonous to the nervous system) and nephrotoxic (poisonous to the kidneys). It’s bad enough that many babies are not nursed, but now they are given fake milk (baby formula) made even more toxic via microwaving.”
Microwaved blood kills patient
In 1991, there was a lawsuit in Oklahoma concerning the hospital use of a microwave oven to warm blood needed in a transfusion. The case involved a hip surgery patient, Norma Levitt, who died from a simple blood transfusion. It seems the nurse had warmed the blood in a microwave oven.
This tragedy makes it very apparent that there’s much more to “heating” with microwaves than we’ve been led to believe. Blood for transfusions is routinely warmed, but not in microwave ovens. In the case of Mrs. Levitt, the microwaving altered the blood and it killed her.
It’s very obvious that this form of microwave radiation “heating” does something to the substances it heats. It’s also becoming quite apparent that people who process food in a microwave oven are also ingesting these “unknowns”.
Because the body is electrochemical in nature, any force that disrupts or changes human electrochemical events will affect the physiology of the body. This is further described in Robert O. Becker’s book, The Body Electric, and in Ellen Sugarman’s book, Warning, the Electricity Around You May Be Hazardous to Your Health.
Scientific evidence and facts
In Comparative Study of Food Prepared Conventionally and in the Microwave Oven, published by Raum & Zelt in 1992, at 3(2): 43, it states
“A basic hypothesis of natural medicine states that the introduction into the human body of molecules and energies, to which it is not accustomed, is much more likely to cause harm than good. Microwaved food contains both molecules and energies not present in food cooked in the way humans have been cooking food since the discovery of fire. Microwave energy from the sun and other stars is direct current based. Artificially produced microwaves, including those in ovens, are produced from alternating current and force a billion or more polarity reversals per second in every food molecule they hit. Production of unnatural molecules is inevitable. Naturally occurring amino acids have been observed to undergo isomeric changes (changes in shape morphing) as well as transformation into toxic forms, under the impact of microwaves produced in ovens.
One short-term study found significant and disturbing changes in the blood of individuals consuming microwaved milk and vegetables. Eight volunteers ate various combinations of the same foods cooked different ways. All foods that were processed through the microwave ovens caused changes in the blood of the volunteers. Hemoglobin levels decreased and over all white cell levels and cholesterol levels increased. Lymphocytes decreased.
Luminescent (light-emitting) bacteria were employed to detect energetic changes in the blood. Significant increases were found in the luminescence of these bacteria when exposed to blood serum obtained after the consumption of microwaved food.”
The Swiss clinical study
Dr. Hans ulrich Hertel, who is now retired, worked as a food scientist for many years with one of the major Swiss food companies that do business on a global scale. A few years ago, he was fired from his job for questioning certain processing procedures that denatured the food.
In 1991, he and a Lausanne university professor published a research paper indicating that food cooked in microwave ovens could pose a greater risk to health than food cooked by conventional means. An article also appeared in issue 19 of the Journal Franz Weber in which it was stated that the consumption of food cooked in microwave ovens had cancerous effects on the blood. The research paper itself followed the article. On the cover of the magazine there was a picture of the Grim Reaper holding a microwave oven in one of his hands.
Dr. Hertel was the first scientist to conceive and carry out a quality clinical study on the effects microwaved nutrients have on the blood and physiology of the human body. His small, but well controlled, study showed the degenerative force produced in microwave ovens and the food processed in them. The scientific conclusion showed that microwave cooking changed the nutrients in the food; and, changes took place in the participants’ blood that could cause deterioration in the human system. Hertel’s scientific study was done along with Dr. Bernard H. Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the university Institute for Biochemistry.
In intervals of two to five days, the volunteers in the study received one of the following food variants on an empty stomach: (1) raw milk; (2) the same milk conventionally cooked; (3) pasteurized milk; (4) the same raw milks cooked in a microwave oven; (5) raw vegetables from an organic farm; (6) the same vegetables cooked conventionally; (7) the same vegetables frozen and defrosted in a microwave oven; and (8) the same vegetables cooked in the microwave oven. Once the volunteers were isolated, blood samples were taken from every volunteer immediately before eating. Then, blood samples were taken at defined intervals after eating from the above milk or vegetable preparations.
Significant changes were discovered in the blood samples from the intervals following the foods cooked in the microwave oven. These changes included a decrease in all hemoglobin and cholesterol values, especially the ratio of HDL (good cholesterol) and LDL (bad cholesterol) values. Lymphocytes (white blood cells) showed a more distinct short-term decrease following the intake of microwaved food than after the intake of all the other variants. Each of these indicators pointed to degeneration.
Additionally, there was a highly significant association between the amount of microwave energy in the test foods and the luminous power of luminescent bacteria exposed to serum from test persons who ate that food.
This led Dr. Hertel to the conclusion that such technically derived energies may, indeed, be passed along to man inductively via eating microwaved food. According to Dr. Hertel, “Leukocytosis, which cannot be accounted for by normal daily deviations, is taken very seriously by hemotologists. Leukocytes are often signs of pathogenic effects on the living system, such as poisoning and cell damage. The increase of leukocytes with the microwaved foods were more pronounced than with all the other variants. It appears that these marked increases were caused entirely by ingesting the microwaved substances.
“This process is based on physical principles and has already been confirmed in the literature. The apparent additional energy exhibited by the luminescent bacteria was merely an extra confirmation. There is extensive scientific literature concerning the hazardous effects of direct microwave radiation on living systems. It is astonishing, therefore, to realize how little effort has been taken to replace this detrimental technique of microwaves with technology more in accordance with nature.
Technically produced microwaves are based on the principle of alternating current. Atoms, molecules, and cells hit by this hard electromagnetic radiation are forced to reverse polarity 1-100 billion times a second. There are no atoms, molecules or cells of any organic system able to withstand such a violent, destructive power for any extended period of time, not even in the low energy range of milliwatts.
Of all the natural substances — which are polar — the oxygen of water molecules reacts most sensitively. This is how microwave cooking heat is generated — friction from this violence in water molecules. Structures of molecules are torn apart, molecules are forcefully deformed, called structural isomerism, and thus become impaired in quality. This is contrary to conventional heating of food where heat transfers convectionally from without to within. Cooking by microwaves begins within the cells and molecules where water is present and where the energy is transformed into frictional heat.
In addition to the violent frictional heat effects, called thermic effects, there are also athermic effects which have hardly ever been taken into account. These athermic effects are not presently measurable, but they can also deform the structures of molecules and have qualitative consequences. For example the weakening of cell membranes by microwaves is used in the field of gene altering technology. Because of the force involved, the cells are actually broken, thereby neutralizing the electrical potentials, the very life of the cells, between the outer and inner side of the cell membranes. Impaired cells become easy prey for viruses, fungi and other microorganisms. The natural repair mechanisms are suppressed and cells are forced to adapt to a state of energy emergency — they switch from aerobic to anaerobic respiration. Instead of water and carbon dioxide, the cell poisons hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide are produced.”
The same violent deformations that occur in our bodies, when we are directly exposed to radar or microwaves, also occur in the molecules of foods cooked in a microwave oven. This radiation results in the destruction and deformation of food molecules. Microwaving also creates new compounds, called radiolytic compounds, which are unknown fusions not found in nature. Radiolytic compounds are created by molecular decomposition – decay – as a direct result of radiation.
Microwave oven manufacturers insist that microwaved and irradiated foods do not have any significantly higher radiolytic compounds than do broiled, baked or other conventionally cooked foods. The scientific clinical evidence presented here has shown that this is simply a lie. In America, neither universities nor the federal government have conducted any tests concerning the effects on our bodies from eating microwaved foods. Isn’t that a bit odd? They’re more concerned with studies on what happens if the door on a microwave oven doesn’t close properly. Once again, common sense tells us that their attention should be centered on what happens to food cooked inside a microwave oven. Since people ingest this altered food, shouldn’t there be concern for how the same decayed molecules will affect our own human biological cell structure?
Industry’s action to hide the truth
As soon as Doctors Hertel and Blanc published their results, the authorities reacted. A powerful trade organization, the Swiss Association of Dealers for Electro-apparatuses for Households and Industry, known as FEA, struck swiftly in 1992. They forced the President of the Court of Seftigen, Canton of Bern, to issue a “gag order” against Drs. Hertel and Blanc. In March 1993, Dr. Hertel was convicted for “interfering with commerce” and prohibited from further publishing his results. However, Dr. Hertel stood his ground and fought this decision over the years.
Not long ago, this decision was reversed in a judgment delivered in Strasbourg, Austria, on August 25, 1998. The European Court of Human Rights held that there had been a violation of Hertel’s rights in the 1993 decision. The European Court of Human Rights also ruled that the “gag order” issued by the Swiss court in 1992 against Dr. Hertel, prohibiting him from declaring that microwave ovens are dangerous to human health, was contrary to the right to freedom of expression. In addition, Switzerland was ordered to pay Dr. Hertel compensation.
Who invented microwave ovens?
The Nazis, for use in their mobile support operations, originally developed microwave “radiomissor” cooking ovens to be used for the invasion of Russia. By being able to utilize electronic equipment for preparation of meals on a mass scale, the logistical problem of cooking fuels would have been eliminated, as well as the convenience of producing edible products in a greatly reduced time-factor.
After the war, the Allies discovered medical research done by the Germans on microwave ovens. These documents, along with some working microwave ovens, were transferred to the united States War Department and classified for reference and “further scientific investigation.” The Russians had also retrieved some microwave ovens and now have thorough research on their biological effects. As a result, their use was outlawed in the Soviet union. The Soviets issued an international warning on the health hazards, both biological and environmental, of microwave ovens and similar frequency electronic devices.
Other Eastern European scientists also reported the harmful effects of microwave radiation and set up strict environmental limits for their usage. The united States has not accepted the European reports of harmful effects, even though the EPA estimates that radio frequency and microwave radiation sources in America are increasing at 15% per year.
Carcinogens in microwaved food
In Dr. Lita Lee’s book, Health Effects of Microwave Radiation – Microwave Ovens, and in the March and September 1991 issues of Earthletter, she stated that every microwave oven leaks electro-magnetic radiation, harms food, and converts substances cooked in it to dangerous organ-toxic and carcinogenic products. Further research summarized in this article reveal that microwave ovens are far more harmful than previously imagined.
The following is a summary of the Russian investigations published by the Atlantis Raising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon. Carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested. No test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary to accomplish the purpose, i.e., cooking, thawing, or heating to insure sanitary ingestion. Here’s a summary of some of the results:
a. Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to insure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.
b. Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.
c. Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.
d. Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
e. Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables. Decrease in nutritional value.
Russian researchers also reported a marked acceleration of structural degradation leading to a decreased food value of 60 to 90% in all foods tested. Among the changes observed were:
a. Deceased bio-availability of vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropics factors in all food tested.
b. Various kinds of damaged to many plant substances, such as alkaloids, glucosides, galactosides and nitrilosides.
c. The degradation of nucleo-proteins in meats.
Microwave sickness is discovered
The Russians did research on thousands of workers who had been exposed to microwaves during the development of radar in the 1950’s. Their research showed health problems so serious that the Russians set strict limits of 10 microwatts exposure for workers and one microwatt for civilians.
In Robert O. Becker’s book, The Body Electric, he described Russian research on the health effects of microwave radiation, which they called “microwave sickness.” On page 314, Becker states:
“It’s [Microwave sickness] first signs are low blood pressure and slow pulse. The later and most common manifestations are chronic excitation of the sympathetic nervous system [stress syndrome] and high blood pressure.
This phase also often includes headache, dizziness, eye pain, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, stomach pain, nervous tension, inability to concentrate, hair loss, plus an increased incidence of appendicitis, cataracts, reproductive problems, and cancer. The chronic symptoms are eventually succeeded by crisis of adrenal exhaustion and ischemic heart disease [the blockage of coronary arteries and heart attacks].”
According to Dr. Lee, changes are observed in the blood chemistries and the rates of certain diseases among consumers of microwaved foods. The symptoms above can easily be caused by the observations shown below. The following is a sample of these changes:
a. Lymphatic disorders were observed, leading to decreased ability to prevent certain types of cancers.
b. An increased rate of cancer cell formation was observed in the blood.
c. Increased rates of stomach and intestinal cancers were observed.
d. Higher rates of digestive disorders and a gradual breakdown of the systems of elimination were observed.
Microwave research conclusions
The following were the most significant German and Russian research operations facilities concerning the biological effects of microwaves:
The initial research conducted by the Germans during the Barbarossa military campaign, at the Humbolt-universitat zu Berlin (1942-1943); and, From 1957 and up to the present [until the end of the cold war], the Russian research operations were conducted at: the Institute of Radio Technology at Kinsk, Byelorussian Autonomous Region; and, at the Institute of Radio Technology at Rajasthan in the Rossiskaja Autonomous Region, both in the union of the Soviet Socialist Republics.
In most cases, the foods used for research analysis were exposed to microwave propagation at an energy potential of 100 kilowatts/cm3/second, to the point considered acceptable for sanitary, normal ingestion. The effects noted by both German and Russian researchers is presented in three categories:
Category I, Cancer-Causing Effects
Category II, Nutritive Destruction of Foods
Category III, Biological Effects of Exposure
CATEGORY I
CANCER-CAUSING EFFECTS
[The first two points of Category I are not readable from our report copy. The remainder of the report is intact.]
3. Creation of a “binding effect” to radioactivity in the atmosphere, thus causing a marked increase in the amount of alpha and beta particle saturation in foods;
4. Creation of cancer causing agents within protein hydrolysate compounds* in milk and cereal grains [*these are natural proteins that are split into unnatural fragments by the addition of water];
5. Alteration of elemental food-substances, causing disorders in the digestive system by unstable catabolism* of foods subjected to microwaves [*the metabolic breakdown process];
6. Due to chemical alterations within food substances, malfunctions were observed within the lymphatic systems [absorbent vessels], causing a degeneration of the immune potentials of the body to protect against certain forms of neoplastics [abnormal growths of tissue];
7. Ingestion of microwaved foods caused a higher percentage of cancerous cells within the blood serum [cytomas – cell tumors such as sarcoma];
8. Microwave emissions caused alteration in the catabolic [metabolic breakdown] behavior of glucoside [hydrolyzed dextrose] and galactoside [oxidized alcohol] elements within frozen fruits when thawed in this manner;
9. Microwave emission caused alteration of the catabolic [metabolic breakdown] behavior of plant alkaloids [organic nitrogen based elements] when raw, cooked, or frozen vegetables were exposed for even extremely short durations;
10. Cancer causing free radicals [highly reactive incomplete molecules] were formed within certain trace mineral molecular formations in plant substances, and in particular, raw root-vegetables; and,
11. In a statistically high percentage of persons, microwaved foods caused stomach and intestinal cancerous growths, as well as a general degeneration of peripheral cellular tissues, with a gradual breakdown of the function of the digestive and execrative systems.
CATEGORY II
DECREASE IN FOOD VALUE
Microwave exposure caused significant decreases in the nutritive value of all foods researched. The following are the most important findings:
1. A decrease in the bioavailability [capability of the body to utilize the nutriment] of B-complex vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropics in all foods;
2. A loss of 60-90% of the vital energy field content of all tested foods;
3. A reduction in the metabolic behavior and integration process capability of alkaloids [organic nitrogen based elements], glucosides and galactosides, and nitrilosides;
4. A destruction of the nutritive value of nucleoproteins in meats;
5. A marked acceleration of structural disintegration in all foods.
CATEGORY III
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE
Exposure to microwave emissions also had an unpredictably negative effect upon the general biological welfare of humans. This was not discovered until the Russians experimented with highly sophisticated equipment and discovered that a human did not even need to ingest the material substance of the microwaved food substances: that even exposure to the energy-field itself was sufficient to cause such adverse side effects that the use of any such microwave apparatus was forbidden in 1976 by Soviet state law.
The following are the enumerated effects:
1. A breakdown of the human “life-energy field” in those who were exposed to microwave ovens while in operation, with side-effects to the human energy field of increasingly longer duration;
2. A degeneration of the cellular voltage parallels during the process of using the apparatus, especially in the blood and lymphatic areas;
3. A degeneration and destabilization of the external energy activated potentials of food utilization within the processes of human metabolism;
4. A degeneration and destabilization of internal cellular membrane potentials while transferring catabolic [metabolic breakdown] processes into the blood serum from the digestive process;
5. Degeneration and circuit breakdowns of electrical nerve impulses within the junction potentials of the cerebrum [the front portion of the brain where thought and higher functions reside];
6. A degeneration and breakdown of nerve electrical circuits and loss of energy field symmetry in the neuroplexuses [nerve centers] both in the front and the rear of the central and autonomic nervous systems;
7. Loss of balance and circuiting of the bioelectric strengths within the ascending reticular activating system [the system which controls the function of consciousness];
8. A long term cumulative loss of vital energies within humans, animals and plants that were located within a 500-meter radius of the operational equipment;
9. Long lasting residual effects of magnetic “deposits” were located throughout the nervous system and lymphatic system;
10. A destabilization and interruption in the production of hormones and maintenance of hormonal balance in males and females;
11. Markedly higher levels of brainwave disturbance in the alpha, theta, and delta wave signal patterns of persons exposed to microwave emission fields, and;
12. Because of this brainwave disturbance, negative psychological effects were noted, including loss of memory, loss of ability to concentrate, suppressed emotional threshold, deceleration of intellective processes, and interruptive sleep episodes in a statistically higher percentage of individuals subjected to continual range emissive field effects of microwave apparatus, either in cooking apparatus or in transmission stations.
Forensic Research Conclusions
From the twenty-eight above enumerated indications, the use of microwave apparatus is definitely not advisable; and, with the decision of the Soviet government in 1976, present scientific opinion in many countries concerning the use of such apparatus is clearly in evidence.
Due to the problem of random magnetic residulation and binding within the biological systems of the body (Category III:9), which can ultimately effect the neurological systems, primarily the brain and neuroplexuses (nerve centers), long term depolarization of tissue neuroelectric circuits can result. Because these effects can cause virtually irreversible damage to the neuroelectrical integrity of the various components of the nervous system (I. R. Luria, Novosibirsk 1975a), ingestion of microwaved foods is clearly contraindicated in all respects. Their magnetic residual effect can render the pyschoneural receptor components of the brain more subject to influence psychologically by artificially induced microwave radio frequency fields from transmission stations and TV relay-networks.
The theoretical possibility of psycho telemetric influence (the capability of affecting human behavior by transmitted radio signals at controlled frequencies) has been suggested by Soviet neuropsychological investigations at uralyera and Novosibirsk (Luria and Perov, 1974a, 1975c, 1976a), which can cause involuntary subliminal psychological energy field compliance to operative microwave apparatus.
FORENSIC RESEARCH DOCuMENT
Prepared By: William P. Kopp
A. R. E. C. Research Operations
TO61-7R10/10-77F05
RELEASE PRIORITY: CLASS I ROO1a
Ten Reasons to Throw out your Microwave Oven
From the conclusions of the Swiss, Russian and German scientific clinical studies, we can no longer ignore the microwave oven sitting in our kitchens. Based on this research, we will conclude this article with the following:
1. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term – permanent – brain damage by “shorting out” electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].
2. The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in microwaved food.
3. Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.
4. The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual [long term, permanent] within the human body.
5. Minerals, vitamins, and nutrients of all microwaved food is reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the human body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.
6. The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.
7. Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths [tumors]. This may explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in America.
8. The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.
9. Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.
10. Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence.
Have you tossed out your microwave oven yet?
The use of artificial microwave transmissions for subliminal psychological control, a.k.a. “brainwashing”, has also been proven. We’re attempting to obtain copies of the 1970’s Russian research documents and results written by Drs. Luria and Perov specifying their clinical experiments in this area.
Written by Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newell
The chronic heartburn I had a few years back cleared up right quick when I stopped ingesting what I call “industrial foods.” (Can I say names without PW getting sued? Stuff like Hamburger Helper and Frosted Mini-Wheats and Doritos and Coke.)
My inner conspiracy theorist (yes, I do have one) believes that Big Food/Beverage and Big Pharma are working together to kill us all slowly while separating us from as much of our cash as possible in the process.
Beth:
inflammation is the thing isnt it. also what I experience during hormonal cycles that sets off the pain of fibromyalgia and migraines where I can feel my body to the touch is inflammed , it hurts just to touch
(well I have tracked it to heavy planetary aspects and its always right on target, but that is another discussion)
ibuprofen would lessen it, but I cant take that stuff anymore… so its hot showers and vitamin D
as for the acid reflex, heartburn, etc issue.. there is a school of thought that says take a couple of tsps of cider vinegar straight up … is it kind of the same principle … treating the problem with the thing that poses the problem…. that is bit extreme to me… but what I have been doing is strengthening my diet with vit. b to heal the tissues and slowly and consistently introducing the “irritants” back into my diet for my system to readjust
and only using the pepcid when I am in in onset of severe pain… I find this to be a pretty good therapeutic regime… your input would be most welcome…
Beth, I agree that testing is a good idea. However, practically speaking, most people are not going to test the first time, much less retest, and most will not make a special visit to the doctor; and there is no point waiting a year to begin this. So there needs to be a recommendable safe dose that is therapeutic. The question is, at what point is the stuff toxic? And that seems pretty high. If the systems of most people can stand a dose of 50K, it can take 5K or 10K. From what I am reading, that is the range of a therapeutic level — a level that helps, and that’s not going to do harm.
Vitamin D levels are personal and different for everyone. part of it depends on your baseline and what your kidneys are doing to activate inactive vit. D (skin production) to active D3 (which becomes active in the kidneys). So kidney function should be considered. 50K twice a week is a normal prescription for someone with low levels, but should not be taken for more than 8 weeks, the real test comes about 3 months later when levels should be redrawn. Levels will differ depending on where you live on how much sunlight you receive.
Lets not forget the relationship between vit d. and inflammation. Inflammation is the basis for heart failure, myopathy, hypertension, and cad. All of which have been linked to low vitamin d levels. Kidneys blow my mind…
Hyp — I am glad you brought up the proton pump inhibitor issue, it is a big issue and a pet peeve of mine. That stuff is awful, over prescribed and over priced. But there is a hell of a market for the stuff! They deplete the stomach of normal PH levels which are needed to absorb B-12, lets not forget how essential b-12 is, it plays a big role in brain and nervous system functioning. Decreased levels have been linked to dementia and alzheimer’s disease. When the PH levels in the stomach are not where they should be naturally you have an increased risk at infection because for the most part that acid is working for you by destroying microbes that you don’t want. There is a huge correlation between people taking ppi’s and hospital acquired pneumonia (which can be deadly). Ppi’s also decreases absorption of calcium from the stomach when they suppress acid production, which leads to more bone fractures — but more importantly hip fractures (which truth be told is the beginning of the end, and by end I mean death). There have been multiple reliable studies done that show the correlation between people taking ppi’s and hip fractures and I have seen numbers ranging from 40% to much higher. Basically, the over usage of ppi’s hurts a lot more than it helps, but nobody seems to be talking about it and it seems to be the first medication prescribed to anyone in the hospital regardless of their admitting diagnosis. It’s like you get an admission bracelet, your hospital policy packet, and your IV protonix twice daily or nexium or whatever brand of nonsense the pharm. companies happen to be pushing that quarter. I can come up with about 50 critical thinking scenarios here…. No really think about this one…. B-12 levels are rarely drawn. Viscous cycle of patients on long term ppi’s being admitted to hospitals with altered mental status= easy source of infection, common hip fractures, c-diff…. At least they have those purell machines on every wall. I can think of at least 5 natural and cost effective ways to reduce acid reflux that won’t kill you.
Interesting post.
Pls note if you are thinking of eating red meat that Dr. Mercola says only that “organic grass-fed meats” are okay.
It is very hard and very expensive to get “organic grass-fed” meat.
The problem with conventional meat is that it’s full of hormones, red meat especially. This is no laughing matter as the hormones used to “fatten up” livestock migrate into our bodies and “fatten us up” as well.
I am convinced that the chemicals in our food supply play as much a role in our obesity epidemic as poor eating habits.
Most people who try to avoid the huge dosages of chemicals in meat find the easiest way to do it is to simply stop eating meat. I haven’t had beef or pork in 15 years.
Eric, like you I have wheat sensitivity. Recently discovered this, the gluten was responsible for digestive problems, it turns out.
When I stay off gluten, all is well. If I slip and eat it, boom, I’m running for the bathroom.
So sad, since dark whole wheat bread was my fav. Ah well I’m learning to love brown-rice bread.
Related: there were stories in the press today about little girls of 7 and 8 years of age going into puberty now — developing breasts and menstruating. At 7 years old!
All because of synthetic hormones they are dosed with from the moment of birth — bisphenol A in baby bottles is a synthetic hormone, and all the parabens in baby lotion and other hand lotions, sun block, shampoo, etc — that’s all synthetic estrogens getting rubbed into their skin.
The good people at Environmental Working Group have been trying to warn folks about this hormone stuff for years — it’s in our food and in all the products we put on our bodies — but most people do not want to hear.
Now, 7-year-olds are going into puberty because of these chemicals! What would you say to your daughter if it happened to her? Is a 7-year-old equipped to deal emotionally with men and boys coming onto her?
I swear, we’ll soon be at the point where our species cannot reproduce any more because we’ve polluted ourselves so thoroughly, like in the novel Children of Men.
I take CoQ10 daily – 100mg. It is an energy precursor used by the mitochondria in the cell:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenzyme_Q10
Good stuff. I also do 5,000 IU/day Vitamin. D. I’ve been doing the sublingual drops since February. I get my blood tested tomorrow to see where my D levels are at. I spend time outside this time of year, but live in the NW with very little sun from Oct – April (June this year). The western medical establishment has a lower ‘normal limit’ for vitamin D in the northwest – because people who live here have lower than normal levels in their blood. How’s that for thinking! Rather than have an optimal level… Geez. Don’t get me started.
Um 50K twice a week is a lot, as you discovered. I would recommend smaller daily doses. If you stay in the 10K range you’re in range with sunshine, which is of course preferable; but for sure, harder to come by these days.
And as you discovered there is a connection to depression. The truth is it’s not really necessary to get your levels checked; if you think you’re deficient and you don’t spend a lot of time outside in a bathing suit without suntan SPF, you’re probably deficient – barring a miracle.
I don’t know if Mercola has covered triglycerides, but I suggest you search his name and that word and if he has, something will come up.
to wit: he says the issue is the conversion of carbs to fats. Those are triglycerides. So the key is to reduce carbs; not fats.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/10/25/carbs-triglycerides.aspx
forgive me as this may be redundant as i haven’t had a chance to read the article (but am quite familiar with doc merc) and you all may already know this but my understanding and education is that the mono-unsaturated fat in avocados (and similar content foods) can help naturally reduce cholesterol and clogged arteries, even though they’re often labeled as high fat, they’re good fats.
in my diet lately, i’ve returned to the three sisters (and e, i’m thinking of you here) because they are a complementary and (as many have known and kept as their traditional diet for centuries) a complete meal; squash beans and corn. some of you gardeners may already know of their beauty and benefits agriculturally as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_%28agriculture%29
http://www.oneidaindiannation.com/culture/threesisters/agriculture/26871269.html
this convo also reminded me of the documentary “the beautiful truth” – excellent history and information (not so great storyline but that’s just my opinion).
It is also suspected that there is a huge correllation between lower Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis. Occurance of MS is lowest at the equator and gets higher as you go towards the poles. Makes me glad I live in the south and spend a lot of time outside, since I have been tested for MS and they just can’t tell if I have it or not. Even if they do find out I have it, I will deal with it naturally. No interferon for me, thanks.
And YUM, EGGS!
I was diagnosed in ’08 with a severe vit. D3 lack: the naturopath prescribed 50,000 IU twice a week at first, but my system couldn’t hack that, and so I began taking 2,000 IU in pill form and that corrected many physical issues I had and alleviated my depression.
Living in Arizona has now negated that need for extra D3. I was living in the Northwest and have had episodic depression issues for a good number of years. All it took was D3 really, so I guess I’m staying put for now.
Interesting about the new HDL/LDL data; my levels are okay, but my triglycerides were a mess. Does Mercola address them?
{Thanks Eric, great stuff!}
I just remembered, for gastritis I was to treat with pepcid, which, my nurse/librarian colleague found research actuallly deprives vitamin B so that was a triple whammy for a vegetarian trying to heal stomach lining… and another example of how prescriptions meds actually make the problem worse…
to soy or not to soy asks she? i dont do a lot of soy anymore, so maybe a bit of soy milk in moderation is good enough…
i remember 20 years ago having a class in liberation theology in a jesuit college where all the talk was about third world countries and starving children and I got a c+ on my paper comparing this country’s lack of real, nutritious “food” as I walked up and down the supermarket aisles surveying the incredibly diverse options of poisons, toxins and crap available on a student budget… i guess it was seen as insensitive and “missing the point”…
man is there something happening in virgo right now? cause i’m getting on a quite the health kick ….
22, the problem is all this processed food. It is all fractioned off. The key is whole foods, and knowing how to supplement. I’m aware of the soy issue — it’s a plant estrogen, and according to my young niece, who has read about this, a few glasses of the stuff has as much as a birth control pill.
I think there is another issue here, which is that we are bombarded with xenoestrogens — from mercury to dioxin to DDT to PCBs. Just like taking iodine helps prevent the absorption of radioactive iodine, I have a theory – untested, as yet – that phytoestrogens (i.e., plant estrogens) may protect us from xenoestrogens (i.e., dioxins).
As for what we can eat safely, well, real food. Now, how do we define that? That’s a cute one. I am off of wheat, as a celiac person. So I don’t eat anything deep fried, batter dipped, coated in a crust, made of bread, stuffed with gluten thickener or fake gluten meat. I can never “grab a sandwich” or a slice and run. Not eating from the deep fryer protects me from icky trans fats. I don’t get a lot of sugar, and I avoid corn syrup with devotion — THAT is the real cholesterol issue. (Mercola has a piece on this — the HFCS basically turns right to arterial plaque, and its use should be considered a crime. I am no fan of Nutrasweet, which ‘goes right to your head’ and can cause serious nervous issues and even seizures, but HFCS is just as bad. Do we really need to drink soda??)
I think my life is a lot better for the no-wheat diet I have to follow — most days. Sometimes it’s impossible to get the right food, but I don’t cheat. I’ve recently cut out chicken and beef (blood type AB issue) so that complicates things a bit: I used to be able to eat a steak, or something simple like roast chicken and potatoes if nothing else was on the menu.
So, I have to adapt constantly — and it’s one of those awareness raising experiences. Note, I have Ceres in the last degree of Sagittarius. Now, that tells the story quite well. But I know, this is a constant devotion. The American diet does not consist of food. It consists of chemicals blended to look like food.
My grandmother will be 96 this month and she doesn’t take ANY prescription meds at all. Why? Because she got on the vitamin bandwagon years before it was popular. My Dh and I take fish oil (certified mercury-free, lead-free, hexane-free) flax oil, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Folic acid (those last 4 lower homocysteine levels and homocysteine does cause heart attacks but Big Pharma won’t tell you that because simple vitamins and supplements stop it), potassium, magnesium, Maca root extract, multivitamin with minerals, lycopene and luteine, and I take borage oil for perimenopause. We also take lactobacillus acidophilus capsules for the gut and we take Milk Thistle for the liver at a separate time to clear it of any toxins. We would take CoQ-10 if we could afford it.
My grandmother also found that taking d-mannose powder (from cranberries) prevents bladder infections and elderberry tincture stops viruses cold and makes them (including the flu virus) less virulent. Lactobacillus capsules get rid of vaginal yeast infections often with ONE dose (just shove a capsule up the vagina at night when going to bed and it cures it; shove 2 if it seems to be a strong infection) and it is way cheaper than those antifungal creams. Make a paste of lactobacillus acidophilus for athlete’s foot and rub it on the burning areas, it works in seconds. Make a paste of warm milk and bread to draw infections out of acne, boils, spider or other insect bites. Eating cinnamon with food (or taking cinnamon capsules with food) can lower blood sugar. I could go on and on.
The best way to get 5,000 to 10,000 IUs a day is in drop format — not pills. Drops can contain 1,000 IUs per drop — very simple. I’ve not looked into how it’s derived. It is an animal hormone; but I think it’s a synthetic source. I have read that ERs are onto vitamin D and when someone comes in with any number of issues, a dose of 50,000 IUs is administered. For elevating blood levels, you need a higher than normal dose for a while, then it can be reduced. But the consensus among those who know the issue is saying 5,000 units a day minimum as a therapeutic dose.
Co Q 10 is another substance used by in the high 90th percentile of cellular functions; it helps cells create energy. But it’s not found in any significant quantity in food. There is a controversy here: it comes in two forms, one widely available and the other, called ubiquinol, rarely heard of or mentioned. The latter, Mercola suggests, is for people over the age of 30, who cannot metabolize the other form easily.
I had a flight from Tampa recently and was sitting next to a biochemistry phd candidate — who explained what a coenzyme is; exactly where they fit into the metabolic structure. I have notes in my diary, did not memorize it. I’ll check my notes.
Funny. Just this afternoon I stumbled on Dr. Mercola’s website and spend time reading an article on soy milk,– and that it may be better for us not to drink it. Oy vey! Soon, there may be not much left we can eat and drink.
In the sense of a cure-all that because we are so deficient in it, a lot of our health problems/symptoms could be alleviated by supplementation. Thanks EF, I think I will look into it. Last time I went to the co-op to inquire about vitamin D supplments (after reading about common deficiency) it was not available in a vegetarian form.
After 7 years of being a vegetarian, I have incorporated meat and fish into my diet. After a long stretch of gastritis pain which is just beginning to heal, it cut out half my staples as a vegetarian — tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, citrus, spices, peppers, raw fibrous vegetables. I used to take a lot of vitamin supplements but it doesnt beet asorption from real food, i.e. vitamin B for vegetarians. it wasnt until i started eating meat that my stomach began to heal. coincidence, perhaps… well, now im getting a lot more cholesterol!
coenzyme Q10 sounds very familiar to me… it seems i took that in a supplement with something else years ago when i was a gym rat in weight training, but i cant remember what it was. again, im thinking it was something hyped to dieters to help burn fat. I would research it for my migraines….
Vitamin D is not so much a cure-all as it is an essential nutrient and therefore general preventive, because deficiency is a big problem. The public is jaded about vitamins, and yet gets most of its calories from corn syrup. Most people I mention vitamin D to are not impressed. I suggest you look into this yourself. It verges on criminal that the medical establishment is not telling people about this. In fact, for years they told us not to overdose on vitamin D, it’s fat soluble, etc. and so forth. Now it turns out they had no clue — they had no way to measure the levels and now they do.
What is new are studies about how deficient most people are. The only way to get vitamin D is supplementation or sunlight. The current USRDA is 400 units a day, which is ridiculously low. In 1/2 hour of good strong sun in a bathing suit, you can get 10,000 units. In half an hour! So 400 units is nothing. And the point is, no matter how good your diet is, you cannot get the stuff. Most of us sit indoors most of the time. The further from the equator you are, the more likely you are to be deficient.
If you live in Florida and are always waking around in shorts and a tank top, you may be fine. If you live in New York or Chicago and/or work indoors, you’re likely to be deficient.
Vitamin D is not a vitamin. It is a very basic steroid hormone, essential to dozens of body systems.
We could also have an interesting talk about something called Coenzyme Q-10, another essential nutrient that is not commonly discussed, and not found in food, unless you eat tons of pig hearts — and I do mean tons.
Thank you Eric and E2. A friend I know, retired firefighter who owns a crystal shop in my town was on some kind of cholesterol medication and he suffered a serious mysterious disease that was eating away at his muscle tissue. He was pretty near debilitated, in intense pain and could barely stand on his own. After years of experimental therapies and chemotherapy and all manner of trial and error, he is finally regained his health.
When my mom started cholesterol meds, I was very concerned, but she is old school and believes in what the doctor says. They also put her on high blood pressure med, osteoporosis med and then thyroid med. She’s lost about 20 pounds.
Also interesting about the link between Vit D and cholesterol. I have been seeing a lot of hype about vitamin D as the new “cure all”. As a frequent sufferer from FM/CFS I have considered dosing it, but have not yet. As for sunscreen, I have to use something on my face which is already sun damaged and it burns immediately in the sun. But I am very careful in selecting what I use. Other than that, I moderate how much time I spend in the sun. Since Im not a active outdoorsy type, I dont have a problem. But the body’s natural defense does seem to kick in if you introduce it to the sun’s rays slowly and consistently
highly sensitive balance organisms — this mortal temple and internal machinery of ours… one disruption throws the whole machine off…. then doctors turn you into a freakin prescription pill junkie… it pisses me off…
hell even mild allergy medication like zyrtek, I was off for months, and when I went back on it I could tell a HUGE difference in my body’s response
(well that was an insightful distraction of many which I am finding to NOT work today—back to grind)
Cholesterol is a multi-use material, like so many other chemicals in our body, and has a wide variety of applications. When you try to adjust it’s effect on one part of the body-the cardiovascular system-other systems may suffer. It may be useful for you to know about Very Low Density Lipoproteins, which are implicated in cardiovascular disease and seem to be produced by the body in response to sugars, especially fructose. Kiss that oj goodbye.
When the body receives messages of inflammation in the cardiovascular system, it tries to repair the damaged lining of the arteries with, among other chemicals, cholesterol. You can view rising cholesterol as a signal of early stage inflammation. Treat the source of the inflammation, and your cholesterol drops. Weight loss is a key part of this since the extra weight causes the liver to process and manufacture a different ratio of all kinds of hormones and chemicals within the body. And some kinds of fat tissue (yes, there are different kinds of fat) produce inflammatory chemicals.
Women tend to experience higher cholesterol levels after menopause, and it is thought that the loss of estradiol, which is both a Cox 1 and a Cox 2 inhibitor (Cox factors are inflammation factors), leads to increased inflammation, and then increased cholesterol levels in response. Aspirin is also a Cox 1 & 2 inhibitor. For men, the rise is related to the loss of testosterone. This is also seen with a decrease of thyroid function, which is far more common that people realize.
There are a lot of other reasons for cholesterol rise as well (diet, obviously), but these are some of the most common. Given the fact that the majority of us will die of heart disease, keep an open mind about statins, but skepticism pays. Cholesterol is a useful measure when seen in a larger context of the overall condition of the body. And if you are over twenty, you almost certainly have some atherosclerosis already, so don’t think this issue is only for old people.
There is plenty of evidence now that antidepressants turn episodic depression into chronic depression, for example, and deepen it to the point where recovery is that much more difficult. The drugs may do brain damage.
Eric,
Thank you. This posting is a truly valuable service. It’s amazing that there are still people like you (who “know better”) with places to express themselves to significant numbers without being sent to jail or the looney bin. Long may you live, Eric. Blessings,
-Len
I will. Thank you, awordedgewise.
Angie, check out the “Gutsense” link — he has a good time making fun of the Merck Manual for just what you describe.
xo
One more,
Another internet good-health-advocate I find informative enough to receive regular newletters from is Dr. Ben Kim. Here’s a sample of an article sent in his weekly newsletter.
http://drbenkim.com/juicing-health.htm
I find him to be brief yet gentle, always with helpful suggestions and even wonderful recipes (often with his mother-in-law cooking to provide slide by slide do-it pix!).
I don’t know how I found him (or Mercola) but very glad I did. Those two coupled with PW make my “daily-dose”. 😉
xo
“nearly everything the chemical industry creates backfires.”
I could not agree more. Back in the 70s I worked in a mental health clinic and had access to a Physician’s Desk Reference. The absolute irony I found with every prescription drug I researched was that long-term use of a drug would end up causing the problem it was supposedly treating. I have observed time and time again that with prescription drugs there is a high cost (and I don’t mean monetary). There are better ways. Every medicine we could possibly need is found in nature and/or within ourselves. Big Pharma is not our friend.
Just a bit more…..Below is a bit on the HDL/LDL lie cut from this URL:
http://www.gutsense.org/gutsense/constipation.html
“Talking of cholesterol… Every single cell in your body is covered by membranes made from the molecules of cholesterol. The intestines happen to be one of the most demanding consumers of cholesterol, because all of the cells that make up intestinal membranes get turned over (replaced) daily. The cholesterol needed to make up these cells comes from food or is synthesized by the liver as LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Whenever you restrict food sources of cholesterol, your liver has to produce more LDL cholesterol to compensate for the deficit.
On the other hand, HDL (“good”) cholesterol is the principal component of bile. The more fat you ingest, the more bile is made by the liver to digest it, and, correspondingly, the level of HDL cholesterol goes up.
Thus, if you limit dietary fat and cholesterol, the “bad” goes up to kill you, and the “good” goes down, to kill you more. On the other hand, the Atkins diet, with its plentitude of animal fat and cholesterol, has been consistently shown to lower the “bad” and raise the “good” cholesterol — just what the doctor ordered.
This phenomenon — less animal fat, more “bad” cholesterol — hasn’t, of course, escaped the attention of statin-makers (LDL-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, Mevacor, Pravachol, Vytorin, etc.). No wonder they promote low-fat diets with the vengeance of John McClane — the less animal fat you consume, the higher the LDL. And that sells more statins.
At this point, it shouldn’t surprise you that constipation and diarrhea are listed among the most common side effects of statins [11]. Oh, well……”
I remember in my years of research along the way that cholesterol-lowering drugs are primary cause of the current increase of Lou Gerhigs disease.
(Just as Botox is a quick-link to Alzheimer’s.)
Cholesterol is essential to our good health. Everyone – please do at least read Mercola per Eric.
Issues of cholesterol can also relate back to having a healthy gut, Our body not only relies on it but produces the right kinds when we are healthy and the wrong kinds when we are not. I’ll spare PW readers the volumes I could say on this topic. But I strongly concur again with Eric. Just a little research can go a long way. At least read Mercola.
There are many direct and indirect links to our current trends in disease that point to commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals. Mercola is excellent source of info. As is the internet in general. Many studies have been done outside the USA which can be useful to understand.
Today my health-related reading took me deeper into GMOs. I am more and more convinced that the rise in wheat intolerance is more from GMOs disruption of our guts’ ability to digest than it is from wheat/soy/corn itself.
BTW to all – Soy in the USA can be labeled organic and still be 20-30% GMO. Which means it’s probably more like 50% GMO.
“100% organic” is the label to look for on any product.
I also just learned that those little sticky tags on produce can be useful. If produce is 100% organic, the sticky-tag number is 5-digits beginning with #9. I haven’t checked out this tidbit in the store yet, will do so this afternoon. (Since many foods aren’t actually ORGANIC – only “100% Organic” label is reliable – sort of akin to the “natural” ruse.)
Done for now. I usually warn people not to get me started on food and toxins and nutrition as I go on and on and on…………LOL!
xo
Amanda, the best way to remember the good from the bad is L stands for lousy and H stands for Happy 🙂
That’s the subject of the article, basically. To sum up, it’s all a myth created by drug companies.
i’ll be curious to looj at this when i get a chance to see if mercola upholds the distnction between so-called “good” and “bad” colesterol (HDL & LDL, though i can never keep them straight), since we’ve long been told to keep one higher and lower the other…