Heart Health, Statins, Fats, etc.

Posted on June 5, 2016 by marcia

Great Britain’s Most Outspoken Cardiologist Sets the Record Straight on Saturated Fats

June 05, 2016

By Dr. Mercola

Is saturated fat really the health hazard it’s been made out to be? Dr. Aseem Malhotra is an interventional cardiologist consultant in London, U.K., who gained quite a bit of publicity after the publication of his peer-reviewed editorial¹ in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2013.

In it, he seriously challenges the conventional view on saturated fats, and reviews how recent studies have failed to find any significant association between saturated fat and cardiovascular risk.

In fact, Malhotra reports that two-thirds of people admitted to hospitals with acute myocardial infarction have completely normal cholesterol levels. Malhotra, founder of Action on Sugar, also works as an adviser to the U.K.’s National Obesity Forum.

“My focus has been, ‘what can we do as individuals collectively (the medical profession) to help curb demand on the health system?’” he says. “A lot of that is being driven by diet-related diseases.

According to the Lancet Global Burden of Disease Reports, poor diets now contribute to more disease and death than physical activities — smoking and alcohol combined …

As an interventional cardiologist, we can do life-saving procedures with people who have heart attacks through heart surgery. But to be honest, rather than saving them from drowning, I’d rather they wouldn’t be thrown into the river in the first place. This is really where my focus has shifted.

I think for many of us, as clinicians moving more towards intervention, I think the realization that what we can do in medicine is really quite limited at the treatment end and actually the whole ‘prevention is better than cure’ phrase is very true.”

Hospitals and Medical Personnel Are Far From Paragons of Health

Malhotra’s epiphany that something was wrong with the system came rather early. While working as a resident in cardiology, he performed an emergency stenting procedure on a man in his 50s who’d recently suffered a heart attack.

The following morning, Malhotra spoke to the man, giving him the usual advice about quitting smoking and improving his diet.

“Just when I was telling about healthy diet, how important that was, he was actually served burger and fries by the hospital. He said to me, ‘Doctor, how do you expect me to change my lifestyle when you’re serving me the same crap that brought me in here in the first place?’”

Looking around, he realized that a lot of healthcare professionals are overweight or obese, and hospitals serve sick patients junk food. He believes one of the first things that really needs to happen is to set a good example in hospitals.

“The hospital environment should be one that promotes good health, not exacerbates bad health,” he says. His journey began with an email to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who did a lot of work campaigning for improved food in school canteens. Malhotra asked Oliver for ideas on how to improve hospital food.

“A couple of years later, I ended up going to the British Medical Association Annual Conference. I put a motion forward saying there should be a policy from the BMA to ban the selling of junk food in hospitals. It got an overwhelming majority vote.”

Diet and lifestyle changes are particularly important in light of the fact that medical errors and properly prescribed medications are the third most common cause of death after heart disease and cancer. Overmedication is a particularly serious problem among the elderly, who tend to suffer more side effects.

“Part of that is because there are very powerful vested interests that push drugs,” Malhotra says. “They even coax academic institutions and guideline bodies. People aren’t getting all the information to make decisions, whether or not they should take medications …

This is a major problem, especially [since] we’ve neglected or detracted from lifestyle changes, which are going to be much more impactful on your health and without side effects.”

For Past 60 Years, the Wrong Fats Have Been Vilified

For the past 60 years, the conventional wisdom has dictated that saturated fat is dangerous and should be avoided. This flawed notion was originally promoted by Dr. Ancel Keys, whose Seven Countries Study laid the groundwork for the myth that saturated fat caused heart disease.

It’s true that heart disease rates began spiking in the beginning of the 20th century, and for 50 years, heart disease has been progressively increasing. It really wasn’t an issue prior to the 20th century. But were saturated fats really to blame?

My belief is that it was in fact due to fats, but contrary to popular belief, saturated fat wasn’t the problem. It was all the other harmful fats people were eating.

In the 20th century, the average person probably had less than 1 pound a year of refined, processed omega-6 vegetable oils. By the 1950s, probably about 50 pounds a year, and by year 2000, it increased at about 75 pounds a year. It seems “fat” in itself isn’t the issue; it’s the type of fat that’s crucial.

This massive amount of highly refined polyunsaturated fat is far in excess of what we were designed to eat for optimal health. And I suspect that’s what catalyzed Keys to devise his research to come up with a justification for his recommendation to lower fat intake.

“What’s interesting is if you look in the United States, between 1961 and 2011, 90 percent of the calorie intake has been carbohydrates and refined industrial vegetable oils,” Malhotra says. “I think you’re absolutely correct.

The heart disease epidemic peaked between 1960 and 1970. It started to rise about 1920. When we look at our data, it’s quite clear that the so-called fats responsible for that are trans fats and very likely polyunsaturated vegetable oils high in omega-6 fatty acids.

We know now that they oxidize LDL and are pro-inflammatory. The other issue was smoking. Smoking was very high. When smoking reduction occurred from regulatory efforts, heart attack admissions dropped very rapidly. That’s because just 30 minutes after smoking, platelet activity increases.

A quick example: Helena, Montana 2002 brought in a public smoking ban. Within six months, there was a 40 percent reduction in hospital admissions for heart attack. When the law was rescinded, the hospital admissions came back to preceding levels.

When you combine all those things, it’s very clear. The dietary factors — trans fats, refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils, and smoking — are probably the three most important factors.”

What Are the Real Risk Factors for Heart Disease?

By failing to differentiate between trans fats and saturated fats, massive confusion has arisen. There’s also confusion about the relationship between saturated fat and cholesterol. Adding to the complexity, there are also different types of saturated fats, which may have different biological effects.

Many saturated fats will raise LDL, the so-called “bad” cholesterol. But LDLs come in various sizes. Large type A particles are less atherogenic and are influenced by saturated fat. Saturated fat also increases HDL, the “good” cholesterol.

“What’s interesting is the saturated fat, even though it may raise LDL, your lipid profile may actually improve [when you eat more saturated fat], especially when you cut the carbs. On top of that, LDL has been grossly exaggerated as a risk factor for heart disease, with the exception of people who have a genetic abnormality (familial hypercholesterolemia),” Malhotra says.

“Certainly when you get over the age of 60, the cardiovascular association between LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular mortality diminishes. It becomes almost negligible. For overall mortality, there is an inverse association with LDL. The higher your LDL, if you’re over 60, the less likely you are to die.

So what is the major issue when you look at heart disease and heart attacks? Insulin resistance … The reason it’s being neglected is partly this flawed science on cholesterol. But also because there’s never been any effective drugs that target insulin resistance.

Therefore, because [there isn’t a] big market around something to sell, there aren’t many people that know about it. As you and I know, if you target insulin resistance through the right kind of diet and lifestyle changes, stress reduction, right kind of exercise, that’s going to have the biggest impacts on your health.”

Gauging Your Heart Disease Risk

Factors that can help gauge your heart disease risk include:

A fasting insulin level above 3
A triglyceride to HDL ratio above 2
A waist circumference indicating overweight or obesity
High blood pressure

If you have 3 out of the following 5 indications of metabolic syndrome: insulin resistance, high triglycerides, low HDL, hypertension and increased waist circumference, then you are at high risk for heart disease. Another major risk factor for heart disease that receives virtually no attention is high iron levels.

In menstruating women, this is not an issue since they lose blood on a monthly basis. This is actually part of why premenopausal women have a decreased risk of heart disease.

In men, iron levels can rise to dangerously high levels. In my experience, the majority of adult males and postmenopausal women have elevated levels that put their health at risk. Checking your iron levels is easy and can be done with a simple blood test called a serum ferritin test.

I believe this is one of the most important tests that everyone should have done on a regular basis as part of a preventive, proactive health screen. If your levels are high, all you have to do is donate blood a few times a year.

The Connection Between Saturated Fats and Diabetes

Malhotra cites a 2014 Lancet study looking at the association between dietary saturated fat, plasma saturated fat and type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, while dietary saturated fats found in dairy products were strongly inversely associated with the development of type 2 diabetes (meaning it was protective), endogenously-synthesized plasma-saturated fat was strongly associated with an increased risk.

Endogenously-synthesized plasma-saturated fats are fatty acids produced by your liver in response to net carbohydrates, sugar and alcohol. These findings suggest eating full-fat dairy products may protect you against type 2 diabetes, whereas consuming too many net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) will increase your risk of type 2 diabetes — in part by raising the saturated fat levels in your bloodstream.

That said, I believe a caution may be warranted. Milk, even raw milk, is actually high in net carbs, which your body converts to glucose. So as a general rule, I recommend avoiding milk. Butter is an exception, as it’s almost pure fat and has virtually no net carbs.

Healthy Fat Tips

Here are a few tips to help ensure you’re eating the right fats for your health:

Use organic butter made from raw grass-fed milk instead of margarines and vegetable oil spreads.
Use coconut oil for cooking. It is primarily a saturated fat and more resistant to heat damage than other cooking oils. It will also help improve your ability to burn fat and serve as a great source of energy to help you make the transition to burning fat for fuel.
Sardines and anchovies are an excellent source of beneficial omega-3 fats and are also very low in toxins that are present in most other fish.
To round out your healthy fat intake, be sure to eat raw fats, such as those from avocados, raw dairy products, and olive oil, and also take a high-quality source of animal-based omega-3 fat, such as krill oil.

Why Statins Are a Bad Idea for Most People

In addition to the recommendation to follow a low-fat diet, many doctors are still avid prescribers of statins, which help lower your cholesterol. In fact, 1 in 4 Americans over the age of 40 are on these drugs; soon to be 1 in 3. Malhotra is greatly troubled by these kinds of statistics.

“This is a drug that was marketed over the last three decades as being a wonder drug. It’s driven a multi-trillion dollar industry. We’re only now realizing that the benefits of statins have been grossly exaggerated and the side effects underplayed. One of the reasons for that is that most if not all of the studies that drove the guidelines, and the information around statin prescription, were industry-sponsored studies.

One of the things we have neglected in medicine is this issue around absolute risk and relative risk. The reality is if you look at the published data … if you have heart disease and you’ve had a heart attack, then taking a statin every day for five years, there’s a 1 in 83 chance that [statin] will save your life.

That means in 82 of 83 cases, it’s not going to save your life. That information isn’t given to patients, but it’s really important. Actually that’s a much more informative and transparent way to understand the benefit they’re going to get.

On top of that when you look at people with lower risk, otherwise healthy people, there is no mortality benefit. People should know that if they haven’t had a heart attack, according to the published literature, they are not high risk and they’re going to live one day longer from taking statins.”

Statins Are Associated With Serious Side Effects

Then there’s the issue of side effects. According to Malhotra, between 1 in 3 and 1 in 5 patients suffer unacceptable side effects (which he qualifies as side effects that interfere with or diminish the quality of your life). Muscle pain is the most significant side effect reported followed by fatigue (mostly in women). This isn’t very surprising, considering the fact that statins are essentially a metabolic blocker and mitochondrial poison.

They inhibit an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase. This is how they lower cholesterol. But that same enzyme is also responsible for a number of other things like making coenzyme Q10, which is why muscle pain and fatigue are so common. This is in fact a sign that your CoQ10 is being depleted, and you don’t have enough cellular energy.

Statins also block the formation of ketones, which are an essential part of mitochondrial nutrition and overall health. If you can’t make ketones, you impair the metabolism in your entire body, including your heart, thereby raising your risk for heart problems and a variety of other diseases. It’s also recently been established that within a few years of taking statins, the drug causes type 2 diabetes in one out of 100 patients.

That too can be a significant tradeoff that needs to be taken into account, as diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease and other chronic diseases. Dr. Michel De Lorgeril, a well-respected French cardiologist at Grenoble University recently reopened the debate about statins after publishing a review in which he questions whether statins actually have any benefit at all.

“He pointed out several discrepancies in the original trials … statistical manipulation, conflict of interest … ” Malhotra says. ”He’s actually suggested that maybe nobody benefits from statins; even people on statins for prevention.

He says that unless we get access to the raw data, independent analysis, the actual claims about the benefits of statins are not evidence-based. Now, I’m not personally saying that. I’m saying this is really intriguing and certainly raises as many questions … This is something that people need to know about. Even if we use the published literature at face value properly, people would be better informed. That’s the way forward in my view.”

More Information

Malhotra is currently finalizing a film called “The Big Fat Fix,” which will present a dietary protocol that incorporates many of the components of the Mediterranean lifestyle to help you reduce your risk of obesity, reverse type 2 diabetes and improve your cardiovascular health.

“We went to visit the village where Ancel Keys spent six months each year for 30 years doing his research. They had very high longevity. We try and find out what the secrets were and how things got misinterpreted,” Malhotra says. “This is really what the film will show. Where did things go wrong and where do we go from here?”

For more information, please visit Malhotra’s website, DoctorAseem.com, where you can find his blog, academic publications, newspaper articles and interviews.

from: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/06/05/saturated-fat-heart-disease-risk.aspx

Dealing with Inflammation

Posted on June 5, 2016 by marcia

Which Foods Should You Cut to Fight Inflammation?

Nobody ever really looks into solutions and therapies for inflammation until it comes time to deal with it. If you’ve ever suffered from inflammation or the number of diseases that stem from it, such as arthritis and other chronic diseases, you’ve probably asked what solutions there are to help relieve the pain.

What you should be asking is how you can prevent inflammation in the first place.

Inflammation is a natural product of the body to repair tissue injury, chronic inflammation is when that process gets out of hand and can’t stop. This overreaction is brought on by certain foods that you consume every day, but luckily they are easily removable!

So what foods should you avoid?

Here is a list of the 3 major chronic inflammation causes:

1. Anything That can Trigger an Allergy

If you have any sort of allergy, you know that it sets your body off in the wrong way. But who knew this could also affect your body’s inflammation processes in the wrong way? It’s important to make sure that you are not eating anything that your body can’t handle, even if it is only a mild reaction.

Common allergens like eggs, dairy products and vegetables are the hardest to avoid since they can be found in some foods that you wouldn’t expect. Make sure you check the ingredients of the food you eat for any form of what you’re allergic to! You might be surprised that something you love actually contains that pesky allergen!

2. Fried Foods

You probably already know that deep fried foods are bad for you for other reasons, but they actually do their part in promoting inflammation as well.

It’s in the oil. Most oils used in fried foods are already stripped of their natural nutrients, and whatever might be left over is destroyed in the heat needed to fry the food. What is left is a kind of toxin that overloads the elimination system of the body and causes the inflammation process to go crazy.

3. Processed Foods and Drinks

Just like the oil in fried foods, most things that are processed before being sold in supermarkets end up losing the majority of their nutrients. Pastries, processed soups, fizzy drinks, all of these and more have been altered so that they do more bad to our bodies than good.

Cutting these foods out of your diet will help your inflammation system do only what is necessary to repair your tissue and nothing else. No overtime, no chronic inflammation, no arthritis.

And don’t you worry, there are other solutions as well!

If you already find yourself with chronic inflammation there are many natural foods that contain anti-inflammatory properties that are readily available at the supermarket such as:

-Coconut oil: the nutrients in coconut oil are not destroyed when cooked, and are easily digested.

-Fish: contains natural anti-inflammatory properties and is known to encourage the production of pain relieving hormones in the body.

-Ginger: Contains significant anti-inflammatory properties in the root.

-Cayenne peppers: contains capsaicin, an anti-inflammatory agent.

from: http://www.realfarmacy.com/inflammation-foods/

Centering & Focus

Posted on June 5, 2016 by marcia

Finding Stillness: How to Calm the Restless Mind

BY SOFO ARCHON

man-mountain-view

The Buddhists say that the mind can be likened to a monkey. Just like a monkey jumps from branch to branch, being continually restless, the mind jumps from thought to thought without end, leaving us agitated and confused.

But why is the mind so restless? And how can one calm it and find stillness? The following short story sheds some light on these questions.

A disciple and his teacher were walking through the forest. The disciple was disturbed by the fact that his mind was in constant unrest.

He asked his teacher: “Why most people’s minds are restless, and only few possess a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind?”

The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said:

“I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came by, flying and buzzing near its ear. The elephant drove it away with its long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant drove it away once more.

This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly:

“Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can’t you stay just for a while in one place?”

The fly answered: “I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses, and everything that happens around me, pull me constantly in all directions, and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?”

The elephant stopped eating and said:

“My five senses do not rule my attention. I am in control of my attention, and I can direct it wherever I want. This helps me to get immersed in whatever I do, and therefore, keep my mind focused and calm. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way, I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I control my attention, and not the other way around, and this helps me stay peaceful.”

Don’t let your attention be carried away by distractions. Detach yourself from the unessential, focus on what truly matters while being mindful of the present moment, and you will find peace and stillness in your life.

from: http://theunboundedspirit.com/stillness/

What is the Zika Virus?

Posted on June 5, 2016 by marcia

as always — do YOUR research:

10 shocking reasons why Zika virus fear is another fraudulent medical hoax and vaccine industry funding scam

Friday, June 03, 2016
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) Think the Zika virus is responsible for all the cases of microcephaly in South America? Think again: There is no reliable scientific evidence linking the two. The developmental deformities are actually caused by exposure to toxic insecticide and larvicide chemicals, not Zika virus.

But because Zika virus fear fits a convenient funding narrative for chemical giants and vaccine manufacturers, it is being played up by the corrupt, criminally-run CDC and the Obama administration to funnel billions of dollars into the hands of vaccine corporations while ignoring the real causes of microcephaly.

Here are the top 10 reasons why the Zika virus fear mongering is a total scam:

#1) The microcephaly cases (shrunken heads) in Brazil were caused by larvicide chemicals, not by zika

A group of doctors from South America are now saying the brain deformations the world is witnessing are caused by the mass fumigation of low-income Brazilian people with a chemical larvicide, not by mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

From the doctors at Red Universitaria de Ambiente y Salud (the Red University of Environment and Health):

A dramatic increase of congenital malformations, especially microcephaly in newborns, was detected and quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, they fail to recognise that in the area where most sick persons live, a chemical larvicide producing malformations in mosquitoes has been applied for 18 months, and that this poison (pyroproxyfen) is applied by the State on drinking water used by the affected population.

#2) Even according to the CDC, which is aggressively pushing false Zika fear, nearly all Zika infections are harmless, symptomless and require no hospitalization whatsoever

From the CDC’s Zika page:

Most people infected with Zika virus won’t even know they have the disease because they won’t have symptoms… The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected… Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections.

In other words, Zika infections are no big deal, and nearly everyone self-immunizes against Zika even after they have been infected. So much for the urgent fear for a new vaccine, eh?

#3) The CDC fabricated the science linking Zika to microcephaly

By the way, the CDC is totally fabricating its claim that all cases of microcephaly are caused by Zika virus. This proclamation by the CDC was based on complete fiction, just like everything else the CDC claims about Bird Flu, Swine Flu and even the number of people who die from influenza each year (the CDC claims 35,000, but it’s a completely fabricated number).

Remember, the CDC is a criminal organization tied to the financial interests of Big Pharma. It funds researchers like Poul Thorsen who had to flee the country and is now a fugitive from justice. Like all the other fraudsters at the CDC, he worked on vaccine “research” too. From this Natural News report:

CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, who famously headed up the “Denmark Study” that many claim disproved any link between autism and vaccines, has been indicted in Atlanta by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and defrauding research institutions of grant money.

Poul Thorson is a scientist who formerly worked for the CDC, and over the last several years, he oversaw millions of dollars in grant money that was used to conduct research to “prove” that vaccines have no link to autism. Dr. Thorson’s research papers include the famous “Danish Study” entitled Thimerosal and the occurrence of autism: negative ecological evidence from Danish population-based data. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12949291)

#4) Zika virus fear was just used by Congress to remove bans on other toxic pesticide chemicals that cause cancer and Alzheimer’s disease

From this Natural News article:

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to loosen already weak pesticide regulations in a purported effort to combat the spread of the Zika virus. The latest version of the bill is called the Zika Control Act.

They argue it will remove important protections instated by the Clean Water Act. If the legislation becomes law, pesticide applicators will be allowed to dump pesticides into bodies of water without a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They will not have to report the contamination, either.

Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) said that adding more pesticides to water would threaten pregnant women – the same group the GOP claims to be protecting from Zika.

In other words, the Zika virus hype is a conspiracy to legalize the dumping of more toxic chemicals into the environment by powerful chemical companies.

#5) Zika virus hype was also invoked by Obama to funnel another $1.8 billion to the vaccine industry, claiming anyone who opposed the funding “opposed pregnant women”

It always comes down to money, doesn’t it? All the Zika hype and fear is being used to take more money from taxpayers and funnel it into the pockets of vaccine / pharma corporations.

From Natural News:

President Obama proposed to Congress that a total of $1.8 billion be dedicated to fighting Zika. This massive investment may be nothing more than tilting at windmills…

#6) Zika virus fear has been used as a weapon of control to terrorize the people of the Americas by violating their private property

Governments in South America are invoking the Zika virus to nullify private property rights. This is totalitarianism via medical hoax!

From this Natural News article:

The latest act of political terrorism on the illusory world stage is yet another alleged disease epidemic – this time the “Zika Virus,” which officials are warning (just like they did with Ebola) might turn into a global pandemic. And the martial law pandemonium has already begun in Brazil, where government officials have now declared that they can “legally” break and enter into people’s homes and private property, if it’s suspected that Zika-harboring mosquitoes might be living there.

Reuters is reporting that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has given the official green light to “authorized health officials” to violate personal property rights in order to address the alleged threat, which has been dubbed an “imminent danger to public health.” As long as a property is either abandoned or the owners are not present, government officials can literally break in and enter people’s homes without warrant or just cause.

#7) Zika is just the latest viral hoax floated by governments… remember the great Bird Flu hoax that sold billions in vaccines?

Spreading fear about viruses is so effective that the governments and health “authorities” of the world roll out the same scam every few years… and people fall for it every time!

Remember the great Swine Flu hoax? Also from Natural News in 2010:

The great swine flu hoax of 2009 is now falling apart at the seams as one country after another unloads hundreds of millions of doses of unused swine flu vaccines. No informed person wants the injection anymore, and the entire fear-based campaign to promote the vaccines has now been exposed as outright quackery and propaganda.

Even doctors are now calling the pandemic a complete hoax. As reported on FoxNews, Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, a leading health authority in Europe, says that drug companies “organized a ‘campaign of panic’ to put pressure on the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic. He believes it is ‘one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century,’ and he has called for an inquiry.”

#8) Zika virus fear is being used to justify the release of genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild

Not only does Zika fear allow governments to funnel money to vaccine companies and legalize more chemical insecticides; it also justifies their release of genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild (with unknown future consequences).

It’s all part of the total destruction of the ecosystem that has been systematically planned and carried out by the globalists governments of the world.

What you’re NOT being told is that the epicenter of the Zika virus spread is precisely where GM mosquitoes were released last year. Via this Natural News article:

Oxitec, a company that calls itself “… a pioneer in controlling insects that spread disease and damage crops,” unveiled its GM mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012. Its goal was to reduce dengue fever, a disease which is spread by the Aedes mosquitoes which also spread the Zika virus. Then, in 2015, these GM mosquitoes were released into the wild in Brazil. In July that same year, the release was declared a success by the company, who noted that they’d been able to control the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya … and the Zika virus. However, in October, people in the general area where the mosquitoes were released began to experience illnesses related to the Zika virus at alarmingly fast rates.

#9) Zika fear is being used to justify spraying MORE of the very chemicals that are causing the shrunken heads in the first place, putting even more children at risk

Now that Zika fear is being hyped up by the corrupt, scientifically illiterate mainstream media, most people just stand aside as governments throughout the Americas spray all sorts of toxic, deadly chemicals all over the place.

Now the new mantra for chemical pollution is, “It’s for Zika!” and then everybody backs off. It’s almost like “playing the Zika card” to justify almost anything.

Right now, the Obama administration could unleash a nuclear holocaust across America and claim, “The radiation is to stop Zika!” and everybody would just go along with it (because they’re totally obedient to false authority).

#10) It’s the PERFECT MEDICAL SCAM: Spraying more chemicals will cause more deformed babies, resulting in an even greater cry for more vaccines and more chemical spraying… and the cycle repeats

The most shocking realization in all this is that the mass spraying of chemicals, the release of GM mosquitoes, and the use of Zika vaccines will all spread Zika even faster.

It’s the perfect medical scam! Zika is spread by the very things that we’re all told are trying to stop Zika, and as the problem gets worse, all the chemical spraying and vaccines get ramped up to insane levels, causing even more insane levels of Zika virus.

It’s just like flu shots: They spread the flu, causing more influenza outbreaks, panicking more people into getting more flu shots. And the cycle repeats. It’s the greatest medical scam of all time: Make sure the treatments CAUSE the problem they claim to prevent!

Why do you think chemotherapy causes cancer? Why do you think antidepressant drugs cause depression? Why do you think flu shots spread the flu?

It’s all by design, folks. And Zika is just the latest chapter of this massive quack science scam being carried out as global medical theater to control the masses.

You are all being played, Orwellian style, under the guise of “public health.”

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054248_Zika_virus_medical_hoax_vaccine_industry.html#ixzz4Aj8jBrtf

Art is Forever Young

Posted on June 5, 2016 by marcia

The seven ages of an artist

Whether artists hit their stride right after college or make their best work in their final years, the creative career seldom has a conventional trajectory. We asked seven leading artists aged 24 to 80 what they haved learned from a life in art

Egon Schiele’s Self-Portrait with Physalis, 1912 (detail): what might Schiele have produced had he lived longer than 28 years? Photograph: Leopold Museum

by: Laura Cumming

The Japanese master Hokusai was one day found weeping at his workbench because he believed he had not yet learned enough about drawing. He was 80. On his deathbed, eight years later, he cried out, “If heaven would only grant me 10 more years, I might still become a great artist.” We may consider Hokusai a genius from childhood but he thought nothing he produced before the age of 70 was any good. How long does it take to become an artist?

A whole lifetime is the stock answer (unless you’re Julian Schnabel, who compared himself to Picasso in his 20s). But what if that life is cut short? Raphael, Watteau and Van Gogh were dead at 37. Modigliani was 35, Géricault 33 and Seurat was carried off by a virulent illness at 31. We may regret every masterpiece they did not live to paint, but the stupendous works they left show that age and achievement do not keep pace. Schiele was dead at 28; if Gauguin had died at the same age we would never have heard of him: The Ham, arguably his first masterpiece, was painted at 40.

There are other late starters (Van Gogh didn’t paint until his mid-20s) but these days the pressure is on young artists to come up with a singular look while they are still in college. Ever since Charles Saatchi began trawling degree shows in the 1980s, students have had to produce selling statements alongside their work, never mind that it may still be inchoate.

The Ham, 1889, by Gauguin. — Gauguin painted The Ham in 1889, when he was 40. Photograph: The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC

Laure Prouvost argues that early success may be dangerous. Get picked up in your 20s and you may founder later because “you haven’t tried hard enough, or got lost enough yet”.

Assuming you aren’t netted at this stage (or any other), a day job will have to carry you through. Richard Serra was a removal man; Ed Kienholz sold vacuum cleaners; Susan Hiller here reveals an early stint as a receptionist at a Skoda factory. The trick is to find work that doesn’t exhaust the body, or fill the head so that there is no room for thinking.

Perhaps there is some freedom in making art without any sense of its prospects to begin with, for as soon as people start liking it, there is a compulsion to keep doing the same thing to survive. I have heard artists in their 30s and 40s speak of the intense difficulty of getting new ideas accepted by galleries or potential buyers. And just around this time a family may fill the horizon.

The old adage that those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach, has never applied to artists, nearly all of whom teach at some stage to feed their dependants. I remember my father, James Cumming, literally running upstairs to his easel after a day’s teaching to paint right through the night; money and time were so tight.

The age of 50 brings the realisation that you’re in it now for the long haul, with all the hardship, labour and joy. “Everyone has talent at 25,” Degas sardonically observed, “the difficulty is to have it still at 50.” At 60, there is the knowledge that more projects may now be abandoned than made. At 70, like Hokusai, some artists begin to think they are at last getting somewhere even if the spotlight has eluded them. Louise Bourgeois, still sculpting weeks before her death at 98, said that the lack of interest in her art up to this point at least left her to work beautifully undisturbed.

Henri Matisse at home, France - 21 May 1945 — Henri Matisse devised a cut-out technique from his wheelchair when he could no longer paint. Photograph: LIDO/SIPA/REX

The most radical art of all is sometimes the very last. Late Titian, late Picasso, late Matisse – in a wheelchair, devising the cut-out technique when he could no longer paint – seem so much wilder and more vigorous in their 80s than in youth. But a sense of urgency can dominate at any age. George Shaw, at 48, feels time’s winged chariot drawing near, and the drive to work increasing exponentially. Paula Rego, in her 80s, says working makes one forget the miseries of old age. And perhaps it is true that artists stay younger for longer, as Hiller suggests; I recall solemn research to this effect published in Nature (sculptors, incidentally, apparently live longer than painters).

The artists interviewed here are all exceptional in that they have the recognition, freedom and financial security that millions of their colleagues will never enjoy. Yet they share the same preoccupations: how to raise families while working, what to make, how to find time, how to keep one’s spirit, vision and integrity intact. And even, in Richard Deacon’s case, whether and when to retire.

For artists do not have to go on for ever. Marcel Duchamp spent most of the last 30 years of his life teaching and playing chess. Generally it is rare for artists to give up for good, certain that they have made everything they could; the mind lifts the hand for ever, my father used to say. And for most artists, this is not a profession but a calling. The great Cuban-born painter Carmen Herrera, who turned 100 this year, and did not sell a work until she was 89, gets up every morning to paint. Her advice to the young is not to hurry through their 20s, and never to be intimidated by anything. “You don’t decide to be an artist,” she has said, “art gets inside of you. It’s like falling in love.”

from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/nov/15/seven-ages-of-an-artist-laura-cumming?CMP=share_btn_fb

Noticing Things Not the Same?

Posted on June 1, 2016 by marcia

The Mandela Effect & the Merging of Two Parallel Realities

by: Carlos Tavares

Some people have noticed that things as they are now are not how they remember them as being before. This concept is called the “Mandela Effect”, because some people remember Mr Mandela dying in prison, but in “this” our current reality/version he became president and only died in 2013.

There are many such examples and many more to be revealed as people become aware of this concept and actually start to check up on things. Most commonly people remember the name of certain books or titles of movies being called something just “slightly” different but NOT what it is now, or the words in phrases in old books being different now. In some cases both realities are present with one ‘version’ being more dominant than the other!

I have had several personal experiences with the Mandela Effect, and after some time you yourself even begin to doubt and wonder if you are imagining the difference between the ‘now’ version and the ‘then’ version, because this reality is now the dominant “material external collective”, and is constantly re-enforcing (forcing) its “proof/reality”!

I have a friend who remembers an entire building on the corner of a street in JHB, which simply is not there in this reality. As the cosmic law and ritual states that The Powers That Be have to tell you what is happening somehow, those that have seen the “Fringe” TV series will have had a clue and be able to grasp this quicker.

The big thing for me was watching a recent clip where he was talking about the positions and shapes of entire landmasses and continents. I was good at Geography at school, so when I heard him saying certain things I actually stopped the video to see for myself on my own Globe, because I did not believe what he was saying. After confirming that my globe too was NOT what I remembered I continued to watch, but regularly stopped the video as he mentioned other places. Watch here.

This article I am writing specifically for the people that REMEMBER things differently, not for the masses who are aware of no change, as it would be very difficult to explain something to them that is different to what they can actually see and prove at present, in this reality.

Some teachings have said that the Earth (in Old reality timelines) has always destroyed itself or been destroyed by a nuclear World War 3 during the 1980s or by massive natural Earth Changes, and has never been able to go past the year 2012. I remember going to town a week after the whole 2012 “thing” and feeling so weird and out of place, like a dreamscape. With time I slowly started to accept and integrate this reality!

So what I am thinking is that the people that NOW are noticing events, things and places that were different before, compared to this reality, are the people from the old parallel that have merged with this new parallel. They have been transferred to this parallel Earth reality and by doing so “absorbed” themselves in this reality into one person. (Same soul and spirit though!) It is interesting that the people reporting all these different cases are the more awakened and spiritual people, so what I am saying is that the people who had awoken enough, with enough knowledge, wisdom, action and spirituality who had the potential for FUTURE continuation, were the ones transferred. The rest of the masses I would say actually died in some extinction level event on our original parallel reality/timeline. (In this Parallel are the “copies/duplicates” of those people which are all around that do not remember!)

So in other words we jumped from one Parallel Earth Reality to another, one that was close enough in space and frequency…ALMOST exactly the same!

(and with some eternal help involved?!) If this is true, then hypothetically this reality may not be much better than the old one as this civilization/parallel too continues to collapse in on it self and destroy this planet as well. So was it done to just buy some time and are we about to go through yet another merging process? Each merge being an upgrade to a higher reality with more future potential. Like in the movie “The One”, where Jet Li goes from one parallel to the next and every time he kills his other he becomes more powerful. In our case we may be slowly collecting the lost pieces of our fragmented selves with every merge?!

I was also wondering if this is the reason for many people reporting that they are continuously seeing double numbers, i.e. 11:11, if it is not the subconscious mind telling us something!??? Pointing directly to the Double realities? Furthermore is this why some people are seeing two (very similar) suns when conditions are just right? Is there another Earth Parallel close to us in frequency again? (No it is not Nibiru! Not every anomaly has to be Nibiru!) It appears we are experiencing more and more strangeness and should be aware of such anomalies.

from: http://www.zengardner.com/63843-2/

Past Life Regression & Health

Posted on June 1, 2016 by marcia

Past Life Regression – What It Is & How It Might Work For You

Keala Noe

As a hypnotherapist at Aloha Healing Women for twenty four years there have been many occasions when it has been helpful for a person to review a past life to help them heal their present life.

You may not “believe” in past lives and this is not about convincing you one way or the other. One person I regressed experienced a life as a high priestess in Egypt who was literally stabbed in the back by a fellow priest in order to eliminate her influence with the royalty.

This person asked how her past life could have felt so real, and if there was any way to know if it had actually happened. The timeframe of that revisited life was approximately a few thousand years ago and, as in so many past life sessions, there is no “proof” to offer that it actually happened.

However, my response was: “Did it feel real to you? Did it answer questions about your beliefs or feelings that you have long wondered about? Did it explain something to you at a base level that makes sense to your present life?” If so, then that is all that matters; you don’t have to prove anything except that you learned something that helped you understand yourself better.

Feelings From The Past

One of the safeguards I use is to always ask if the source of any issue you are exploring is rooted in your present or past life. This prepares you for what you may be about to experience. When I first began my hypnotherapy career, a woman wanted to find out why she always felt like she was being dragged down.

She was adamant she knew that this was because when she was a young girl in a chorus, a boy had undone her jumper in the back and wound her straps around the row of interlocked chairs while she was talking to a friend. When the group was asked to stand up and sing, she was jerked back down with the force from being tied to a whole row of stationary chairs.

As with any hypnotherapy session you always want to go back to clear and heal the situation that you are still carrying with you so you can learn from it, release it, and be free. In this session I asked her to go back to the source of her feeling of being held back or dragged down. Lo and behold, she finds herself freezing in the Atlantic ocean being dragged down by her heavy traveling clothes as her vessel is sinking.

She was struggling to keep afloat and calling out to her two children who were also drowning — not exactly what she had been prepared to encounter, but I helped her resolve the issue by comforting her children and herself as they succumbed to their fate.

Clearing Soul ‘Contracts’

One of the most common reasons to explore a past life experience is to clear up an outdated contract you have with someone else’s soul. A woman came to me who was happily engaged to be married. She was wracked by guilt and frustration because an old lover had reappeared in her life and she was drawn inexplicably toward him. She knew this could not end well because they had tried unsuccessfully several times to make their relationship work but it never did.

It turned out that in her past life she was an Irish lass of means who met a dashing sailor of the seas who didn’t even own an oar, much less a boat. Her parents were against the pairing so they ran away together and were hiding from their pursuers in a shanty when they vowed to love each other forever. The inevitable happened and they were parted.

They had in subsequent lives been reunited and though love was there, the strength of the relationship never survived. In the hypnotherapy session she was able to explain to her past lover that even though their love was real it was not meant to last. They both agreed to break the vows of yore and only wish each other happiness and peace.

The main reason for exploring a past life is to find a missing piece to your personal puzzle — the key that unlocks the door of something that nags at you but for which you lack an explanation in your present life. However, to look at it and see what has happened is not enough.

In KaLaNa Hypnotherapy (Kalana means the many releases, often resulting in forgiveness) we find out what needs to be learned from that life. What can we do to make this right? How can we heal the past so you can be free to live your future? Past life recovery allows you to experience your own personal soul history but it is also fun just to go back and LIVE in another time.

from: https://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/06/01/past-life-regression-how-that-might-work-for-you/

Fluoride Free Bottled Waters

Posted on May 30, 2016 by marcia

Most Bottled Water is Filled With Fluoride, Here’s a Complete List of Brands to Avoid

Lately, fluoride has become enemy number one and the main topic of discussion worldwide.

Its negative effects have become even more severe and brought to life by experts all over the globe. After alerting the general population about its side effects on the human health, people became more and more demanding in discovering the true damage fluoride can do.

Fluoride is basically found in public water products, which is causing serious health threats for people’s health. Although many may claim that fluoride is, in some respects, healthy for the dental health in humans, numerous researches have proved the contrary.

It has been stated that fluoride negatively affects the human nervous system and harms people’s dental well-being instead of improving it.

As much we try to avoid it, it is clear that fluoride explosion is more common than me might think. For this reason, it is extremely significant to pay attention to the type of water we drink on daily basis, and look carefully for zero fluoride beverages, which are optimal for our health.

First of all, it is safe to learn more about the health risks that fluoride rich products may cause.

Fluoride Side Effects

The most threatening health risk, and also the most common one, is fluorosis. Fluorosis represents a condition of full teeth decay and malformation.

This condition generally develops in the first eight years of a persons’ life, when the teeth are most prone to growth and formation. Subjection to fluoride in large amounts is bound to result in fluorosis, and harm the dental health.

The symptoms, typical for this health condition are teeth stains of different size and color (yellow, brown), teeth decay and cavities, as well as distorted tooth growth and development.

In some cases, other symptoms may also occur, including cognitive issues in children and IQ retardation.

One study carried out in China proved that children exposed to day-to-day consumption of fluoride, show lower IQ records, unlike children who have not been exposed to the substance as much.

Well known author and study developer, Philippe Grandjean, also emphasized the fact that children exposed to fluoride-rich products, could develop certain brain disorders and cause body toxicity.

“Fluoride seems to fit in with lead, mercury, and other poisons that cause chemical brain drain. The effect of each toxicant may seem small, but the combined damage on a population scale can be serious, especially because the brain power of the next generation is crucial to all of us,” stated Grandjean.

In order to preserve your and your children’s health as much as possible, here is a list of fluoride-safe bottled waters, containing little to zero fluoride content:

A Better Water
Agromas Natural Mineral Water
Albertsons
Alpina
American Fare
American Star
Appco
Aqua Fresca
Aqua Panna
Aqua Pure
Aquarius Natural Mineral Water
Arbor Springs
Arlington Springs
Aquafina Water
Aqua Systems
Aqua Von
Artesian Wells
Augusta Medical – Daniels
Badger Water
Besco Pure Premium Drinking Water
BIOTA Colorado Pure Spring Water
Bio-2
Black Berry Farms
Blue Ice Natural Mineral Water
Boney’s
BORNEO
Bountyland
Buches
Calistoga
Callaway Blue
CAPA
Cascade
Century Springs
Chemung
Chippewa Spring Water
Citi Stop
Classic Selection
Clearly Arctic
Clear Mountain Spring Water
Clover Company Limited
Coach
Cold Country
Cohutta Mountain Spring Water
Cowboy Squeeze
Crowne Plaza Drinking Water
Crowne Plaza Natural Mineral Water
Cruel Jacks Spring Water
Crystal Mountain Spring Water
Crystal Point
Crystal Ridge
Crystal Spring Natural Spring Water
Culligan Water
Dakota Splash
Dannon
Deep Rock
Deep Rock Crystal Drop
Deep Rock Fontenelle
Deja Blue
Desert Quench
East Phils
Eco Quest
Elite
Equatorial Natural Mineral Water
Essentia Water
Eureka
Evian
E Water
Family Pantry
Famous Ramona Water
Flowing Springs
Food Club
Founders Square Bank
Fresh Brands Artesian
Fresh Brands Distilled Water
Fresh Brands Drinking Water
Fresh Market
Get-N-Go
Glacier Bay
Glen Summit Springs Water
Glen Summit Distilled Water
Glenwood Inglewood
Gordon Food Service
Great Bear
Great Value
Harvey’s
H2O4U
Henry’s
Hidden Valley Natural Mineral Water
Hillcrest Distilled Water
Hillcrest Drinking Water
Hillcrest Spring Water
Hilton PJ Natural Mineral Water
Hinckley Springs
HINT
Hi-Sprint Drinking Water
Hi-Sprint Natural Mineral Water
Hog Wash
Hon Less Natural Mineral Water
Ice Jam
Inland
Istana Natural Mineral Water
Joe Muggs
Joe Ragan’s Pure Water
Junior Johnson
Just Squeezed
KLGCC Natural Mineral Water
Kroger Bottled Water (Reverse Osmosis)
Krystal J Artesian Water
Krystal J Distilled Water
Laure
Leroy Jenkins Ministries
Logansport Savings Bank
Lowe’s
Martins
Masafi Pure Natural Mineral Water
Mercurio Produce
Mesra Drinking Water
Mesra Natural Mineral Water
Misty Mountain
Monadnock Mountain Spring Water
Montclair
Mountain Energy
Mountain Forest
Mountain Valley Spring Water
Mutiara Natural Mineral Water
Nantze Springs
New Frontier Bank
Niagra Mist
Nicolet Distilled
Northern Illinois University
Oasis Pure Drinking Water
Oasis Sparkling Water
Ogallala – Clear Cool Water
OUI Drinking Water
OUI Natural Mineral Water
Paiges
Parmer Pure H2O
Patriots Choice
Pelangi Natural Mineral Water
Penta Ultra Premium Purified Drinking Water
Piggly Wiggly
Polaris Water
Pristine Natural Artesian
Purely Sedona
Quick Stop
Rain Soft
Refresh Natural Mineral Water
Reiser Drinking Water
Request Foods, Inc.
Rip Time
Roundy’s “Purified Water”
Safeway – Refreshe
Sam’s Wine & Spirits
San Faustino Natural Mineral Water
San Pellegrino
Santee Springs
Scheopner’s Water
Sequoia Springs
Scotts
Shamrock
Shop-N-Cart
Shur-Fine
Silver Creek Purified Water
Silver Creek Spring Water
Sky Drinking Water
Smart Water
Snow Valley
Spinx
Stator Bros. Markets
Summit Mountain
Summit Springs
Summit Valley
T-Rex
Teton Mountain Lodge Spring Water
Tweetsie
United Dairy Farmers
Volvic
Vitamin Water
Veta Drinking Water
Valutime
Whistler Water
Whole Foods 365
Woodland Spring Water
Wyoming Machinery “Catipillar” Spring Water
Zodiac

The options for no-fluoride waters are numerous, which means that you get the chance to preserve your health and prevent grave health problems.

Below, you will find a list of high risk bottled water brands, full of fluoride content, and definitely threatening to your health:

Alhambra
Arrowhead
Belmont Springs
Crystal Rock
Crystal Springs
Deer Park
Diamond Springs
Hindley Spri
Ice Mountain
Kandiyohi
Kentwood Springs
Mayer Bros.
Mount Olympus
Nursery Water
Ozarka
Poland Spring
Pure Flo
Puritan Springs
Shenandoah
Sierra Springs
Sparkletts
Zephyrhills

In order to stay sound and clear of any fluoride related diseases, avoid these brands to the best of your abilities. In a world where the healthy habits are directly presented to us, it is crucial to make the right choices and evade malicious diseases with success.

Source: theheartysoul.com
Other included sources linked in The Hearty Soul’s article:
harvard.edu
www.webmd.com
www.healthmagazine365.com
fullspike.com
Featured image source:
www.foodiva.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Water-galore.jpg

from: http://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/most-bottled-water-filled-with-fluoride-heres-complete-list-brands-avoid/

The Benefits of Stinging Nettles

Posted on May 30, 2016 by marcia

Healing Allergy Inflammation With Stinging Nettle

April 16, 2016 by Lara Colley

Many of us look forward to Spring. The weather warms up. We start spending more time outdoors. Plants are growing, and flowers are blooming everywhere. When spring is in the air, so is pollen. For those of us with seasonal allergies, spring is not as lovely. Fortunately, nature has a way with timing and can really help us out if we pay attention.

In the spring, just as all those flowers, grasses and trees are blooming and releasing clouds of pollen, stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are popping up in full force, ready to come to the rescue. Not only are they an amazing superfood and an all around useful medicinal plant, nettles work wonders for reducing inflammation.

This is an important thing to know because inflammation doesn’t stop with our sinuses and seasonal respiratory allergies. Food allergies and associated digestive inflammation are a huge problem for many people, and most of the over-the-counter treatments only make the situation worse.

Nettles are a safe, soothing treatment for inflammation, offering the added benefits of vitamins, minerals, and immune-boosting properties. It’s time to make friends with the stinging nettle, folks. You won’t regret it.

Nettles and Seasonal Allergies

Stinging nettles have been used for centuries as a natural treatment for seasonal allergies, hay fever, asthma, and hives. Research has shown that consuming nettles in freeze dried capsules effectively reduces histamine levels in the body, thus reducing inflammation of affected tissues. Even a simple nettle tea consumed daily throughout the pollen and allergy season will alleviate allergy symptoms.

Common symptoms such as itchy eyes, sneezing, runny noses, and stuffed up sinuses are treated as effectively, if not more so, by stinging nettle than over the counter allergy medications. It has been suggested that nettles actually desensitize the body to allergens and decrease our reaction to the allergens over time. Nettles will also spare you the side effects that come with allergy medications, like drowsiness or irritation and ulcers of the digestive tract, which leads to a whole other set of inflammation issues you don’t want.

With high levels of iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorous, sulphur, chromium, cobalt, magnesium, silicon, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, iron, and chlorophyll, they will leave you feeling energized while assisting your immune system in overcoming the allergy response.

Nettles and Digestive Inflammation

Inflammation of the digestive tract has become a common reality that many of us deal with, and this isn’t really surprising when you look at the variety of culprits and how common they are in our modern lives. Food allergies, Candida imbalance, NSAID medications (ibuprofin, aspirin, etc.), chronic stress, sugars, highly processed foods, and environmental toxins are all potential sources of digestive inflammation and daily struggles for a lot of folks out there.

The most common go-to treatment tends to be over-the-counter NSAID medications that target pain and swelling, but they, in fact, contribute to the irritation and inflammation of the digestive tract, creating a vicious cycle that is difficult to break. Here is where the anti-inflammatory benefits of nettles come into play.

When the leaves and stems of stinging nettle are digested, either in the form of a tea, tincture, capsule, or culinary green, the chemical constituents interfere with the body’s production of prostaglandins, resulting in an anti-inflammatory response. Nettles also interfere with pain signals in the body, clean out the intestinal tract, and boost the immune system, providing relief and healing for issues of the digestive system.

Given these healing properties, nettles are beneficial in healing leaky gut syndrome and are listed as a therapeutic ingredient in the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet. Nettle tea has been noted as a successful treatment for individuals dealing with gluten intolerance and Celiac disease to reduce gastrointestinal inflammation and discomfort.

Ulcerative colitis and ulcers in other areas of the digestive tract can also benefit from nettles, as they stop internal bleeding and re-build the blood with their high iron content and aided absorption.

Nettles for Pet Allergy Care

Allergies are not only an issue for people; their canine companions suffer from them as well. Dog owners may associate the springtime with treating “itchy dog syndrome” along with their pet’s eye discharge, ear infections, and overall discomfort. Stinging nettle is a natural anti-inflammatory for dogs to reduce levels of histamines, detox their system, and help desensitize their body to allergens. By giving dogs regular nettle supplements during allergy season, their allergies have been shown to actually go away over time. Nettles can be administered to dogs by adding it in freeze dried form to their food or through supplementation.

Where to Find Nettles

If you are interested in wildcrafting your own nettles, you can find them growing in moist soils at the edge of forests, streams, marshy areas, and pastures. You may even find them growing in your own backyard. They are one of the first plants to come up in the spring. They are very distinct with square shaped stems and opposite, serrated leaves tapered to a point, so they are fairly easy to find. With a good plant ID guide and advice from local foragers, you can venture out and gather your own nettles all through the spring months.

You can also establish a nettle patch at home in your garden either with nettle seeds from an heirloom seed company or by transplanting rhizomes from wild nettle patches. If you are working with fresh nettles, be sure to wear gloves while picking and handling them in the kitchen. The prickly hairs on the skin contain formic acid and can cause an irritation to the skin, which is a nuisance but not harmful. Cooking, drying, and grinding will break down the hairs so they are no longer an issue.

Nettles are very easy to dry and use throughout the rest of the year when they aren’t found growing outside. For those of us who may not have access to foraging areas or garden space, you can always purchase dried nettle leaf and a variety of nettle supplements. Sometimes grocery stores will even carry fresh wildcrafted nettles in the spring.

Anti-Inflammatory Nettle Tea Recipe

3 fresh nettle tops (three leaf nodes down the plant) or 3 Tbsp dried nettle leaf
1 Tbsp dried marshmallow root
2 slices fresh ginger root

Boil 4 cups water, and pour over herbs. Steep for 7 minutes, covered. I prefer using a quart mason jar with a lid.

Hay Fever Relief Nettle Tea Recipe

3 fresh nettle tops (three leaf nodes down the plant) or 3 Tbsp dried nettle leaf
1 Tbsp dried elder flower
1 Tbsp dried chamomile

Boil 4 cups water, and pour over herbs. Steep for 7 minutes covered. I prefer using a quart mason jar with a lid.

from: http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/healing-allergy-inflammation-with-stinging-nettle

Embracing Your Fears

Posted on May 30, 2016 by marcia

How To Turn Your Fears Into Friends

fears

Posted On May 29, 2016 By Jane Meggitt

President Franklin D. Roosevelt told the nation in the depths of the Great Depression, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” While people remember these famous words, they often don’t recall what he said next: “— nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Note the interesting use of the word “paralyzes.” When FDR was paralyzed from polio at the age of 39, his life changed irrevocably. He must have been terrified — but he overcame those fears and became one of our nation’s greatest leaders.

Mind-body connection
Anxiety starts in your brain, but affects your entire body. When you’re anxious, your heart races, your stomach flutters, and you might feel your blood pressure rise. You lose the ability to think straight and truly assess a situation. Relieve some of your fears by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Eat nutritionally sound foods, exercise, and get as much rest as possible. Helping your body won’t necessarily alleviate all of your anxiety, but it is a step in the right direction. Avoid alcohol, opiates and other forms of numbing yourself. They may quell your fears for a short time, but only make things worse in the long run.

Name your fears
What is it that you are afraid of? Failure, romance, finances and health — these are common anxiety triggers, but there are a host of others. If you name your fears, it gives you the opportunity to confront them. You may realize that some of your fears are groundless, but that doesn’t make them vanish. Think about why you are afraid, what is the worst-case scenario, and how likely any of these issues are to actually occur. You’ll get a better perspective on your state of mind.

Practice meditation

Meditation can help manage your fears. If you’re unable to sleep, use the time to meditate instead. Those panicky moments and bad thoughts will come, but over time, they’ll lessen in severity. Eventually, sleep is less of a struggle.Banish negativity
Get rid of the influences in your life that feed your fears. If there are toxic people around you, avoid them. As the old song goes: “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mister In-Between.” That song was a hit in 1944, when the world was at war. Seventy-two years later, it’s still good advice.

Give yourself time
There’s a reason older people are generally calmer than younger folks. Experience shows them that life has an odd way of working out. People have a fear of failure if they haven’t reached specific goals by a certain age. That might be career, marriage, children — it’s another long list. Reduce your anxiety by “going with the flow.” That doesn’t mean you give up your goals, but realize that things happen when they are supposed to, not when you want them. If you fight the flow, you are only fighting yourself. Allow yourself to enjoy the ride, and remember there’s a reason that patience is a virtue.

Envy is poison
Envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably, but the latter has a sexual connotation. Comparing yourself to others in your peer group and finding yourself wanting is a great cause of anxiety, but resist it. You can’t really know the true interior life of another. Friends and acquaintances may not realize you’re anxious, unless you tell them. The people you envy may suffer more anxiety than you do. Conquer envy and anxiety, and make the best life possible for yourself. In the end, it is never the material things that count, but the kindness and joy you bring to others.

Reward yourself
When you’ve successfully faced a fear, give yourself a reward. It doesn’t have to be a major indulgence, just an acknowledgment that you’ve tackled a fear and won. More victories lie in the future.

—Jane Meggitt

from: http://www.thealternativedaily.com/turn-fears-into-friends/