Category Archives: Body, Mind & Spirit

On Antibacterial Soap

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The Soap You Should Never Use – But 75% of Households Do

Posted By Dr. Mercola 
germophobia can damage brainThe main compounds in antibiotic wipes, creams and soaps — triclosan and triclocarban — have been added to chopping boards, refrigerators, plastic lunchboxes, and mattresses in an attempt to halt the spread of microbes.

But studies show that these antibiotic chemicals are no more likely than regular soap to prevent gastrointestinal or respiratory illness. In fact, for chronically sick patients, antibiotic soaps were actually associated with increases in the frequencies of fevers, runny noses and coughs.

According to Scientific American:

“What we do know is that the influence of these wipes and salves does not end with our hands, but instead spreads from them down our drains and out into society.

What happens when antibiotic soaps and suds go down drains? To find out, a group of scientists recently made artificial drains clogged with bacteria … and then subjected them to low and high doses of triclosan … Triclosan kills ‘weak’ bacteria but favors the tolerant, among them species of bacteria that eat triclosan … Triclosan may also favor lineages of bacteria that are also resistant to the oral antibiotics used in hospitals”.

Additionally, there have been recent concerns about its possible effects on human health — and triclosan has been detected in human breast milk, blood, and urine samples. A study evaluated the effects of triclosan in female rats, and was found to advance the age at which the rats hit puberty.  Serum thyroid hormone concentrations were also suppressed by triclosan.

According to the study, published in Toxicological Sciences:

“In conclusion, triclosan affected estrogen-mediated responses in the pubertal and weanling female rat and also suppressed thyroid hormone in both studies.”

to read more, go to:   http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/27/how-washing-your-hands-and-germophobia-can-damage-your-brain.aspx?e_cid=20110727_DNL_art_1

Americans and Religions

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10 things the Belief Blog learned in its first year

By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor

(CNN) – In case you were wondering about all the balloons and cake: CNN’s Belief Blog has just marked its first birthday.

After publishing 1,840 posts and sifting through 452,603 comments (OK, we may have missed one or two) the Belief Blog feels older than its 12 months would suggest. But it also feels wiser, having followed the faith angles of big news stories, commissioned lots of commentary and, yes, paid attention to all those reader comments for a solid year.

10 things we’ve learned:

1. Every big news story has a faith angle. Even the ordeal of 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for more than two months. Even the attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Even March Madness. Even – well, you get the point.

 

2. Atheists are the most fervent commenters on matters religious. This became apparent immediately after the Belief Blog’s first official post last May, which quickly drew such comments as:

acerider
Can we have a fairy tale blog too?

Sunil
This is nothing but America moving away from its wondrous spirit of Apollo 11 into a mindset of the perpetually intellectually challenged.
I think there was some news today about scientists having created the first artificial cell. That should have been a HUGE story. And yet, what do we get? A faith blog. Pathetic.

Rachel
This blog is terrifying. It’s amazing how much power the radical religious right is amassing in our country right now. If I can’t have some legislation, can I at least have some news that does not cater to zealots?

Those early comments presaged an avalanche of alternately humorous and outraged atheist responses on virtually everything the Belief Blog publishes. They’re more evidence that atheists are coming out of the closet to trumpet their disbelief, argue with the faithful and evangelize their godlessness. (It’s worth noting that the Belief Blog does plenty of atheism stories.)

3. People are still intensely curious about the Bible, its meaning and its origins.

It’s an ancient tome, but more than any other book in the Western tradition (with the Quran being the lone exception), the Bible still fascinates us. And it still feeds our most heated debates. In February, a guest post here arguing that the Bible is more ambiguous on homosexuality than traditionally thought elicited more than 4,000 comments. A response post insisting that the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality brought in an equal number of comments – and was the most popular story on CNN.com on the day it was published.

Other Belief Blog pieces about biblical scholarship – including a recent offering about biblical misquotations – have also caught fire. More of us may be reading it on iPhones these days, but the Good Book still matters a lot more than the popular culture lets on.

4.   Most Americans are religiously illiterate. Despite the appetite for stories and commentary about the Bible, most Americans know little about it. A huge Pew survey released in September found that most Americans scored 50 percent or less on a quiz measuring knowledge of the Bible, world religions and what the Constitution says about religion in public life. Ironically, atheists and agnostics scored best. How did you do on the quiz?

5. It’s impossible to understand much of the news without knowing something about religion. Why did the Egyptian revolution happen on a Friday? Why was Osama bin Laden’s body buried so quickly after he was killed? Why did Afghan rioters kill seven United Nations workers in April? You simply can’t answer those questions without bringing in religion.

6.  Regardless of where they fit on the spectrum, people want others to understand what they believe. That goes for pagans, fundamentalist Mormons,Native Americans, atheists – everyone.

7. Americans still have an uneasy relationship with Islam. Nearly 10 years after the September 11 attacks provoked many Americans to pay attention to Islam for the first time, much of the country is still somewhat uncomfortable about the religion, which counts 1.5 billion followers worldwide.

The biggest domestic religion story in the Belief Blog’s young life was probably last year’s opposition to a proposed Islamic Center and mosque near New York’s ground zero. And with the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, domestic tensions around Islam may flare again. The Arab Spring, meanwhile is raising weighty questions about Islam’s role in post-autocratic regimes, guaranteeing the religion – and its relationship with the U.S. – will be one of the world’s big stories for years to come.

8. God may not prevent natural disasters, but religion is always a big part of the response. We see it play out every time Mother Nature delivers a punishing blow, from March’s Japan earthquake and tsunami to the recent tornado that flattened much of Joplin, Missouri.

9. Apocalyptic movements come and go. The May 21st doomsdayers drew loads of interest, largely thanks to a massive ad campaign, but they’re hardly original.

10. Most Americans don’t know that President Barack Obama is a Christian. It’s ironic, since church-based community organizing led him to politics and since hisclose relationship with a pastor almost sunk his presidential campaign, but that’s what a Pew poll found last year.

Only about a third of Americans correctly identified Obama’s religion, while nearly one in five said he’s a Muslim. Another irony: The longer Obama’s been in office, the smaller the proportion of Americans who can correctly name his faith. As the 2012 presidential race approaches, this story bears watching, since views of candidates’ religion influence voting patterns.

Toning Down the Inner Critic

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Walter E. Jacobson, M.D.

Psychiatrist, speaker and author, ‘Forgive to Win!’

How to Turn the Volume Down on Your Inner Critic

Posted: 9/1/11 08:34 AM ET

Many of us resist change because we are more comfortable with the known, as bad as it may be, compared to the unknown, which we fear could be far worse. Many of us resist change because we fear it may make others uncomfortable to the point where they distance themselves from us and possibly leave us, triggering our abandonment issues in the process.

Consequently, instead of making efforts to change and being willing to deal with the uncertainty of the unknown and the possible abandonment of others, we cling to the past, we cling to the unsatisfying relationships and circumstances of our lives, we don’t take risks and we accept a life less lived.

What can we do about it? First, we have to deal with the prevailing fear that is dominating our resistance to change. We must make the conscious decision that it’s better to risk potential disappointments, in an effort to reach for the stars, rather than accept a life of dormant dreams and quiet desperation.

We must make the conscious decision that if people can’t accept us for choosing to change it may be painful, but we’ll deal with it. We may feel abandoned by them, but we won’t abandon ourselves. We have faith that others will enter our lives, attracted by what we are striving to achieve, who will appreciate and support our growth efforts.

Once we make a commitment to change, we must vigilantly monitor our thoughts and neutralize our inner critic, that negative, disparaging, shaming and degrading voice inside our head that keeps telling us that we’re not good enough, we’re not loveable, we’re unworthy, we don’t deserve success and happiness and that it is a pointless waste of time to try to become something more.

We must de-fang our inner critic and give it no power to fuel our fear and our doubt, to discourage us and derail us. We must de-throne our inner critic and replace it with our inner colleague — that inspiring, encouraging, uplifting voice inside our head, that loving and nurturing voice of our higher self that truly knows what’s best for us.

For far too long we have kept that voice soft if not silent, relegating it to the back seat of our consciousness. But now, having made the commitment to change, we pump up the volume and use it to repeatedly reinforce positive, optimistic messages that neutralize the negative, critical labels from our inner critic and, at the same time, fuel our passion, our persistence and our perseverance.

Bottom line: We don’t have to sell ourselves short. We don’t have to settle for less. There is great joy and abundance available to each of us when we release ourselves from the bondage of “I can’t” and other limiting self-definitions.

to read more, go to:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/walter-e-jacobson-md/fear-of-change_b_941300.html?ref=healthy-living-spirit

10 Foods for Detoxification

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Top 10 Detoxifying Foods

The Huffington Post Canada     Posted: 8/30/11 10:55 AM ET

While I’m a firm believer that detoxification is an essential part of optimal health, I acknowledge there is a lot of misinformation on how to detox safely and effectively. I’m often asked, “What is the best detox/detox kit?” My answer is simple: We’re all biochemically unique and thus, have different biochemical demands. There are a number of organs which aid in the removal of the dangerous exogenous and endogenous toxins from our body.

Therefore, it’s highly recommended to seek the guidance of a qualified health-care provider before you begin a detox regimen.

That being said, there are a number of foods you can eat safely on a regular basis to get a gentle detox daily. Below are my favourites:

check out the slideshow @http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/01/top-ten-detoxifying-foods_n_933388.html?ref=mostpopular#s335786&titl

You can’t beat beets! Beets are full of vitamins B3, B6, C and beta-carotene. They’re also a valuable source of iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium — all necessary to promote optimal detoxification and elimination. Beets also support good gallbladder and liver health — organs that are paramount for breaking down and removing toxins. The high amount of fibre in beetroot improves digestion and helps eliminate bodily waste.

Sea Vegetables

Often known as seaweeds, these amazing foods house powerful antioxidants that help to alkalize the blood and strengthen the digestive tract. The algin in seaweeds absorb toxins from the digestive tract in much the same way a water softener removes the hardness from tap water. Sea vegetables offer the broadest range of minerals of any food, containing virtually all the minerals found in the ocean — the same minerals that are found in human blood. Dulse is my personal fave.

Dandelions
Dandelions are considered a powerhouse food full of nutrients that are essential for anyone regularly eating the “Standard American Diet” (SAD). They’re a rich source of minerals and provide a variety of phytonutrients. They’re super antioxidants that support cleansing of the digestive tract and offer great liver support. Try adding dandelion leaves to your salad.

Broccoli Sprouts
Broccoli is part of the powerhouse brassica family of vegetables. Broccoli contains important phytochemicals that are released when they’re chopped, chewed, fermented, cooked or digested. The substances are released then break down into sulphorophanes, indole-3-carbinol and D-glucarate, which all have a specific effect on detoxification. Broccoli sprouts can actually provide more benefit than regular broccoli as they contain 20 times more sulfurophane. Add these to your salads and get creative with them in your meals.

Flaxseed
One of my favourite “superfoods,” flaxseeds serve many purposes. When detoxifying your body, it’s essential to ensure toxins are eliminated properly. Ground flaxseeds provide a wonderful source of fibre that helps to bind and flush toxins from the intestinal tract. They’re also a great source of health promoting omega 3 oils. Try consuming two tablespoons of found flaxseeds in lemon water every morning.

Lemons
Who doesn’t love lemon? This wonderful fruit stimulates the release of enzymes and helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that can be easily excreted from the body. Drinking lemon water, which is alkaline-forming, first thing in the morning will help to balance out the acidity of foods we’ve consumed. Don’t forget to add your ground flaxseeds to enhance toxin removal.

Garlic
No detox plan should be without some garlic: It’s a powerful antiviral, antiseptic and antibiotic. Ridding your body of these pathogenic microbes can reduce endogenous (made by your body) toxins. The vital sulphuric compounds garlic contains makes it an essential detoxifier.

Artichoke
Artichokes are not only a very tasty food, they’re also incredibly healthy. Artichokes have been shown to increase bile production and purify/protect the liver. They also have a mild diuretic effect on the kidneys, ensuring proper removal of toxins once the liver breaks them down.

Tumeric
Curcumin is the active ingredient in the spice turmeric, which gives it its yellow color. The rate at which your detox pathways function depends on your genes, your age, lifestyle and a good supply of nutrients involved in the detox process. Curcumin is used a lot in Ayurvedic Medicine to treat liver and digestive disorders.

Apples
Apples are full of wonderful nutrients. You get fibre, vitamins, minerals and many beneficial phytochemicals such as D-Glucarate, flavonoids and terpenoids. All of these substances are used in the detox process. One flavonoid, Phlorizidin (phlorizin), is thought to help stimulate bile production which helps with detox as the liver gets rid of some toxins through the bile. Apples are also a good source of the soluble fibre pectin, which can help detox metals and food additives from your body. It’s best to eat only organic apples as the non-organic varieties are among the top 12 foods that’ve been found to contain the most pesticide residues.

Dr. John Dempster is a Naturopathic Doctor in Toronto. He’s the founder of The Dempster Clinic — Center for Integrated Medicine and embraces the biochemical uniqueness of each patient. With a large focus on regenerative and anti-aging medicine, he focuses on optimizing nutritional and biochemical imbalances. Dr. D can be contacted through his website, www.thedempsterclinic.com.

Sports & Society

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Kelly Murumets

President and CEO, ParticipACTION

The Power of Sport
Posted: 8/31/11 11:08 AM ET

One thing I really loved about this summer is seeing people of all ages being active. The sanctity of home or the indoor gym was traded for the park, swimming pool or bike path. I spent eight days with 24 teenagers, aged 16 to 18, from all over the world in the Colorado Rockies. We climbed a 13,000 foot mountain, hiked, camped, rock climbed, repelled and whitewater rafted. I absolutely loved the experience — physical activity in the spectacular mountainous outdoors. And, even more so, I loved my time with these kids. What we shared was unbelievably special!

Next year, a huge event will add another layer of enjoyment to July through September, when the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games take place. Canadians will join others from around the world to revel in the drama and glory of the Games. The pride of where you live and where you come from will bring nations together.

But have you stopped to think about what the true common denominator of the Games is? It is not necessarily athleticism, competition or even patriotism. It is sport.

Whether at a global, national or grassroots community level, sport is a universal language that is understood by all. The boundaries of sport — whether via its technical rules or acceptable behaviours — are consistent. Sport has life lessons to teach, and if you are a participant rather than just a spectator, you gain even more. Unfortunately, sport participation is on the decline in our country. Over the past two decades, sport participation rates in Canadian youth aged 15 to 18 dropped from 77 per cent to 59 per cent -‐ and in adults, from 45 per cent to 28 per cent.As you know, I always say that we are in the midst of a physical inactivity crisis and Canadians simply need to move more. Sport has a huge role to play in facing this crisis head-on for the simple reason of it being active at its core. But it provides numerous benefits beyond health improvement. Social benefits, including camaraderie, opportunities for mentorship and even crime reduction, can all be linked to the uptake of sports activities. Sport makes significant contributions to the well-being of youth — socially, as well as physically.

to read more, go to:   http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/kelly-murumets/power-of-sport_b_941654.html?ir=Sports

 

On Microwaving Food

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What do you think about cooking food in a microwave?

In a review of research, we have found that microwave heating, for the most part. impacts food nutrients in much the same way as other forms of heating. The microwaving of food creates greater nutrient loss when higher heats are created, when heating is extended over a long period of time, or when food is heated while being submerged in water. Each of these principles applies to stovetop cooking as well. Surrounding a food with water and placing it in the microwave on high temperature for several minutes will result in significant nutrient loss in a way that is parallel to boiling a food on the stovetop for several minutes.

There haven’t been any wide-scale, peer-reviewed journal studies on the impact of microwave cooking on food structures. We realize that other websites have recommended avoidance of microwave cooking due to changes in food proteins. We have not seen evidence to support this recommendation. We’ve seen purified, chemical extracts from food taken into a laboratory setting and then exposed to microwave radiation from laboratory equipment. But we’ve not seen intact, edible foods placed in a microwave oven and then analyzed for structural changes in nutrients such as protein.

There was one small clinical study on the effect of microwave cooking that is widely discussed on the Internet. While it was not published in a peer-reviewed journal and is not indexed on Medline, we will still report its findings. This study showed that the consumption of microwaved foods was followed by a short-term decrease in the number of white blood cells in the study participants consuming the microwaved food.

Food safety may be an issue when it comes to cooking in microwaves. One published study found the inability of microwaving to assure elimination of E. coli 0157:H7 from food. Another study found that owing to non-uniform heating of microwaves, some samples of microwaved chicken still contained the Listeria bacteria while another one found that the time needed cook mincemeat to achieve doneness, as observed by agreeable taste and texture, was insufficient to killSalmonella and Streptococcus bacteria.

We’ve found two basic health concerns to be well documented in relationship to microwave cooking. First and foremost is the choice of food containers to be placed inside of a microwave oven. Most plastics, including film food wrap (LDPE, or low density polyethylene, displaying a Number 4 recycling symbol) and styrofoam containers (PS, or polystyrene, displaying a Number 6 recycling symbol) have been shown to migrate from plastic packaging into microwaved foods. This contamination of the food with plastic particles is beyond question in the science research-but researchers disagree on the health implications. Researchers who look at “invisible” changes occurring inside human cells (including metabolic patterns and nutrient ratios) find reason for broad-based concern about the use of plastic packaging in microwave ovens. From our perspective, there is simply no good reason to take the risk. If you do decide to use a microwave oven, we recommend using non-plastic food containers only. These containers would include glass, Pyrex, and all microwave-safe ceramics.

All this being said, we choose not to use microwaves in our homes. The quick cooking methods that we like to use to cook foods like vegetables really do not take that much more time than if we cooked with a microwave. Until more research is done on the subject, we feel more comfortable using the stovetop and oven for cooking.

 

 

Biblical Quotes & Misquotes

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Actually, that's not in the Bible

Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden right? Nope. That’s one of many phantom passages that people think are in the Bible.
June 5th, 2011
01:00 AM ET

Actually, that’s not in the Bible

By John Blake, CNN

(CNN) – NFL legend Mike Ditka was giving a news conference one day after being fired as the coach of the Chicago Bears when he decided to quote the Bible.

“Scripture tells you that all things shall pass,” a choked-up Ditka said after leading his team to only five wins during the previous season.  “This, too, shall pass.”

Ditka fumbled his biblical citation, though. The phrase “This, too, shall pass” doesn’t appear in the Bible. Ditka was quoting a phantom scripture that sounds like it belongs in the Bible, but look closer and it’s not there.

Ditka’s biblical blunder is as common as preachers delivering long-winded public prayers. The Bible may be the most revered book in America, but it’s also one of the most misquoted. Politicians, motivational speakers, coaches – all types of people  – quote passages that actually have no place in the Bible, religious scholars say.

These phantom passages include:

“God helps those who help themselves.”

“Spare the rod, spoil the child.”

And there is this often-cited paraphrase: Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden.

None of those passages appear in the Bible, and one is actually anti-biblical, scholars say.

But people rarely challenge them because biblical ignorance is so pervasive that it even reaches groups of people who should know better, says Steve Bouma-Prediger, a religion professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

“In my college religion classes, I sometimes quote 2 Hesitations 4:3 (‘There are no internal combustion engines in heaven’),” Bouma-Prediger says. “I wait to see if anyone realizes that there is no such book in the Bible and therefore no such verse.

“Only a few catch on.”

Few catch on because they don’t want to – people prefer knowing biblical passages that reinforce their pre-existing beliefs, a Bible professor says.

“Most people who profess a deep love of the Bible have never actually read the book,” says Rabbi Rami Shapiro, who once had to persuade a student in his Bible class at Middle Tennessee State University that the saying “this dog won’t hunt” doesn’t appear in the Book of Proverbs.

“They have memorized parts of texts that they can string together to prove the biblical basis for whatever it is they believe in,” he says, “but they ignore the vast majority of the text.”

Phantom biblical passages work in mysterious ways

to read more, go to:    http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/05/thats-not-in-the-bible/

Science & Spirituality

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My Take: Science and spirituality should be friends

Editor’s Note: Deepak Chopra is founder of the Chopra Foundation and a senior scientist at the Gallup Organization. He has authored over 60 books, including The Soul of Leadership, which The Wall Street Journal called one of five best business books about careers.

By Deepak Chopra, Special to CNN

For most people, science deserves its reputation for being opposed to religion.

I’m not thinking of the rather noisy campaign by a handful of die-hard atheists to demote and ridicule faith.

I’m thinking instead of Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution has proved victorious over the Book of Genesis and its story of God creating the universe in seven days. Since then, God has been found wanting when measured against facts and data. With no data to support the existence of God, there is also no reason for religion and science to close the gap between them.

Yet the gap has indeed been closing.

Religion and spirituality didn’t go away just because organized religion has been losing its hold, as suggested by showing decades of  declining church attendance in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Despite the noisy atheists, two trends in spirituality and science have started to converge. One is the trend to seek God outside the church. This has given rise to a kind of spirituality based on personal experience, with an openness to accept Eastern traditions like meditation and yoga as legitimate ways to expand one’s consciousness.

If God is to be found anywhere, it is inside the consciousness of each person. Even in the Christian West we have the assurance of Jesus that the kingdom of heaven is within, while the Old Testament declares, “Be still and know that I am God.”

The other trend is a growing interest by scientists in questions about consciousness

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/15/my-take-science-and-spirituality-should-be-friends/

On Meditation

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Sam Harris

Author, Neuroscientist

How to Meditate

Posted: 5/12/11 07:04 PM ET
2011-05-12-nonjudgment.jpg

(The one who does not judge, by h.koppdelaney)

 

There are many forms of introspection and mental training that go by the name of “meditation,” and I have studied several over the years. As I occasionally speak about the benefits of these practices, people often write to ask which I recommend. Given my primary audience–students of science, secularists, nonbelievers, etc.–these queries usually come bundled with the worry that most traditional teachings about meditation must be intellectually suspect.

Indeed, it is true that many contemplative paths ask one to entertain unfounded ideas about the nature of reality–or, at the very least, to develop a fondness for the iconography and cultural artifacts of one or another religion. Even an organization likeTranscendental Meditation (TM), which has spent decades self-consciously adapting itself for use by non-Hindus, can’t overcome the fact that its students must be given a Sanskrit mantra as the foundation of the practice. Ancient incantations present an impediment to many a discerning mind (as does the fact that TM displays several, odious signs of being a cult).

But not all contemplative paths kindle the same doubts or present the same liabilities. There are, in fact, many methods of meditation and “spiritual” inquiry that can greatly enhance our mental health while offering no affront to the intellect.

to read more, go to:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/how-to-meditate_b_861295.html?ref=spirituality

Chili Peppers for Sinus Problems

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Heat in Chili Peppers Can Ease Sinus Problems, Research Shows

ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2011) — Hot chili peppers are known to make people “tear up,” but a new study led by University of Cincinnati allergy researcher Jonathan Bernstein, MD, found that a nasal spray containing an ingredient derived from hot chili peppers (Capsicum annum) may help people “clear up” certain types of sinus inflammation.

The study, which appears in the August 2011 edition of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, compares the use of the Capsicum annum nasal spray to a placebo nasal spray in 44 subjects with a significant component of nonallergic rhinitis (i.e., nasal congestion, sinus pain, sinus pressure) for a period of two weeks.

Capsicum annum contains capsaicin, which is the main component of chili peppers and produces a hot sensation. Capsaicin is also the active ingredient in several topical medications used for temporary pain relief. It is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is available over the counter.