WOW..THE BLESSINGS OF GREEN TEA!

Over the past few months I have spent a significant amount of time researching the possible good and bad benefits of drinking different types of teas.

Why?

Because when I found out that I was pregnant, I knew that my 2 cups of coffee a day habit really needed to be reduced so I turned to tea as an alternative.

No, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with drinking your cup of Joe. As a matter of fact, organic coffee is jam packed with tons of antioxidants and has been found to decrease the risk of diseases like type 2 Diabetes and cancer, but it’s also pretty jam packed with caffeine, which is why I decided to research and make the switch over to a variety of different teas.

The good news is that I found a long list of incredible benefits to drinking tea which made my transition very easy. Tea also does contain some caffeine (about a quarter to half as much as coffee) making the switch even easier.

Here are several different varieties of teas and the many healthy benefits I found to each (who knows, you may even consider switching your Java habit as well.)

Black Tea

Before we differentiate between several different teas, it is true that all teas (black, green, oolong and white) come from the same plant, camellia sinensis. What gives each tea it’s particular qualities is in the processing of this particular plant to create different varieties of tea. Black tea is probably the most commonly consumed and most popular of all the teas I researched. It also contains the highest amount of caffeine of most teas (approximately 40 mg), but not nearly as much as 1 – 8 oz cup of coffee (100 mg). The low amounts of caffeine in black tea promotes blood flow in the brain without over stimulating the heart, helping to sharpen mental focus and concentration (oh, we could also use a little of that).

One of black teas greatest benefits is its high number of antioxidants, including quercetin, a substance found to combat inflammation and support healthy immune function. This is probably the best health benefit of drinking black tea…its ability to keep the immune system healthy and strong.

I enjoy a cup of hot black tea most mornings with a bit of squeezed lemon and stevia. It helps me start off my day energized and alert without giving me any of the jittery feelings I would sometimes get with drinking too much coffee. Some people much prefer their black tea cold, which I sometimes make for my husband and relatives when they are visiting. I make 2-3 tea bags with boiling water in a large glass bowl, sweeten with stevia and allow to cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. It’s delicious and refreshing served over ice with a little added piece of lemon (careful with how many glasses you drink if you are someone who is sensitive to caffeine).

Green Tea

If you’ve ever done even the slightest research on weight loss, you’ve surely come across tons of information touting the miraculous ability of green tea to burn off body fat.

Is that really true?

Well, before we get to that, what makes green tea so special?

Green tea is extremely rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly EGCG, which is an extremely powerful antioxidant. Besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it actually has the ability to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. EGCG has also been found to be extremely powerful in the prevention of heart disease and assists in keeping cholesterol levels healthy.

But back to the weight loss theories…

Many doctors and scientific studies have confirmed the incredible power of green tea when it comes to weight loss. Dr. Nicholas Perricone, world renowned doctor and author of 3 bestselling books stated, “…you’d lose up to 10 pounds in 4-6 weeks doing nothing but taking green tea. Green tea increases your daily fat burning rate by 43%”. The fat burning effects of green tea can be attributed to so much more than just its caffeine content (since caffeine has been shown to enhance the metabolism). The catechins in green tea have been found to force the body into thermogenesis, driving your body to burn fat as its energy source. Green tea has also been shown to cause carbohydrates to be released slowly, preventing rises in blood-insulin levels and keeping the body at an ideal blood sugar balance for fat burning.

Can I say for sure that this will happen to almost everyone? Definitely not! Every person is individual and many other factors in your diet and exercise program greatly affect what your weight loss results will be. But with all the other wonderful benefits we know about green tea, it is definitely worth including 1-2 cups into your daily routine (Green tea contains approximately 15-30 mg of caffeine per cup. Careful with your intake if you are someone who is sensitive to caffeine).

Like black tea, green tea can be enjoyed hot or cold and you can use stevia, xylitol or raw honey to sweeten a bit.

Last but definitely not least…

Oolong/Wu-long Tea

This was by far the most eye opening research of them all. I had heard of the many benefits of Oolong Tea (also widely referred to as Wu-long) for some time, but had never done this much research and reading about it (little did I know what I was missing).

Even though green tea has been most popularly known as the drink of choice for fat burning, wu-long tea has been shown to burn 220% more fat than green tea. The only difference between green tea and wu-long tea is in the processing of the tea leaves, making the beneficial properties of each just slightly different.

The Chinese have long believed that oolong/wu-long tea is greatly beneficial in reducing and maintaining weight and have conducted several studies proving such. It looks like, from the research, that wu-long tea can actually encourage your body to use more fat for energy, resulting in accelerated fat burning and, of course, weight loss. Many of the same fat burning properties, mentioned above for green tea, have been found in wu-long tea but the effects seem to be more pronounced.

All of the other incredible benefits of tea can also be found with wu-long tea, but, where as increased immune function and antioxidant benefits are black and greet teas claim to fame, it looks like wu-long teas greatest benefit is fat loss.

You can enjoy wu-long tea hot or cold, sweetened or flavored with lemon. I actually really enjoy the rich, flowery taste of wu-long tea all on its own, not really needing any sweetener or anything added to enjoy its delicious taste.

I have found the best quality and tasting wu-long tea from a company called Okuma nutritionals. Since wu-long tea has become a bit of a “hype” tea and supplement these days, I wanted to look for a company that was truly passionate about the quality of their tea and intimately involved in the production of their teas.

Delicious and Powerful Wu-Long Tea

Isabel, which tea is the best for me?

With all the wonderful benefits of these 3 teas, it may be hard to decide which is the best choice for you. I love to do what my good friend Mike Geary taught me is to mix all three varieties together! Many mornings I will put 1 tea bag each of black, green and wu-long tea in a small pot with boiling water. I let that steep for about 5 minutes and remove the tea bags. I sip 1 cup for breakfast and then another with lunch. The different tastes of each blend together really nicely and make for a tasty warm drink (again, it can also be enjoyed like iced tea, which I know is how Mike enjoys it best.)

Black, green or Wu-Long , whichever you choose, 1-2 teas each day is a wonderful addition to your healthy eating plans. As with anything, be very mindful to your body’s response to the caffeine amount and let your body be your guide.

In health and happiness,
ISABELLA DE LOS RIOS

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Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns— Symbols of Paganism and Christianity

Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns—
Symbols of Paganism and Christianity

Allah Ta’ala declares:

“O Believers! If you follow any group from among those who were given a Scripture, they will convert you to kaafirs after you having Imaan.” (Surah Aali Imraan, 100)

Rasoolullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said:
“Whosoever imitates a nation, then verily he is from among them.” (Abu Dawood, Ahmad)
Easter is the principal Christian feasting period associated with which are a plethora of shirk and kufr beliefs. Christians regard Easter as the most sacred celebration in the whole year as it was at Easter-time according to Christian belief that ‘Jesus’ (their ‘god’) died for the sins of the whole of mankind and was subsequently resurrected.
In view of the importance of this period according to Christians, many customs of paganism and kufr have been upheld by the adherents of Christianity for this occasion throughout the world. Amongst these customs are the practices associated with ‘Easter Eggs’ and ‘Hot Cross Buns’.

The Encyclopaedia Americana has the following to say about Easter Eggs:
“Eggs, for example, are central to a variety of Easter customs. A number of explanations have been suggested. Formerly, eggs were forbidden during the Lenten fast but could again be eaten at Easter. Thus, decorated eggs could symbolize the end of the penitential season and the beginning of joyful celebration. Also, eggs, as traditional symbols of life and creation, suggest the Resurrection. Likewise, eggs, colored like the rays of the returning sun or the northern lights, symbolize the return of spring. In any case, it has become customary in many places to decorate and exchange eggs at Easter. Sometimes, eggs are blessed in church.”
The F & W’s New Encyclopaedia further adds:
“Scholars, however, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th century English scholar, St. Bede believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.”
The Lion Easter Book clarifies the symbol easter eggs hold in Christianity. It states: “For Christians the egg became a picture of Jesus rising to new life from his dark tomb.”
Similarly, the ‘Hot Cross Bun’ is also an Easter tradition initiated by pagan people and kept alive by Christianity. The following quotations are reproduced from the book, The Lion Easter Book:
Like all good festivals, Easter has its own share of special foods. Hot cross buns, eaten on Good Friday, are still popular in Europe and in the USA…
In bygone centuries, people used to believe that hot cross buns had special magical powers, provided that they were baked on Good Friday…Perhaps such buns were made long ago, when the cross was a pagan sign. But Christianity remembers Jesus’ death on a cross on the first Good Friday.”
From the above citatations it is abundantly clearly that ‘Easter Eggs’ and ‘Hot Cross Buns’ are nothing but symbols of pagan beliefs and Christian tradition. Associating with this evil tradition in any way is absolutely Haraam for Muslims. Buying and trading with these symbols of kufr and shirk can never be permissible. How can Muslims—those who proclaim the Wahdaaniyat (Unity) of Allah Jalla Jalaaluhu—uphold a kufr tradition by buying, selling and gluttonously devouring easter eggs and hot cross buns?
Surely it will send a cold shiver down the spine of a Mu’min to buy or sell a Cross-chain. In the same way, when the ‘Easter Egg’ and ‘Hot Cross Bun’ are nothing but integral features of Christianity it can never be permissible to buy, sell and eat these objects. Any money obtained by the sale of these kufr and shirk contaminated items is unlawful and waajibut tasadduq. It will necessarily have to be expunged from one’s wealth by giving it to the poor without intention for thawaab.
Eating and feasting on these haraam Christian symbols are bound to adversely affect the Imaan of the wrongdoer drawing him/her closer to the ultimate indulgence in kufr and shirk thus eliminating Imaan. May Allah Ta’ala save us from such a horrible end.
With the prepondence of kufr, shirk, fisq and fujoor festivals, customs, shows and gatherings during the Easter period is there any wonder then that the Athaab (punishment) of Allah Ta’ala manifests itself in the form of death and destruction on the roads of South Africa over this period in particular?

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Forensic evidence emerges that European e.coli superbug was bioengineered

Forensic evidence emerges that European e.coli superbug was bioengineered to produce human fatalities

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) Even as the veggie blame game is now under way across the EU, where a super resistant strain of e.coli is sickening patients and filling hospitals in Germany, virtually no one is talking about how e.coli could have magically become resistant to eight different classes of antibiotic drugs and then suddenly appeared in the food supply.

This particular e.coli variation is a member of the O104 strain, and O104 strains are almost never (normally) resistant to antibiotics. In order for them to acquire this resistance, they must be repeatedly exposed to antibiotics in order to provide the “mutation pressure” that nudges them toward complete drug immunity.

So if you’re curious about the origins of such a strain, you can essentially reverse engineer the genetic code of the e.coli and determine fairly accurately which antibiotics it was exposed to during its development. This step has now been done (see below), and when you look at the genetic decoding of this O104 strain now threatening food consumers across the EU, a fascinating picture emerges of how it must have come into existence.

The genetic code reveals the history
When scientists at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute decoded the genetic makeup of the O104 strain, they found it to be resistant to all the following classes and combinations of antibiotics:

• penicillins
• tetracycline
• nalidixic acid
• trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol
• cephalosporins
• amoxicillin / clavulanic acid
• piperacillin-sulbactam
• piperacillin-tazobactam

In addition, this O104 strain posses an ability to produce special enzymes that give it what might be called “bacteria superpowers” known technically as ESBLs:

“Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) are enzymes that can be produced by bacteria making them resistant to cephalosporins e.g. cefuroxime, cefotaxime and ceftazidime – which are the most widely used antibiotics in many hospitals,” explains the Health Protection Agency in the UK (http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/ESBLs/).

On top of that, this O104 strain possesses two genes — TEM-1 and CTX-M-15 — that “have been making doctors shudder since the 1990s,” reports The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/05/deadly-ecoli-resi…). And why do they make doctors shudder? Because they’re so deadly that many people infected with such bacteria experience critical organ failure and simply die.

Bioengineering a deadly superbug
So how, exactly, does a bacterial strain come into existence that’s resistant to over a dozen antibiotics in eight different drug classes and features two deadly gene mutations plus ESBL enzyme capabilities?

There’s really only one way this happens (and only one way) — you have to expose this strain of e.coli to all eight classes of antibiotics drugs. Usually this isn’t done at the same time, of course: You first expose it to penicillin and find the surviving colonies which are resistant to penicillin. You then take those surviving colonies and expose them to tetracycline. The surviving colonies are now resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. You then expose them to a sulfa drug and collect the surviving colonies from that, and so on. It is a process of genetic selection done in a laboratory with a desired outcome. This is essentially how some bioweapons are engineered by the U.S. Army in its laboratory facility in Ft. Detrick, Maryland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Biodefense_Analysis_and_Counter…).

Although the actual process is more complicated than this, the upshot is that creating a strain of e.coli that’s resistant to eight classes of antibiotics requires repeated, sustained expose to those antibiotics. It is virtually impossible to imagine how this could happen all by itself in the natural world. For example, if this bacteria originated in the food (as we’ve been told), then where did it acquire all this antibiotic resistance given the fact that antibiotics are not used in vegetables?

When considering the genetic evidence that now confronts us, it is difficult to imagine how this could happen “in the wild.” While resistance to a single antibiotic is common, the creation of a strain of e.coli that’s resistant to eight different classes of antibiotics — in combination — simply defies the laws of genetic permutation and combination in the wild. Simply put, this superbug e.coli strain could not have been created in the wild. And that leaves only one explanation for where it really came from: the lab.

Engineered and then released into the wild
The evidence now points to this deadly strain of e.coli being engineered and then either being released into the food supply or somehow escaping from a lab and entering the food supply inadvertently. If you disagree with that conclusion — and you’re certainly welcome to — then you are forced to conclude that this octobiotic superbug (immune to eight classes of antibiotics) developed randomly on its own… and that conclusion is far scarier than the “bioengineered” explanation because it means octobiotic superbugs can simply appear anywhere at any time without cause. That would be quite an exotic theory indeed.

My conclusion actually makes more sense: This strain of e.coli was almost certainly engineered and then released into the food supply for a specific purpose. What would that purpose be? It’s obvious, I hope.

It’s all problem, reaction, solution at work here. First cause a PROBLEM (a deadly strain of e.coli in the food supply). Then wait for the public REACTION (huge outcry as the population is terrorized by e.coli). In response to that, enact your desired SOLUTION (total control over the global food supply and the outlawing of raw sprouts, raw milk and raw vegetables).

That’s what this is all about, of course. The FDA relied on the same phenomenon in the USA when pushing for its recent “Food Safety Modernization Act” which essentially outlaws small family organic farms unless they lick the boots of FDA regulators. The FDA was able to crush farm freedom in America by piggybacking on the widespread fear that followed e.coli outbreaks in the U.S. food supply. When people are afraid, remember, it’s not difficult to get them to agree to almost any level of regulatory tyranny. And making people afraid of their food is a simple matter… a few government press releases emailed to the mainstream media news affiliates is all it takes.

First ban the natural medicine, then attack the food supply
Now, remember: All this is happening on the heels of the EU ban on medicinal herbs and nutritional supplements — a ban that blatantly outlaws nutritional therapies that help keep people healthy and free from disease. Now that all these herbs and supplements are outlawed, the next step is to make people afraid of fresh food, too. That’s because fresh vegetables are medicinal, and as long as the public has the right to buy fresh vegetables, they can always prevent disease.

But if you can make people AFRAID of fresh vegetables — or even outlaw them altogether — then you can force the entire population onto a diet of dead foods and processed foods that promote degenerative disease and bolster the profits of the powerful drug companies.

It’s all part of the same agenda, you see: Keep people sick, deny them access to healing herbs and supplements, then profit from their suffering at the hands of the global drug cartels.

GMOs play a similar role in all this, of course: They’re designed to contaminate the food supply with genetic code that causes widespread infertility among human beings. And those who are somehow able to reproduce after exposure to GMOs still suffer from degenerative disease that enriches the drug companies from “treatment.”

Do you recall which country was targeted in this recent e.coli scare? Spain. Why Spain? You may recall that leaked cables from Wikileaks revealed that Spain resisted the introduction of GMOs into its agricultural system, even as the U.S. government covertly threatened political retaliation for its resistance. This false blaming of Spain for the e.coli deaths is probably retaliation for Spain’s unwillingness to jump on the GMO bandwagon. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030828_GMOs_Wikileaks.html)

That’s the real story behind the economic devastation of Spain’s vegetable farmers. It’s one of the subplots being pursued alongside this e.coli superbug scheme.

Food as weapons of war – created by Big Pharma?
By the way, the most likely explanation of where this strain of e.coli was bioengineered is that the drug giants came up with it in their own labs. Who else has access to all the antibiotics and equipment needed to manage the targeted mutations of potentially thousands of e.coli colonies? The drug companies are uniquely positioned to both carry out this plot and profit from it. In other words, they have the means and the motive to engage in precisely such actions.

Aside from the drug companies, perhaps only the infectious disease regulators themselves have this kind of laboratory capacity. The CDC, for example, could probably pull this off if they really wanted to.

The proof that somebody bioengineered this e.coli strain is written right in the DNA of the bacteria. That’s forensic evidence, and what it reveals cannot be denied. This strain underwent repeated and prolonged exposure to eight different classes of antibiotics, and then it somehow managed to appear in the food supply. How do you get to that if not through a well-planned scheme carried out by rogue scientists? There is no such thing as “spontaneous mutation” into a strain that is resistant to the top eight classes of brand-name antibiotic drugs being sold by Big Pharma today. Such mutations have to be deliberate.

Once again, if you disagree with this assessment, then what you’re saying is that NO, it wasn’t done deliberately… it happened accidentally! And again, I’m saying that’s even scarier! Because that means the antibiotic contamination of our world is now at such an extreme level of overkill that a strain of e.coli in the wild can be saturated with eight different classes of antibiotics to the point where it naturally develops into its own deadly superbug. If that’s what people believe, then that’s almost a scarier theory than the bioengineering explanation!

A new era has begun: Bioweapons in your food
But in either case — no matter what you believe — the simple truth is that the world is now facing a new era of global superbug strains of bacteria that can’t be treated with any known pharmaceutical. They can all, of course, be readily killed with colloidal silver, which is exactly why the FDA and world health regulators have viciously attacked colloidal silver companies all these years: They can’t have the public getting its hands on natural antibiotics that really work, you see. That would defeat the whole purpose of making everybody sick in the first place.

In fact, these strains of e.coli superbugs can be quite readily treated with a combination of natural full-spectrum antibiotics from plants such as garlic, ginger, onions and medicinal herbs. On top of that, probiotics can help balance the flora of the digestive tract and “crowd out” the deadly e.coli that might happen by. A healthy immune system and well-functioning digestive tract can fight off an e.coli superbug infection, but that’s yet another fact the medical community doesn’t want you to know. They much prefer you to remain a helpless victim lying in the hospital, waiting to die, with no options available to you. That’s “modern medicine” for ya. They cause the problems that they claim to treat, and then they won’t even treat you with anything that works in the first place.

Nearly all the deaths now attributable to this e.coli outbreak are easily and readily avoidable. These are deaths of ignorance. But even more, they may also be deaths from a new era of food-based bioweapons unleashed by either a group of mad scientists or an agenda-driven institution that has declared war on the human population.

Additional developments on this e.coli outbreak
• 22 fatalities have so far been reported, with 2,153 people now sickened and possibly facing kidney failure.

• An agricultural ministry in Germany said that even though they now know the source of the outbreak is a German sprout farm, they are still not lifting their warnings for people to avoid eating tomatoes and lettuce. In other words, keep the people afraid!

• “The German variant of E coli, known as O104, is a hybrid of the strains that can cause bloody diarrhoea and kidney damage called ‘hemolytic uremic syndrome’.” (http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/german-beansprouts-to-bla…)

• A total of ten European nations have reported outbreaks of this e.coli strain, mostly from people who had visited northern Germany.

• The following story is in German, and it hints that the e.coli outbreak might have been a terrorist attack (http://www.aerztezeitung.de/medizin/krankheiten/infektionskrankheiten…). Yeah, a terrorist attack by the drug companies upon innocent people, as usual…

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Anti-foaming agent found in Chicken McNuggets

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) Ever wonder what’s really found in Chicken McNuggets? Some of the ingredients, it turns out, seem to belong more to an industrial factory of some kind, not a food retailer. According to the McDonald’s Corporation, its famous Chicken McNuggets are made with ingredients including autolyzed yeast extract (which contain free glutamate, similar to MSG), sodium phosphates and sodium aluminum phosphate. But that’s not the freaky part. According to McDonald’s own website, Chicken McNuggets are also made with “hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness” and “Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.” (http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/ingredientslist.pdf)

At least two of these ingredients are artificially synthesized industrial chemicals. TBHQ, a petroleum derivative, is used as a stabilizer in perfumes, resins, varnishes and oil field chemicals. Laboratory studies have linked it to stomach tumors. “At higher doses, it has some negative health effects on lab animals, such as producing precursors to stomach tumors and damage to DNA. A number of studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high doses of TBHQ may be carcinogenic, especially for stomach tumors.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBHQ)

Dimethylpolysiloxane, a type of silicone, is used in caulks and sealants, as a filler for breast implants, and as key ingredient in Silly Putty. Says Wikipedia:

“PDMS is also used as a component in silicone grease and other silicone based lubricants, as well as in defoaming agents, mold release agents, damping fluids, heat transfer fluids, polishes, cosmetics, hair conditioners and other applications. PDMS has also been used as a filler fluid in breast implants, although this practice has decreased somewhat, due to safety concerns. PDMS is used variously in the cosmetic and consumer product industry as well. For example, PDMS can be used in the treatment of head lice…” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylpolysiloxane)

Not that the other ingredients are any better. Because cotton is not regulated as a food crop, cottonseed oil may contain chemical pesticides that are banned in food production. It is also almost always genetically modified. Hydrogenated oils, of course, typically contain trans fats, the artificially produced fats that are unusable by the body and that studies have linked to a number of detrimental health problems. And autolyzed yeast extract is a chemical taste-enhancing ingredient containing free glutamate that manufacturers use as a friendlier-looking replacement for MSG.

And what about the chicken in Chicken McNuggets? It’s factory-farmed chicken, not free-range chicken. So it’s the kind of chicken that’s typically treated with vaccines and hormones while being fed conventional feed products that are medicated with pharmaceuticals and grown with pesticides.

Yum!! Don’t forget to ask for extra dipping sauce. We haven’t even talked about what you’ll find in there…

Source: 25 Amazing Facts About Food, authored by Mike Adams and David Guiterrez. This report reveals surprising things about where your food comes from and what’s really in it! Download the full report (FREE) by clicking here. Inside, you’ll learn 24 more amazing but true facts about foods, beverages and food ingredients. Instant download of the complete PDF. All 25 facts are documented and true.

Additional Sources:

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/ingredientslist.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBHQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylpolysiloxane

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Hwy, whats in your fast food?

Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food

by John Andrews

(NaturalNews) The movie Supersize Me has probably had more of an effect than the producers anticipated. Since then, in the fast food industry, there has been a market trend promoting menu items that appear to be healthy. But most of these menu items have ingredients that health conscious consumers would prefer to avoid.

Most health conscious consumers consider healthy foods to be things like raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, and clean meats like wild Alaskan salmon, or free-range chicken or turkey.

Some ingredients that health conscious consumers consider unacceptable are MSG (or free glutamate, or free glutamic acid, including anything hydrolyzed or autolyzed), trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils [3]), artificial colors, artificial flavors, and most preservatives.

Many so-called healthy fast food menu items, upon closer inspection, do not live up to the health hype. Most of the meat from any of the major chains has anything but a simple ingredients list. They add emulsifiers, preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, trans fats, and hidden ingredients under generic labels such as spices, or natural and artificial flavors.

Some of these food additives are not foods at all, but are chemicals that are generally recognized as safe. Most of these additives cannot be found at your local grocery store, probably because they aren’t food. But some can be found at your local hardware store, though in inedible products like low tox antifreeze, silicone caulk, soap, sunscreen, and play sand.

The ingredient information in this article came straight from the various fast food restaurants’ web sites.

McDonald’s

The egg’s reputation is recovering, but scrambled eggs as a part of McDonald’s breakfast include much more than egg. Their pasteurized whole eggs have sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, and monosodium phosphate (all added to preserve color), and nisin, a preservative. To top it off, the eggs are prepared with liquid margarine: liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils (trans fats), salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil (trans fat), soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, and beta carotene (color). Though not all bad, these added chemicals may be the reason why homemade scrambled eggs taste so much better than McDonald’s.

For coffee drinkers, it would seem fairly safe to just grab a quick cup of coffee at McDonald’s on the way to work. But many health conscious people would object to it also including this list of ingredients: sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, and carrageenan. Do health nuts still drink coffee?

Salads can usually be counted on to be a “what you see is what you get” item. But McDonald’s adds some interesting ingredients. The salads with grilled chicken also have liquid margarine.

Several salads have either cilantro lime glaze, or orange glaze added. Along with many of McDonald’s sauces, both the cilantro lime glaze and the orange glaze contain propylene glycol alginate. While propylene glycol is considered “GRAS” for human consumption, it is not legal for use in cat food because the safety hasn’t been proven yet [10]. Propylene glycol is also used “As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles” [10].

The chili lime tortilla strips that are included in the southwest salads have several ingredients used to hide MSG. They also contain two ingredients that advertise the presence of MSG: disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.

The chicken has sodium phosphates (of an unspecified variety). It could be trisodium phosphate (a cleanser), monosodium phosphate (a laxative), or disodium hydrogen phosphate [11]. Why would McDonald’s add sodium phosphates (a foaming agent), and dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent in their crispy chicken breast fillets? It isn’t dishwasher detergent.

Burger King

It’s interesting to note that the BK Veggie Burger has six ingredients commonly used to hide free glutamate (MSG): calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed corn, yeast extract, soy protein isolate, spices, and natural flavors. At the end of the ingredients list, it states This is NOT a vegan product. The patty is cooked in the microwave. Was that a warning statement?

Burger King has three salads to choose from. The TENDERCRISP Garden Salad, the TENDERGRILL Garden Salad, and the Side Garden Salad.

A salad may be a little boring without a dressing like Ken’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing which includes titanium dioxide (an artificial color, or sunscreen, depending on use), preservatives, and the ingredient seemingly mandatory in all ranch dressings: monosodium glutamate.

Once again, as is typical with the fast food industry, they took a simple thing like chicken, and added a long list of ingredients.

TENDERGRILL® CHICKEN BREAST FILET
Chicken Breast with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Spices, Natural Flavors, Onion Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Fat, Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Garlic, and Artificial Flavors.), Modified Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Salt, Sodium Phosphates. Glazed with: Water, Seasoning [Maltodextrin, Salt, Sugar, Methylcellulose, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Partially Hydrogenated Sunflower Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Fructose, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dehydrated Garlic, Spices, Modified Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavors, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Chicken Fat, Carmel Color, Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil), Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Turmeric, Smoke Flavor, Annatto Extract, and Artificial Flavors], Soybean Oil. [12]

Taco Bell

Taco Bell’s website didn’t have much emphasis on health. Under the nutrition guide, at the bottom was a link to Keep it Balanced, a token nod to health. It had no serious information on how to really eat healthy. They recommend foods like pizza and tacos (no surprise) because they may include ingredients from several food groups at once. Including several food groups does not necessarily mean it’s a healthy food.

The seasoned beef, carne asada steak, spicy shredded chicken, and even the rice all include autolyzed yeast extract (hidden MSG). Disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are flavor enhancers used in synergy with MSG [7,8]. Therefore, menu items with disodium inosinate and/or disodium guanylate also contain MSG. This includes the avocado ranch dressing, southwest chicken, citrus salsa, creamy jalapeno sauce, creamy lime sauce, lime seasoned red strips, pepper jack sauce, and seasoned rice.

According to Wikipedia, dimethylpolysiloxane is optically clear, and is generally considered to be inert, non-toxic, and non-flammable. It is used in silicone caulk, adhesives, and as an anti-foaming agent [6]. Appetizingly enough, it’s also included in Taco Bell’s rice.

Wendy’s

At Wendy’s, there are several tempting salads. The mandarin chicken salad seems healthy at first glance. It has diced chicken, mandarin oranges, almonds, crispy noodles, your choice of dressings, and five different varieties of lettuce. Then reality takes a bite when you check the ingredients list. The almonds are roasted and salted. The crispy noodles are not whole grain. The mandarin orange segments are not freshly peeled oranges; most likely canned. The diced chicken has added autolyzed yeast extract (MSG), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, sodium phosphates (soap?), salt, more salt, sugar, modified cornstarch (sic)[1], and the universal umbrella ingredient list: spices, natural flavors, and artificial flavors.

In the ingredients lists for the salad dressings, one surprise was titanium dioxide in the Low Fat Honey Mustard Dressing and the Reduced Fat Creamy Ranch Dressing. It’s a very versatile chemical. It can be used to manufacture paint, sunscreen, semiconductors, and food coloring [2].

Wendy’s Southwest Taco Salad is a salad with Wendy’s chili. Once again, the chili has hidden MSG: autolyzed yeast extract, spices, artificial flavors, natural flavorings, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate (MSG give-aways). It’s puzzling to try to understand why their chili would need to include an anti-caking agent such as silicon dioxide (also known as sand, or glass powder).

See if you can spot the sunscreen, MSG, and soap in this Wendy’s ingredient:

Seasoned Tortilla Strips
Whole Corn, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean or sunflower oil), Salt, Buttermilk Solids, Spices, Tomato, Sweet Cream, Dextrose, Onion, Sugar, Cheddar Cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Nonfat Dry Milk, Garlic, Torula Yeast, Citric Acid, Autolyzed Yeast, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Artificial Colors (including extractives of paprika, turmeric and annatto, titanium dioxide, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), Disodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Soy Lecithin. CONTAINS: MILK.

Apparently, taste really is all that matters at Wendy’s.

Subway

If a sandwich is advertised as healthy, one would expect that the bread would be whole grain. Not so with Subway’s wheat bread. While it does have some whole wheat flour, it’s the third ingredient, listed just before high fructose corn syrup [4]. None of Subway’s breads are whole grain. Ammonium sulfate (a fertilizer) is also added. Unfinished sandwiches may be composted. The bread also contains azodicarbonamide. From Wikipedia,

Use of azodicarbonamide as a food additive is banned in Australia. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive has identified azodicarbonamide as a respiratory sensitiser (a possible cause of asthma) and determined that products should be labeled with May cause sensitisation by inhalation [5].

Most of the meats at Subway contain MSG and/or sodium nitrite.

KFC

The chicken, the gravy, and even the rice all have monosodium glutamate added. Not surprisingly, the chicken in the salads also has MSG. For a healthy menu item, the House Side Salad without dressing has nothing more than iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes.

KFC claims 0g trans fat per serving for all their fried chicken. But The Extra Crispy Chicken, Colonel’s Crispy Strips, HBBQ Wings, Boneless HBBQ Wings, Fiery Buffalo Wings, and more have partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed in the ingredients. So if the trans fat content is below 0.5g per serving, they can round down to zero and claim zero grams per serving.

In Closing

The salad a la carte may be the only healthy thing to eat at a fast food place. The side salads offered at the fast food places are hardly a meal, and hardly what one would consider a real salad.

Regarding MSG, it is helpful to remember this statement from Wikipedia when reading food labels.
Under current FDA regulations, when MSG is added to a food, it must be identified as monosodium glutamate in the label’s ingredient list. If however MSG is part of a spice mix that is purchased by another company, the manufacturer does not have to list the ingredients of that spice mix and may use the words flavorings or spices. Even food that uses the no msg label may therefore have MSG that is added from a spice mix from another company under current FDA regulations.[9]

As with most meat products in fast food restaurants, consider any meat, including on salads, to include MSG, chemical preservatives, and trans fats. Even seemingly simple items like rice can have ingredients like anti-foaming agents.
References

[1] http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fats

[4] http://subway.com/subwayroot/MenuNutrition/Nutrition/frmUSIngredients.aspx

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azodicarbonamide

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylpolysiloxane

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_inosinate

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_guanylate

[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_phosphates

[12] http://www.bk.com/#menu=3,-1,-1

About the author
John Andrews is an electrical engineer currently living in Utah. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2001 at the University of Utah. John has adopted a whole foods lifestyle rich in raw fruits and vegetables. This lifestyle change has produced a noticeable improvement in physical health, appearance, and mental clarity. He savors knowledge and is eager to teach others how to be healthy.

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FDA states that deadly arsenic is in chicken meat.

FDA finally admits chicken meat contains cancer-causing arsenic (but keep eating it, yo!)
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) After years of sweeping the issue under the rug and hoping no one would notice, the FDA has now finally admitted that chicken meat sold in the USA contains arsenic, a cancer-causing toxic chemical that’s fatal in high doses. But the real story is where this arsenic comes from: It’s added to the chicken feed on purpose!

Even worse, the FDA says its own research shows that the arsenic added to the chicken feed ends up in the chicken meat where it is consumed by humans. So for the last sixty years, American consumers who eat conventional chicken have been swallowing arsenic, a known cancer-causing chemical. (http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/fd…)

Until this new study, both the poultry industry and the FDA denied that arsenic fed to chickens ended up in their meat. The fairytale excuse story we’ve all been fed for sixty years is that “the arsenic is excreted in the chicken feces.” There’s no scientific basis for making such a claim… it’s just what the poultry industry wanted everybody to believe.

But now the evidence is so undeniable that the manufacturer of the chicken feed product known as Roxarsone has decided to pull the product off the shelves (http://www.grist.org/food-safety/2011-06-08-fda-admits-supermarket-ch…). And what’s the name of this manufacturer that has been putting arsenic in the chicken feed for all these years? Pfizer, of course — the very same company that makes vaccines containing chemical adjuvants that are injected into children.

Technically, the company making the Roxarsone chicken feed is a subsidiary of Pfizer, called Alpharma LLC. Even though Alpharma now has agreed to pull this toxic feed chemical off the shelves in the United States, it says it won’t necessarily remove it from feed products in other countries unless it is forced by regulators to do so. As reported by AP:

“Scott Brown of Pfizer Animal Health’s Veterinary Medicine Research and Development division said the company also sells the ingredient in about a dozen other countries. He said Pfizer is reaching out to regulatory authorities in those countries and will decide whether to sell it on an individual basis.” (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-06-08-fda-chicken-…)

Arsenic? Eat more!
But even as its arsenic-containing product is pulled off the shelves, the FDA continues its campaign of denial, claiming arsenic in chickens is at such a low level that it’s still safe to eat. This is even as the FDA says arsenic is a carcinogen, meaning it increases the risk of cancer.

The National Chicken Council agrees with the FDA. In a statement issued in response to the news that Roxarsone would be pulled from feed store shelves, it stated, “Chicken is safe to eat” even while admitting arsenic was used in many flocks grown and sold as chicken meat in the United States.

What’s astonishing about all this is that the FDA tells consumers it’s safe to eat cancer-causing arsenic but it’s dangerous to drink elderberry juice! The FDA recently conducted an armed raid in an elderberry juice manufacturer, accusing it of the “crime” of selling “unapproved drugs.” (http://www.naturalnews.com/032631_elderberry_juice_FDA_raid.html) Which drugs would those be? The elderberry juice, explains the FDA. You see, the elderberry juice magically becomes a “drug” if you tell people how it can help support good health.

The FDA has also gone after dozens of other companies for selling natural herbal products or nutritional products that enhance and support health. Plus, it’s waging a war on raw milk which it says is dangerous. So now in America, we have a food and drug regulatory agency that says it’s okay to eat arsenic, but dangerous to drink elderberry juice or raw milk.

Eat more poison, in other words, but don’t consume any healing foods. That’s the FDA, killing off Americans one meal at a time while protecting the profits of the very companies that are poisoning us with their deadly ingredients.

Oh, by the way, here’s another sweet little disturbing fact you probably didn’t know about hamburgers and conventional beef: Chicken litter containing arsenic is fed to cows in factory beef operations. So the arsenic that’s pooped out by the chickens gets consumed and concentrated in the tissues of cows, which is then ground into hamburger to be consumed by the clueless masses who don’t even know they’re eating second-hand chicken sh*t. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027414_chicken_disease_cows.html)

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Get anemia after routine blood tests!

Unneeded hospital blood tests giving heart attack victims life-threatening anemia

by S. L. Baker, features writer

(NaturalNews) It feels like a horrific tale about barbaric medical practices from ancient history: people with a life threatening heart condition are subjected to bloodletting until they become anemic. But this is no joke and it is happening right now. According to new research, hospitals are routinely subjecting heart attack patients to many excessive routine blood tests. These already seriously ill people are becoming sicker — and may even die as a result.

These are the facts revealed in a new study just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. It turns out that when someone has a heart attack, known by the medical term myocardial infarctions (MI), they are at increased risk for death and worse health in general if they are anemic. And a lot of them become anemic in the hospital.

So is this because having a heart attack sometimes causes some kind of internal bleeding, resulting in dangerous anemia? The answer is no. The anemia is usually the result of the actions of the hospital staff. The new research found that blood loss from the overuse of phlebotomy (blood drawn for diagnostic testing) is behind the development of hospital-acquired anemia (HAA).

Anemia, a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells (hemoglobin), is associated with greater mortality and worse health status in patients with heart attacks. That makes sense when you consider that red blood cells provide oxygen to body tissues and a lack of oxygen places extra stress on the cardiovascular system. Symptoms of anemia include fatigue, weakness, irregular heartbeat, and shortness of breath.

Adam C. Salisbury, M.D., from Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart and Vascular Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and his research team pointed out that HAA could mostly be prevented if strategies were implemented to reduce blood loss in high-risk patients. In other words, it’s time to stop taking so much blood from heart attack victims for repeated and unnecessary tests that their health is worsened and their risk of dying is increased.

The researchers noted in a media statement that diagnostic phlebotomy has been associated in a variety of patient populations with in-hospital declines in red blood cell levels and even the need for blood transfusions. “Blood loss from phlebotomy could be an actionable target for intervention,” write the authors.

Salisbury and colleagues analyzed data from the Cerner Corp.’s Health Facts database involving 17,676 patients who were admitted with heart attacks but no anemia from 57 hospitals. Then, in order to measure blood loss, the researchers identified how many times each patient had blood taken. They checked to see what specific lab tests were ordered and what size of hematology tubes were used for collecting blood.

For each patient, the researchers multiplied these blood volumes by the number of tubes of each type that were collected during the heart attack victims’ hospital stays. In addition, they calculated the average blood drawn for every 24 hours of hospitalization as well as the average phlebotomy volumes for each of the first 10 days of hospitalization.

The results showed a whopping one in five of the heart attack patients developed moderate to severe anemia, due to blood loss from excessive hospital tests. In fact, estimates of the mean blood loss from phlebotomy for these patients made anemic in the hospital were almost 100 mL higher than estimated blood loss in patients who did not develop moderate to severe HAA the course of the hospitalization.

Just how much blood was taken from heart attack patients varied widely depending on what hospital was doing the tests. Overall, the relative risk for developing anemia from hospital tests increased by 18 percent for each 50 mL of blood drawn.

“In conclusion, blood loss from phlebotomy is substantial in patients with MI, varies across hospitals, and is independently associated with the development of HAA,” write the authors. “Studies are needed to test whether strategies that limit both the number of blood draws and the volume of blood removed for diagnostic testing can prevent HAA and improve clinical outcomes in patients with MI.”

In an accompanying editorial, Stephanie Rennke, M.D., and Margaret C. Fang, M.D., both from the University of California, San Francisco, call hospital-acquired anemia a hazard of hospitalization. “With the increasing evidence that health care system interventions can reduce or prevent many hospital-acquired complications, efforts to implement effective strategies to make medical care safer and more effective are crucial,” they wrote.

“Investigations on how to modify this risk (e.g., through reducing unnecessary phlebotomy or reducing the volume of blood obtained during a hospitalization) could provide important insights into how to reduce anemia in the hospital and improve the value and appropriateness of care.”

For more information:

http://archinte.ama-assn.org

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Miss a sponge after surgery and tweezers?

Underreported hospital delirium is on the rise

by Lindsay Chimileski

(NaturalNews) Although malpractice and missing sponges have become somewhat silently accepted by the medical community there is a new alarming risk on the rise, Hospital Delirium. Hospital Delirium results from the combination of an unnatural environment, sleep deprivation and medications. It poses a silent threat to the health of all hospital patients, especially the elderly. Patients report experiencing zombie attacks, alien invasion, and other paranoid hallucinations. It may sound like a strange science fiction nightmare but in reality it occurs in up to 1/3 of the hospitalized geriatric population.

Hospital delirium is marked by an inability to think clearly, disorientation, alertness fluctuations, hallucinations, and paranoia. It is usually sudden and can progress over hours or days. Hospital delirium is more prevalent and poses a greater risk for the geriatric population. In the allopathic medical system, the elderly are expected to be senile and disoriented. Because of this false expectation, patients experiencing hospital delirium are often dismissed as “normal aging” and ignored. Delirium and disorientation are not a part of the natural healing process and should always be observed as a warning sign. Mental status changes often indicate serious turns in medical conditions and should not be overlooked.

The official cause of hospital delirium is undefined but the triggers are everywhere in the hospital atmosphere. Patients are placed in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable environment. They are usually suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, infection and/or anxiety. Patients can also be left feeling vulnerable due to the removal of their glasses or dentures. On top of that, add Pandora’s Box of drugs and medications, especially sedatives.

Hospital delirium is the consequence of violating the simplest of nature’s laws and preventing the body from getting real, good ol’ fashioned sleep. Studies prove that disruption of sleep may contribute to delirium and cognitive dysfunction in ICU patients. Staff monitoring and unnatural lighting prevent proper rest. This is especially true when deprived of sensory stimulation in units without windows, such as Intensive Care Units. Hospitals are now beginning to recognize the importance of adjusting light cycles to sync with the body’s innate circadian rhythm and sleep wake cycle.

Sleep allows the body to repair and restores the brain. It primes the brain for all the new knowledge it will acquire in the following day. Sleep distribution and sedation are linked as important factors because of their shared effects on memory. Interruption of this process, in combination with baseline vulnerability and other hospital triggers, provides the perfect cocktail for delirium.

Hospital delirium is now found to have some lasting effects. Due to complications and postponed surgeries, hospital stays are on average six days longer when patients experienced delirium. Delirium patients have a three times higher risk of death in six months. Hospital delirium can also be responsible for the premature placement of patients in short or long term care, such as nursing homes.

Hospital delirium is finally being recognized but the current statistics are still vastly under estimated. Most practitioners avoid the use of the term delirium and use synonyms like confusion or agitation instead. Although hospital delirium can cause outbursts and aggressive behavior, it can also silently occur in patients who appear to be resting quietly. Patients can become too paranoid to speak or share their hallucinations, so they suffer in silence and their experience goes unreported.

Although the public knows little of the issue, many hospitals are acknowledging the problem and initiating new natural protocols including massage and meditation. When hospital stays are unavoidable, awareness and familial support are the best ways to protect yourself and loved ones.

References

Belluck, P. (2010, June 20). Hallucination in Hospital Pose Risk to Elderly. The New York Times.

Collins, N., Blanchard, M., Tookman, A., & Sampson, E. (2009). Detection of delirium in acute hospital. Age and Ageing Oxford Journals. 131 (5).

Maze, M., Sanders, RD. (2010, Dec. 18). Contribution of sedative-hypnotic agents to delirium via modulation of the sleep pathway.

Rocha, M. (2010). Delirium in ICU. Characteristics, Diagnosis and Prevention. Retrieved from < http://www.slideshare.net/hospira2010/delirium-in-icu-characteristic-&#8230;

About the author
Lindsay Chimileski: I am a graduate medical student currently pursuing dual degrees in Naturopathic Medicine and Acupuncture, expecting to graduate in 2013. I have a passion for health education, patient empowerment and the restoration of balance, both on the individual and communal level. I believe all can learn how to live happily, in harmony with nature and in ways that support the body's innate ability to heal itself.
Please note: I am not a doctor and not giving any medical advice, just spreading the word of natural living, and the pressing health revolution.

http://blossomingconsciousness.com/

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Health hazard hospitals

Hospitals Are a Major Health Hazard

by Andreas Moritz

(NaturalNews) In 1995, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said that, “Over a million patients are injured in U.S. hospitals each year, and approximately 280,000 die annually as a result of these injuries. Therefore, the iatrogenic death rate dwarfs the annual automobile accident mortality rate of 45,000 and accounts for more deaths than all other accidents combined.” These statistics have become a lot worse since 1995. Unless you require an emergency treatment, it is better to avoid hospitals altogether. Many hospitals today may pose a major risk to your health for the following reasons:

* They are filled with infection-causing bacteria that cannot be found anywhere else. Hospitals, which often house very large numbers of sick people, are the ideal breeding environment for the sometimes deadly bugs. Hospital patients generally have a lower level of immunity and offer little or no resistance to them. Many of the microbes are passed on to the patients through the cooling towers, air conditioning and heating systems in hospitals. The hospital staff, due to constant exposure to the bugs, are fairly immune to them, but may pass them on to patients by touching them or their food, bedding, clothing, or medications.

* Contrary to common belief, hospitals are among the most contaminated places in the world. In fact, it is virtually impossible to keep hospitals spotlessly clean, and it does not take much dirt to become a breeding place for billions of deadly infectious bacteria.

* Doctors can be the worst transmitters of disease in hospitals. Most doctors do not wash their hands except before an operation, when they wear sterilized gloves and gowns anyway. They may sometimes touch many dozens of patients within several hours, one after the other, without washing their hands even once. Even the doctor’s white gown is not as clean as it looks. It is only clean if it is washed every single day, which rarely happens. When it is washed, it comes into contact with the dirty laundry from the operating room, bed covers, pillowcases, etc. Many extremely harmful bugs survive the washing machine and dryer.

* Bed sheets may be clean, but mattresses and pillows are not. The chance of being infected by bugs living in them is 1 in 20.

* Fifty percent of all infections in hospitals occur because of the patient’s contact with non-sterile medical instruments such as catheters and intravenous infusion installations. Before they were in common use, such infections occurred only very rarely.

* In the United States, over 90,000 people a year die from hospital-acquired infections. This figure does not account for those who are considered to be dying, or are already weakened by an operation. Yet they, too, are killed by a hospital-acquired infection.

* A 1,500-page report of a 3-year study on the causes of death in American hospitals revealed that a further “300,000 Americans die each year in hospitals as a result of medical negligence.”

* The most dangerous place in a hospital is the maternity ward because infants have not gained immunity against any disease-causing agents. The most vulnerable babies are these who are deprived of the antibodies contained in breast milk.

* A hospital patient may receive up to 12 different kinds of medication, all of which produce side effects that can lead to serious complications and even death.

* Many studies have shown that between 25 and 50 percent of the long-term patients staying in U.S. and U.K. hospitals are suffering from malnutrition due to a poor hospital diet. Malnutrition was found to be the major cause of death among older people in hospitals. An undernourished body is hardly able to defend itself against any type of illness. Add the toxic side effects of the drugs, the presence of deadly bugs, as well as the stress and anxiety that accompany an illness and a stay in a hospital, and a poorly nourished elderly person has very little chance of surviving.

* A spot check of 105 U.S. hospitals conducted by the American government showed that 69 of them had violated basic laws and rules. The commission in charge of granting licenses to hospitals (JCAH), however, refused to close them down.

* Most deliveries today take place in the operation theaters of hospitals, which when compared with home deliveries, increases the infant’s risk of injury during delivery by six times, of getting stuck in the mother’s birth canal by eight times, of requiring resuscitation techniques by four times, of becoming infected by four times, and of developing chronic physical problems by thirty times. In addition, a mother is three times as likely to hemorrhage if she gives birth in a hospital.

* More than 3,000 hospital patients in the U.S. undergo wrong-side surgery each year.

Given these and other major health risks linked with a stay in the hospital, it can be said that hospitals are among the most dangerous places in the world. I, therefore, advise you to do everything necessary to prevent illness from arising in the first place so that you can avoid them altogether, unless of course, it is for an emergency like an accident.

Excerpted from the bestselling book, Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation, by Andreas Moritz (www.ener-chi.com)

About the author
Andreas Moritz is a medical intuitive; a practitioner of Ayurveda, iridology, shiatsu, and vibrational medicine; a writer; and an artist. He is the author of the international bestseller, The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush; Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation, Lifting the Veil of Duality, Cancer Is Not a Disease, It’s Time to Come Alive, Heart Disease No More, Diabetes No More, Simple Steps to Total Health, Diabetes—No More, Ending the AIDS Myth. Feel Great – Lose Weight, Heal Yourself with Sunlight, and Vaccine-nation: Poisoning the Population, One Shot at a Time. For more information, visit the author’s website: http://www.ener-chi.com

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Admitted: Conventional cancer treatments sterilize women

by S. D. Wells

(NaturalNews) Most American women who find out they have cancer are confronted by their doctors with three choices for treatment, which include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, all of which greatly increase the chance they will never again be able to procreate. Yet, rarely does any doctor offer those women the fourth choice of treatment, which does not endanger their fertility whatsoever, and does not even require taking medication.

The latest study finds that very few women with cancer take steps to preserve their fertility while undergoing dangerous and toxic cancer therapy, and what’s worse, many women are discriminated against as doctors don’t even suggest they review the steps that can be taken to possibly preserve their fertility and prevent ovarian failure. (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/w-fyw032112.php)

Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (one of the biggest scam organizations further endangering women’s lives), revealed research after interviewing over 100,000 U.S. women, under the age of 50, who were diagnosed with cancer. The only fertility advice/choices given to a “select” few of these women was regarding egg or embryo freezing as a (slim) chance for future conception.

To find out which women received this limited advice and were not discriminated against for age, race or social status, Mitchell Rosen, MD ofUniversity of California, San Francisco (UCSF), led a team that surveyed over 1,000 women between the ages of 18 and 40 years who were diagnosed with either leukemia, Hodgkin’s, breast cancer or gastrointestinal cancer. The women were randomly sampled from 1993 until 2007. Over 900 of them were treated with therapies that could make them infertile forever, including chemo, pelvic radiation, pelvic surgery, or bone marrow transplants. Only 60 percent received counseling about infertility, and less than 10 percent pursued preservation.

The study revealed that women who are Caucasian and graduated from college are more likely to be counseled about the risks of infertility and the choices for preservation. One “reason” for the bias was that “socio-demographic health disparities likely affect access to fertility preservation services.”

The fourth, rarely mentioned choice
Of course, since the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the CDC (Center for Disease Control), the AMA (American Medical Association), and the ACS (American Cancer Society) are in the business of making a fortune off of women with cancer, Allopathic doctors under this “chronic care” umbrella are not educated about nor instructed to give advice to women regarding natural remedies for cancer.

The fourth, rarely mentioned choice for women who are fighting cancer and who would like to keep their reproductive ability in tact includes a combination of medicinal mushrooms (reishi, cordiceps, maitaki and shiitake), juicing raw organic vegetables, taking vitamins, mineral supplements, antioxidants, amino acids, probiotics and superfoods. (http://www.ultimatesuperfoods.com/)

None of these powerful sources for cancer prevention and cure are even mentioned as a choice, and none of them have side effects or endanger fertility capabilities. Mostly because these choices are inexpensive and non-patentable, Western Medicine writes them off as alternative medicine and keeps the general public in the dark. Women who cut chemicals out of their diet are also more likely to recover from cancer, including avoiding all artificial sweeteners, fluoridated water, processed foods and especially non-organic meat and dairy products. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110222092652.htm)

Sources for this article include:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110222092652.htm

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/w-fyw032112.php

http://humupd.oxfordjournals.org/content/7/6/535.full.pdf

http://www.ultimatesuperfoods.com/

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