IRS Seeks to Limit Free Speech

The IRS has no business in politics or interfering with free speech. Recently, the Alliance for Natural Health told us about newly proposed IRS rules that would dictate what they are allowed to tell their readers and what they cannot. To give an example, they would be forced to remove every single reference to a candidate’s connection to any legislation from their website sixty days before an election—giving incumbents a free pass to introduce legislation with almost no public scrutiny. If this stands, Senator Durbin would be allowed to introduce an anti-supplement bill knowing that the Alliance for Natural Health (and other organizations) could not link him to it in print. Now is the time to tell the IRS to rescind this political gag order and protect the right of political dissenters and organizations that represent individuals like you!

The Medical Monopoly’s War on “Renegade” Integrative Doctors

The basic idea is to preserve the conventional medicine monopoly by all means possible, including the use of state medical boards and physician credentialing groups. There’s a close-knit confederacy of three powerful conventional medical organizations in the United States. These groups work closely together and are allied with both federal and state government. One of their prime objectives appears to be to eliminate competition from natural health practitioners, especially integrative MDs and DOs, whom they seem to regard as traitors. Decades ago, chiropractors sued the American Medical Association for similar assaults which they believed represented an illegal restraint of trade. The case went to the Supreme Court, which sided with the chiropractors. The present assault on integrative doctors seems to us to be just more of the same, motivated by the same crass business reasons—though it’s even worse this time.

FDA Denies Alternative Treatment to Two Terminally Ill Young Women

FDA Denies Alternative Treatment to Two Terminally Ill Young Women Sammy Hagar, Sen. Kelly Ayotte & 100,000 concerned citizens plead for agency to grant ‘Compassionate Use Exemption’ We have recently reported on the FDA's renewed attacks against Dr. Burzynski in Texas. His cancer treatment has cured many people, but the FDA continues to attack him and restrict treatment. As a result, people who could benefit from the treatment are dying. The press release below from today (February 11, 2014) reports on two terminally ill young women, one aged 12 and the other 46, who have been denied this potentially life-saving treatment.

Monarch Butterfly Numbers Drop to Lowest Level Since Records Started – GMO Crops Blamed

The monarch butterfly — an orange and black icon that is Minnesota’s state insect — is facing dire population declines that have resulted in the smallest wintertime habitat since surveys began in 1993, an international team of conservation scientists warned Wednesday. This year, conservationists say the area where the butterflies winter in Mexico was reduced by 44 percent, to just 1.7 acres. Karen Oberhauser, a University of Minnesota entomologist who’s spent 30 years studying the butterflies, says the expansion of genetically modified crops in the Corn Belt is the primary culprit behind precipitous monarch declines over the past three years. These crops allow farmers to use herbicides later in the growth cycle, which has led to vast reductions in native milkweed and nectar plants that the butterflies rely on during the breeding cycle. The monarch’s decline may be an indicator of larger ecological problems, she said. “What is happening to monarchs is also happening to many other uncounted organisms — organisms whose loss would be equally tragic,” Oberhauser said.

Cut Flowers: A Major Yet Little-Known Source of Toxic Pesticides

Are you giving toxic flowers to your sweetheart? Cut flower growers are among the heaviest users of agricultural chemicals, including pesticides that are suspected of being among the most toxic. The pesticide problem is not restricted to cut flowers. More than half of garden plants attractive to bees and sold at Home Depot and Lowe’s are pre-treated with pesticides that could be lethal to bees. Learn how to get safe, non-toxic flowers.

The Coconut Oil Myths: Exposing Some Common Myths Surrounding Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil: The "New" Super-food? Coconut oil's popularity continues to increase here in 2014, and as a result it seems like everyone has something to say about it. Since we have been writing and publishing research about coconut oil for over 13 years, it is time to update our article on common myths surrounding coconut oil. First, coconut oil is NOT new! It has been a staple in the diets of millions of people for thousands of years. So when you read someone stating that coconut oil is some new fad, or that the information regarding its health benefits is all "hype", you are reading one of the many myths being spread around on the Internet by those who are seemingly too lazy to do some basic research, or type "coconut oil" into the search field at PubMed. While it is decreasing, bias against coconut oil is still prevalent today, and people will write from this bias without even investigating the historical uses of coconut oil, or the vast amount of research conducted on coconut oil, particularly the medium chain fatty acids it contains. But the myths being spread around the Internet are not simply from those who have a bias against it. Many people trying to jump on the coconut oil popularity bandwagon are also propagating some myths. So here is a look at some of the most common myths routinely found published on the Internet today:

Study: Hepatitis B Vaccine Damages The Liver

Startling new research published in the journal Apoptosis indicates that hepatitis B vaccine, which is designed to prevent Hepatitis B virus-induced damage to the liver, actually causes liver cell destruction. In the study, researchers found the hepatitis B vaccine induced a "loss of mitochondrial integrity, apoptosis induction, and cell death" in liver cells exposed to a low dose of adjuvanted hepatitis B vaccine. The adjuvant used was aluminum hydroxide, which is increasingly being identified as a contributing cause of autoimmune disease in immunized populations.

Forbes: How Flu Shots Became Big Sales Booster For Walgreens, CVS

Last year we reported how routine flu shots were given out in the big chain drug stores like Walgreens and CVS, even though the flu shots have package inserts which lists severe side effects, and encourages people to discuss certain health conditions with a physician prior to receiving a flu vaccine. The package insert for this year's High-Dose vaccine for seniors, for example, reveals that 23 seniors died during the drug trials. We also previously reported that the flu vaccine is the most dangerous vaccine in the United States, based on actual payments made by the government to vaccine injuries and deaths. Flu vaccine damages that are awarded to the victims total more than all other vaccines combined. Nevertheless, since 2009 pharmacists, not physicians or nurses, can now administer to the flu vaccine to anyone walking into a national pharmacy chain store like Walgreens or CVS. This has resulted in a cash boom for these large corporations.

CDC Inflates Flu Death Stats to Sell More Flu Vaccines

Lawrence Solomon of the Huffington Post in Canada has written a very insightful analysis of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) annual estimates of deaths due to influenza. The CDC claims that deaths due to the annual flu range from 3,000 to 49,000 deaths each year. As can be seen from the graphic above, which is a screen shot of selected text directly from the CDC's own website, the CDC claims they don't really know how many people die from the flu each year. The reason given as to why they make estimates is "it is important to convey the full burden of the seasonal flu to the public." What they would like you to believe, of course, is that the flu is dangerous and tens of thousands of people are dying from it. But the other way that statement could be read, is that the burden to the public is to purchase more flu vaccines, since they are manufactured ahead of time and stockpiled for the flu season. According to Lawrence Solomon, that is exactly what they are doing. They are inflating the numbers to encourage more flu vaccine sales. While the most common number cited by the media is 36,000 deaths a year, actual death certificates only list about 500 per year. And since a laboratory test is not usually taken to determine if it was actually the influenza virus, only 15-20 percent of those 500 recorded flu deaths were actually due to the flu, which means the real numbers are about 100 or less. But it would be very difficult to sell 145 million doses of the flu vaccine if the public knew less than 100 people died each year from the flu.

Organic Farms are Home to Around 30 percent More Wildlife Species

Organic farms are home to around 30 per cent more wildlife species than conventional farms, a meta-analysis of nearly 100 studies by researchers form the University of Oxford and from Sweden and Switzerland has found. "This result has been robust over the last 30 years of published studies and shows no sign of diminishing," they concluded. They also noted: "The effect size varies with the organism group and crop studied, and is greater in landscapes with higher land-use intensity," while the effect was also smaller in orchards and vegetable fields than on arable land. But pollinating insects showed an even more marked benefit from organic practices, with species numbers around 50 per cent higher.

Coriander Oil Treats Vigorous Athlete’s Feet Between the Toes

Researchers from Germany’s University of Hamburg Medical Center have confirmed in a clinical study that coriander oil treats the most vigorous type of athlete’s feet: interdigital tinea pedis – which means athlete’s feet that has developed between the toes.

How Much Cancer-Causing 4-MeI May Be in Your Soda?

Caramel color, which is widely used in brown soft drinks, may cause cancer due to 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI), a chemical byproduct formed when certain types of caramel coloring are manufactured. 4-MeI has been found to cause cancer in animals and the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared it to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. A Consumer Reports study found levels of 4-MeI in soft drinks at levels that exceed those requiring a cancer warning label. Caramel color may be listed on labels as “artificial flavor” or “caramel color”.

Cancer Vaccines: The Next Huge Market for Big Pharma Depends on No Cures for Cancer

The cancer industry is probably the most lucrative business in the United States. $6 billion of tax-payer funds are cycled through various federal agencies for cancer research, such as the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI states that the medical costs of cancer care is $125 billion, with a projected 39 percent increase to $173 billion by 2020. Can you think of any other industry with those kinds of numbers and that kind of expected growth? With the approval of the first cancer vaccine, we are about to see dreams of pharmaceutical companies come true: the wedding of the two most financially lucrative medical sectors, cancer treatment and vaccines. There is just one obvious problem with viewing cancer (or any other disease) as a profitable market for drugs and vaccines: the market value and growth potential is predicated on NOT finding a cure for the disease. Market growth depends on more sick people, not less.

Should Supplements Be Regulated Like Drugs?

Pro-pharmaceutical spokesmen have been repeatedly quoted as saying that dietary supplements are unregulated and need stricter oversight due to the hazards they pose to your health. This is patently false, and you only have to look at the very first sentence on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Website to settle that dispute. There, it plainly states: “FDA regulates both finished dietary supplement products and dietary ingredients. FDA regulates dietary supplements under a different set of regulations than those covering ‘conventional’ foods and drug products. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA): FDA is responsible for taking action against any unsafe dietary supplement product after it reaches the market.” Dr. Paul Offit and others want supplements to be regulated like drugs, ostensibly to ensure their safety and effectiveness. But are drugs really safer? Prescription medications kill over 100,000 people each year when properly prescribed, while vitamins have not caused a single death in 27 years.

New Farm Bill Sneaks in Dangerous Fluoride Amendment

Capitol Hill’s most powerful special interests resorted again to underhanded tactics. The Senate just passed the $1 trillion dollar Farm Bill with a vote of 68 to 32 (the House gave its approval last Wednesday). As you may recall, the most recent version of this cumbersome bill had serious ramifications for farmers, GMO labeling, and consumer access to locally sourced foods. What that earlier version didn’t have was an amendment that will expose Americans, and especially children, to dangerous amounts of fluoride residue—yet such an amendment was somehow snuck into the final, 949-page Farm Bill just forty-eight hours before it went to vote.

California Legalized Selling Food Made At Home And Created Over A Thousand Local Businesses

Since January 2013 after the passage of California bill AB 1616 allowing homemade food to be sold legally, over 1,200 homemade food businesses have been approved in the State of California.

New Alzheimer’s Drugs Continue to Fail Where Coconut Oil Shines

News here in 2014 is reporting that two more Alzheimer drugs have failed during drug trials. Alzheimer's Disease represents a huge market for pharmaceutical companies, as millions of people are suffering from the disease, and the rate is increasing rapidly. Many pharmaceutical companies are trying to develop Alzheimer's drugs and vaccines. However, if we are to truly understand the Alzheimer's epidemic, we need to stop viewing senior citizens as a lucrative market for pharmaceutical products. The most successful drug of all time, Lipitor, is a cholesterol-lowering drug aimed at seniors that at one time out sold all other drugs combined. It is estimated that today one out every four Americans over the age of 55 is now taking statin drugs to artificially lower their body's cholesterol. Unfortunately, there is research pointing to a lack of cholesterol uptake to the brain as being associated with Alzheimer's patients. Therefore, poor dietary advice and excessive pharmaceutical drugs must be considered as a primary cause of Alzheimer's Disease. All across the globe, people are starting to use coconut oil to treat Alzheimer's Disease, and the results have been nothing less than remarkable. In this report we take a look at some of these stories, as well as looking at research linking the high-fat ketogenic diet to curing many diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Fenugreek – 6 Reasons Why This Herb and Spice Belongs In Your Medicine Cabinet

Trigonella foenum in graecum (Fenugreek) is a traditional herbal plant used to treat disorders like diabetes, low lactation, respiratory ailments, wounds, inflammation, gastrointestinal ailments, detoxification of heavy metals, pain, colds and even cancer.

Ketogenic Diet Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Numerous Aging Markers

A high-fat low-carb ketogenic diet can optimize your metabolism. Numerous studies have shown that lowering your caloric intake may slow down aging, help prevent age-related chronic diseases, and extend your life. As you age, your levels of glucose, insulin and triglycerides tend to gradually creep upward. A 2010 study examined the effects of a high-fat diet on typical markers of aging. Study participants were given a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with adequate protein, and the results were health improvements across the board. Serum leptin decreased by an average of eight percent, insulin by 48 percent, fasting glucose by 40 percent, triglycerides by nearly eight percent, and free T3 (thyroid hormone) by almost six percent.

The Top 5 Health Benefits of Oregano

Oregano contains vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as fiber, folate, iron, magnesium, vitamin B6, calcium, and potassium. Oregano has anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal effects, and may kill MRSA, listeria, and other pathogens. Oregano essential oil may be useful for respiratory ailments like colds and flu. Adding oregano to meat before cooking may help reduce the amount of toxic compounds created by the cooking process.