Alternative Health looks at alternative ways of treating illness apart from the medical system.
Is Avoiding the Sun Worse than Smoking?
Over the past 40+ years, dermatologists have promoted the idea that you should never be exposed to direct sunlight because it will damage your skin and cause skin cancer. You might wonder, well what about vitamin D? No problem, as according to the American Academy of Dermatology, vitamin D deficiency can easily be addressed with vitamin D supplements. What they fail to acknowledge and appreciate is that when you’re exposed to sunlight, many important biological processes occur in your skin, not just vitamin D production. This is separate from swallowing oral vitamin D, which is an important but, according to many experts, clearly inferior alternative. While it will improve your vitamin D status, you forgo the many benefits sunlight offers aside from vitamin D production. Unfortunately, the entire focus of most dermatologists is preventing skin damage, which means ignoring the other side—the benefits—of the sun exposure equation. This includes heightened protection against a number of internal cancers and other chronic diseases, including heart disease, which kills far more people than melanoma does. Ironically, recent research shows that vitamin D also improves survival outcomes for melanoma patients. It’s also important for cognitive health, immune function, healthy pregnancy and infant development, and strong, healthy bones, just to name a few.
Cannaphobia: What’s Up With Fear of Marijuana?
As with numerous holistic or so-called complementary and alternative medicine modalities, there is nothing new about healing with cannabis! Cannabis is an herb that has had a place in traditional — meaning ancient — medicine for thousands of years, dating back as far as 2637 B.C. in China. How is it possible that cannabis, which has documented efficacy in a host of medical conditions, is illegal according to the federal government and classified as a schedule 1 substance “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” and at the same time the government holds a patent on cannabis?
Online Cancer Summit Reveals Proven Cancer Cures to Combat $BILLION Cancer Industry that Depends on No Cure to Grow
We have lost the war on cancer. At the beginning of the last century, one person in twenty would get cancer. In the 1940s it was one out of every sixteen people. In the 1970s it was one person out of ten. Today one person out of three gets cancer in the course of their life. The cancer industry is probably the most prosperous business in the United States. In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US. $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 are $125 billion, with a projected 39 percent increase to $173 billion by 2020. The simple fact is that the cancer industry employs too many people and produces too much income to allow a cure to be found. All of the current research on cancer drugs is based on the premise that the cancer market will grow, not shrink. Don't be a cancer statistic! Ty Bollinger has become the leader of alternative cancer information in the United States. Last year (2015), Ty traveled around the world interviewing 131 doctors, researchers, and several cancer survivors to create an alternative cancer documentary series. This film series has already been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and saved many lives. Starting April 12, 2016, the entire documentary series will be shown online and can be viewed for FREE!
How Turmeric Can Prevent Cancer
With over 100 different types of this life threatening disease, it sometimes seems like getting a cancer diagnosis may be inevitable. According to the 2014 statistics from the American Cancer Society, cancer causes nearly 1 out of 4 deaths in the United States. However, emerging research studies prove that your diet plays a vital role in preventing cancer. One common kitchen ingredient that you can add to your anti-cancer diet today is turmeric. Studied extensively by the University of Texas and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the bright yellow-orange earthy tasting Asian spice commonly found in curry is now a well-known cancer preventing food. These groundbreaking studies found that turmeric might just be one of the most effective common ingredients in the world for keeping you healthy and cancer-free. If you’re still are not convinced, then keep reading to discover for yourself the top five health benefits of this cancer-fighting rhizome (root).
For Healthy Skin, Feed Your Body Right
When it comes to your skin, beauty is more than skin-deep. What you eat has a lot to do with the appearance of your complexion, and a number of skin problems, such as acne, can be cleared up simply by altering your diet. As a general rule, a diet high in fresh vegetables, which are rich in bioflavanoids, and plenty of omega-3 fat will lay the necessary groundwork for a healthy, youthful complexion. Certain nutrients also have protective benefits, helping you ward off the damage caused by exposure to the elements. Do remember, however, that loading up on certain skin-clearing foods while still eating some of the most damaging will likely not make a significant impact. For example, insulin and leptin resistance are major accelerants of the aging processes, which affect both your inside and outside, so it’s important to keep your insulin and leptin levels low if you want to maintain a youthful look — not to mention optimal health. The most effective way to do this is by reducing or eliminating processed foods, as they’re high in refined sugar, processed fructose, trans fats, processed salt, and other detrimental ingredients. Drugs and alcohol are also clearly enemies of a glowing complexion, and pasteurized dairy products are sometimes to blame for skin ailments. One of the first strategies you can use to improve your skin health is to make sure you are getting enough high quality omega-3 fats. This is such a reliable indicator that I can usually tell someone's omega-3 needs just by shaking their hand. If their hand is not smooth as a baby's behind, it's usually a strong indication of omega-3 deficiency.
Medical Cannabis Gets Green-Light for Autism Treatment and Research
In January 2016, Hillary Clinton unveiled an autism initiative that was focused on bringing greater awareness to the epidemic. Clinton, who has received more pharmaceutical industry money than any leading political figure in the United States, wants “to ensure that all children, and in particular children from underserved backgrounds, can get screened for autism.” Reading between the political red tape and double speak, Clinton and the pharmaceutical industry are looking to create a funnel to drive millions affected by the autism spectrum into the drug company’s arms. There is a lot of buzz these days coming from the political and medical hot potato that is medical cannabis (marijuana). Many states are wrestling with current legislation, desperate not to give full control of this plant’s healing powers over to the people without high taxes and tracking systems. Two major events have just occurred within the last week. First, Pennsylvania is moving to become the first state to list autism as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana. If Pennsylvania’s SB3 becomes law, it will legally protect doctors who want to prescribe medical marijuana. In addition, the law would give parents and their children access to a powerful medical tool that would be covered by insurance. The second major event that is currently in the works is the world’s first official crowdfunded medical marijuana study at Colorado State University. Headed by Thorsten Rudroff, director of Colorado State University’s (CSU) Integrative Neurophysiology Lab, the study aims to conduct tests on at least 20 MS patients in northern Colorado who already are using medical marijuana and compare them with members of a control group of the same size who do not.
FDA Seeks to Eliminate Competition from Natural Thyroid Medications Like Armour Thyroid
The government is waging a vendetta against Armour Thyroid, because it is natural, and instead is promoting incomplete and synthetic thyroid medications. In addition, if the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) goes through with recent proposals, thousands of patients with similar thyroid conditions may lose access to the compounded version of natural thyroid medications they rely upon to treat their hypothyroidism. In a list of the top 100 most prescribed, top selling drugs in 2015, Synthroid was the number one most prescribed drug, bringing in $1,022,330,738 in sales. Natural thyroid, and the compounding pharmacies that produce it, therefore represent an annoyance to the government-sponsored monopolists running Big Pharma.
Study: Substituting Cannabis for Alcohol and Deadly Prescription Drugs Offers Hope
A recently published study in the Drug and Alcohol Review examined 473 adults who substituted cannabis (marijuana) for "alcohol, illicit substances and prescription drugs." The subjects were using cannabis for therapeutic purposes (as opposed to the recreational use of marijuana). The study found that: "Substituting cannabis for one or more of alcohol, illicit drugs or prescription drugs was reported by 87% (n = 410) of respondents, with 80.3% reporting substitution for prescription drugs, 51.7% for alcohol, and 32.6% for illicit substances." Given the relative safety of cannabis (no recorded deaths from side effects of cannabis), and the tens of thousands of people who die every year from prescription drugs, cannabis should be looked at as a viable treatment for a variety of illnesses, as well as a substitute for "other psychoactive substances" that cause great harm through addiction and multiple side effects.
First Ever Holistic Cannabis Online Summit Launches
With the rapidly changing of state laws nationwide regarding access to cannabis (marijuana), there is renewed interest in research and use of cannabis for non-recreational health benefits. Prior to 1937 and the Marijuana Tax Act, which began the process of making cannabis illegal in the United States, cannabis was part of the American Medical Association’s prescribed pharmacopoeia for a variety of ailments, and doctors routinely wrote prescriptions for it. Today, researchers are looking at various varieties of cannabis to combat many illnesses where pharmaceutical products have largely failed, from cancer to Alzheimer's disease to epilepsy and many others. Because of out-dated federal laws still in place against cannabis, much of this research in the past has been hard to find, and non-mainstream. So even today, if one were to search for information on different varieties or how to treat illness with cannabis, that information is sorely lacking. Much of the online information is targeting the recreational use of marijuana. To address this need, the first ever HolisticCannabis Summit was organized by the HolisticCannabis Network for April 4-7, 2016. It features an all-star lineup of speakers that include medical doctors and other holistic health professionals knowledgeable in the area of cannabis or "medical marijuana."
Now Even the US Attorney General Is Slandering Supplements!
Like the flawed Frontline documentary, like New York state’s attorney general, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch is spreading gross misinformation about dietary supplements. Last week, Attorney General Lynch released a video for National Consumer Protection Week about supplements. Excuse us, but since when is the US attorney general an expert on this subject? Since she obviously isn’t, she must be relying on distortions and untruths she has been fed by other agencies of the government such as the FDA and Centers for Disease Control. For instance, Ms. Lynch warns consumers against “ingesting substances whose safety and efficacy are not guaranteed” by FDA study. As we pointed out in our response to PBS, pharmaceutical drugs are also not studied by the FDA. The agency relies on industry studies to determine if new drugs can come to market. No independent review is done to check the industry’s results, which has led to all kinds of manipulation and sometimes disastrous outcomes (see the examples of Vioxx and Avandia). And after approval is granted, the actual medicine itself is never tested, even though it may be manufactured in Chinese plants or other faraway locales.
The Health Benefits of Mushrooms
There is, perhaps, no other food source surrounded by such mystery and magic as mushrooms. Mushrooms are actually the fruit of mycelium, which is a "filamentous, cobweb-like cellular network." The cobwebby mycelium exudes enormous suites of enzymes, antimicrobial agents, antiviral compounds, as it grows in the ground beneath our feet and in the forests around us. Mycelium is the cellular foundation of our food webs, creating the rich soils so necessary for life. Mycelium is a digestive membrane that also destroys many environmental toxic wastes, and has spawned a new science -- called "Mycoremediation" … Partnering with mycelium improves environmental health -- outside and inside our body. About 100 species of mushrooms are being studied for their health-promoting benefits. Of those 100, about a half dozen really stand out for their ability to deliver a tremendous boost to your immune system, which might, in turn, help fight or prevent cancer.
Heartburn Can Be Easily Eliminated Without Hazardous, Habit Forming Drugs
An estimated 15 to 20 million Americans use acid inhibiting drugs to treat heartburn. Indeed, PPIs are among the most widely prescribed drugs today, with annual sales of about $14 billion. This despite the fact that they were never intended to treat heartburn in the first place. Research clearly shows that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are severely overprescribed and misused, and do far more harm than good in the long run. If you suffer from frequent heartburn, rest assured there are many alternative treatment strategies that will help you eliminate this problem without serious side effects, which I'll review toward the end of this article.
FDA Seeks to Ban Some Supplements from Pharmacy Compounding
More supplements face the axe at the next meeting of the FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee. If recent history is any indication, the outlook is not good—unless we push back.
FBI vs. Apple Computer: Will an FBI Win Over Apple Mean the End of American Society as We Know it?
Is the FBI's recent demand that Apple Computer help them to unlock an iPhone used in an alleged terrorist attack a concern over national security, or a way to force Apple to create a "backdoor" key to unlock anyone's iPhone? John McAfee, the founder of McAfee security software, recently weighed in on this issue during an interview with CNBC. McAfee offered to unlock the iPhone for the FBI for free, eliminating the need for the FBI to force Apple Computers to give them access to their software to unlock the phone. If the FBI succeeds in getting a back-door encryption key, according to McAfee: "No matter how you slice this pie, if the government succeeds in getting this back door, it will eventually get a back door into all encryption, and our world, as we know it, is over. In spite of the FBI's claim that it would protect the back door, we all know that's impossible. This is a black day and the beginning of the end of the US as a world power."
Study: Natural Ginger Alternative 10,000 Times More Effective than Chemo
A recently published study in PLoS indicates that a substance found in ginger called 6-shogaol is a potent agent in fighting breast cancer—much more potent than chemotherapy and much less dangerous. Shogaol—from the Japanese word for ginger—is special because it doesn’t merely target cancer cells in general, but cancer stem cells that are responsible for the growth of tumors. These cancer stem cells, while few in number, can self-renew, split off, and create new tumors, and are resistant to chemotherapy treatments.
FDA Attacks Brain Health Supplements
In October we told you about a potential new blockbuster drug for Alzheimer’s from drug giant Eli Lilly. Solanezumab is in the third and final phase of FDA drug trials, and if approved, could bring in at least $7.6 billion in sales by 2024 and probably much more. Other drug companies also have “big” Alzheimer’s drugs in the works. Now the FDA has sent warning letters to five supplement companies targeting the supplement picamilon, which may help with Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and general brain health. The FDA’s attack on picamilon appears to be an attempt to give Big Pharma an unobstructed playing field for their Alzheimer’s drug. Write to the FDA and tell them that picamilon is not a synthetic drug at all, and needs to stay on supplement store shelves!
Medical Cannabis Becoming More Available to American Consumers
As news about the disease-fighting abilities of medical cannabis (or medical marijuana) become more known, making cannabis a legitimate healing product rather than just a recreational drug, many consumers are beginning to research how one can avail of these curative natural medicines, and where to go to find them. Almost like dominoes falling against each other beginning with California, states have adopted medical marijuana laws to allow qualified patients access to home grown and locally dispensed cannabis products. California, Oregon, Washington State, and Colorado are the most well known. There are 19 other states plus the District of Columbia, bringing the total to 24 independent medical cannabis regions in the United States. There are a few additional states that allow cannabis without THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the compound that has psychoactive effects. The result is an oil or tincture that produces medicinal effects without the "high." These formulas have shown to be effective for children who suffer chronic epileptic seizures, for example. The CBD (cannabidiol) strain is initially what impressed CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta to reverse his negative stand on medical marijuana applications and declare his positive opinion openly on TV, endorsing medical cannabis.
Forensic Food Scientist Mike Adams Launches Non-profit Testing Initiative to Test Every U.S. City’s Water Supply
Two citizen scientists who lead a non-profit food and water laboratory in central Texas have teamed up to prevent children across America from being poisoned with lead in municipal water supplies. Forensic food scientist Mike Adams has teamed with a former NASA contract scientist to conduct nationwide scientific analysis of heavy metals in the tap water of U.S. cities. The effort is being organized by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (ConsumerWellness.org), with executive director Mike Adams leading the scientific analysis. Over the next three months, the team plans to test the water of at least 100 large U.S. cities, reporting the results to the public on the website EPAwatch.org.
How to Prevent and Treat Kidney Problems With Food
Your kidneys — two bean-shaped organs — are located just below your rib cage one on either side of your spine. Positioned on top of each kidney are your adrenal glands. Each day, your kidneys filter up to 150 quarts of blood and flush out waste products through your urine. One of the reasons why you need to drink enough water is to ensure healthy kidney function. In fact, chronic low-grade dehydration is one of the most common causes of kidney stones. Poor kidney function is also associated with a number of other serious health problems, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
Reducing Salt Intake Might Harm Heart Failure Patients, Study Claims
Researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago followed more than 800 heart failure patients for an average of three years. Both their health status and salt intake were analyzed. It turned out that those following a low-sodium diet were 85 percent more likely to die or require hospitalization for heart disease compared to those who didn’t restrict their salt intake. Among those restricting their sodium intake, 42 percent died or were hospitalized for heart problems during the study, compared to 26 percent of those with no salt restrictions.