Deodorant Kills 12 Year Old Boy

A boy of 12 collapsed and died after using 'copious' amounts of deodorant in a cramped bathroom, an inquest heard. Daniel Hurley was overcome by solvents in the Lynx Vice spray and his heart began to beat irregularly, the hearing was told.

His father Robert found him collapsed in the bath at the family home after spraying on too much of the deodorant. Mr Hurley said he had desperately tried to revive Daniel but the schoolboy died in hospital five days later from cardiac arrhythmia - or abnormal heart rhythms. He told the inquest in Derby on Wednesday that Daniel 'was always putting gel on his hair and spraying deodorant'.

Mr Hurley told the inquest he had been making tea while his son used the bathroom at their home in Sandiacre, near Nottingham. 'The bathroom is adjacent to the kitchen and I shouted to see if he was OK,' he said. 'I heard nothing so I shouted again but did not get a reply. 'I forced the door open and found Daniel in the bath. I checked for his heart rate and his breath but he was not breathing.'

An ambulance took Daniel to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre. He died five days later on January 12 this year.

Consultant pathologist Dr Andrew Hitchcock, who carried out a postmortem examination on Daniel, said he found no evidence of substance abuse. There was also no evidence of any life-threatening disease, alcohol or drugs in Daniel's body.

Full Story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1087772/Boy-12-collapsed-died-using-Lynx-deodorant.html

My Comment:

Hopefully this tragic incident will bring to light that our "personal care products" should be called our "weapons of individual destruction" or WIDs. While most people will not succumb to instant death from putting on their deodorant, everyone will have some type of detrimental consequences.

From shampoo to soap, from deodorant to hair care products, from toothpaste to moisturizing lotion (and suntan lotion), everything we slather ourselves in on a daily basis adds to a toxic load our body has to deal with. Our skin is our largest organ, so when we apply this chemical concoctions on the surface of our body, we are really "ingesting" these chemicals.

Think about the drug company's products: nicotine patch, birth control patch, ADHD patch, lidocane patch, progesterone cream, and many, many more. There are many transdermal pharmaceutical products on the market using a variety of packaging; patches, creams and gels. These products rely on the fact that the skin makes an excellent delivery vehicle for chemicals to easily get into the body. This is exactly what is happening every day when we go through our morning rituals.

For more information on personal care products, please visit the following two websites maintained by two personal friends of mine that are truly passionate about this topic:

Heather Carmona's Pure Alternatives:
http://www.PureAlternatives.net/

Jane Griffith's Skin Essentials:
http://www.SkinEssentials.us/

8 Signs That a Child May Be Autistic

(HealthDay News) -- Autism is a childhood developmental disorder that has no cure. Autistic children have problems with social interaction, communication, and may engage in repetitive behaviors.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke lists these common symptoms of autism:

1. Seeming withdrawn, unresponsive or indifferent to others in social settings.
2. Not responding when the person's name is called.
3. Not making eye contact with other people.
4. Difficulty communicating with others.
5. Repetitive movements or behaviors, such as rocking, twirling or self-abuse.
6. Disinterest in or aversion to physical affection.
7. Delayed speech and verbal development.
8. Not knowing how to play with other children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081122/hl_hsn/healthtipsignsthatachildmaybeautistic

My Comment:

What do you think about the statement "Autism has no cure"?

Visit my blog to take my poll:
Can Autism Be Cured Through Diet?

Google Tracks Flu by Spying on You

I saw this on the Drudge Report:

SICK SURVEILLANCE:
GOOGLE REPORTS FLU SEARCHES, LOCATIONS TO FEDS
Tue Nov 11 2008 15:34:50 ET

GOOGLE will launch a new tool that will help federal officials "track sickness".

"Flu Trends" uses search terms that people put into the web giant to figure out where influenza is heating up, and will notify the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in real time!

GOOGLE, continuing to work closely with government, claims it would keep individual user data confidential: "GOOGLE FLU TRENDS can never be used to identify individual users because we rely on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur each week."

Engineers will capture keywords and phrases related to the flu, including thermometer, flu symptoms, muscle aches, chest congestion and others.

Dr. Lyn Finelli, chief of influenza surveillance at CDC: "One thing we found last year when we validated this model is it tended to predict surveillance data. The data are really, really timely. They were able to tell us on a day-to-day basis the relative direction of flu activity for a given area. They were about a week ahead of us. They could be used... as early warning signal for flu activity."

Thomas Malone, professor at M.I.T.: "I think we are just scratching the surface of what's possible with collective intelligence."

Eric Schmidt, GOOGLE's chief executive vows: "From a technological perspective, it is the beginning." Developing...

My Comment:
Scary stuff! I hope they don't use this for making flu vaccines mandatory. Worse yet, I hope they don't report on search terms like "how to avoid vaccines", "vaccines and autism", "chicken pox party" or any other vaccine related term. Fast forward 10 years... will the government swoop down on a city and jab every kid in the neighborhood if there are too many vaccine related searches?!?!?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Maybe this will allow Microsoft or some other company to promote their search engine - and highlight the fact that your data will not be sent to Big Brother.

People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid

Most of the cells in your body are not your own, nor are they even human. They are bacterial. From the invisible strands of fungi waiting to sprout between our toes, to the kilogram of bacterial matter in our guts, we are best viewed as walking "superorganisms," highly complex conglomerations of human cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses.

That's the view of scientists at Imperial College London who published a paper in Nature Biotechnology Oct. 6 describing how these microbes interact with the body. Understanding the workings of the superorganism, they say, is crucial to the development of personalized medicine and health care in the future because individuals can have very different responses to drugs, depending on their microbial fauna.

The scientists concentrated on bacteria. More than 500 different species of bacteria exist in our bodies, making up more than 100 trillion cells. Because our bodies are made of only some several trillion human cells, we are somewhat outnumbered by the aliens. It follows that most of the genes in our bodies are from bacteria, too.

Luckily for us, the bacteria are on the whole commensal, sharing our food but doing no real harm. (The word derives from the Latin meaning to share a table for dinner.) In fact, they are often beneficial: Our commensal bacteria protect us from potentially dangerous infections. They do this through close interaction with our immune systems.

read more digg story

My Comment:

I think the concept of the human body being outnumbered by bacteria is an important one to be aware of. There are more that 100 trillion bacterial cells in our body - most of them are in our gut. The bacteria outnumbers human / somatic cells by a factor of about 10 to 1. These bacteria and our overall gut health provide us with about 80% of our immunity. Something to think about when you eat a lot sugar (food for the bad bacteria in the gut) or take antibiotics (kills good and bad bacteria). Take care of your friendly flora in your gut, and they will take care of you.

Students Celebrate Locally Grown Food

The zoology class didn't raise eyebrows this week when it butchered a lamb grown by students and slaughtered by a teacher. "They hung it with a front-end loader and butchered it like a deer," said Emily Reardon, who teaches nutrition through gardening.

Springport High School sophomore Shanon Bell, trimming bite-size chunks of barbecued lamb Friday, said she enjoys the hands-on education at Springport.

"This is a lot more fun than at my last school,'' she said. She transferred from Dexter schools.

Springport has the most active FFA, or Future Farmers of America, chapter and agriscience program in Jackson County, and most students grow up around farming and hunting.

The school celebrated locally grown food Friday with HarvestFest, and kicked off a can drive for needy families.

Students prepared and cooked potatoes from Lyle Curtis Farm of Brooklyn, and squash and apples grown by a Springport teacher.

Elementary students spent part of the day making apple crisp, while others cooked and mashed potatoes or baked squash. Every student had the chance to taste lamb and lamb bratwurst, plus bigger helpings of apple crisp, potatoes and squash.

"I love lamb. I eat it whenever I can,'' said senior Josh Raymond. He is among dozens of students who have raised animals on school grounds

The lamb was roasted outside on a spit. It was among hundreds of animals students have raised and marketed since 2005.

The student cooperative -- funded by students -- also grows greenhouse vegetables, beef cattle and pastured chickens.

read more digg story

My Comment:

Boy, I was excited last week when my son brought home his school newsletter for November. The newsletter notified parents of the school using organic snacks. The school was providing some organic snacks, and asked parent to buy some organic snacks too. This is great for the toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners at his school.

But, those kids at Springport Highschool in Springport Michigan, really have a great program. That is an awesome story! What a great opportunity for kids to learn about food, and better yet, enjoy the wonderful tastes of fresh local homemade food. Yummy!

Pesticides Cause Limbless Baby

Ag-Mart, which sells tomatoes in grocery stores across the country, routinely forces workers to labor in fields freshly sprayed with pesticides. One woman, who bore a child with no arms or legs, says the company's practices are the reason for her son's deformities.

read more digg story

My Comment:

This should make us think twice when we pickup a new shiny red tomato from our supermarket shelf. So many of the fruits and vegetables that can be found at the local grocery store are sprayed with toxins. While they are bad for us, there even worse for the workers exposed to the pesticides.

My "favorite" part of the above news story:
Enoc Villalobos, who continues to work as a pesticide sprayer for Ag-Mart, was the third worker who testified Wednesday. He said supervisors tell him not to spray near any workers, and they mark freshly sprayed fields with signs that warn "Do Not Enter."

Sure, that "Do Not Enter" sign will eliminate any health risks of spraying toxic pesticides!

We have two choices to solve the problem:
1. Ask President Obama and the goverment to create more policies and stricter rules.
2. Stop buying toxic veggies.

One way to stop buying toxic veggies is to learn which ones are bad. Better yet, buy organic. Even better, buy LOCAL organic and/or local biodynamic.

Here's an article I saved from about 10 years ago. Please let me know if you feel it is out of date. I think it's a good starting point for people who are not buying organic (yet) and want to minimize there exposure to pesticides.

Twelve Fruits and Vegetables to Avoid -- Unless You Buy Organic
edited by Aliess Margaret Brady
From information on the web site of The Environmental Working Group.
Conscious Choice, November/December 1998

What can you do to reduce your intake of pesticides? Knowing which foods consistently contain the largest amounts of pesticides is the first step. The Environmental Working Group obtained data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the amount of pesticides in 42 fruits and vegetables. They found that more than half of the total dietary risk from pesticides in these foods was concentrated in just 12 crops.

The pesticides that were found in these foods are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as probable human carcinogens, nervous system poisons and endocrine system disrupters.

Twelve most pesticide-contaminated foods:
1. Strawberries
2. (tie) Bell Peppers, Green and Red
2. (tie) Spinach
4. Cherries, U.S.
5. Peaches
6. Cantaloupe, Mexican
7. Celery
8. Apples
9. Apricots
10. Green beans
11. Grapes, Chilean
12. Cucumbers

What does this mean for consumers? We recommend that you purchase produce with less, and less toxic, pesticides on them. By avoiding the most contaminated produce, consumers will substantially reduce their dietary pesticide risks. To help farm workers, look for the Union Label.

Substitutes
If you can't always buy organic, but don't want to reduce your intake of certain vitamins and minerals in the most pesticide-ridden fruits and vegetables, there are many nutritious and healthful alternatives. All of these alternatives include at least ten percent or more of the daily value of at least one of the vitamins in the contaminated food.

Strawberries (source of vitamin C) -- Substitute with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe, kiwis, or watermelon.

Bell peppers & Green peppers (source of vitamin C) -- Substitute with green peas, broccoli, or Romaine lettuce.

Red Peppers (source of Vitamin A [Carotenoids], vitamin C) -- Substitute with romaine lettuce, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, or tomatoes.

Spinach (source of Vitamin A [carotenoids], vitamin C, folic acid) -- Substitute with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, romaine lettuce, or asparagus. (Spinach and other leafy greens like kale and collards contain lutein, a carotenoid, that is not abundant in these substitutes. Lutein may reduce the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly.)

Cherries, U.S. (source of vitamin C) -- Substitute with oranges, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe, or kiwis.

Peaches (source of vitamin A [carotenoids], vitamin C) -- Substitute with U.S. nectarines, cantaloupe, watermelon, tangerines, oranges, or red or pink grapefruit.

Cantaloupe, Mexican (source of vitamin A [carotenoids], vitamin C, and potassium) -- Buy U.S. cantaloupe in season (May-December), or watermelon.

Celery (carotenoids, not a good source of vitamins) -- Substitute with carrots, romaine lettuce, broccoli, or radishes.

Apples (source of vitamin C) -- Substitute with pears, oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe, kiwis, watermelon, nectarines, bananas, tangerines, or virtually any fruit not on the list of the most contaminated foods.

Apricots (source of vitamin A [carotenoids], vitamin C, potassium) -- Substitute with nectarines (U.S.), cantaloupe, watermelon, tangerines, oranges, red or pink grapefruit, or watermelon.

Green beans (Not a good source of vitamins or carotenoids) -- Substitute with green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, or asparagus.
Grapes, Chilean (source of vitamin C) -- Buy U.S. grapes in season (May December).

Cucumbers (Not a good source of vitamins or carotenoids) -- Substitute with carrots, romaine lettuce, broccoli, radishes, or virtually any vegetable not on the list of the most contaminated foods.

Sources: Environmental Working Group, compiled from FDA and EPA data; Center for Science in the Public Interest. Nutrition Action Health Letter, January-February 1995, October 1994, May 1992, December 1991.

The above was copied directly from ConsciousChoice.com.

Put Your Heart in Your Mouth

Put Your Heart in Your Mouth by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is a must read if you or someone you love is concerned about high cholesterol and heart disease. For decades, we have followed the advice of the news media about lowering cholesterol with statin drugs like Lipitor and eating a lowfat diet. Have we eliminated heart disease yet? Not by a long shot!

The majority of nutritional studies are funded by major industries, which skews the results at best, or worse, completely gives us the wrong advice. Hopefully, by now, we all should know that margarine is one of the worst things that we can eat, especially on a heart healthy diet.

My favorite statistic about coronary heart disease (CHD) is that 50% of people with CHD had high cholesterol. That means that 50% of people with CHD have low or normal cholesterol. DOH! I guess we've been barking up the wrong tree.

If you are looking for a holistic nutritional approach to heart disease, then pickup the book Put Your Heart in Your Mouth.

Click here to order online.

BioKult

If you are a fan of the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, you know that one of the key supplements to gut health is probiotics. In fact, there are 8 pages in the book dedicated to the topic of probiotic supplements. This post will briefly introduce the most recommended probiotic supplement for GAPS patients: BioKult.

Dr. Campbell-McBride lists a variety of conditions that are shown to respond to treatment of probiotics. Here's just a small sampling of the list. Note, these all have been in published scientific papers (they are not anecdotal).

• allergies, including food allergy
• autism
• chronic viral infections
• urogenital infections
• arthritis
• diabetes
• clinical infections
• autoimmune disorders

Although probiotics are key to good health, they are not a replacement for a poor diet. In fact, I wouldn't waste my time taking probiotics if I ate tons of processed foods and lots of sugar. Diet is the most powerful thing you can do to regain (or destroy) good health. Once a good diet is in place, you can start a probiotic supplementation program to re-establish gut bacteria and lay a foundation for good health.

On page 171 of Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride states that it takes around 6 months probiotic supplementation to remove patheogenic flora and start re-establishing normal gut flora. This is not simply taking one pill a day. She is referring to taking a therapeutic dose. For a child, that would be anywhere from 2-12 billion bacterial cells per day (depending on their age). For an adult, that would be 15-20 billion bacterial cells per day. That might seem like a lot. But, consider this: Our gut is home to 100 trillion cells of bacteria. We have less that 10 trillion human cells that make up our body. We are outnumbered 10-1 by bacteria!

On page 171 of Gut and Psychology Syndrome, several guidelines are listed for buying a quality probiotic supplement:

1. A good bacteria should have as many different species of beneficial bacteria as possible.
2. A mixture of strains from different groups of probiotic bacteria is more beneficial than just one group.
3. A good probiotic should have a concentrated amount of bacteria of at least 8 billion bacterial cells per gram.
4. The manufacturer of the probiotic should test every batch for strength and bacterial composition.

How do I find a therapeutic strength probiotic?
A team of doctors, nutritionists and scientists dedicated to advancing the research and use of probiotic health supplements, founded Cambridge Bioceuticals Limited. They developed a probiotic supplement called Bio-Kult. As of October 2008, BioKult is now being produced by Probiotics International Limited, under the name Protexin.

Why is BioKult recommended for GAPS patients?

• Contains 14 strains of friendly bacteria
• 10 billion bacterial cells per gram
• 2 billion probiotic bacteria per capsule
• Every batch is tested for strength and composition
  

Where can I buy Bio-Kult?
Order BioKult probiotics online.

Or call: 1-888-5-Bio-Kult

Image courtesy of:
http://BioKult.org/