Facts About Fluoridation You Did Not Know

Facts About Fluoridation You Did Not Know: "Fluoride Is Not An Essential Nutrient, which means that no human disease (including dental decay) has ever been linked to a fluoride deficiency. (1)

The fluoride used to fluoridate water is an industrial waste product from the phosphate fertilizer industry. It is an unprocessed hazardous waste, contaminated with a number of toxins, particularly arsenic.

Fluoridation adds between 0.1 and 1.6 parts per billion (ppb) Arsenic to drinking water, and therefore violates the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for arsenic - which is 0 ppb. (2)

Hydrofluosilicic acid & sodium silicofluoride, which are the chemicals used to fluoridate 91% of fluoridated water in the US, have Never Been Tested for safety and effectiveness."

THE BODY CODE

THE BODY CODE: "Upon the surface of the physical body exists distinct points, that when used aloe or in unique combinations, form a code that has the potential to promote all forms of healing in the body. This code unlocks the quantum healing potential of our body, energetically corresponding to all that we experience and feel within our physical universe. The body always is attempting to move towards balance….this is the imperative of all systems in the body. What gets in the way of healing? Most of the time, we do. We are not trained in how to take care of our body to maximize its longevity and capacity to perform. We are also not taught how to heal our body when it becomes sick or out of balance.

Many healing technologies now exist that are based in ancient knowledge, allowing us to not only care for our body but to also miraculously accelerate healing. By understanding the interconnectedness of body, emotions and thoughts and how we create ourselves in this reality, we can then influence where energy flows in our body and thus influence its ability to heal."

TakePart Social Action Network: Controversial Issues, Activism, Environmental, Human Rights, Political News |

TakePart Social Action Network: Controversial Issues, Activism, Environmental, Human Rights, Political News |: "Your part in changing the world starts here"

• A Flap Over Foie Gras

  Submitted 2 months ago By Kylee Liegl

  From Newsweek -- Foie gras has been a delicacy for centuries, but its production method now has some surprising critics. Production and sale in the U.S. ...
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  • Factory Farming

  A Flap Over Foie Gras

  Submitted 2 months ago by Kylee Liegl

  

  From Newsweek --Foie gras has been a delicacy for centuries, but its production method now has some surprising critics. Production and sale in the U.S. may soon be illegal.
  

  “Seared and doused with a port-wine reduction, or baked with truffles into a terrine, it is the key to the restaurant industry's holy grail: the $20 appetizer. But to animal-rights activists, it's fur on a plate, an outrageous flaunting of humanity's dominion over other species, and at the same time a wedge issue that can usefully be wielded against the entire meat industry ”Full Article
• The Prison Overcrowding Fix

  Submitted 1 month ago By Toby Shuster

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  • Prison Overcrowding

  The Prison Overcrowding Fix

  Submitted 1 month ago by Toby Shuster

  From New York Times -- In February, 2009, it was decided by a federal court in San Francisco that the California prison system will reduce the number of its prisoners by one-third. This decision will bring the state's prisoner level down to approximately 101,000 inmates, improving the health care in California prisons.
  

  “ Federal judges tentatively ruled Monday that packed facilities were the chief impediment to adequate health care in prisons — a system so flawed it was tantamount to a violation of the Eighth Amendment. ”Full Article
• Secrets in Your Food

  Submitted 1 month ago By ungkyn
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  • Genetically Modified Food

  Secrets in Your Food

  Submitted 1 month ago by ungkyn

  From ABC News --Although there is little agreement over the safety of geneticaly modified foods, chances are it's already in your meal.
  

  “ Here are the facts: The majority of corn and soy products we eat are genetically modified. There is also some biotech papaya. ”Full Article
• Encountering Peace: The Sun Will Come Out ...

  Submitted 3 months ago By Brooke Minters
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  • Israel-Gaza Conflict

  Encountering Peace: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow - or Maybe Not

  Submitted 3 months ago by Brooke Minters

  From The Jerusalem Post --Israel has no systematic long-term strategy for dealing with Palestine, seeming to operate only in crisis mode. Equally as important as cultivating an exit strategy is the need to have a plan for Gaza after the conflict is over. As it stands, there is no leading school of thought for either.
  

  “ This may have really been a "war of no choice," however I am completely convinced that the policies implemented over the past years have led us directly to the point where we perhaps had no choice. ”Full Article

  
  
• Egg Farm Video

  Submitted 1 month ago By Kylee Liegl
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  • Factory Farming

  Egg Farm Video

  Submitted 1 month ago by Kylee Liegl

  Wegmans Egg farm proudly marks its egg cartons with the Animal Care Certified logo. Yet undercover footage at a Wegman's egg farm reveals extreme overcrowding, trampled birds, overly trimmed beaks, and excrement falling on birds from the cages above them.
• California Sues Navy Over Sonar, Whale Deaths

  Submitted 2 months ago By Toby Shuster
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  • Sonar Testing

  California Sues Navy Over Sonar, Whale Deaths

  Submitted 2 months ago by Toby Shuster

  From MSNBC -- The U.S. Navy was sued in 2007 because of its decision to continue sonar training exercises off the coast of California, despite regulations and protests from environmental groups. The Navy broke an agreement with the California Coastal Commission to perform the exercises while avoiding coastal waters with a large whale and dolphin population and reducing sonar levels when it's difficult for ship personnel to spot sea life.
  

  “ Critics contend sonar has harmful effects on whales, possibly by damaging their hearing, and other marine mammals worldwide. A congressional report last year found the Navy's sonar exercises have been blamed for at least six cases of mass death and stranding among whales in the past decade. ”Full Article
• Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm ...

  Submitted 2 months ago By Kylee Liegl
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  • Factory Farming

  Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America

  Submitted 2 months ago by Kylee Liegl

  

  From the Pew National Commission on Industrial Farm Production-- Though it has reduced costs and increased the speed of production, the industrialization of food animal production has created a number of problems that must be addressed for the sake of public health, animal welfare, the environment, and the social structure and economy of rural communities.
  

  “ Despite the dramatic decline in family farms over the past 50 years, many Americans, until very recently, continued to think that their food still came from these small farms. ”Full Article

  
  
• Prescription for Trouble: Using Antibiotics to ...

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  • Factory Farming

  Prescription for Trouble: Using Antibiotics to Fatten Livestock

  Submitted 2 months ago by Kylee Liegl

  From the Union of Concerned Scientists-- The use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials to promote weight gain in chickens, cows, and pigs is a standard practice at most large factory farms. Health experts now link this practice to drug-resistant strains of bacteria and a recent rise in the reported incidence of foodborne illness.
  

  “ If you get food poisoning, will the antibiotic prescribed by your doctor be able to fight the infection? This seems like an age of miracle drugs. Few weeks go by without a news story heralding a promising new drug or drug therapy. Ironically, concealed in the din of information about new drugs looms a health crisis growing out of the loss of old drugs. ”Full Article
• Facts: Factory Farming

  Submitted 1 months ago By Kylee Liegl
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  • Factory Farming

  Facts: Factory Farming

  Sponsored Content

  Submitted 1 months ago by Kylee Liegl

  From the In Defense of Animals website-- A brief history of factory farming, and little-known facts about the living conditions and common practices in the overcrowded livestock facilities that give factory farming its name.
  

  “ Our society is showered with images of happy animals living on farms where the cows graze in lush green fields and the chickens have the run of the barnyard. This vision of free-roaming animals living out their days in sunny fields is very far from the reality. A majority of the animals that are raised for food live miserable lives in intensive confinement in dark, overcrowded facilities, commonly called 'factory farms.' ”Full Article
• Mabale Growers' Tea Factory Ltd.

  Submitted 2 months ago By Brooke Minters
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  • Trade

  Mabale Growers' Tea Factory Ltd.

  Submitted 2 months ago by Brooke Minters

  From Fairtrade Foundation -- Here is profile of a fair trade producer working with the FairTrade Foundation. Located in the Western hilly slopes of the Kyenjojo District of Western Uganda, exist the Mabale Grower's Tea Factory. The factory was initially abandoned during the Amin regime.
  

  “ ‘Thanks to Fairtrade, we have changed our agricultural techniques which have improved the quality and quantity of our teas. We have opened new access roads to benefit all in the community, assisted in providing primary health care through construction of health units and added a new block to a local secondary school. Fairtrade is significantly contributing towards the social improvement of our community and providing a better future for our youngsters.’ ”

  Full Article

Bi Pharma Scams

How Drug Companies Fooled Me and Most Doctors

As little as ten years ago, conventional medicine touted HRT as THE answer to women’s post-menopausal health.

Interestingly, shortly after I completed my residency training program in 1985, I was actually a paid lecturer for the drug company that sold Premarin, the horse-based estrogen that was sold to women in menopause.

I promoted it because after carefully reviewing the “scientific” literature for over a year, it certainly seemed that it had far more benefits than downsides. However, this was my introduction in the mind-bending manipulation that the drug companies had been using for many decades.

They had meticulously bought off the leading physicians in this area of research with huge speaking engagements and grants, and were able to facilitate their articles being published in the most respected medical journals.

By using this strategy, they were able to completely pervert the scientific process and as a result, convince nearly the entire medical community, generating billions of dollars in profits from the sale of these unnatural hormones for humans.

It took me several years to recognize how these companies manipulated the system but eventually I learned the truth and stopped prescribing and recommending HRT as conventionally recommended.

In fact the leading proponent of using estrogen in the 1960’s, Dr. Robert A. Wilson, established a sham research foundation and wrote his seminal book, “Feminine Forever”, all with secret pharmaceutical company funds. His research institute and treatment recommendations were later found to be fraudulent, but by the time this was discovered the theory of using estrogen had been well established and carried on with it’s own momentum even in the face of research to the contrary. Every medical doctor in the United States fell into this trap of misinformation and mistruth and these dangerous prescribing practices continued for almost forty years

Big Pharma and the FDA: Suppress the Science and Ban the Natural

Big Pharma and the FDA: Suppress the Science and Ban the Natural:

In 2005, the pharmaceutical company Biostratum, Inc. made a mistake -- they invested millions of dollars into developing a drug, only to discover that the active ingredient, pyridoxamine, was a common, naturally occurring substance that has been sold for decades at low cost.

Biostratum responded by asking the U.S. FDA to declare supplements containing pyridoxamine “adulterated,” and effectively ban anyone but Biostratum from selling pyridoxamine. Earlier this year the FDA agreed to ban companies from selling pyridoxamine as a dietary supplement.

The FDA’s comment on the decision specifically says, “To allow such an article to be marketed as a dietary supplement would not be fair to the pharmaceutical company that brought, or intends to bring, the drug to market.”

Apparently, they were not as concerned about fairness to consumers.

This is hardly the first time the FDA has attacked naturally occurring substances. The FDA has banned information about scientifically proven health benefits of cherries from appearing on Web sites. And for years, the FDA barred health claims about the benefits of omega-3 fats for heart, cancer, depression, body pain, and various other conditions until a drug company paid a great deal of money to go through the approval process.

In the case of pyridoxamine, the FDA did not act out of concern for public safety. This is about a profit-seeking corporation taking advantage of corruption in what is supposed to be a public health organization.

Sources:

American Association for Health Freedom

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Pyridoxamine is one form of the vitamin B6. It is an important nutrient for helping your body process carbohydrates, support your nervous system activity and prevent homocysteine, which has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, from building up in your blood.

This substance has long been sold over-the-counter as a dietary supplement, but the FDA abruptly put a stop to that in January 2009. Their reasoning has nothing to do with safety, but rather is firmly based on protecting a drug company’s investment.

As stated above, the FDA actually said:

“To allow such an article to be marketed as a dietary supplement would not be fair to the pharmaceutical company that brought, or intends to bring, the drug to market.”

What is happening here is a blatant example of the FDA protecting the hand that feeds it. It is now essentially banning vitamin B6 in the form of pyridoxamine, and reserving it to be exclusively distributed by the drugmaker Biostratum, Inc.

If the FDA really wants to speak about being fair, why are they not worried about being fair to the supplement makers who already distribute this product … or the people who will have their inexpensive supply of this vitamin taken away?

Why?

Because the FDA and U.S. government are loaded with people trying to eliminate all competition for the drug companies, who financially support the FDA in the form of user fees for drug approval.

This Type of Injustice Has Happened Many Times Before

To get a feeling of who the FDA is really looking out for, you need look no further than the recent estriol debacle.

Estriol is a bioidentical hormone that is sometimes used in hormone replacement therapy drugs, available through compounding pharmacies. However, estriol is not an FDA-approved drug, and according to the FDA estriol “has not been shown to be safe and effective for the uses for which it is being prescribed.”

Therefore, the FDA has proposed to allow estriol-containing prescriptions to be filled only if accompanied by an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, stating that the use of INDs is “routine,” and therefore shouldn’t cause any major inconvenience or limitation on estriol’s use, if and when a physician believes it’s in his patient’s best interest.

However, the IND places a significant financial burden on physicians, most notably by requiring them to submit applications to an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Submitting necessary documentation and contracting for a private IRB can easily cost between $10,000 and $25,000 and can take months.

So the process will effectively ban most physicians from prescribing estriol, which is a much safer, natural alternative to synthetic hormones.

This news is frustrating in and of itself, and certainly highlights the need for less government involvement in health care. But what happened next is nothing short of infuriating.

Pipex Therapeutics is now seeking approval for Trimesta, a knock-off of natural estriol, and the FDA is in the process of considering the approval!

Clearly, the FDA was never concerned with estriol being used in an unsafe manner -- they were concerned that their drug-company buddies were not getting their fair share of the profits.

Is The FDA Your Protector -- or a Threat to Your Health Freedom?

Examples like this one and the latest pyridoxamine scandal are red flags that the U.S. FDA is not there to protect you, or your health freedom.

You may not be aware, but in June 2007 the FDA announced new standards for dietary supplements that were intended to improve consumer safety.

In reality, the 800-page rule surrounds the dietary supplement industry with regulations and requirements in excess of those imposed on the drug industry, and up to 50 percent of small companies will simply not be able to afford to comply.

Even before this ruling, supplement makers were (and still are) limited from making health claims (this is reserved only for drugs).

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

But consider that it’s still illegal even in cases where the claims have been clearly proven -- so cherry growers cannot legally say that tart cherries may do more good than aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs when it comes to pain relief, even though studies back them up.

This is why the American Association for Health Freedom (AAHF) states that the FDA “ignores first amendment protections and censors the communication of valid scientific information.” They continue:

“The agency seems to have lost sight of its mandate to protect the public and has instead come to see itself as the guardian of corporate interests.”

The FDA is clearly censoring your right to know about, and purchase, foods and supplements that can help you stay healthy and prevent disease. At the same time, they are allowing dangerous drugs and consumer products to remain on the market and be sold and aggressively advertised as safe.

Even the FDA has admitted to its shortcomings and in a report said:

• “The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base... is weak...."
• "The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific workforce does not have sufficient capacity and capability."
• "FDA does not have the capacity to ensure the safety of food for the nation."
• “The development of medical products based on 'new science' cannot adequately be regulated by the FDA.”

You Can Sign a Petition to Help

The AAHF is leading a campaign to reform the FDA, and your help is urgently needed, as a large number of signatures are required to compel Congressional Action.

So if you believe reforming the FDA is a worthy cause, please sign the petition now, and encourage your friends and family to do so also.

Congress already knows the FDA represents a serious problem. This petition will help move them to take the urgent action required to invoke much-needed positive change.

Related Links:

Beware: Natural Substance Knock-Offs in FDA Pipeline are Dangerous

Here’s Your Chance to Change the FDA -- I Need Your Help on This One

The FDA is Running an Extortion Racket

Media Blasts Oprah for Supporting Alternative Medicine

Media Blasts Oprah for Supporting Alternative Medicine: "Media Blasts Oprah for Supporting Alternative Medicine

Media Blasts Oprah for Supporting Alternative Medicine

In January of this year, Oprah Winfrey invited Suzanne Somers on her show to talk about health tips. The 62-year-old actress uses bio-identical estrogen cream and progesterone on her other arm two weeks a month.

According to Somers, the bio-identical hormones are identical to the ones created by the human body, unlike conventional hormones, which are made from mare’s urine.

The result has been a media firestorm condemning both Somers and Oprah, including the hit piece in Newsweek linked below. The authors of the piece, Weston Kosova and Pat Wingert, argue that bio-identical hormones are just as synthetic as conventional hormones -- although they don’t much discuss the fact that conventional hormones are actually different from the 17-beta-estradiol made by your body, while the bio-identical hormones are 17-beta-estradiol itself.

The real reason for the attacks on bio-identical hormones?

As Somers points out, many doctors, scientists and media figures make a good deal of money off of the pharmaceutical industry.

And one thing you won’t see mentioned in the Newsweek article is the fact that Pat Wingert is the co-author of a pharmaceutically biased book on hormones and menopause, and that Newsweek is heavily funded by pharmaceutical companies.

This resembles an incident a few years ago when the cattle industry actually sued Oprah Winfrey just for talking about Mad Cow Disease.

Sources:

Newsweek May 30, 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The authors of this Newsweek article clearly had a bone to pick with alternative medicine of all kinds. Newsweek does not just ridicule Suzanne Somers for her endorsement of bioidentical hormones, they blast Jenny McCarthy’s stance on vaccine adjuvants being a culprit in causing autism, and even criticize Dr. Christiane Northrup for warning Oprah’s audience of the HPV vaccine and recommending dietary and lifestyle changes to enhance their natural immunity instead. In their article they counter this advice with the statement,

“It is true that of the millions of women who have received the vaccine, 32 have died in the days or weeks afterward. But in each case, the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration investigated the deaths and found that they were coincidental and were not related to the shot.”

This is the kind of blanket dismissal one could only expect from those who have not bothered to do any serious investigations of their own on a topic.

And as for the idea that your thoughts and beliefs may have the slightest to do with your physical health? Ridiculous, according to these two authors.

Apparently they’ve never heard of epigenetics.

Dr. Bruce Lipton, a forerunner in the field of epigenetics and The New Biology, has carefully documented how emotions are one of the most important factors in your health. According to his research, the controlling factor in deciding what your genes express -- in deciding how your future health will play out -- is not your genes, your family history or even the strength of your immune system. It is YOUR MIND.

These are the kind of myopic viewpoints you have to contend with when dealing with conventional medicine, big pharma, and their mouthpieces. But that doesn’t mean they’re any more right, or any less ridiculous, than the people and alternative strategies they try to dismiss with little more than parroted catch-phrases.

Is an Organized Smear Campaign Underway?

Now, Oprah has been targeted by big industries before, such as when she dared talk about Mad Cow disease on her show – a topic that brought her a lawsuit by the meat industry.

But Oprah is not the only one in the crosshairs of what can only be described as an organized smear campaign against alternative medicine.

There’s a disturbing trend taking shape, with a recent onslaught of media articles seeking to put a bad spin on various complementary, alternative medicine and natural medicine options. The misinformation campaign is shifting into higher gear. Is it a very deliberate and concerted media strategy?

Could there be any coincidence that this is all occurring just as the government is preparing health care reform? What would happen If much of alternative medicine was determined illegal?

Robert Zieve, MD, who gave me many of these links, believes that it smells like a witch hunt.

Recent headlines include:

• Contaminants lurk in many ‘natural’ products. Tests find some herbal supplements may be doing more harm than good.

• Cancer patients turning to alternative remedies. 60 percent seek natural ‘cures’ despite warnings from doctors.

• Doctors eager to try ‘mystical mumbo jumbo’. Alternative remedies gain acceptance despite lack of evidence.

• Many ‘natural’ products make dubious claims. A product with "natural" ingredients may be no better for you than one with artificial ingredients, but a lot of us still trust advertisements that suggest as much.

• Reality check on supplements, remedies. Americans increasingly turn to alternative medicine. But does it really help?

• $2.5 Billion spent, no alternative cures found. Big government-funded studies show most work no better than placebos.

• Alternative heart disease treatment probed. Government investigating whether patients were told enough about risks.

Dr. Deepak Chopra responded to the Oprah bashing with this Alternet article, where he states,

"The criticism the medical establishment is directing at Oprah through this article only exposes their own frustration in having squandered their credibility with the public. They hope that if they can successfully attack Oprah's immense credibility, then they can magically get some of that credibility back for themselves. However, if people still trusted the health care industry to act in their best interest the way they did decades ago, then it would be unnecessary to brand Oprah for "crazy talk" simply because she occasionally provides a forum for ideas outside of mainstream medicine.

The medical profession is burdened with a host of problems that Oprah addresses with more candor and force than the AMA. She promotes wellness and prevention, two areas that drastically need improvement. She brings up creative solutions to problems that medical science is baffled by, such as the healing response itself and the role of subjectivity in patient response. These are issues that few M.D.s are willing to explore, yet she has done so for decades.

... What this tells me is that medicine needs Oprah and other patient advocates who are demanding that official medicine heal itself. To accuse them of lacking medical credibility is a red herring. Patients aren't supposed to know more than their physicians. The fact that they often do, at least insofar as alternative treatment goes, is both a sign of hope and cause for distress."

Is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Dangerous?

It has been overwhelmingly proven that conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which science, as little as ten years ago, massively touted, has now been shown to be very dangerous. So there’s no argument there.

Studies looking at the long-term usage of synthetic estrogen have revealed many negative side effects, including heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, high blood pressure and vaginal bleeding. But perhaps most strikingly, just one year after millions of women quit taking hormone replacement therapy, incidents of breast cancer fell dramatically—by 7 percent!

The following prescriptions now carry black box warnings and need to be avoided:

1. Premarin. Premarin is an estrogen extracted from Pregnant Mare’s Urine. We now know it is associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

2. Estrogen Therapy. Estrogen, which is extracted from Premarin, was effective in combating some menopausal symptoms but proved to have serious, negative side effects, such as the increased risk of breast cancer and an increase in insulin levels.

3. Provera. This drug is a progestin or a synthetic form of progesterone, which probably makes it even more toxic than Premarin. Its well-documented, negative side effects include blood clotting.

But to lump bioidentical hormones in with the rest, and attributing the same dangers to them as their synthetic versions is likely unjustified.

The Truth About Bioidentical Hormones

Bioidenticals, unlike synthetic hormones or natural ones from animals, are natural hormones that are bioidentical to your own.

The bioidentical hormone that is prescribed 80 percent of the time is estriol. It’s natural -- not a drug -- and you get it at compounding pharmacies.

And, although the article above states there are no conclusive clinical studies showing that bioidenticals are any less risky than synthetic hormones, the FDA also admits it’s unaware of any adverse effects of bioidentical hormones.

The fact is that estriol has been used safely for decades, and I believe it’s particularly useful when your ovaries have been removed or you’ve had a hysterectomy. Dr. Johathan Wright, who I’ve interviewed for my Expert Inner Circle program, is a pioneer in bioidenticals, and you can see what he has to say about their value in this short video.

The crux is that natural estriol can’t be patented, so there are no major profits to be made, and hence it gets little attention.

The FDA Effectively “Banned” Estriol, But May Approve an Unsafe Prescription Instead

Although not an FDA-approved drug, the FDA has proposed to allow estriol-containing prescriptions to be filled if they’re accompanied by an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, if and when a physician believes it’s in his patient’s best interest.

However, the IND places a significant financial burden on physicians, most notably by requiring them to submit applications to an Institutional Review Boards (IRB).

This process effectively bans most prescriptions for estriol.

Meanwhile, the FDA is in the process of considering the approval of Trimesta, a knock-off of natural estriol. Clearly, the FDA has never been concerned with estriol being used in an unsafe manner -- they were concerned that their drug-company buddies were not getting their fair share of the profits.

Aside from the obvious bias, this is even more troubling because Trimesta may not be a safe version of natural estriol.

According to Dr. Jonathan Wright, the problem with Trimesta is that it’s taken in pill form. Taking this hormone orally is known to be a greater risk factor for endometrial cancer than taking the hormone transdermally (through your skin).

As Dr. Wright said:

"...When the inevitable findings of excessive endometrial cancer are ultimately disclosed, you can bet the blame will fall on the bio-identical hormone itself -- and not on the oral route of administration, which is known to be more risky."

Do You Need Hormone Replacement?

The issue of hormone replacement generally does not come up until the classic symptoms of menopause strike. Menopause occurs when you stop producing estrogen and progesterone, and your periods cease. This can occur naturally, or be induced by a hysterectomy or by having your ovaries removed.

Typical menopausal symptoms include:

• Hot Flashes

• Vaginal Dryness

• Menstrual Irregularities

• Depression

• Mood Swings

• Weight Gain

Short- and long-term strategies can help you control these symptoms. The best approaches are preventive and involve diet and exercise. But in some cases where diet and lifestyle changes are not enough to counteract the more troublesome symptoms of menopause, bioidentical hormones may be able to help.

However, you’ll want to make sure you get your hormonal levels checked properly before embarking on any kind of hormone supplementation program.

I recommend you review Michael Borkin’s article, Women’s Hormones, for more in-depth information about the many variables involved in your sexual and overall health.

Oftentimes the cumulative physiological effects of stress can cause disruption of the natural rhythms and balancing mechanisms of your hormones, which can compromise your overall health as well as your sexual and reproductive health.

Both estrogen and progesterone are necessary in the female cycle, and their balance is key for optimal health. Many women have an imbalance of these hormones, regardless of their age. And if you have insufficient levels of progesterone to counter excessive estrogen, this imbalance can be further exacerbated by chronic stress.

So your answer might not necessarily lie in using hormones, but rather addressing your stress levels so that your body can normalize your hormone levels naturally.

Alternatives to Hormone Replacement

Prevention is always the best cure, and diet and exercise are as powerful in the prevention of future menopausal symptoms as for most other health concerns. Eating right for your nutritional type and exercising regularly can go a long way to keeping your hormones balanced as you age.

Consuming plenty of phytoestrogens (plant-estrogens) such as licorice and alfalfa before menopause can also help moderate your day-to-day estrogen levels so that when menopause comes, the drop won’t be so dramatic.

Beware, however, that soy is not a good option. In fact, non-fermented soy products are likely to damage your health even further.

You’ll also want to make sure your vitamin D levels are optimized. Vitamin D has gotten the short shrift, thanks to fears about tanning and skin cancer, but Vitamin D is a must for gene regulation and optimal health. For more information, I recommend you watch my one-hour video lecture on this essential nutrient.

As for supplements, these have been shown to be beneficial in tempering symptoms of menopause:

• Polyphenols. Certain polyphenols have been shown to have some HRT-like benefits without the drawbacks, and are associated with a lowered risk of heart disease. Royal Macha seems to be an amazing adaptogenic herbal solution for menopause that has helped many women. Be sure to avoid the inexpensive ones, as they typically don’t work. Get the real deal from Peru.

• Omega 3 fats. You’ll also want to get plenty of omega-3 fats. A high quality animal-based omega-3 supplement, such as krill oil, can be far more effective and beneficial than fish oil.

• Black Cohosh may help regulate body temperature and hot flashes.

Implementing these lifestyle changes will help control symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, without resorting to hormone replacement.

Related Links:

Winning Tactics for Surviving Menopause -- And What You Should Know about Hormone Replacement

Healthy Lifestyle Reduces Menopause Risks

If You're Heading for Menopause, Read This Article Now!

Is Your Stomach Hijacking Your Health?

Find Out More

Fw: Check out Chow Down: Robert Kenner's 'Food, Inc.' - indieWIRE

Chow Down: Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc." by Michael Rowin (June 8, 2009) A scene from Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc." Image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. If we are what we eat, we're in big trouble according to Robert Kenner's enlightening if not groundbreaking documentary "Food, Inc." Following contemporary mainstream documentary filmmaking's popular recipe of equal parts talking head interviews and field reporting, "Food, Inc." engages in investigations and studies that have been around for a while now about the steroidal industrialization of American food production: it's no surprise that authors Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation") and Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma") are the film's two major presences. But "Food Inc." is important in scope if not discovery, and the large territory it surveys allows it to make crucial connections between the act of buying groceries and illegal immigration, corporate patented seed, and tainted food. Kenner begins by disabusing viewers of both the myth of the average supermarket's plethora of choices and the false image of agrarian American (resplendent sunsets over heartland farms, et al) sold by what the film calls the "industrial food system." A little more than half a century ago fast food restaurants, and in particular the juggernaut known as McDonald's, brought about an assembly line-like organization to food producers in which uniformity and cheapness of product trumped sound method and quality. Now three or four giant corporations control the meat industry, and the "Your way, right away" demand for more and faster food has resulted in drastic changes in the way animals are raised and slaughtered. A Southern chicken farmer who grows birds for Tyson can't let Kenner's crew venture into his coops—his employers won't allow him. Why? When another farmer, Carole, fed up with the silence she's been pressured to keep, lets Kenner in, we find out: the instituted conditions are deplorable, with sick chickens unable to move, dead carcasses piled high, and so on. This is nothing revelatory: we've seen similar exposes for years now. "Food, Inc." goes a step further, however, by showing the consequences. We no longer live in the age of "The Jungle" when muckraking could more directly lead to regulation, and Kenner points out how the regulators are now comfortably in bed with the companies they should be regulating. This makes all the more tragic the death of someone like Barbara Kowalcyk's young son Kevin, who earlier this decade died of e coli from a seemingly innocuous fast food burger—the eradication of its replication looks exceedingly dim, and even Kowalcyk won't say on camera what food she eats for fear of corporate reprisal. There are further horrific and nauseating firsthand accounts (overcrowded animals forced to graze in pools of manure, holes drilled through living cows to gain easy access to their stomachs), but "Food, Inc." is even more interesting beyond the slaughterhouse. For instance, the ubiquity of engineered corn in animal feed and market products leads to bigger problems—cows aren't supposed to eat it but do so because it's cheaper—while working class American families increasingly center their diets around bad calories because those are the ones so heavily subsidized by the industry. Diabetes is on the rise, illegal labor is exploited within dehumanizing plants (these same workers have been driven to the U.S. in greater numbers ever since NAFTA flooded Mexico with cheap corn), and corporations that control seed patents legally intimidate and ruin farmers who use alternatives. "Food, Inc." would be merely pessimistic if it didn't offer some solutions to these problems, but it may have put all its eggs in one basket, so to speak, by going with organic farming and food production as its sole corrective to industrial malfeasance. A few passionate organic farmers interviewed for the film convincingly preach the virtues of small, properly operated farms that don't have to compromise their methods even when in contract with large corporate suppliers. But now that the market for organic food, and organic dairy especially, has bottomed out due to the recession, the film's optimism in this regard comes across as a little naive. Kenner may not have been able to predict the current economic crisis and all its repercussions while making his documentary, but some sort of plan B might have been explored by a film otherwise so thorough in describing a broken system. Yet while I could have also done without the film's hippie-ish, self-righteous coda—which uses titles and a live rendition of "This Land Is Your Land" to exhort viewers to lobby for and purchase safe, healthy food—"Food, Inc." is mostly much better than that: an informative, fascinating seeking out of compelling human evidence of the repercussions of what Schlosser calls "the food-industrial complex." Click here: Chow Down: Robert Kenner's 'Food, Inc.' - indieWIRE   http://www.indiewire.com/article/chow_down_robert_kenners_food_inc/   I'm sure you've heard of this film but just in case, I'm forwarding some links about it because I think this is the "real" "Secret" and maybe even a bigger one than we should ever be comfortable with. You can, of course also do a search and get more info. I'm going to be sure to see the film.   http://robertkennerfilms.com/films/files/detail_current.php   Food Inc.  (in theaters as of June 12)   Check out the interview too (which I found very disturbing..involves the illegal immigrants as well as our health costs that are a result of the current farming situation) Please be sure to listen to this as your health and that of those you love may depend on it.   This is especially important if you have children in school or know anyone who eats....   http://airamerica.com/content/robert-kenner-interview