The EPA says the federal rules imposed by Obama’s administration to limit mercury and other toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants are too costly to justify, and are not “appropriate and necessary.” For now, the EPA has not done away with the 2012 restrictions because utility companies have already spent billions of dollars to comply with the standards. But the result could set a precedent for other environmental pollution, and it enables coal mining companies to challenge the restrictions in court.

It drastically changed the formula the government uses in its required cost-benefit analysis of the regulation by taking into account only certain effects that can be measured in dollars, while ignoring or playing down other health benefits.” – NY Times

“It will make it much more difficult for the government to justify environmental regulations in many cases.” – Robert N. Stavins, professor of environmental economics at Harvard University

When coal is burned it releases mercury into the air. Mercury causes health risks including neurological disorders, heart and lung problems, and can lead to autoimmune diseases and birth defects. In the new proposal, Trump’s EPA estimates the cost of compliance to be between $7.4 billion and $9.6 billion annually while the benefits are only $4 million to $6 million a year. But the Obama administration calculated that the cleaner air would prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths each year and save about $85 billion a year in health costs due to the decrease of mercury, particulate matter, and other toxic pollutants.

A recently published study found a connection between a range of infections, their treatments, and mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. Researchers in Denmark looked at national registries associated with severe infections requiring hospitalization and less severe infections requiring antibiotics or anti-parasitical and found that both of those treatment modalities for infections resulted in an increased risk of mental illness later in life. Going to the hospital resulted in the highest increase in the likelihood of receiving a mental health diagnosis and also receiving a prescription for it. The study also noticed a particular connection between the prescription of antibiotics and greater risk. Accounting for the children’s genetics and home environment didn’t erase the increased likelihood of a mental health diagnosis. That points to a definite link between infections, their treatment, and mental illness. According to Dr. Ole Köhler-Forsberg of Aarhus University Hospital, a neuroscientist and one of the authors of the study,

That’s also another finding that made us more confident that there is some link between infections, or the immune system and mental disorders…And also we found that the more the infections, and the more severe the infections, then the risk increased as well…So there is this load of infection that seems to impact the brain and mental disorders.”

Break It Down

Children admitted to the hospital for the treatment of a serious infection were 84 percent more likely to be hospitalized for mental illness and 42 percent more likely to be prescribed anti-psychotics. Those who received a prescription for an antibiotic or similar medication were 40 percent more likely to be hospitalized for mental illness and 22 percent more likely to receive antipsychotic scripts. Researchers found that antibiotics were more likely to bring about these changes.

The percentage of children diagnosed with mental illness was small, with 4 percent of subjects diagnosed with conditions like schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and personality disorders. Four percent doesn’t seem like much, but those numbers are based on treatment for a single infection. A study by researchers from Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia found that children were given antibiotics an average of 2.3 times before the age of 5. Sixty-nine percent of the nearly 70,000 studied received an antibiotic prescription before the age of two.

Related: Can You Take Probiotics While Taking Antibiotics or Chemotherapy?

Antibiotics and Hospital Settings

Antibiotics in a hospital setting do damage even if you aren’t the one taking them. They greatly disrupt the microbiome, eliminating the beneficial bacteria that balance harmful pathogens, and hospitals are hotbeds of antibiotic activity. Studies have found that a person in the same room as someone who has received antibiotics is more susceptible to serious pathogens like C. diff. A 2016 study found that one out of every two patients checked into the hospital is given an antibiotic. The Danish study ties these two together, linking changes in the children’s mental state with a hospital visit or taking antibiotics. In fact, those treatment methodologies seem to leave some of the children in the study in a more challenging place than they were before.

Fragile Brains

It’s plausible that we’re seeing an increase in mental health issues, inflammation, infections, and other chronic health conditions because of our increased evaluation capabilities. But it’s not likely.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

Studies like this one point a healthcare system that has wrongfully equated quick fixes with actual solutions, without fully understanding the consequences of said fixes. Even worse, the system is set up to financially reward the use of those fixes, making the move to a healthier way of dealing with infections and chronic illness an uphill battle. Children are especially vulnerable to the damaging effects of antibiotics, making it more crucial than ever to look for alternative solutions whenever possible.

Sources:

• Infections May Raise The Risk Of Mental Illness In Children – NPR
• A Nationwide Study in Denmark of the Association Between Treated Infections and the Subsequent Risk of Treated Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents – JAMA Psychiatry
• Antibiotic Side Effects Are Contagious – C. Diff Infections Are On the Rise – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• 69 Percent of Kids Exposed to Antibiotics Before Age 2; Exposure Raises Obesity Risk – Healthline
• CDC: Half of US Hospital Patients Taking Antibiotics; 25 Percent on Two or More – Healthline

Berberine is a yellow alkaloid found in goldenseal root, barberry bark, Oregon grape root, and coptis (goldthread) root. It is an antioxidant that is antibacterial, antiparasitic, antifungal, antiviral, anti-amoebic and has also been shown to:

• Decrease insulin resistance
• Stabilize blood sugar
• Activate AMPK
• Increase glycolysis inside the cells
• Slow the breakdown of carbohydrates in the gut
• Increase some beneficial bacteria in the gut
• Reduce triglycerides
• Balance cholesterol
• Lower blood pressure
• Increase mitochondria production
• Reduce the risk of heart disease
• Reduce fatty liver

Berberine For Weight Loss

Berberine studies produced weight loss and improvement of triglyceride, leptin, and cholesterol levels in obese patients (leptin is a hormone involved in hunger). Berberine has also been shown to inhibit the production of body fat cells.

Berberine is believed to activate the enzyme called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). AMPK, sometimes referred to as a “metabolic master switch,” is an enzyme inside our cells that plays a major role in cellular energy homeostasis, activating glucose and fatty acid uptake when cellular energy is low. This enzyme plays a major role in regulating blood sugar and metabolism.

Berberine For Diabetes

Berberine has been shown in studies to work as well as the most commonly prescribed drugs taken for diabetes, metformin, rosiglitazone, and glipizide, to control blood sugar. Berberine reduces insulin resistance and lowers blood sugar levels. It also increases glycolysis inside cells, signals the liver to decrease glucose production, and slows the breakdown of carbohydrates in the gut. Berberine may also positively affect other enzymes and genes that affect blood sugar.

Berberine For Heart Health

Studies have shown that berberine can improve overall heart function in more than one way. Berberine may help repair and protect heart muscle cells. Berberine seems to improve the quality of life for patients with chronic congestive heart failure by helping to exercise lung capacity and reducing fatigue. Berberine also lowers lipid levels, prevents harmful fat deposition, increases fat burning in the mitochondria, relaxes the arteries, lowers blood pressure, and increases blood flow.

Berberine For Gut Health and the Immune System

Berberine exerts selective antimicrobial action, killing a wide range of harmful organisms without harming the microbiome. In fact, it promotes a healthy gut colony.

Many, if not all of berberine’s health benefits may be more a result of berberine’s effect on the gut microbiome than anything else. Researchers have shown that a very low percentage of berberine is actually absorbed from our gut into the rest of the body. But berberine increases the quantity of Akkermansia muciniphila, a beneficial gut bacteria that has been inversely associated with obesity, diabetes, inflammation, and metabolic disorders. This bacteria is necessary for sufficient mucin thickness, which lines the gut, protects the intestines and the microbiome from damage, and keeps undigested food particles and pathogens from entering the rest of the body.

Without enough of the mucin layer, the gut becomes leaky and inflamed, which leads to chronic inflammation and insulin resistance, and then many more autoimmune symptoms result from this.

Low concentrations of berberine have also been shown to increase other beneficial bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, and Lactobacillus acidophilus but high concentrations can inhibit many of these microorganisms.

For more on gut health, see How To Heal Your Gut.

What Supplements Go Well With Berberine?

If you suffer from autoimmune disease or are dealing with an infection it’s probably wise to start off with a higher dosage of berberine and then after a week or two to scale back to a lower dosage to allow more of the beneficial bacteria to flourish.

In an unhealthy gut, fungal activity is virtually always present and proper enzymatic activity is certain to be lacking. In this supplement stack we include SF722 which is the best supplement we know of to kill fungi. There is also the AMD probiotic which is designed not just to supply the gut with beneficial bacteria but also to help the friendly microbes flourish with prebiotics and enzymes. The bacteria in this supplement work well with berberine. The MycoCeutics complex is a mushroom complex. Just like bacteria, there are beneficial fungi and pathogenic fungi. I take the MycoCeutics and the SF722 separately, at least a few hours apart.

• Berberine 500mg – Thorne Research
• Formula SF722 – Thorne Research
• Syntol AMD – Arthur Andrew Medical
• MycoCeutics MycoPhyto Complex – EcoNugenics

Recommended Reading:

• Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• Best Supplements To Kill Lyme and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Lyme Disease

Sources:

• Berberine: The Microbiome’s Super Booster – Enzymedica
• Berberine – A Powerful Supplement With Many Benefits – Healthline
• Effect of berberine on Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and their mixtures as determined by isothermal microcalorimetry – NCBI
• 6 Proven benefits of Berberine – Selfhacked
• Berberine to Boost Weight Loss & Lower Blood Sugar – Alive By Nature
• Meta-analysis of the effect and safety of berberine in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hyperlipemia and hypertension – NCBI
• Berberine in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis – NCBI

A Detroit meteorologist’s death has raised concerns regarding potential side effects of LASIK eye surgery. Jessica Starr was a meteorologist for the city’s Fox television affiliate. She was 35 years old. She committed suicide, leaving behind a husband and two young children.

The Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno was hospitalized after a routine vaccine shot went wrong.  He shared the news to his social media accounts stating that he went to the hospital after he was administered a pneumonia vaccine, which he says was the wrong shot.

Went in for a pneumonia shot and landed up here with fluid in my bicep.

I’ll be ok but it’s important that you keep an eye on who’s giving the shot and make sure they not only swab the spot correctly but that you watch the needle come out of the package.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

https://twitter.com/LouFerrigno/status/1073066052932648960

Ferrigno did not specify what shot he received but there are two types of vaccines for pneumonia, according to the CDC, PCV13 and PPSV23. They are both recommended for those 65 and older to prevent pneumococcal diseases like meningitis, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia. Though Lou says to be careful to get the correct shot, both PCV13 and PPSV23 vaccines cause side effects including swelling at the injection location, according to the CDC.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrUDw2ZAwRj/

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, reported that nutritious wild greens are growing abundantly in poor urban areas of San Francisco. The researchers, led by Philip Stark, foraged for edible wild greens in disadvantaged neighborhoods classified as “urban food deserts”. Six of the “weeds” were tested for nutrition content including chickweed (Stellaria media), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), dock (Rumex crispus), mallow (Malva sylvestris), nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and oxalis (Oxalis pescaprae). Nutritionally speaking, all of these plants compare favorably to kale.

The wild greens boasted more dietary fibre, protein, vitamin A, sodium, calcium, iron and vitamin K, and provided more energy. Kale’s vitamin C content outshone the species tested, but the researchers suspect other greens such [as] wild mustard (Hirschfeldia incana) and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) might rival it.” – Cocmos Magazine

Researchers have documented 52 different species in San Francisco, most of which are drought tolerant. Other abundant edible weeds include cat’s ear (Hypochaeris radicata), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), plantain (Plantago lanceolate), sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), wild lettuce (Lactuca ludoviciana) and wild onions (Allium spp).

Many of these edible weeds are available year-round. If you’re interested in free food including some that are much more nutritious than most store-bought produce start studying edible weeds in the videos below and also check out FallingFruit.org

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut