Honey Bees Attracted to Chemicals That Are Killing Them

Honey bees seem to be attracted to the chemicals that are killing them. based on experiments showing the bees preferred sugar water laced with chemicals known to cause problems for bees over sugar water alone. These findings published in the journal Scientific Reports suggest that herbicides and fungicides pose a greater risk to pollinators than previously assumed.

Scientists found that forager bees were drawn to the fungicide chlorothalonil and the herbicide ingredient glyphosate, found in Monsanto’s Roundup, at certain concentrations.” – Honey bees Love Chemicles That Are Killing Them

The nectar that a bee brings back to the hive will effect on the health of the entire colony. Insecticides have been shown to shorten the lifespans of exposed bees and disrupt organization of the hive. Past research shows that chlorothalonil can inhibit a fungal parasite called Nosema bombi that affects bumblebees. Glyphosate has been shown to potentially affect the ability of bees to navigate.

Recommended: Fungal Infections – How to Eliminate Yeast, Candida, and Mold Infections For Good

The bees are not only not avoiding this fungicide [chlorothalonil], they’re consuming more of it at certain concentrations. People assume that fungicides affect only fungi, but fungi are much more closely related to animals than they are to plants. And toxins that disrupt physiological processes in fungi can also potentially affect them in animals, including insects.” – May Berenbau

The bees in the study were given the choice between a plain sugar syrup and a sweet mixture blended with several fungicides and herbicides at different concentrations. There were also feeders with the sugar water mixed with naturally occurring chemicals.

Recommended: Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQkIeN56dt0



Increased Tick Populations Linked to Decreases in Wildlife Populations

A healthy wildlife population is likely to slow the spread of diseases carried by ticks, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Conducted by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Kenya, this study found that tick populations rose by 130 percent to 225 percent in areas where large wildlife was excluded. Drier areas were more likely to experience an increased tick population. Ticks are responsible for the spread of several different types of pathogens like babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, though the most reported and well-known of these is Lyme disease.

This study showed that large mammal conservation can reduce the abundance of some ticks, including in this case the abundance of ticks infected with pathogens that negatively impact the health of both humans and wildlife in the region…Finding this ‘win-win-win’ scenario in which conservation benefits both human health and wildlife health can, we hope, really motivate further conservation and ultimately help protect landscapes and wildlife health.” – Dr. Hillary Young, Assistant Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Must Read: Lyme Disease – Holistic Protocol to Completely Rebuild the Immune System

Increased Chances of Lyme Disease and Others

This study also tested captured ticks for disease-causing bacteria. The increase in tick population didn’t lead to a higher prevalence of diseases, but a larger tick population offers opportunistic pathogens a larger number of hosts. That could be one explanation for the rise in tick-borne diagnoses. Lyme disease cases have doubled over the last 30 years, and the Center for Disease Control reports that those numbers are underreported.

Must Read: Do I have Lyme Disease? Symptoms and Latest News

It Continues

All signs point to the increase in tick populations and the diagnosis of tick-borne diseases continuing for the foreseeable future. Ticks are more prevalent in drier areas and can survive all year in warmer weather. Researchers found that they are also more populous in areas with decreased wildlife. Which means our current state of affairs will likely lead to optimal conditions for ticks. Higher temperatures, less wildlife…more Lyme for us?

Recommended:
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Nuts Can Reduce the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Small servings of nuts throughout your week can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Marta Guasch, a research fellow at the Harvard Department of Nutrition, reports findings that people who ate a handful of nuts equivalent to 28 grams five or more times a week were 14% percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and had a 20% lower risk of coronary disease. Properly sprouted nuts are a fantastic addition to a healthy diet and provide protein, fiber, b vitamins, and micronutrients like calcium, zinc, potassium, and magnesium in addition to their positive effect on the cardiovascular system.

The research from Harvard had three large studies with over 32 years of follow up to examine. The type of nut didn’t really matter, as almost every type examined positively influenced the cardiovascular system with one exemption: peanut butter. As Guasch says,

We have observed benefits for total nuts, peanuts, tree nuts, and walnuts. They were all associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. And the intake of peanuts and walnuts was additionally associated with lower risk of stroke. However, what we observed was that peanut butter was not significantly associated with cardiovascular disease.”

But There’s a Catch

All of those fantastic nutrients are not readily available in your average store-bought nut. Nuts have enzyme inhibitors, of which phytic acid is the most well-known. Phytic acid binds to essential nutrients. All of the lovely calcium, iron, zinc, and other nutrients in the beans are not available for the body to use. Phytic acid also inhibits enzymes like pepsin, amylase, and trypsin, causing the body to experience difficulties when digesting nuts.

The Steps

This does not mean you can’t eat nuts and experience all that heart-healthy goodness. All you need is a little prep and a 12-24 hour waiting period.

  1. First, purchase raw nuts whenever possible. The high protein content in nuts requires digestive enzymes, and roasted or processed nuts have had their enzymes destroyed by heat.
  2. Take your raw nuts and soak them in warm, filtered water and a pinch of salt. The soaking time depends on the type of nuts, but it’s a good idea to change the water halfway through the soaking process.
  3. If you would like, you can soak the nuts for a longer period, then leave them out to sprout while they’re still damp. Not all nuts sprout, so check to see the best amount of time to watch your particular nut. At this point, you have neutralized as many enzyme inhibitors as you likely will.
  4. You are now free to dehydrate your nuts. The best way is with a dehydrator. Opinion is mixed as to the temperature you should choose for truly raw nuts, and most experts say 118 degrees Fahrenheit is the hottest possible setting.  Wet foods are more susceptible to heat destruction though, so low and slow is your friend here. If you do not have a dehydrator, I suggest sun-drying (not much sun at the moment, but your mileage may vary). You can also use an oven on its lowest setting, though that will likely lead to loss of enzymes.

Check outStop Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet for evereything you need to know about soaking and sprouting.

Embrace the Cliche

Now more than ever is the time to get your nut game tight. New year’s resolutions (and society in general) are attempting to mold you into the kind of person who eats a handful of almonds for a snack. The kind of person who feels vindicated and righteous consuming their tiny, heart-healthy, protein-packed treat. And you can be that person who gets all of those nutrients without the crappy digestive issues. All you need is a little planning and a pitcher of salted water. Enjoy!

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14 Benefits of Squatting, Why We Should All Be Doing It, and How to Squat Right

In many parts of the world, squatting is common while cooking, eating, birthing, and relieving oneself. We used to squat all the time. We are designed to squat. We would squat constantly in the wild. In nature, to navigate life and stay alive, we foraged all day. We would squat down, pick a leafy green, and eat it, likely while still in the squat position, staying low and looking around for trouble or more food. We would squat to track our prey, squat to defecate, and we would squat to relax because we didn’t have chairs. Our bodies have been squatting for a long time, and we are still evolved to squat.

Squatting is a fundamental movement that every human being is designed to do. But due to a combination of weakness and immobility from a lifetime of wearing restrictive footwear and sitting in a chair, many of us in urban industrialized societies have lost the ability to squat properly.” – Rui Li, a certified personal trainer

The Main Benefits of Squatting

1. Flexibility

Squatting regularly and properly can help improve range of motion and strengthen muscles throughout the lower body including the glutes, hips, ankles.

2. Body Alignment

Squats can correct body alignment. When you first do a squat (if it’s been a while), not only will you feel stiff and tight, you will also notice that certain joints just aren’t moving right. Things are “out of place” as they say. You could go to a chiropractor, but most would benefit from just doing daily squats. As the body’s joints become used to stretching, get more limber, and as blood flows in areas it was not getting to well previously, the body will usually start to align itself back into place.

3. Testosterone

Squats work most of the largest muscles in your body, such as your hips, glutes, abductors, and quadriceps. Other muscles engaged include your hamstrings, calves, and all your core muscles as well as most other stabilizer muscles. Doing squats naturally produces testosterone and builds muscle, not just in the legs.

4. Detox

Squats move organs and bodily systems, which gently massages and stimulates organs, lymph, and glands. Squats increase blood flow. As the organs get massaged and stimulated, the body gets more flexible. and the joints ease up, you’ll notice an increase in blood flow all over the body.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

5. Improve Circulation

The circulatory system needs bodily movement to function properly. Doing squats will stimulate the glands, the organs, and help get the blood circulating better.

6. Energy Boost

When you open pathways, you stimulate glands and get the blood flowing you also increase your body’s electrical charge, meaning, you literally have more energy. When scientists talk about the nervous system sending ‘signals’ to the brain, or when they talk about “synapses firing,” they are referring to the flow of electricity in the body. Once squats become easy, nothing else will give you the same energy boost.

7. Eliminate Lower Back and Knee Pain

Doing squats the wrong way can lead to permanent lower back and knee pain, but doing squats with good form can reverse and heal such injuries. For those with knee pain, check your arches and then push your knees outward while you squat.

Related: Running Without Knee Pain

8. Reduce Cellulite

Cellulite is deposits of fat under the skin. Squats can help reduce the appearance of cellulite and help tighten and tone the skin. Some “spot-reduction” can be achieved with squats, but diet is going to play a bigger factor in cellulite reduction.

9. Decrease Risk of Injuries

Who do you think is more likely to be injured by bending over to pick up something? The person who can do 100 squats or the person who can do 5? The increased mobility and strength that comes from squats are realized within just a few days of starting them. Stairs become easier, bending over to pick things up feels like less of a strain. Life becomes less of a strain.

10. Build Core Strength

Squats use almost all of our muscles, and it hits the core hard. You use your abs, lower back, and obliques when doing squats, which also work the internal organs and glands as mentioned above. A weak core is a very weak link in the chain that makes up our musculature system. The strongest legs in the world will not squat much without an awesome core to carry and stabilize the weight.

11. Lift and Tighten the Butt

The bigger the gluteus maximus the higher, firmer, rounder, and sexier the butt is.

12. Fix Posture

If you find yourself slumping, slouching, or generally just looking like you’re fighting gravity just to stand, a few weeks of daily squats can fix that.

13. Improve Confidence, Mood

Improved posture generally improves one’s mood. It’s like forcing a smile when you’re unhappy. Standing tall, fully upright with ease, of a sign of confidence; people with better posture have a leg up in the confidence game.

14. Improve Libido

With the glandular activity, energy boost, more confidence, and an increase in testosterone, it’s pretty easy to see what squats can do for you in the bedroom.

How To Squat

The goal is to be able to feel relaxed and comfortable in this position:

The image is from an excellent article called Interesting Facts About the Natural Squatting Position.

There are bodyweight squats and there are weighted squats, and there are countless various methods for both. For this article, we’ll stick to bodyweight squats. There are many schools of thought on how best to do squats, but I highly recommend you mix them up. Here are a few to try:

Prison Squat

This is like a power squat without the weight if you are familiar with barbell lifting. Stand with your feet slightly beyond shoulder-width apart with your toes forward and your knees pushed outward. Keep your hands on your head or otherwise unable to assist. Squat down to parallel or a little below with a tight core, flex the core hard on the way up keeping the lower back stable and stiff.

Narrow, Close Stance, Legs Together Squats

When you put together the legs you work the leg muscles differently. Where before you will feel a lot of abductor work and core activation, with these squats you’ll find more quadricep use and a need for increased flexibility. I prefer to take these squats all the way down, and I will bend at the ankles at the very bottom, but attempt to do this less and less as the ankle joints loosen. You will want to flex the core hard on the initial phase of the come-up. I prefer to let my arms swing a bit on this exercise.

Chinese Wall Squats

For those who are graduating to more difficult squats, but still want to stick to bodyweight exercises, there are lunges, there are pistol squats, and then there’s my favorite, Chinese Wall Squats! These are much harder than they look, but if you can do them then you have very strong legs and a strong core and excellent mobility.

GetUps

I have certainly been so sick before that any squat recommendations would have been laughable. For people who can’t do squats yet, I recommend getups! They’re easy. Just lay down on the floor, and then get up. The trick is to notice how you stabilize yourself and to alternate each time. For instance, if you get down on your right knee, and push with your right hand on your leg, and get up with your left leg first, you need to alternate all of these leverage points with your body so you don’t get too strong on one side which can throw the body out of alignment and actually reduce mobility.

It’s important to note that on a severely toxic body, physically demanding squats can lead to more damage. Even with perfect form, if the body is in an extremely inflammatory state, doing squats with knee or back pain can cause more inflammation of an injury and the entire body. If you’re someone who is dealing with chronic pain, take it slow, watch the video below and work towards that, start with just a few, build up slowly, and read the first few articles below the video in the “Must Read” section!

If you’ve ever watched a toddler play, they squat easily and often,” Dr. Jasmine Marcus, a physical therapist with McCune and Murphy Physical Therapy in Ithaca, New York, told MNN. “As we age, we stop performing this motion and tend to lose hip, knee and ankle range of motion.” – MNN

Must Read:


Eliminate Acne For Good (No, It’s Not Another Skin Product)

Acne vulgaris is now the most common skin disease of western civilization. Over 85% of adolescents and around 50% of people who are over the age of 25 struggle with acne — and its prevalence keeps rising. Clearly, the “doctor recommended” antibiotics and skin creams aren’t helping much.

Fortunately, recent research suggests that we can eliminate whiteheads, blackheads, and red bumps with what we eat. But, is this really possible? Can we treat acne from the inside out with diet?

Why yes, yes we can. To understand how this is possible, we need to look beyond the surface of the skin.

The Acne Epidemic — A Side Effect of Western Culture

Genetics strongly influence your risk of developing acne, but acne-causing genes cannot explain the rapid increases in the incidence of acne. Population-based studies, on the other hand, suggest that diet may have the most profound impact on the severity and prevalence of acne — more so than skin hygiene, smoking, and stress (which all have been found to have little to no association with acne).

Related: Candida, Gut Flora, Allergies, and Disease

More specifically, the western diet seems to be the main instigator of the current acne epidemic. Conversely, when we look at the data from other non-westernized cultures — such as the Inuit, Okinawan Islanders, Ache hunter-gatherers, and Kitavan Islanders — acne is a rarity.

But before we jump to any conclusions, we must keep in mind that this is epidemiological data. From this evidence, we cannot assume that the western diet causes acne. This data doesn’t even provide us with strong enough evidence to claim that any diet can increase or decrease the risk of acne (there are too many confounding variables). Only when we look at the physiological mechanisms behind the creation of pimples, blackheads, and red bumps will we be able to figure out if diet can play a role in the development of acne.

The Formation of Acne — An Inside Look at Our Poor Pores

 

Whiteheads, blackheads, and red bumps are formed when there is:

  1. Increased reproduction of skin cells within the ducts that carry oily lubrication to the skin and hair.
  2. Abnormal shedding of the skin cells around the hair follicle.
  3. Increased production of sebum — the oily, waxy substance that waterproofs and lubricates the skin and hair.
  4. Colonization of the uppermost layer of the skin (stratum corneum) by a bacterium called Propionibacterium acnes, resulting in inflammation (red bumps).

As a result of these four factors, dead skin cells will stick together with the help of the excess oily sebum. This will block the pore of the hair follicle, forming a microcomedone (a clogged skin pore).

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

If the microcomedone is closer to the skin, then the skin pigment called melanin will be oxidized by the air, creating what we know as a “blackhead”. On the other hand, a whitehead is formed when the microcomedone occurs deep within the hair follicle. Both whiteheads and blackheads (in their early and late stages) provide an ideal environment for Propionibacterium acnes to proliferate. As the bacteria continue to colonize the area, they trigger an inflammatory response that leads to redness, tenderness, and swelling.

What creates this chaos in the skin? The current research indicates that the main culprits are insulin and other hormones that are influenced by insulin, such as testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). For example, DHT and DHEA seem to increase oily sebum production, while GH and IGF-1 appear to trigger the overproduction of the specific skin cells. When these hormones are chronically high, they will disrupt the homeostasis of the skin and stimulate acne production.

The Bigger Picture of Hormones, Acne, And Health

A helpful example of how hormones affect skin health can be found when we look at specific medical conditions that result from hormonal imbalances. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), for example, is typically caused by unhealthy increases in androgens (like DHT) in women. As a result, many women with PCOS also have acne.

Conversely, people who lack androgens or are insensitive to the effects of androgens rarely have acne. This is the main reason why people with androgen insensitivity syndrome never develop acne.

A more prevalent example of how closely linked acne and hormones are can be found in teenagers. When teenagers (and some preteens) hit puberty, they experience rapid increases in many of the hormones we mentioned above. This results in rapid growth and sexual maturation with the unfortunate side effect of acne (for most adolescents).

But don’t mistake genetics and puberty as the only contributing factors to acne formation. If we look back at the data from population-based studies comparing the incidence of acne in westernized and non-westernized societies and combine that with our knowledge of the physiological mechanisms of acne, an interesting pattern emerges.

Related: No Makeup & Blemish Free? Healthy Gut, Healthy Skin – Here’s How 

Since insulin and other hormones that are influenced by insulin instigate the chaos in the skin that leads to acne and high-carb, sugary foods stimulate insulin, doesn’t this mean that people who eat a diet filled with these processed foods will most likely develop acne?

When we look at the population-based studies, this seems to be true — especially since westernized societies eat more processed sugary foods than any other culture. Yet, this is purely a contention held by many researchers. To find out if this is what really occurs in humans, we need some high-quality scientific evidence from clinical trials.

High Glycemic Load Diet vs. Low Glycemic Load Diet — Can Diet Treat Acne?

To our knowledge, there is one study that explored the therapeutic effects of diet on acne. In this study, a total of 43 male patients with acne who were between the ages of 15 and 25 completed either a 12-week high glycemic load diet or a 12-week low glycemic load diet.

At 12 weeks, the average number of lesions in the low glycemic load diet group fell by 51% — nearly twice the reduction that was found in the high glycemic load diet.

Below are some photos of the results from the subjects in the low glycemic load diet group:

These are pretty astounding results, especially when you consider what the researchers define as a low glycemic load diet:

The LGL [low glycemic load] group was instructed to substitute high-GI foods with foods higher in protein (e.g., lean meat, poultry, or fish) or with foods with a lower GI (e.g., whole-grain bread, pasta, and fruit). Some staple foods were supplied, and the participants were urged to consume these or similar foods daily. The recommended LGL diet consisted of 25% of energy from protein, 45% from low-GI carbohydrates, and 30% energy from fats.”

This diet has a lower glycemic load than the standard American diet, but I wouldn’t consider this a “low glycemic load diet”. Some of the foods included in this diet like grains, pasta, and some fruits can provoke an unhealthy glycemic response, especially when they are eaten in high quantities.

Related: Top 10 Blood Sugar Lowering Foods

Just imagine what would’ve happened if they eliminated low fiber, high sugar foods completely. Even better results, perhaps?

Unfortunately, there are no other research studies that can provide us with a conclusive answer.

However, we can make a couple reasonable assumptions from this data:

  • Diet definitely plays a role in the incidence and severity of acne in western populations.
  • If you eat more whole foods and less processed foods, then the severity of acne will most likely be reduced.
  • Insulin levels and acne severity are related.

With that being said, many questions still remain unanswered. Here are some that come to mind for me:

  • Are insulin levels and acne severity so strongly linked that a decrease in insulin levels will improve skin health?
  • Will a low sugar, whole food diet have the same effect on women with acne?

What This Means For You And Your Acne

The researchers of the previous study suggest that losing weight and eating more low-GI foods like meat and low-carb vegetables will create favorable changes in the body that improve skin health. The researchers also explored the implications their findings have for women by relating acne to PCOS.

They went on to explain how both PCOS and acne can be caused by chronically high insulin levels. In fact, women with PCOS typically have acne and some degree of insulin resistance. The research on PCOS suggests that low carb diets (a variation of a low glycemic load diet) are the best diet to help reverse PCOS and its symptoms (like acne), so it is fair to assume that eating in this way will also improve acne in women without PCOS.

What does this mean for you and your loved ones who have acne? That you can all benefit from cutting out processed, sugar-laden foods your diet. However, this way of eating may not eliminate your acne completely. Some studies suggest that dairy can play a role in worsening acne as well.

Related: Healthy Sugar Alternatives & More

Dairy — Just As Bad As Sugar for the Skin?

Insulin and basal IGF-I plasma levels are major players when it comes to acne, and high sugar foods aren’t the only thing that increases IGF-1 and insulin to unreasonable levels. Dairy products can provoke unhealthy insulin and IGF-1 levels as well.

Although there are no clinical trials on the impact of milk consumption on acne, three large population-based studies reported a positive association between milk intake and acne. This association is probably due to the fact that the natural hormones in milk (designed to help the calves grow into massive animals) may survive milk processing and stimulate the many processes that lead to acne production. Furthermore, the whey protein that is found in most dairy products also creates a potent insulin response that may further exacerbate any acne issues.

If you suspect that your dairy consumption could be harming your skin health, then consider replacing it with dairy-alternatives. Here is a list of some suggestions to make it easier for you:

  • Use coconut milk instead of milk. In recipes, you can substitute coconut milk in for regular milk in a 1 to 1 ratio.
  • Replace heavy cream with coconut cream. Make sure the coconut cream doesn’t have any added sugars.
  • Replace dairy-based cheese with vegan cheese. My personal favorite dairy-free cheese-making companies are Treeline and Miyoko’s Kitchen. Their cheeses are some of the best I’ve ever tasted. In fact, many people think that they are better than traditional dairy-based cheese. If Treeline or Miyoko’s Kitchen doesn’t have the cheese you are looking for, then try Follow Your Heart’s vegan cheese. Follow Your Heart makes almost every type of dairy-free cheese you could ever want.
  • Instead of Cream Cheese, have Nut-Based Soft Cheese. Treeline makes a cashew-based soft cheese that is delicious and savory, and it has almost the same texture as cream cheese.
  • Replace Yogurt and Sour Cream with Nut-Based Yogurt. At your local health food market, you will probably be able to find plain almond, cashew, or coconut milk yogurt. Just make sure it has no added sugars or dubious ingredients.
  • Instead of Butter use Coconut Oil or Vegan Butter. Coconut oil has a slightly lower melting point than butter and the same smoke point as butter, which makes it a good butter replacement. If you are not a fan of the flavor of coconut oil, look for dairy-free butter in your local health food store. Make sure the vegan butter doesn’t contain any hydrogenated oils, vegetable oils, or soy oils. You can also make your own vegan butter by following recipes online — Just search for “Vegan Butter”.

Seven More Ways to Improve Skin Health And Reduce Acne

Altogether, limiting your sugar and dairy intake should have a massive impact on your skin health. If this approach isn’t working as well as you’d like after a couple of weeks, then try some of these suggestions:

  • Supplement with Omega 3s. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are anti-inflammatory and may improve skin health. The best sources include wild-caught salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, and anchovies. Or if you don’t want to eat fish, supplement with some vegan omega 3s that are derived from algal oil.
  • Eat non-starchy vegetables with every meal. Leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables help promote hormonal regulation and improve skin health.
  • Take caffeine-free green tea extract. Green tea is the best source of the antioxidant EGCG (Epigallocatechin gallate). A 2016 study found that green tea extract significantly reduced acne lesions in adult women with moderate to severe acne. We suggest taking the caffeine-free extract to mitigate the adrenal stress that is typically caused by caffeine.
  • Limit dark chocolate consumption. A 2016 study found that 99% dark chocolate might significantly worsen breakouts in acne-prone men. For this reason, you may want to limit dark chocolate intake.
  • Eat only whole foods. Stick to whole foods whenever possible. Avoid anything with added sugars, even if they are natural sweeteners like honey and coconut sugar.
  • Exercise daily. Consider adding a 15-30 min walk to your daily schedule. This will increase your insulin sensitivity, decrease your insulin levels, and reduce the severity of your acne as a result.
  • Experiment with intermittent fasting. By restricting your calorie intake to an 8-hour eating window every day, you can decrease your insulin and IGF-1 levels more than you would by eating normally throughout the day.
Related: Inexpensive, Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge

Putting it All Together — The Best Diet For Eliminating Acne

The current evidence suggests that processed foods — specifically foods that are high in sugar and low in fiber — are the likely cause of the current acne epidemic in westernized societies. The reason why I say “likely cause” is because the existing data is scarce.

However, with our current knowledge of the physiology of acne, the prevalence of acne in westernized vs. non-westernized societies, and the results from the clinical trial on how diet affects the severity of acne, we have enough evidence to suggest that cutting out processed foods from the diet and replacing them with whole foods is one of the best (and healthiest) treatments for acne.

To put it more simply, your skin will be much healthier if you use your money to buy more organic vegetables instead of expensive creams and ineffective antibiotics.

Once you’ve adopted a low sugar, whole food diet into your life, you can improve skin health even further by:

  • supplementing with omega 3s
  • eating low-carb vegetables with every meal
  • taking EGCG
  • limiting dark chocolate consumption
  • exercising daily
  • experimenting with intermittent fasting

When you combine these suggestions together with a low sugar, whole food diet, your skin will start clearing up and your health will improve tremendously. Keep in mind, however, that it may take a couple of weeks to months before you see noticeable results — just like it did for the participants in the study we looked at earlier.

Recommended Reading:
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HPV Vaccine Trials Used Neurotoxic Aluminum Placebos To Falsify Study

In a Collective Evolution article Robert F. Kennedy Jr reported that that out of the 16 HPV vaccine randomized trials only two used an inert saline placebo. Ten of the trials for the HPV vaccine were done against a neurotoxic aluminum adjuvant, and four of the trials used another aluminum-containing vaccine as the comparison.

Recommended: How Plumbing (Not Vaccines) Eradicated Disease

Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Cardiology pored over 28 studies published through January 2017—16 randomized trials and 12 post-marketing case series—pertaining to the three human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines currently on the market globally. In their July 2017 peer-reviewed report, the authors, Manuel Martínez-Lavin and Luis Amezcua-Guerra, uncovered evidence of numerous adverse events, including life-threatening injuries, permanent disabilities, hospitalizations and deaths, reported after vaccination with GlaxoSmithKline’s bivalent Cervarix vaccine and Merck’s quadrivalent or nine-valent HPV vaccines (Gardasil and Gardasil 9). Pharmaceutical company scientists routinely dismissed, minimized or concealed those injuries using statistical gimmicks and invalid comparisons designed to diminish their relative significance.

Of the 16 HPV vaccine randomized trials, only two used an inert saline placebo. Ten of the sixteen compared the HPV vaccine against a neurotoxic aluminum adjuvant, and four trials used an already-approved aluminum-containing vaccine as the comparison.

Scientific researchers view double-blind placebo trials as the gold standard for testing new drugs. To minimize bias, investigators randomly assign patients to either a “treatment” group or a “control” (placebo) group and then compare health outcomes. The standard practice is to compare a new drug against a “pharmacologically inert” placebo. To minimize opportunities for bias, neither patients nor researchers know which individuals received the drug and which the placebo. However, in clinical trials of the various HPV vaccines, pharmaceutical researchers avoided this kind of rigor and instead employed sleight-of-hand flimflams to mask the seriousness of vaccine injuries.

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

Using aluminum-containing placebos will obviously obscure comparison of the control groups. Those concerned with the HPV vaccine have argued that aluminum adjuvants are one of the most likely causes of adverse reactions. The placebos with aluminum caused adverse reactions among the “presumably unwitting patients who received them,” allowing the pharmaceutical companies to hide similar adverse reactions among people who received the vaccines. Although both placebo and study groups suffered numerous adverse events in these studies, there were minimal differences between the two groups. The similar adverse health reactions indicated to industry researchers and government regulators that the vaccines were not causing damage.

Recommended: The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuJAqtQRhMs



U.S. Life Expectancy To Decline, CDC Blames Pharmaceutical Companies

Drug deaths for 2016 were tallied at 63,600, up from 52,000 in 2015. This year is likely to continue the trend. Fentanyl is being blamed. In other words, drug manufacturers, the companies supposedly in the business of saving lives, have been so negligent with our health that they are responsible for a drop in the life expectancy of the entire United States. Let that sink in. These are the companies that produce cough medicine, baby shampoo, and vaccines for us and our children.

I think we should take it very seriously. If you look at the other developed countries in the world, they’re not seeing this kind of thing. Life expectancy is going up.” – Bob Anderson, chief of the Mortality Statistics Branch at the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC

Since 1962 and 1963 influenza caused an inordinate number of deaths. Since then, the U.S. has only had a one-year drop in our life expectancy, which was during the worst of the AIDS epidemic. The number of people who fatally overdosed on fentanyl and other synthetic opiates rose from 9,580 in 2015 to 19,413 the following year. Deaths due to heroin increased almost 20 percent, and deaths from other opioid painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone went up to 14 percent. At least 42,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses in 2016, which is reported to be a 28 percent increase from the previous year.

Keith Humphreys, an addiction specialist at Stanford University, says it’s even worse than it looks. Keith says that the research has shown official figures could be undercounting the true number of opioid deaths by 20 percent or more,

…we could easily be at 50,000 opioid deaths last year,” he said. “This means that even if you ignored deaths from all other drugs, the opioid epidemic alone is deadlier than the AIDS epidemic at its peak.”

The opioid addiction in the U.S. is affecting other countries too.

The biggest challenge China faces in cracking down on the smuggling of opioids is the huge demand from the US. The United States should strengthen its educational and publicity campaigns to reduce domestic demand, intensify its crackdown on internet-based drug crimes, and share more lab data with China to improve our detection and verification capabilities.” – Yu Haibin, a senior official with the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the country’s top law enforcement agency.
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