I thought I was healthy; I was forty-one years old and in the prime of my life. I worked out regularly, often with my new husband and at times with a trainer. On the weekend, my husband and I would ride 30-40 miles through the vineyards of Germany on our bicycles. I would have classified myself as healthy, maybe even very healthy.

I ate relatively well most of the time, at least compared to other people. I was always conscious of what I ate and usually chose the low sugar, low-fat option if there was one. I didn’t drink regular soda and only drank diet soda when water wasn’t available. As I said, I thought I was healthy.

The first sign that something was wrong came when my husband and I were on vacation in Greece on Valentines Day, 2014. As we walked back to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing, I noticed a slight limp on my right side. I also kept tripping on the sidewalk, and it was hard for me to keep up with my husband. The fourth time I tripped, my husband looked at me and said, “What is wrong with you?” I shrugged my shoulders and laughed. I chalked it up to the uneven sidewalks in Athens and maybe the wine.

That next week I noticed that with each day my limp got noticeably worse. I thought it must be the long-standing hip problem I’d had since my high school cheerleading days. I saw two different orthopedic doctors and got an MRI of my hip. They told me that eventually I would need a right hip replacement, but I needed to wait longer because I was too young. One orthopedic surgeon even watched as I walked down the hall and commented, “You do have a limp, don’t you?” but he didn’t offer any suggestions or advice.

About a week after the last orthopedic appointment, I realized that my worsening limp was not due to my bad hips. I was getting up an hour earlier than usual because I had become so slow at getting ready for work. I tried to dry my hair, something I’ve done a million times before, but the brush was so heavy in my right hand, I literally couldn’t keep it above my head. When I held the brush up, it would drop onto my head.

That same day, I was trying to sign documents at work. Again, it was something I’ve done a million times, but when my brain told my hand to sign, my hand wasn’t responding. I watched my hand move in slow motion.

During that same week, I started bumping into walls. I lost all sense of where my body was in space. I lost my balance while walking around a corner or while walking down the sidewalk. I would have to reach out and grab something to stabilize myself or use my forearms against the wall to prevent myself from falling. I also had to hold onto a dresser or nightstand to brace myself when I got out of bed and when I put my clothes on, or I would fall. By the end of the week, I had bruises up and down my forearms. I worked as a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate, and I was covered with bruises. I kept getting strange looks, and a few people even questioned me about the bruises.

Once I realized that my hand was involved, I immediately suspected MS. Ten years earlier, I was diagnosed with optic neuritis, inflammation of the optic nerve, which is often a precursor to MS. One morning, ten years ago, I noticed the lower left quadrant of my left eye was completely black. I saw a couple doctors and was diagnosed with optic neuritis. After three days of IV steroids, it went away. I followed up with a neurologist who gave me an MRI and told me that I did have brain lesions, but they were small and were not in the right location of the brain to justify an MS diagnosis. He didn’t seem to be worried about it. He told me to watch it. I followed up with him for a few years, and then I stopped. I had actually forgotten about it, until now.

I am right handed but, because of my progressively worsening paralysis, I found myself compensating with my left. This was only three weeks after the first symptoms. I would try to pick up something with my right hand; it would fall. Soon I was brushing my teeth, maneuvering the mouse, and even signing my name with my left hand. My handwriting looked like a third grader’s, no matter which hand I used.

It took me twice as long to do anything: to shower, get dressed, walk to the bathroom, walk to the car. Every time I would lie down, my legs would go into action. Relentless leg spasticity disturbed my sleep all night long. About every 30 seconds my right leg, and sometimes my left as well, would contract intensely, then release. I was exhausted before I even got out of bed in the morning. I didn’t want to go on. I didn’t know who I was anymore. My body had betrayed me.

Immediately after I suspected MS, I went to see my doctor and begged for a neurology consult. I knew that what I was experiencing was neurological, and I was pretty confident it was MS due to my history. I asked for IV steroids immediately. My doctor laughed at me. She didn’t believe me. She said no one was going to give me IV steroids. She called me hysterical and gave me a prescription for Valium, which I willingly took at the time. I responded to this by doing what I had started doing so often; I burst into tears. Finally, I was referred to a neurologist: my appointment was scheduled two weeks from that day.

During the fifth week, I continued to research conventional treatment for MS.  I felt scared and hopeless as I became more and more disabled. I couldn’t walk up or down stairs without using a cane and holding onto the rail. I had already fallen three times. I couldn’t raise my toes on my right foot. This made driving difficult and frankly dangerous. I had to lift my whole foot and put it on the pedals. I was rapidly losing control over my body.

I couldn’t wait two weeks for the appointment. I walked into the neurologist’s office a week before my scheduled appointment, and surprisingly, the doctor agreed to see me. I just couldn’t take it anymore –not knowing what my body was doing, getting worse each day. I was a mess. Through my tears, I explained my history to doctor number four. I pressed for IV steroids because I knew in my heart that this was MS. He scheduled me for two MRI’s for the following week, one of the brain and one of the spine, both with contrast.

During this first appointment with the neurologist, I mentioned that I had been researching MS on the Internet and that I kept seeing stories of women who’s MS symptoms had improved simply by making dietary changes. I asked him what he thought about cutting out meat, processed food, sugar, dairy, and gluten. My doctor told me that there was no evidence that diet had any impact on the course of the disease or the severity of symptoms.

During the next week, I got the two MRI’s and kept the initial appointment with my neurologist, which was now our followup appointment. I was officially diagnosed with MS on March 20, 2014. This was six weeks after the onset of symptoms. MS had hit me fast and hard. I was still working, but I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t write. It was hard to type. I could barely walk. Some co-workers were questioning whether I should continue to work. My future was bleak.

I had training for work that had been pre-planned six months previously, and I was scheduled to go to the States in two days. My neurologist told me that we would talk about preventative medication when I returned from my trip in two weeks. I received 1000 mg of IV prednisone that day, 2000 mg the next morning, and oral prednisone to take with me on my trip.

My head was spinning. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through a 12-hour flight let alone concentrate on spouse abuse training. During my trip, an airline escort had to meet me at the gate with a wheelchair and wheel me to the connecting flight. All I could think of was how I was going to continue to deteriorate, and I wondered what my future would look like. I spent the majority of the next two weeks reading about MS.

I returned to Germany two weeks later and started taking Tecfidera, a preventative MS medication, twice daily. I was also taking a muscle relaxer, an anti-anxiety medication, and a pain killer for the severe leg cramps. In addition, I had been taking a twice-daily steroid inhalant for asthma for more than ten years, and I kept a rescue inhaler with me at all times to use as needed. I also suffered from severe migraines since childhood, and I took Imitrex for this as needed.

In my research of conventional treatment for MS, all I read about was how the disease was “incurable” and about how I would need to set up a plan for “progressive disability” and “wheelchairs, home health aides, and Social Security Disability.” For about three days, I was consumed with dark thoughts. I didn’t want my new husband to have to care for me like that. For those three days, I wanted to die. Then I continued my research.

When I read about natural remedies for MS, I started to regain hope. I realized that the conventional medical community didn’t know what caused MS and didn’t believe there was a cure. I kept finding examples of how diet changes not only improved MS symptoms, but also cured it. As I read, I started to believe that I could get healthy, truly healthy. I also started to take action. I maintained the diet changes I had started and learned more about real health every day. I chose to continue to improve my diet; because it was the one thing I had control over in this whole situation.

I then remembered my old friend, Michael Edwards, had a real interest in alternative health care. He asked me to read several articles in his magazine, Organic Lifestyle Magazine. I began to learn more and more about health, real health, and how it is intimately connected to what we put in our mouth. Together Michael and I developed a nutritional and detoxification plan for me.

I noticed improvements right away. Just as I had declined a little bit every day, I noticed that I got a little bit stronger and more stable every day. I soon noticed that my other health ailments were improving, too. I no longer wheezed or suffered from migraines. I learned how to heal my gut from 20 years of Tylenol and Advil abuse. I learned how to feed my body nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods that would aid in my healing. Many people looked at my salads and smoothies and said “You are so disciplined!” I typically replied, “My mobility is a good motivator.”

I stayed on Tecfidera from April until November 2014 and then made the decision to stop it. At first I was scared to make this decision. I had to get past the brainwashing; the belief that I had to take what the doctor prescribed. I had been able to wean myself off all of the other pharmaceuticals I had been taking, including the asthma medicine and migraine pills, which I had taken for more than 30 years. I was able to do this simply by adding organic, raw produce-more vegetables than fruit- to my diet.

I got confirmation that this was what was helping me whenever I would veer off the diet in any way. Once, about 45 days into eating only raw produce (organic when possible) I went to a going away luncheon for a close friend. The menu was abbreviated, so there wasn’t anything on it I could eat. I chose to eat a cheese pizza with whatever raw veggies they could put on top. Even though I only ate the top of the pizza (cheese, onion, and mushrooms), before I left the restaurant my forehead was pounding. I had an immediate, physical reaction to either the  dairy or the gluten.

More recently, I ate couscous for several days, not knowing that it was wheat. This time I didn’t get a headache; I had a full relapse of my MS symptoms. I noticed that my right foot had dropped, and I was tripping. I also had to stabilize myself when I rounded corners like before. I noticed a significant decrease in my energy and decreased ability to go up or down stairs. When I mentioned this to Michael, the first thing he said was, “Tell me exactly what you’ve eaten for the last four days.” When I stopped and thought about it, I realized couscous had been the only change in my diet.

There was another time, right after I finished the first two phases of my detox program (about 30 days of eating raw, organic produce) that I went out to eat with some girlfriends. I did this every Friday, so I knew how to stick to my program at a restaurant. On that day, however, we got to talking about how well I was doing. I shared with them how I was able to get off all of the medications simply by changing what I ate. I told them I was better – walking better, feeling better, and having more energy. I thought, “I’ve been good. I’ve stuck to my program so well I deserve some baklava.” It was delicious, but I couldn’t sleep that night because my stomach was turning in knots, and my legs, which had been peaceful for three weeks,started to spasm again. I told myself, “Baklava doesn’t taste this good. Nothing does.”

Four months after being diagnosed, it was time for a repeat MRI. My neurologist had said that the most I could hope for was no new lesions on my brain. Not only were there no new lesions, it showed no evidence of inflammation and the lesions I had previously were significantly reduced. The radiologist looked at me and said, “You’re better!”

Recently, I had a blood test that confirmed that the two indicators that show inflammation in the body were completely normal. These indicators were extremely elevated in March but normal in November. I have no doubt that it is due to the lifestyle changes I’ve made that have contributed to my healing.

It’s now been ten months since my initial diagnosis, and for the first time in my life, I am no longer an asthmatic. I don’t take asthma or migraine medicine or any pharmaceuticals for that matter. I only take natural supplements when needed to supplement my diet.

I use a good, whole food, nutrition supplement (Total Nutrition Formula) in my smoothie every morning and munch on a big salad all throughout the day and into the evening. My salad is full of 10 or more different organic vegetables and 3-4 different types of leafy greens with lots of garlic, onions, and turmeric. After all of that, if I am still hungry (and often I’m not) I’ll have some cooked quinoa mixed with raw garlic and any other raw vegetables. I drink a gallon of pure, living water every day (I also make this cranberry lemonade). To my water, I add either organic apple cider vinegar and organic strap molasses or organic lemon and cranberry juice sweetened with stevia and spiced with cayenne pepper.

As I continue on this healing journey, I continue to learn and make improved health choices. I learned that couscous is wheat, and it will imitate an MS flare up. I learned that nothing is as good as true health, not even baklava.

Note: I owe so much of my success in healing to the following article in Organic Lifestyle Magazine and the following supplements from Green Lifestyle Market. Much love to Michael Edwards, Chief Editor. Thank you!

Further Reading:

• 80% Raw Food Diet
• Inexpensive Easy Detox the One Gallon Challenge
• How to Kill Candida and Balance Your Inner Ecosystem
• Doc Shillington’s Total Body Cleanse
• Budwig Cancer Cure
• Cure Cancer Naturally
• Garlic, the Most Amazing Herb on the Planet
• Turmeric – Learn More about This Ayurvedic Herb

Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Tea
• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• HM Complex – Pure Encapsulations
• Shillington’s Liver & Gallbladder Formula
• Shillington’s Liver and Gallbladder Tea
• Shillington’s Echinacea Plus
• Formula SF722 – Thorne Research
• Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse Formula
• FloraMend Prime Probiotic – Thorne Research
• MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations
• Liquid Light – Sunwarrior

Change We Can Believe In

In 2007, then presidential candidate Barack Obama promised that if elected he would direct more money for organic agriculture. He also said, “If I am elected president of the United States, I will support legislation that will require the mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods.” Now, well into his second term, it seems Obama has no intention of honoring his promises. Even if Obama honored his word, would such steps be enough to ensure our survival?

Can organic farms yield comparable outputs with conventional farms? To answer this question in 2002, Dr. Paul Mader and colleagues analyzed more than two decades of data. On average, organic farms yielded 80% of the output conventional farms produced. Although the yield was lower, the quality of the produce and the quality of the soil was far superior in every conceivable way. There are more nutrients found in organic foods.

The use of chemicals, so prevalent in modern agriculture, may result in a high yield (for a time), but their use is actually more expensive than organic food production. Conventional agriculture is more profitable for farmers due to government subsidies. That’s right; our taxes pay farmers more to cause harm to the environment and to produce chemically laden foods.

Subsistence strategies are a cultural phenomena. Just as language cannot be separated from culture neither can food be separated from culture. The food people eat and how the food is produced varies dramatically from one group of people to another. As with linguistic centrism, people tend to think that their way is the best way. Americans are often under this delusion in regards to feeding the world without simultaneously polluting it. Could the world feed itself without the so called benefits brought forth by the chemicals and drugs used in conventional agriculture?

Sustainable Farms

Farmers all over the world are proving it can be done, among them farmers such as Takao Furuno, a successful organic farmer from Japan. The Furuno farm works as a part of an ecosystem. Every year, after planting their rice, they release hundreds of ducklings into the rice paddies. The ducklings consume weeds that would otherwise compete with the rice. They also consume pests such as insects and snails. The ducklings fertilize the rice with their waste and oxygenate the water by their movements.

The Azolla fern is also grown on the farm. This plant helps to fix nitrogen into the soil as it feeds the ducks, provides cover for the fish from predators, and provides habitat for critters that also help feed the ducks.

By manipulating the natural processes on their farm, the Furuno family’s level of production is amazing. With only three hectares of land, they yield 7 tons of rice, 300 ducks, 4,000 ducklings, and sufficient vegetables for a hundred people.

Japan is a relatively small country. When including the entire Japanese archipelago, the total landmass is about 142,000 square miles. The Furuno farm is twice as productive as other conventional Japanese farms ­– not 80% as productive as Mader’s study would indicate. Twice as productive. With this kind of yield, 2% of the Japanese people could farm and feed their nation, organically and sustainably.

Eduardo Suiza’s Sustainable Fois Grais

Sustainable, humane, and organically produced foods also tend to taste better. Eduardo Suiza has been helping to prove this. Recently he took 1^st place in the Cu de Cois Culinary Competition for his legendary fois grais.

Chef Dan Barber explained that fois grais literally means to force feed geese or ducks a massive amount of food. This makes their liver expand by a factor of eight, a practice many see as inhumane. Eduardo Suiza uses an entirely different approach. He lives by the concept of giving the geese what they want. On his farm, he has everything the geese might need – olives, figs, lupin bushes and other plants to feed the geese.

In the fall, the temperature drops and Eduardo’s geese gorge themselves in preparation for the coming winter. After the geese gorge themselves, Eduardo slaughters some of his birds. This makes a more natural, more humane, and better tasting fois grais. His geese are so content; they invite wild geese flying by to join them. These regular additions to the flock voluntarily stay.

Examples of a sustainable approach to food production can be found all over the world. Thankfully, not all of these examples are in small-scale farming. In the Seville province of Spain, located 10 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, another example of sustainable, high quality agriculture thrives.

Veta La Palma 27,000 Acre Farm

Aquaculture has been instituted on an island farm, and their productivity and quality has caught the attention of the world. The original owners planned to create a cattle ranch so they dug canals to drain the water away. Despite their best efforts, the area was poorly suited for dry farming or raising large amounts of cattle, so eventually the property changed hands. The new owners had a different concept; they reworked the canals to reverse the water flow back inland. The result: Veta La Palma.

Here was a company trying to solve what’s become this unimaginable problem for us chefs. How do we keep fish on our menus?” – Dan Barber

Veta La Palma is a 27,000 acre farm with an amazing annual yield –1,200 tons of fish and shrimp. This aquaculture is self-sustainable; there is no need to feed the fish, as the fish feed themselves. There is no need to feed the shrimp, as the shrimp also feed themselves. In addition, the fish have attracted more than 250 different species of birds (some of which are endangered), and many of these birds fly to the farm from over 150 miles away. One might think that losing fish to the birds is the last thing anyone in aquaculture would want, but the farm is so productive they can feed the birds as well. Veta La Palma has become the largest bird sanctuary in Europe as a well as an incredibly successful fish farm.

Organic agriculture is seen by some as low-tech, and it is often described in terms of what it isn’t rather than what it is. Organic agriculture is agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. But it is so much more. Organic agriculture isn’t low tech; far to the contrary, the techniques used in organic agriculture today would astound the farmers of days past. True, sustainable, organic farming is a holistic approach to the microbes in the soil, the plants, the animals, and the relationships between them.

Barack Obama and Monsanto

In 2007, during the presidential debates, Barack Obama promised that if he got elected he would allocate more money for organic agriculture. Instead of honoring that promise, he appointed a man with ties to Monsanto, Tim Vilsack, to head the USDA. If we are to have change that we can believe in, it has become apparent that we must become the change.

Voting for change doesn’t necessarily bring change. Agribusiness votes, too, and they vote with their donations to politicians’ political campaigns. Monsanto, ADM, and other large agribusinesses are able to drown out the desires of the American people with huge sums of money.

Conclusion

Collectively we can change the world overnight by changing the way we spend our money. If we don’t want GMOs on the market, we can stop buying them. If we don’t want our foods grown in chemicals and sprayed with chemicals, we can stop buying conventional produce. And if we don’t want animals to be treated inhumanely, we can purchase our meats more selectively, as well. Together, by changing our buying habits, we can change the world. That’s change we can believe in.

Further Reading:

• 5 Reasons Small Scale Gardening Could Save the World
• Ten Great Gardening Tips
• Urban Gardening
• Planning Your Organic Garden

Sources:

• How I Fell In Love with a Fish – Veta la Palma, TED Talks
• A foie gras parable – Eduardo Sousa, TED Talks
• Jay Withgott and Scott Brennan, Environment The Science Behind The Stories (Boston: Pearson Education, 2011), 274.

Dr. Stephanie Seneff, an MIT research scientist, is calling for a ban on Monsanto’s Roundup. During a recent presentation she stated, “At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.”

She made this statement while presenting her findings of the correlation between the increasing use of Monsanto’s Roundup and the rising rates of autism. While she is unable to prove causation, the correlation on a graph is quite remarkable and does call for further investigation. The number of children with autism has risen from 1 in 5,000 in 1990 to 1 in 68 today.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, builds up in our environment and in our bodies over time. Monsanto claims it is harmless. Senoff says glyphosate kills beneficial bacteria in the gut, which results in shortages of critical neurotransmitters, minerals, and folate. And we know, nine out of ten autistic children suffer from gastrointestinal problems.

In her PowerPoint she wrote, “Adjuvants in pesticides are generally declared as inerts, and for this reason they are not tested in long-term regulatory experiments. It is thus very surprising that they amplify up to 1000 times the toxicity of their APs [Active Principles] in 100% of the cases where they are indicated to be present by the manufacturer.”

Some Of the Markers For Autism and Glyphosate Match

She lists the following markers—the same markers for both autism and glyphosate poisoning:

• Disrupt gut bacteria; inflammatory bowel
• Low serum sulfate
• Methionine deficiency
• Serotonin and melatonin deficiency
• Defective aromatase
• Zinc and iron deficiency
• Urinary p-cresol
• Mitochondrial disorder
• Seizures; Glutamate toxicity in the brain

In addition to autism, she revealed correlations to Alzheimer’s, celiac disease and other intestinal disorders as well as kidney failure of agricultural workers.

Other Correlations To Autism

There is no single cause for autism. It is becoming more and more clear that autism is caused by toxicity, whether than be an accumulation or a single event.

Vaccines can provide that single event. Many parents report that their normal child disappeared right before their eyes after a vaccine, often the MMR. The current vaccine schedule also provides the opportunity for an accumulative reaction.

Our Increasingly Toxic World

The dirt in which we grow our food, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, our homes, vaccines and other medications, all combine to create a toxic world.

If we want to protect our children, we must limit toxicity as much as possible in utero, after birth, and as they grow.

Roundup has been banned in other countries.

Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• Formula SF722 • 250c – Thorne Research
• FloraMend Prime Probiotic • 30c – Thorne Research

Further Reading:

•  The Reasons Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease Are On the Rise
• How Gluten can Affect Your Brain, Gut, and Skin
• 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Gluten

Sources:

• MIT Researcher’s New Warning: At Today’s Rate, Half Of All U.S. Children Will Be Autistic By 2025 – The Mind Unleashed
• Autism and the ‘pesticide factory’ inside our guts – The Health Moderator
• Is Roundup the Toxic Chemical That’s Making Us All Sick? – Stephanie Seneff

For most people, learning about natural health (which, incidentally is the only kind of health there is) includes many of these common pitfalls that impede healing. The average person, especially those under 50, can achieve a high level of health very quickly, but it’s rare. The reason for this is brainwashing. Health is not nearly as complicated as we’re led to believe. Deprograming our brains, getting rid of all of the nonsense, is the challenge that takes people weeks, months, or usually years to achieve in order to restore health.

If you’ve had enough of the aches and pains, disease, doctors pilling on medications, or you just feel it’s time to avoid the fate you see your friends and family fall into, here’s what you can do to radically accelerate your learning curve and achieve a truly wonderful state of natural health and vitality, quickly.

No More Diet Foods

Diet soda, lean microwave dinners, healthy this and low fat that… are almost always garbage! If they reduce the fat, they increase the sugar. When they reduce the sugar, they increase the MSG. If the processed food does not have any fat or sugar, it almost always has artificial chemicals.

Stop Reading Labels

That’s right, I said stop reading labels, for a little while. Now that I’ve got your attention, I mean stop buying packaged foods. It’s important to learn how to read labels, but it’s much more important to shop in a manner that doesn’t require a lot of reading.

Typical self-proclaimed health-nuts love their junk food just as much as the conventional, sugar and caffeine addicted, soda drinking, GMO eating, processed food-buying consumer. The difference is that the health-nut generally buys foods labeled organic, or all natural, or something similar. Under many circumstances these words mean next to nothing. All natural is practically an industry joke played on gullible consumers. The phrase “Made with organic ingredients” is often simply a way to mark up the price. There are exceptions, and there is some junk food that I personally purchase from time to time, but organic junk food is still junk food!

Know What Health Food Really Is

Look at it this way, food has three levels: healthy, neutral, and not healthy. Healthy food heals. Neutral food has lots of benefits, especially when eaten with healthy foods, but it doesn’t really heal the body on its own.

Healthy food is produce. – raw, fresh produce. Foods that are alive are foods that heal and help rebuild the body. The fresher, the better. Enzymes are the key to assimilating nutrition, the key to vitality, the key to health. Very few people get enough enzymes. Enzymes are in raw foods, not in cooked foods. Cooking kills enzymes.

It’s important to understand that every time we eat foods void of enzymes, we’re taxing our bodies and reducing our lifespans, even when those food choices are of the healthier variety like rice and beans.

Brown rice, beans, quinoa, and lentils are examples of good foods to eat that should be considered neutral foods. These foods are wonderful sources of protein, bulk calories, minerals, and some vitamins. While raw food is best, it can be difficult for most, and impossible for some, to get enough minerals, protein, and calories from raw foods alone (for instance, I know plenty of people who have very poor access to fresh produce, or cannot afford it). Obviously, when cooked right, these foods have lots of benefits, but they don’t come close to the amazing health benefits of a salad. On the other hand, brown rice and beans with some raw produce such as avocados, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, crushed garlic, and ground turmeric is an incredibly healing, very beneficial, warm, and truly healthy meal. But, it still doesn’t even compare a big, diverse salad.

Cut Out the Sugar (this includes juicing)

Brown rice syrup, agave nectar, honey, coconut sugar, maple syrup, apple juice, beet juice, and sugar cane juice are much healthier choices than conventional sugar and high fructose corn syrup. They are “healthier” choices, but they are not “healthy” choices. To rid the body of disease and other ailments, cut it all out. Even allergies are a sign of too much sugar; that includes seasonal, pet, dust, and food allergies. Cut out the excess sugar completely for a while.

For a treat every now and then, wait until the body’s health is where it needs to be, and then eat some of those foods occasionally, while paying careful attention to the body. As soon as an allergy, an ache, or some other ailment starts creeping back, cut back your sugar intake.

Sugar is sugar, which is to say sugar weakens the immune system and deteriorates the body in many ways, unless it is within whole foods.

Nutrition Trumps Toxins

Avoid GMOs at all costs. Choose organic first, but when you can’t, avoid the “dirty dozen,” the foods most heavily contaminated with pesticides, especially if your health is in a poor state (see the last source below the article). Otherwise, fresh is best! When choosing between conventional, fresh produce, and organic frozen, canned, or otherwise processed, prepackaged foods, choose fresh. Get the enzymes. Unless someone is extremely sick, when the diet is balanced, the body can detoxify the chemicals and use the nutrients. More often than not, a person with a lack of nutrition and very low toxic load is typically less healthy than a person with a considerable toxic load and an abundance of nutrition. There are exceptions and a lot to learn, but doing research while eating lots of raw fresh produce is better than putting off dietary changes.

No More Vaccines, Prescription Medicines, or Over the Counter Drugs

There are some cases where prescription drugs are absolutely necessary. Most of those cases are for a limited period of time. It’s impossible to be truly healthy when the body is bombarded with chemicals. There is no drug that is healthy. Some drugs can help in some ways, but that doesn’t make them beneficial to your health. It’s not possible to reach the highest state of health and vitality while taking prescription drugs.

This is a question everyone taking drugs should ask themselves if they want to be healthy: “If I were stranded on an island, surrounded by the healthiest food imaginable, would I die without my drugs and/or vaccines?” If the answer is yes, then health will continue to elude you. If the answer is no, it’s time to do research and take control of your health.

There is the hard truth about vaccines that so many are unwilling to hear or understand. Regardless of a vaccine’s efficacy to prevent disease, there are two key problems with them:

1. Vaccines are toxic – just read the ingredients. It doesn’t take an MD to know that injecting those ingredients into the body can, and will, damage health.
2. Parasites, infectious disease, all the little critters that harm us go after weakened immune systems. The best defense against anything, from cancer to Ebola, is an incredibly strong immune system!

There’s no excuse for the flu shot. Even if they worked, which they don’t, it will still degrade your health. The real flu fighters are in the foods we eat.

Buy Whole Foods

Unadulterated, unpackaged, unprocessed, unmolested foods are what counts. This includes herbs and spices. The most benefit you can get from turmeric, or ginger, or garlic, or pepper for instance, is from the whole form that you crush, grate, crack, etc. Turmeric is an incredibly beneficial spice, and should be included in any healthy diet, but if the unprocessed root in unavailable, go ahead and get the packaged pre-ground version. But try for the whole food version whenever possible.

Drink Clean Water

Tap water is not good for us. Soda is extremely toxic to us. Milk feeds infection. Fruit, carrot, and beet juice has its place, but they have too much sugar to drink regularly for most people. Drink lots of clean drinking water. Spring water from a good, clean spring, or distilled water are the best choices. Check out the recipe for cranberry stevia lemonade, and try drinking a gallon a day for a powerful detox.

Stop Taking Cheap Supplements

Cheap supplements are ineffective and toxic. Supplements are so much safer than medications, but most of the time they are still a hindrance to good health. Be careful with supplement purchases, and don’t use supplements to replace a good diet. Supplements should “supplement” a healthy diet instead.

Where To Start?

Salads and lots of good water. Try this for two weeks: make a salad every single day with lots of fresh, raw produce. Check out the recipe from the first source below. Only eat salads, huge, diverse, nutrient rich salads, every day. Make the kind of salads that get finished in three sittings, not one. And make a gallon of cranberry lemonade sweetened with stevia. Eat fruits for snacks. Spend these two weeks researching and listening to the body, and slowly add more foods into the diet after ailments subside.

Recommended Supplements:

• Total Nutrition Formula
• Shillington’s Body Balance+

Further Reading:

• Raw Food Diet
• Inexpensive, Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge
• How to Kill Candida and Balance Your Inner Eco-system
• Garlic – The Most Amazing Herb on the Planet
• Cheap and Easy Detox Diet Plan
• 8 Easy Steps to Health

Of all the rooms in a house, it’s probably bathrooms that need the most attention – and a regular, ideally weekly, scrub in order to get rid of any dirt and prevent mould and unpleasant smells. But while you want to get rid of all the germs and soap scum, luckily, there’s no need to turn to harsh chemicals and toxic bleaches to keep your bathroom clean. Natural cleaning products are better for your skin, lungs, and the environment – and surprisingly, there’s nothing in the bathroom that you can’t clean the green way. Take a look at these simple tips for how to get your bathroom sparkling using only sustainable and organic cleaners.

Green Clean Your Toilet

To get rid of nasty stains, calcium residue, and germs, mix together half a cup of vinegar and a spoon of baking soda, and let the mixture sit in the toilet bowl for an hour before you start scrubbing the toilet with a brush or sponge. If you do this regularly, you won’t need abrasive chemicals to keep your toilet spotless.

Using Homemade Cleaners in The Shower

No-one likes a shower full of soap scum – and all you need to get rid of soapy residue is some baking soda and biological dish soap. Mix those two together, apply to a sponge, and you’ve got yourself a powerful cleaner for shower doors and ceramic surfaces. If the stains are slightly more stubborn, use an old toothbrush for extra powerful scrubbing. For your shower curtain, mix some vinegar and water, spray the mixture onto the curtain, and clean it with warm water. If you’ve got mould on the curtain, apply some baking soda mixed with water and rub the stain. Did you know that you can also wash most shower curtains in the washing machine? Use an organic detergent to get rid of stubborn dirt and give your curtain an overhaul.

Unclogging Drains the Natural Way

Clogged drains in the bathroom can be a nightmare, but there’s no need to pour toxic chemicals down your drain – think of the environment, and opt for a natural de-clogger instead. Simply mix baking soda with vinegar and let the mixture sit for a while – it will break down any gunky residue and allow the water to flow again after. But keep in mind that this is no substitute for a plumber – sometimes, you just have to make that call.

Use Natural Scents

You don’t need to buy air freshener to have a constant lovely scent lingering in your bathroom – use lavender oil or peppermint oil to keep it fresh, or place dried herbs and flowers in small bowls around your bathroom. You can also add some lemon and cinnamon to a small few spoons of baking soda for a nice and cosy winter smell.

 Sources and Further Reading:

• Natural Cleaning Ingredients
• DIY Cleaning Tips – Cleanipedia

As society moves towards healthier food options, there is one group of people getting left in the dust: the companies who aren’t supplying foods based on natural ingredients.

As a result, many companies are looking for creative ways to make their products seem healthier than they are. This inventive—yet misleading—marketing effort has led to a lot of food label confusion.

Let’s take a look at some of the basic terms surrounding organic purchases. To avoid food label scams, know what is involved in the production process. Organic foods tend to be more expensive, so you want to make sure you are getting exactly what you bargained for.

A General Explanation of Organic

Any food that is labeled organic was raised or grown in accordance with government regulations. Both the facility and practices are monitored.

No pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or sewage are used to grow organic produce. The animals that are used for organic foods (like beef, poultry, pork, etc.) do not receive antibiotics or growth hormones.

Only foods that are labeled organic adhere to these government standards. Other popular terms—like all natural—aren’t regulated.

Within the classification of organic, there are three different levels.

• Made with Organic Ingredients – These foods are composed of 70% organic ingredients. The remaining, non-organic ingredients are still closely monitor (for example, GMOs aren’t allowed).
• Organic – This classification allows organic producers a little leeway. For example, a non-organic casing might be used for an organic sausage. This means non-traditional products can still be used if there isn’t a natural alternative. Only 95% of the ingredients must be organic.
• 100% Organic – This is technically the only food label option that ensures a totally organic experience.

Understanding Organic Milk

The organic labeling requirements for milk mostly pertain to the cows that produce it.

• At least 30% of the cow’s diet must be grass (free-range grazing).
• The cows must be allowed to graze for at least 120 days.
• Any feed the cows eat must be vegetarian, meaning there can’t be any animal byproducts.
• The cows must not receive antibiotics or growth hormones.

Very few cows are given hormones. But there are milks that are especially marked hormone-free. If you are looking for a cost-effective organic alternative, hormone-free might be your best bet.

Understanding Organic Poultry

There are a ton of terms that apply to organic and natural poultry. To avoid a scam, know your ultimate goal. Are you worried about animal rights? Is buying the healthiest food your main objective?

We’ll start with the biggest scam-worthy labels and work towards the most honest, healthy, and animal friendly products.

• Free Range – Any poultry product that is labeled free range might sound like an animal-friendly, healthy option; however, it is pretty misleading. Free range animals are still kept inside—sometimes in cages. They just have access to the outdoors.
• All Natural – Again, this is another easy scam people fall for. Almost all poultry products are natural. US poultry producers are not allowed to give hormones or steroids to the birds. Therefore, paying extra for “all natural” is totally unnecessary.
• Organic – Birds are still raised in a factory farm situation, but the density is far less than traditional poultry farms. Birds only dine on organic (vegetarian) feed—no animal byproducts are allowed.
• Pasture Raised – These animals are raised outside, away from the large-scale production barns. They eat whatever they can find—bugs, grass, etc.

Understanding Organic Eggs

While we are on the subject of poultry, let’s move right along to eggs. If you aren’t careful, you can easily fall for a labeling scam here. The biggest issue to consider is your stance on animal cruelty.

• Organic – The birds that produce these eggs are not caged, but they are kept in a large barn. They have access to the outdoors, but there aren’t regulations that dictate the duration of their fresh air. Lastly, these birds are subjected to beak cutting and forced molting (through starvation).
• Free Range – Like organic egg-laying birds, free range animals simply need access to the outdoors. Again, there isn’t a rule about how much time.
• Cage Free – This sounds like a pretty sweet deal for a bird, but it isn’t as great as you’d like it to be. Animals aren’t in cages, but they are inside without outdoor access.
• Certified Humane – These animals aren’t caged, but they do spend their lives inside. While there are rules regarding the number of birds in a barn and the availability of perches or nesting boxes, forced molting is allowed.
  
• Animal Welfare Approved – This buying option is the best all-around solution—it’s healthy and animal friendly. Animals aren’t kept in cages and always have access to the outdoors. Animals are allowed to engage in normal bird behaviors (beak cutting and forced molting doesn’t happen).

Understanding Organic Meat

When it comes to purchasing organic meat, there are really only three labels you should even consider buying.

• Organic – All organic meat comes from animals that were allowed to graze for at least 120 days. Also, the animals do not receive antibiotics.
• Grass Fed – The stomachs of most livestock were designed to digest grass. Other feeding options are more difficult for the animal’s body to process. That means a meat product made from grass fed animals is healthier and more natural.
• 100% Grass Fed – Look for labels that specify the animal had unlimited access to pasture and abstained from consuming other feed options.

Don’t Get Scammed!

You owe it to your health, the animal’s health, and your wallet to make sure the foods you buy are exactly what you expect.

If you want help finding healthy products, check the database of organic suppliers available at Eat Wild.

If you do come across an intentionally misleading or dishonest label, consider taking action.

• eConsumerServices might be able to help get your money back if you were a victim of a food labeling scam.
• You can also file a claim with the USDA if you find a compliance or enforcement issue.

Have you ever been scammed by a misleading organic food label? Were you irritated by the health violation or the animal cruelty posing as humane?

Sources:

• How to Read Egg Carton Labels by The Humane Society of The United States
• How do I know if something is organic? by Organic.org
• National Organic Program by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service

Birth defects are some of the most puzzling health conditions that plague our modern society. In fact, experts can’t pinpoint the cause of nearly 50% of these congenital disorders.

That might seem terrifying to an expectant mother, but we need to look at the silver lining. That stat could be looked at in a different way. We know—and can prevent—more than half of all birth defects.

What Causes Birth Defects?

There are various situations that can cause congenital disorders. One of the most common instigator is poor prenatal nutrition. Various birth defects have been linked to vitamin deficiencies.

Fortunately, by eating a vitamin-rich diet, an expectant mother can keep her baby safe and reduce the risk of birth defects.

Let’s look at some of the most dangerous prenatal vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Vitamin B2

Several health reports have found a correlation between a pregnant mom’s vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency and congenital heart disease. This is especially true if the mom combines the deficiency with an excess of saturated fats.

A riboflavin deficiency has also been linked to recurrent cleft lip and cleft palate among siblings.

To add more riboflavin to your diet, make sure you eat plenty of the following foods:

• Spinach
• Eggs
• Asparagus
• Almonds
• Turkey
• Milk (and other dairy products)

Vitamin B9

Vitamin B9 is more commonly known as folate (in supplement form, folic acid). A vitamin B9 deficiency can cause spina bifida and anencephaly (a fatal condition in which the brain and skull fail to develop).

Because these deficiencies usually develop within the first three to four weeks after conception, they are more difficult to prevent. In most cases, the damage has been done before the mom knows she is pregnant.

A diet rich in vitamin B9 would include:

• Lentils
• Beans (Pinto, Garbanzo, Navy, Black, and Kidney)
• Asparagus
• Spinach
• Broccoli

Vitamin B12

Another dangerous vitamin deficiency is a shortage of vitamin B12. Pregnant women who don’t consume enough vitamin B12 during pregnancy often deliver babies with neural tube defects (like spina bifida and anencephaly) or congenital diaphragmatic hernias (a tear in the infant’s diaphragm which allows part of the abdomen to enter the thoracic cavity).

Since vitamin B12 is only found in animal products, vegan and vegetarian moms need to be especially attentive to their nutrient levels.

Vitamin B12 can be found in any animal product, but it’s in abundance in these foods:

• Sardines
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Lamb
• Beef
• Milk

Iron

The World Health Organization reports iron-deficiency anemia is the most common nutrition-based ailment in the world.

Research also shows a pregnant woman with an iron deficiency is five times more likely to have a baby born with spina bifida.

Add more iron to your diet by eating these foods:

• Liver
• Clams
• Oysters
• Beef
• Sardines
• Turkey
• Chicken
• Salmon
• Veal

Magnesium

Magnesium is a nutrient we don’t hear about too often. But just because it isn’t one of the front-runners in the media doesn’t mean it isn’t important.

Studies show increasing the amount of magnesium can reduce the odds of cerebral palsy by 45%.

To boost your magnesium levels, try eating more:

• Halibut
• Spinach
• Almonds
• Cocoa
• Cashews
• Pumpkin seeds

Do It For Your Baby!

Being pregnant is a wonderful—but stressful–time. Closely monitoring our nutrient consumption can be exhausting. But, it is important to note what is at stake if our good eating habits start to slip.

If you are worried about a nutrient deficiency, talk to your doctor. Supplements (usually in the form of a multi-vitamin) might be necessary.

Sources:

• Birth Defects and the Maternal Diet by Everyday Health
• Riboflavin (vitamin B2) and health by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• World’s Healthiest Foods rich in vitamin B2
• Folic Acid Recommendations by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• World’s Healthiest Foods rich in folate
• Vitamin B12 Injections Help Prevent Birth Defects
• Lack of iron, niacin may also raise risk of birth defects by Nutra Ingredients
• Iron-Rich Foods by WebMD
• Prenatal Nutrition and Birth Defects by Become Healthy Now
• Magnesium Sulfate May Cut Cerebral Palsy by WebMD
• Good Sources of Magnesium by Ancient Minerals