New study links soft drinks and other sugary beverages with depression in older adults.

"Have a Coke and a smile"? How about "Have a Coke and a Paxil"?

Coke and the makers of other soft drinks and sugary beverages may have to rethink their slogans if the findings of a recent National Institutes of Health study hold up. Researchers at the NIH have linked the consumption of sweetened beverages to depression in older adults, according to CBS News.

(Oops ... there goes "Open happiness," too.)

"It's not fair!" " "You're not the boss of me." "She hit me!" "He started it." Fights between siblings -- from toy-snatching to clandestine whacks to being banished from the bedroom -- are so common they're often dismissed as simply part of growing up. Yet a new study from researchers at the University of New Hampshire finds that sibling aggression is associated with significantly worse mental health in children and adolescents. In some cases, effects of sibling aggression on mental health were the same as those of peer aggression.

"Even kids who reported just one instance had more mental health distress," says Corinna Jenkins Tucker, associate professor of family studies at UNH and lead author of the research, published in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics. "Our study shows that sibling aggression is not benign for children and adolescents, regardless of how severe or frequent."

Breaking news out of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is something the medical profession - and Big Pharma - probably do not want parents in the USA to hear or know. Children who have been fully vaccinated against measles are coming down with, you guessed it, measles! How can that be, when vaccinations are supposed to 'immunize' children against the very diseases for which they get the toxic 'jabs'?

Measles is not the only vaccine slipup; whooping cough has been disproving vaccine 'science' for quite a while now. Natural News blew the whistle on that in their article "Vaccine failure admitted: Whooping cough outbreaks higher among children already vaccinated"^[1] Polio has been caused by the very vaccine to prevent it. Back in August of 2009 Associated Press London news service reported, "Polio is spreading in Nigeria and health officials say in some cases it's caused by the vaccine used to fight the paralyzing disease."^[2]

Truly, something is amiss within the supposed science of vaccinology, especially if the only logic behind vaccines and vaccinations is the rabid belief that vaccines provide immunity from disease.

In the June 15, 2013 Pakistani Dawn.com report^[3] parents are distraught with disbelief as to why their children are contracting the very disease for which some children have had vaccinations more than once, and from a very early age.

We are creatures of habit. Lets face it. We buy our snacks in fancy packages, and enjoy the carefully engineered delicious food, without thinking about it. Perhaps it is time to start connecting some dots.

In 1996, genetically modified (GM) crops entered human food and animal feed in increasing amounts after being commercially released into USA fields. The main products were corn and soy. In addition to those modified crops, and many others since then, GM mosquitoes have also been introduced into the ecosystem, without the consent of the people.

A recent study published in the peer reviewed Journal of Organic Systems demonstrated that Pigs fed a GMO diet showed a higher rate of severe stomach inflammation than pigs fed a comparable non GMO diet.This finding was a result of a long-term toxicology study on pigs that were fed a combination of soy and GM maize (both genetically modified). Dr. Judy Carman, from the Institute of Health and Environmental Research, Australia led the study.

The significance of this 23 week study is that it reveals biological evidence linking GMO crops to significant harm. It showed that there was a 267% increase in stomach inflammation compared to the non GMO diets for the participating pigs. Surprisingly, males had an even higher increase (400%). 168 young pigs were involved in this study.

Turmeric is one the most thoroughly researched plants in existence today. Its medicinal properties and components (primarily curcumin) have been the subject of over 5600 peer-reviewed and published biomedical studies. In fact, our five-year long research project on this sacred plant has revealed over 600 potential preventive and therapeutic applications, as well as 175 distinct beneficial physiological effects. This entire database of 1,585 ncbi-hyperlinked turmeric abstracts can be downloaded as a PDF at our Downloadable Turmeric Document page, and acquired either as a retail item or with 200 GMI-tokens, for those of you who are already are members and receive them automatically each month.

Given the sheer density of research performed on this remarkable spice, it is no wonder that a growing number of studies have concluded that it compares favorably to a variety of conventional medications, including:

• Lipitor/Atorvastatin(cholesterol medication): A 2008 study published in the journal Drugs in R & D found that a standardized preparation of curcuminoids from Turmeric compared favorably to the drug atorvastatin (trade name Lipitor) on endothelial dysfunction, the underlying pathology of the blood vessels that drives atherosclerosis, in association with reductions in inflammation and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic patients. [i] [For addition curcumin and 'high cholesterol' research - 8 abstracts]
• Corticosteroids (steroid medications): A 1999 study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research found that the primary polyphenol in turmeric, the saffron colored pigment known as curcumin, compared favorably to steroids in the management of chronic anterior uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease.[ii] A 2008 study published in Critical Care Medicine found that curcumin compared favorably to the corticosteroid drug dexamethasone in the animal model as an alternative therapy for protecting lung transplantation-associated injury by down-regulating inflammatory genes.[iii] An earlier 2003 study published in Cancer Letters found the same drug also compared favorably to dexamethasone in a lung ischaemia-repurfusion injury model.[iv] [for additional curcumin and inflammation research - 52 abstracts]
• Prozac/Fluoxetine & Imipramine (antidepressants): A 2011 study published in the journal Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica found that curcumin compared favorably to both drugs in reducing depressive behavior in an animal model.[v] [for additional curcumin and depression research - 5 abstracts]
• Aspirin (blood thinner): A 1986 in vitro and ex vivo study published in the journal Arzneimittelforschung found that curcumin has anti-platelet and prostacyclin modulating effects compared to aspirin, indicating it may have value in patients prone to vascular thrombosis and requiring anti-arthritis therapy.[vi] [for additional curcumin and anti-platelet research]
• Anti-inflammatory Drugs: A 2004 study published in the journal Oncogene found that curcumin (as well as resveratrol) were effective alternatives to the drugs aspirin, ibuprofen, sulindac, phenylbutazone, naproxen, indomethacin, diclofenac, dexamethasone, celecoxib, and tamoxifen in exerting anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative activity against tumor cells.[vii] [for additional curcumin and anti-proliferative research - 15 abstracts]
• Oxaliplatin (chemotherapy drug): A 2007 study published in the International Journal of Cancer found that curcumin compares favorably with oxaliplatin as an antiproliferative agenet in colorectal cell lines.[viii] [for additional curcumin and colorectal cancer research - 52 abstracts]
• Metformin (diabetes drug): A 2009 study published in the journal Biochemitry and Biophysical Research Community explored how curcumin might be valuable in treating diabetes, finding that it activates AMPK (which increases glucose uptake) and suppresses gluconeogenic gene expression (which suppresses glucose production in the liver) in hepatoma cells. Interestingly, they found curcumin to be 500 times to 100,000 times (in the form known as tetrahydrocurcuminoids(THC)) more potent than metformin in activating AMPK and its downstream target acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). [ix]

The New York Times has published another shameful op-ed bashing nutritional supplements. Here's our response.

This week, Dr. Paul A. Offit, chief of the infectious diseases division of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (and author of a forthcoming book called, hilariously enough, Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine), wrote a piece for the New York Times called "Don't Take Your Vitamins."

In his article, Dr. Offit states, "Nutrition experts argue that people need only the recommended daily allowance - the amount of vitamins found in a routine diet. Vitamin manufacturers argue that a regular diet doesn't contain enough vitamins, and that more is better."

As a parent, one of the best gifts you can give your child is a strong nutritional start. The first years of life represent a time of rapid development, during which your child's language, cognitive, social and motor skills are developed.

During the first three years of life, the brain also grows at its fastest rate, and this represents a crucial window of development during which proper nutrition is essential.

If your child does not get healthy foods (and ideally breast milk) during this time, his future intelligence could be impacted.

A 2010 study¹ revealed just how big an impact a poor nutritional start can have on your kids. Those who ate a predominantly processed food diet at age 3 had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured increase in processed foods, participants had a nearly two point decrease in IQ.

As you might suspect, the opposite also held true, with those eating healthier diets experiencing higher IQ levels.

As a parent, it is important to carefully consider the types of foods you give your child at home and in restaurants, as research has shown that repeated exposure builds taste preferences very quickly.

Potentially reduced IQ is not the only health risk your child faces if he eats a diet consisting mainly of processed foods and snacks.

A junk food diet can also set the stage for obesity, asthma, eczema, and a variety of allergies, behavioral problems - from hyperactivity to aggression - as well as inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases. In fact, many of the top diseases plaguing the United States are diet-related, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The National Institutes of Health even states that four of the six leading causes of death in the US are linked to unhealthy diets.

The health ministry decided June 14 to withdraw its recommendation for a vaccination to protect girls against cervical cancer after hundreds complained about possible side effects, including long-term pain and numbness.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is not suspending the use of the vaccination, but it has instructed local governments not to promote the use of the medicine while studies are conducted on the matter.

"The decision (not to recommend the vaccination) does not mean that the vaccine itself is problematic from the viewpoint of safety," said Mariko Momoi, vice president of the International University of Health and Welfare, who headed a ministry task force looking into the matter.

"By implementing investigations, we want to offer information that can make the people feel more at ease."

It is rare for the ministry to withdraw a recommendation for a vaccine that is used regularly by local governments and is spelled out in a law.

Girls can still receive the vaccination for free, although medical institutions must now inform them beforehand that the ministry does not recommend it.

Basics on Basil

Botanical name: Ocimum basilicum

If a kitchen has only a few herbs in its possession, basil will likely be one of them. Its fragrant essence combines well with rosemary and thyme in meat dishes, fish, vegetables, cheese, soup and eggs, and is one of the main ingredients in pesto, along with pine nuts and parmesan cheese.

Although more than 60 varieties of basil have been identified, they all fall into three main types: sweet, purple, and bush. Each offers a subtle difference in taste; varieties such as lemon, anise, and cinnamon basil give you an idea of how one might modify and enhance a recipe. It only takes a few leaves to transform a simple dish.

Basil plants are easy to maintain indoors and out. Snip off budding heads whenever they appear and underneath the base of a leaf near the bottom on spindly stems to keep your plant full, and a new branch will appear.

To dry basil leaves, warm your oven to 140 degrees while placing a single layer of basil leaves on a baking sheet. Turn off the oven and pop in your pan for 20 minutes (you don't want them to actually bake). Remove the pan, cool the leaves, and store immediately in airtight bottles or zip-lock bags, away from sunlight.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand why genetically modified foods are dangerous, but if you look closely, you may just find the name of one listed among the names of more than 800 scientists from around the globe who have joined forces in an open letter to all world governments, outlining their detailed concerns over the alarming potential threat of biotech's unauthorized, worldwide GMO foods experiment.

In a country whose government and media appear only too eager to conjure up fear of "bioterrorism" and "biological weapons," it's shocking (albeit obviously deliberate) to what extent the GMO issue remains omitted from mainstream discussion. Consider that the message from these scientists seems to be that the whole planet is already under attack by the persistent and largely unchecked, reckless behavior of greedy, unruly U.S. corporations - corporations whose activities appear to be sponsored by the federal government. And whether you know it yet or not, your body is the battleground.