Join us every Friday and 10 am EST as we explore the lies and emphasize the truth about health in our modern world!
Running Time: 02:07:00
Download: MP3
Health & Wellness
Join us every Friday and 10 am EST as we explore the lies and emphasize the truth about health in our modern world!
Running Time: 02:07:00
Download: MP3
© datcs
On a healthy head, 80 to 90 percent of the hair follicles are in the anagen phase where the hair is actively growing, and materials are deposited in the hair shaft by cells found in the follicle. It is during this phase where hair can tell us a great deal about our body.
During the telogen phase, the hair is anchored in the follicle only by the root, which is club-shaped. The germ cells below the club-shaped root will give rise to the next generation of an anagen hair. 10 to 18 percent of hair follicles are in the telogen phase. Once the hair reaches this phase, the follicles have achieved a mature, stable stage of quiescence.
© Katherine Diemert
A group of Italian microbiologists had compared the intestinal microbes of young villagers in Burkina Faso with those of children in Florence, Italy. The villagers, who subsisted on a diet of mostly millet and sorghum, harbored far more microbial diversity than the Florentines, who ate a variant of the refined, Western diet. Where the Florentine microbial community was adapted to protein, fats, and simple sugars, the Burkina Faso microbiome was oriented toward degrading the complex plant carbohydrates we call fiber.
Skills that were once part of our culture, ones that helped us survive, have been largely forgotten; replaced by a generation of dependent people that can't even balance a checkbook, cook a meal, or change a flat tire. Although we have more access to information than ever, the skills of our forefathers have been replaced by useless knowledge like how fast you can text a message, or knowing what reality TV star is doing what.
The biggest preparedness challenge some of us will face is convincing our loved ones to get on board with our preparedness planning. Whether it's convincing your immediate family about the importance of prepping, or talking to extended family and friends about why they need to prepare, the conversation is something we need to have if we really care about our loved ones.
But there are two new types of engineered pigs poised for approval in their respective countries. Now, with the secret Trans Pacific Partnership out in the open, it becomes clear that the deal opens the door for a swarm of global biotech ventures that can more easily glide their wares across country boundaries.
Comment: Oh geez! Like there isn't enough mad science going on in the world when it comes to creating 'new meats'. If it isn't meat glue in your fake steak, stem cell based lab-grown meat, schmeat or 'cloned beef' on store shelves causing a stir, it's back to genetically modifying pigs with less fat, more muscle and resistance to African Swine fever! This is not the first time biotech companies are messing around with the genes of pigs:
- Death Knell May Sound for Canada's GMO Pigs
- Canada's Transgenic Enviropig is Stuck in a Genetic Modification Poke
Chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, obesity, and allergies are increasing with no letup in sight and account for seven of the top ten causes of death as of 2010. Heart disease and cancer accounted for forty eight percent of all deaths. Modern medicine may be great at dealing with infectious disease and traumatic injuries, but has failed to stem the tide of chronic disease.
In addition, surveys indicate that two-thirds of patients feel disrespected by their physicians, forty-four percent feel doctors don't spend enough time with them and a quarter believe physicians don't answer questions and don't adequately involve them in treatment decisions, and use medical terms with no explanation.
Numerous health systems have gained prominence in the West as alternatives to what is known as mainstream or biomedicine. Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Chiropractic, Chinese medicine, Acupuncture, Massage Therapy and Reiki have arisen as popular alternative healing methods. The most recent National Health Interview Survey estimates that up to forty percent of Americans have tried one or more of these alternatives and are spending $34 billion annually on them.
Comment: Dr. Mark Hyman is a functional medicine doctor, read his articles below to get an overview of the Functional Medicine approach:
- Detox made safe and simple
- Strategies to eliminate depression
- How to Stop Attacking Yourself: 9 Steps to Heal Autoimmune Disease
- The Diabesity Epidemic: Treating The Real Causes Instead Of The Symptoms
© The Guardian
Hidden dangers of legal highs
Hidden dangers of legal highs
The chart below drives home three high-profile killers: Drug-induced, Motor vehicle, and Firearms Deaths. Not surprising to me, at least, is that deaths due to firearms are the least of the three mentioned in 2013, whereas drug-induced drug deaths top out as the highest! Motor vehicle deaths are in the middle.
(U) Chart 1. Number of Drug Induced Deaths Compared to the Number of Motor Vehicle and Firearm Deaths, 2004 - 2013
© Chart Source: dea.gov (Pg. ii)
My explanation for why interest in meditation has grown is that it's a replacement for the nature in which we no longer reside. For hundreds of thousands of years, we spent our days in natural settings where much of the mind chatter stops and we exist in the present moment. The falling leaves sparkling overhead with sunlight. The herky-jerk scamper of a startled lizard just off the trail. The erratic brilliant butterfly fluttering through the scene that you can't help but stop to watch. That was life for most of human history. It wasn't special. It was home. It's what we knew.
Meditation represents a return to that ancestral state of presence in the moment. And yet I get the sense that more people are talking about meditation than actually meditating on a regular basis. I'm one of them, quick to recommend meditation on MDA because of the irrefutable benefits but unable to actually sit for a productive session, let alone a regular meditation routine. It's hard. It's unnatural. And it's an artifice, albeit one made necessary by our environment.
Comment: Learn more about the microbiome and the role microbes play in protecting and regulating the human immune system: