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SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Not to get Drastic, but the Plastic is Making us Spastic!


Sott.net
Fri, 23 Mar 2018 16:00 UTC
sea of plastic
© Caroline Power Photography
The late comedian, George Carlin, once joked that humans exist because the Earth wants plastic. It was a great bit but what plastic is doing to humans is no laughing matter. Made from petroleum, plastic products are ubiquitous. Plastic, and its chemical components of BPA and phthalates, is in medical devices, compact discs, dental sealants, water bottles, the lining of canned foods and drinks and even cash register receipts. As with nearly all manmade chemicals, BPA and phthalates have some nasty effects. They have been implicated as endocrine disruptors, harming the natural balance of hormones in both males and females. BPA has a particularly insidious effect on males (human and animal alike) causing delayed puberty, falling sperm counts, shrinking size of genitals, feminization and much more.

Join us for this episode of The Health and Wellness Show where we discuss the drastic plastic situation and how you can decrease your exposure to this planetary scourge.

Running Time: 01:14:29

Download: MP3

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Health

Breastfeeding For Just Two Months Dramatically Reduces SIDS Risk, Study Finds

Terra Marquette
Study Finds
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Mother- Baby
A recent study found that breastfeeding for just two months reduces SIDS cases by nearly half.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of infant death between the ages of one month and one year. A new international study offers hope for those parents who wonder whether there is something they can do to circumvent this rare, but catastrophic, event. It turns out breastfeeding can play a significant protective role for babies.

Researchers at the University of Virginia found that breastfeeding for just two months reduces SIDS cases by nearly half. The good news is that mothers do not have to be limited to breastfeeding only for their babies to receive the health perks.

A recent study found that breastfeeding for just two months reduces SIDS cases by nearly half.

"These results are very powerful! Our study found that babies who are breastfed for at least two months have a significant reduction in their risk of dying from SIDS," says researcher Kawai Tanabe of the university's school of medicine in a media release. "Breastfeeding is beneficial for so many reasons, and this is really an important one."

Comment: See also:

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Penis Pump

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome might have a crucial hormonal link

Peter Dockrill
Science Alert
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:09 UTC
hypothyroidism
For years, a line has divided millions of patients from their doctors, separating those who experience the debilitating effects of chronic fatigue syndrome from a medical establishment that has traditionally refused to acknowledge or agree upon the condition.

Now, finally, that barrier is beginning to crumble.

In recent times, a series of studies has identified evidence of biological mechanisms that could contribute to the disorder - and now new research from the Netherlands is being hailed as an important advance in our understanding of the illness.

Researchers at the University Medical Centre Groningen have discovered a link between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - aka myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) - and lower thyroid hormone levels.

If the findings can be confirmed by additional research, it could be a first step toward finding a treatment for this maddening, mysterious disease.

Comment: This is probably one of the reasons why iodine often ameliorates Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:


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Health

Sore throat: Effective treatment means more vitamins, fewer drugs

Ralph Campbell, MD
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 06:47 UTC
vitamins
© Niloo/Shutterstock
Sore throat is a very common ailment with a wide range of severity. Let's start with the worst first. When we say Strep infection, we usually are speaking of an infection caused by the group A beta hemolytic strain of streptococci or streptococcus pyogenes. Pharyngotonsillitis, or just plain tonsillitis, is usually referred to as being a group A or (GABH) strep infection. This infection typically causes striking signs and symptoms. A young child doesn't have to tell you they have a sore throat; a parent can see (or sometimes even smell) why. A victim usually is sick: either listless or irritable, has a substantial fever, has swollen, tender lymph nodes in the neck and white streaking (a form of pus) on the tonsils. Often with this infection, the entire ring of lymphoid tissues, from the tonsils to the bumps on the base of the tongue, with the adenoid in between, is inflamed and swollen, as are the local lymph nodes on the outside. This can lead to the spoken voice sounding as if the mouth is full of marbles with a lack of resonance - similar to the effect of stuffing a violin with Kleenex.
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Pills

Magnesium is a safe and effective way to treat mild to moderate depression


PsyBlog
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 19:27 UTC
antidepressants
Over-the-counter magnesium is a safe and effective way to treat mild to moderate depression, a new study suggests.

The mineral magnesium has already been linked to lower inflammation and improvements in depression.

Now a new randomised controlled trial has tested the effects of magnesium chloride supplements compared with no treatment.

For the research, half of 126 people with mild to moderate depression were given 248mg of magnesium chloride per day for six weeks.

After just two weeks, some positive effects of the supplement could be seen.

Those taking magnesium had clinically significant improvements over the six weeks.

Comment: Magnesium is essential to almost every process in the body and one would do well to supplement with magnesium daily, whatever your situation may be. See also:

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Life Preserver

Prediabetes: Should everyone be tested?

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
prediabetes, diabetes testing
Research suggests a vast majority of people are diabetic even though their fasting glucose is normal.
Insulin is absolutely essential to staying alive; unfortunately, the vast majority of people have resistance to this essential hormone, speeding up the aging process and contributing to the development of degenerative diseases. Any meal high in grain and sugar carbs typically generates a rapid rise in blood glucose. To compensate, your pancreas secretes insulin into your bloodstream, which lowers your blood sugar to keep you from dying.

Insulin, however, is also very efficient at lowering blood sugar by turning it into fat. The more you secrete, the fatter you become. If you consistently consume a high-sugar, high-grain diet, your blood glucose level will be correspondingly high and over time your body becomes desensitized to insulin, requiring more and more of it to get the job done. Eventually, you become insulin resistant and prone to weight gain, and then full-blown diabetic.

Majority of Americans Are Likely Prediabetic

Prediabetes1 is defined as an elevation in blood glucose over 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) but lower than 125 mg/dl, at which point it formally becomes Type 2 diabetes. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 84 million American adults - about 1 in 3 - are prediabetic, and most are unaware of this fact.

Comment: Lifestyle changes are key to regulating insulin:

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Question

Chemical Sensitivities? The problem with 'fragrance'

Joe Battaglia
Prevent Disease
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 22:27 UTC
febreez
Fragrance sales, largely composed of man-made chemicals are a $10 billion dollar a year industry. Fragrance can be made of thousands of compounds, most of which are synthetic, and many proven to harm human health. According to a recent survey, one in four are now sensitive to everyday chemicals found in products like deodorants and air fresheners.

Fragrances are found in practically everything. The FDA requires that ingredients are listed on their products, however 'fragrance' is a general clumping of any one of 4,000 chemicals (mostly synthetic) used to scent products. This unknown fragrance mixture can contain potentially hundreds of toxic volatile organic compounds, some of which have been shown to cause cancer.
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Folder

Study: How Coca-Cola declared war on the 'public health community'

Gary Ruskin
US Right to Know
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 14:52 UTC
coke
The Coca-Cola Company proposed and financed the now-defunct group Global Energy Balance Network as a "weapon" in the "growing war between the public health community and private industry" over obesity and the obesity epidemic, according to a new study published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The study is based on documents obtained via state Freedom of Information request by U.S. Right to Know, a consumer and public health group.

The study states that "The documents reveal that Coca-Cola funded and supported the GEBN because it would serve as a 'weapon' to 'change the conversation' about obesity amidst a 'growing war between the public health community and private industry'."

Comment: Soda Politics: Coke spends lavishly on Pediatricians & Dietitians
The extent of the financial ties between Coke and the Academy of Pediatrics was revealed last week when the company released a detailed list of nearly $120 million in grants, large and small, given to medical, health and community organizations since 2010. Not only has Coke's philanthropy earned it praise from influential medical groups, the soda grants appear to have, in some cases, won the company allies in anti-soda initiatives, wielded influence over health recommendations about soft drinks, and shifted scientific focus away from soda as a factor in the causes of obesity.


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Syringe

Vaccine immunity & natural immunity - what's the difference?

Helen Lobato
Collective Evolution
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 14:17 UTC
vaccines
What do you do when the laws of the land require you to vaccinate your children and where failure to comply means no child care, kindergarten and no government family payments or rebates?

Allona Lahn is the leader of the Natural Immunity Community group, which is a supportive group for parents who do not choose to vaccinate their children and are finding other ways of child rearing and schooling out of the mainstream.

Lahn proudly wears a T-shirt which clearly explains why she is a vaccine refuser. It reads:
I have Auto Immune issues, Anaphylaxis, Eczema and Severe Allergies and you want ME to Vaccinate MY child without ANY Genetic or Allergy testing?!...

Comment: Read more about the tragedy of forced vaccination programs like No Jab, No Pay:

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Life Preserver

Benefits of the 'Asian squat'

Sarah Zhang
The Atlantic
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 15:33 UTC
squatting
© Reuters / Jonathan ErnstSingapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong squats to take a photo on the White House lawn
All the way down! Not on your toes!

Among the more practical advice that can be offered to international travelers is wisdom of the bathroom. So let me say, as someone who recently returned from China, that you should be prepared to one, carry your own toilet paper and two, practice your squat.

I do not mean those goofy chairless sits you see at the gym. No, toned glutes will not save you here. I mean the deep squat, where you plop your butt down as far as it can go while staying aloft and balanced on the heels. This position-in contrast to deep squatting on your toes as most Americans naturally attempt instead-is so stable that people in China can hold it for minutes and perhaps even hours ...

Comment: The forgotten art of squatting
To be clear, squatting isn't just an artifact of our evolutionary history. A large swath of the planet's population still does it on a daily basis, whether to rest, to pray, to cook, to share a meal, or to use the toilet. (Squat-style toilets are the norm in Asia, and pit latrines in rural areas all over the world require squatting.) As they learn to walk, toddlers from New Jersey to Papua New Guinea squat-and stand up from a squat-with grace and ease. In countries where hospitals are not widespread, squatting is also a position associated with that most fundamental part of life: birth.


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