Health Care Debate?

UPDATE: 13 August - If you've missed it because mainstream media dis little to report it, Obama mad a deal with Big PhRMA some weeks back that basically let them off the hook regarding Plan D in Medicare and price negotiating.

Thanks to Huffington Post we have a story that confirms what Natural Health News knew when the "deal" was briefly reported.

Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big PharmaA memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.

The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.

It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.

In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: "Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion."
complete article

First of all, Listen up! The US does not have health care, The US has sickness care and every effort to make you think otherwise is just smoke and mirrors.

Sickness drives profit and for a minute don't believe that insurers or drug companies have one altruistic cell in their high rolling enterprises.

I've got plenty of examples collected over 3+ decades as I found myself in various positions in the medical industry. I'm just a very good observer with a photographic memory.

So here's the latest in the "debate" (more like forced pablum) that caught my eye this morning. And I am trying not to post on weekends...or so I tell myself, and really trying not to be cynical.

Drug industry backing Obama's health care plan

Consumer protections lost in health care debate

I happened to see news coverage of a meeting WA Rep Rick Larsen held in the district. I watch this district because I used to live in it. I'm also not a Larsen fan because he is, like Gary Locke and Maria Cantwell, one of those penultimate politicians who's in it for lining his pockets. He's also skilled in the art of the slippery and fork-ed tongue, the best any politician can hope for, eh?

If you see this news video, the look on Larsen's face was most telling when a fellow in the audience stated that he wanted the same health care as members of Congress enjoyed. There was a dead pan face and dead silence from Rick.

Now of course we did hear from Obama that the constituents would get the same care as members of Congress, but then you've probably noticed that's dropped off the radar of late.

What you do read and hear on every radio or TV channel is that Big Insurance and Big PhRMA are rolling out the big PR campaigns to reign in any substantive change in the way people get care from the medical establishment in the US.

Big PhRMA's already conned the Seniors by their pitiful deal with the Obama insiders to drop costs in Medicare D's "doughnut hole" by 50 percent. I'd personally rather see Obama scrap the Bush corporate welfare handout to PhRMA and re-create it with required price negotiation. I'm sure unsuspecting Seniors who've been made drug dependent via the medical industry would like this too!

However, the biggest jolt to getting reform off dead center would be required use of the universal claim form.

Vitamin C or Tamiflu, which would you choose

Vitamin C can be affordable, C 1000, 250 pills, 12 cents per pill.

Patrick Holford notes that in his June 2005 newsletter he interviewed Dr Thomas Levy, who has provided the definitive proof in his book ‘ Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases and Toxins: Curing the Incurable’.

"He is one of the world’s experts in effects of vitamin C on viruses. Here’s what he says “I have not found any flu virus for which vitamin C does not exert a virucidal effect, as long as enough vitamin C reaches the virus, such as in any acute infection. I don’t know about Tamiflu, but the vitamin C is virtually devoid of negative side effects.”

Although I know of no studies yet published specifically treating swine flu with vitamin C, immune expert Dr Robert Cathcart, who has treated thousands of cases of life threatening infectious diseases with high dose vitamin C says “Treatment of the bird flu with massive doses of ascorbate would be the same as any other flu except that the severity of the disease indicates that it may take unusually massive doses of ascorbic acid orally or even intravenous sodium ascorbate. I have not seen any flu yet that was not cured or markedly ameliorated by massive doses of vitamin C but it is possible that the bird flu may require even higher doses.”

Antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu (oseltamivir), work by inhibiting something called neuraminidase, produced by viruses and essential for their ability to replicate. So too does vitamin C according to recent research. This study tested the effects of a combination of ascorbic acid, green tea extract, lysine, proline, N-acetyl cysteine, selenium among other micronutrients on cells infected with influenza. This combination was also tested in a study on cells infected with bird flu, in many respects similar to swine flu. According to the authors the nutrient mixture “demonstrated high antiviral activity evident even at prolonged periods after infection. Antiviral properties were comparable to those of conventional drugs (amantadine and oseltamivir); however, the nutrient mixture had the advantage of affecting viral replication at the late stages of the infection process.“ Unlike the drugs, there are no significant side-effects. The effect of vitamin C alone was less than that of the combination of nutrients and, in combination, moderate doses of vitamin C exerted a significant anti-viral effect.

The other nutrients given included the amino acids lysine, proline, N-acetyl cysteine, and selenium. N-acetyl cysteine and selenium both promote glutathione levels within cells, which has anti-viral activity. The mineral zinc, in doses of 50 to 100mg a day, has also proved to be anti-viral and is available in lozenges for coughs and colds as found in one study. I recommend half this level in zinc lozenges, for short-term use only. On a daily basis, as prevention, I recommend supplementing 15mg a day. Supplementing this amount of zinc has been shown in recent research to make the body’s T cells much more effective, hence boosting immunity.

Neuramidase inhibition, which prevents viral release from infected cells, is only one of more than ten ways that vitamin C helps knock out viruses, both by inhibiting the virus itself, and by strengthening the body’s own immune response, for example by improving immune cell function (eg macrophages and t-lymphocytes), upping interferon and nitric oxide and making more antibodies which target viruses. In the combined nutrient study I discuss above one of the most significant anti-viral effects was inhibiting viral nucleoprotein, which means the virus cannot multiply. This occurred within 24 hours. Vitamin C, in high doses, has been well proven to be non-toxic in both adults and children over many years. The same cannot be said for this new generation of antiviral drugs. One of the most concerning and rarely mentioned reported side-effects of Tamiflu is bizarre psychiatric problems in children treated with the drug, prompting the US FDA to recommend new warnings concerning possible dangerous psychiatric side effects.

The ideal amount of vitamin C for any flu is up to ‘bowel tolerance’. Start with 3 grams immediately, then 1 gram an hour and if you get diarrhoea, then halve this dose. If you don’t, double it. There are some forms of vitamin C, notably sodium ascorbate with riboperine, and lipospheric vitamin C that allow even more to be absorbed without reaching bowel tolerance. They are marginally better than straight ascorbic acid. Some people find ascorbic acid too acidic, in which case an ascorbate, such as sodium ascorbate, can be taken. It might be useful to have a supply at hand if a flu epidemic does break out. There is no harm in having 100 grams a day short-term, stopping once all symptoms are gone. If even this didn’t stop the flu I’d find a doctor who could administer intravenous sodium ascorbate. The trick with any infection is not to get it in the first place by keeping your immune system strong. I take 2 grams of vitamin C every day. If swine flu breaks out I’m doubling that to 4 grams – one every 6 or so hours, as well as supplementing zinc and selenium on a daily basis. As the studies above show a combination of immune-boosting nutrients appears most effective.

Viruses get into body cells by puncturing their walls with tiny spikes made of a substance called hemagglutinin. According to research by virologist Madeleine Mumcuoglu, working with Dr Jean Linderman, who discovered interferon, an extract of elderberry disarms these spikes by binding to them and preventing them from penetrating the cell membrane. ‘This was the first discovery,’ said Mumcuoglu. ‘Later I found evidence that elderberry also fights flu virus in other ways.’ In a double blind controlled trial she tested the effects of the elderberry extract, called Sambucol, in people diagnosed with any one of a number of strains of flu virus. Their results, published in 1995, showed a significant improvement in symptoms – fever, cough, muscle pain – in 20 per cent of patients within twenty-four hours, and in a further 73 per cent of patients within forty-eight hours. After three days 90 per cent had complete relief of their symptoms compared to another group on a placebo, who look at least six days to recover. In another double-blind controlled trial it cut recovery time in those with influenza by four days. So this is an added bonus.

I’d also recommend ensuring your vitamin D level is good. A study earlier this year, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, of 19,000 people found that with the lowest average levels of vitamin D were about 40 per cent more likely to have a recent respiratory infection, compared to those with higher vitamin D levels. Vitamin D is made in the skin in the presence of sunlight. During autumn and winter months we just don’t make anything like enough. Most experts recommend at least 30mcg a day - half an hour sun exposure and eating oily fish three times a week and half a dozen eggs might give you 15mcg a day, so I also supplement 15mcg in a multivitamin on a daily basis. Most multis, however, only contain 5mcg, the desperately out of date RDA."

Five days of treatment, one 75 mg pill every 12 hours, will cost about $6 per pill or more, or a minimum of $60.

"In healthy adults with seasonal flu, the antiviral drugs oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) reduce the duration of symptoms by just half a day, British researchers said."

LONDON (Reuters) – Children should not routinely be treated with flu drugs like Tamiflu since there is no clear evidence they prevent complications and the medicines may do more harm than good, British researchers said on Monday.

What are the possible side effects of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir)?
Stop using oseltamivir and get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat; a red and blistering or peeling skin rash.

Some people using oseltamivir have had rare side effects of sudden confusion, delirium, hallucinations, unusual behavior, or self-injury. These symptoms have occurred most often in children. It is not known whether oseltamivir was the exact cause of these symptoms.

However, anyone using oseltamivir should be watched closely for signs of confusion or unusual behavior.

Other side effects may include:
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, nosebleed, eye redness or discomfort
sleep problems (insomnia); cough or other respiratory symptoms
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Tell your doctor about any unusual or bothersome side effect.

Call a doctor at once if you or the child using oseltamivir has any of these symptoms.

From Natural Health News 2006: Flu Shot Risk Too High

Stone Training for Gladiators

Who ever said you need to have perfectly round atlas stones to dig into stone training and derive the benefits of using stones.

I began using the stones from playgrounds, backyards and the woods near my home.

I even carried a few back home, heck, no one else was using them, so it wasn’t really “stealing”

Check the video below of me tearing it up in my parents back yard….

If you have a stone and a pull up bar, you can develop some kick ass strength and muscle.

Try this stone and bodyweight workout on for size:

1) Stone Clean & Press 5 x 5 reps

2A) monkey bar hand walks (yep, just like you did as a Kid!) 3 x max reps
2B) Stone Squats 3 x 6 – 10 reps

3) Truck or car push 5 x 30 seconds

This workout will thoroughly kick your butt and will add strength and muscle without the fancy machinery!

Like I said in The Underground Strength System, ditch your money wasting gym membership!

Kill it!

--Coach Z—

For the ultimate strength building and muscle building program without the fancy, high tech bull crap,
check out The Underground Strength System HERE.

Why Seafood Should Be A Part Of Your Diet

By Shannon Linnen

No matter what anyone says, seafood is healthy and should be
a part of everyone's diet. Seafood in general is high in
nutrients and vitamins, which no other food group can
provide. However, you have to be careful about where you get
your fish from. Local waters, like lakes and rivers, can be
contaminated and your fish could contain chemicals like
mercury or PCBs. The easiest way to obtain a healthy serving
of fish is to eat at your local restaurant or do some online
shopping. Online vendors, located in coastal regions, can
usually guarantee overnight shipping and freshness you
cannot get from anywhere else.

One of the reasons that seafood is healthy has to do with
the biochemistry and lifestyle of the fish. Fishes, in order
to breathe, must swim constantly. Their entire body is lean
muscle, the delicious seafood fillets that wind up on your
plate. Compared to the chubby unattractive cow, the life of
a fish is one constant streamlined marathon.

The simplest way to prepare salmon, for example, is to rub
it with some spice - simply salt and pepper will do - and
pan fry it in a quarter-sized drop of olive oil. 6 minutes
on the skin side first, then 3 to 4 minutes on the flesh
side should cook an average-sized salmon fillet through. A
side benefit to eating healthy seafood is that it is so
delicious and simple to prepare. Unlike unpleasant "healthy"
choices like algae goo and grass juice, seafood tastes
wonderful. You can't go wrong preparing fish dishes.

Lobster meat can by steamed by boiling lobsters in the
shells, but dealing with fresh live lobster can be
unnerving, and the best addition to lobster is drawn butter
- not as healthy as pan seared salmon. Serve it with
sauteed or steamed vegetables, and you've got a healthy and
filling meal.

Another healthy substitution is to grill tuna steaks instead
of greasy hamburgers, at your outdoor grill party. They
prepare exactly the same way. Your guests will agree that
seafood is healthy, and it also seems classier than humdrum
burgers, when arranged on nice plates with a colorful
garnish - maybe grated carrots and a lemon wedge.

The healthful features of seafood are the magical omega-3
fatty acids, found mostly in salmon, and reputed to clear up
skin problems like acne, rosacea, and age lines.Fish is
important for many near-vegetarians, who rely on fish for
protein. These vegetarians are far healthier than those who
eat no meat at all. Also "good" cholesterol and "good" fat,
and a number of essential vitamins.

To conclude, fish is utterly beneficial to your health. It
is full of substances that are good for you, and unless the
fish is from some unsavory source, it is free of substances
that are bad for you.Eat some fish today, I know I will.Fish
can be prepared very easily, and it takes little seasoning
to make seafood taste good. Fish also has the added benefit
of being classier than red meat or poultry.

As recently as 5 to 7 years ago, finding good quality
seafood for people living far away from the coast was almost
impossible. The good news is that this is no longer the
case. You can now get very good quality seafood sent
straight to you, even if you life in Utah or Arizona. Fedex
and UPS both offer overnight delivery so when you choose an
online seafood vendor make sure they offer this shipping
option. If your not sure where to start, just search for
Quality Fresh Seafood, they are an excellent choice.

You can easily get
(http://www.qualityfreshseafood.com/decl3lblo.html) lobster
clambake if you live close to the coast, but if you live
inland, it may be much more difficult. Of course the best
place to always get high quality seafood is from
(http://www.qualityfreshseafood.com) Quality Fresh Seafood.

How To Increase Your Bench Press

How To Increase Your Bench Press

The use of using stretch bands to improve your lifting prowess is very commonly used in the powerlifting world nowadays and should be given a thought by yourself if you are to enhance muscle mass and strength levels and ultimately improve your bench press (bands can also be utilised on the squat and deadlift).

This idea has been brought to the fore here by Smitty of the Diesel crew, promoting the use of jumpstretch bands wrapped around the wrists to engage the lats in bench pressing.


Why do the Lats Help the Bench Press?

The lats act as secondary movers, play a huge role as stabilizers and act as a stretch reflex mechanism (strong lats are required to get the bar moving from the bottom position of the bench press)



This is by no means all you should do to improve your bench, it is simply a different method of training

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FOOD SAFETY

JUST IN TIME: Today is 7 August, and yesterday the following was released -

Massive beef recall linked to antibiotic-resistant salmonella outbreak
By Rory Harrington, 06-Aug-2009

California firm Beef Packers Inc has recalled over 800,000 pounds of ground beef linked to an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella that has sickened people across nine states.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the alert yesterday for a range of the company’s ground beef products processed between June 5-23 that were sent to retail distribution centres in Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah. The 825,769 pounds (375,349 kg) of meat had been repackaged into consumer-size amounts and sold under different retail brand names. Consumers were warned to check with local retailer to find out if they were at risk.

Nine states hit

The US authorities said it had raised the alarm after being contacted by Colorado health officials about an ongoing investigation into an outbreak of Salmonella Newport.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced last week that it was involved in a nationwide investigation with the USDA and other state authorities to investigate cases of salmonella infections that were “resistant to several commonly used antibiotics”.

While reports of illnesses have come from nine states, the majority of those affected were in Colorado – with ground beef pin-pointed as the most likely cause for the 21 people sickened in the state, said the CDPHE.

Second outbreak in a month

The body said it was the second major salmonella outbreak in the state in a month and that both incidences had been linked to ground beef. It cautioned that because it takes up to two weeks for illnesses to be reported to the state health department, further tainted beef could still be on sale.

Last week’s suspicions that ground beef was at the centre of the contamination were confirmed yesterday following epidemiological and trace-back investigations conducted by Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and CDPHE.

USDA officials also confirmed that the illnesses had been linked through the epidemiological investigation by their uncommon pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern found in PulseNet, a national network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Copyright - © 2000/2009 - Decision News Media SAS - All Rights Reserved

ORDER OUR NEWLY UPDATE AND EXPANDED FOOD CLEANING EBOOK TODAY

“FOOD SAFETY: CLEANSING OPTIONS”
The second and expanded edition of this Healthy Handout© is full of tried and true, helpful information based on our more than 50 years of “natural healing through natural health”.

Order your copy today for just $3.95

With all orders placed through 30 August, 2009
‘TOC’ will include a complimentary copy of the Healthy Food Guide.

Once payment is received you’ll receive your electronic copy by email.

© 2009 TOC. All Rights Reserved.

---------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 30 July, 2009

The Oake Centre for natural health education is pleased to announce its second and expanded edition of one of the most popular in their Healthy Handouts© series.

Focused on food safety, the food cleansing protocols include the Healthy Food Soak used by the leaflady and taught in her classes since 1991. The new, expanded second edition also includes additional methods to improve food quality, increase oxygenation & remove toxic residues, even reduce the impact of food irradiation.

The publication today of “FOOD SAFETY: CLEANSING OPTIONS” is timely in consideration of three recent news articles:
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2523458.0.0.php

Half of all the fruit & veg you buy is contaminated.

Strawberries help reduce cognitive decline
Strawberries protect the heart, reduce risks of cancer, act as an anti-inflammatory and may be good for the brain, too, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers from the Chicago Healthy Aging Project found that older adults who eat strawberries at least once a month have less cognitive decline.

More specifically, women who consumed more than one serving of strawberries per month had a 16.2 percent slower rate of cognitive decline versus those who consumed less. The findings were presented at the Berry Health Symposium in Monterey, Calif.

Researchers at the Berry Health Symposium described how berries may be contributing to the preservation of brain function.

Most disease processes in the body are believed to begin through inflammation and oxidation which damage cells. Healthy nerve cell membranes promote optimal communication within the brain and nervous system so preventing membrane damage from inflammation and oxidation is essential, the researchers said.
Published 30 July, © 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Organic food is no healthier, study finds
LONDON (Reuters) – Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published 29 July.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007. A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour, one of the report's authors." Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.

The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government's Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.

The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.

Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Simon Jessop. © 2009 Reuters. All Rights Reserved.

Our Comments:
While strawberries are known to be health promoting, including being great at cancer fighting along with other berries, they are one agricultural crop that receives extremely high applications of herbicides and pesticides in commercial production.

At the same time reporting against the benefits of organically grown food continues to aim at your acceptance of Big Ag methods of large scale factory farming resulting in low quality food with reduced nutrition, along with greater exposure to hormones, antibiotics, MSG, herbicides and pesticides, and even irradiation along with reduced food safety.

Our publication is an inexpensive way for you to be able to improve the health and nutrition of the food you purchase, and ultimately improve your own better health status.

From our original web site’s nutrition section posted in the 1990s – Read the complete article at leaflady.org.

“SCIENTISTS PROVE SUPERIOR NUTRITIVE VALUE OF ORGANIC FOOD - Researchers at Rutgers University set-out to disprove the claim that 'Organic Is Better'. They purchased selections of produce at and health food stores and analyzed for mineral content. Organic foods were those grown without the use of chemical pesticides or artificial fertilizers. Non-organic foods, referred to here as 'commercial,' were grown with a variety of chemicals that enhance growth or destroy pests, many of which are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer-causing) and which cause greater erosion to the environment and wildlife. The idea that organic crops are nutritionally superior has been accepted largely on faith. There has been very little hard evidence to support this supposition. Rutgers researchers expected the organic produce to be maybe slightly higher in comparison, but the results were astounding! The amount of iron in the organic spinach was 97% more than the commercial spinach, and the manganese was 99% greater in the organic. Many essential trace elements were completely absent in the commercial produce whereas they were abundant, comparatively, in their organically grown counterparts.”

And perhaps it will be of interest to you to note that the White House garden seems to have become a failure because of toxins in the soil. Michelle Obama's toxic veggie nightmare: White House organic garden polluted with sludge.

Good soil preparation would have prevented this. You can learn more by purchasing your copy of another TOC publication, "My Happy Garden", for $7.95, which comes with "My Medicine Garden".
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

From NaturalHealthNews, April 2008: Don't laugh, Organic Really is Better
Studies Show Organic Plant-Based Foods More Nutritious

A new report published by The Organic Center, "New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods," is a comprehensive review of 97 published studies comparing the nutritional quality of organic and conventional foods. The report shows that organic plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) contain higher levels of eight of 11 nutrients studied, including significantly greater concentrations of health-promoting polyphenols and antioxidants.

In this first comprehensive review of the scientific literature comparing nutrient levels in organic and conventional food completed since 2003, a team of scientists concluded that organically grown plant-based foods are 25 percent more nutrient dense, on average, and deliver more essential nutrients per serving or calorie consumed. The full report and its executive summary are free at the Center's website, Organic-Center.org.

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