"Melt Away Excess Body Fat And Leave Your Muscles Rock-Solid, Shape And Defined!"

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

A very common question that I'm often asked is...

"How can I build muscle AND lose fat at the same time?"

Well, the unfortunate answer is that achieving both of these goals simultaneously is extremely difficult, if not impossible to accomplish. In order to build muscle, you must consume more calories than you burn, and in order to lose fat you must consume fewer calories than you burn.

Obviously you can't have both a caloric surplus and a caloric deficit going on at the same time within your body, so you can see the conflict here.

Don't be fooled by all of the marketing ploys about "building 30 pounds of muscle while dropping 25 pounds fat". This is nothing more than B.S. hype designed to mislead you and arouse your interest. It's certainly possible to increase your lean muscle mass AND burn off excess body fat, but you simply cannot do them both at the exact same time.

The best approach is to train in "cycles", by focusing on building overall size for a period of time, and then focusing on burning off excess fat for a period of time.

Everything we've covered up to this point has focused on the concepts of building overall muscle size, and that's why I wanted to create a special installment to give you some tips and tricks for implementing a proper "cutting phase" and burning off the inevitable excess fat that arises from a caloric surplus.

The good news is that this fat can easily be dropped with a few dietary manipulations and the utilization of cardiovascular workouts. Also, since you've now put on some solid muscle size, burning fat becomes even easier. Your muscles are basically giant furnaces where fat metabolism takes place, and the more muscle that you build, the faster your metabolism will become.

Once you've built your body to a size that you're happy with, here a few things you can do to strip off the excess body fat that you have gained while maintaining the majority of the muscle mass you've developed...

Perform 3-5 cardio workouts per week.

This would seem like common knowledge, however, it's very important that you perform the right type of cardio workouts. The traditional 45 minute, moderate intensity sessions really are not the best way to burn fat and maintain muscle mass. These sessions are highly catabolic to your muscle tissue and do not have a significant impact on your resting metabolism.

You should instead focus on performing shorter, more intense cardio sessions. These sessions will minimize muscle breakdown and will also stimulate your body to burn more fat while you are at rest. The key thing for you to realize here is that the fat burning benefit of cardio is mainly due to the effect that it has on your resting metabolism and NOT due to the actual calories burned during the session.

Choose a basic piece of cardio equipment that doesn't require a lot of "skill" to perform, such as a stationary bike or stair stepper. This will keep the session as safe as possible. Perform 15 minutes of high intensity cardio on the "interval" setting, and focus on increasing the intensity in each successive workout by either traveling a farther distance or increasing the resistance on the machine.

Lower your caloric intake.

If you want to burn fat then you need to consume fewer calories than you burn. This can be accomplished by creating a slight caloric deficit within the body. Your goal is not to drastically lower your calories and starve yourself, but to gradually burn fat over time.

Make sure to continue eating frequently with 5-7 small meals per day, but decrease the actual volume of each meal so that your total caloric intake is lower. You should also make sure to minimize your intake of simple sugars and saturated fats.

Increase your water intake.

This will keep your muscle cells hydrated at all times and will keep your metabolism at peak rates. Increased water intake will also "fill you up" so that you won't be tempted to consume quite as many calories at each meal.

Here are a few other quick fat loss tips...

Increase your vegetable intake.
Increase your consumption of low-fat dairy foods.
Always eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking.
Consume a large portion of your daily calories in the few hours following a workout.
Increase your meal frequency.

These all seem like simple strategies, and they are. But the truth is that most trainees go about their "cutting phase" in a completely counterproductive angle. They're usually successful at burning body fat, but since they fail to properly structure their diet and cardio they also end up wasting away huge amounts of lean muscle tissue in the process.

This is not a good thing!

Most of the other muscle-building programs on the web today focus only on the "size-gaining" aspect of achieving a muscular physique.

But what good is a muscular physique without the proper cuts, lines and definition?

After you've gained a considerable amount of overall body weight it's almost certain that you'll want to implement a cutting phase so that you can strip off the excess body fat you've gained to reveal those rock-hard muscles you worked so hard to build.

Luckily, when you purchase The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System, you'll also have a chance to download a special fat loss e-book entitled "Metabolic Blast". This step-by-step report outlines everything you'll need to know in order to melt off body fat like a hot knife through butter while maintaining your hard-earned muscle tissue in the process.

You'll learn in detail exactly how to...

Structure and track your cardio workouts for maximum effectiveness
Plan out a proper fat burning diet that doesn't sacrifice lean muscle tissue
Develop a stunning set of ripped, six-pack abs
Mold the type of body that draws in sexy, gorgeous women like a magnet.

...Plus a whole bunch of other useful fat burning tips!

Click Here for more details.

We've just covered some simple but powerful fat burning tips that you can implement into your "cutting phase" in order to burn off excess body fat and define your muscles.

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

"Warning: You've Been Lied To! Learn The Truth About These Common Muscle-Building Myths..."

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

If you're truly serious about making a solid commitment to a muscle-building program, you need to be very careful of who you take advice from. Bodybuilding and fitness is literally a multi-billion dollar industry with new websites popping up every single day.

Many of the so-called “experts” out there really don't have a clue of what they're talking about and are only motivated by pushing expensive pills, powders and “miracle programs” on you that you don't really need in order to make a quick overnight buck.

If you don't watch your step you may end up falling for some fatal muscle-building pitfalls that will literally destroy your gains and prevent you from ever achieving the impressive, muscular physique you desire.

In this installment I'm going to cut through the hype and expose 5 very common muscle-building myths in order to keep you on the proper path to the mind-blowing muscle and strength gains you deserve...

Myth #1: In order to build muscle, you must achieve a "pump" during your workout. The greater the pump you achieve, the more muscle you will build.

For those of you who are just starting out, a “pump” is the feeling that you get as blood becomes trapped inside the muscle tissue when you train with weights. The muscles will swell up, increase in both size and vascularity and will leave your body feeling bigger, tighter, stronger and more powerful.

While a pump does feel fantastic, the truth is that it has very little, if anything to do with properly stimulating your muscles to grow. A pump is simply the result of increased bloodflow to the muscle tissue and is certainly not indicative of a successful workout. A huge pump in the gym does NOT mean that you've had a successful workout, and a small pump does NOT mean that you haven't had a successful workout.

A successful workout should only be gauged by the concept of progression. If you were able to lift more weight or perform more reps than you did in the previous week, you did your job.

Myth #2: If you want your muscles to grow you must “feel the burn!”

This is another huge misconception in the gym. The “burning” sensation that results from intense weight training is simply the result of lactic acid (a metabolic waste product) that is secreted inside the muscle tissue as you exercise.

Increased levels of lactic acid have very little to do with muscle growth and may actually slow down your gains rather than speed them up. You can limit lactic acid production by training using lower reps rather than the traditional range of 10 and above.

Myth #3: You must always use perfect, textbook form on all exercises.

While using good form in the gym is always important, obsessing over perfect form is an entirely different matter. If you're always attempting to perform every exercise using flawless, textbook form, you will actually increase your chances of injury and simultaneously decrease the total amount of muscle stimulation you can achieve.

Remember, we are not robots!

It's very important that you always move naturally when you exercise. This could mean adding a very slight sway in your back when you perform bicep curls, or using a tiny bit of body momentum when executing barbell rows.

Loosen yourself up a bit and move the way your body was meant to be moved. Obsessing over perfect form will actually work against you rather than for you.

Myth #4: Building muscle will cause you to become slower and less flexible.

This one goes back to the old days when people described bodybuilders as being “muscle bound” and “bulky”. Contrary to what you may think, building a significant amount of lean muscle mass will actually speed you up rather than slow you down.

Muscles are responsible for every movement that your body makes, from running to jumping to throwing. The bottom line is that the stronger a muscle is, the more force it can apply. Having stronger, more muscular legs means increased foot speed, just as having stronger and more muscular shoulders means the ability to throw farther.

Strong muscles are able muscles, not the other way around.

Myth #5: In order to achieve an impressive physique, you should use the same techniques as the "buff" guys at the gym or the bodybuilders in the magazines.

It's very important for you to realize that just because a fellow lifter at the gym is strong and muscular does not necessarily mean that they are highly knowledgable and are doing things "correctly". Genetics play a very large role in the muscle-building process, and some people can develop an impressive physique no matter how they train.

I've seen guys train 2 days a week, pay very little attention to their diets, get drunk every weekend and still have a muscular, rock-solid build. These are simply the people who were lucky enough to be blessed with superior muscle-building genetics.

As for professional bodybuilders, that's a completely different story. Virtually every single bodybuilder that you see posted across the pages of your favourite muscle magazine has enhanced their recovery ability using various steroids and hormones, and in very high amounts. For natural trainees with average genetics, following the routines of pro bodybuilders would be, quite simply, muscle-building suicide.

For the rest of us mere mortals, a sensible, logical, rational routine just like I've been outlining in this course is by far the best approach.

I hope this installment has cleared up some of the confusion you may have previously had, but the reality is that these 5 myths are just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much bogus and downright counterproductive muscle-building information floating around out there that it literally scares me sometimes.

I understand just how frustrating and difficult it can be to find a reliable source of natural bodybuilding information out there (trust me, I was there once!), and that's exactly why I wrote The Truth About Building Muscle. It's a 249-page, step-by-step e-book that cuts straight through the hype and lays out the honest facts about how you can maximize your ability to build muscle and burn fat in the shortest time possible. It's the main component of The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System.

Click Here for more details.

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

"Instantly Accelerate Your Muscle Gains By Naturally Boosting Your Testosterone Levels!"

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

If there's one substance in the body that could be considered the "Holy Grail" of muscle growth, testosterone would be it. It is without a doubt the most important hormone involved in building muscle, and is one of the limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can gain.

The reality is that we all posses different levels of this powerful hormone, and aside from poking yourself with a chemically enhanced needle, it can be difficult to control these levels.

In this installment I'm going to cover some basic, scientifically backed methods that will allow you to naturally raise your body's levels of testosterone. These increased levels will almost certainly have a positive impact on your resulting muscle gains. In addition to increasing your lean muscle mass, raised testosterone levels also have the following benefits...

Decreased body fat levels
Increased sex drive and sexual endurance
Improved mood
Decreased levels of "bad" cholesterol

Now, I certainly do not claim that using these methods will result in "steroid-like effects" or that they will allow you to pack on an extra 20 pounds of muscle in 2 months, but they will certainly help to speed up your overall progress both in and out of the gym. Anyone who tries to tell you that you can achieve the same effects as steroids by using anything other than steroids is completely full of it. Don't believe the hype!

Before we get into the actual methods of increasing testosterone levels, let's first cover some quick biology so that we're all on the same page. Here is how the body produces testosterone:

1) The brain releases LH (luteinizing hormone) and this "tells" the body to start producing testosterone.
2) The adrenal glands release DHEA into the bloodstream.
3) LH and DHEA travel together to the testes where testosterone production begins.
4) Testosterone is then released into the bloodstream.

So without further ado, here are some basic methods you can implement in order to naturally raise your body's levels of testosterone and take advantage of all of its amazing benefits. I've broken this up into 3 separate categories: training, diet and lifestyle.

Training

1) Place the majority of your emphasis in the gym on big, basic compound movements. These basic exercises will place your body under the greatest amount of stress in the gym, and this will force your body to secrete higher amounts of testosterone. Isolation exercises can have their place, but compound movements should be the cornerstone of your workouts.

2) Always train with full effort and intensity. Whether you're performing a compound movement or an isolation movement, you must always push yourself hard in the gym by taking all of your sets to the point of concentric muscular failure. The more stress you place on your body in the gym (without crossing the point of recovery), the greater your testosterone production will be.

3) Train your legs equally as hard as your upper body. Leg training can be extremely difficult to execute with a high level of intensity, but the rewards are great when you do. Push yourself hard on basic leg exercises like the squat and leg press in order to stimulate the release of testosterone.

Diet

1) Increase your consumption of Essential Fatty Acids. When most people structure their muscle-building diet, they almost always follow the idea of "high protein and low-fat". Big mistake! Fats play a critical role in the muscle-building process and have a direct impact on testosterone levels. You should be consuming about 25% of your daily calories from healthy, unsaturated fat sources such as peanuts, avocados and fish as well as nutritional oils like flax seed, olive and canola.

2) Reduce your intake of soy. Soy protein raises your body's levels of estrogen (the main female hormone). When the body's production of estrogen increases, testosterone levels plummet. Avoid soy products as much as possible in order to keep your estrogen levels low and testosterone levels high.

3) Limit alcohol consumption. Alcohol has been shown to have quite a dramatic effect on testosterone levels, so try to limit your "binge drinking" nights and keep your alcohol consumption in moderation.

4) Increase your consumption of cruciferous vegetables. These vegetables have been shown to have a significant estrogen-reducing effect, thereby raising testosterone. Some good choices are broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, cabbage and brussel sprouts.

5) Eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. Rather than eating the traditional "3 square meals a day", try consuming 5-7 smaller meals spaced out every 2-3 hours. This will keep your body in an anabolic state at all times and will keep testosterone levels peaked.

Lifestyle

1) Lower your levels of stress. Stress contributes to the release of a highly catabolic hormone called cortisol which has a highly negative effect on testosterone levels.

2) Increase your sexual activity. Sexual stimulation causes the body to increase the production of oxytocin which then increases endorphin production (the "feel-good" chemical), and this has a direct impact on testosterone secretion.

3) Get adequate sleep every night. Failing to provide your body with proper sleep each night will raise cortisol levels, and this in turn will decrease your testosterone production. A solid, restful 8 hours of sleep every night will keep your cortisol levels in check.

Wrapping It Up

There you have it, a few basic, easy-to-follow guidelines for increasing your testosterone levels naturally.

Start implementing some of these techniques on a consistent basis and you should experience a noticeable improvement in your muscle and strength gains as well as your overall mood and sexual performance.

This is just one of the many simple but powerful methods for achieving a lean and muscular physique outlined in my complete program, The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System. If you've made it this far and still haven't grabbed a copy of this package, I'd highly suggest doing so if you really want to make a difference in your physique.

Click Here for more details.

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

Oprah's Down the Rabbit Hole

I have an on-going theme in 2007 for my newsletter, herbalYODA Says! It has to do with a single issue I have named 'falling for fabrication'. I titled it this way because as I peruse the plethora of news reports of interest to me - those about health and environment, nutrition, electrosmog and related topics - I see an overall pattern of what is pure propaganda.

Nowadays some folks take exception with Noam Chomsky but at the very least he makes you think. He also addresses issues of 'falling for fabrication' in his well known book, 'Manufacturing Consent'.

This is an important concept and it is aimed at directing your thinking and decision making to more or less a 'mob mentality'.

Now this brings us to mercury. You know that slippery, shiny heavy metal that is very toxic to humans, plants and animals, and the environment.

Mercury (chemical symbol Hg(C.A.S. 7439-97-6)) is

an element that occurs naturally in the environment. It is a silver-white, heavy metal that is liquid at room temperature; as a solid, it is tin-white and can be cut with a knife. It can also be found in compounds with other chemicals such as chlorine in the same way that sodium is found in table salt.

Mercury is used in pure form in thermometers, barometers, and other consumer products. Batteries containing mercury are used in devices ranging from guided missiles and space craft to hearing aids, cameras, toys, portable radios, calculators, measuring devices, smoke alarms, self-winding watches, and radio microphones. Electric or mercury lamps are used for outdoor lighting, including floodlights and street lights, motion picture projection, health treatment, and photography. Mercury is also used as a catalyst in the production of vinyl chloride monomer, urethane foam, and anthraquinone. It is used in diuretics, antiseptics, and skin preparations.

Prior to August 20, 1990, mercury was added to paints as an anti-mildew agent, antibacterial agent, and fungicide; about one-third of all interior latex paint contained varying levels of mercury. (Oil-based paint does not contain mercury.) Mercury is also used in pigments, refining, lubrication oils, and dental amalgams.

Mercury in one form, "organic mercury," can become highly concentrated in the flesh of certain fish. For this reason relatively low levels of mercury contamination in the ocean and lakes can lead to toxic contamination of these fish. Organic compounds of mercury are phenylmercury acetate (C8H8HgO2) and methylmercuric chloride (CH3HgCl). Other compounds of mercury, called "inorganic mercury," are mercury, mercuric II acetate or mercury salt (HgC4H6O4c), mercuric II chloride (HgCl2c), and mercurous I chloride (Hg2Cl2c).

Chemical properties:

Mercury that is released into the environment will remain there indefinitely. The form that mercury exists in (organic or inorganic) may change with time. Some or all of released organic mercury will slowly decompose to become inorganic mercury. Some portion of released inorganic mercury will be slowly transformed into organic mercury by bacteria in soil or water.

Mercury is not flammable and does not have an odor. Some mercury salts and organic compounds are soluble in water, depending on the chemical species.

Synonyms for mercury are colloidal mercury; kwik; liquid silver; quicksilver; metallic mercury; and hydrargyrum.

Identification:

* Chemical Name: Mercury
* Regulatory Name: Mercury
* Formula: Hg
* DOT Label: Corrosive
* CAS: 7439-97-6
* STCC: 4936336
* CHRIS: MCR
* UN Number: 2809

Health effects:

Mercury, in both inorganic and organic forms, is toxic to humans and can cause death. The organic forms of mercury such as methylmercuric chloride and phenylmercuric acetate have been found to be more toxic than inorganic forms such as mercuric chloride. More severe effects on developing nervous systems are generally observed following exposure to organic mercury.

Deaths have been reported following acute exposure to high unspecified concentrations of metallic mercury vapor caused by a loss of respiratory function as a result of severe pulmonary tissue damage. Oral ingestion of single doses of mercuric chloride has led to poisoning and death caused by shock, cardiovascular collapse, acute renal failure, and severe gastrointestinal damage. Most reported cases of poisoning from organic mercury compounds are a result of the ingestion of contaminated fish or grains.

Long-term exposure to either organic or inorganic mercury can irreversibly damage the brain, kidneys, or developing fetuses. The form of mercury and the way humans are exposed to it influence which of these health effects will be more severe.

For example, organic mercury that is eaten in contaminated fish or grain will tend to cause greater harm to the brain and developing fetuses than to the kidney; inhaled inorganic mercury vapor will tend to cause greater harm to the brain; and inorganic mercury that is eaten or drunk in contaminated food or water will tend to cause greater harm to the kidneys.

Effects to the developing fetus include brain damage. Effects in adults briefly exposed to mercury include shakiness, tremors, and memory loss.

Exposure Values:

* IDLH: 10 mg/m3 (NIOSH, 1997)
* TLV TWA: 0.025 mg/m3. Not classifiable as human carcinogen.
* (ACGIH, 1999)
* NIOSH REL: Hg Vapor: TWA 0.05 mg/m3 [skin], Other: C 0.1 mg/m3 [skin]
* OSHA PEL: C 0.1 mg/m3

Economics:

U.S. manufacturers of mercury are Centerchem, Inc, New York, NY; Rascher & Betzold, Inc, Chicago, IL; SST Corporation, Clifton, NJ; Eastman Kodak Laboratory and Specialty Chemicals Eastman Kodak Co, Rochester, NY; Spectrum Chemical MFG Corp, Gardena, CA; D F Goldsmith Chemical & Metal Corp, Evanston, IL; and Belmont Metals, Inc, Brooklyn, NY.

Mercury is produced mainly by mining. Five percent of the world mercury production is a by-product of gold mining, and most of the remaining mercury is produced from underground mines. Some salvage is done on scrap materials as well.

U.S. production of mercury in 1985 was 1,254,000 pounds; world production in 1986 was 13,376,000 pounds. In 1986, almost 1,520,000 pounds of mercury were imported to the United States.

Regulation:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued permissible levels of mercury in bottled water. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued permissible exposure limits for mercury.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prohibited adding mercury to paint after August 20, 1990. However, paint manufactured before that ban can still be sold.

EPA offices overseeing regulations and guidelines for mercury are Air Quality Planning and Standards, Water and Standards, Emergency and Remedial Response, Solid Waste, and Toxic Substances.

Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, releases of more than one pound of mercury into the air, water, or land must be reported annually and entered into the National Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).

Under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986, releases of more than one pound of mercury into the air, water, and land must be reported annually and entered into the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).

National Overview of 1998 Toxics Release Inventory

In 1998, 340 facilities released 291,341 pounds of mercury. Of those releases, 22,007 pounds were air emissions; 134 pounds were surface water discharges; 0 pounds were released to land; and 239,072 pounds were transferred off-site for disposal. Total emissions for 1998 represented an increase from 1997 emissions, which totaled 45,125 pounds; from 1996 emissions, which totaled 28,198 pounds;an increase from 1995 emissions, which totaled 28,591 pounds; and a decrease from 1988 (baseline) emissions, which totaled 296,299 pounds.

In 1998, 776,222 pounds of mercury waste were managed; 455,629 pounds were recycled on-site; 34,068 pounds were recycled off-site; 0 pounds were used for energy recovery on-site; 0 pounds were used for energy recovery off-site; 4,315 pounds were treated on-site; 1,165 pounds were treated off-site; and 281,045 pounds were released on-and off-site.

The 10 states in which the largest amounts of mercury were released in 1998 were: NV (224,400 pounds); SC (21,019 pounds); TN (3,279 pounds); KY (2,320 pounds); OH (1,653 pounds); GA (1,326 pounds); NC (1,283 pounds); WV (1,258 pounds); LA (1,226 pounds); and IN (1,110 pounds).

The 10 facilities releasing the largest amounts of mercury in 1998 were: Getchell Gold Corp., Golconda, NV (144,000 pounds); Jerritt Canyon Joint Venture, Elko, NV (80,400 pounds); Safety-Kleen (Pinewood), Pinewood, SC (21,019 pounds); Olin Corp., Charleston, TN (3,279 pounds); Ashta Chemicals Inc., Ashtabula, OH (1,653 pounds); Olin Corp., Augusta, GA (1,326 pounds); Holtrachem Mfg. Co. Llc, Riegelwood, NC (1,283 pounds); Ppg Inds. Inc., New Martinsville, WV (1,258 pounds); Pioneer Chlor Alkali Co. Inc., Saint Gabriel, LA (1,226 pounds); and Osram Sylvania Prods. Inc., Versailles, KY (1,203 pounds).

Notations:

The NIOSH recommended exposure limits (RELs) are time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations for up to a 10-hour workday during a 40-hour workweek. A short-term exposure limit (STEL) is designated by "ST" preceding the value; unless noted otherwise, the STEL is a 15-minute TWA exposure that should not be exceeded at any time during a workday. A ceiling REL is designated by "C" preceding the value. Any substance that NIOSH considers to be a potential occupational carcinogen is designated by the notation "Ca."

The OSHA permissible exposure limits (PEL) are found in Tables Z-1, Z-2, and Z-3 of the OSHA General Industry Air Contaminants Standard (29 CFR 1910.1000). Unless noted otherwise, PEL are TWA concentrations that must not be exceeded during any 8-hour workshift of a 40-hour workweek. A STEL is designated by "ST" preceding the value and is measured over a 15-minute period unless noted otherwise. OSHA ceiling concentrations (designated by "C" preceding the value) must not be exceeded during any part of the workday; if instantaneous monitoring is not feasible, the ceiling must be assessed as a 15-minute TWA exposure. In addition, there are a number of substances from Table Z-2 (e.g., beryllium, ethylene dibromide, etc.) that have PEL ceiling values that must not be exceeded except for specified excursions. For example, a "5-minute maximum peak in any 2 hours" means that a 5-minute exposure above the ceiling value, but never above the maximum peak, is allowed in any 2 hours during an 8-hour workday.

Information Sources:

* CAMEO®, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, www.epa.gov/ceppo.
* Chemical Manufacturers Association, 1300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209: (703) 741-5000 or Chemical Referral Library, (800) 262-8200.
* National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Clearinghouse on Environmental Health Effects, 100 Capitola Drive, #108, Durham, NC 27713; (800) 643-4794; fax (919) 361-9408.
* TOXNET, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health; www.toxnet.nlm.nih.gov
* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC 20460; Right to Know Hotline (800) 535-0202.
* U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Health and Safety Administration, Washington, DC, www.osha.gov
* OSHA PEL: Z-1 Table: www.osha-slc.gov/OshStd_data/1910_1000_TABLE_Z-1.html
* OSHA PEL: Z-2 Table: www.osha-slc.gov/OshStd_data/1910_1000_TABLE_Z-2.html

You know not to eat too much tuna, and you've probably turned in your mercury filled thermometer for one filled with alcohol of a digital type.

You probably know the devastating effects of mercury used as a preservative in vaccines, which since 1926 has been known by the AMA to cause mental impairment and brain damage.

And maybe you know that the "Mad Hatter" from 'Alice in Wonderland' was called that because of his hat - the felt hat manufactured with mercury.

So here we are in 2007 and all the folks whose words determine your choices, mostly without any investigation on your part, have gone down the Rabbit Hole after breathing too many mercury fumes.

If you are on the subscriber list to herbalYODA Says! you have received our Earth Day special issue on the CFL bulb.

Yes, its that compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) hawked every where as a way to reduce global warming. Even Oprah is giving them away!

Now Oprah took on the Texas cattlemen some years ago in a big fight. I think it is fair to take on Oprah when she pushes something that just might now be good for you. If you read this blog you know I have challenged her on a few other issues. I probably will challenge her and others again, for the pure purpose of getting you to put your thinking hat on.

Yes, I was at the very first Earth Day and it seems really a long time ago. I don't see that much has has changed.

It must be a microcosmic effort because I do know individuals to whom the environment is very much worth protecting. As we always said on the Rez, "Love Your Earth Mother".

I guess we need to look at this in a different way now as the fabrication of events through advertising and marketing causes many of us to fall for the Madison Avenue hype, what is popular for the moment.

Here is another example, following on the war cry of recent flooding of the Internet with messages about writing to stop vegetable juice from becoming a 'drug'.

Look at almost every event, Yahoo and other web special sites, global warming web sites, news ads, rock concerts, ad infinitum. What are these all pushing this weekend? CFL.

So they want us to light the Earth Mother with something they tell us will save energy.

Maybe so, and I thought so too over a decade ago when I bought one these bulbs to go in a lamp I had on a timer so my house would not be dark when I arrived home fore the evening.

At the end of last year I had a nice e-chat with the fellow who runs the local recycling center.

Hey Andy, I wrote, what about the mercury in these light bulbs and what'll it do to the landfill?

Andy already knew about the mercury in the 'compact fluorescent bulb' so we went on to address the radio frequency generated by the bulbs and what this might do to your health in a house full of these swirling glass tubes. Yes, I did say radio frequency, or RF or EMF as more people might call it.

I don't get grants from Philips who is funding the bulb give away on college campuses this weekend. Maybe Philips might like to send some funds the way of Creating Health Institute to help sponsor our environmental work. Like this special edition of out newsletter. And maybe Sheryl Crow might send us a few dollars or so from increased album sales after giving away the free light bulbs at these concerts.

Then there is 18Solutions.org also out there telling us that since 1 January 2007 more than 30 million of these bulbs have been sold. Stopglobalwarming.org is hawking the bulbs too, as I am sure are many other power companies and organizations.

Now, about two months after I posted this information on my blog, I see World Net Daily is reporting on health hazards of CFL.

Hopefully this turns on your old bulb before jumping on the wagon...

More to follow on 'falling for fabrication'.

As always you will find more information about the topics covered in this and other issues of our newsletter on our web site at http://www.leaflady.org/ (http://www.leaflady.org/ ), and on our blog at http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com
(http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/).

herbalYODA Says! is written by Gayle Eversole, DHom, PhD, MH, NP, ND.
Creating Health Institute, celebrating 50 years in natural healing, blending science with the natural healing arts. We bring it to you as a public service, and part of our long established Health Matters© educational publications.

CHI is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We ask that you consider helping us continue our work through your tax-deductible donation, through our shopping villages, products and services.

CHI Copyright © 2007. All Rights Reserved.

The CFL contains mercury! If it breaks inside your home it releases mercury. It harms the environment because it is toxic waste and ends up somewhere in a landfill.

It can make you sick in other ways because it is a radio frequency emitter. RF is something you do not see, but it can affect your health.

There are other options. In the early days of the environmental movement we turned off the light when we did not need it. Now you can buy halogen or full spectrum light bulbs or very long life bulbs, so you do have a choice.

Just leave the mercury alone.

"Learn Which Supplements Are Worth Your Money And Which Are Nothing More Than Pure Hype!"

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

Nothing is more confusing in the world of bodybuilding than the all-too controversial topic of muscle-building supplementation. Just flip open any muscle magazine and you will be instantly flooded with endless advertisements for all kinds of pills, powders and liquids that promise dramatic gains in minimal time.

Health & fitness supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry, and their carefully planned out marketing campaigns have been sucking in good, honest people just like you for years.

Before I go any further, I want you to truly understand one important fact...

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going!

If your goal is to achieve a strong, muscular body, I guarantee that you will not get there by pounding back bodybuilding pills and powders. If supplements actually followed up on the promises that they made, everyone would be huge and muscular.

You might be thinking by now that I am completely against the use of supplements.

This is definitely not the case!

All I want you to realize is that supplements are just that: supplements. They are there to supplement your diet and fill in those missing gaps that whole food simply cannot provide.

If you're training hard and eating properly, supplements can definitely help you reach your goals faster than you would without them. However, supplements are not there to replace anything. They are simply there to give your program an extra boost.

The important thing is for you to learn which supplements are worth your money and which ones are not. But with the endless number of products out there and all of those greedy marketers trying to get their hands on your money, how can you possibly know who to listen to?

Luckily for you, that's what I'm here for!

Here are a few supplements that make the cut on my "approved" list...
=============================================
Multivitamins

While it may be true that natural foods contain all of the vitamins and minerals necessary for an average person to stay fit and healthy, those who train intensely with weights have much higher nutritional requirements. Intense workout sessions place heavy demands on the body, and therefore greater amounts of vitamins and minerals are necessary to allow for optimal performance and recovery.

Taking a high-potency multivitamin everyday is a great way to make sure that you're receiving all of the vitamins you need. Vitamins perform literally thousands of functions within your body that are not only important to overall health but are critical in the muscle-growth process.

Protein Supplements

If you're looking to add a considerable amount of muscle to your frame, you will need to eat roughly 1-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight every day, which should be spaced out over 5-7 meals. This is extremely difficult to do using strictly whole-foods, and this is where protein supplements come in handy.

Whey shakes, meal replacements and protein bars will allow you to easily boost your protein intake and consume a quick meal without endless preparation and cooking.

Creatine

Creatine is found naturally in fish and red meat, but in order to obtain a significant amount you'd have to eat a lot of these foods. Creatine is the most researched sports supplement available and has been shown time and time again to be both safe and highly effective.

Creatine will aid you in building muscle by hydrating your muscle cells, increasing your short-term energy stores, buffering the effects of lactic acid and by improving your recovery.

For the best results, use 5 grams daily.

Glutamine

Glutamine is an amino acid (one of the building blocks of protein) and is very effective at preventing the breakdown of muscle tissue. Whenever you exercise intensely, your body's levels of glutamine rapidly decrease and your body will break down muscle tissue to restore its glutamine levels as a result.

By supplementing with 5-10 grams of glutamine every day, you can keep your hard-earned muscle intact.

Essential Fatty Acids

Otherwise known as the "good fats", essential fatty acids are highly beneficial to the muscle growth process. Among their many positive effects on overall health, EFA's can help to speed up your results by increasing testosterone levels, improving your metabolism and volumizing your muscle cells. Flax seed oil and extra virgin olive oil are great sources of EFA's.
=============================================
These are just a few of the basic, proven supplements that will help to enhance your gains. Just remember, supplements will NOT do the work for you! They are just one small piece of a much larger puzzle.

It's also very important to remember that there are far more worthless supplements out there than there are legit ones. Every month a new company comes out with some new "revolutionary breakthrough" that promises huge gains. You must be aware of this and not allow yourself to get sucked into the never-ending mass of marketing B.S.

Here are a few supplements that are marketed heavily but that you should definitely avoid...

Citrulline - Considered "the next big thing in bodybuilding", citrulline supposedly works by increasing the body's levels of nitric oxide, which translates into greater power output and muscle growth. Sounds great, except for the fact that there isn't a single study out there that supports its benefits.

Ecdysterone - Ecdysterone is what is known as a "plant sterol": a compound found in plants that is structurally similar to anabolic human steroids such as testosterone. After various tests and studies, most scientists concluded that ecdysterone simply did not have any anabolic effect on humans whatsoever.

Myostatin Blockers - Mysotatin is a protein that codes to limit the amount of muscle a person can gain. Supplement companies have created pills called "myostatin blockers" that supposedly limited the activity of the myostatin gene. So far there is no evidence to support the effectiveness of these pills.

Make sure to choose your supplements carefully. Here are a few other products that I would generally suggest steering clear of...

tyrosine
chromium picolinate
taurine
methoxy

The supplementation issue is a tricky one, and that's why I took the time to personally review and evaluate 23 of the most popular muscle-building supplements on the market today. These reviews can be found in chapter 5 of my complete e-book, The Truth About Building Muscle.

All of the products are separated into 4 organized categories that rank each product based on its effectiveness. This could potentially save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars of your hard-earned money by allowing you to only spend it on products that are going to have an appreciable effect on your results.

The e-book contains a full review and indepth look at all of the following products:

- Whey Protein
- Creatine
- Multivitamins
- HMB
- Citrulline
- ZMA

- Meal Replacements
- Glutamine
- N02
- Methoxy
- Tyrosine
- Ecdysterone

- Protein Bars
- Glucosamine
- Caffeine
- Taurine
- Chromium Picolinate
- Carnitine

- EFA's
- Tribulus
- CLA
- Myostatin Blockers
- BCAA's

Click Here for more detail on The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System.

We've now outlined 5 of my "approved" muscle-building supplements and we also talked about a few products that are marketed heavily but should be avoided.

Lesson #5 should arrive soon and will teach you some proven, step-by-step methods for naturally increasing your body's production of a highly anabolic substance that is considered to be the "holy grail" of muscle growth.

Talk to you soon,

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

I know this is risky, but...

I’ve decided to do something very “risky”.

I know that some people will take advantage of this and abuse it, but I trust that you aren’t one of those people.

Anyway, here’s the deal…

I’ve received several emails over the past few days from my website visitors and email subscribers who said that they REALLY wanted to give my program a try, but that there was one lingering question that was holding them back…

“What if I’m not happy with the program? I don’t want to lose any of my hard-earned money!”

If you’ve been thinking the same thing, then the truth is that I COMPLETELY understand your situation.

With all of the non-stop marketing hype, far-out exaggerations and “fly-by-night”miracle programs out there today, I’d be skeptical too. To be brutally honest, it makes me angry and flat out EMBARRASSES me when I think of some of the cheap tactics that my so-called “colleagues” have used to mislead good people like yourself into the latest “breakthrough” fad that didn’t deliver real results.

Chances are that you HAVE been cheated at some point, or you’ve at least purchased something online that you were disappointed with. I know that I have.

So here’s what I’ve decided to do…

Just to PROVE to you that my program is everything it’s cracked up to be and that you WILL be happy with both the quality of the information AND the results that you'll achieve by using it…

I’m going to give YOU an 8-Week Trial of the entire program and all 6 bonus items RISK-FREE.

That’s correct – you can try my program for a FULL 8 weeks, and if you aren’t COMPLETELY satisfied in every possible way, you won’t pay a cent.

It’s a risky venture, I know, but if this is what it takes for me to PROVE to you that my program is legit (unlike most of the other crap being offered online these days) and that you WILL achieve the muscular body you desire by using it, then I’m willing to put it all on the line and give it a shot.

Here’s what you need to do right now…

1. Go ahead and place your order through my secure website at musclegaintruth.com. You’ll gain instant access to the main e-book and all 6 bonuses which can be downloaded in less than 5 minutes.

2. Give the material an honest read-through and start implementing the muscle-building techniques that I outline.

3. If you aren’t absolutely ECSTATIC with the entire product and the results that you’ve achieved by using it, simply email me within 8 weeks and I’ll refund your entire purchase on the spot. You can even keep the e-book and all of the items at no cost as a special thank you for giving it an honest try.

Tell me, how SWEET is that?

You’ve got NOTHING to lose. I’m a man of my word and you can trust me on this.

Go ahead and start your risk-free 8-Week Trial ASAP, because I’m honestly not sure as to how long this special offer will last. If I find that a high number of people are simply purchasing the program without any intention of keeping it, then I’ll simply discontinue the offer for good.

So if you’re willing to be honest with me just as I’ve been honest with you, then go ahead and try my program 100% risk-free for 8 full weeks. My introductory promotion is still in effect so you can still grab the entire package for just $67.

Click HERE now to get your copy of MuscleGainTruth

If you have any questions at all about this promotion, shoot me an email and I’ll get right back to you.

I look forward to hearing about your results,

Sean Nalewanyj

"Why Proper Muscle-Building Nutrition Will Literally Make Or Break Your Success!"

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

If there's one area of the muscle growth process where most trainees fail miserably, it's in their diet. They go to the gym, train their asses off, and then completely neglect to provide their bodies with the proper nutrients needed to actually build new muscle.

One of the biggest myths in the bodybuilding and fitness industry is that "as long as you exercise, it doesn't really matter what you eat."

Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Nutrition is an absolutely vital part of the muscle-building process, and most top experts consider nutrition to be even more important than what we accomplish in the gym. You train hard and break down your muscle fibers by lifting weights, but without the proper materials needed to facilitate recovery, muscle growth will be next to impossible.

Most people highly underestimate the nutritional side of building muscle and have no idea just how badly it's hurting their progress. Actually, it's not really a matter of hurting their progress; if you fail to eat properly, you WILL NOT make progress. Period.

You absolutely must provide your body with the proper amounts of high quality protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water throughout the day, or you can kiss your gains goodbye.

The most important thing to realize when it comes to building muscle is this...

In order to build muscle, you must consume more calories than you burn!

This is the most basic rule you can implement, and building muscle will be physiologically impossible if you do not follow it. In order to build muscle, your calories in MUST exceed your calories out.

Now, this does not mean that you can gorge yourself on chips, pop and ice cream in order to load up on calories. Not all calories are created equally, and you must consume the right types of calories in order to gain lean, muscular body weight.

There are 3 major food groups that you should be obtaining the bulk of your calories from...

Protein

This is by far the most important muscle-building nutrient because it is responsible for the growth and repair of damaged muscle tissue. Every meal that you eat should contain some high quality protein.

To achieve optimal gains in muscle mass and strength you should try to consume anywhere from 1-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be eating 150-300 grams of protein every single day. You must also make sure to consume the right types of protein, from high quality sources such as...

Poultry
Lean Red Meat
Fish
Eggs
Skim Milk
Nuts/All Natural Peanut Butter
Cottage Cheese
Whey

Protein intake is critical to monitor. If you aren't eating enough protein, your body will be physically unable to build new muscle tissue.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are used as an energy source for the muscles and brain. They also aid in the absorption of protein. All carbohydrates are eventually broken down into their simplest form: glucose. Rather than choosing your carbohydrates based on the traditional view of "simple" or "complex", you should mostly pay attention to where they place on the glycemic index, which ranks how fast the sugars are absorbed in the bloodstream.

Choose carbohydrates that are on the lower end of the glycemic index (such as oatmeal, brown rice or apples) as they will provide your body with a steady stream of energy and will prevent large fluctuations in blood sugar levels (which ultimately leads to fat storage).

Fats

If you want to maximize your muscle gains, do NOT be afraid of fats! Not all fats are created equally, and the unsaturated form is actually beneficial to overall health. Consuming an adequate amount of unsaturated fat each day will accelerate your lean muscle gains while also minimizing the rate at which you store body fat.

Unsaturated fats play many important roles in the muscle-growth process (such as boosting testosterone levels and improving the energy production of cells) and should not be overlooked. Some good sources of unsaturated fat are flaxseed oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, walnuts, all-natural peanut butter and avocados. A bit of saturated fat is okay, just don't go overboard.

Those are the 3 basic muscle-building food groups and some good examples of foods that belong in each.

Meal Frequency

One of the biggest muscle-building nutrition mistakes that you could possibly make would be to follow the traditional method of "3 square meals a day". This just isn't an effective approach for maximizing your lean muscle gains.

Instead, you should focus on eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. The most effective way to achieve this is by consuming 5-7 small meals daily, spaced out every 2-3 hours. This will keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at all times and will also keep your fat burning metabolism raised.

Here's an example of what a solid day of nutrition would look like for a person trying to gain muscular body weight...

Meal 1 - 7:30am - Whey protein shake, 1 bowl of oatmeal, 1 tbsp flaxseed oil
Meal 2 - 10:30am - 3 Whole Eggs, 1 cup of hash browns, 1 cup orange juice
Meal 3 - 1:30pm - 6 oz. chicken breast, 1/2 cup of brown rice
Meal 4 - 4:30pm - Meal replacement shake, 1 apple, handful of peanuts
Meal 5 - 7:00pm - 6oz. lean beef, 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1/2 cup green beans
Meal 6 - 10:00pm - Whey protein shake, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp. olive oil

Do NOT overlook the nutritional side of building muscle!

If you pay close attention to when and what you eat you will make muscular gains far beyond anything you previously imagined.

If you're looking for the complete inside scoop on how to structure a perfect eating plan that will allow you to pack on inches of lean, solid muscle mass while burning through stubborn body fat, my best-selling e-book, The Truth About Building Muscle can teach you just that.

You'll gain a more indepth look at all of the major macronutrients and will learn how to plan out a proper dietary approach customized to your own bodyweight and personal goals in the gym. You'll also be given instant access to a full nutrition database that outlines the exact amount of protein, carbs, fats and calories in all of the foods you eat.

In addition, you'll learn about specific times during the day when the foods that you consume are especially critical to your success, and how to take advantage of these special periods to accelerate your progress even further.

Click Here for more details on The Truth About Building Muscle

You should now understand just how important the nutritional aspect of building muscle really is, and you are now armed with some easy-to-follow guidelines that you can start implementing right away.

Lesson #4 will arrive in a few days and will contain some very important information on one of the most controversial topics there is. I don't care who gets mad; you deserve to know the truth! Keep your eyes peeled for that.

Talk to you soon,

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

What we warned about Gardasil is now filtering into the media

But behind the scenes, Gardasil has been dogged by uncertainty about how effective it really is. Merck won approval for the vaccine based on research that showed it protected against two strains of the human papillomavirus, known as HPV 16 and 18, that are thought to cause 70% of cervical-cancer cases. The Food and Drug Administration didn't ask its panel of experts advising on Gardasil to rule on whether the vaccine specifically prevented the cancer itself. In clinical trials, 361 of 8,817 women who received at least one shot of Gardasil went on to develop precancerous lesions on their cervixes within three years of vaccination, just 14% fewer than in a placebo control group.

This paragraph alone should raise the ire of women who have 'rallied' behind this vaccines because of propaganda. Mothers of daughters should be especially irate. A sweeping blitz campaign should immediately be directed to your Members of COngress and state legislatures where laws have benn passed to mandate this shot.

Vaccines promote disease and it has been shown true through scientific research, over and over again. FMI: vaclib.org


The Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2007
VIRAL MARKETING

Questions on Efficacy Cloud a Cancer Vaccine
By JOHN CARREYROU

When Merck & Co. introduced its new vaccine against cervical cancer last June, it gave it one of the biggest pushes any new medicine has received. The company lobbied dozens of states to make the vaccine mandatory for 11- and 12-year-old girls. It aired TV ads featuring young girls skipping rope while reciting the slogan, "I want to be one less" woman to battle the disease.

The campaign scored some big victories. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared all women age 11 to 26 should get the vaccine, called Gardasil. Texas and Virginia passed mandatory-vaccination laws for girls entering the sixth grade. Even after Merck halted its lobbying in February amid criticism, an organization backed by the company continues to push for similar laws, and about 20 states are considering them. The vaccine costs $360 for a three-shot regimen. (See the full CDC recommendations.1)

RELATED DOCUMENTS
See the full CDC recommendations2 on the HPV vaccine.
See a recent presentation by Merck's Eliav Barr3 giving the latest data on Gardasil's efficacy.
Read the background document4 an FDA reviewer prepared for the advisory committee that assessed the vaccine on May 18, 2006, and see a full transcript of that meeting5.

But behind the scenes, Gardasil has been dogged by uncertainty about how effective it really is. Merck won approval for the vaccine based on research that showed it protected against two strains of the human papillomavirus, known as HPV 16 and 18, that are thought to cause 70% of cervical-cancer cases. The Food and Drug Administration didn't ask its panel of experts advising on Gardasil to rule on whether the vaccine specifically prevented the cancer itself. In clinical trials, 361 of 8,817 women who received at least one shot of Gardasil went on to develop precancerous lesions on their cervixes within three years of vaccination, just 14% fewer than in a placebo control group.

Scott Emerson, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington who sat on the FDA advisory committee, says he's not persuaded the vaccine is worth the billions of dollars likely to be spent on it in coming years. "I do believe that Gardasil protects against HPV 16 and 18, but the effect it will have on cervical-cancer rates in this country is another question entirely," says Dr. Emerson. "There is a leap of faith involved."

Merck says the 14% figure is misleading because more than a quarter of the women in the study were already infected with HPV before receiving the vaccine, blunting its effect. Gardasil isn't designed to treat those with pre-existing infection. The company prefers to point to a subset of 4,616 trial participants who were mostly free of HPV when they were vaccinated. Only 52 of these women went on to develop precancerous lesions on their cervixes over the next three years, 46% fewer than among the placebo group. Merck says this smaller group of women is the one most representative of the 11- and 12-year-old girls for whom Texas and Virginia have required vaccination. (See a recent presentation by Merck's Eliav Barr7 giving the latest data on Gardasil's efficacy.)

Safety is another issue. Merck tested the vaccine in only a few hundred 11- and 12-year-old girls. Some doctors consider that number too small to declare the vaccine safe for preteen girls, given the big changes their bodies undergo.

In its approval letter, the FDA ordered Merck to follow "a sufficient number of children 11-12 years of age" in a large postmarketing study to further establish the vaccine's safety. That study won't be completed until 2009. Norman Baylor, the director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review at the FDA, says it's common for the agency to recommend postmarketing studies for vaccines, and the FDA considers Gardasil safe.

The company says it complied with the FDA's request that the clinical trials include more than 3,000 9- to 17-year-olds. It adds that it didn't test Gardasil more widely on girls because it wanted to focus on sexually active women to demonstrate the vaccine's efficacy. So far, Merck has distributed more than four million doses of the vaccine in the U.S., and the CDC says adverse events have been mostly minor and within the normal range.

Eliav Barr, the head of Merck's HPV vaccine program, says Gardasil is a "lifesaving" vaccine and its widespread adoption will result in "a substantial decline in the rate of cervical cancer." Dr. Barr says Merck provided "an extremely strong dossier" on Gardasil that both the FDA and the CDC have deemed satisfactory.

Merck has a lot riding on Gardasil. It faces patent expirations on other best sellers and legal costs related to Vioxx, the withdrawn painkiller linked to heart attacks and strokes. Some analysts believe Gardasil's annual sales could reach $2 billion or more by 2010.

Work on a cervical-cancer vaccine goes back nearly two decades, after scientists discovered that HPV infection can trigger lesions of the cervix that eventually turn into cancer. In the early-to-mid-1990s, Merck licensed patents held by the National Cancer Institute and CSL Ltd. of Australia, and began work on commercializing the vaccine.

From the start, Merck faced a challenge in winning acceptance of the vaccine as a universal necessity for American women. Though common in developing nations, cervical cancer is a relatively rare disease in the U.S., accounting for about 0.7% of cancer diagnoses and deaths each year. Women already have a highly effective method of prevention: visiting a gynecologist for regular Pap tests. The low-tech exam has contributed to an 80% reduction in cervical-cancer deaths in the U.S. over the past 50 years.

Human studies of the present version of the vaccine, which also targets two HPV strains that cause genital warts, began in 2000. The vaccine was administered to more than 20,000 women. It is delivered in three injections over six months. Merck submitted Gardasil to the FDA for approval in 2005.

Hints of Trouble [Gardasil Gold]
A meeting of the FDA advisory panel that reviewed Gardasil in May 2006 gave the first hint of Merck's troubles in persuading doctors of Gardasil's real-world efficacy. In its presentation, Merck stressed the vaccine's nearly 100% effectiveness in blocking infection by HPV 16 and 18 and in preventing precancerous lesions caused by those two strains. But a document prepared for the committee by an FDA reviewer noted the vaccine's limited overall efficacy against precancerous lesions in the broader group of nearly 9,000 trial participants. (Read the FDA reviewer's document.8)

Dr. Emerson, the University of Washington professor, expressed concern that Merck wasn't putting enough emphasis on the question of whether the vaccine prevented cervical cancer. "It's almost the treating the symptom but not the disease sort of idea," he said, according to a transcript of the meeting. (Read the transcript.9)

Merck pointed to the confounding factors behind the lower efficacy rates, including the problem of women who came into the trial already infected. In an interview, Merck's Dr. Barr says Gardasil's true efficacy will become more apparent with time, particularly in the group that includes women with a pre-existing infection.

While Merck often states that Gardasil prevents infection with viruses that account for 70% of cervical-cancer cases, Dr. Barr concedes that the vaccine is less than 70% effective against precancerous lesions. Merck says this is because the HPV strains not covered by Gardasil cause disproportionately more precancerous lesions that don't end up turning into cancer.

Efficacy against lesions is a significant issue because after a Pap test, doctors generally remove any lesions that reach a certain grade of seriousness, even though some might not turn into cancer. The surgery involves cutting out part of the cervix and can cost several hundred to several thousand dollars. Dr. Barr predicts Gardasil will eventually be shown to prevent nearly 60% of precancerous lesions that doctors would want to remove among women who were free of HPV infection when they were vaccinated.

Ultimately Gardasil received the panel's unanimous approval, and the FDA approved the vaccine in June 2006. The agency reasoned that waiting for more data would prevent some women who needed the vaccine from getting it.

With the FDA's approval, Merck faced a new challenge: persuading the public to take its vaccine. It got a quick boost from the CDC, which issued guidance in late June recommending that all girls receive the vaccine at age 11 or 12. The CDC said women age 13 to 26 should also get the vaccine. Gardasil was also endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Merck crafted its advertising and public relations to avoid some of the less-favorable numbers surrounding Gardasil. The TV commercial says the vaccine "may help protect you" from HPV strains "that may cause 70% of cervical cancer." The company doesn't often discuss the lower efficacy against precancerous lesions or in populations where some women are already infected. The "one less" slogan avoids the question of how many lives will be saved.

Some Gardasil supporters funded by Merck are less careful about qualifying their claims. At the FDA advisory committee hearing, Martha Nolan, vice president of a women's health group that receives funds from Merck, said that by approving Gardasil, the agency had "the opportunity to eradicate this terrible disease."

After the FDA approval, a group of female state legislators called Women in Government started a campaign to get states to mandate vaccinations. The group receives money from Merck but won't say how much. Many of the pending bills would allow parents to keep their children out of the vaccination program, but only after submitting proof that they have received information about cervical cancer and the vaccine.

In early January, Women in Government held a conference for some 60 state legislators in Marco Island, Fla., paying for their airfare and hotel rooms. One of the speakers was Christine Baze, a pop singer and cervical-cancer survivor. As she performed songs on the piano, Ms. Baze told the story of her battle with the disease and said she wished a vaccine had been available to her. Ms. Baze says Women in Government paid her a $2,500 fee and covered her travel and lodging. She says she didn't receive any money from Merck for the appearance, but the company has paid her $7,500 to speak at three other events.

Marilyn Canavan, a representative in the Maine assembly who attended the conference, says she was bothered by the large number of drug-industry lobbyists she saw. A list of conference participants shows that 30 pharmaceutical-industry representatives were present -- one for every two state legislators. Merck had two representatives there. Ms. Canavan has since resigned her post as Women in Government's director in Maine over concerns that the group's agenda is being dictated by drug companies. Susan Crosby, Women in Government's president, says those concerns are unfounded.

Other state lawmakers came away from the conference inspired. Upon returning home, Jessica Sibley Upshaw, a representative in the Mississippi assembly, drafted a bill that would make vaccination a school requirement. "For me, it's a common-sense thing to do if we can eradicate a disease," she says. Ms. Upshaw's bill has since died, but she plans to reintroduce it.

Sparking an Uproar

In February, Texas Gov. Rick Perry bypassed the state legislature and issued an executive order mandating that all girls entering the sixth grade be vaccinated as of September 2008. One of Merck's lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Gov. Perry's former chief of staff, and Merck contributed $6,000 to the governor's re-election campaign. Mr. Toomey didn't return calls and emails seeking comment. A spokeswoman for the governor says he acted to protect the public's health, not because of the contribution or the lobbying of his former aide.

Gov. Perry's order sparked an uproar. Among the opponents are religious conservatives who say receiving the vaccine conflicts with their message of abstinence. Other opponents say Gardasil isn't worth the cost, which includes $360 for the vaccine and up to several hundred dollars more for three doctors' appointments to get the shots. The money would be better spent, these people say, in pushing Pap tests for women who aren't getting them now.

John Schiller, one of the National Cancer Institute scientists whose vaccine work was licensed by Merck, believes Gardasil is an important advance that should receive wide use, but he has mixed feelings about the way the company has promoted it. He hopes it won't divert public-health dollars away from regular Pap screening, which he says remains the most important weapon against cervical cancer. Merck "is a heavy-handed company," Dr. Schiller says. "When they do something, they spare no energy. It's the Merck way or the highway."

Merck says cost-effectiveness studies suggest the vaccine could deliver its life-saving benefits at a reasonable cost, in part by reducing the need for frequent Pap tests. Most of these studies have been funded by Merck and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, maker of another HPV vaccine, Cervarix. Glaxo applied for FDA approval of Cervarix last month.

One skeptic is Diane Harper, a longtime HPV researcher and professor at Dartmouth Medical School, who was involved in Gardasil's clinical trials and has received speaker and consulting fees from Merck and Glaxo. She says as many as 10% of 11- and 12-year-old girls may already have HPV, either from sexual activity, sexual abuse or transmission through nonsexual skin-to-skin contact. That could reduce the vaccine's efficacy, she says.

Dr. Harper also suspects the vaccine may require booster shots after 10 years. Merck says it's not sure how long the vaccine's protection will last and is monitoring women over the long term to find out.

The American Cancer Society, while agreeing with the CDC that girls should be vaccinated, said in January there is "insufficient evidence" that women age 19 to 26 will benefit from the vaccine because many have already been exposed to HPV.

Worried about the backlash that emerged in February in Texas and other states, Merck shifted into damage control. Richard Haupt, Merck's executive director of medical affairs, placed calls to respected figures in the vaccine field, including Jon Abramson, the chairman of the CDC's advisory committee on immunization practices, and Joseph Bocchini, chairman of the committee on infectious diseases at the American Academy of Pediatrics. Both men and others told Dr. Haupt they supported the vaccine, but it was too early and counterproductive to push for school requirements.

On Feb. 20, Merck announced that it was suspending its lobbying push, but Women in Government continues to lobby for school requirements. Virginia's mandate became law two weeks ago.

Write to John Carreyrou at john.carreyrou@wsj.com10

STATE BY STATE

The following states have introduced legislation on making cervical-cancer vaccinations a school requirement:
State Proposal Status
California Bill would have required girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Withdrawn for further consideration.
Colorado Bill would require 12-year-old girls to be vaccinated to attend school. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Pending
Connecticut Bill would require girls receive a first dose of the vaccine before entering the sixth grade. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical or religious grounds. Pending
District of Columbia Bill would require girls to be vaccinated before they turn 13 to attend school. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Pending
Florida Bill would have required 11- and 12-year-old girls to be vaccinated to attend school. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Died in committee
Georgia Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated unless parents can't afford the vaccine or object to it on medical or religious grounds. Pending
Illinois Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Pending
Kansas Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical or religious grounds. Pending
Kentucky Bill would require girls entering middle school to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Passed House, to Senate
Maryland Bill would have required girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Withdrawn
Massachusetts Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on religious grounds. Pending
Michigan Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Pending.
Missouri Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical or religious grounds. Pending
Minnesota Bill would require 12-year-old girls to be vaccinated to attend school. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Pending
Mississippi Bill would have required girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Died. Sponsor planning to re-introduce it with an opt-out clause.
New Jersey Bill would require girls in grades seven through 12 to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical or religious grounds. Pending
New Mexico Bill would require nine- to 14-year-old girls to be vaccinated to attend school. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Passed legislature. Vetoed by governor.
Ohio Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Pending
Oklahoma Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Pending
South Carolina Bill would require girls entering the seventh grade or 11 years of age to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical or religious grounds. Pending
Texas Governor issued executive order requiring that girls entering the sixth grade be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Bill overriding the executive order has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.
Vermont Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical, moral or religious grounds. Pending
Virginia Bill requires girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out. Passed the legislature. Goes into effect Oct. 1, 2008; to be implemented in fall of 2009.
West Virginia Bill would require girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated. Allows parents to opt their daughters out on medical grounds. Pending

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, state legislatures
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117668541991270825.html

Hyperlinks in this Article:
(1) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5602.pdf
(2) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5602.pdf
(3) http://www.cdc.gov/nip/acip/slides/feb07/08-hpv-2-barr.pdf
(4) http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/briefing/2006-4222B3.pdf
(5) http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4222t1.pdf
(6) http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/04/16/how-effective-is-mercks-hpv-vaccine/
(7) http://www.cdc.gov/nip/acip/slides/feb07/08-hpv-2-barr.pdf
(8) http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/briefing/2006-4222B3.pdf
(9) http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4222t1.pdf
(10) mailto:john.carreyrou@wsj.com
Copyright 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

"How To Structure A Killer Workout For Maximum Gains In Muscle Size & Strength!"

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

In Lesson #1 we talked about the importance of tracking your progress in the gym and why this is the most critical overall factor when it comes to gaining muscular body weight. You absolutely will not experience any appreciable gains in muscle size unless you place the majority of your focus on moving more weight for more reps each week. If you aren't tracking each and every workout in detail then you're flat-out ignoring the very foundation of the muscle growth process.

But that's only part of the story in terms of the workouts that you perform in the gym...

In this week's installment we'll be going a bit more indepth and addressing the specific aspects of how to plan out a proper workout schedule.

The manner in which you construct your workout routine will make the difference between success and failure, and you must make sure that you are following all of the proper guidelines if you want to see significant results.

The reality of it all is that most people have no idea how to structure an effective workout and severely limit their gains as a result. Most people simply enter the gym with only a rough plan in mind and aimlessly toss weights around for an hour or two without any sound logic or reasoning behind what they're doing. In fact, some people design their workouts in such a manner that they actually lose muscle mass and strength.

I receive hundreds of emails each and every week from aspiring trainees all over the world, and when I see the workout routines that the vast majority of them are using it literally makes me cringe in my seat. I would guess that around 95% of lifters make at least one or more of the following mistakes when planning out their routine...

They choose the wrong exercises
They spend too many days in the gym
They training each muscle group too frequently
They perform too many total sets per workout and per muscle group
They fail to execute the workout with a sufficient level of intensity
They training for excessive periods of time

The list goes on and on.

The reality is that working out requires real effort, and it's only fair that all of your effort is put to the best use possible. So that being said, here are a few sure-fire guidelines that you should follow in the gym in order to achieve the best gains you possibly can...

Focus on compound, free-weight exercises.

There are two main types of exercises you can perform in the gym: compound exercises and isolation exercises. Compound exercises are those that involve the use of multiple muscle groups, while isolation exercises only involve the use of a single muscle group.

For example, a bench press is a compound exercise because it stimulates the chest as well as the shoulders and triceps. An example of an isolation exercise would be a bicep curl, as this exercise stimulates only the biceps.

In order to achieve the greatest gains in overall muscle size and strength, you should be putting most of your focus on basic, freeweight compound exercises. Forget about wimpy little pec-deck machines and tricep kickbacks. If you want to see BIG gains you must perform the BIG lifts. Here are the basic movements that you should be focusing on...

Squats
Deadlifts
Bench Presses
Barbell Rows
Overhead Presses
Chin-Ups
Dips
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Lunges
Leg Presses

These movements will stimulate the greatest total amount of muscle fiber and will have the greatest overall anabolic effect on your body. They should form the cornerstone of any effective workout routine. Isolation lifts can still have their place (movements such as barbell curls or tricep extensions) but certainly not in place of these proven compound lifts.

Train with 100% intensity on every single set.

Your muscles grow by adapting to stress, plain and simple. When you lift weights, you create small micro-tears within the muscle tissue, and your body responds by rebuilding the muscles larger and stronger in preparation for the next workout.

In order to achieve the most dramatic response from the muscles possible, you must always train with full effort and intensity. This means that for every set you perform in the gym, you must continue until the point of concentric muscular failure.

Concentric Muscular Failure: The point at which no additional positive repetitions can be completed using proper form despite your greatest efforts.
In other words, you must perform each set until you are physically unable to complete any additional reps using proper form. In doing this you will place your muscles under the greatest amount of stress possible and the body will respond in the most dramatic fashion.

Simply entering the gym and "going through the motions" will NOT get the job done. You have to earn your muscle gains, and the truth is that most people just plain don't train hard enough.

Train each individual muscle only once per week.

When it comes to training for muscular size, more is certainly not better! You must let go of this traditional way of thinking and realize that in order for your muscles to grow, they must be given proper recovery time.

If you train too often you will prevent your body from rebuilding your damaged muscles, and you will interfere with the muscle-growth process as a result. Because of this, you should only train each individual muscle group once per week. As long as you train with 100% intensity and effort you will not require any more than this.

Do not spend excessive periods of time in the gym.

As far as each individual workout is concerned, you should always try to complete it within one hour. This doesn't include warm-ups, but comes into play beginning with your first high-intensity set and ends with your final high-intensity set. As your workout drifts beyond the one-hour mark, your mental focus and intensity will rapidly decline. Your body will also secrete a powerful catabolic hormone called "cortisol" which will stimulate the breakdown of muscle tissue for energy.

If you're looking to build and maintain as much lean muscle mass as you possibly can, you must avoid cortisol at all costs. By completing your workout within one hour you will keep your body in an optimal hormonal state and will prevent yourself from overtraining.

Do not go overboard on training volume.

The reality is that most people train with far too much volume by performing way more sets than they really need to. Your goal in the gym is to simply "spark" the muscle growth process, and this can be accomplished without performing endless, unnecessary sets. If you always train to muscular failure, you simply do not need to perform very many sets in order to stimulate new muscle growth. If you perform too many sets you'll simply be eating into your all-too important recovery time, and this will be counterproductive to your gains.

Let go of the "more-is-better" mentality. Building muscle is about quality, not quantity. I would recommend that you perform no more than 7 total sets for major muscle groups (like the chest, back and thighs) and no more than 4 total sets for the smaller muscle groups (the shoulders, biceps, triceps, abs and calves). And remember, this is total sets per workout, NOT total sets per exercise.

Wrapping It Up

Those are some basic, highly important guidelines to follow in the gym in order to see the best results that you possibly can.

This lesson has given you a basic overview of proper workout structure, but if you're interested in learning the exact step-by-step details including the optimal sequence of specific exercises, which muscle groups to train and on which days as well as the exact of number of sets, reps and rest periods to perform for maximum results, then check out my highly popular program, The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System.

It can be downloaded in less than 5 minutes and literally covers everything you'll ever need to know to build muscle mass and strength as quickly as you possibly can.

The package comes with a ton of incredibly valuable bonus items, and you'll also gain instant access to my Online Muscle-Building Video Lesson Series where you'll learn the most effective ways to train your chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs and abs with a special online video lesson specifically dedicated to each muscle group.

Click Here for more details and get started right away.

So, when structuring your workout routine, always remember to:

Focus on basic, freeweight compound exercises
Take all sets to positive muscular failure
Train each individual muscle group only once per week
Complete your workout within one hour
Perform no more than 7 total sets for large muscle groups and no more than 4 sets for small muscle groups

Keep an eye out for the next lesson in this series where I'll teach you about one absolutely critical aspect of building muscle, and why it will literally make or break your success.

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

"Instantly Multiply Your Muscle Gains Using One Simple But Incredibly Powerful Tool!"

Dear Fellow Muscle-Builder,

Welcome to the "Simple Steps To Massive Muscle Gains MiniCourse", where I'll be revealing some very powerful strategies that you can apply both in and out of the gym to accelerate your gains and finally achieve the ripped, muscular physique you deserve.

Before we dive in, let me mention 2 things about this course...

1) These strategies are not complex. There are so many other bodybuilding authors out there who purposely over-complicate things so that their strategies sound "revolutionary" and "never-before-seen".

You won't find that nonsense here.

This course is designed to cut through all of the marketing hype and B.S. and make things simpler for you, NOT more complicated. The methods that I outline can be used by anyone. They are simple but highly effective.

2) These strategies won't get done on their own. I can fill your head with all of the most effective muscle-building principles available, but it's up to you to apply them. The biggest mistake you could possibly make is to read through all of these lessons but never actually follow through on them. Before you read through this course, you must make a conscious commitment to take action!

Okay, let's dive right in...

In this first installment I'm going to focus on the muscle-building process from its most basic roots by outlining the most powerful tool that you could possibly use throughout your program.

It's such an incredibly simple concept yet I am continually amazed at how few people actually put it into practice.

What is this tool, you ask?

No, it's not the latest breakthrough energy pill.

It's not a pre-workout shake.

It isn't a pair of lifting gloves, straps or a weight-belt.

It's not a water bottle....

The absolute most important tool you could possibly bring to the gym with you is this...

*Drum Roll*

A pen and a piece of paper.

"Huh? A pen and a piece of paper? What could possibly be so important about that?"

Well, everything.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that bringing a pen and a piece of paper to the gym will separate those who make modest gains from those who make outstanding gains. The simple reason for this is that a pen and a piece of paper will allow you to keep a detailed record of each and every workout you perform.

Why is recording your workouts so critical to your success?

It's because the entire basis for building muscle is progression.

When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by stressing them with weights. This is referred to as "muscle overload". When you leave the gym, your body will use the nutrients that you consume to repair the damages that have been done. However, as a natural evolutionary response, the muscles will be repaired larger and stronger in order to protect the body against a possible future "attack".

Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must put 100% of your focus on improving upon your previous workouts by progressing in either:

a) The amount of weight lifted.

b) The number of reps performed.

If you are able to progress in either weight or reps from week to week, your body will be given continual incentive to grow larger and stronger. If you fail to improve, your muscle size and strength will stay the same.

Think about it, if you were squatting 200 pounds today, and were still squatting that same weight 3 months from now, do you think you would have experienced any size or strength gains in that time period?

Of course not!

Your body will only become larger and stronger when it is presented with a workload beyond that capacity.

If you want "building muscle in a nutshell", that was it.

Train for strength, and size will always follow.

I am continually baffled by the guys in the gym who come in week in and week out, aimlessly tossing the same weights around and never writing anything down. It's no surprise that their physiques always look exactly the same year round.

If you want to build muscle mass as quickly as you possibly can, always bring a pen and a piece of paper to the gym for every single workout and keep a detailed record of the exercises you performed, the weight you used and the number of reps completed.

The next time you go to the gym, sit down before your workout and review what you accomplished in the previous week. Your goal should now be to improve slightly upon those numbers by either performing an extra rep or 2 for each exercise, or by increasing the weight on the bar by 5 pounds.

If you can successfully accomplish this from week to week, you will be well on your way to success. The entire goal in the gym is to always get better.

While the specifics of building muscle are important to understand and implement (things like exercise selection, rep ranges and workout structure), the truth is that regardless of what style of training you're currently using, the ultimate deciding factor between success and failure is progression.

You can sit around all day obsessing over specific principles, but the bottom line is that if you aren't getting stronger every week, you absolutely will NOT be getting any bigger.

Examine your training approach closely.

If you haven't been paying laser-like attention to the amount of weight you've been using, the number of reps you've been performing, and then striving with every ounce of your energy to improve upon those numbers each week, you are completely ignoring the very foundation of the muscle growth process.

If you want to see the best gains in muscle mass and strength that you possibly can, a pen and a piece of paper is the most powerful tool you could possibly have in your arsenal!

That's exactly why I created a full, printable workout logbook as one of the many critical items that comes with #1 best-selling natural bodybuilding package, The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System. This logbook can be instantly downloaded, printed off and easily placed in a 3-ring binder to bring to the gym with you.

It contains an indepth 26-week workout plan outlining which muscle groups to train on which days, all of the exercises that should be performed for each workout, proper warm-ups along with the exact number of sets, reps and rest periods for each.

You get worksheets for each individual workout so that you can simply fill in the blanks and have an organized visual as you progress from week to week. This is a resource that no serious lifter should be without!

Here's what natural bodybuilding champion, Lee Hayward, had to say about my teachings...

“I have been faithfully following all of Sean’s material ever since he first launched the musclegaintruth.com website. He cuts right through all of the useless hype and crap that so many other sites are filled with and instead provides a detailed, highly effective muscle building system that is laid out in a simple step-by-step format.

I have personally used the techniques and strategies that Sean teaches in my own training to get in my all time best shape ever. If your goal is to become bigger, stronger, and more muscular, I would highly suggest listening to what Sean has to say!"

Lee Hayward

If you're truly serious about changing your physique by building more muscle, gaining strength and burning off excess body fat, then I strongly encourage you to head over to my website and grab a copy of this system right away.

I guarantee that you won't find a more honest, straightforward and effective muscle-building guide anywhere else. This is currently the most widely used online natural bodybuilding program available, and for good reason.

Click HERE for more details.

You've just been given a very simple but extremely important strategy for speeding up your progress in both muscle size and strength by utilizing the power of a workout logbook.

Talk to you soon,

Sean Nalewanyj