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Cancer Victors News

May 18, 2010

Note the Tale of Two Pancreatic Cancer Patients: Patrick Swa

NaturalNews) When actor Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer he decided to follow the advice of his doctors to use chemo and starve out his cancer. He ended up dying of wasting disease. By contrast, an 80 year old man who decided to nourish his body and fight cancer naturally is robust and thriving almost three years after his diagnosis.

Last year, this author wrote an article about Patrick Swayze dying after placing false hopes in chemo drugs and in the advice of his doctors to try to "starve out" his cancer.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027034_c...

Previously, following Swayze's Barbara Walter's special, this author had also written an article lamenting Swayze's decision to place his faith in mainstream medicine.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025289_c...

Both articles strongly suggested that Swayze might have been better served by trying to nourish his body and build his immune system.

Ironically, shortly after the second article was published a member of a health group centered on beating cancer naturally posted a message about her 80 year old step-father with pancreatic cancer. She said her step-father had fared very well using a natural approach and eschewing mainstream treatment. He had already lived longer than Swayze after his diagnosis, had good health, was active and was enjoying a good quality of life.

She also reported that her step-father had never had any mainstream treatment and said she was convinced that he was still alive and enjoying life because he had opted for nature instead.

"My Stepdad always asks the doctor have you found a cure and they say "NO" and he then says I am not interested. Even his doctor quietly agreed that he made the right decision. All his hospice nurses are amazed when they find out his story."

Each of the aforementioned articles resulted in considerable flack from mainstream outlets. One reputed oncologist followed the author to the CureZone forums to profess dismay for anyone daring to suggest Swayze might have been better off with natural alternatives than with the mainstream approach he took.
Immediately thereafter a rebuttal was posted which included rather graphic photographic evidence of how rapidly and drastically Swayze`s health declined after he began chemo.

http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i...

This week an update on the 80 year old survivor was posted to the Yahoo group by his step-daughter:

"My 80 year old stepdad has had pancreatic cancer for the last 3 years and is doing great! He takes plenty of Oleander (supplement) and 4 oz of colloidal silver every day until he finishes the gallon and then takes about a 2-3 week break. (He) has a bile bag because the tumor was blocking his bile duct, but now there is nothing going into the bag and all signs point to the tumor shrinking and the bile traveling the correct way through his body.

He was diagnosed almost 3 years ago with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and was yellow and given only a couple of months to live. He went from 230lbs to about 135 in 5 months. Now he is around 150 and plays golf weekly."

One cannot help but notice the contrast between the healthy 80 year old and Swayze. Swayze went from a smiling robust 55 year old man to a sad shell of himself in only 18 months while the 80 year old survivor was doing well after three years, playing golf and gaining weight. Notably, Swayze died not from his cancer, but rather from wasting disease and malnourishment.

In the best natural cancer treatments, such success stories are often the rule instead of the exception. Sadly, just the opposite is often true in many mainstream cancer treatments.

Sources included:

http://www.naturalnews.com/027034_c...
http://www.naturalnews.com/027034_c...
http://www.curezone.com/forums/fm.a...
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i...

Posted 5/18/2010 9:58:00 AM

May 18, 2010

www.naturalnews.com

For the latest and greatest in up to date alternative news visit www.naturalnews.com

Posted 5/18/2010 9:23:00 AM

May 18, 2010

Lemon Grass helps headaches much like aspirin!

(NaturalNews) Popping an aspirin or an ibuprofen to relieve a headache has become commonplace in the industrialized world, but there are actually natural plants and herbs that are capable of helping to relieve pain as well. Lemon grass is a great example of this, as researchers from Griffith University recently released the results of a five-year study on the plant showing that it is capable of relieving headaches and migraines.

Indigenous Australians have long used lemon grass as a traditional medicine, and modern medicine is finally catching on to its therapeutic power. And in the recent study published in the journal, Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, lemon grass was found in tests to inhibit the clumping of human blood platelets in a similar fashion to the way aspirin does.

Professor Lyn Griffiths, Dr. Darren Grice and Dr. Kelly Rogers worked on the study which found that a specific extract in lemon grass, called eugenol, exhibited an effect similar to aspirin in preventing clots.

"Headaches and migraines cause abnormal activities in our bodies, such as altering our serotonin levels and interfering with the normal function of our blood platelets," explained Dr. Grice in a press release. "The compound [eugenol] inhibits platelets clumping together and the release of serotonin."

Dr. Grice also explained that, in general, traditional medicines like lemon grass have not been effectively studied in depth, and that many of them contain therapeutic values that are largely unknown.

"Nature's medicines hold enormous potential to cure health problems and traditional medicines are a source of good leads for new scientific discovery," he explained.

All of this makes perfect sense when considering that most pharmaceuticals are synthetic modifications of natural plants and herbs. Scientists will take a plant extract and modify it, patent it, and sell it to the public at a premium. But unlike natural extracts, pharmaceuticals almost always cause negative side effects and do not work as effectively as the real thing.

It is encouraging to see increased attention in science and medicine on natural plants and herbs because these hold the most potential in helping people to prevent and cure disease. Many medicinal plants and herbs are abundant, easy to grow and cultivate, and effective at targeting disease and increasing health.

As far as headaches go, white willow bark is also an effective remedy. Its compounds are what scientists use to produce commercial aspirin but, like lemon grass, it is far safer than the synthetic drug variety.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news...

Posted 5/18/2010 9:22:00 AM

May 18, 2010

Prostate cancer screenings have huge rate of false positives

(NaturalNews) One in eight men screened for prostate cancer will be falsely diagnosed with the disease, according to a study reported in the British Journal of Cancer.

Routing screening for levels of the prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker of prostate inflammation and a presumed prostate cancer risk factor, is not yet recommended in the European Union. The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer, currently underway in seven countries, is intended to gather research into whether the practice should be adopted.

Recent data from the study suggested that regular screening could reduce the disease's death rate by 20 percent. The most recent data from the Finnish part of the study is now raising questions as to the wider cost of that improved survival rate.

"While the European trial, of which this Finnish study is a part, showed for the first time that prostate screening with PSA can save lives, it also suggested that 48 men would have to be treated in order to save one life," said Julietta Patnick of the United Kingdom's National Health Service.

Prostate cancer screening has become increasingly controversial due to emerging evidence that the majority of prostate cancers are so slow growing that many men will die of other causes without ever suffering any symptoms. This has raised questions as to how many men are being over-treated with therapies that can carry serious side effects, including impotence and incontinence.

The new study suggests another problem: even with a relatively high PSA threshold, one in eight men screened in the study received a false positive result. Further complicating matters, the researchers found that men who had been falsely diagnosed became significantly less likely to undergo future screening, even though they are at higher risk of developing the disease.

"I don't think routine screening should be advised until more is known on the adverse effects and costs of screening," lead researcher Tuomas Kilpelainen said. "If a man has urinary tract symptoms and is concerned he could have prostate cancer, the most important thing is to consult a GP or a urologist."

Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk.

Posted 5/18/2010 9:20:00 AM

January 27, 2010

Treating The Cause Not the Symptom

Source: Alive and Well, Dr Philip E Binzel p133-139

The problem with many (not all) Doctors and Oncologists in todays society is that they have been trained to be "tumor orientated". They are lump and bump doctors with no training or understanding of how nutrition relates to disease. For example, when a patient is found to have tumor, all that is discussed seems to be what is going to be done about reducing the tumor. The emphasis is always on; how is the tumor doing? Rather than; "how is the patient doing?" When they administer chemo and radio therapy to the body aimed at reducing the tumor, it has been seen that as the tumor gets smaller and smaller the patient gets sicker and sicker. At an autopsy you would hear "Isn't it marvelous we have killed the tumor" - yes, but you also killed the patient in the process of killing the tumor. When will modern medicine accept that they are treating the wrong thing?

In primary cancer, with only a few exceptions the tumor is neither health endangering nor life threatening. What is health endangering and life threatening is THE SPREAD of cancer through the rest of the body. There is nothing in surgery today that will prevent the spread of cancer. There is nothing in chemotherapy or radiation that will prevent the spread of cancer. How do we know? Just look at the statistics.The survival time of a cancer patient today is no different to what it was 50 years ago. The only advancement in the last 50 years has been the improvement on ways to kill tumors via chemo and radio therapy.

The only thing known to mankind today that will prevent the spread of cancer within the body, is for that body's own defense mechanism to once again function normally. Thats what Nutritional Therapy does. It treats the defense mechanism, not the tumor. The tumor is simply a symptom not a cause. You need to treat the cause. If you take care of the body the body will take care of the tumor and the cancer.

The ultimate question then is, "Does nutritional therapy work?" The answer to this depends on how you define "work". If you are tumor orientated like most oncologists and doctors and are looking for something to make the tumor disappear, then No nutritional therapy does not work. If you are looking for something that will prevent the cancer from spreading and/or saving the life of a patient, then Yes, it does. A tumor is normally made up 10% cancer cells and the other 90% made from body tissue, so its common for the body not to attack it which is why you can rid yourself of cancer and stop its spread but still have a tumor for many years. Dr Binzel suggests if the tumor is easily accessible its normally ok to have it removed, but if its remote and not causing the patient any problem then he prefers to leave it alone.

The medical profession needs to realise they have been treating the wrong thing. They have been treating the symptom rather than the cause. They need to realise that as long as they continue to treat just the tumor alone they are going to get the same poor results they always have. We are just scratching the surface of our understanding of nutritional therapy, and over the last 30 years we have been able to see that nutritional therapy works in its treatment of cancer.

A word from Philip Binzel............

.....After all is said and done, the true measurement of a good physician is not necessarily how much he knows. It is instead, how willing he is to search for, find and use whatever forms of treatment, which in his opinion, will give his patients the very best chance to remain ALIVE AND WELL.

Posted 1/27/2010 10:44:00 AM

January 25, 2010

Chlorella Superfood Fights Body Fat and Diabetes

(NaturalNews) A superfood known as chlorella has caught on like wildfire in the United Kingdom, and studies continue to emerge linking the algae to improvement in symptoms of people with everything from diabetes and high blood pressure to digestive or immune problems.

Chlorella is a single-celled algae that naturally occurs in freshwater rivers and ponds in East Asia, tinting those bodies of water green. It is gathered from these natural sources, dried, crushed into a powder, and then packed into tablet form for sale as a dietary supplement. It has twice the protein density of spinach, 38 times that of soy beans and 55 times that of rice, providing nine essential amino acids along with a number of vitamins and minerals.

The algae has shown effectiveness at improving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome -- a collection of symptoms linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including high fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and central obesity. Studies have found chlorella supplements to reduce blood pressure in 50 percent of hypertension patients, as well as significantly reduce body fat, blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

"It seems that chlorella turns on the genes that control the way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body," said researcher Randall Merchant of Virginia Commonwealth University. "This research shows that chlorella could in theory help correct the problems of metabolic syndrome. It is not a magic bullet, but taking it is one other preventive thing you can do, like exercise or watching your diet."

Other studies have shown that chlorella encourages the growth of "good bacteria," absorbs toxins from the intestines, improves digestion, and eases the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia. Chlorella supporters claim that it also increases energy levels and fights depression.

After studies showed that chlorella boosts the immune system, preventing secondary infections in people with brain tumors, some British doctors have started using it to complement cancer treatments.

Because chlorella is high in vitamin K1, it can interfere with the effects of blood thinning medications.

Sources for this story include: www.telegraph.co.uk.

Posted 1/25/2010 12:27:00 PM

January 7, 2010

Common Pain Medication Accelerates Growth of Cancer Tumors

(NaturalNews) Two recent studies analyzing the side effects of morphine have revealed that the chronic pain drug and other opiate-based pain medications contribute to the growth and spread of cancer cells. Dr. Patrick Singleton, Ph.D., author of the studies and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center, emphasized that the discovery could change the way cancer patients are treated for pain.

Morphine is a highly potent, highly addictive opiate analgesic that works by crossing the protective blood-brain barrier to get to the central nervous system where it alleviates a person's pain symptoms. Laboratory studies have revealed that a side effect to relieving pain is the prompting of cancer cells to replicate and proliferate throughout the body. Morphine also obstructs the body's immune response by decreasing the barrier function that protects the body from foreign invaders.

The late pharmacologist Leon Goldberg of the University of Chicago developed a solution drug called methylnaltrexone (MNTX) in the 1980s that blocks the negative side effects of morphine while preserving its pain relieving capabilities. Current research indicates that MNTX works in some way to preserve the "mu" opiate receptor functionality which blocks tumor growth. Morphine alone disrupts the mu receptor, instigating the spread of cancer.

If confirmed clinically, study authors believe the many findings concerning morphine and opiate-related cancer proliferation will significantly alter how morphine is used in cancer patients.

The inherent dangers of morphine and other opiate drugs was not mentioned in the studies. Even if the mechanism that encourages cancer growth can somehow be disabled, morphine is still an incredibly powerful, addictive drug that if misused even slightly can cause serious injury or death. Withdrawal symptoms from discontinuing its use can be difficult as is the detoxification period following its usage.

During the time when morphine is administered, the patient's brain slows or halts it production of endorphins which are no longer needed to establish well-being and happiness. When the drug ceases to be administered, severe depression can occur as the patient's brain needs time to readjust endorphin levels back to the proper amount.

No mention was made in the studies about any alternative methods of preventing and treating cancer. The use of harsh treatments like chemotherapy and radiation cause severe pain in which a person needs harsh painkillers in order to function somewhat normally. Alternative approaches that avoid harsh procedures and dangerous drugs should be considered as viable options.

Posted 1/7/2010 9:18:00 AM

January 6, 2010

Preparing Yourself for the Flu Season Naturally

Each winter the influenza virus wreaks havoc on our ability to work and play. Symptoms of the flu include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, runny nose, cough and stomach symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Sometimes a flu virus can come on slowly or it can hit suddenly without much notice. Each year this leads people to wonder how they can prevent themselves and their family from getting the flu. Naturopathic prevention and treatment of the flu virus includes vitamins and minerals, botanical medicine and lifestyle recommendations.

Vitamins and Minerals:

Vitamin C- Vitamin C can greatly enhance the immune system’s ability to fight infections of many kinds. In controlled trials Vitamin C has been shown to aid in the prevention of influenza, as well as shortening the duration and reducing the severity of infections already contracted.
Zinc- Zinc plays an important role in maintaining healthy immune function. Low levels of zinc are associated with a decrease in T cell function, a vital white blood cell that helps fight infections.
Vitamin A- Vitamin A is also associated with T cell function, making it a vital component of a healthy immune system. Vitamin A maintains the integrity of mucus membranes, which are at the front line of our defenses against viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.

Botanical Medicine:

Elderberry- Research demonstrates that elderberry extract has particular immune-modulating and antioxidant properties that neutralize the activity of viruses so they can no longer enter the cell and replicate. The berries also contain vitamins A and C, and the flavonoids quercetin, anthocyanin and rutin, all of which boost immune function.
Larch arbinogalactans- Larch arabinogalactans are polysaccharides derived from the wood of the Western larch tree. These polysaccharides stimulate the immune system to fend off infections. Larch arabinogalactans have been studied and shown effective in adults, as well as children, which makes it a great choice for keeping the whole family healthy through the flu season.
Echinacea- Echinacea also has the immune stimulating polysaccharides that give it an important role in naturopathic antiviral treatments. These polysaccharides naturally enhance the body’s resistance to infection.

Lifestyle tips for the prevention and treatment of the flu:

Sleep- Maintaining a balanced sleep routine is one way to keep our immune system healthy. Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night to rejuvenate for the next day. Consistent inadequate sleep lowers the body’s defenses needed for fighting viral infections.
Stress- While stress is a part of everyday life; excessive stress can decrease immune function and make it easier to come down with the flu. Establishing stress management techniques like deep breathing, exercise, yoga or meditation can help ensure that every day stress won’t leave you vulnerable to the flu.
Diet- A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and quality proteins is a foundation for a healthy immune system. Studies have shown that eating a sugary snack or meal can depress the immune system for several hours, creating a window of time during which it is easier to get the flu. Avoiding excessive sugar can keep the immune system working at the level needed to fend off viral infections, like the flu.

Most over-the-counter medications only treat the symptoms of the cold or flu virus. Naturopathic treatments include nutritional supplementation, lifestyle recommendations and immune-stimulating and antiviral botanicals that can support the body’s natural defenses. Talk to your naturopathic doctor today about the best choices to keep you and your family healthy through flu season.

Posted 1/6/2010 9:40:00 AM

January 6, 2010

Find a Naturopath physician near you!

http://www.naturopathic.org/

Posted 1/6/2010 9:31:00 AM

December 29, 2009

Avoid These 7 Foods and You're Off To A Healthier New Year

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Acidity -- a prominent characteristic of tomatoes -- causes BPA to leach into your food.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of books on sustainable farming

Cattle were designed to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. A recent comprehensive study found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group

Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize -- and migrate into your popcorn.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany

Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, codirector of the Cornucopia Institute

If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides with Parkinson's disease.

Sources:

Yahoo Shine November 24, 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is one of the best “foods to avoid” lists I’ve seen come out of the mainstream media. It is very rare when this happens, but I agree with every food on this list.
The reality is that most food nowadays is far from pure. Pesticide residues have been detected in 50 percent to 95 percent of all commercially grown U.S. foods, and that is only one type of toxin.

Babies are actually born toxic due to the toxic load of their mothers, some of which comes from dietary contaminants and food additives. One study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that blood samples from newborns contained an average of 287 toxins, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, and Teflon chemicals!

The list above is a great starting point to cleaning up your diet, but focusing on organically grown, biodynamic whole foods is really the key to success here.

I want to expand on some of the toxic foods mentioned above, as well as add a few more to the list, so you can significantly reduce your exposure to toxins in the foods you eat.

Why Fresh is Better Than Canned

Many leading brands of canned foods contain BPA -- a toxic chemical linked to reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems.

According to Consumer Reports’ testing, just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed the safety limits for daily BPA exposure for children.

The current US federal guidelines put the daily upper limit of “safe” exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. You should know, however, that even low-level exposure to BPA can be hazardous to your health, and Consumer Reports’ testing found that eating popular canned foods may expose you to excessive amounts of BPA:

Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to as much as 191 ppb

Progresso Vegetable Soup had BPA levels ranging from 67 to 134 ppb

Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup had BPA levels ranging from 54.5 to 102 ppb

So, ideally avoid canned foods entirely and stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, or switch over to brands that use glass containers instead.

Grass-Fed is the Healthy Choice for Beef

Grass-fed beef is vastly superior to grain-fed beef, and in fact it’s the clear beef of choice you should be eating. It is far more important to choose grass-fed than to choose organic, as most grass-fed beef are also organic

Not only is it raised in a more sustainable way for the environment and a more humane way for the animal, but it’s the superior choice for your health.

Grass-fed beef, for instance, is lower in fat than regular beef and, more importantly, contains higher amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid. Grass-fed animals have from three to five times more CLA than grain-fed animals.

CLA has been making headlines for its extreme health benefits, which include:

Fighting cancer and diabetes

Helping you lose weight

Increasing your metabolic rate, a positive benefit for promoting normal thyroid function

Helping you maintain normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Enhancing your immune system

Keep in mind that grass-fed meat is almost always preferable to certified organic meat also because most organic beef is fed organic corn, which is what causes the myriad of health problems associated with eating beef. If you can find organic, grass-fed meat, that would be ideal.

What You Need to Know About Milk

I strongly recommend you avoid milk that has the added growth hormone rBGH.

Samuel Epstein, MD, a scientist at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, is one of the top experts on cancer prevention, and he has been speaking out against rBGH in milk, the so-called “crack for cows,” for years.

For starters, Dr. Epstein points out that rBGH milk is “supercharged with high levels of a natural growth factor (IGF-1), excess levels of which have been incriminated as major causes of breast, colon, and prostate cancers.”

But that’s not all.

"This milk is qualitatively and quantitatively different from natural milk," states Dr. Epstein. "In addition to the issue of increased IGF-1 levels, these differences include:

Contamination of milk by the GM hormone rBGH

Contamination by pus and antibiotics resulting from the high incidence of mastitis in rBGH-injected cows

Contamination with illegal antibiotics and drugs used to treat mastitis and other rBGH-induced disease

Increased concentration of the thyroid hormone enzyme thyroxin-5'-monodeiodinase

Increased concentration of long-chain and decreased concentration of short-chain fatty acids

A reduction in levels of the milk protein casein."

You very well may be drinking rBGH milk and not know it, as no labels are required. This is despite the fact that nearly every American wants it labeled, but the government, as usual, bowed to industry lobbyists and, amazingly, does not require this on the label.

However, as increasing numbers of people and dairies choose to avoid rBGH, you can find labels that say “rBGH-free” or a similar variation. Organic milk is also rBGH-free.

This is certainly preferable to milk that contains this dangerous hormone … but I still don’t recommend drinking any milk, organic or otherwise, that is pasteurized.

You can avoid both the risks of rBGH and pasteurization by only drinking raw milk that comes from a small farmer you know and trust. This is the only way to drink milk if you’re interested in protecting your health.

The Most Important Foods to Buy Organic

Most fruits and vegetables contain unacceptable and unsafe levels of pesticides, so it’s a wise choice to buy organic produce as often as you can.

However, if you need to pick and choose which foods to buy organic, the most important foods to buy organic are animal products -- not produce. This is because animal foods, which are raised on pesticide-laced feed, tend to have higher concentrations of pesticides.

Non-organic meats have up to five times more pesticides than non-organic vegetables.

Non-organic butter can have up to 20 times as many pesticides as non-organic vegetables.

So when prioritizing your purchases, look for organic meats, eggs and dairy products before anything else.

There is one exception to this rule, and that is you may be better off choosing fresh local foods over organic foods. Often, locally grown foods are raised according to organic standards at a more affordable price.

Is Farmed Salmon the Only Seafood to Avoid?

Farmed salmon is among the worst seafood choices out there, as numerous studies show the salmon contain toxins and cancer-causing pollutants. Farmed salmon typically have at least 10 times more cancer-causing persistent organic pollutants than their wild counterparts.

That said, I do not agree that farmed salmon is the only fish you need to stay away from.

A recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey detected mercury in every fish sampled from nearly 300 U.S. streams. Among them, 27 percent contained mercury at levels that equaled or exceeded the U.S. EPA’s criterion for the protection of human health, and more than two-thirds exceeded mercury safety levels for fish-eating mammals like mink and otters.

Therefore, I do not recommend eating any fish -- whether farm-raised or from an ocean, lake, river or stream -- unless you have lab results in your hand that can attest to its purity.

There are still some safe areas out there, such as in certain pristine waters in Alaska, but it will take some searching on your end to seek them out. The ONLY safe fish I have discovered so far is Vital Choice wild red salmon, which remains the only source of fish I’ll eat.

Eating smaller fish, like anchovies and sardines, is also an option, as their small size makes them far less likely to be contaminated.

An important point to remember if you’re not eating fish is that your body still has a requirement for omega-3 fats. Fortunately, you can easily meet your omega-3 needs by taking a high-quality krill oil supplement, instead of risking your health by eating contaminated fish.

Another Food to Avoid: Unfermented Soy

This one did not make the above list, but it’s one I would definitely add.

Any soy that is unfermented -- soy milk, tofu, soybean oil, soy burgers, and all the other processed soy products out there all belong to this category -- is not a health food and in fact is not a food I would advise eating at all. This is true whether it is “organic” or not.

Soy infant formula is also on this list and is one of the absolute worst foods you can give your baby.

Unfermented soy products have been linked to everything from reproductive disorders and infertility to cancer and heart disease.

Further, unfermented soy contains isoflavones that are clearly associated with reduced thyroid function. Eating unfermented soy products is likely the single largest cause of hypothyroidism in women.

Another major problem with unfermented soy is that it contains natural toxins known as “antinutrients.” This includes a large quantity of inhibitors that deter your enzymes needed for protein digestion.

While a small amount of these antinutrients would likely not be a problem, the amount of soy that many Americans are now eating (and drinking in the form of soy milk) is quite significant.

The result of consuming too many of soy’s antinutrients is extensive gastric distress and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake, which can result in pancreatic impairment and cancer.

For more details on soy foods, including the fermented varieties that can actually be healthy, please read Why This Type of Soy is Better.

Guidelines for Healthy Food

Whatever food you’re looking to eat, whether imported organic or locally grown, from either your local supermarket or a farmer’s market, here are the signs of a high-quality, healthy food:

It’s grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)

It’s not genetically modified

It contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs

It does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives

It is fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)

It did not come from a factory farm

It is grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)

It is grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)

If the food meets these criteria, it is likely a good choice. Most often, the best place to find these foods is from a sustainable agricultural group in your area. You can also review my free nutrition plan to get started on a healthy eating program today.

Posted 12/29/2009 12:08:00 PM

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