Monday, September 30, 2013

Food Babe TV: Are You Eating This Ingredient Banned All Over The World?

Are You Eating This Ingredient Banned All Over The World?

By Food Babe

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Are you eating this ingredient banned all over the world? Find out on the next episode of Food Babe TV right here:

Watch Now:

Azodicarbonamide 101

Azodicarbonamide is a yellow orangish powder, more commonly used commercially in the creation of foamed plastics – like yoga mats, shoe soles, floor mats and window gaskets.
The FDA allows food companies to use azodicarbonamide as a flour bleaching agent and dough conditioner in any food product giving it a status of GRAS or “Generally Regarded As Safe”.
But, the FDA doesn’t even keep track of the companies who use azodicarbionamide as an ingredient. The lack of information leads the FDA to not update or include an toxicity information about this ingredient in its EAFUS or “Everything Added to Food in the United States” database.
When a truck carrying azodicarbonamide overturned on a Chicago highway in 2001, it prompted city officials to issue the highest hazardous materials alert and evacuate people within a half mile radius! Many of the people on the scene complained of burning eyes and skin irritation as a result. (Source: Pandora’s Lunchbox by Melanie Warner)
The U.K. has recognized azodicarbonamide as a potential cause of asthma if inhaled, and advises against its use in people who have sensitivity to food dye allergies and other common allergies in food, because it can exacerbate the symptoms.
The World Health Organization (WHO) studied azodicarbonamide, and also linked it to asthma and other allergic reactions.
When azodicarbonamide partially degrades with the heat of processing, it forms trace amounts of semicarbazide, which shows carcinogenicity that can result in tumors over time.
The United States is one of the only countries in the world that still allows this ingredient in our food supply. It is banned as a food additive in the U.K., Europe, and Australia, and if you get caught using it in Singapore you can get up to 15 years in prison and be fined $450,000. I’d like to see the head of the FDA put in jail for allowing it, wouldn’t you?

Popular Products That Contain Azodicarbonamide

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Harvard Researchers Address Obesity and Toxic Food

September 26, 2013 | 34,314 views

Visit the Mercola Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

A staggering two-thirds of Americans are now overweight, and according to the American Heart Association,¹ five percent of American children can now be considered “severely obese,” which puts their health at grave risk.
One in four Americans are either diabetic or pre-diabetic, and an estimated 110,000 Americans die as a result of obesity-related ailments each year. This includes cancer, about one-third of which are directly related to obesity.
Carb-rich processed foods, along with rarely ever fasting, are primary drivers of these statistics, and while many blame Americans’ overindulgence of processed junk foods on lack of self control, scientists are now starting to reveal the truly addictive nature of such foods.
The video above features Huffington Post’s Editorial Director Meredith Melnick and a panel of experts in nutrition, public health, and obesity. In it, they discuss the effects that our toxic food environment have on weight. The video also includes clips from the four-part HBO documentary series,² Weight of the Nation.
As reported in the featured article:³
“Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. People who are obese may also face social and professional discrimination, limited mobility and elevated rates of depression.
In June of this year, the American Medical Association (AMA) classified obesity as a disease for the first time -- and what a complicated disease it is. At the time of the resolution, the organization wrote:
“The suggestion that obesity is not a disease but rather a consequence of a chosen lifestyle exemplified by overeating and/or inactivity is equivalent to suggesting that lung cancer is not a disease because it was brought about by individual choice to smoke cigarettes.”
It is this gray area -- "the suggestion of the chosen lifestyle" -- that we joined together to discuss.

Obesity—A Disease, or the Outcome of Poor Lifestyle Choices?

As the article mentions, the conventional view has been that obesity is either the result of “bad genetics” or poor lifestyle choices combined with a certain amount of laziness or lack of willpower.

continue to ...Harvard Researchers Address Obesity and Toxic Food

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Real Salt, Celtic Salt and Himalayan Salt | GreenMedInfo | Blog Entry

Real Salt, Celtic Salt and Himalayan Salt

This is what real salt looks like—we all know what regular white salt looks like—and we mistakenly think it is real salt when it is not. The fact is that refined white salt, such as commercial table salt is bad, very bad stuff. Unrefined natural salt on the other hand is good, very good stuff providing many health benefits.
Unrefined sea salt is healthy. The blood-pressure-raising effect of table salt can be due to its high content of sodium with not enough magnesium to balance it. This has a magnesium-lowering effect that can constrict the arteries and raise blood pressure. Real salt (of various kinds) contains plenty ofmagnesium and other important minerals, which is why it usually does not affect blood pressure in a negative way.[1]
Sodium is an essential nutrient required by the body for maintaining levels of fluids and for providing channels for nerve signaling. Some sodium is needed in your body to regulate fluids and blood pressure, and to keep muscles and nerves running smoothly.
Without appropriate amounts of sodium, your body may have a difficult time cooling down after intense exercise or activity. When the body is hot, you sweat. If you do not have enough sodium, your body may not sweat as much and you may then become overheated. This could result in a stroke or exhaustion as well as dehydration.
Sodium is an energy carrier. It is also responsible for sending messages from the brain to muscles through the nervous system so that muscles move on command. When you want to move your arm or contract any muscle in your body, your brain sends a message to a sodium molecule that passes it to a potassium molecule and then back to a sodium molecule etc., etc., until it gets to its final destination and the muscle contracts. This is known as the sodium-potassium ion exchange. Therefore, without sodium, you would never be able to move any part of your body.

continue to original post Real Salt, Celtic Salt and Himalayan Salt | GreenMedInfo | Blog Entry

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The back pain most surgeons won't find - CNN.com

The back pain most surgeons won't find

By Dr. Nick Shamie, Special to CNN

updated 7:35 AM EDT, Wed September 18, 2013

The sacroliac, or SI, joint, bears and transfers weight and movement from your upper body to your legs.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Studies show 20 to 25% of all chronic lower back pain comes from the sacroliac joint
Most spine surgeons aren't trained to look at this joint and may miss it in a patient
Finding out if the SI joint is the source of pain is usually pretty easy, Dr. Nick Shamie says

Editor's note: Dr. Nick Shamie is Chief of Orthopaedic Spine Surgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and is a professor of orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery at UCLA School of Medicine. He is also President of the American College of Spine Surgery.

(CNN) -- Tom wasn't accustomed to not knowing the right answer. A business executive in his 50s, he had been suffering from agonizing back pain for nearly two years, and all his doctors could tell him was that they couldn't find the cause or an appropriate treatment.

So Tom did what most people wouldn't -- he started researching to find a doctor anywhere in the world who could help him.

The problem, as it turned out, was that Tom's doctors were looking at his spine for the source of his pain, and that's not where it was coming from. He was suffering from sacroiliac joint dysfunction, the deterioration of the two joints on the side of the lower spine that connect it to the pelvis.

Studies have found that 20 to 25% of all chronic lower back pain comes not from the spine but from the sacroliac, or SI, joint, which bears and transfers weight and movement from your upper body to your legs. When the ligaments wear out and the SI joint becomes unstable, it can generate a similar kind of sharp back pain -- or sciatica-like pain down your leg -- as a ruptured disc.

continue to original post The back pain most surgeons won't find - CNN.com

Monday, September 16, 2013

5 Things Optimists Do Differently

BY LIANNE MARTHA LAROYA IN COMMUNICATION | 546 SHARES

Optimists are known to be healthier, happier and more successful people than their negative counterparts. The basic reason for this is that their emotions help them to think positively, and they have more encouragement and motivation to move forward and deal with their daily struggles.

These optimists don’t let a single mess or a small setback ruin their day.

Being an optimist sounds ideal, don’t you think? Is it possible for you to join the circle of optimists all over the world?

Sure, it is! You’re given the chance to learn how to be one–optimism is not an inborn trait, after all. You can start by knowing how to do these 5 things differently.

1. Optimists know that you don’t necessarily need to achieve something in order to be truly happy.

Happiness comes from within. It’s a conscious decision that you need to make, whether or not things are going the way you want them to.

If you provide a condition to your happiness, like you’ll only be happy if you’re able to achieve something, then what happens if that condition isn’t met?

Success isn’t a guaranteed factor. If you equate happiness with success, you may be happy, but this happiness stops the minute you start failing.

Give yourself the power to be committed to being happy by adapting a grateful outlook in life.

2. They avoid negative people and refrain from encountering bad vibes.

Optimists are well aware that being negative and being positive are both contagious. So, for them to create an optimistic environment, they stay away from grouchy people who always complain.

Instead, they nourish relationships with emotionally supportive and equally optimistic people. They know that life is too short to spend with people who don’t really value them, so they choose to spend it with people who do realize their worth.

3. Optimists respect themselves and their time.

In a way, optimistic people are like wild and brave souls–they are confident that they don’t need the approval of anyone else in order to live their lives. Positive people know that people will always judge them with whatever they do, so why bother pleasing people when it’s obvious that you can never please everyone every single time?

Optimists even have the courage and the confidence to say no to things that don’t really matter to them. They’re not pressured into doing something that they don’t really like, and they’re free to pursue their passion accordingly.

4. Optimists are resourceful people.

Successful entrepreneurs and optimists are both innovative and creative individuals. They know that they’re never going to have everything that they need, so they make do with what they have instead.

- Steve Jobs didn’t wallow in fear when he didn’t have enough money to fund his startup: he sold his only means of transportation, his VW Microbus, to finance it.

- Walt Disney didn’t go into severe depression when he was told that Mickey Mouse is a “giant mouse on the screen that would terrify women”; he pushed through and look at how famous and well-loved Mickey is today.

- Donald Trump was bankrupt four times (in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009) but his resourcefulness and innovation gave him a $2.7 billion net worth today.

continue to original post 5 Things Optimists Do Differently

Friday, September 13, 2013

Pepsi Products Still Contain Carcinogenic Caramel Coloring

Pepsi Outside California Still Has Chemical Linked to Cancer: Report

July 20, 2013 | 41,750 views

By Dr. Mercola

In 1986, California passed a ballot initiative called Proposition 65, which required consumer products with potential cancer-causing ingredients to bear warning labels.
Rather than label their products sold in California as likely carcinogenic, most companies reformulated their product ingredients so as to avoid warning labels altogether, and most did this on a national scale, not just in California, to avoid carrying a separate inventory of products.
After it was revealed that a common additive known as “caramel coloring” on labels, or 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) scientifically, used in many sodas may cause cancer, soda bigwigs Coke and Pepsi announced that they would reformulate their caramel coloring in order to avoid adding a cancer warning label to their products in California.

But did they really?

Pepsi Products Outside of California Still Contain Carcinogenic Caramel Coloring

It’s been more than a year since Coke and Pepsi declared they would be reformulating their products to remove 4-MI in their caramel coloring.
This artificial brown color is made by reacting corn sugar with ammonia and sulfites under high pressures and at high temperatures. This produces the chemicals 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole, which have been found to cause lung, liver and thyroid cancer in lab rats and mice.
However, when the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) tested samples of Coke and Pepsi products from California and other states for 4-MI, they found marked discrepancies in the Pepsi products:
“If you live in California, Coke and Pepsi products are made without 4-MI, a chemical known to cause cancer. But in testing of cola products from ten states, CEH found high levels of 4-MI in ALL Pepsi cola products, while 9 out of ten Coke products were found without 4-MI problems.”¹
Pepsi responded to CEH’s findings by stating they plan to remove the chemical for the rest of the US by February 2014 and are also planning to remove the chemical globally. Still, CEH’s executive director called Pepsi’s delay “inexplicable” and urged the company to “take swift action” to provide the same safer product that’s being sold in California to all Americans.²

It’s Not Unusual for Food Manufacturers to Use Toxic Chemicals in Markets Where They Can Get Away with It…

Continue to original post Pepsi Products Still Contain Carcinogenic Caramel Coloring

My First Time Relaxing---and Getting Sweaty---in an Infrared Sauna | Fit Bottomed Girls

My First Time Relaxing—and Getting Sweaty—in an Infrared Sauna

5 CommentsMarch 25, 2013 By: Jenn

I’m pretty much a sucker for anything that has “spa” in the title. Massages, facial treatments, acupuncture…if it’s supposed to be relaxing and good for you, sign me up. So when I had the chance to try an infrared sauna therapy session at Sunlight Day Spa—which is a part of the company Sunlighten that just happens to be headquartered within a 15-minute drive of my home—well, I had to. Right? Right.

Part showroom, part spa, I was ready to go inside and get sweaty and relaxed.

The lobby? Way chill and nice. In addition to the infrared spa treatments, this place also offers massages and other more traditional spa offerings.

Sunlighten makes a variety of infrared saunas that are said to do everything from help you detox to burn calories to beat stress, lower blood pressure and even promote wound healing and cell health. Now, I’m a very fair-skinned person, so hot sunny places? Well, we don’t always get along unless there are copious amounts of sunscreen or shade around. But I was assured that infrared saunas—while plenty hot (100 to 130 degrees)—don’t hit your skin with ultraviolet rays, so you’re safe from sunburn and other damage.

After a quick change into a robe in the spa’s locker room, I got myself some water and settled into my own personal infrared sauna that was set apart from the rest of the sauna with a full curtain. (This picture is from the showroom—I didn’t want to be a creeper and start snapping photos in a spa where other people are walking around in robes, but you can kind of get the idea. In the spa, all the lights were low, and it was a much more zen-like experience.)

Unfortunately, the touchscreen panel in my sauna wasn’t working, so I couldn’t track the temperature or track my heart rate during my session. (One of the cool features—you can normally track how many calories you’re burning via a heart-rate chest strap. The company says you can expect up to a 600-calorie burn in a session because your body is working harder in the heat.)

continue to original post… My First Time Relaxing---and Getting Sweaty---in an Infrared Sauna | Fit Bottomed Girls

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Fasting tips for the Fast Metabolism Diet

The smart way to fast on the Fast Metabolism Diet

September 6th, 2013

The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is coming up Sept. 13-14, which has prompted questions about fasting from some of our readers (the holiday includes a 26-hour fast). But religious holidays aren’t the only time you might need to fast. Certain medical tests and surgeries also require a period of fasting. Any kind of fasting can be tough on your metabolism, but here’s how to meet your fasting obligation, while minimizing the impact on your metabolism.

No matter why you’ll be fasting, you want your final evening meal to be full of high-quality foods that stick with you, stabilize your blood sugar as much as possible, and calm your hormones.

Remember when fasting, do not alert your body to store fat by stressing about it. You want to remain calm and find peace in the purpose of your fast. The meaning of it can be sacred or medically necessary. And there’s no need to gorge yourself before a fast. It will stretch your stomach and put you into storage mode.

I like to think about the powers of 3 in the body. You can go without water for about 3 days, without food for about 3 weeks, without air for about 3 minutes and survive in extreme conditions for approximately 3 hours. For a short fast, your body will be perfectly fine!

Here are some fasting tips you can use.

The night before…

continue to original post Fasting tips for the Fast Metabolism Diet

Far Infrared Sauna Therapy VS. Near Infrared

FAR INFRARED SAUNA THERAPY VS. NEAR INFRARED

Far Infrared Radiant (FIR) refers to Radiant heat utilizing far infrared energy. Radiant heat basically means heating a specific item directly, in this application; the human body. Warming the human body with radiant heat most efficiently is accomplished using large, organic nano-carbon™ heater panels which broadcast ‘sunlight’ at the exact frequency at which the human body emits and absorbs maximum radiant energy: 9.4 microns.

The far infrared energy bandwidth ranges from 4 microns – 1000 microns.

continue to original post http://rockymountainsaunas.com/infrared-sauna-therapy-vs-infrared-2/