I love this book review and the 10 tips for teaching kids to eat healthy food.  You can read the original post at: On Hundred Days of Real Food 

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10 great takeaways (the “French Food Rules”) from the book French Kids Eat Everything:

1. Parents: You are in charge of your children’s food education.
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   Apparently the French think us Americans cram our schedules so full with activities (like sports, art, music, dance, etc.) that it leaves little time to teach our children “some of the most basic, important things they need to know, like the proper way to prepare, cook, and eat healthy food.” You have to admit it’s hard to argue with that criticism. And I just love the analogy the author uses when she says, “French parents think about healthy eating habits the way we think about toilet training, or reading.” If your child had trouble learning to read or using the potty would you just give up? Same should go for eating a variety of healthy foods…I know, they are right and it stings.
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2. Avoid emotional eating. Food is not a pacifier, a distraction, a toy, a bribe, a reward, or a substitute for discipline.
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   I feel like we are so far down this rabbit hole it might be hard to get out, but let’s face it they have a good point here! Food is for nourishment, hunger, and nutrition…not for being a good listener.
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3. Parents schedule meals and menus. Kids eat what adults eat: no substitutes and no short-order cooking.
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   If this were a reality for everyone it would certainly make life a lot easier!
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4. Food is social. Eat family meals together at the table, with no distractions.
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   How you eat can be as important as what you eat.
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5. Eat vegetables of all colors of the rainbow. Don’t eat the same main dish more than once per week.
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   I agree that variety is extremely important, but I am personally a little stumped when it comes to the second half of this rule. We love leftovers at our house and feel they are such a time saver…but that certainly means eating the same main dish more than once, or in some cases, more than twice per week!
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6. For picky eaters: You don’t have to like it, but you do have totaste it.
   For fussy eaters: You don’t have to like it, but you do have to eatit.
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   When considering these statements it’s also VERY important to remember that “you’re not going to convince the kids to love food by being too strict with them. It has to be enjoyable. Not necessarily loads of fun, but simply pleasurable.” This takes us back to that “gentle persistence” I mentioned above.
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7. Limit snacks, ideally one per day (two maximum), and not within one hour of meals.
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   Now, I know out of all the rules on this list that “no more constant snacking” will likely cause the most uproar. But according to the author it’s okay to feel hungry in-between meals and guess what…your kids might eat a better dinner if they are actually hungry!
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8. Take your time, for both cooking and eating. Slow food is happy food.
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   “North Americans associate food most with health and least with pleasure. The French are at the opposite extreme: they are the most pleasure-oriented and the least health-oriented about food.” And ironically enough “20 percent of kids in the United States are obese, but only 3 percent in France.” Now if that doesn’t send a message, I don’t know what does.
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9. Eat mostly real, homemade food, and save treats for special occasions. (Hint: Anything processed is not “real” food.)
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   See…I am not the only one preaching this statement!  But “so much of what French people eat is, by default, ‘real food‘” so I’d have to say they don’t exactly face the same challenges we do when it comes to encountering junk food on almost every corner. The French do have an admirable approach though when it comes to the processed, junk food their kids may want to eat on occasion. They do not police their children’s food intake (or ban all junk food), but instead attempt to “train their children to eat a balanced diet and to realize how much healthier they feel if they eat mostly ‘real food.’” I’ve always said that if my daughters only avoid processed food “because mommy said so” then it’s not going to get us very far.
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10. (The Golden Rule) Eating is joyful, not stressful. Treat the food rules as habits or routines rather than strict regulations; it’s fine to relax them once in a while.
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    I couldn’t agree more with the importance of this rule, but striking the perfect balance between “good nutrition” and “relaxing the rules” is no easy task. And maybe that’s because most American children are faced with processed, junk food on a regular basis (at birthday parties, friend’s houses, church events, soccer practice, school celebrations, etc.). As I mentioned above, our society is (unfortunately) not exactly working together on these issues like they are in France. Regardless though, I agree it is not “healthy” to constantly be stressed out about the food you eat.

In addition to this list of rules there were so many other startling facts and insightful statements that I took away from this book. I wish I could share them all here, but since that’s not a very practical idea I will instead just highly recommend that everyone go out and read the book yourselves! I promise you won’t regret it…not to mention there are a handful of kid-friendly recipes in the back.

Colostrum is the pre-milk fluid produced by female mammals in the mammary glands just before they give birth. While it is technically not milk at all, colostrums is often called “first milk” as it is obtained in the first milking after birth. Birth is the triggering even that ceases colostrum’s production in the mother and signals the body for the milk to come in or for the mammal “to freshen.”

Colostrum is the fluid held in the mammary tissue until either the:

1. Newborn nurses
2. Mother reabsorbs the nutrients or
3. The Colostrum is harvested

After the first milking, the fluid begins to change into milk, containing less colostrum and more milk as time passes. This transitional period lasts 2-3 days. This fluid is referred to as transitional milk. In all other mammals other than humans, colostrum is crucial to the survival of the newborn. This is because of the high concentration of immune factors that are transferred through the colostrum. In humans only, some immunofactors are transferred through the placenta. The colostrum is still very important, but if the newborn baby does not receive the colostrum, death is not eminent, as it is in all other mammals.

Timing is also very important. If the calf, foal, puppy, etc. experiences difficulties at birth and is unable to nurse for 12 to 18 hours, it will probably die. This is due to the re-absorption of immune-factors by the mother. It is actually more humane and beneficial for the newborn for the colostrum to be harvested as soon as practical after birth and then bottle-fed to the newborn for the first day of life. This allows the newborn to receive excellent quality colostrum during the critical first 24 hours of life. Unless the colostrum is harvested immediately after birth, the quality is greatly compromised.

All of the nutritional benefits (vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, etc.) of breast milk and colostrum are not really applicable to supplemental forms. Breast milk is the infant’s only food and they may consume several pints a day. The small amount of colostrum in a supplement does not supply adequate amounts of these nutrients for an adult. The focus of colostrum as a supplement is the immunofactors, which are not required in huge amounts to stimulate and support the immune system.

History of Colostrum

Since the beginning of time, man has observed that newborns fare better, live longer, and have fewer illnesses if they were able to obtain their mother’s first milk. In America, the Amish celebrated the beginning of a new life when a calf was born. After the calf’s first feeding, they harvested the colostrum (first milk) and prepared a pudding from it for the whole family to enjoy. The Amish noted for decades the health benefits of such a ritual. It appears that the ritual was eventually lost or replaced.

In India, where cows are sacred, colostrum is still delivered to the doorstep along with the normal milk delivery. When illness strikes a household, colostrum is often the first medication used by the family.

The way we view life and health has changed dramatically over the last hundred years. So have our lifestyles and our morality. In America, and more recently in other parts of the world, we have become a quick-fix, disposable society. Convenience and self-indulgence have become a mainstay of our lives.

As our grandparents and parents become older and die, so do many of the traditions that they passed on through generations. We have often chosen to forsake tradition for convenience and self-indulgence. As a society, we are continually looking for the easy way out. This quick fix philosophy has resulted in the gradual erosion of tradition.

Breast Milk: A Perfect Food

In humans as well as other mammals, a newborn’s very first meal of colostrum is of great significance to its health and well-being for the rest of its life. The immune system of the newborn is not fully developed, making it highly susceptible to numerous pathogens, antigens and allergens. Colostrum provided in breast milk contains all the needed immune factors that are essential to activate, regulate and balance the immune system. This is of great significance as the newborn’s own system develops.

Mother’s milk provides the perfectly assigned, individualized nutritional food to promote passive immunity and proper growth and development. As mammals grow, essential glycoproteins in breast milk keep the immune system functional.

Nutritional Support + Immunity

Mother’s milk provides both immunity(passive and active) and nutritional benefits. The lipids, carbohydrates, amino acids and other nutrients provide the baby with ideal nutrition and, therefore, enhance the overall health of the baby. Colostrum provides rich immune factors to sensitive newborns that cannot yet fend for themselves. Peyer’s patches, found throughout the intestinal tract, and groups of immunoactive cells in the bronchial mucosa that destroy allergens, antigens and pathogens, are not yet operative in the newborn.

Colostrum contains antibodies against E. coli, Salmonells, Shigells v. cholera, Bacteriodes fragilis, Streptococcus pneumonia, Bordtella pertussis, Clostridium diphtheria, Streptococcus mutans, clostridium tetani and Candida albicans. Breast feeding was also found to be effective against the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Research shows that both anti-HCV antibody and HCV-ribonucleic acid are present in colostrum.

Babies deprived of breast milk are simply not as healthy as those who are breast-fed. Non-breast fed babies develop eczema, food and upper respiratory allergies and gastrointestinal problems at a much higher rate than breast-fed babies do. Acquired maternal antibodies are also transferred through breast feeding and will protect the baby. If the mother has contracted a disease such as measles, pertussis, or mumps, sometime prior to pregnancy, she has developed antibodies against them making her immune to re-infection. These antibodies are passed on in her breast milk to protect the baby from contracting these conditions while breast feeding. This is a most critical time of growth and development. Breast-fed babies who do contract these conditions later will experience a milder condition with far fewer complications compared to non-breast-fed babies.

Protection from Allergies, Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases

Researchers hypothesize that the natural auto-antibodies in colostrum and milk may contribute to the selection process of physiological development during the early postnatal period in breast-fed infants. This could explain the lower frequency of allergic, inflammatory, autoimmune diseases and lymphomas which are seen in individuals who were breast-fed as infants.

Colostrum Benefits Infants with Diarrhea

Studies report colostrum helps manage infants with chronic diarrhea. In eight children with chronic diarrhea, ranging from nine months to three years of age, E. coli was present in all eight cases. Ascaris lambricoidis in four, and Giardia lambia in one. All eight children were given 20 ml. of fresh human colostrum daily for seven days. In addition, those who had giardiasis received metronidazole treatment, while cases with ascariasis were given antihelminthic therapy. The results indicated that colostrum provided effective antidiarrheal action in some patients with chronic diarrhea of infective origin.

Growth Factors

Studies show the activity of human colostrum in stimulating DNA synthesis was 20 times greater than that of bovine serum. The activity of growth factors in human colostrum was higher than that in human milk or bovine colostrum, and only human colostrum contains two different kinds of growth factors: CAGF, an epidermal growth factor, and CBGF, a platelet differentiation growth factor.

Promotes Development of Infant GI tract

Following birth, the infant gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach and small intestine) undergoes profound growth, changes and functional maturation. These changes are apparently related to the onset of colostrum ingestion, because starved or water-fed newborns showed little changes in the GI tract. This is due to the hormones and growth-promoting peptides, such as insulin, cortisol, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) found at high concentrations in the maternal colostrum.

Human colostrum contains high concentrations of motilin and gastrin (hormones that stimulate the flow of gastric juices and cause bile and pancreatic enzyme release). Motilin and gastrin concentrations in human colostrum are the highest compared to human mature milk, cow colostrum and cow mature milk. The difference in motilin concentration is very significant between human milk and cow milk. These components in colostrum can also be used therapeutically for premature infants or newborns with immature or diseased GI tracts.

Breast Milk Linked to Low Cholesterol

Breast-fed babies may be less likely to have elevated cholesterol levels as adults. A study of four-month-olds found differences in the way formula-fed infants produce cholesterol, which is crucial for the brain’s development. Breast milk has six times more cholesterol than formula, and formula-fed babies respond by producing their own. Despite the increased production, formula-fed babies still have 40% less cholesterol in their blood. The formula-fed babies are receiving inadequate cholesterol causing them to produce it. This increased cholesterol production during infancy may have an “imprinting effect” that persists later in life, meaning that formula-fed babies may suffer from higher cholesterol levels as adults.

Lactoferrin

Lactoferrin, a bioactive glycoprotein, is one of the body’s own most powerful immune-defensives. While it is found in breast milk, Lactoferrin is found in tears and in other body fluids located at body openings—the oral and nasal openings—the oral and nasal cavities, GI tract, genitourinary tract and respiratory tract. Lactoferrin is the first line of defense for any opening in the body. It is also found in small quantities in most body fluids such as saliva, tears, nasal secretions, intestinal fluids such as bile and in secondary granules of white blood cells called neutrophils. It is synthesized by mucosal lining (such as in the mouth and intestinal tract) and by neutrophils, and is released by these cells in response to inflammatory stimuli. Very low physiologic serum levels of lactoferrin increase significantly upon infection.

Receptors for lactoferrin have been detected and isolated on activated T- and B-cells, monocytes, intestinal brush border cells, platelets and neoplastic cells.

The benefits of lactoferrin include:

• Binds and transports iron within the body
• Beneficial for iron-deficiency anemia
• Provides unfavorable conditions for growth of certain harmful pathogens which need iron for proliferation
• Promotes intestinal cell growth (enhances nutrient digestion)
• Activates and regulates the immune system
• Produces or stimulates production of antibodies, interleukins, killer cells and other white blood cells
• Enhances phagocytosis, cell adherence and controls release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1,
• IL-6, and TNF-alpha
• Provides unfavorable conditions for growth of certain harmful microorganisms (inhibits binding activity)
• Acts as an antioxidant diminishes the damaging effects of free radicals
• Promotes maturation of immature T- and B-cells
• Controls cellular immune response and inhibits manifestations of autoimmune response in mice
• Helps speed healing of wounds
• May have value for individuals with breast cancer
• Potentially benefits patients with bleeding disorders as a preoperative immune-modulator

Functions and Aspects of Control

Lactoferrin is closely related in structure to the plasma iron transport protein transferrin. The ability of lactoferrin to bind to excess iron ions, prevents the growth of bacterial an viral microorganisms and tumors, as iron is needed for their growth.

Lactoferrin also inhibits viral attack through its ability to strongly bind to the envelope protein. This prevents cell-virus fusion as the binding domain is shielded. Another major function of lactoferrin is its ability to stimulate the release of neutrophil-activating polypeptide interleukin 8. This suggests that lactoferrin may function as an immune-mediator for activating the host defense system. Lactoferrin is implicated in particular in the control of immune functions and cell proliferation.

Researchers examining its involvement in cancer progression report that lactoferrin has a significant effect on natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity against certain cell lines. They also showed that lactoferrin has a normalizing effect by inhibiting cell proliferation by blocking the cell cycle progression.

Many other functions are attributed to lactoferrin. These include antibody synthesis, regulation and control of the production of interleukins, lymphocyte proliferation and complement activation, but the action of these functions is not fully understood. It has been suggested that lactoferrin may contribute to T-cell proliferation. Lactoferrin regulates the iron which at low concentrations is inhibitory to T-cells. Lactoferrin may also have a protective function over structures such as macrophages and lymphocytes.

Lactoferrin and Inflammatory Response

One of the major benefits of lactoferrin is its ability to reduce inflammation through the regulation of inflammatory cytokines such as inteleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa). These are a large group of chemicals largely produced by T-cells. Lactoferrin is a good inducer of IL-6 and TNFa production. Each one acts on a particular group of cells. While they are necessary in certain situations, too much of even a good thing can be damaging.

The problem is that high levels of these substances are seen in individuals with inflammatory autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma, allergies, etc. Overproduction of IL-6 may explain many of the symptoms of these conditions; specifically, in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. IL-6 is produced by the synovial fluids and contributes to inflammation, tissue damage and pain.

Supplemental Lactoferrin

In most colostrum dietary supplements, the lactoferrin content is not sufficient unless additional amounts are added. A newborn calf will ingest a half-liter or more of colostrum at its first meal and will therefore receive an adequate amount of lactoferrin. Most colostrum supplements, even at high doses of up to 2 grams per day, contain less than 2% of the lactoferrin that a newborn receives. It is far better to take the highest quality colostrum obtainable and to be sure that it is supplemented with additional lactoferrin to receive the correct balance.

Lactoferrin works on contact and is therefore best utilized if taken into the oral cavity (mouth) so it can begin working right away. Fortunately, the numerous immune factors found in colostrum and lactoferrin are transferrable from one species to another. This means that humans can benefit from the immune-rich colostrum and lactoferrin from cows. Colostrum from cows is much richer in immune factors than that of humans. Human colostrum contains only 2% IgG (the body’s most important immunoglobulin) while bovine colostrum contains 86% IgG. A variety of colostrum-lactoferrin supplements derived from bovine colostrum are now available for use by adults and children. These can be found in the form of powder, capsules, tablets, chewables, lozenges, liquids, creams, sprays, etc.

Infants and Children

Ideally, women should breast-feed as long as possible. But some women are unable to breast-feed their newborn or cannot breast feed for the entire first year due to mastitis or other reasons. The benefits of colostrum can still be obtained through colostrum supplementation. By supplementing your bottle-fed child with an excellent quality, pure, unadulterated, liquid bovine colostrum, is still possible to obtain many of the immune and growth factors so important for proper development.

If the following regimen is adhered to each time your infant drinks, you will help to ensure proper immunity, brain and gastrointestinal development for your infant. This is an excellent way to supplement the diet for infants that are unable to breast-feed.

Birth to 6 Months: Add 1 drop/day of liquid colostrum in formula, water or vegetable juice. If the infant is in any type of distress, add 1 drop/feeding until distress is gone and then continue 1 drop/day.

6 Months to 1 Year: Add 2 drops/day in formula, water or juice. If the infant is in any type of distress, add 2 drops/feeding until distress is gone and then continue 2 drops/day.

Over 1 Year: Add 3 drops/day for each year of age. If in distress, use 3 drops/feeding for each year of age.

After age two, or when the child is old enough, you can start them on a regimen of colostrum/lactoferrin  lozenges to continue the process. Excellent quality lozenges are available through most fine health food stores. If you can find a product that combines both colostrum and lactoferrin in an oral delivery it will save time and effort while providing the best for your child. A maintenance dose of one lozenge daily should provide adequate protection. At first sign of illness, you may safely increase the intake to 2 to 4 lozenges daily. The liquid may also safely be utilized.

Adults

All mammals build immunity during their lifetime based upon the pathogens they come in contact with. If a mammal grows up in a sheltered environment free of toxins and pathogens, its immunity will be much lower (weaker) than a mammal growing up in close proximity to other mammals and therefore numerous pathogens. Remote tribes all over the world were all but eliminated when explorers came into their camps and accidentally introduced a common form of influenza. Since the tribes had never encountered the flu, they had no immunity to fight it off.

Back to Basics

For years bovine colostrum was used as a folk remedy in Scandinavian countries. This changed in the 1950’s when all the “highly sophisticated, medically-advanced” miracle drugs came into the picture. People chose to ignore older, traditional methods that clearly worked. Colostrum contains many complicated factors which work together. It does not have just one easy-to-describe mode of action, like penicillin.

Current Medical Environment

The prevalence of AIDS, immune disorders such as Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr (chronic infectious mononucleosis, sometimes called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), Fibromyalgia, Candida-related-Complex, Herpes Simplex, and various autoimmune disorders have forced us to learn more about our immune system, our health in general and the effect of negative lifestyles. These immune disorders have caused us to review all the nutritional options. One of these is the use of supplemental colostrum and lactoferrin.

Colostrum was specially designed by nature to:

• Protect
• Activate
• Regulate
• Support our immune system

Protection

Immunoglobulins

Colostrum contains all four of the key immunoglobulins: IgM, IgG, IgA and secretory IgA. These immunoglobulins are equipped with special adaptive sites which are effective at neutralizing a wide range of bacteria, viruses and yeasts. They include antibodies specific to fight pathogenic microorganisms.

Colostrum provides specific antibody reactivity to bacteria, viruses and yeasts. Most infectious diseases enter the body through the mouth or remain localized in mucosal surfaces, primarily the stomach and intestinal tract. We must be able to combat disease-causing organisms where they attack us.

Fortunately, colostrum helps us do that. Most of the colostrum antibodies are believed not to be absorbed and digested but to remain in the intestinal tract after being swallowed where they fight off intruders. It is commonly assumed that the digestive enzymes in the stomach and intestines would break up or digest the immunoglobulin-protein molecules in colostrum when ingested; research has shown, however, that colostrum contains a powerful trypsin inhibitor and a number of protease inhibitors that protect the immune factors from breaking up.

The major benefits of immune factors in colostrum and lactoferrin occur within the mouth, stomach and on the intestinal and bronchial walls, and not as a result of their passage into the tissues. This means if the majority of immune enhancing benefits occur in these locations, colostrum can benefit people of all ages. Added support can make a tremendous difference where the immune system is marginal or below marginal.

Leukocytes (White Blood Cells)

Colostrum contains living white blood cells which protect us from a variety of pathogens. Neutrophils and macrophages are the most prominent cells in colostrum. Lymphocytes are also present, predominantly T-cells, which produce interferon and other protective factors.

Safe Protection

Dozens of scientific papers suggest that colostrum can block or reduce the severity of a wide variety of infections including many which have their initiation in the oral/fecal route. Colostrum is effective against a number of microorganisms including the following bacteria: E. coli (including 0157 strain), Streptococcus pheumonococci, Clostridium difficile toxins A and B, Vibrio cholera, Salmonella, Shigella, Bactericide fragilis, Bordtella pertussis, and the following viruses: Ratavirus, Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV), Coxsackie, Echo and Alphaviruses, Poliomyelitis, Enteric, Hemagglutinating encephalitis, Herpes simplex, and yeasts such as Candida.

Numerous researchers have demonstrated that colostrum has bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal effects against E. coli. Peroxidase, lactoferrin and IgA, all found in colostrum, are capable of creating powerful effects against E. coli. Oligosaccharides found in colostrum have been shown to block attachment of a wide variety of bacteria, especially s. pneumococci, to mucous membranes, thereby aiding in the prevention of respiratory inflammations.

Clostridium bacteria are spore-forming and need no oxygen to live. The proliferation of this bacterium is believed to be predominantly the result of two toxins. Studies have shown that colostrum is effective in neutralizing these two Clostridium difficile toxins. Colostrum is effective against salmonella. Rota hyper-immune colostrum has demonstrated to effectively prevent the outbreak of diarrhea; however, it did not prevent immunological responses to natural rotavirus infection. Humans and animals exposed to Respiratory Syncytial Virus developed protective antibodies against this virus in the IgG and IgA classes. These protective antibodies were found in large quantities in colostrum, particularly those of the IgG class.

Since the 1970s we have known that bovine colostrum is able to destroy Herpes simplex virus-infected cells. Several studies have revealed that colostrum leukocytes proved to be effective in controlling the yeast infection Candida albicans. Researchers in Denmark reported that colostrum tablets proved to be an effective treatment for oral Candida among HIV-infected individuals, given ten times-per-day for ten days.

Colostrum powder in capsule form promotes the growth of bifida bacteria and other healthy flora in the intestinal tract. These beneficial bacteria help maintain a homeostatic environment and help stimulate the musculature of the colon. A healthy intestinal microbial flora population also promotes an improved and comfortable digestive tract and helps avoid gas and bloating. Colostrum promotes a healthy intestinal microflora population, enhances utilization of the nutrients in the foods we eat, and provides protection against enteric pathogens. Therefore, it helps provide a stable, stronger defense against infection by pathogenic organisms, which especially seek a weakened host.

Activation

The oral cavity is loaded with receptor sites which, when activated, alert the entire body through a complex chain reaction of immune system events. Supplementing colostrum, of excellent quality from the first milking, in the mucosal membranes of the mouth triggers the chain reaction to occur throughout the body. This excellent quality colostrum can trigger a response that will reach all aspects of the immune system while colostrum which contains milking past the first milking may be less effective.

The first milking after the cow gives birth contains 2 to 2½ gallons, which is 100% colostrum (of which approximately ½ gallon goes to the newborn calf). The second milking contains only about 20% colostrum. The rest is considered transitional milk. If this, or any other milking, is mixed into the first milking, the delicate balance of colostrum components is destroyed.

Researchers only use first-milk colostrum of excellent quality in their trials so that if we expect to get the same beneficial results, we also need to use only first-milk colostrum. Only a small amount of excellent quality colostrum is needed to activate an immune response.

Regulation

Accessory Factors

Colostrum also contains immune-regulatory factors that enhance immune reaction when it is too low and suppress it when it is too high. Colostrum therefore could be a significant tool in assisting the body in regulating the immune system. This is important for conditions in which the immune system is extremely depressed, as in severe bacterial, viral and yeast infections and in cases where the immune response is generally excessive involving inflammation and destruction (autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS, and allergies).

Lactoferrin

Lactoferrin is the premier immune-regulator. Lactoferrin has powerful regulating effects on the production of inflammatory cytokines. An overproduction of cytokines is commonly seen in many auto-immune conditions such as allergies, asthma, arthritis, lupus and inflammatory bowel disease. Recent research suggests that lactoferrin may be very helpful to regulate this overproduction. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein. Individuals with an adequate intake of iron may not be able to use the iron effectively because they may not have high enough levels of iron-binding protein to facilitate iron transport. Iron deficient individuals experience weakness, headaches, tingling sensations in the hands and feet, brittle nails and lowered resistance to stress and disease.

Proline-Rich-Polypeptides

Colostrum contains a special Proline-Rich-Polypeptide (PRP) that serves as a powerful regulator of the immune system. PRP in colostrum increases the permeability of the skin vessels, which offers a regulatory activity, stimulating or suppressing the immune response. The ability to stimulate or suppress the immune response is highly significant. Suppressing the immune system is necessary to prevent the immune system from attacking the body itself, as in the case of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS, Alzheimer’s disease, and allergies. Colostrum’s suppressive action may help prevent this type of activity involved in autoimmune diseases.

This component of colostrum supplementation may turn out to be even more important than we now realize. We are only in the beginning stages of realizing the total potential of PRP and other colostrum accessory factors for the management of autoimmune/inflammatory conditions.

Support

Transforming Growth Factors

Transforming Growth Factors (TGF) are polypeptides which promote cell proliferation, tissue repair and maintenance (wound healing) and embryonic development. Bovine colostrum contains up to 100 times the mitogenic potency of human colostrum. Studies have demonstrated the anti-cancer ability of TGF I bovine colostrum in humans. This aspect of colostrum also makes it especially appealing for topical use. Conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, acne, possibly psoriasis and many other skin conditions could benefit.

Nucleotides

Nucleotides are important in cellular metabolism. The most important nucleotide in colostrum is AMP (adenosine monophosphate). Amp is a precursor for ADP (adenosine diphosphate) which is involved in cellular energy transfer. AMP plays a regular role in cellular metabolism and also mediates the traffic of hormones and other activators. Additional nucleotides in colostrum help metabolize carbohydrates.

Enhanced Nutrient Absorption

The elderly are at higher risk for illness and disease for a number of reasons. One is the obstacle of diminished nutrient absorption and nutrient deficiencies, which further weakens immunity. Enzymes, found in colostrum help the entire digestive process to aid in nutrient absorption and utilization.

Colostrum-lactoferrin supplementation is not just for individuals with severely compromised immunity or infants who cannot receive adequate amounts from their mother, almost everyone can benefit. Any individual wanting to feel his or her best by strengthening their immune system to ward off disease and illness can utilize a daily maintenance dosage of colostrum. As we get older, our immune system begins to show signs of weakening, so this becomes even more important. At the first sign of illness, one can increase the dosage to halt or weaken the infection.

Lactose Intolerance

Lactose-intolerant individuals can usually tolerate up to about 77 mg. of lactose before a response is likely to occur. Poor quality colostrum contains higher levels of lactose compared to high quality colostrum. The sooner the collection after birth, the lower is the level of lactose. The level of lactose in colostrum doubles in just 24 hours. Unfortunately, only a few companies report the levels of lactose contained in their product. The following information will allow you to determine acceptable lactose levels for lactose-intolerant individuals.

The amount of colostrum that can safely be ingested, without triggering a lactose intolerance response, that is based upon the quality of colostrum:

Excellent             Moderate           Poor

700mg                  500 mg.              350 mg.

This is not the recommended dosage of colostrum. The above amounts are merely the maximum amounts that can safely be taken by lactose-intolerant individuals at one time. Extremely good results for a variety of ailments can be achieved with as little as 125 mg. of excellent quality colostrum delivered in the oral cavity.

Click Here For Colostrum & Lactoferrin Supplements

Source: http://tuberose.com/Colostrum%20%26%20Lactoferrin.html

The Greater Good: Balanced Documentary on Vaccines

My Personal Thoughts And Concerns Regarding Vaccines

In my workplace I frequently meet people whose children have been injured by vaccines.  For some it has dramatically altered their lives. My own child suffered from vaccine related side effects.  She had crazy high levels of thimerosal (mercury) and aluminum (preservatives used in vaccines) in her brain and chronic asthma, food and chemical allergies, dyspraxia, ear infections, eczema, leaky gut, neurological issues, speech problems, and sensory disorders.  The amount of antibiotics and steroids she was on because her immune system was compromised, also contributed to her health problems.  She also has egg allergies.  Some vaccines, including the flu vaccine, are cultured in eggs.  These vaccines were toxic for her.  I wish I had known.

Under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, over $2 billion has been awarded, by the government, to children and adults for vaccine injuries.  It is estimated that less than 5% of vaccine injuries are reported.  Parents should be aware that vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry risks, which can be greater for some than others.

Most people are unaware that Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have completely shielded drug companies and doctors in America from product liability and malpractice lawsuits when vaccines injure or kill people.   It is also important to remember that vaccines are profit makers for drug companies. According to market research firm Kalorama Information, vaccine sales should double, from $19 billion last year to $39 billion in 2013.  That’s nearly five times the $8 billion in vaccine sales in 2004.

The United States recommends more vaccines than any country in world. The CDC recommends 48 doses of 14 vaccines by age six, and 69 doses of 16 vaccines by age 18.  In contrast, vaccines are not required by law in Israel. Only 6 childhood vaccines are recommended. Israelis enjoy the fourth-longest life expectancy in the world as of 2012.  The US ranks 34 out of 35 industrialized nations in life expectancy.

In the 70s children received 10 vaccines before attending school. Today they will receive over 36 injections.  More than twice as many children have chronic brain and immune system dysfunction today than they did in the 1970s.

Many health professionals are concerned that widespread use of vaccinations may trigger bacterial adaptations leading to antibiotic-resistant bacterial diseases and vaccine-resistant viral diseases. For example, vaccines have now been implicated in causing new, vaccine-resistant strains of whooping cough, hepatitis and polio.  We are also learning that pharmaceutical companies are using aborted human fetus cells/DNA in vaccines.  No one knows what effect injecting human DNA into other humans will have. Our children are guinea pigs for this experiment.

Numerous times in the past 50 years the pharmaceutic industry has been accused of falsifying drug study results, paying bribes, covering up or omitting side effects and deaths, and denying responsibility when drugs are pulled off the market for killing people.  For an eye-opening introduction to the criminal side of the vaccine industry please review this recent article.

I’ve put this post together to give parents information on vaccines.  For the record, I am not anti-vaccine but I am very concerned about vaccine safety and the insane vaccine schedule that is being mandated by our government and the pharmaceutical industry for all children, when no long term safety tests have ever been done using the current vaccine schedule.  Yes, I  believe that some vaccines, when properly administered to healthy children do save lives.  Choose wisely.

Some Thoughts on Herd Immunity (Source – Dr. Russell Blaylock, Board Certified Neurologist and Brain Surgeon)

In the original description of herd immunity, the protection to the population at large occurred only if people contracted the infections naturally. The reason for this is that naturally-acquired immunity lasts for a lifetime. The vaccine proponents applied it to vaccine-induced immunity. But, there was one major problem – vaccine-induced immunity lasts for a relatively short period, from 2 to 10 years at most, and then this applies only to humoral immunity. This is why they now suggest boosters for most vaccines, even the common childhood infections such as chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella.

However, the boosters are lasting for only 2 years or less. This is why there are mandates that youth entering colleges have multiple vaccines, even those which they insisted gave lifelong immunity, such as the MMR. The same is being suggested for full-grown adults.

Years ago medical students were taught that all of the childhood vaccines lasted a lifetime. This thinking existed for over 70 years. It was not until relatively recently that it was discovered that most of these vaccines lost their effectiveness 2 to 10 years after being given. What this means is that at least half the population, that is the baby boomers, have had no vaccine-induced immunity against any of these diseases for which they had been vaccinated very early in life. In essence, at least 50% or more of the population has been unprotected for decades.

If we listen to present-day wisdom, we are all at risk of resurgent massive epidemics should the vaccination rate fall below 95%. Yet, we have all lived for at least 30 to 40 years with 50% or less of the population having vaccine protection. That is, herd immunity has not existed in this country for many decades and no resurgent epidemics have occurred.

40 years ago medical students were taught that the tetanus vaccine would last a lifetime. Then 30 years after it had been mandated, we discovered that its protection lasted no more than 10 years. Yet most physicians have never seen a case of tetanus.  If we look at the yearly data on tetanus infections – one sees no rise in tetanus cases. The same can be said for measles, mumps, and other childhood infections.

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What I Would Have Done Had I known What I Know Now

If I could go back and redo our vaccination schedule I would definitely change what I did with my kids.  I would only consider allowing them to receive a few of the vaccines recommended in the 70s.

I would give them only one vaccine at a time and only if they were healthy and had been free of infection and off of antibiotics and steroids for 3 or more months. I would only give single injections, not combination injections and I would wait until they were at least a year old before starting to vaccinate. I would put them on a good probiotic before, during and following injections.

I would also take time to study the diseases they were being vaccinated against and only incorporate those vaccines that protect against deadly diseases that my children are likely to be exposed to or expose others to.  In my opinion, acquiring a mild infection that is treatable and builds natural immunity (which, unlike the vaccine, is life-long) is not worth getting a vaccine to avoid (chicken pox and measles are good examples).  I would definitely not give my kids the flu shot.  After vaccinations I would help their body detoxify from the chemicals and heavy metals in the vaccines.

I would also never allow my child to be injected with thimerosal (mercury), aluminum (neurotoxin) and aborted human DNA.  Most people don’t realize that thimerosal is 50 times more toxic than plain old mercury because injected mercury is far more toxic than ingested mercury, there’s no blood-brain barrier in infants, mercury accumulates in brain cells and nerves, and infants don’t produce bile, which is necessary to excrete mercury.

Here’s an example of a vaccine I’ve researched and why I personally would not choose to give it to my child:  The Hepatitis A Vaccine

• Hepatitis Does Not Cause Chronic Infection and Rarely Causes Death: Hepatitis A has a mortality rate of less than one percent (0.6) and over 70 percent of deaths occur in adults over the age of 49. Almost everyone who gets hepatitis A recovers from it without any treatment. Plus, it is so rarely fatal that the CDC does not show a record of deaths from it some years.
• Hepatitis A Gives Lifelong Immunity But the Vaccine Does Not: Children often show no symptoms if they get hepatitis A and then develop lifelong immunity to the infection, but nobody knows how long vaccine-induced immunity will last. (All vaccines give only temporary immunity).
• Child-to-Child Transmission in School is Rare: According to the CDC, “Child-to-child disease transmission [of hepatitis A] within the school setting is uncommon.”
• Hepatitis A Vaccine Can Cause Reactions: The vaccine can cause unpleasant or even health- or life-threatening conditions, such as Guillian-Barre Syndrome

I wouldn’t give my child the Hepatitis B shot either.  Hepatitis B is primarily an adult disease most often transmitted through infected blood. Highest risk populations are IV drug users and people with multiple sex partners.  The Hepatitis B shot is one of the most toxic vaccines available and it’s usually given to newborn infants.  I wish I had declined it!

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I have found that the most reliable source for information on vaccines is the National Vaccine Information Center.

• National Vaccine Information Center – The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a national charitable, non-profit educational organization founded in 1982. NVIC launched the vaccine safety and informed consent movement in America in the early 1980′s and is the oldest and largest consumer led organization advocating for the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the public health system.
• National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program – The federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was created as “a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims that provides compensation to people found to be injured by certain vaccines.”  (Why is the federal government paying out billions to people “found to be injured by certain vaccines” if the theory that “shots cause brain defects in children … has been soundly disproved by extensive medical research,” as many mainstream pro-vaccine activist contend?).
• List of Vaccine Ingredients

Interview with Dr. Palevsky, Board Certified Pediatrician, on Vaccines:

Smoke, Mirrors, and the “Disappearance” of Polio – Suzanne Humphries, MD, speaking on Polio at the Association of Natural Health

Vaccine News:

• Monkeys Get Autism-like Reactions to MMR & Other Vaccines In University of Pittsburgh Vaccine study
• An Italian court has ruled there is a link between the  MMR vaccine and autism
• Measles Vaccines Part I; Ineffectiveness of Vaccination and Unintended Consequences. ~ by Dr Viera Scheibner (PhD)
• If You Vaccinate, Ask 8! – What You Need to Know Before & After Vaccination 
• The Danger of Excessive Vaccination During Brain Development
• Strokes Happening in Younger People: Vaccine-Induced?
• Suppressed Study Shows Vaccine Dangers: Vaccinations Stimulate Autoimmune Diseases
• What every parent should know before choosing to vaccinate
• Vaccine Exemptions: Do They Really Put Others at Risk?
• Minimum of 40 Children Paralyzed After New Meningitis Vaccine
• Mercury Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease (annual flu shots contribute to Alzheimer’s Disease)
• Protecting Their Own: The Unofficial Vaccination Policy of Doctors in the Know
• The comparison of vaccinated verses unvaccinated
• New Study: Vaccinated Children Have 2 to 5 Times More Diseases and Disorders Than Unvaccinated Children
• Tuberculosis vaccine sickens 115 Romanian children; 50 hospitalized
• US Court Awards Multi-Million Dollar Payouts To Two More US Children With Vaccine Caused Autism
• Vaccines Did Not Save Us – 2 Centuries Of Official Statistics
• Secret EU Government Report – Wide Range of Child Vaccine Deaths & Injuries – From Just One Six-In-One Vaccine
• CBS News – Research Links Kids Vaccines & Brain Damage
• New Evidence Demolishes Claims of Safety and Effectiveness of HPV Vaccine, October 16 2012
• Vaccinated Students Contract Whooping Cough
• Ten reasons you should think twice before getting a flu vaccine
• Study: Whooping cough outbreak linked to vaccinated children – In 2009, four separate Canadian studies concluded that the seasonal flu shot massively increases the likelihood of contracting the H1N1 flu. According to Science Daily, recipients of the seasonal flu vaccine were up to 250% more likely to be infected by the H1N1 variant than those who did not receive the injection.
• Aborted Human Cells in some Vaccines
• Mercury In Vaccines Was Replaced With Something Even MORE Toxic
• Flashback: The Hepatitis B Vaccine is Linked to Infant Death, Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Disorders
• Unvaccinated Children Less Likely to have Asthma or Allergies
• New Study: Neurotoxicity of Aluminum in Vaccines
• Studies show that the countries with the most vaccines have the worst infant death rate – May 13, 2012
• Vaccines Cause Allergies – Dr. Dave Mihalovic,  June 9, 2012
• Australia bans flu vaccines in children after vomiting, fevers, seizures
• Gardasil Primer: Doctors & vaccine injured families speak out!
• Major New Issues with Vaccines Are Surfacing, 26 Apr 2012
• BANNED – 60 Minutes SWINE FLU VACCINE – H1N1 Warning!
• Mutating vaccine causes polio outbreak in Nigeria
• Untested vaccines causing new wave of polio-like paralysis across India
• Reuters – Aseptic Meningitis Outbreak Linked to Widespread MMR Vaccination
• Vaccine failure admitted: Whooping cough outbreaks higher among children already vaccinated
• HPV Vaccine Blamed for Teen’s Paralysis
• Pneumonia Vaccine Shown to Actually Increase Bacterial Infections It Is Supposed to Prevent – Alarmingly, however, buried on page 16 of their report is the acknowledgement that certain hard-to-treat bacterial infections in children are on the rise because of the widespread use of the conjugated pneumococcal vaccines!
• Smallpox Vaccine: Origins of Vaccine Madness
• What is in the flu shot – Mercury is just one of the many dangerous substances found in the flu shot, which is virtually a witch’s brew of toxic ingredients, including: aluminum, a neurotoxin associated with Alzheimer’s disease; Triton X-100, a common detergent used in laboratories; phenol (carbolic acid); ethylene glycol or antifreeze; betapropiolactone, a disinfectant; nonoxynol, used to kill or stop growth of STDs; and octoxinol 9, a vaginal spermicide.
• Swine Flu Vaccine “conclusively” Causes Chronic Nervous System Disorders – The nation of Finland has now openly admitted that the swine flu vaccine “conclusively” causes narcolepsy. The Finnish government says it will pay for “lifetime medical care” for 79 children who have been irreparably damaged by the swine flu vaccine
• Analysis Finds Flu Vaccine Efficacy Lacking, as Flu Vaccines are Suspended Across Europe and Canada
• Vaccinated children have up to 500% more disease than unvaccinated children
• Profits, Not Science, Motivate Vaccine Mandates
• Are Vaccinations Safe for Your Kids?
• Vaccine Propaganda Heats Up—The Latest Scandals You Need to Be Aware of
• Time for a Wake Up Call – The Vaccination Hoax Debunked!
• Drug Giant Merck – “Destroy” Critical Doctors “Where They Live” –  “This is not a conspiracy, this is corporate policy.” [CBS News – Research Links Kids Vaccines & Brain Damage – October 9, 2009 childhealthsafety].
• Proof Armed Forces are Given Untested and Experimental Vaccines
• The Deadly Impossibility Of Herd Immunity Through Vaccination, by Dr. Russell Blaylock
• Gardasil’s trail of deception hides the true scope of deaths and injuries
• CDC alleged to have ignored up to 3,587 Miscarriages from H1N1 Vaccine

Video Interviews:

• Interview with Prominant Physician and Researcher, Dr. Andrew Wakefield on Vaccines and Autism
• Dr. Mercola Interviews Dr. Palevsky on vaccines

Websites:

• Stories of vaccine-injured children
• Dr. Tenpenny Vaccine Information
• The Refusers
• Cry For Vaccine Freedom Wall – True stories of vaccine harassment and vaccine damage.
• Dr. Tenpenny on Vaccines– VACCINE INFORMATION YOU WON’T HEAR FROM YOUR PEDIATRICIAN
• VacTruth
• Vaccine Injury Compensation Information
• Vaccine-Related Court Cases
• Thinking Moms Revolution

Blogs/Facebook Sites

• The Gianelloni Family
• The Canary Party
• Vaccine Injury Blog

Podcasts

• Ask the Vaccine Expert
• The Truth About Vaccines w/David Michael

Videos:

Interview with Prominant Physician and Researcher, Dr. Andrew Wakefield on Vaccines and Autism

Vaccines – The Risks, The Benefits, The Choices

No Pharma Liability? No Vaccine Mandates, March 3, 2011

Vaccine Epidemic the Book

Interview on Vaccine Adaptations with Dr. Meryl Nass (Board Certified Internal Medicine)

Does HepB Vaccine Cause Defects?

Alex Jones Show interviews Dr. Russell Blaylock, A Board Certified Neurologist and Brain Surgeon, on vaccines — Feb 2012

Shocking True Vaccine Story

Dr. Russell Blaylock – Compulsory Vaccinations Part 1/4

Controversy Over Vaccine Research

Shocking Testimony About Vaccines!

The shocking truth about what’s really in vaccines: Mercury, MSG, Formaldehyde, Aluminum

5 Reasons to Ditch Gluten

Source – http://jjvirgin.com/3366/5-reasons-ditch-gluten-invitation-upcoming-book-free/

Here are 5 reasons why going gluten-free can burn fat, eliminate symptoms, and help you feel and look your best.

1. Gluten creates gut permeability. Gluten contains a protein with the unwieldy name zonulin, which damages the tight junctions in your gut. Things not intended to slip through your gut wall suddenly get through, creating an immune response. Delayed reactions, which can occur hours or days later, include joint pain, brain fog, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety, and depression. You may not connect, for instance, the headache you have Wednesday morning with the wheat pasta you ate the night before.
2. Gluten triggers inflammation. Besides the immune-related delayed symptoms, gluten-induced leaky gut creates inflammation. Chronic inflammation contributes to every degenerative disease, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and obesity. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with gluten sensitivity had a higher risk of death. The results were shocking: while people with full-blown celiac had a 39% increased risk of death, that number increased to 72% for people with gluten-triggered inflammation!
3. Gluten is low in nutrients. Someone on my social media recently commented that without gluten, you’re missing out on key nutrients. Au contraire! Gluten-containing foods are notoriously low in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients compared to vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Don’t believe me? Compare nutrient rock stars like spinach or almonds with whole grain bread or wheat pasta. Whole foods like spinach and almonds come loaded with naturally occurring nutrients, whereas breads, pastas, and other processed gluten-containing foods contain small amounts of cheap, fortified nutrients.
4. Gluten inhibits nutrient absorption. Not only does gluten not bring much nutrient-wise to the party: it also steals nutrients other foods bring! Gluten-triggered permeability, for instance, inhibits your gut from absorbing nutrients and making vitamin B12. Gluten also contains phytates, an anti-nutrient that can block mineral absorption.
5. Eating gluten makes you fat. Gluten contains lectins, which can bind to insulin receptors and create insulin resistance.  They can also bind to your intestinal lining, causing you to store more calories as fat.  To make things worse, lectins can trigger leptin resistance, which makes you hungrier even after you’ve eaten a full meal. Couple lectins with leaky gut, inflammation, and poor nutrient levels that can stall metabolism, and you’ve got a surefire way to pile on weight. Most gluten-containing carbohydrates also raise your blood sugar, which triggers an insulin response. Higher insulin levels do one thing really well: store fat. When people with weight loss resistance pull gluten, they feel night-and-day better and the scales start moving again.

Related Articles:

• Modern wheat a “perfect, chronic poison,” doctor says (video)
• Test, Don’t Guess: The Importance of ACCURATE Gluten Testing
• Is “Whole Wheat” Damaging Your Body?
• The Gluten Syndrome
• Gluten Free logic
• Gluten and High Cholesterol

Common Symptoms of Gluten Sensitivity:

Those directly related to someone who has already been diagnosed with gluten sensitivity (celiac disease or gluten intolerance) should always be tested, but those suffering with any of the following list of diseases should also get tested:

• Chronic intestinal problems
• Infertility or recurrent miscarriage
• High cholesterol
• Any Autoimmune Disease
• Chronic anemia
• Osteoporosis
• Migraine Headaches
• Obesity or inability to gain weight
• Arthritis
• Memory loss
• Psoriasis
• Eczema
• IBS
• Bipolar or Schizophrenia
• Increased liver enzymes
• Low thyroid (Hypothyroid)
• ADD or ADHD
• Autism
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Restless Legs Syndrome
• Sleep Apnea or Insomnia
• Type I and type II Diabetes
• Multiple Sclerosis

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Wheat Belly: Lose the wheat, lose the weight and find your path back to health with Dr. William Davis.

Food Allergy Linked to Autoimmune Disease – Dr. Osborne Featured on Fox News

Recently I’ve been learning about the importance of healthy fats in our diet. I’ve always had high cholesterol but I noticed that when I started eating more saturated fat (coconut oil and butter), cholesterol (eggs)  and omega 3 fatty acids (flax oil, chia seeds and fish oil) and cut out grains and excess sugar from diet, my LDL cholesterol levels went down and my HDL (good) cholesterol increased.  My doctor says that my cholesterol numbers and ratios are excellent. I know from research that HDL or good cholesterol is heart protective.  Most people have no idea of the important role that cholesterol plays in the body and in overall health.

Here’s an excerpt from an informative article on Cholesterol entitled: “Dangers of Statins: Why Your Body Needs Cholesterol”,  By Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD

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Cholesterol

Of course, statins inhibit the production of cholesterol–they do this very well. Nowhere is the failing of our medical system more evident than in the wholesale acceptance of cholesterol reduction as a way to prevent disease–have all these doctors forgotten what they learned in biochemistry 101 about the many roles of cholesterol in the human biochemistry?

Every cell membrane in our body contains cholesterol because cholesterol is what makes our cells waterproof–without cholesterol we could not have a different biochemistry on the inside and the outside of the cell. When cholesterol levels are not adequate, the cell membrane becomes leaky or porous, a situation the body interprets as an emergency, releasing a flood of corticoid hormones that work by sequestering cholesterol from one part of the body and transporting it to areas where it is lacking. Cholesterol is the body’s repair substance: scar tissue contains high levels of cholesterol, including scar tissue in the arteries.

Cholesterol is the precursor to vitamin D, necessary for numerous biochemical processes including mineral metabolism. The bile salts, required for the digestion of fat, are made of cholesterol. Those who suffer from low cholesterol often have trouble digesting fats. Cholesterol also functions as a powerful antioxidant, thus protecting us against cancer and aging.

Cholesterol is vital to proper neurological function. It plays a key role in the formation of memory and the uptake of hormones in the brain, including serotonin, the body’s feel-good chemical. When cholesterol levels drop too low, the serotonin receptors cannot work. Cholesterol is the main organic molecule in the brain, constituting over half the dry weight of the cerebral cortex.

Finally, cholesterol is the precursor to all the hormones produced in the adrenal cortex including glucocorticoids, which regulate blood sugar levels, and mineralocorticoids, which regulate mineral balance. Corticoids are the cholesterol-based adrenal hormones that the body uses in response to stress of various types; it promotes healing and balances the tendency to inflammation. The adrenal cortex also produces sex hormones, including testosterone, estrogen and progesterone, out of cholesterol. Thus, low cholesterol–whether due to an innate error of metabolism or induced by cholesterol-lowering diets and drugs–can be expected to disrupt the production of adrenal hormones and lead to:

• Blood sugar problems
• Edema
• Mineral deficiences
• Chronic Inflammation
• Difficulty in healing
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Reduced libido
• Infertility
• Various reproductive problems

Enter the Statins

Statin drugs entered the market with great promise. They replaced a class of pharmaceuticals that lowered cholesterol by preventing its absorption from the gut. These drugs often had immediate and unpleasant side effects, including nausea, indigestion and constipation, and in the typical patient they lowered cholesterol levels only slightly. Patient compliance was low: the benefit did not seem worth the side effects and the potential for use very limited. By contrast, statin drugs had no immediate side effects: they did not cause nausea or indigestion and they were consistently effective, often lowering cholesterol levels by 50 points or more.

During the last 20 years, the industry has mounted an incredible promotional campaign–enlisting scientists, advertising agencies, the media and the medical profession in a blitz that turned the statins into one of the bestselling pharmaceuticals of all time. Sixteen million Americans now take Lipitor, the most popular statin, and drug company officials claim that 36 million Americans are candidates for statin drug therapy.

What bedevils the industry is growing reports of side effects that manifest many months after the commencement of therapy; the November 2003 issue of Smart Money magazine reports on a 1999 study at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London (apparently unpublished), which found that 36 percent of patients on Lipitor’s highest dose reported side effects; even at the lowest dose, 10 percent reported side effects.

Muscle Pain and Weakness

The most common side effect is muscle pain and weakness, a condition called rhabdomyolysis, most likely due to the depletion of Co-Q10, a nutrient that supports muscle function. Dr. Beatrice Golomb of San Diego, California is currently conducting a series of studies on statin side effects. The industry insists that only 2-3 percent of patients get muscle aches and cramps but in one study, Golomb found that 98 percent of patients taking Lipitor and one-third of the patients taking Mevachor (a lower-dose statin) suffered from muscle problems. A message board devoted to Lipitor at forum.ditonline.com contains more than 800 posts, many detailing severe side effects. The Lipitor board at www.rxlist.com contains more than 2,600 posts.

The test for muscle wasting or rhabdomyolysis is elevated levels of a chemical called creatine kinase (CK). But many people experience pain and fatigue even though they have normal CK levels.

Tahoe City resident Doug Peterson developed slurred speech, balance problems and severe fatigue after three years on Lipitor–for two and a half years, he had no side effects at all. It began with restless sleep patterns–twitching and flailing his arms. Loss of balance followed and the beginning of what Doug calls the “statin shuffle”–a slow, wobbly walk across the room. Fine motor skills suffered next. It took him five minutes to write four words, much of which was illegible. Cognitive function also declined. It was hard to convince his doctors that Lipitor could be the culprit, but when he finally stopped taking it, his coordination and memory improved.

John Altrocchi took Mevacor for three years without side effects; then he developed calf pain so severe he could hardly walk. He also experienced episodes of temporary memory loss.

For some, however, muscle problems show up shortly after treatment begins. Ed Ontiveros began having muscle problems within 30 days of taking Lipitor. He fell in the bathroom and had trouble getting up. The weakness subsided when he went off Lipitor. In another case, reported in the medical journal Heart, a patient developed rhabdomyolysis after a single dose of a statin. Heel pain from plantar fascitis (heel spurs) is another common complaint among those taking statin drugs. One correspondent reported the onset of pain in the feet shortly after beginning statin treatment. She had visited an evangelist, requesting that he pray for her sore feet. He enquired whether she was taking Lipitor. When she said yes, he told her that his feet had also hurt when he took Lipitor.

Active people are much more likely to develop problems from statin use than those who are sedentary. In a study carried out in Austria, only six out of 22 athletes with familial hypercholesterolemia were able to endure statin treatment. The others discontinued treatment because of muscle pain.

By the way, other cholesterol-lowering agents besides statin drugs can cause joint pain and muscle weakness. A report in Southern Medical Journal described muscle pains and weakness in a man who took Chinese red rice, an herbal preparation that lowers cholesterol. Anyone suffering from myopathy, fibromyalgia, coordination problems and fatigue needs to look at low cholesterol plus Co-Q10 deficiency as a possible cause.

Neuropathy

Polyneuropathy, also known as peripheral neuropathy, is characterized by weakness, tingling and pain in the hands and feet as well as difficulty walking. Researchers who studied 500,000 residents of Denmark, about 9 percent of that country’s population, found that people who took statins were more likely to develop polyneuropathy. Taking statins for one year raised the risk of nerve damage by about 15 percent–about one case for every 2,200 patients. For those who took statins for two or more years, the additional risk rose to 26 percent.

According to the research of Dr. Golomb, nerve problems are a common side effect from statin use; patients who use statins for two or more years are at a four to 14-fold increased risk of developing idiopathic polyneuropathy compared to controls. She reports that in many cases, patients told her they had complained to their doctors about neurological problems, only to be assured that their symptoms could not be related to cholesterol-lowering medications.

The damage is often irreversible. People who take large doses for a long time may be left with permanent nerve damage, even after they stop taking the drug.

The question is, does widespread statin-induced neuropathy make our elderly drivers (and even not-so-elderly drivers) more accident prone? In July 2003, an 86-year-old driver with an excellent driving record plowed into a farmers’ market in Santa Monica, California, killing 10 people. Several days later, a most interesting letter from a Lake Oswego, Oregon woman appeared in the Washington Post:

“My husband, at age 68, backed into the garage and stepped on the gas, wrecking a lot of stuff. He said his foot slipped off the brake. He had health problems and is on medication, including a cholesterol drug, which is now known to cause problems with feeling in one’s legs.

“In my little community, older drivers have missed a turn and taken out the end of a music store, the double doors of the post office and the front of a bakery. In Portland, a bank had to do without its drive-up window for some time.

“It is easy to say that one’s foot slipped, but the problem could be lack of sensation. My husband’s sister-in-law thought her car was malfunctioning when it refused to go when a light turned green, until she looked down and saw that her foot was on the brake. I have another friend who mentioned having no feeling in her lower extremities. She thought about having her car retrofitted with hand controls but opted for the handicapped bus instead.”

Heart Failure

We are currently in the midst of a congestive heart failure epidemic in the United States–while the incidence of heart attack has declined slightly, an increase in the number of heart failure cases has outpaced these gains. Deaths attributed to heart failure more than doubled from 1989 to 1997. (Statins were first given pre-market approval in 1987.) Interference with production of Co-Q10 by statin drugs is the most likely explanation. The heart is a muscle and it cannot work when deprived of Co-Q10.

Cardiologist Peter Langsjoen studied 20 patients with completely normal heart function. After six months on a low dose of 20 mg of Lipitor a day, two-thirds of the patients had abnormalities in the heart’s filling phase, when the muscle fills with blood. According to Langsjoen, this malfunction is due to Co-Q10 depletion.

Without Co-Q10, the cell’s mitochondria are inhibited from producing energy, leading to muscle pain and weakness. The heart is especially susceptible because it uses so much energy.

Co-Q10 depletion becomes more and more of a problem as the pharmaceutical industry encourages doctors to lower cholesterol levels in their patients by greater and greater amounts. Fifteen animal studies in six different animal species have documented statin-induced Co-Q10 depletion leading to decreased ATP production, increased injury from heart failure, skeletal muscle injury and increased mortality. Of the nine controlled trials on statin-induced Co-Q10 depletion in humans, eight showed significant Co-Q10 depletion leading to decline in left ventricular function and biochemical imbalances.

Yet virtually all patients with heart failure are put on statin drugs, even if their cholesterol is already low. Of interest is a recent study indicating that patients with chronic heart failure benefit from having high levels of cholesterol rather than low.

Researchers in Hull, UK followed 114 heart failure patients for at least 12 months. Survival was 78 percent at 12 months and 56 percent at 36 months.

They found that for every point of decrease in serum cholesterol, there was a 36 percent increase in the risk of death within three years.

Dizziness

Dizziness is commonly associated with statin use, possibly due to pressure-lowering effects. One woman reported dizziness one half hour after taking Pravachol. When she stopped taking it, the dizziness cleared up. Blood pressure lowering has been reported with several statins in published studies. According to Dr. Golumb, who notes that dizziness is a common adverse effect, the elderly may be particularly sensitive to drops in blood pressure.

Cognitive Impairment

The November 2003 issue of Smart Money describes the case of Mike Hope, owner of a successful ophthalmologic supply company:

“There’s an awkward silence when you ask Mike Hope his age. He doesn’t change the subject or stammer, or make a silly joke about how he stopped counting at 21. He simply doesn’t remember. Ten seconds pass. Then 20. Finally an answer comes to him. ‘I’m 56,’ he says. Close, but not quite. ‘I will be 56 this year.’ Later, if you happen to ask him about the book he’s reading, you’ll hit another roadblock. He can’t recall the title, the author or the plot.”

Statin use since 1998 has caused his speech and memory to fade. He was forced to close his business and went on Social Security 10 years early. Things improved when he discontinued Lipitor in 2002, but he is far from complete recovery–he still cannot sustain a conversation. What Lipitor did was turn Mike Hope into an old man when he was in the prime of life.

Cases like Mike’s have shown up in the medical literature as well. An article in Pharmacotherapy, December 2003, for example, reports two cases of cognitive impairment associated with Lipitor and Zocor. Both patients suffered progressive cognitive decline that reversed completely within a month after discontinuation of the statins. A study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh showed that patients treated with statins for six months compared poorly with patients on a placebo in solving complex mazes, psychomotor skills and memory tests.

Dr. Golomb has found that 15 percent of statin patients develop some cognitive side effects. The most harrowing involve global transient amnesia–complete memory loss for a brief or lengthy period–described by former astronaut Duane Graveline in his book Lipitor: Thief of Memory. Sufferers report baffling incidents involving complete loss of memory–arriving at a store and not remembering why they are there, unable to remember their name or the names of their loved ones, unable to find their way home in the car.

These episodes occur suddenly and disappear just as suddenly. Graveline points out that we are all at risk when the general public is taking statins–do you want to be in an airplane when your pilot develops statin-induced amnesia?

While the pharmaceutical industry denies that statins can cause amnesia, memory loss has shown up in several statin trials. In a trial involving 2,502 subjects, amnesia occurred in seven receiving Lipitor; amnesia also occurred in two of 742 subjects during comparative trials with other statins. In addition, “abnormal thinking” was reported in four of the 2,502 clinical trial subjects. The total recorded side effects was therefore 0.5 percent; a figure that likely under-represents the true frequency since memory loss was not specifically studied in these trials.

Cancer

In every study with rodents to date, statins have caused cancer. Why have we not seen such a dramatic correlation in human studies? Because cancer takes a long time to develop and most of the statin trials do not go on longer than two or three years. Still, in one trial, the CARE trial, breast cancer rates of those taking a statin went up 1500 percent. In the Heart Protection Study, non-melanoma skin cancer occurred in 243 patients treated with simvastatin compared with 202 cases in the control group.

Manufacturers of statin drugs have recognized the fact that statins depress the immune system, an effect that can lead to cancer and infectious disease, recommending statin use for inflammatory arthritis and as an immune suppressor for transplant patients.

Pancreatic Rot

The medical literature contains several reports of pancreatitis in patients taking statins. One paper describes the case of a 49-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital with diarrhea and septic shock one month after beginning treatment with lovastatin.

She died after prolonged hospitalization; the cause of death was necrotizing pancreatitis. Her doctors noted that the patient had no evidence of common risk factors for acute pancreatitis, such as biliary tract disease or alcohol use. “Prescribers of statins (particularly simvastatin and lovastatin) should take into account the possibility of acute pancreatitis in patients who develop abdominal pain within the first weeks of treatment with these drugs,” they warned.

Depression

Numerous studies have linked low cholesterol with depression. One of the most recent found that women with low cholesterol are twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center carried out personality trait measurements on 121 young women aged 18 to 27. They found that 39 percent of the women with low cholesterol levels scored high on personality traits that signaled proneness to depression, compared to 19 percent of women with normal or high levels of cholesterol.

In addition, one in three of the women with low cholesterol levels scored high on anxiety indicators, compared to 21 percent with normal levels. Yet the author of the study, Dr. Edward Suarez, cautioned women with low cholesterol against eating “foods such as cream cakes” to raise cholesterol, warning that these types of food “can cause heart disease.” In previous studies on men, Dr. Suarez found that men who lower their cholesterol levels with medication have increased rates of suicide and violent death, leading the researchers to theorize “that low cholesterol levels were causing mood disturbances.”

How many elderly statin-takers eke through their golden years feeling miserable and depressed, when they should be enjoying their grandchildren and looking back with pride on their accomplishments? But that is the new dogma–you may have a long life as long as it is experienced as a vale of tears.

Any Benefits?

Most doctors are convinced–and seek to convince their patients–that the benefits of statin drugs far outweigh the side effects. They can cite a number of studies in which statin use has lowered the number of coronary deaths compared to controls. But as Dr. Ravnskov has pointed out in his book The Cholesterol Myths, the results of the major studies up to the year 2000–the 4S, WOSCOPS, CARE, AFCAPS and LIPID studies–generally showed only small differences and these differences were often statistically insignificant and independent of the amount of cholesterol lowering achieved.

In two studies, EXCEL, and FACAPT/TexCAPS, more deaths occurred in the treatment group compared to controls. Dr. Ravnskov’s 1992 meta-analysis of 26 controlled cholesterol-lowering trials found an equal number of cardiovascular deaths in the treatment and control groups and a greater number of total deaths in the treatment groups. An analysis of all the big controlled trials reported before 2000 found that long-term use of statins for primary prevention of heart disease produced a 1 percent greater risk of death over 10 years compared to a placebo.

Recently published studies do not provide any more justification for the current campaign to put as many people as possible on statin drugs.