How Probiotics May Aid Your Weight Management

By Dr. Mercola

Your gastrointestinal tract houses some 100 trillion bacteria—about two to three pounds worth. In all, the bacteria outnumber your body's cells by about 10 to 1.
Your intestinal bacteria are part of your immune system, and researchers are discovering that microbes of all kinds play instrumental roles in countless areas of your health. For example, beneficial bacteria, also known as probiotics, have been shown to:

• Modulate your immune response and reduce inflammation
• Produce vitamins, absorb minerals, and eliminate toxins
• Control asthma and reduce risk of allergies
• Benefit  your mood and mental health
• Boost weight loss

Beneficial bacteria also control the growth of disease-causing bacteria by competing for nutrition and attachment sites in your colon. This is of immense importance, as pathogenic bacteria and other less beneficial microbes can wreak havoc with your health if they gain the upper hand. It can also affect your weight, as you'll see below.
For all of these reasons, and more, I always recommend a diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods along with cultured or fermented foods. A high-quality probiotic supplement can also be a helpful ally to restore healthful balance to your microbiotia—especially when taking antibiotics.

The Diet-Bacteria-Weight Connection

Bacterial imbalance in your gut can be made worse by processed foods and foods that have been pasteurized or sterilized. Other factors affecting your gut flora include where you live, your age, your stress level, and any health issues you may have. Like processed foods, sugar also promotes the growth of disease-causing yeasts and fungi.
Symptoms of a yeast (candida) overgrowth include fatigue, depression, irritability, headaches, problems concentrating, muscle weakness, recurrent vaginal and urinary tract infections, athlete's foot, jock itch, persistent heartburn, indigestion, constipation, swollen joints, nasal congestion, and sore throat.¹
In case you don't have reason enough yet to re-evaluate your sugar and fructose intake, here's another twist in the sugar-obesity connection: researchers have discovered a difference in gut bacteria between the overweight and those of normal weight.²
In the obese, a bacterial strain known as firmicutes is found in much greater abundance than in leaner individuals. In those of normal weight, the bacteroidetes strain is in greater supply.
The firmicutes bacteria appear to be much better than the bacteroidetes strain at turning calories from complex sugars into fat. As those who are overweight begin to slim down, the bacterial balance shifts from predominantly firmicutes to predominantly bacteroidetes. Research published last year discovered that as much as 20 percent of the substantial weight loss achieved from gastric bypass, a popular weight loss surgery, is actually due to shifts in the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract.³

Bacteria Can Affect Your Food Cravings, and Weight Loss Success

According to the most recent study, a strain of friendly bacteria called Lactobacillus rhamnosus also appears to be quite helpful for weight loss in women.⁴ As reported in the featured article:

"The controlled clinical trial was set up so that the first 12 weeks women were guided to eat less food and some were additionally given the Lactobacillus rhamnosus. After 12 weeks the amount of weight loss was greater in the group receiving the friendly flora supplement.

Over the next 12 weeks the dietary restrictions were lifted, and the friendly flora was continued. Those women not taking Lactobacillus rhamnosus now gained weight, whereas the friendly flora group continued to lose weight. The weight loss benefit was linked to measurements of the bacterial profile of the digestive tract. This study is the latest to show that the balance of power in the digestive tract is a metabolic variable of high importance and nothing to ignore as part of a long-term successful weight loss plan."

As it relates to weight management, one hypothesis states that your gut bacteria may in fact be in control of your appetite. Recent research⁵ suggests there's a positive-feedback loop between the foods you crave and the composition of the microbiota in your gut that depend on those nutrients for their survival. Microbes that thrive on sugar, for example, can signal your brain to eat more sweets. Other studies⁶,⁷ have shown that certain bacteria found in your gut can produce insulin resistance and weight gain by triggering chronic low-grade inflammation in your body. Three such culprits include:

• Endotoxin-producing Enterobacter⁸
• Staphylococcus aureus⁹ (an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria)
• The human adenovirus-36 (a cause of respiratory infections and pinkeye)

Yet another recent study revealed that a breath test of the gases given off by your gut bacteria might actually be able to predict your likelihood of becoming obese. The study found that people with high levels of hydrogen and methane in their breath are more likely to have a higher body-mass index (BMI) and proportion of body fat.¹⁰ This, the researchers believe, may be because the related gut bacteria influence your body's ability to extract calories from food, leading to weight gain.

Diets, Not Borders, Dictate Gut Bacteria

It's important to understand that while your gut microbes may have a tremendous say in you bodily processes, YOU are ultimately in control of your intestinal microflora—through the foods you eat. Science News¹¹ recently ran an article about how local diets dictate the bacterial balance found in residents. For example, despite living on opposite ends of the Earth, people in Malawi and the Guahibo of Venezuela have similar microbial makeup, courtesy of the similarities between their native diets.

"Americans, on the other hand, have a distinctive microbiome with about 25 percent less diversity than indigenous Venezuelans," the article states.

One of the primary differences between the diets is meat consumption. Malawian and Guahibo diets are high in corn and cassava, with an occasional piece of meat. Americans, on the other hand, are far more carnivorous, and also eat far more bread, lettuce and tomatoes, potatoes, pasta, milk and dairy products. The microbial makeup of the three groups reveals these dietary differences. Needless to say, altering your diet has a direct impact on the microbial community residing in your gut—for better or worse. According to Science News:¹²

"A more recent study found that major diet shifts can change the mix of gut microbes noticeably in just a day. Omnivores switching to a diet of all animal products saw the biggest change, as some bacteria boomed and others declined. Microbes settled back to their previous profiles a day or two after subjects returned to their usual diets..." [Emphasis mine]

A More Complete Understanding of the Gut Could Change Modern Medicine...

There are three major collaborative efforts underway that help deepen our understanding of the human microbiome:

• The International Human Microbiome Consortium¹³
• The US National Institute of Health's Human Microbiome Project¹⁴
• The American Gut Project

So far, the NIH's Human Microbiome Project alone has produced 190 scientific papers, along with a repository of resources that scientists can access to explore the relationships between human gut bacteria and disease. The American Gut Project decided to take it a step further by allowing the American public to participate.¹⁵ All the gathered information from this project will eventually be made public. It's an extremely ambitious project seeking to identify the parameters for the ideal gut flora, and how your diet affects it.
What's particularly exciting about the American Gut Project is the fact that it will allow us to really evaluate and compare the effects of a very diverse conglomeration of lifestyles. Scientific studies almost always focus on carefully chosen groups of people who are studied for a specific purpose, typically to confirm or debunk a hypothesis. This project, on the other hand, will crack the lid open on the effects on gut flora of a myriad of lifestyle choices, by people of all ethnicities and ages.
If we can better understand how diet and lifestyle—whether by choice or necessity—affect your microbial makeup, doctors may eventually be able to precisely address health problems and disease through dietary prescriptions known to shift the microbial population in one direction or another.

Diet and Lifestyle Dos and Don'ts

Granted, I don't see any point in waiting for such confirmations. The fundamentals are already quite well understood, and include a rather concise list of dos and don'ts. When it comes to diet, you want to eat mostly whole, fresh, unadulterated foods, taking pains to avoid sugars and processed/pasteurized and genetically engineered foods of all kinds. Add to that a healthy amount of traditionally fermented foods each day and you're off to a good start.
A strong case can be made for eating organic to protect your gut flora as agricultural chemicals take a heavy toll on beneficial microbes—both in the soil in which the food is grown, and in your body. Glyphosate (Roundup), used in particularly hefty amounts on genetically engineered crops, appears to be among the worst of the most widely used chemicals in food production. As for general lifestyle advice, you'll want to avoid well-known culprits that kill beneficial bacteria, such as:

• Antibiotics (also note that most store-bought beef typically comes from cattle raised with antibiotics. To avoid getting a low dose of antibiotics in every piece of meat you eat, make sure your meat is grass-fed and finished)
• Chlorinated water
• Antibacterial soap
• Pollution

Foods 'for Life'

In contrast to the pesticide effect of processed foods and sugar on the state of your health, fermented foods act as natural fertilizers, if you will—providing nutrients and promoting growth of healthy bacteria in your digestive tract. For ages, humans have used fermented foods to improve intestinal health. As an added boon, fermented foods are also some of the best chelators and detox agents available, meaning they can help rid your body of a wide variety of toxins, including heavy metals and pesticides.  Examples of healthy fermented foods include:

• Sauerkraut, pickles, and other fermented vegetables
• Fermented dairy products, such as yoghurt and kefir made from raw (unpasteurized) dairy
• Miso
• Tempeh
• Olives

To Be 'Alive,' the Food Must Be Unprocessed and Not Pasteurized...

It is important to note that traditionally fermented foods are not the equivalent of the same foods, commercially processed and pasteurized.¹⁶ Fortunately, preparing your own fermented foods at home is quite easy, and very cost effective. For instructions, please see my previous interview with Caroline Barringer, a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), and an expert in the preparation of the gut-nourishing foods prescribed in Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Nutritional Program.
Caroline recommends eating about a quarter to half a cup (2 to 4 oz) of fermented vegetables or other cultured food, such as raw yoghurt, with one to three meals per day. Bear in mind that since cultured foods are efficient detoxifiers, you may experience detox symptoms if you introduce too many at once. So start with very small servings—as little as a teaspoon of fermented vegetables, for example, or even just a spoon or two of the juice—and slowly work your way up to the quarter to half cup serving size. This way your intestinal microbiota has the chance to adjust.

For Optimal Health, Pay Attention to Your Gut

Two things are clear:

• Sufficient amounts of friendly bacteria are fundamental to your good health. It's impossible to be optimally healthy if your gut's bacterial balance is out of whack.
• Your lifestyle –your diet, medications, the antibacterial cleansers you use, and other factors outside your control – are working together to compromise the number of lifesaving friendly bacteria in your digestive system.

Maintaining a good balance of gut bacteria through diet is one of the most important things you can do to increase your chances of remaining healthy and vital for a lifetime. Remember, a gut-healthy diet is one that is rich in whole, unprocessed, unsweetened foods, along with traditionally fermented or cultured foods. And, although I'm not a major proponent of taking many supplements (as I believe the majority of your nutrients need to come from food), probiotics is an exception if you don't eat fermented foods on a regular basis.

Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms and Diagnosis

Magnesium deficiency is often misdiagnosed because it does not show up in blood tests – only 1% of the body's magnesium is stored in the blood.

Most doctors and laboratories don't even include magnesium status in routine blood tests. Thus, most doctors don't know when their patients are deficient in magnesium, even though studies show that the majority of Americans are deficient in magnesium.

Consider Dr. Norman Shealy's statements, "Every known illness is associated with a magnesium deficiency" and that, "magnesium is the most critical mineral required for electrical stability of every cell in the body. A magnesium deficiency may be responsible for more diseases than any other nutrient." The truth he states exposes a gapping hole in modern medicine that explains a good deal about iatrogenic death and disease.

Because magnesium deficiency is largely overlooked, millions of Americans suffer needlessly or are having their symptoms treated with expensive drugs when they could be cured with magnesium supplementation.
One has to recognize the signs of magnesium thirst or hunger on their own since allopathic medicine is lost in this regard. It is really something much more subtle then hunger or thirst but it is comparable. In a world though where doctors and patients alike do not even pay attention to thirst and important issues of hydration, it is not hopeful that we will find many recognizing and paying attention to magnesium thirst and hunger, which is a dramatic way of expressing the concept of magnesium deficiency.

Few people are aware of the enormous role magnesium plays in our bodies. Magnesium is by far the most important mineral in the body. After oxygen, water, and basic food, magnesium may be the most important element needed by our bodies; vitally important, yet hardly known. It is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all three of them. Millions suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without even knowing it.

In fact, there happens to be a relationship between what we perceive as thirst and deficiencies in electrolytes. I remember a person asking, "Why am I dehydrated and thirsty when I drink so much water?" Thirst can mean not only lack of water but it can also mean that one is not getting enough nutrients and electrolytes. Magnesium, Potassium, Bicarbonate, Chloride and Sodium are some principle examples and that is one of the reasons magnesium chloride is so useful.

Magnesium Torment (Deficiency)

You know all those years, when doctors used to tell their patients 'its all in your heads,' were years the medical profession was showing its ignorance. It is a torment to be magnesium deficient on one level or another. Even if it's for the enthusiastic sport person whose athletic performance is down, magnesium deficiency will disturb sleep and background stress levels and a host of other things that reflect on the quality of life. Doctors have not been using the appropriate test for magnesium – their serum blood tests just distort their perceptions. Magnesium has been off their radar screens through the decades that magnesium deficiencies have snowballed.

Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency

The first symptoms of deficiency can be subtle – as most magnesium is stored in the tissues, leg cramps, foot pain, or muscle 'twitches' can be the first sign. Other early signs of deficiency include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. As magnesium deficiency worsens, numbness, tingling, seizures, personality changes, abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary spasms can occur.

A full outline of magnesium deficiency was beautifully presented in a recent article by Dr. Sidney Baker. "Magnesium deficiency can affect virtually every organ system of the body. With regard to skeletal muscle, one may experience twitches, cramps, muscle tension, muscle soreness, including back aches, neck pain, tension headaches and jaw joint (or TMJ) dysfunction. Also, one may experience chest tightness or a peculiar sensation that he can't take a deep breath. Sometimes a person may sigh a lot."

"Symptoms involving impaired contraction of smooth muscles include constipation; urinary spasms; menstrual cramps; difficulty swallowing or a lump in the throat-especially provoked by eating sugar; photophobia, especially difficulty adjusting to oncoming bright headlights in the absence of eye disease; and loud noise sensitivity from stapedius muscle tension in the ear."

"Other symptoms and signs of magnesium deficiency and discuss laboratory testing for this common condition. Continuing with the symptoms of magnesium deficiency, the central nervous system is markedly affected. Symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, hyperactivity and restlessness with constant movement, panic attacks, agoraphobia, and premenstrual irritability. Magnesium deficiency symptoms involving the peripheral nervous system include numbness, tingling, and other abnormal sensations, such as zips, zaps and vibratory sensations."

"Symptoms or signs of the cardiovascular system include palpitations, heart arrhythmias, and angina due to spasms of the coronary arteries, high blood pressure and mitral valve prolapse. Be aware that not all of the symptoms need to be present to presume magnesium deficiency; but, many of them often occur together. For example, people with mitral valve prolapse frequently have palpitations, anxiety, panic attacks and premenstrual symptoms. People with magnesium deficiency often seem to be "uptight." Other general symptoms include a salt craving, both carbohydrate craving and carbohydrate intolerance, especially of chocolate, and breast tenderness."

Magnesium is needed by every cell in the body including those of the brain. It is one of the most important minerals when considering supplementation because of its vital role in hundreds of enzyme systems and functions related to reactions in cell metabolism, as well as being essential for the synthesis of proteins, for the utilization of fats and carbohydrates. Magnesium is needed not only for the production of specific detoxification enzymes but is also important for energy production related to cell detoxification. A magnesium deficiency can affect virtually every system of the body.

Like water we need magnesium everyday. There is aneternal need for magnesium as well as water and when
magnesium is present in water life and health are enhanced.

One of the principle reason doctors write millions of prescriptions for tranquilizers each year is the nervousness, irritability, and jitters largely brought on by inadequate diets lacking magnesium. Persons only slightly deficient in magnesium become irritable, highly-strung, and sensitive to noise, hyper-excitable, apprehensive and belligerent. If the deficiency is more severe or prolonged, they may develop twitching, tremors, irregular pulse, insomnia, muscle weakness, jerkiness and leg and foot cramps.
If magnesium is severely deficient, the brain is particularly affected. Clouded thinking, confusion, disorientation, marked depression and even the terrifying hallucinations of delirium tremens are largely brought on by a lack of this nutrient and remedied when magnesium is given. Because large amounts of calcium are lost in the urine when magnesium is under supplied, the lack of this nutrient indirectly becomes responsible for much rampant tooth decay, poor bone development, osteoporosis and slow healing of broken bones and fractures. With vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), magnesium helps to reduce and dissolve calcium phosphate kidney stones.

Magnesium deficiency may be a common factor associated with insulin resistance. Symptoms of MS that are also symptoms of magnesium deficiency include muscle spasms, weakness, twitching, muscle atrophy,  an inability to control the bladder, nystagmus (rapid eye movements), hearing loss, and osteoporosis.  People with MS have higher rates of epilepsy than controls.  Epilepsy has also been linked to magnesium deficiencies.

By Dr. Mark Sircus
Read the full article here. 

Worst Endocrine Disruptors Revealed, and They Could Be Raising Your Family’s Cancer Risk

By Dr. Mercola

Common household goods, personal care products, and even food and water, are major sources of chemical exposure that can lead to an accumulation of toxins in your body. For obvious reasons, children are at greatest risk for adverse effects.
Many common household chemicals are known as endocrine disruptors, a number of which are found in plastic products. These chemicals are similar in structure to natural sex hormones such as estrogen, thereby interfering with their normal functions.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently published a list of the 12 worst hormone-disrupting chemicals you may be coming into contact with on a regular basis. As stated in their report:¹

“There is no end to the tricks that endocrine disruptors can play on our bodies: increasing production of certain hormones; decreasing production of others; imitating hormones; turning one hormone into another; interfering with hormone signaling; telling cells to die prematurely; competing with essential nutrients; binding to essential hormones; accumulating in organs that produce hormones.”

The 12 Worst Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals

The EWG report includes many of the most well-known hormone wreckers, but also contains some that may surprise you, such as lead, mercury and arsenic. While these are known for other harmful health effects, hormone disruption is not typically discussed in relation to them.
In all, the EWG’s “dirty dozen” list for the 12 worst endocrine disruptors are the following². I’ve written about many of these in prior articles, so for more information about any particular one, please follow the links provided.

Bisphenol-A (BPA)	Dioxin	Atrazine	Phthalates
Perchlorate	Fire retardants	Lead	Mercury
Arsenic	Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs)	Organophosphate pesticides	Glycol ethers

Landmark Report Links Common Household Chemicals to Human Disease

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced³ a new report co-produced with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), titled: State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals. The report suggests that outright banning endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may actually be needed to protect the health of future generations...
The joint study has been touted as the most comprehensive report on endocrine disrupting chemicals to date, and it too flags several of the most common culprits, including Bisphenol-A (BPA), PCB’s, phthalates and agricultural pesticides. According to the report, a wide variety of health problems are associated with exposure to these pervasive chemicals, including:

Non-descended testes in young males	Developmental effects on the nervous system in children	Prostate cancer in men
Developmental effects on the nervous system in children	Attention deficit /hyperactivity in children	Thyroid cancer

According to the report:

 “The diverse systems affected by endocrine-disrupting chemicals likely include all hormonal systems and range from those controlling development and function of reproductive organs to the tissues and organs regulating metabolism and satiety.
Effects on these systems can lead to obesity, infertility or reduced fertility, learning and memory difficulties, adult-onset diabetes or cardiovascular disease, as well as a variety of other diseases.”

Are Personal Care Products Driving Up Breast Cancer Rates in Younger Women?

The connection between endocrine disrupting chemicals and cancer is of particular concern, especially when it comes to children, whose exposure to these chemicals from a young age may predispose them to cancer at increasingly earlier ages. This is precisely what we’re seeing, as record numbers of women under the age of 50 are now being diagnosed with breast cancer. Dr. Christine Horner, a board certified general and plastic surgeon specializing in breast reconstructive surgery due to mastectomy, has also discussed how her patients kept getting increasingly younger... Could exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals be to blame?
A study published last year suggests that parabens from antiperspirants and other cosmetics indeed appear to increase your risk of breast cancer⁴. The research, which was also reviewed in an editorial published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, looked at where breast tumors were appearing, and determined that higher concentrations of parabens were found in the upper quadrants of the breast and axillary area, where antiperspirants are usually applied⁵.
Quite shockingly, the paraben residues were found at concentrations up to 1 million times higher than the estrogen (estradiol) levels naturally found in human breast tissue! Clearly these chemicals are accumulating at alarmingly high concentrations, likely because of their widespread and persistent daily use. Previous research has shown that women absorb an estimated five pounds of chemicals a year from their daily makeup routine alone.
While parabens are not included on the EWG’s list of the worst endocrine disrupters out there, there’s plenty of evidence showing that parabens—which are some of the most widely used chemicals in personal care products—can wreak havoc on your health. Parabens inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeast, and molds, and are used as preservatives in countless consumer products, including:

Deodorants and antiperspirants	Shampoos and conditioners	Shaving gel	Toothpaste
Lotions and sunscreens	Make-up / cosmetics	Pharmaceutical drugs	Food additives

Hormone Levels May Predict Your Breast Cancer Risk

In related news, preliminary research suggests that hormone levels might in fact serve as useful markers to help predict a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer⁶. According to the study’s author, postmenopausal women with high levels of estrogen, androgen and prolactin are at increased risk of invasive breast cancer.
 A woman’s hormone levels are currently not included in conventional cancer risk prediction models. The author of the study suggests that checking the levels of estrone sulfate, testosterone and prolactin "may provide the biggest improvement in risk prediction for breast cancer."  While the research is still considered preliminary, and more studies need to be done to ascertain the accuracy of this theory, the finding is “quite logical” according to Dr. Myra Barginear, a breast medical oncologist in New York State, who said:

“If the study's findings are validated and confirmed, a simple blood test to evaluate hormone levels, as the Investigators did in the study, would be a very useful, additional tool to evaluate a woman's risk of developing breast cancer."

Simplify Your Life and Reduce Your Toxic Burden

In 2004, a six-month study was done about personal care product use. More than 10,000 body care product ingredients were evaluated, involving 2,300 participants. One of the findings was that the average adult uses nine personal care products each day, containing 126 different chemicals. The study also found that more than 250,000 women, and one out of every 100 men, use an average of 15 products daily.
Does this sound like someone you know? It’s important to remember that your skin is your largest, and most permeable organ. Just about anything you put on your skin will end up in your bloodstream and distributed throughout your body. Once these chemicals find their way into your body, they tend to accumulate over time because you typically lack the necessary enzymes to break them down. This is why I'm so fond of saying "don't put anything on your body that you wouldn't eat if you had to."
If you insist on buying commercial products, you’ve got a little bit of work cut out for you in terms of researching the ingredients. Still, it can be done. I recommend using the EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database⁷ to research the potential toxicity of ingredients. Products bearing the USDA 100% Organic seal are among your safest bets if you want to avoid potentially toxic ingredients. Beware that products boasting "all-natural" labels can still contain harmful chemicals, so be sure to check the full list of ingredients.
Another alternative—and perhaps both the safest and easiest one—is to make your own personal care and household cleaning products.  Coconut oil, for example, is a multipurpose powerhouse that can be safely used on your body from head to toe. When absorbed into your skin, coconut oil helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by helping to keep your connective tissues strong and supple. It also helps exfoliate the outer layer of dead skin cells, making your skin smoother. Coconut oil is also great for nurturing and conditioning your hair, and many rave about the oil's ability to prevent "the frizzies" in humid weather.
Baking soda is another inexpensive basic that can replace multiple products.⁸ You can use it in lieu of shampoo⁹, face- and body scrub, and toothpaste, for example. It’s also a natural odor neutralizer, so rubbing a pinch of it into your arm pit may be all you need to replace your toxic antiperspirant.
As for household cleaning products, tried and true items such as liquid castile soap, hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice can get the job done just as well -- sometimes even better -- than their commercial counterparts. To learn more, please see my previous article on this topic. You can also search EWG’s Healthy Cleaning Guide¹⁰ for safety ratings on more than 2,000 different cleaning products.

More Tips to Help You Avoid Toxic Chemicals

Implementing the following measures—many of which are included in the EWG’s recommendations for avoiding the worst endocrine-disrupting culprit¹¹—can also help you protect yourself and your children from toxins from a wide variety of sources.

1. As much as possible, buy and eat organic produce and free-range, organic meats to reduce your exposure to added hormones, pesticides and fertilizers. Also avoid milk and other dairy products that contain the genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST).
2. Rather than eating conventional or farm-raised fish, which are often heavily contaminated with PCBs and mercury, supplement with a high-quality purified krill oil, or eat fish that is wild-caught and lab tested for purity. Wild caught Alaskan salmon is about the only fish I eat for these reasons.
3. Buy products that come in glass bottles rather than plastic or canned, since chemicals can leach out of plastics and into the contents. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a serious concern; make sure plastic containers and canned goods are BPA-free.
4. Also store your food and beverages in glass rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap.
5. Use glass baby bottles and BPA-free sippy cups for your little ones.
6. Eat mostly raw, fresh foods. Processed, prepackaged foods (of all kinds) are a common source of chemicals such as BPA and phthalates.
7. Replace your non-stick pots and pans with ceramic or glass cookware.
8. Filter your tap water—both for drinking and bathing. In fact, if you can only afford to do one, filtering your bathing water may be more important, as your skin absorbs contaminants. To remove the endocrine disrupting herbicide Atrazine, make sure the filter is certified to remove it. According to the EWG, perchlorate can be filtered out using a reverse osmosis filter.
9. Look for products that are made by companies that are earth-friendly, animal-friendly, green, non-toxic and/or 100% organic. This applies to everything from food and personal care products to building materials, carpeting, paint, baby items, upholstery and more.
10. Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to remove contaminated house dust.
11. When buying new products such as furniture, mattresses, or carpet padding, ask what type of fire retardant it contains. Be mindful of and/or avoid items containing PBDEs, antimony, formaldehyde, boric acid, and other brominated chemicals. As you replace these toxic items around your home, select those that contain naturally less flammable materials, such as leather, wool and cotton.
12. Avoid stain- and water-resistant clothing, furniture and carpets to avoid perfluorinated chemicals (PFC’s).
13. Make sure your baby's toys are BPA-free, such as pacifiers, teething rings and anything your child may be prone to suck on.
14. Only use natural cleaning products in your home, or make your own. Avoid products that contain 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE) and methoxydiglycol (DEGME)—two toxic glycol ethers that can damage fertility and cause fetal harm¹².
15. Switch over to organic brands of toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirants and cosmetics. Remember, you can replace many different products with coconut oil and baking soda, for example.  The Environmental Working Group has a great database¹³ to help you find personal care products that are free of phthalates and other potentially dangerous chemicals. I also offer one of the highest quality organic skin care lines, shampoo and conditioner, and body butter that are completely natural and safe.
16. Replace feminine hygiene products like tampons and sanitary pads with safer alternatives.
17. Avoid artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners or other synthetic fragrances.
18. Look for products that are fragrance-free. One artificial fragrance can contain hundreds -- even thousands -- of potentially toxic chemicals.
19. Replace your vinyl shower curtain with one made of fabric.

Visit Mercola.com here.

The Age of Antibiotics is Coming to an End, as Wider Variety of Bacteria are Now Impervious

By Dr. Mercola

Believing an antibiotic will cure your illness is taken for granted by most people nowadays, but that is rapidly changing. According to the experts, the age of antibiotic drugs is coming to an end. And the implications are dire.
There are two primary reasons for this drug demise.

1. First, many strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to even our strongest antibiotics and are causing deadly infections. The bacteria are evolving faster than we are.
2. Secondly, drug companies have all but abandoned the development of new antibiotics because of their poor profit margins.

The fact that the drug industry is showing no interest is itself an ominous sign! Big Pharma is much more interested in selling you drugs from which they can make a handsome profit, such as those marketed for cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s and erectile dysfunction.
Experts have been warning about the implications of antibiotic resistance for years, but never before have their warnings been so emphatic. Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said to PBS Frontline:¹

“For a long time, there have been newspaper stories and magazine articles that asked 'The end of antibiotics?’ Well, now I would say you can change the title to 'The end of antibiotics, period.'"

Nature has found a way around every antibiotic we’ve come up with, and we’re quickly running out of options. We now face the perfect storm to take us back to the pre-antibiotic age, and there is no comprehensive plan going forward. If our few remaining effective antibiotics fail, we can expect significant casualties.
Thankfully, there is a lot you can do to fend off infection naturally—and prevention is key, NOW more than ever!

Superbugs 23,000… Humans Zero

According to a landmark “Antibiotic Resistance Threat Report” published by the CDC² earlier this year, 2 million American adults and children become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 of them die as a direct result of those infections. Even more die from complications.
According to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), just one organism—methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA—kills more Americans each year than the combined total of emphysema, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and homicide.³
This death toll is really just an estimate, and the real number is likely much higher. The true extent of superbug infections remains unknown because no one is tracking them—at least not in the US.

Hospitals here are not required to report outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, unlike in the EU where they are at least making efforts to track them. The US is in desperate need of a surveillance program for reporting and tracking this growing threat.⁴
What we’re seeing is the evolution of bacteria. Basically, microorganisms have learned to teach each other how to outsmart the best pharmaceutical drugs we have to offer, and they are definitely winning the battle.

The 18 Most-Dangerous Pathogens of 2013

The majority of the highly dangerous bacteria are in the Gram-negative category, because that variety has body armor that makes it extremely tough. Some forms are now exhibiting “panresistance”—meaning, resistance to absolutely every antibiotic in existence. In the CDC’s report “Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013,” the following 18 superbugs are identified as “urgent, serious and concerning threats” to humankind:⁵

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE): A family of Gram-negative bacteria that are prominent in your gut growing increasingly resistant to nearly all types of antibiotics

Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae: The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is becoming increasingly resistant to the last type of antibiotics left to treat it, having already become resistant to less potent antibiotics. Strains of the disease that are resistant to the class of antibiotic drugs called cephalosporins have appeared in several countries.

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter: Appeared in the US after Iraq and Afghanistan war vets returned home. Tough enough to survive even on dry surfaces like dust particles, making it easy to pass from host to host, especially in hospital environments

Drug-resistant Campylobacter: Campylobacter is the fourth leading cause of foodborne illness in the US. Campylobacter bacteria are unique in that they secrete an exotoxin that is similar to cholera toxin.

Fluconazole-resistant Candida (a fungus)

Extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLs): ESBLs are enzymes produced by certain types of bacteria, which renders the bacteria resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. ESBL-producing E. Coli, for example, are resistant to penicillins and cephalosporins, and are becoming more frequent in urinary tract infections

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE): Increasingly common in hospital settings

Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Linked to serious bloodstream infections and surgical wounds, can lead to pneumonia and other complications; some are resistant to nearly every family of antibiotic

Drug-resistant Non-typhoidal Salmonella and Salmonella Typhi

Drug-resistant Shigella: An infectious disease caused by Shigella bacteria

Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff): Can live in the gut without causing symptoms but attacks when your immune system is weakened; C. Diff is on the rise—infections increased by 400 percent between 2000 and 2007—and is becoming increasingly antibiotic-resistant

Methicillin-resistant and Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA and VRSA): Gram-positive bacteria infecting about 80,000 people each year, can lead to sepsis and death. Increasing in communities, although decreasing in hospitals over the past decade; recent evidence points to factory-scale hog CAFOs as a primary source; MRSA is also a significant risk for your pets

Drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae: A leading cause of pneumonia, bacteremia, sinusitis, and acute otitis media

Drug-resistant tuberculosis: Extensively resistant TB (XDR TB) has a 40 percent mortality rate and is on the rise worldwide; tuberculosis is one of the most infectious diseases because it’s so easily spread through the air when infected people cough or sneeze

Erythromycin-resistant Group A and Clindamycin-resistant Group B Streptococcus

Armed and Extremely Dangerous: NDM-1 and KPC

NDM-1, or “New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1,’” is a bacterial gene that confers “super-resistance” to conventional antibiotics. This gene is carried by a rising number of bacteria and makes them virtually unstoppable. What makes NDM-1 such a force to be reckoned with is that it can easily be passed from one bacterium to another, like a kid sharing his lunch—turning your ordinary bacteria into superbacteria. NDM-1 has now reached 48 countries. In the US, the CDC identified 16 cases in 2012, and that number has already doubled for 2013. Another type of highly drug-resistant bacteria is KPC, or Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC)-Producing bacteria. Both KPC and NDM-1 infections are highly lethal, causing death in about half of those diagnosed.

How the Modern Food System has Created an Unbeatable “Army” of  Superbugs

Antibiotic overuse and inappropriate use bears a heavy responsibility for creating the superbug crisis we are facing today. According to Dr. Srinivasan, as much as half of all antibiotics used in clinics and hospitals “are either unneeded or patients are getting the wrong drugs to treat their infections.”¹
The pervasive misuse of antibiotics by the agriculture industry is particularly reprehensible. Agriculture accounts for about 80 percent of all antibiotics used in the US. 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics are administered to livestock in the US every year for purposes other than treating disease, such as making the animals grow bigger faster. In other parts of the world, such as the EU, adding antibiotics to animal feed to accelerate growth has been banned for years. The antibiotic residues in meat and dairy, as well as the resistant bacteria, are passed on to you in the foods you eat. Eighty different antibiotics are allowed in cows’ milk. According to the CDC, 22 percent of antibiotic-resistant illness in humans is in fact linked to food. In the words of Dr. Srinivasan:

“The more you use an antibiotic, the more you expose a bacteria to an antibiotic, the greater the likelihood that resistance to that antibiotic is going to develop. So the more antibiotics we put into people, we put into the environment, we put into livestock, the more opportunities we create for these bacteria to become resistant.”

Unfortunately, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has again reneged on its plan to withdraw approval of penicillin and tetracycline antibiotics for use in food-producing animal feed. By bowing to industry pressure, the FDA is allowing an unsafe practice to continue at the expense of your health.
Another contributing factor is the genetic engineering of our foods. As Jeffrey Smith explained at the recent GMO Summit, it’s possible that GMOs from food can transfer genetic material to your normal gut bacteria, conferring antibiotic resistance and turning them into superbugs. GMOs have been scientifically proven to activate and deactivate hundreds if not thousands of genes. We have no idea about the gravity of this risk, as no one has yet studied it.

Is Tainted Meat the “New Normal”?

Previous research suggests you have a 50/50 chance of buying meat tainted with drug-resistant bacteria when you buy meat from your local grocery store. But it may be even worse. Using data collected by the federal agency called NARMS (National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System), the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 81 percent of ground turkey, 69 percent of pork chops, 55 percent of ground beef, and 39 percent of raw chicken parts purchased in stores in 2011.
EWG nutritionist and the report's lead researcher, Dawn Undurraga, issued the following warning to the public:⁶

“Consumers should be very concerned that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now common in the meat aisles of most American supermarkets... These organisms can cause foodborne illnesses and other infections. Worse, they spread antibiotic-resistance, which threatens to bring on a post-antibiotic era where important medicines critical to treating people could become ineffective.”

Recalls, Recalls, and More Recalls

This is a Flash-based video and may not be viewable on mobile devices.

You would expect this widespread contamination of the food supply to make a lot of people sick—and that is exactly what we’re seeing. With so much contaminated food, it isn’t surprising that food recalls are an increasingly frequent segment on the nightly news. An ongoing outbreak of “Salmonella Heidelberg” has already sickened at least 472 people this year, who consumed tainted Foster Farms chicken from three central California processing plants. People have fallen ill across 20 states, from Washington State to Puerto Rico.⁷ Forty-two percent have required hospitalization, which is an uncommonly high rate due to the virulence of this strain.⁸ Why is it so virulent?
The Salmonella bacteria cultured from the ill were found to be resistant to combinations of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline. The CDC warned, "Antimicrobial resistance may increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals."⁹

Big Pharma is Washing its Hands of the Crisis it Helped to Create

The drug industry has all but abandoned antibiotics research because these “wonder drugs” of the last half-century are becoming ineffective—and Big Pharma knows it. The “antibiotic bubble” has burst.10 According to Paul Stoffels, head of Johnson & Johnson:¹⁰

"The market for a new antibiotic is very small, the rewards are not there and so the capital is not flowing. In cancer, people pay $30,000, $50,000 or $80,000 (per patient) for a drug, but for an antibiotic it is likely to be only a few hundred dollars."

Developing a new drug can take a decade of clinical trials and reportedly cost between $800 million to one billion dollars.¹¹ Not only are antibiotics relatively inexpensive for you, but you are only required to take one for a week or two, which limits profits for the manufacturer. Why put money into a cheap drug that is only taken for a couple of weeks when they can focus their efforts on expensive drugs that people will believe they need to take for the rest of their lives? I guess, for the drug industry, antibiotics now fall into the “Why Bother” category.
Rather than being guided by improved patient outcomes, the industry is wholly guided by its endless quest for profits. According to the ISDA, the number of new systemic antibiotics approved by the FDA has plunged from 16 between 1983 and 1987 to JUST TWO in the past five years.⁹ Only four pharmaceutical companies are still working on developing new antibiotics. In terms of fighting gram-negative superbugs, there were only seven antibiotics in an advanced stage of development as of early 2013—and one belongs to a drug company that recently filed for bankruptcy.¹⁰

Visions of a Post Antibiotic-Apocalypse

Medicine has very few options when the antibiotic pipeline completely dries up.  Hospitals are already resorting to some very unsavory treatments, resurrecting old drugs that were abandoned for good reasons.
For example, they have resurrected a toxic bug-killing chemical called Colistin¹² (first introduced in 1952 and known to cause kidney damage) as a last-ditch effort to treat multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. Then there is the strategy of cutting off (or cutting out) the infected body part, which sometimes has to be performed several times, a few inches at a time as the infection migrates further into the patient’s body.
The bottom line is, if ALL antibiotics fail, it will in effect mark an end to modern medicine as we know it—and we are quickly heading in that direction.
Common illnesses such as bronchitis or strep throat may turn into deadly sepsis. Surgeries previously considered low risk or “routine,” such as hip replacements, might suddenly be too risky without antibiotics. And complex surgeries like organ transplants would essentially not be survivable.

So What’s the Solution?

The impending superbug crisis has a three-prong solution:

1. Better infection prevention, with a focus on strengthening your immune system naturally
2. More responsible use of antibiotics for people and animals, with a return to biodynamic farming and a complete overhaul of our food system
3. Innovative new approaches to the treatment of infections from all branches of science, natural as well as allopathic

There are some promising new avenues of study that may result in fresh ways to fight superbugs. For example, Dutch scientists have discovered a way to deactivate antibiotics with a blast of ultraviolet light before bacteria have a chance to adapt, and before the antibiotics can damage your good bacteria.¹³
And British scientists have discovered how bacteria talk to each other through “quorum signaling” and are investigating ways of disrupting this process in order to render them incapable of causing an infection. They believe this may lead to a new line of anti-infectives that do not kill bacteria, but instead block their ability to cause disease.¹⁴ But the basic strategy that you have at your disposal right now is prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s much easier to prevent an infection than to halt one already in progress.
Avoiding antibiotic-resistance is but one of several good reasons to avoid meats and animal products from animals raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFO’s). This is in part why grass-fed pastured meat is the ONLY type of meat I recommend. If you’re regularly eating meat bought at your local grocery store, know that you’re in all likelihood getting a low dose of antibiotics with every meal... and this low-dose exposure is what’s allowing bacteria to adapt and develop such strong resistance.

What You Can Do Now

Fortunately, Mother Nature gives us a cornucopia of botanicals that put antibiotic drugs to shame in the battle against pathogenic microbes. Natural compounds with antimicrobial activity such as garlic, cinnamon, oregano extract, colloidal silver, Manuka honey, probiotics and fermented foods, echinacea, sunlight and vitamin D are all excellent options to try before resorting to drugs. Best of all, research has shown that bacteria do not tend to develop resistance to these types of treatments. Perhaps nature is smarter than most would like to think.
The basic key to keeping your immune system healthy is making good lifestyle choices such as proper diet, stress management and exercise.
Remember, opt for clean, whole foods (animal and plant based), organically raised without antibiotics and preferably locally sourced. Antibiotics simply aren’t  needed when healthy animals are raised properly. One chicken farmer has demonstrated that even large-scale animal farms can manage without routine administration of antibiotic drugs by using an herbal remedy of oregano oil and cinnamon instead!
By taking control of your own health and building a strong immune system, you’ll minimize your risk of acquiring an antibiotic-resistant infection.

View complete article and videos here.  

How You Can Benefit from the Combination of Mind/Body, Agility, Strength and High Intensity Interval Training

By MASH Up Conditioning

Physical activity is an important component of a healthy lifestyle and the benefits of regular exercise have been well established. Adopting your fitness routine to include more interval training can bring great benefits to your energy levels, body composition, and overall fitness.

If you are exercising regularly, you're already doing a great job at trying to be healthier. Unfortunately, you might find yourself among the masses of people that routinely do low to moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise for extended periods of time and therefore seeing very little results.  

You may also be plagued with injury because you have a weak core muscle stature and poor posture. Lastly, you may see delayed results because you are not building muscle through agility and strength exercises.  With that said, we recommend a combination of Mind Body, Agility and Strength and High Intensity Intervals (HIIT) for the perfect workout so you can see maximum results in less time.

Why You Need High Intensity Intervals, and What Chronic Cardio Does to Your Body

When you stay above 75 percent of your maximum heart rate for extended periods of time, you’re burning glycogen. Your body in turn craves more carbohydrates to replenish the lost stores, so you devour lots of sugar and starches. This describes your body’s urge to reach for a bagel after a long run or a session on the elliptical going at a steady pace. 

When you continue this cycle, your body can release more cortisol (stress hormone that can cause weight gain), lose lean muscle mass, and gain more fat mass. Other signs of overtraining can include illness and fatigue. This is counterproductive to most individuals’ health and fitness goals. In an effort to improve health, any activity that makes you more fatigued and susceptible to illness should be avoided.

If you’re not doing some form of high intensity intervals in combination with strength and mind/body exercises a few times a week, then you are missing out on the most beneficial and time efficient form of exercise. 

The bonus: Just 15 minutes of interval training is as effective as 60-90 minutes of steady state exercise. This typically includes whole body functional movements involving cardiovascular and muscular exercises engaging the core as the center of every movement. Intervals can be performed on any type of cardio equipment, doing drills in place, or old-fashioned sprints. 

The latest research suggests that performing high intensity intervals can be 5-6 times as effective as regular steady state exercise. HIIT can be used to increase cardiovascular capacity, performance levels, and accelerate fat loss. Therefore ditch the long cardio sessions and replace them with effective short bursts of cardio leading to breathlessness.  

You know you are performing HIIT intervals correctly when it takes your body at least 30 seconds to gain your breath back. An easy way to know if you have hit your target heart rate is to perform a talk test (e.g. repeat your phone number immediately after an interval without stopping to catch your breath). You should not be able to say more than 3 words consecutively without stopping to catch a breath.  

What Makes HIIT So Beneficial

Low-volume high-intensity workouts recruit fast twitch muscle fibers, increasing the production of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) naturally and normalizing insulin levels. Interval training produces healthy levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which start to decline around the age of 30. One study from the Journal of Sport Sciences showed that HGH levels were up 450 percent by performing 30-second high intensity intervals. Benefits of healthy levels of HGH and regulated insulin levels include but are not limited to: decreasing body fat, improving muscle tone, slowing down the aging process, boosting energy, decreasing stress, preventing disease, improving athletic speed and performance and achieving fitness goals much faster. 

How to Implement HIIT and Not Overstress Your Body

Eat Well for Energy--While decreasing your carbohydrate consumption is often seen as the best way to decrease body fat, when performing High Intensity Intervals you need to ensure you are getting proper nutrition. 

Always begin a meal or snack with healthy proteins (grass-fed or wild caught) or healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, etc.) and then load up on lots of vegetables and some fruit for your carbohydrates to support your energy needs. Some good examples of pre and post workout snacks include but are not limited scrambled eggs with berries, avocados, and grass-fed beef.

Get Enough Sleep--We all know that lack of sleep leaves us looking ragged the next morning. More and more research is showing that a good night’s sleep is essential for our health. In fact, getting adequate sleep to allow recovery from intense exercise is vital to maximizing the benefits from it while also preventing conditions such as high blood pressure, metabolic diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, etc.

If you are having trouble sleeping through the night, you may need to reconfigure your workout regimen. It is best to get into a routine where you consistently go to bed and wake up on a regular schedule, limit distractions before sleep such as television, and practice relaxation techniques. Studies show that those who do not sleep through the night are more at risk for numerous conditions such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. 

Quality Is More Important Than Quantity--The key to maximum results is to workout smarter, not longer. High intensity interval workouts should be limited to several times a week to allow the body to recover properly and reap the benefits of it depending on what your goals are. 

If an individual desires to get stronger, then HIIT should be performed only once per week. Whereas an individual wanting to achieve a leaner body mass could perform HIIT up to three times per week if they have the ability to recover well. Therefore, decide what your goals are and experiment with just doing one HIIT session per week or gradually add more workouts while monitoring your progress and results.

Have Variety--While high intensity intervals seem perfect for losing body fat and improving lean muscle mass, we know that high levels of the hormone cortisol can cause the body to hold onto fat. That is why it is always beneficial to change up your routine where you are only performing HIIT several days per week, insert other types of physical activity in between or mix it all up on the same day and take days off in between. 

Instead of doing additional days of interval training, try engaging in some type of active recovery such as walking or yoga. You may find that this stress-reducing exercise helps you recover more quickly from your more intense exercise schedule. In 1963, Tudor Bompa introduced this idea of periodization (AKA muscle confusion) that focuses on loading muscles in a variety of ways for optimal performance and results.  By varying your workouts, the body is constantly adapting and improving upon its weaknesses, which leads to greater results.   

What are the Added Benefits of Other Types of Exercises Combined With HIIT?

As previously mentioned, it is always best to combine interval training with core and strength exercises for maximum benefit and results. When done appropriately the benefits include but are not limited to: decrease body fat, slow the aging process, improve mental well being and provide stress relief, improve posture and balance, improve insulin sensitivity, control blood pressure, increase lean body mass and decreased illness. 

Mind/Body--These types of exercises have been described as full body movements associated with improved muscular strength, flexibility, balance and coordination, improved mental development and self-efficacy. This could include a fusion of core exercises and flexibility combining fundamentals from Yoga and Pilates to name a few. 

A variety of these exercises have shown to help individuals decrease anxiety, decrease pain, enhance sleep, decrease the use of medication for post-surgical pain, decrease side effects of medical procedures, reduce recovery time and shorten hospital stays, strengthen the immune system and enhance the ability to heal, increase sense of control and well-being. 

One of the greatest benefits of mind/body exercise is preventing injury so that you can continue on your road to better health through high intensity intervals and agility and strength exercises. They strengthen your entire core as well as help promote good posture leading to proper form and technique during strength and interval training.  A good rule of thumb is to regularly include mind/body exercises so that you can continue your long-term fitness routine while preventing injury and promoting flexibility.

Learn more here.