Monday, May 4, 2009

Diets Don't Work

Have you ever perused the diet book section at your local bookstore?
There you will find a zillion different diets all promising you the same thing.
Which one do you choose?

I say none of them.

I say you already have all you need. You just need to use your common sense.

What's making you fat?

You have an unhealthy diet. You never think about nutrition. Your diet consists mostly of processed foods and you imbibe soda and expensive coffee drinks daily.

And you rarely get off your butt and get any exercise.

I'm sooooo hoping you don't smoke too. UGH.
OR spend a lot of time in an environment filled with second-hand smoke.

Considering that 85% of all disease can be directly attributed to lifestyle don't you think it's time to get your act together. As hard as it is to change bad habits it's still MUCH easier to stay well than to get well. You NEVER want to be in the position of having to try to get well.

So, ready to clean up your healthstyle?
Where oh where do you start?

You start between your ears.
Yes, between your ears.
Your biggest obstacle to transitioning to a healthier healthstyle is what you're telling yourself.

What have you been telling yourself?
Geeze, I hate myself. I'll eat better tomorrow. I'll start exercising tomorrow. I'll never look that good. Be real. You've never heard anyone say: "I look wonderful I think I'll start a diet today."

In transitioning to a healthier healthstyle your first task is to stop talking negatively to yourself. When you have a negative thought replace it with something positive. Always.

Next realize diets don't work.

"Diets" have become in our culture synonymous with a temporary way to eat.
In transitioning to a healthier healthstyle you must resolve to eat healthy and partake in regular exercise for your lifetime. You don't want to be healthier or lose weight on a temporary basis. You want to be healthier and maintain a normal weight for your lifetime. So think of it that way as you exchange your bad habits for good ones.

So how do you transition to eating healthy?

Well, start out in small ways.

Add a salad every day.
Start eating breakfast everyday.
Eat two fruits everyday.
Once a week eat a vegetable you've never eaten.
Three meals a week have a totally veggie meal.
Clean your kitchen pantry out. Dump anything that lists high fructose corn syrup or any kind of artificial sweetener or anything hydrolyzed in the ingredients.

Not an all inclusive list.... but it'll get you started.

Oh yeah and one more thing......

Subscribe to my Empowering Wellness newsletter at http://optimizetoheal.com
Read the free Ebook you get with the subscription .....

To Your Health,

Pam Murphy,M.S.,RRT

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Politics, Profits and Pandemic Fear Mongering

I don't often use my blog for other peoples articles/thoughts. However, the article below by Barbara Loe Fisher is immensely important. What she says about the questionable safety of a "hurried" vaccine is something we all need to consider. Do YOU want to gamble on that? Some of us are old enough to remember the last swine flu debacle.

She's right on the money (no pun intended) ...... wash your hands diligently, eat well THINK NUTRITION, get plenty of rest, manage stress. I would add (because you should be all the time as suggested in the June 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association) take a quality multi-nutrition supplement..... because vitamins/minerals in our produce has decreased 5-40%. Consider VitaOne http://tinyurl.com/dz5vth or Primalux http://tinyurl.com/c72yhg and for the kids http://tinyurl.com/ctouqu Are you getting the recommended servings of veggies/fruits? (i.e. Women 7 Men 9 Children 5). Note a serving is 1/2 cup.

Ok, I'll shut up and let you read the article:


Politics, Profits & Pandemic Fear Mongering
by Barbara Loe Fisher

http://nvic.org

Are you grabbing your face mask, stocking up on food and Tamiflu, locking your doors and keeping your TV tuned to the news to find out just how bad the "swine flu pandemic" really is going to get? While Americans are being scared to death, few are noticing how much of their tax money politicians are giving to drug companies and government health officials to grease the skids to create more experimental flu vaccines and drugs and more effective ways to quarantine or force their mass use whenever a "public health emergency" is declared in the future.

Call me cynical but not clueless. The bird's eye view I have had for the past 27 years at the National Vaccine Information Center has taught me one thing: the global alliance between Big Pharma and Big Public Health is a prescription for disaster that could extend far beyond a bout with the flu.

The international drama playing out right now before our eyes is an example of how citizens around the world can be easily manipulated by doctors and politicians engaging in fear mongering in the name of disease control to forward agendas that have more to do with ideology, power and corporate profits than health. When the U.S. Director of Homeland Security is the government official doing the talking rather than the U.S. Director of the Centers for Disease Control, put a copy of the U.S. Constitution in your pocket and take a look at federal and state legislation passed since September 11, 2001 to understand which civil rights you don't have anymore when government health officials declare a "public health emergency."

But before we take a look at the threat to civil liberties that pandemic fear mongering poses, let's take a look at how creation of a global human market for influenza vaccines works. It is a blueprint for Successful Marketing 101 (or perhaps it is all just a coincidence).

In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an international call for all nations to do whatever it takes to increase public appetite and demand for annual influenza shots as the main strategy to prepare for an influenza pandemic. In April 2007, the WHO used money donated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to fund the creation of influenza vaccine manufacturing plants in Mexico and other countries one week after the FDA gave Sanofi Pasteur a license to produce an experimental bird flu (H5N1) vaccine. Sanofi Pasteur is just one of many drug companies the U.S. government has given millions of dollars to for the creation of bird flu vaccines.

On February 19, 2009, the FDA's Vaccines & Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) discussed whether to give approval for the testing of experimental bird flu vaccine on American infants. VRBPAC consumer member, also NVIC's Director of Patient Safety Vicky Debold,PhD, warned that testing of an experimental pandemic bird flu vaccine on infants in the absence of a real epidemic and without assurances that unapproved novel oil based (squalene) adjuvants (AS03, MF59) are safe, could pose unacceptable risks in terms of inducing severe immune dysfunction.

On February 27, 2009 it was confirmed that an influenza vaccine maker, Baxter International, had released a mixture of seasonal influenza viruses mixed with unlabeled live bird flu viruses to facilities in Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Slovenia. Baxter, which is waiting for a license to manufacturer bird flu vaccine, explained it was an "accident" and that no harm was done.

On April 23, 2009, the world heard the first news reports about a mysterious pig (H1N1) and bird (H5N1)and human hybrid influenza virus that was making people sick near a Mexican pig farm. By April 30, the WHO had issued a Phase 5 "Alert" warning that the world was facing an imminent pandemic influenza epidemic on the strength of several hundred cases of "swine" flu and less than 10 confirmed deaths.

The pandemic flu panic that has an especially strong grip on people living in Mexico and the U.S., thanks to the governments of both countries declaring a "public health emergency," has been a good thing for pharmaceutical companies in the pandemic flu business. Wall Street revealed that the pandemic scare sent stock prices soaring for drug companies making anti-viral drugs, rapid flu diagnosis tests and influenza vaccines. Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax, Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, BioCryst, and Vical are among the drug companies likely to benefit from the world pandemic panic.

In all the chaos that has Americans running to drug stores to buy face masks, closing schools to wipe desks down with rubbing alcohol and avoiding public transportation, there is action being taken behind the scenes by politicians and government health officials to prepare the way for implementation of future quarantine and mass vaccination of citizens with experimental vaccines and drugs that have by- passed normal FDA regulations for demonstrating purity and potency of pharmaceutical products. A "public health emergency" has become an excuse to grease the skids and rush to market experimental drugs and vaccines that are not subject to product liability in the civil courts.

The creation of this pharmaceutical company stockholder dream scenario and simultaneous erosion of civil liberties in the name of disease control began in earnest in 21st century America after the tragic events on September 11, 2001. In a time defined by shock, fear, anger and deep sadness, Congress reacted quickly and passed the Homeland Security Act while CDC officials pulled out model state legislation (Model State Emergency Health Powers Act) that gave sweeping new powers to public health officials to use the militia, if necessary, to quarantine citizens and force them to use experimental drugs and vaccines after the U.S. Secretary of Health declares a "public health emergency."

The stampede in 2001/2002 to re-write long standing public health laws in this country was fueled by reports that terrorists were in possession of weaponized smallpox and anthrax, a fear that was fostered by U.S. government officials and New York Times journalists reporting Iraq had secret stockpiles of weaponized smallpox and anthrax. This myth played a role in public support for the U.S.-Iraq War and persuaded Congress to pass Bioshield and pandemic influenza vaccine legislation that gave billions of dollars to vaccine manufacturers, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to create experimental bioeterrorism and pandemic flu vaccines while protecting drug companies and doctors from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths that will occur.

The mandated, mass use of multiple vaccines has become big business in the last quarter century since the U.S. Congress passed a law in 1986 shielding vaccine makers and doctors from liability for vaccine injuries and deaths and the numbers of vaccines recommended by the federal health officials for American children multiplied from 23 doses of 7 vaccines to 48 doses of 14 vaccines from birth to age six. For older children and adults, there are several dozen more federally recommended or state mandated vaccinations.

All of this liability protection and government vaccine mandating has been a boon for vaccine profit- making and public health agency empire building. In 1986, four drug companies made and sold vaccines in America and, by 2007, after corporate mergers and acquisitions there were six drug company giants making and selling vaccines in the U.S. Today, there are more drug companies seeking to enter the lucrative multi- billion dollar U.S. vaccine market as financial predictions for global profits from the worldwide vaccine business by 2010 have climbed to more than $20B.

A true global influenza pandemic that could take out projected millions of people is something all nations should prepare for using reasonable strategies to ensure the public health and safety. However, it is a matter of legitimate debate as to whether the primary strategy being urged by the WHO, pharmaceutical companies and government health agencies around the world - ramping up production and use of seasonal influenza vaccine and fast tracking the creation and human testing of influenza vaccines using novel but potentially risky adjuvants and cell substrates - is the way to effectively deal with public health or a future influenza pandemic.

Certainly, the loss of the human right to bodily integrity and informed consent to taking pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines that may pose serious health risks is not justified in the name of controlling pandemic influenza or any other infectious disease outbreak. Politicians should not bow to additional pressure from vaccine manufacturers and public health officials to by-pass normal FDA standards in proving safety and efficacy of pandemic flu vaccines and their components for the purpose of rushing them to market in response to the pandemic panic that has been created. The swine flu debacle of 1976 should have taught Congress that lesson.

A rational perspective that reduces pandemic fear and includes common sense advice for staying healthy in every season is being offered by holistic health doctors, such as Joseph Mercola, D.O. and physician Congressman Ron Paul, M.D. The next time you turn on the TV or the radio or search the internet for the latest news on the flu pandemic, take a deep breath and consider all the natural ways to stay healthy and resist influenza or any illness : washing your hands; eating nutritious food; drinking plenty of water; getting enough exercise, rest and sunshine, and lowering stress - which includes not walking around filled with fear, anxiety and dread.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Green Tea and the FDA

Some of the conclusions the FDA reaches just amaze me. Here’s what the “public health protectors” said about green tea and prostate cancer:


"One weak and limited study does not show that drinking green tea reduces the risk of prostate cancer, but another weak and limited study suggests that drinking green tea may reduce this risk." ( http://tinyurl.com/d9mypy )


Based on these studies, FDA concludes that it is highly unlikely that green tea reduces the risk of prostate cancer.”If indeed these two studies are “weak and limited”, how can the FDA conclude anything from them?


Heaven forbid the FDA might have to pronounce any alternative actually helpful. Perhaps, they missed these studies:


In 2003, an Australian study found that regularly drinking green tea can reduce the risk of prostate cancer by two-thirds. http://tinyurl.com/dndr7k


In 2004, American Association for Cancer Research published the results of a study that concluded that “Green Tea Polyphenols Thwart Prostate Cancer Development at Multiple Levels.” http://tinyurl.com/cctngb


And in 2005 at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, the results of a clinical study were announced that showed 90 percent efficacy of green tea in men with pre-malignant prostate lesions. http://tinyurl.com/coh4b3


So when the FDA pronounces something “highly unlikely” to be helpful, perhaps, you better do some research on your own.



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The Answer Between Your Ears

One of the most misleading protocols of conventional medicine is having people pop a pill to "treat" high blood pressure as though it were a disease. When their blood pressure drops they conclude they have solved their problem. Many doctors are happy at this point also. Hmmm blood pressure is high .... pop a pill .... blood pressure comes down ... everybody is happy. If your doctor is happy at this point......RUN! That doctor is into SICKCARE not HEALTHCARE.

Masking a symptom does not address the cause and does NOT create wellness. The blood pressure was not high due to a deficiency of blood pressure medication.

What if the person:
excessively consumes salt? doesn't manage stress well? has a deficiency of magnesium? has a below normal vitamin D level? doesn't drink an adequate amount of water? lives a primarily sedentary lifestyle and is overweight?

Blood pressure medicine doesn't fix any of those situations. Yes, high blood pressure is dangerous and a person may need medication to get them out of a danger zone. But along with medication they should receive instruction in lifestyle changes. Most of the time people are placed on a pharmaceutical and left there.

Now tell me. Does it really make sense to you to take a drug and NOT address the REASON the blood pressure is high?

Pharmaceuticals are not panaceas. They have side effects which can themselves negatively impact your life. We have become spoiled by convenience and convenience is killing us. It would be nice if we could just pop a pill for any ill that shows up. The sales of pharmaceuticals illustrate a large part of our population buys into the myth of "wellness"-by-pharmaceutical". But though they are life-saving in acute situations pharmaceuticals rarely if ever are the whole answer to a chronic problem.

85% of all disease can be directly attributed to lifestyle. Many cases of hypertension can be solved with lifestyle changes. The answer is between your ears. It's being consciously aware of the choices you make. The healthful choice is rarely the convenient one.

Real wellness is created by addressing the cause of the symptom. High blood pressure is NOT a disease, it is a symptom of a deeper problem. It often signifies lax healthstyle habits. Symptoms are the way your body tells you something is wrong. It is your body crying out for something it needs. (Think nutrients, water, exercise!)

Don't be satisfied with popping a pill. Strive in partnership with your physician to make healthful healthstyle changes. You may just find you don't need that pill.




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Super Nutrition Made Easy!

Life Is Not A Race

Been thinking a lot about my remission from Lupus. It's been six years. I was diagnosed in 1987. It was an amazing thing to get my life back after fighting with lupus for 16 years. I feel blessed and thank God every morning for my remission and second chance at life. Lupus took a lot away from me.....but it also gave me a lot...it gave me a perspective on life I wish I could bottle and gift to people.

For a long time I've been searching for the right words to express what Lupus taught me. Was reading a newsletter I subscribe too and found some words which come close to what I need to express.



"Life is not a race. It’s an experience. It’s a miracle."



We all need to exhale and slow down at least 10%. Don't wait till an illness comes along and forces you to slow down......the anxiety and stress in modern life is not necessary....it's something we do to ourselves by the choices we make.

Consider this. For a time I ran a pulmonary patient education program at the hospital where I work. Every morning the computer system would generate a list for me of folks who were admitted the previous day. Not long after I began receiving the admissions list I noticed something. Most days the vast majority of the admissions were due to health problems that were preventable! Do you realize 85% of diseases are lifestyle-related?

In wellness coaching with folks (especially folks coping with chronic illnesses) I always tell them two things:

1. Don't let western medicine tell you wellness is not an option. Doctors are not gods with crystal balls. There was a time when my life consisted of either being at work or being in bed resting so I could go to work. That was my life. Most days were, quite frankly, miserable. My docs referred to me as "unfortunate" and "steroid dependent". I am neither of those things today. You don't have to be a statistic either.

2. Take responsibility for your health ....Change the things in your life which do not promote health. I can guarantee you this; if you don't get serious about your wellness (and specifically about your nutrition) you will at some time be forced to get serious about your illness. Cos that is what you will be: ill.

All good things take effort. If you are serious about wellness you will change the things in your life you can change to positively affect your wellness. Nope, it's not easy to change your habits. It's not easy to change your diet. It's not easy to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. All good habits take effort and discipline. And yes you need to spend some money on supplements. Even prescription-pushing physicians are realizing the need for supplementation. There has even been an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) regarding the need for supplementation.

I will say this; taking care of yourself does reduce the anxiety in your life. When you are truly taking care of yourself; you make better choices and your priorities change. It's so easy to be sucked up into the whirlwind of busy-ness....but what is really important? You are. What are your priorities?

What stands between your health and possible illness? Your choices.

There is freedom in health. Wellness allows you to partake fully in the miracle called life. Don't take your health for granted. Illness decreases the choices available to you. Be proactive!



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How Will You Feel In 90 Days?

I'm sure you've heard the old adage if you keep doing the same thing you'll keep getting the same results. Unfortunately, most of us aren't listening when it comes to our health.



How many times have you thought to yourself you need to eat better or exercise more? Do you find yourself out of breath after a flight of stairs? Are you tired much of the time? Are you "out of shape"? If you don't change anything in your lifestyle 90 days from now you will feel the same as you do right now ...... or maybe worse.



Do you realize five of the leading ten causes of illness and death (coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and atherosclerosis) are associated with diet ? Not to mention high blood pressure, obesity, dental diseases, osteoporosis, and gastrointestinal diseases are also related to dietary causes. 85% of all disease can be directly attributed to lifestyle. YOU have control over your diet. And what you eat MATTERS!

Everything you eat eventually makes up every cell in your body. I'll say it again.

What you eat matters. Nutrient-poor junk food makes unhealthy cells which may not function correctly. Nutrient-dense food makes healthy cells!



Consider this:


Researchers with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Shanghai Cancer Institute in China have discovered a possible link between a diet rich in certain vegetables and a decreased risk for breast cancer. The study appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.


The World Health Organisation feels 70% of ALL cancer could be prevented with nutrition.


The Lewin Group http://www.lewin.com/ has done a study showing sickness and chronic disease can be dramatically reduced by supplementing with nutritional supplements.


In 2002 the AMA in their Journal of the American Medical Association recommended everyone supplement their diet with a multi-nutrition product.


A Harvard study of more than 87,000 female nurses ages 34 to 59 found a 41% reduction in heart disease risk among those who took vitamin E supplements for at least two years.


A study of almost 40,000 male health professionals ages 40 to 75 found a 37% lower risk of heart disease among those who took daily vitamin E supplements of at least 100 IU for more than two years.


A National Institute of Aging study of 11,000 elderly people found those who used vitamins C and E supplements had a 53% reduction in mortality from heart disease and a 42% reduction in death from all causes, compared with non-users.


And most of all consider this:



An important video lecture by Dr Dean Ornish --- very short but very important! ... it's well worth the few minutes. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/252 This was life-changing research! Surely what Dr Ornish had to say made you do a double take! Poor lifestyle choices can turn on bad genes. By proactively choosing a healthy lifestyle you may keep bad genes from turning on. Wow! it's all about your choices.


Are you aware the Journal of the American Medical Association and the United States Department of Agriculture have admitted that today's produce no longer has enough nutrients to keep us healthy? That's why it's been recommended everyone supplement their diet with a multi-nutrition product.


So what are you going to do? How are you going to feel 90 days from now?


I'm hoping you choose to live your BEST life!



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Check out VitaOne - Super Nutrition Made Easy


Top Of The Food Chain?

It's amazing we are egotistical enough to regard ourselves as top of the food chain...... cos we do the dumbest things.

You know it's true. Just think about it. The only species on this planet who goes out of its way to feed their children nutrient poor junk food is the human species. That is exceedingly dumb. The human body to work in the way it was designed needs nutrients. Children especially need a nutritious diet.

Take a walk down the cereal aisle of any grocery store and you will see brightly colored super heroes and animal mascots jumping out at you from cereal boxes. The cereal aisle is a wonderland for children. Read the fine print of the ingredients on those boxes and you will wish you’d paid attention in chemistry class.

In the meat section you will see a big name brand of boxed lunches made for and advertised to children by the use of cute names and colorful characters on the boxes. Read the ingredient list fine print of these and you will find some have MSG in them, as much as 46g of sugar and high sodium counts. Let’s not talk about the preservatives found in these meals. It gives me a headache thinking about children eating this. Read the ingredients list and again you’ll wish you’d paid attention in chemistry class. Let’s not forget the rows of candy at the checkout most usually placed at the right height for children to peruse.

Nor does the marketing of unhealthy foods stop with the grocery store and television. Fast food restaurants feature play areas, clowns and toys. But nutrition? Not much. Though there is a growing revolt against it; unhealthy foods are even marketed to our children in our schools! Children who aren't allowed soda at home can buy it at school. Nobody needs soda. Why do we allow it in our schools?

And we wonder why we have an epidemic of childhood obesity, diabetes, and ADHD. Do you know what the #1 killer of children is? It's cancer.

Do you think the reason might be found in what we are feeding them?

The overwhelming marketing of poor food choices to our children has resulted in a childhood obesity epidemic. Some children are even exhibiting formerly adult health problems; diabetes, high blood pressure, hormone disorders and skeletal diseases. What are we to do? How can we protect our children? How can we encourage a healthy lifestyle?

Very simply we must model the behavior ourselves in our choices both for our health and theirs.

Would love to support your transition to a healthier healthstyle! Subscribe to the Empowering Wellness Newsletter at http://optimizetoheal.com