Make 2010 Your Healthiest Year by Avoiding These 7 Foods

As the new year approaches many of you will be setting your annual “New Year’s Resolutions” and most of them will have something to do with health.  Whether it is to begin a diet, or start to exercise, or quit that bad habit, many of you recognize the importance of good health and its effect on your life.

On resolution that I believe you should make is to make better food choices.  Although dieting, exercise, and quitting poor habits are helpful, if you are putting harmful things into your body you won’t ever experience true health.

A recent article in Prevention magazine titled the “7 foods experts won’t eat”, Liz Vaccariello lists seven foods that are harmful to you and should be avoided.  Interesting enough I agree with all of her recommendations.  She lists the following foods:

1. Canned Tomatoes

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

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

2. Corn-Fed Beef

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

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

3. Microwave Popcorn

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

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

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

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

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

5. Farmed Salmon

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

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

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

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

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

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, codirector of the Cornucopia Institute

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

Unfortunately, much of the food industry is laden with harmful toxins and byproducts.  Much of this is due to corporate greed and profits and has zero benefits for consumers.  Chronic diseases are at an all time high and will only continue to rise as long as we subject our bodies to these pesticides and chemicals.

Do yourself and your family a favor and eliminate these 7 foods from your diet.   Begin to take control of your own health by making healthier choices and educating yourself on the possible toxins and dangers present in our society.  Make 2010 your healthiest year to date and take one more step toward Optimal Health.

Why Antibacterial Soap Is More Harmful Than Good

In our modern, “ultra clean” and germaphobic society, we often go to great lengths in making sure our exposure to germs is minimal.

I often watch people use pocket size antibacterial soaps constantly throughout the day, making sure they apply it on their hands after touching anything not connected to their own body.

And many parents spend a majority of their day making sure their children are properly doused with this soap in an effort to restrict any and all germs from contacting their children.

But is all this fuss actually doing you or your children any good?

Not according to the latest study published in the December 9^th edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal society B: Biological Sciences.

This study is the first to investigate whether microbial exposures early in life affect inflammatory processes related to diseases in adulthood.

The Northwestern study suggests exposure to infectious microbes in childhood may actually protect youngsters from developing serious illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, when they grow into adults.

Researcher, Thomas McDade concludes that “inflammatory networks may need the same type of microbial exposures early in life that have been part of the human environment for all of our evolutionary history to function optimally in adulthood.”

Basically, the “Super Sterile” environment that we have prided ourselves on creating, is actually inhibiting the body from naturally creating proper antibodies and is resulting in higher incidences of inflammation in the adult years of life.

The truth is: Germs DO NOT cause disease!

A body’s inability to deal with the germ causes a disease to manifest and produce symptoms.  This is why only some of the people exposed to a virus or germ are affected by it.

If the germ was the cause of disease, EVERYONE exposed to it would get sick.

Proper healthy exposure to germs is necessary for the body to build natural immunities that will help fight off future diseases and conditions.  The body REQUIRES good bacteria to function properly and the use of antibacterial soaps destroys BOTH the good and the bad.

Not only that, but by using antibacterial soap repeatedly you are contributing to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Antibacterial soaps are also laden with other chemicals that have been shown to disrupt the endocrine system.

One particular ingredient is Triclosan, which has been shown to hasten the transformation of tadpoles into adult frogs.

The best way to practice proper hygiene is to use good old fashion soap and water.  This method will eliminate harmful germs from your hands while preserving the essential bacteria that your body needs. In fact, studies show that using soap and water is the MOST effective way to eliminate viruses from your hands.

So stop being an over protective parent or germaphobic adult and live a little.   Allow your kids to play in the mud and stop allowing the fear of germs dictate your life.

Throw away your antibacterial soap products and concentrate on using good old fashioned soap and water.  This simple change will help you and your family stay healthy and move you one step closer to Optimal Health.

About the Author: Dr. Tunis Hunt Jr is a chiropractor serving the Charlotte/Steele Creek Area. In addition to chiropractic services, Dr. Tunis Jr lectures and educates the public on health and nutritional related subjects. He writes for several publications and is the author of the popular health Blog: Dr Tunis Jr’s Blog (www.drtunisjr.wordpress.com) Dr. Tunis Jr can be contacted at: drtunisjr@HuntChiropractic.com www.HuntChiropractic.com

Could This Household Cleaner Be the Answer for The Swine Flu?

Recently I read an interesting article written by one of my favorite doctors, Dr. Joseph Mercola, and he was discussing the power of baking soda.  I wanted to share some of the info with you.

Baking soda (also know as sodium bicarbonate), popularized by Arm & Hammer some 155 years ago, is derived form a natural occurring mineral, and is one of the safest and most versatile substances around.

Some of it’s potential uses are:

• Household cleaner
• Sunburn remedy
• Alternative to toxic antiperspirants
• Sports performance enhancer

Few people realize, however, that baking soda also has potent medicinal properties.  Taken internally, it helps maintain the pH balance in your bloodstream.  For this reason, it can be used against both cold and influenza symptoms, and even cancer.

Yes, It can help fight off the flu and cancer!

In 1924, a booklet was published titled: “Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Medical Uses,” where Dr. Volney S. Cheney recounts his clinical successes with sodium bicarbonate in treating cold and flu:

“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely anyone who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks.

I have since that time treated all cases of ‘cold,’ influenza and LaGripe by first giving generous doses of bicarbonate of soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated.

Further, within my own household, before Woman’s Clubs and Parent-Teachers’ Associations, I have advocated the use of bicarbonate of soda as a preventive for “colds,” with the result that now many reports are coming in stating that those who took “soda” were not affected, while nearly everyone around them had the “flu.”

Recommended dosages from the Arm & Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:

• Day 1 – Take six doses of ½ teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water, at about two hour intervals
• Day 2 – Take four doses of ½ teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals
• Day 3 – Take two doses of ½ teaspoon of baking soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter ½ teaspoon in glass of cool water each morning until cold symptoms are gone.

Further dosing recommendations and instructions for taking sodium bicarbonate can be found in Mark Sircus’ book Sodium Bicarbonate – Rich Mans Poor Mans Cancer Treatment, which is also available in Kindle edition.

According to Arm & Hammer’s dosing instructions, do not exceed seven doses of ½ teaspoon per day, or three doses of ½ teaspoon daily if you’re over the age of 60.  In addition, do not use the maximum dosage for more than two weeks.

Personally I have never used Sodium Bicarbonate in the treatment of any colds or flu but I will definitely keep it in mind next time I come in contact with it.

I will caution that there is some concern that Arm & Hammer may contain some aluminum so using a product like Bob’s Red Mill Baking Soda, which is proven to be aluminum free, may be better.

Dr. Mercola further discusses how Sodium Bicarbonate is being used with great success by Dr. Tullio Simonici and Mark Sircus, Ac, OMD in treating cancer.

He explains that they are seeing 99 percent of breast – and bladder cancer heal in just six days, entirely without the use of surgery, chemo or radiation, using just a local infiltration device (such as a catheter) to deliver the sodium bicarbonate directly to the infected site in breast and bladder tissue.

Of course, these treatments will never become mainstream because of the profits that conventional treatments provide.  Unfortunately, money will always impact medicine and is the reason that amazing natural treatments are often covered up and the doctors willing to use them are made to look like quacks.

The truth is there is tons of natural resources for all types of diseases and symptoms if you are willing to keep an open mind and look into it for yourself.

In addition, you need to begin to ask and demand from your health care professionals to help identify the causes of your symptoms and diseases and not settle for symptom treating healthcare.  Optimize your health today by taking responsibility for it and learn the natural solutions for your problems.

About the Author: Dr. Tunis Hunt Jr is a chiropractor serving the Charlotte/Steele Creek Area. In addition to chiropractic services, Dr. Tunis Jr lectures and educates the public on health and nutritional related subjects. He writes for several publications and is the author of the popular health Blog: Dr Tunis Jr’s Blog (www.drtunisjr.wordpress.com) Dr. Tunis Jr can be contacted at: drtunisjr@HuntChiropractic.com www.HuntChiropractic.com

A Natural Sweetener With Health Benefits

This week as I prepared my coffee I noticed that I was out of the sweetener that I typically use.  I use a sweetener called Stevia, a natural herb with VERY sweet attributes. (Stevia doesn’t raise your glucose levels, so your insulin levels aren’t affected.)  And because I am not a big fan of bitter coffee, I had to resort to finding something else.

Sugar has harmful effects on the body and artificial sweeteners like Splenda, aspartame, and Nutra Sweet are all excitotoxins that destroy brain cells, so I used the next best thing, HONEY.

Local, raw (unprocessed) Honey is one of the great natural sweeteners available to us.  It has a milder affect on your blood glucose and actually contains some health benefits as well.

Local unprocessed honey can be very beneficial for allergy sufferers.

As bees pollinate the flowers they deposit small amounts of pollen in the honey.  When you consume these small particles your body adapts to the pollen and your are less likely to be affected by it when you come into contact with it in nature.

This is why, LOCAL honey is best.  You want to be exposed to the pollen specific to your geographic area.  If you consume honey produced from distant places the pollen exposure will be different than the environmental exposure you will encounter.

Don’t be fooled into buying conventional processed honey.  This type of honey WILL NOT have the same health benefits that the unprocessed honey will have.

Unfortunately, about two thirds of the honey in the United States falls into this category.  For corporate profits, honeybees are being force fed High Fructose Corn Syrup and other sugars to allow production year round. 

In addition, this honey is pasteurized and many of the beneficial enzymes are being removed from the honey.

The best source to find your honey is by a local supplier.  Many farmer markets have bee keepers with honey to sell.  Also, some health food stores offer local raw honey as well. Just make sure to read the label to verify that it is unprocessed and local to your area.

Honey can also be used as a topical ointment to help treat mild burns, sunburn, and small wounds.  You MUST use the RAW honey though.  Processed honey may actually do more harm than good.

Honey topical wound-care benefits:

• It draws fluid away from the wound.
• The high sugar content suppresses microorganism growth.
• Worker bees secrete an enzyme (glucose oxidase) into the nectar, which then releases low levels of hydrogen peroxide when the honey makes contact with the wound.
• A chemical reaction between the honey and tissue also makes healing wounds smell good.

As you can see, Raw unprocessed honey is a great item to have around your house.  I will caution that if you have blood sugar handling problems or obesity issues using honey may not be for you.  Stevia would be a better alternative.  For everyone else, consuming small amounts of honey throughout the year will yield great health benefits.

About the Author: Dr Tunis Hunt Jr is a chiropractor serving the Charlotte area. In addition to administering chiropractic care, Dr. Hunt lectures and educates the public on nutrition and health based information. Dr. Hunt is also is an author of a popular blog: Dr Tunis Jr’s Blog. To reach Dr. Hunt for questions and comments or to schedule him to speak to your group or company please call 704-588-1792 or email him at drtunisjr@HuntChiropractic.com.   www.HuntChiropractic.com

YOUR Symptoms May Be Fungal Related!

Have YOU ever experienced:

• Constant craving for something sweet
• Persistent fatigue or feeling of being bogged down all the time
• Brain “fog” -hard to focus or think clearly, memory loss
• Sinus pressure, pain and/or drainage (rhinitis), which antibiotics don’t relieve
• Joint and musculoskeletal pain (Fibromyalgia)
• Chronic allergies and allergic reactions to various foods, such as wheat (celiac disease)
• Worsening of asthma
• Increased sensitivities to chemicals, molds, and airborne pollutants
• Frequent abdominal pain, bloating, indigestion, or gas
• Anal or vaginal itching, skin rashes, cracked skin, or white coating on tongue.
• Chronic heartburn , constipation diarrhea, gastritis, and/or colitis
• Heartburn and acid reflux (GERD)

If you answered YES to ANY of the these then YOUR problem may be FUNGUS.

Yes, Fungus!

The intestinal tract is inhabited by billions of beneficial or “friendly” bacteria, called probiotics, together with several strains of candida yeast and some parasites in a ratio of approximately 85 to 15.

These bacteria and yeasts work together and aid in digestion.  However, when antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are introduced to the body, they kill off the “friendly” bacteria, but not the yeast.

The yeast begins to multiply as the 85 to 15 ratio, which held them in check becomes unstable.  This causes dysbiosis-an imbalance of the natural flora of the gut.

And to make matters worse, Americans consume more sugar and simple carbohydrates than any nation on earth allowing the candida yeast to thrive on the sugar. 

When the candida gets “fed” on a sugary fast food diet with few “friendly” bacteria to hold it in check, it morphs into pathogenic fungi which produce rhizoids, or tentacles, that bore into the intestinal walls, causing microscopic holes.  These holes compromise the immune system by allowing toxins, undigested food particles and parasitic bacteria to enter the bloodstream- a condition know as Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Unfortunately, many doctors miss diagnosing a fungal infection because the symptoms appear to be totally unrelated to fungal overgrowth and believe that fungal infections are limited to vaginal yeast overgrowth.  But pathogenic fungi have NO sexual preference and have been estimated to affect 40 percent to 60 percent of the population.

So how do you test for fungus?

A simple at home saliva test has been proven quite reliable in the diagnosis of a fungal overgrowth.

• First thing in the morning, get a clear glass and fill it with water.  It is important that nothing enters your mouth or touches your lips before you conduct this test.
• Work up a bit of saliva, then spit it into the glass of water.  Healthy saliva will be clear; it will float on top and then slowly dissolve into the water without any cloudiness and without sinking.  It is normal to have some bubbles or foam present.
• Candida saliva from a fungal infection will have one or more of three characteristics.  There will be strings, like cloudy legs, traveling down to the bottom of the glass, or “cloudy” saliva will sink to the bottom of the glass, or cloudy specks will seem to be suspended in the water.

How do you overcome a fungal infection and restore the body’s natural 85 to 15 ratio of “friendly” bacteria to yeast?

Here are some natural herbs that can help:

• Horopito leaf- a prehistoric plant native to New Zealand.
• Anise seed
• Sage leaf
• Grapefruit seed extract
• Calcium ascorbate
• Others: chamomile, garlic, olive leaf extract, and oil of oregano

One of the best things you can do is ELIMINATE sugar and grains from your diet!

Sugar, as we discussed earlier, feeds the candida and grains CONVERT to sugar within seconds of touching your tongue.

A second thing you must do is provide your body with good bacteria in the form a probiotic supplement. This will help restore the body’s natural flora and help the correct the imbalance present in your digestive tract.

So as you can see, many COMMON symptoms can be attributed to fungal growth and can be eliminated with simple solutions.  I recommend you try the saliva test, restrict your sugar and grain consumption, and begin taking a good probiotic. By implementing this into your lifestyle you will be one step closer to achieving Optimal Health.

About the Author: Dr Tunis Hunt Jr is a chiropractor serving the Charlotte area. In addition to administering chiropractic care, Dr. Hunt lectures and educates the public on nutrition and health based information. Dr. Hunt is also is an author of a popular blog: Dr Tunis Jr’s Blog. To reach Dr. Hunt for questions and comments or to schedule him to speak to your group or company please call 704-588-1792 or email him at drtunisjr@HuntChiropractic.com. www.HuntChiropractic.com