100 Benefits of Meditation

Physiological benefits:
1- It lowers oxygen consumption.
2- It decreases respiratory rate.
3- It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
4- Increases exercise tolerance.
5- Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation.
6- Good for people with high blood pressure.
7- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
8- Decreases muscle tension
9- Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc.
10- Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms.
11- Helps in post-operative healing.
12- Enhances the immune system.
13- Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress
14- Enhances energy, strength and vigour.
15- Helps with weight loss
16- Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage
17- Higher skin resistance
18- Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease.
19- Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing.
20- Decreases the aging process.
21- Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
22- prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases
23- Makes you sweat less
24- Cure headaches & migraines
25- Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning
26- Reduced Need for Medical Care
27- Less energy wasted
28- More inclined to sports, activities
29- Significant relief from asthma
30- improved performance in athletic events
31- Normalizes to your ideal weight
32- harmonizes our endocrine system
33- relaxes our nervous system
34- produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity
35- Cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation).

Psychological benefits:
36- Builds self-confidence.
37- Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour.
38- Resolve phobias & fears
39- Helps control own thoughts
40- Helps with focus & concentration
41- Increase creativity
42- Increased brain wave coherence.
43- Improved learning ability and memory.
44- Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
45- Increased emotional stability.
46- improved relationships
47- Mind ages at slower rate
48- Easier to remove bad habits
49- Develops intuition
50- Increased Productivity
51- Improved relations at home & at work
52- Able to see the larger picture in a given situation
53- Helps ignore petty issues
54- Increased ability to solve complex problems
55- Purifies your character
56- Develop will power
57- greater communication between the two brain hemispheres
58- react more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event.
59- increases one’s perceptual ability and motor performance
60- higher intelligence growth rate
61- Increased job satisfaction
62- increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones
63- decrease in potential mental illness
64- Better, more sociable behaviour
65- Less aggressiveness
66- Helps in quitting smoking, alcohol addiction
67- Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals
68- Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation
69- Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia
70- Increases sense of responsibility
71- Reduces road rage
72- Decrease in restless thinking
73- Decreased tendency to worry
74- Increases listening skills and empathy
75- Helps make more accurate judgements
76- Greater tolerance
77- Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways
78- Grows a stable, more balanced personality
79- Develops emotional maturity

Spiritual benefits:
80- Helps keep things in perspective
81- Provides peace of mind, happiness
82- Helps you discover your purpose
83- Increased self-actualization.
84- Increased compassion
85- Growing wisdom
86- Deeper understanding of yourself and others
87- Brings body, mind, spirit in harmony
88- Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation
89- Increased acceptance of oneself
90- helps learn forgiveness
91- Changes attitude toward life
92- Creates a deeper relationship with your God
93- Attain enlightenment
94- greater inner-directedness
95- Helps living in the present moment
96- Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love
97- Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego
98- Experience an inner sense of “Assurance or Knowingness”
99- Experience a sense of “Oneness”
100- Increases the synchronicity in your life

Meditation is also completely FREE! It requires no special equipment, and is not complicated to learn. It can be practiced anywhere, at any given moment, and it is not time consuming (15-20 min. per day is good). Best of all, meditation has NO negative side effects. Bottom line, there is nothing but positive to be gained from it! With such a huge list of benefits, the question you should ask yourself is, “why am I not meditating yet?”

Make sure you meditate, there are quite simply too many positives to just ignore it.

http://www.brandongilbert.info/2009/01/26/100-benefits-of-meditation/

10 Things the Processed Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

by BodyEcology.com

Processed food is fast and easy, but before you stop at the next vending machine or fast food window, find out what they DON’T want you to know about processed foods.

Okay, they taste good...and they’re easy. In fact, they’re everywhere you look.

Processed foods seem like the answer to today’s busy lives. New fads and fancy advertisements make promises that keep us coming back for more.

But before you hit the vending machine or the fast food window, find out what the processed food industry doesn’t want you to know:

1. Processed foods are addictive and can cause you to overeat. Whole foods are made up of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber and water. When foods are processed the components of these foods are modified (for example, fiber, water and nutrients are removed) and in other cases, components are concentrated. In each case, processing changes the way they are digested and assimilated in your body.

Eating highly processed or highly concentrated foods can artificially stimulate dopamine (the pleasure neurotransmitter), which plays a role in addiction. In this way, you are eating foods that lack nutrients and fiber, but create a pleasurable feeling. A food addiction starts because you feel good when you are eating these foods and they make you think they taste better. You crave that pleasurable feeling again and again and viola…this is what starts a food addiction.

2. Processed foods are linked to obesity. Additives in processed foods, like high fructose corn syrup, sugar and MSG have been linked to weight gain and obesity. Dr. Mercola recently reported about a new study that showed childhood obesity could be reduced by 18 percent, simply by cutting out fast food advertisements during children’s programming.3 The Australian government is clearly more concerned about their children’s health as television advertisements to children were banned several years ago.

3. Processed foods often contain ingredients that do not follow the principle of food combining, which can lead to low energy, poor digestion, illness, acidic blood and weight gain. An example would be a frozen meat and cheese pizza. Cheese (a dairy product), meat (an animal protein) and pizza crust (a grain product) make a terrible food combination that can wreak havoc on your digestive health.

4. Processed foods contribute to an imbalanced inner ecosystem, which can lead to digestive problems, cravings, illness and disease. Beneficial microflora cannot survive in your digestive tract when you are poisoning them. Like us they thrive on foods that are made by nature not by man.

5. A diet high in processed foods can lead to depression, memory issues and mood swings. Ingredients in processed foods are often the lowest cost and sub-par, nutritionally. For example, the fats and oils used in processed foods are refined, which means they are stripped of the essential fatty acids necessary for healthy blood sugar levels, moods and memory. Your heart, hormones and brain suffer when you choose to eat these fats and oils. Instead choose the organic, unrefined or “virgin” fats and oils that are recommended on The Body Ecology Diet.

6. Processed foods often go hand in hand with “eating on the run” or multitasking. Most people will choose convenience if they are on the run and in today’s busy lives, who of us isn’t? Unfortunately, multitasking while eating causes people to lose touch with their natural appetite, often leading to weight gain. Additionally, multitasking sends the wrong signals to your digestive system, which needs to be in a restful mode to digest properly.

7. Nutrition labels on processed foods are often misleading and have harmful health effects. Many labels say “sugar free,” but contain other sweeteners like agave, which is like high fructose corn syrup. Additionally, product labeling may hide ingredients like GM (genetically modified) foods and harmful additives like MSG. (These are hidden behind words on the label like “natural flavorings” or “approved spices”).

8. Diets high in processed meats (like hot dogs and deli meats) have been linked to various forms of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.

9. Eating too many processed foods can lead to infertility and malnutrition. Processed foods, like cereal, are stripped of important vitamins and nutrients that your body truly needs. You could be eating a large amount of calories and still be malnourished if your diet is high in processed foods.

Animal studies have shown that over three generations, a deficient diet causes reproduction to cease.6 Today, infertility is on the rise, affecting 7.3 million people in America.

10. Processed foods are made for long shelf-life, not long human life! Chemicals, additives and preservatives are added to processed foods so that they will last for a long time without going rancid or affecting the taste of the food. Food manufacturers spend time, money and research on beautiful packaging and strategies to lengthen shelf-life, with little attention on how the foods will lengthen your life or create lasting health.

http://www.bodyecology.com/archive/10-things-processed-food-industry.php

YET ANOTHER REASON TO EAT RAW AND LOCAL - Counterfeit foods enter the U.S. market

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Some of your favorite foods may be fakes.

Foods masquerading as something else — a more nutritious something else — have been big news in the past two years. Chinese food companies in particular have been blamed for making deadly alterations to dairy, baby and pet foods by adding melamine. The chemical makes it appear that the food or beverage has the required level of protein.

But what about food producers in this country? What fraudulent foods do U.S. consumers have to fear from American companies?

Experts say dangerous U.S.-produced foods are comparatively few, but producers have been known to practice "economic adulteration" — adding a little to their bottom line by padding, thinning or substituting something cheap for something expensive.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration regulate the food industry, but with safety issues to deal with, economic adulteration has "really been back-burnered," says Bruce Silverglade of the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest. So in a caveat emptor world, what should consumers look out for?

Fish is the most frequently faked food Americans buy. In the business, it's called "species adulteration" — selling a cheaper fish such as pen-raised Atlantic salmon as wild Alaska salmon.

When Consumer Reports tested 23 supposedly wild-caught salmon fillets bought nationwide in 2005-2006, only 10 were wild salmon. The rest were farmed. In 2004, University of North Carolina scientists found 77% of fish labeled red snapper was actually something else. Last year, the Chicago Sun-Times tested fish at 17 sushi restaurants and found that fish being sold as red snapper actually was mostly tilapia.

"It's really just fraud, plain and simple," says Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute, an industry group.

One thing consumers don't need to worry about is scallops. Tales of skate wings cut into circles and sold as scallops are common. But Spring Randolph, a consumer safety officer at the FDA and an expert on species adulteration, says the FDA has never found an actual case of it.

Salmon is tricky. Randolph does have one tip, though. Farmed salmon gets its coloring from dyes added to food pellets the fish are fed, while wild salmon gets it from the plankton they eat.

"When you cook it, the wild salmon retains its color, and in the aquaculture salmon, the color tends to leak out," she says. Suspicious consumers can call the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition hotline at 1-888-SAFEFOOD.

Olive oil

This luxury oil, touted for its heart-health properties and taste, has become a gourmet must-have. Americans consumed about 575 million pounds of the silky stuff last year, according to the North American Olive Oil Association. Sixty-three percent was the higher-grade extra virgin, which comes from the first pressing of the olives.

It's also one of the most frequently counterfeited food products, says Martin Stutsman, the FDA's consumer safety officer for edible oils.

There are no national figures on olive-oil fakery. But after complaints, Connecticut began testing two years ago. "We were coming across a lot of products labeled as extra-virgin olive oil that contained up to 90% soybean oil," says Jerry Farrell Jr., Connecticut's commissioner of consumer protection.

Most name brands were fine, Farrell says. It was often off-brands sold in discount stores that were the problem.

Connecticut was so concerned that in November, it became the first state in the nation to set standards for olive oil, enabling officials there to levy fines and pull adulterated products off store shelves. California is set to create its own standards this year. Reports from panels of testers have found as much as 60% to 70% of the olive oil sold as extra virgin in the state is a lower-quality olive oil, says Dan Flynn of the Olive Center at the University of California-Davis.

The easiest thing is for fakers to add 10% vegetable oil in extra virgin, says Stutsman. "It will still smell as it should, but you've saved 10% of the cost."

Bob Bauer, president of the North American Olive Oil Association, says it's more of a problem in restaurants than in supermarkets.

Honey

An expensive natural product that's mostly sugar, honey is easily faked. "If you can substitute a less expensive source of sugar for the expensive one, you can save some money and gain market share," says the FDA's Stutsman.

It used to be that cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup was mostly used to thin out honey. But chemically, that was easy to spot. FDA used an isotope test that would easily identify the adulteration.

So counterfeiters got wily and started using beet sugar. Its profile is similar to honey, so the FDA had to switch to a much more complicated, multistep test comparing the sugar profiles to see if the proportions and trace materials match.

"But once we started catching people, they create a moving target. They'll switch to something more difficult (to detect)," says Stutsman.

Maple syrup

Maple syrup is another high-value item that can be adulterated. In these tough economic times, Vermont, the USA's largest supplier to flapjacks everywhere, may up its testing programs.

The boiled-down sap of the sugar maple tree can be diluted with water or sugar by sellers "trying to get more bang for the buck," says Kristin Haas, food safety director in the state's Agency for Agriculture, Food and Markets.

Vermont's testing program has found fraud only three times in the past 17 years, says Haas, but it's not taken lightly. "A couple of years back, there was a gentleman who actually went to prison because of this issue."

When times get tight, the incentive to cheat can rise like sap in the spring, so the state may have to work harder to keep its premier product pure.

Vanilla

A product of the tropics, vanilla pods can be soaked in milk or stored in sugar to impart a delicate vanilla scent to foods. More commonly, they're soaked in alcohol that is then used as a flavoring.

But vanillin (pronounced VAN-ah-lynn), a chemical copy of the richly organic vanilla flavor, was created in the laboratory in the 19th century. When used in foods, it's supposed to be labeled as an artificial flavor and usually is.

One "too good to be true" product to watch out for is really inexpensive vanilla extract sometimes sold in Mexico and Latin America, says the FDA. It's often made with coumarin, a toxic substance that has been banned in U.S. foods since 1954.

Coumarin is chemically related to warfarin, a blood thinner, and can be dangerous. It's "no bargain," the FDA says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-01-19-fake-foods_N.htm

Three Must-Have Superfoods

by: Matt Monarch

(NaturalNews) Much research has been done lately on superfoods. There is a lot of buzz about certain foods, and the truth is that it's very hard to decipher the truth behind the buzz; what foods are actually super? Well, the fact is that there are certain foods out there which have very powerful qualities. Some of them are things which you can find in just about any kitchen, like garlic and lemon. Others are things you'd have to order on the internet from a reputable source. The thing that each individual needs to do is to decide whether your body needs a particular superfood. Obviously different foods have different qualities. Here are three superfoods which may really deserve the title.

Chia seeds definitely seem to be what you'd have to deem a 'superfood'. They were once a staple of the Aztecs and were known, and are known, for their ability to increase endurance. For those that exercise a lot, chia is something worth trying out in the future. They have all the essential amino acids (protein), except for taurine, and are also a great source of omega-3 oils, which is not found in so many foods. It's important to get a good balance of omega-3 to omega-6 oils in your diet, and adding these seeds to salads and smoothies is a good way to provide that balance. They also have more antioxidants than blueberries!

Pure, raw chocolate is something which most people are content to read about. We've all heard before that dark chocolate had high levels of antioxidants, which it does. But this is due to the high quantity of pure cacao in it. Cacao beans, when eaten raw, are extra good for the body. It is said that cacao, like chia seeds, has higher levels of antioxidants than blueberries. It also has lots of minerals, like zinc, chromium and magnesium, and plenty of vitamins and beta-carotene too. It also has quite a kick and wakes you up in the same way tea does, but gives a steadier stream of energy. Plus, you can buy it raw in many different forms, like cacao nibs, cacao butter, cacao paste and in powder form, so you can make all kinds of raw deserts.

The last thing on today's list is...Goji berries. As we all know, berries in general are super good for our health, and are very easily added to a smoothie to make it extra healthy. Goji berries, also known as wolfberries, are extra good though; they have 18 kinds of amino acids (the building blocks of protein); a high quantity of calcium, selenium, zinc, vitamin B2 and C, beta-carotene and potassium; and they are also thought to boost your immune system and help you lose weight. So, they seem to do just about everything.

Including all of the above foods in your diet may go a long way to increase your health and stamina, but make sure to try each individually first, so you can figure out which food is giving you the benefits.

http://www.NaturalNews.com/025313.html

The Failing U.S. Economy is Not a Financial Problem, It's a Health Problem

by: Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor
Thursday, December 18, 2008

(NaturalNews) The shutdown of the American economy has begun. Today Chrysler announced it would shutter 100% of its factories for one month as it seeks bailout money from the Federal Reserve. The Fed, meanwhile, slashes its interest rates to zero, even while promising to print unlimited trillions of new dollars in order to "save" the U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, the state of California has announced it would halt all infrastructure projects (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/us/18...), meaning that the construction and maintenance of bridges, roads and schools will be abandoned until new money can be found.

On the same day, the U.S. dollar plummeted to a 13-year low against the Yen. Investors around the world are realizing the dollar is doomed, and they're increasingly betting against it. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=...)
Earlier this week, an important international meeting of heads of state was held in Latin America. The most notable fact about this meeting is that the USA was not invited.

The power and influence of the United States of America is rapidly plummeting, and the closing down of Chrysler's factories is a major warning sign that the U.S. economy, which has long operated on financial vapor, has begun an unprecedented reconfiguration that could mean the end of the dollar as a world currency and the final gutting of America's long-doomed manufacturing industry.

Why the health of the People determines the fate of the economy

In other countries, workers are willing to work for less money, executives are aggressive and well educated, and companies aren't burdened with out-of-control health care costs that have been enforced by the Big Pharma / FDA conspiracy that seeks to keep Americans diseased and medicated.

The upshot is that, in many ways, America can no longer compete on the world stage, and it is now suffering the predictable effects of an economy built on mass consumer poisoning and the continuation of disease...

To read the rest of "The Failing U.S. Economy is Not a Financial Problem, It's a Health Problem", please visit: http://www.naturalnews.com/025120.html

Commentary by Erin Brennan

Thank you, Mike Adams, for another provocative and thrilling article. While I agree with many points that Adams makes in this article, I think that he is forgetting one key point, which I will discuss a little later. I agree that the pharmaceutical industry's reign needs to come to an end. We live in an over-medicated society, and the FDA is more than willing to push through even the most deadly drugs without proper testing (see my article "Avoiding Animal Cloning" for a great example). I agree that as a society, we are purposely kept diseased. Keeping the masses sick and medicated is a genius way for doctors and pharmaceutical companies to ensure a constant revenue flow. I also agree that healthy workers will be much more productive in the workplace and will cost companies far less in healthcare costs and sick days. I agree that more money would be available in our unstable economy if the rates of cancer and chronic disease in this country went down.

The part of this that I do not agree with however, is Adams' suggestion of how to go about making changes in the overall health of our society. I think that education is key here - along with ending the corruption of the FDA and the pharmeceudical industry. However, we can NOT force people to make healthier food choices. We can make healthier food choices more available and more affordable. We can NOT make people stop taking pharmeceutical drugs and over the counter medications. We can make alternative, holistic care and natural medicine more widely accepteded and supported, by our govenment and insurance companies alike. History has proven that you cannot take away the right of the people to choose to injest substances that are harmful to their health and well-being. Just look at the prohibition of alcohol at the turn of the last century and the current "War on Drugs" that has cost billions upon billions of dollars; Dollars which could have been spent ensuring that all Americans have access to nutritious and healthy food choices rather than soft drinks, french fries, and burgers. People seems to always resist what is forced onto them, whether it is in their own best interest or not.

We cannot expect our govenment to make an about face and suddenly start pushing natural and healthly choices in the faces of Americans, just as they have for many years with the pharmeceutical industy and modern medical care. We cannot expect that, in a short period of time, grocery stores will just rearrange their shelves, with healthy items on display and not-so-healthy items at the bottoms of the shelves. Grocery stores will begin to do so when natural, healthy food items start selling as well as oreos and cheetoes. That means that is up to us to become educated consumers. I always tell people to vote with their dollar. The dollar always seems to win in the end, and as long as Americans continue to buy into the advertisements from the junk food and pharmaceutical industries, that is what will continue to be made available.

I think that a major part of the problem is that many people operate under the misconception that eating healthier and/or taking herbs and supplements is more expensive that eating the way they currently do. Maybe this is true when you only look at the short-term cost. It costs less right now, in this moment, to buy junk food and processed food items, but when you factor in the long term costs of health care for diet and lifestyle related disease, it becomes very apparent that is not, in fact, more expensive to lead a healthier lifestyle.

I have to admit, though, even though I am a strong supporter of freedom of speech and think that everyone has the duty to educate him or herself enough to make wise decisions regarding health, etc. - I think that advertising junk foods and medications during children’s programs and allowing junk and soda machines in schools is outrageous and needs to stop. Children are very influential and may not necessarily understand why, physiologically, junk food and sodas can harm them. Adults should care enough about themselves and their children to make healthy decisions, but I think that it is safe to say that no one wants to live in a world where they are forced to eat health food. Healthier food choices should be made more affordable and available, but dramatically changing from one extreme of junk food and pharmaceutical drugs to another of naturopathic medicine and health food is not likely. The FDA has done its best to ensure that Americans believe that herbs and natural supplements are either unsafe or will not make them any healthier, despite research done in other parts of the world to the contrary. Gradual change made through education, awareness, and making better food choices available is more likely to work.

While I am hopeful, like Adams, that our government will begin to support more natural health initiatives, sadly, I lost faith long ago. I am fearful that the corruption of the FDA, the pharmaceutical corporations, and our government run so deep that the only way to recover from their virtual monopoly on "healthcare" is for the system to completely crumble before being rebuilt anew. They own the healthcare system in this country and they are not going to go down without a fight.

Concern for the Male Population

by Susanne Morrone, C.N.C.

(NaturalNews) Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, reports something is happening to men and boys which concerns scientists and researchers: fewer boys are being born than girls. How far-reaching is this problem? In a study by Dr. Devra Davis of the University of Pittsburgh, the combined figures for U.S. and Japan is a “staggering tally of 262,000 ‘missing boys’ from 1970 to about 2000 because of a decline in the sex ratio at birth.”Scientists are also puzzled why there is a lopsided ratio of girls to boys being born in the Canada's Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Interestingly enough, this community is almost surrounded by petrochemical plants. In Canadian babies, hypospadiasis has increased by 60% since the mid-1970’s. This is a disfiguring defect, where the urinary opening is on the underside of the penis rather than its normal anatomical position. Other countries are seeing an increase in this condition as well.From 1983 to 2005, young Canadian males in the 20 to 44 age bracket have seen a 54 per cent rise in testicular cancer. Testosterone levels in U.S. men have declined by nearly 20% over the past two decades. Both fertility and virility rates are down, including the shrinking size of male gonads.There’s a definite parallel in the animal kingdom. Man-made chemical toxins frequently assault males of different species with fiercer effects. Amphibians such as male toads are being feminized.University of Florida zoologist, Dr. Theo Colborn, author of “Our Stolen Future” and president of the Colorado-based Endocrine Disruption Exchange, offered her expert opinion. She fears some chemicals are impeding normal brain development, with greater impact on males. As an example, she cites attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as two to four times greater in boys than girls. She also feels chemical exposures could explain why enrollment at U.S. and Canadian universities favors females, currently at 60 to 40 per cent.The environmental impacts of phthalates in plastic inhibit testosterone production and possibly may cause irregular genital development. Brominated flame-retardants may block the thyroid hormone critical to proper development of both the testes and the brain. University of Missouri professor, Dr. vom Saal, said, “This mishmash of synthetic hormones - leading to too much estrogen and too little testosterone and thyroid hormone - is making "a mess of sexual development in males." He conducted studies relative to sperm health comparing various geographic locations. A markedly lower sperm count in males from farming areas verses urban areas suggests pesticides are to blame.Of the world’s 100,000 registered chemicals, many are endocrine disruptors, exhibiting toxic hormonal effects along with carcinogenicity. Even in mere parts per million, these chemicals can upset the intricate working of human hormones. Xenoestrogens are found in DDT and other organophosphate pesticides, PCB’s, plastics, bisphenol A, DES, as well as mercury and uranium. They’re in our food and the air we breathe. This continuing chemical assault from pesticide applications is taking a serious health toll. There is good reason to be pro-active in lessening these assaults as much as possible, and the effects upon men and boys is obviously a major one.

Source for this story:
Canada’s National Newspaper, The Globe and Mail
“Humanity at Risk: Are The Males Going First?” September 20, 2008

http://www.naturalnews.com/025076.html

Commentary by Erin Brennan

This article highlights the scary reality that plastics and chemical waste products are endangering not only the environment and the lives of animals, but the human species as well. Plastics, waste and by-products from processing plants, and chemical pesticides all contain chemicals similar in nature to the human hormone estrogen. While we all need estrogen, some of us more than others, the xenoestrogens that can be absorbed into our bodies by exposure to plastics and chemicals can cause significant health concern. Xenoestrogens act like estrogen inside the body and can cause hormonal imbalance and a whole slew of other nasty problems. Fertility problems are common in men with elevated estrogen levels. The size of the male gonads are shrinking and many male babies are now born with birth defects of the genitals - all because of the assalt of xenoestrogens present in our environment. Similar yet more severe birth defects are threatening many species of amphibians. Amphibians, who spend a great portion of their lives in water, have skin which is very porous and allows for easy absorption of xenoestrogens which make it to the water supply. The birth defects are often so bad that whole populations are at risk because the males are unable to mate and produce offspring.

I would also like to point out that xenoestrogens are not the only culprut at work here. Phytoestrogens are present in many foods that humans regularily consume. Soy is becoming increasingly more popular in the west as processed meat and dairy substitutes, and as filler for many processed food products, including meats. Soy and soy byproducts are rich in phytoestrogens, which, like xenoestrogens, behave the same way as estrogen in the human body. I am not in favor of the consumption of soy or its byproducts, unless fermented in the case of miso, tempeh, or nama shoyu (an unpasturized soy sauce). It is also important to note that much of the soy grown today, like corn, is genetically modified. If one does choose to consume soy products, it should be only organic, fermented products. The fermentation process seems to change soy into a form more suitable for human consumption. Men and boys especially should avoid soy products.

Another issue to raise is that of the incredible amount of hormone treatments used today. The very birth control pills that so many women I know unfortunately take are showing up in measureable levels in our water supplies. Menopausal women often also take hormone replacement therapy. Animals raised in factory farms are given hormones to increase their growth rate, size, or milk production. We are surrounding ourselves with hormones and their synthetic counterparts at the detriment to our own health and well-being. This is not only an issue of environmental protection, but an issue of ensuring the future propagation of our species.

Addendum: Diet or Dogma?

"Diet or Dogma?" is an impressively honest article recently written by blogger Brandon Gilbert, herbalist and co-owner of Jing Masters. This is my follow up and response to the issues addressed in "Diet or Dogma?" To read the article and Brandon's other thoughtful and provacative works, visit his blog.

I used to proudly wear the title vegetarian or vegan like a badge. I, like many others, defined myself in part by my diet. It was part of my identity, what separated me from all of the unsympathetic meat-eaters out there. It was not until I inadvertently submersed myself in the world of raw foods that I realized how dogmatic and impractical adhering to a strictly regimented attitude about diet is.

The more I opened myself up and the more I learned, the more I began to shed my formerly strongly held beliefs and ideals. I began to look at my way of eating not as a diet, but as a lifestyle. In a sense, not only do the foods I eat affect my health and well-being, the belief systems I hold myself to have a very real and lasting affect on my mental, spiritual, social, and physical health. Additionally, I began to realize that clinging so desperately to a belief system with rules and values defined by someone other than me was actually counter productive to creating my own health and vitality. I understood that in order to live the healthiest lifestyle for me, I myself had to learn to define what is best for me.

I am not suggesting that you discard the teachings of those at the forefront of the fields of raw food and health and nutrition. Rather, I am urging you to listen to the information they provide and the advice they give, process it, analyze it, and decide how it can best be utilized in your life. I urge you to listen to the way the experts are presenting the information to you. If they are offering nothing but fear and dogma and prescription, you might want to look elsewhere for advice. Someone who is truly in it for the common good, to educate and inspire, will offer information objectively and honestly without attachment.

This leads me back to the idea of diet and dogma. In my work as a raw chef and wellness coach, I have come across many people who, although well meaning, are preventing themselves from advancing to states of higher health and vibration because of dogmatic beliefs regarding what their diet should be. These people get so wrapped up in what they cannot eat, that they forget to enjoy eating at all. What they eat becomes all about what they read in books and what they hear from gurus rather than what their body needs at that moment in their transition. Granted, there is a huge learning curve when it comes to eating raw, but as a community we need to be encouraging and inspiring to one another rather than perpetuating this cycle of competition and guilt and shame. We need to help one another learn to listen to our bodies and eat what we need, rather than worry about maintaining a certain raw percentage or breaking from our raw diet. Everyone will move at a different pace and 100% raw is not best or even reasonable for some.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the raw food lifestyle that, in my opinion, comes from the subtle percentage-related raw food competition. Many people feel pressured to be “all raw” or 100% raw before they are ready physically or emotionally. Transitioning from a junk-food vegan diet to raw can be difficult, but transitioning from SAD (Standard American Diet) to raw can be utterly overwhelming to some. Many people get lost in the mix, lose hope, or give up because they have fallen off the wagon. They are discouraged because they are lead to believe that in order to be healthy they have to conform to a 75% or 90% or 100% raw diet. All the while, the stress that these people feel to live up to this standard is flooding their bodies with cortisol and the guilt that they feel over their cooked food “slip-ups” is leaving them unable to feel the joy that eating pure, natural food can bring.

I have heard many ridiculously stringent things from people regarding what is and is not acceptable when it comes to raw foods. Many times, I have heard people say that they cannot or will not drink tea because it is not raw. In order to clear this one up, let me point out that many herbs are much more beneficial when steeped or even decocted or boiled than when raw. You cannot eat dried roots or a tea bag and expect to get much out of either. Herbal teas can be a very important part of a transition diet as they can provide nutritional support and aid in detoxification. They also make an amazing base for superfood smoothies. Just ask raw food guru and nutrition expert David Wolfe! He does not shy from making hot teas just because they are “not raw.”

Another shockingly ridiculous idea that I have come across is that you can never have warm soups. I have talked to many people who felt that, due to the discouragement of others, they were faltering on their raw journey because they had eaten some warmed soup. Some simply gave up on eating raw as they could not stay warm in the winter. They had been led to believe that eating a strict raw food diet was more important than their comfort, happiness, or peace of mind.

I believe that we, as a community, need to be more mindful of accepting everyone, regardless of where they are in their journey. No matter how far each of us has come, there is always more work to be done. Clinging to a title and pushing it in others’ faces does less to improve one’s health than learning acceptance and appreciation. I am not saying this to down anyone. Rather, I am speaking from experience. Often times, we mean well, but are misinformed. Yet, due to dogmatic belief systems, we refuse to allow ourselves to partake in something which may actually be of benefit. For many years, I refused to eat honey and I discouraged everyone I knew from doing so. This was truly out of the goodness of my heart because I was worried about the bees. Honey bees are disappearing from many parts of the country due to pesticides, disease, and the gassing of bees by inhumane companies that seek to profit from stealing their honey. It was also partly because I considered myself vegan, and was proud that I did not consume any animal (or insect) products. Little did I know that I could get delicious local raw honey from beekeepers who love and care for their bees. Little did I know that buy consuming local honey I was contributing to the local ecosystem by supporting the pollination of plants. By consuming local, raw honey, now one of my favorite foods, I was also inoculating myself against pollen, the very thing which caused me the most seasonal allergies. Looking back, I realize how silly it was that I let someone else define for me what it meant to be vegan, or that I was even concerned with a title.

Titles are like clothing. We wear them not only to protect ourselves physically and emotionally, but also to dress ourselves up – to make us look more impressive to others. If we are constantly concerning ourselves with what we are wearing, rather than what we truly are on the inside, then it will be difficult to move toward healthier and happier states of being. But if we can begin to love ourselves for who we are, if we can begin to move past the need to define ourselves by arbitrary titles like vegetarian, vegan, raw foodist, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, American, "foreign," black, white, and begin to see ourselves as human, we will inevitably be more happy, open, and accepting of peace, love, and radiant health.