Now..the final few healing foods...

10. Organ Meats

Yes, you read that correctly! Again, one of those things not often seen on dinner plates, but full of nature's richest sources of vitamins A, D, B6 and B12; folic acid; iron; and various fatty acids. Make sure you're consuming organ meats from organically raised, grass-fed cattle.

11. Fermented Beverages

Kefir, natural ginger ale, kombucha, and kvass...not terms you hear often but are worth checking out in well-stocked health food stores. You can also make them at home. These beverages contain lactic acid and supply beneficial probiotics, enzymes, and minerals to the digestive system. Fermented beverages can relieve constipation problems, cleanse the colon and gallbladder, help in the relief of arthritis, and promote overall well-being.

12 Green Vegetables

Farm fresh green vegetables do not contain additives, preservatives, food colorings, or artificial flavorings. Lots of beta-carotene and folic acid in greens. Folic acid can be destroyed in the cooking process, so it's best to eat green veggies RAW or very lightly cooked.

Most canned vegetables should be thrown away because the manufacturing process destroys vitamins. Frozen vegetables or okay, when you can't get fresh organic vegetables picked and packed from the farm.

7 foods to avoid

Avoid These 7 Foods and You're Off To A Healthier New Year

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
December 29 2009 | 392,271 views

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.

Women's Issues

Rethinking Reproductive Health

Written by Katie Singer

2005-Nov-10

Recently, in a medical journal, I read that oral contraceptives are useful "in establishing regular menstrual cycles"1 for women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). For years, I’ve observed that western medicine’s primary treatment of common gynecological problems is the birth control pill; still, I was dismayed to read this misinterpretation of what a menstrual cycle is and what oral contraceptives do to it. A healthy menstrual cycle includes the maturation of about a dozen follicles, unripe eggs that emit estrogen; production of cervical fluid (which can keep sperm alive for up to five days); buildup of a new uterine lining; ovulation (also known as the release of one ripe egg, which will live for 12-24 hours); production of progesterone; and, when pregnancy does not occur, release of the uterine lining. Oral contraceptives suppress many of these functions. The bleeding that occurs on the Pill results from taking sugar pills and withdrawing artificial hormones. This is not a menstrual period but a "withdrawal bleed" since it does not (with most prescriptions) follow ovulation. Fertility drugs like Clomid, which are often prescribed "like water"2 when pregnancy is desired, hyperstimulate the ovaries to mature many more follicles than they normally do. In turn, the follicles produce three to four times more estrogen than they do in pretreatment cycles. Are these pharmaceuticals dangerous to the women who take them? To their offspring? Are they changing the way we think about reproductive health? Are safer alternatives available to those who seek to prevent pregnancy or to become pregnant? What can a woman do if she feels that her health has been compromised by taking the Pill or a fertility drug? I imagine that people take hormonal drugs for several reasons: it’s become normal to take them; information about their hazards is usually posted in fine print; doctors (including alternative practitioners) are typically not taught natural methods of family planning in medical school--and they cannot give clients what they don’t know; and consumers frequently take prescription drugs and vitamins without researching their effects--because "they worked for my neighbor." Advertising is another factor. Barr Laboratories is currently engaged in a multi-million dollar campaign to promote Seasonale, their new oral contraceptive, which gives women "the convenience of only four periods [sic] each year" with just "all of the warnings and contraindications. . . identical to any other oral contraceptive." There are currently sixteen million women on oral contraceptives in the US; Barr Labs aims to secure 90 percent of this market.3 Some Problems with Hormonal Contraceptives Oral contraceptives are made from artificial steroids that mimic the effects of estrogen and progesterone. The Pill works by: Suppressing the release of hormones that trigger ovulation; Stimulating production of thick cervical mucus, which prevents sperm survival and ability to travel to a ripe egg in the fallopian tube in the event that ovulation does occur; Disrupting the ability of the cilia (whip-like cells that line the fallopian tube) to move a fertilized egg toward the uterus in the event that conception does occur; Preventing buildup of the uterine lining, and thereby inhibiting implantation of a fertilized egg in the event that one arrives in the uterus. It’s worth noting that the mini-Pill, a progestin-only pill, may not suppress ovulation or conception from occurring.5,6 In The Breast Cancer Prevention Program, Sam Epstein, MD, writes, "more than 20 well-controlled studies have demonstrated the clear risk of premenopausal breast cancer with the use of oral contraceptives. These estimates indicate that a young woman who uses oral contraceptives has up to ten times the risk for developing breast cancer as does a non-user, particularly if she uses the Pill during her teens or early twenties; if she uses the Pill for two years or more; if she uses the Pill before her first full-term pregnancy; if she has a family history of breast cancer." Thus, a woman who takes the Pill for two years before she’s 25 and before she’s had a pregnancy to term increases her risk of breast cancer tenfold. A study conducted by the World Health Organization found that women who carry the human papilloma virus (HPV) and who have taken the Pill for five to nine years are nearly three times more likely than non-Pill users to develop cervical cancer.7 (HPV affects a third of all women in their twenties.) Women with HPV who’ve taken the Pill for more than ten years are four times more likely than non-users to develop the disease. Women who have a history of migraine headaches and who take combined oral contraceptives are two to four times more likely to have a stroke than women who have migraines and don’t take the Pill.8 Women who use low-dose oral contraceptive pills have a two-fold increased risk of a fatal heart attack compared to non-users.9 Women who take oral contraceptives and smoke have a 12-fold increase in fatal heart attacks and a 3.1-fold increase in fatal brain hemorrhage.10 Women who use the Pill after the age of 45 have a 144 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who have never used it.11 Because of blocked hormone production, women who take the Pill have decreased sensitivity to smell. Because sexual interest is communicated through smell, the Pill may decrease women’s sex drives.12 In Solved: The Riddle of Illness, Dr. Stephen Langer writes that "the Pill. . . can cause severe bodily damage in hypothyroidism." Oral contraceptives may aggravate insulin resistance and longterm risk of diabetes and heart disease.13 Other hormonal contraceptives may also be problematic. Depo-provera, an injectable contraceptive, requires a shot every three months. Even one shot before a woman is twenty-one can result in bone loss. Adolescent women who use Depo may be more likely to suffer fractures when they reach menopause than those who never took the injections.14 Women who take Depo-provera shots for two years or more before they’re twenty-five have an almost tripled risk of breast cancer.15 Dagmar Ehling, a doctor of Oriental medicine, explains that "In its listing of the side effects of oral contraceptives, thePhysician’s Desk Reference includes increased blood clotting, uterine bleeding, and carcinoma of the breast and endometrium. In Oriental medicine, these conditions could be categorized as Blood Stasis, a kind of ‘pattern of disharmony.’ Blood Stasis describes sluggish blood circulation, which might manifest as blood clotting, varicose veins, tumors, nodules or cysts. While acupuncture and herbs can address these conditions, from an Oriental perspective, the longer a woman stays on the Pill, the more she increases her risk for these kinds of problems." Many women taking the Pill have reported weight gain--a sign of estrogen dominance and/or insulin resistance--as well as depression and even psychosis. If you have taken hormonal contraceptives and feel they have taken your cycles out of sync and negatively affected your health, eating a traditional diet with emphasis on vitamin A-rich foods, and sleeping primarily in the absence of light (a technique that I described briefly in the Spring, 2004 issue ofWise Traditions and more fully in The Garden of Fertility), has helped numerous women to return to health and normal cycles. Assisted Reproductive Technology In The Elusive Embryo: How Women and Men Approach New Reproductive Technologies, anthropologist Gay Becker describes couples who pursue their desire for a child "until emotional and financial resources are exhausted." She observes that with the proliferation of assisted reproductive technologies, the emphasis has shifted from diagnosing and correcting abnormal physiology to achieving a pregnancy in the fastest and most direct manner possible, regardless of the cost or invasiveness. This approach aggressively augments the natural reproductive cycle, or bypasses it altogether, and aims for results regardless of the underlying infertility diagnosis. If you are considering using reproductive technology to help you conceive, please first research its potential hazards--to yourself and to your potential offspring. Clomiphene citrate, also known as Clomid, a common drug prescribed when a woman has difficulty conceiving, works by binding itself to estrogen receptors in the brain so that naturally occurring estrogen cannot be detected by the body. Clomid tricks the body into producing more and more Follicle Stimulating Hormone, causing more follicles (unripe eggs) to grow than normally would. In turn, more estrogen is produced by the follicles, and more eggs are matured. Typically, a woman taking this drug produces double or triple the amount of estrogen (and releases more eggs at ovulation) per cycle compared to pretreatment cycles. In Our Stolen Future, the pivotal work about how pesticides threaten animal and human ability to reproduce, Theo Colburn and her co-authors report that "numerous studies have linked estrogens, even those occurring in the body, to cancer, suggesting that the greater a woman’s lifetime exposure, the greater the risk." According to a package insert (available from your pharmacist, by request) about Clomid from Merrell Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of the drug’s manufacturers, "The majority of patients who are going to ovulate will do so after the first course of therapy. If ovulation does not occur after three courses of therapy, further treatment with clomiphene citrate tablets USP is not recommended. . . . If menses does not occur after an ovulatory response, the patient should be re-evaluated. Long-term cyclic therapy is not recommended beyond a total of about six cycles." Merrell Pharmaceuticals also recommends that the first dose of Clomid be 50 mg. Unfortunately, I know many women who have taken Clomid for as many as twelve cycles; I know others who took the drug at double the dosage recommended by Merrell Pharmaceuticals in their first use of it. Essentially, Clomid hyperstimulates one aspect of the reproductive system--which then requires the rest of the system (which was perhaps out of sync before the drug was administered) to grasp for health and wholeness in response to being overstimulated. Educate yourself as much as you can before using reproductive technology. Studies show that treatments like Clomid and in vitro fertilization (wherein conception takes place outside of the woman’s body) increase a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer (especially if she never conceives)16,17 and her offspring’s risk of birth defects.18-20 Also, Clomid can dry up cervical fluid, which makes it difficult for sperm to reach the mature egg easily.21 Leah Morton, a family physician, observes, "Some women want to be pregnant immediately once they start trying. I see this desire as part of a wider idea in our culture that we can and should be able to control our lives. We should be able to control crime, pollution, educational discrepancies, gender inequalities, our finances, and our fertility. Indeed, technology now may be used to help us control lovemaking, pregnancy prevention, conception, labor and delivery, even raising a child. But really, technological controls have nothing to do with fertility, with being in the unknown, the mystery of life. It’s up to us to respond to the joy, darkness, and awe that we experience." Dr. Morton also says, "If a couple is having difficulty conceiving or sustaining a pregnancy, my first concern is whether or not they’re eating food that’s not genetically modified, that is organic, whole and low glycemic (this means with little or no refined sugars or starches). Improving one’s diet is one of the hardest things to do in our culture. It also makes for healthier parenting!" Real Women in the 21st Century Most women in our culture have taken hormonal drugs at some point in their lives to prevent or achieve pregnancy; and, young women are commonly prescribed the Pill when they have acne, painful menstrual cramps, PCOS, and/or mild depression. Learning the hazards of these drugs can be discomfitting, to say the least. I know very few people who have not taken some kind of risk-increasing drug. A while ago I read that women who have taken antibiotics every day for a year or more significantly increase their risk of breast cancer. What kind of dumb woman would take antibiotics every day for a year? I wondered--and then realized: a woman like me. As a teenager, I took antibiotics every day for probably two or three years to ward off acne. The drugs didn’t help, but all my girlfriends were treating their acne with antibiotics, and my parents and I didn’t know alternatives. Indeed, when most of us experience some kind of problem with our menstrual cycles, or we want to prevent pregnancy, or we want to get pregnant, the most readily available option is usually pharmaceutical. The good news is that there are alternatives. My first recommendation is to learn how the body works. If she learns Fertility Awareness and daily charts her waking temperature and cervical fluid changes, a woman of childbearing age can know whether she’s ovulating and whether she is prone to miscarriage, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, low thyroid function and other problems. If you identify a problem or a trend toward a problem, you may wonder what you can do to strengthen your health. Diet can be a great place to start. I know many young women who, in addition to discontinuing hormonal drugs, charted their fertility signals, identified problems with their cycles, gradually switched to a nutrient-dense diet, and found their health steadily improved. Indeed, in many of the groups he studied, Weston Price found that "girls were not allowed to be married until after they had had a period of special feeding. In some tribes, a six-month period of special nutrition was required" to ensure the health of a couple’s offspring. Night-lighting techniques, herbs, homeopathy, or acupuncture can also strengthen reproductive health. So can meditation and yoga. Regardless of the options you’re considering (for a health problem, to prevent pregnancy, or to get pregnant), research the risks and benefits involved. Keep researching until you find something that works for you.

How To Get Sick

Get your cavities filled with Mercury

Often called "silver amalgam," "silver fillings," or "amalgam fillings" their true composition is 45-55% mercury. Mercury is a heavy metal toxin. The vapors released from mercury amalgam fillings in your mouth can produce "neurological and psychiatric symptoms...depression, irritability, exaggerated response to stimulation, excessive shyness, insomnia, emotional instability, forgetfulness, confusion, and vasometer disturbances such as excessive perspiration and uncontrolled blushing. Tremors are also common in those exposed to mercury vapor." There's also evidence that allergies may be "causally related to mercury/amalgam dental fillings." Consider having your cavities filled with more natural materials.

- The Maker's Diet

More Top Healing Foods

7. Honey and Pomegranate

Our oldest sweetener - honey - comes from the nectar of flowers and nature's "most efficient factory" - the beehive. The word "honey" or "honeycomb" is mentioned more than forty times in the scriptures. The "Promised Land" is described as the land of "milk and honey."

(Exod. 13:5)

Honey is a great source of antioxidants and plays a role in the prevention of cancer as well as heart disease. It's also known to wipe out the bacteria that cause diarrhea. Honey is best eaten the way God intended (which is how the bees create it): raw and unheated, preserving the naturally occurring enzymes and bee pollen.

Pomegranates are renowned for their antioxidant qualities and are referred to as the "fruit of royalty" in the Bible. Did you know that the pomegranate has 613 seeds?

8. Soaked and Sprouted Seeds and Grains

Antioxidant-rich foods like sprouted grains, seeds, and nuts retain their plant enzymes when they are not cooked. Soaking and sprouting also greatly helps digestion. When soaked or allowed to germinate, these nutrients transform into nutritional powerhouses that produce vitamin C and various vitamin B's - B2, B5, and B6. If you're wheat intolerant you may want to try sprouted wheat bread because the digestive system will be better able to accept sprouted grains. Look for Ezekial sprouted breads in the freezer section at your grocery store.

9. Cultured and Fermented Vegetables

Things like sauerkraut, pickled carrots, beets, or cucumbers often get the "upturned" nose at the dinner table. However, fermented veggies like these are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. Raw cultured fermented veggies supply the body with useful organisms called probiotics, as well as lots of vitamins, including vitamin C.

More Top Healing Foods

4. Small fruits such as figs, grapes, and berries

"What was the first fruit mentioned in scripture?" If you answered the Fig, you were right! - in Genesis 3:7. Whether you eat them fresh or dried, figs are a good source of fiber and potassium, a mineral that helps control blood pressure. So many people are potassium deficient because they don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, and they consume large amounts of sodium in processed foods.

Grapes are a great source of fiber and antioxidants. Berries are awesome nutritional "powerhouses." They are low in calories and among the highest antioxidant-containing foods on the planet. Some evidence even suggests that blueberries can prevent age-related memory loss.

5. Soups and Stocks

Stocks, or broths, are extremely nutritious and loaded with minerals, cartilage, collagen, and electrolytes. Meat, fish, and chicken stocks also contain large amounts of natural gelatin - a natural digestive aid. Chicken stock, for example, is usually made of backs, necks, and breastbones. Broths and stocks are especially beneficial to those with intestinal disease because they are high in nutrition that the gastrointestinal tract can easily absorb.

6. Healthy Saturated Fats

For years, Americans have been told to avoid fats found in butter and whole milk, even though humans have been eating butter from grass-fed cows and other animal fats for thousands of years. Instead of these healthy saturated fats, our diets now are full of polyunsaturated and hydrogenated fats...thanks to processed oils.

Whole milk butter, from cows grazing on fresh grasses, is loaded with Vitamins A, D, and E. As long as cows have fresh, fast-growing grass to eat, their milk will be high in vitamins.

What oil do you use in cooking? Well, I generally use olive oil. But anytime you cook foods in a pan or bake something in the oven, it's great if you can use extra virgin coconut oil. Coconut oil has been shown to help balance the thyroid and improve metabolic function - keep that in mind if you're trying to lose weight.

- The Great Physician's Rx for Health and Wellness

The Top Healing Foods

1. Fish and fish oil

Wild-caught fish in an incredible food and we should eat it as often as possible. Cod liver oil is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids. In study after study, cod liver oil is credited in the development of the brain, the rods and cones of the retina of the eye, the male reproductive tissue, lubrication of the joints, and the body's inflammatory response.

2. Cultured Dairy Products from Goats, Cows, and Sheep

If you're unable to get raw milk, dairy products from organic, grass-fed cows can be excellent as long as the dairy if non-homogenized. Goat's milk tends to be less allergenic because it doesn't contain the same complex proteins found in cow's milk. It contains higher amounts of medium-chain fatty acids and 7% less lactose than cow's milk. So if you've previously had "lactose intolerance" issues, goat's milk is something you should seriously consider. Avoid skim or 2% milk - even though we're told that it's healthier for the body than the full fat version. Removing the fat makes the milk less nutritious, less digestible, and more allergenic.

3. Olive Oil

Olive oil protects us from heart disease and cancer. High in monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants, good olive oil controls LDL (bad) cholesterol levels while raising HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Flavenoids and polyphenols (antioxidants) help prevent cell damage from oxygen-containing chemicals call "free radicals." Save your highest quality extra-virgin olive oil for salads and marinades and not high temperature cooking - certain nutrients in the olive oil break down when they get too hot.