The neurological entrainment of positive affirmations.

I want readers to improve, live more rewarding lives and take charge of their investing and trading, I recommend meditation, authentic yogic relaxation and the use of positive affirmations. Don't diss this stuff, imo.

This trap is deceptively simple because most people, when questioned, say that they totally believe in themselves and deserve to be successful as traders.

Yet, when you expose the majority of people to the myriad of real time decisions afforded by the market, this belief system reveals how fragile and fleeting it is, and begins to fall apart. Traders spend more than 90 percent of their time thinking, questioning, doubting, reassessing, struggling to keep focused, being whipsawed by emotions and just plain worrying if they are doing or not doing the right thing. What part of any of these activities reflects authentic belief in oneself?

When I say believe in yourself, I am not talking about superficial muttering for the sake of political or social correctness. I am talking about a deep-seated, absolutely incontrovertible and unshakeable belief in yourself as a consistently successful trader. This is among the most difficult challenges you face because it requires you to construct an adequate and realistic self-image and then use that image to propel you to achieve your trading goals. It is like making a movie of yourself or setting the stage for the most eloquent performance of your life.

More than that, it requires that you go deep within yourself to those messages which were given to your limbic rat brain memory at an early age. Many of you can identify with these messages. They may be hurtful, painful and very deep-seated. How many times when you were growing up did you hear the word “No?" How many times were you told that you were bad because you did this or that, or you would be punished if you did not say things in a certain way, and all of the horrible things that might happen to you if you disobeyed or did not listen? How many times were you told that you would never amount to anything and that you were just plain not good enough?

These limbic rat brain memories are intensely powerful and also very sneaky because many of you have spent your lives hiding from them or denying them. Because few want to admit that they harbor massive insecurities, they act out their lives in such a way as to make these messages self-fulfilling and then sit around scratching their heads and wondering why they are not getting anywhere or why they are failing to achieve their goals. In essence, what people are doing in this situation is affirming the negative messages stored in their brains. If your self-image is one of shame, guilt, anxiety and insecurity you will sabotage your trading IN ORDER TO LOSE. Yes. You will set yourself up, just as more than 50% of traders do, to actually lose. This then reinforces that you deserve nothing good and deepens the shame and self-contempt. I know it's not easy for many of you to hear this, let alone wrap your brain around it as it applies to you. But, you must be strong enough to do it, because it means the difference between failure and success in your trading and your life.

What do you do about this? It's simple, but not easy. You must reprogram your brain with new messages about yourself. You must literally begin to see yourself as successful, confident and powerful. You do this by making new mental images, by re-etching your limbic system with messages of empowerment. Make a new movie of your life, with bright and colorful pictures of joy and unlimited success and happiness.

Some people do this through constant and unrelenting affirmations which they practice on a regular basis several times a day until the messages get through. It takes approximately 21 days of consistent and dedicated practice to change a habit. It takes 21 days of constant, dedicated repetition for one positive message to get entrained into your nervous system.

What is required to change your belief system about yourself is to truly see yourself as successful. It is like taking a photograph of yourself right now and then stepping back and looking at how you would like it to be if you were living up to your full potential. For beginners, try this simple experiment: Right now, pay attention to how you are sitting in your chair, the look on your face, how your shoulders are positioned, your posture and demeanor, and how you are feeling about yourself. Be radically honest about it. Take a snapshot of it in your mind. Now - stand up and walk away from the chair to the other side of the room. Look at the empty chair and picture yourself sitting in that chair as the person you would like to be. Picture how you would look and feel if you had everything you wanted. Keep taking snapshots of success in your mind. Keep doing it. Now, walk back to your chair, sit down and be that snapshot of success and fulfillment and true esteem of yourself. How does that feel?

This is the beginning of neurological entrainment of positive affirmations. . This is the start of believing in your ability to do anything you want to do. This is the start of your new truth which you will etch onto your brain one day at a time as you master your mindset on the way to full realization of your true and authentic self as a powerful trader and human being. You are more powerful and precious than you will ever know. Everything that you truly are, you are now becoming. It works if you work it, so make it work now. Lights, camera, action...Go for it. You can do it, and you deserve it!

Some people say I have attitude - maybe I do...but I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there...
Venus Williams.

Copyright © 2009 Janice Dorn, MD, PhD

Green Tea's a goer!

I like the Grren tea with lemon, but I have a quarter teaspoon of sugar as well... I love the stuff, 4 cups a day at least!

The Emperor's Guard: Green Tea Protects the Heart
NewsTarget.com 18/03/2009 07:00
(NaturalNews) Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views the heart as the master of the body and the emperor of the organ networks. It generates chi, the vital energy of the body, and thus is the root of all life1. Without a healthy heart, the body is fragile and stale. While many of us know that heart disease is rampant in the United States, we remain largely unaware of a powerful tool in its prevention: green tea. The heart protective effects of green tea can be attributed mainly to its antioxidant and anti-obesity properties, while other mechanisms play supporting roles. Each of these mechanisms will be discussed below in terms of TCM as well as Western medicine.

First, the antioxidant properties of green tea can be traced to its polyphenols, defined simply as groups of chemical substances in a plant. These polyphenols act as little superheros, taking the place of cells in danger of becoming oxidized and facing the oxidation themselves. In this way, they prevent the formation of free radicals - highly reactive atoms that can damage heart cells and, in TCM, leave cells incapable of generating chi2. Research at the Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, Japan confirmed that green tea polyphenols can protect a heart from oxidative stress, as well as maintain good left ventricular function after ischemic arrest (restriction in the heart's blood supply) and reperfusion (tissue damage caused when the blood supply returns)3. A study at Aichi Medical University in Japan similarly concluded that green tea is useful to ischemia-reperfusion hearts due to its ability to fight free radicals,4 and research at the University of Padova in Italy found that green tea extract prevented hypertension and targeted organ damage induced in rats, likely by scavenging free radicals.5

There are four primary polyphenols in green tea and they are often collectively referred to as catechins, the most publicized of which is Epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. At Chungbuk National University in Cheongju, Korea, research suggests that EGCG prevents the development of left ventricular concentric hypertrophy (pathological thickening of the ventricle walls) due to high blood pressure and may be useful in preventing cardiac remodeling (changes in size, shape or function of the heart) in patients with diseases that strain the heart muscle.6 Furthermore, a 2004 review study at Complutense University of Madrid in Spain confirmed that catechins consumption decreases cholesterol absorption and plasma levels, scavenges free-radicals thereby inhibiting LDL oxidation, decreases systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and decreases body weight by interfering with fatty acid synthesis.7

This ability of green tea to aid weight loss has been well-documented, and maintaining a healthy weight is intimately related to heart vigor. The tea's anti-obesity properties can be attributed to its effects on lipid metabolism as well as its thermogenic (heat-producing) activity. A 2006 study at the University of Madras in Chennai, India found that the administration of green tea extract decreased cholesterol, triglyceride, free fatty acid levels and lipoprotein lipase activity in the heart of diabetic rats.8 Lipase is an enzyme that allows fat to be broken down - if its activity is decreased, cholesterol and triglycerides are removed rather than stored. A 2003 study at Roche Vitamins in Basel, Switzerland,9 a 2006 study at the University of Hawaii10 and a 2007 study at the University of Connecticut11 further confirm green tea's lipid-lowering capabilities. In addition, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study at the University of Medicine in Berlin confirmed that EGCG alone has the potential to increase fat oxidation in men and may thereby contribute to the anti-obesity effects of green tea.12 In relation to thermogenesis (heat production that leads to increased metabolism), green tea, by containing both catechins and caffeine, may promote thermogenesis through inhibition of certain enzymes (catechol O-methyl-transferase and phosphodiesterase). In addition, tea catechins have anti-angiogenic (enlarging of blood vessels) properties that may prevent the development of excess weight.13 In TCM, weight loss involves limiting salty and sweet foods and increasing bitter and pungent foods. Green tea, a bitter food, is recommended.14

These two health-giving properties of green tea -- antioxidant activity and weight loss promotion -- combine to additionally protect the heart in those with diabetes, as hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress has been proposed as a cause of many complications of diabetes including cardiac dysfunction. Research at the University of Madras found that green tea extract ameliorates oxidative stress in the aorta and the heart of diabetic rats given streptozotocin (a chemical that is toxic to the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas). This suggests that green tea may be useful in the reversal of oxidative stress-induced cardiac dysfunction in diabetics.15 Another study at the University of Madras found that green tea improves the quality of heart collagen, also possibly therapeutic in the treatment of cardiovascular complications of diabetes.16

Another mechanism by which green tea protects the heart is quelling inflammation. Research at the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio found that ECGC inhibits the expression of the interleukin-8 gene--a key gene involved in the inflammatory response.17 In TCM, inflammation is a result of consuming too many heating foods, such as meat, cooked oils, and processed sugar. The treatment involves consuming cooling foods, of which green tea, although often served hot, is a superstar due to its alkaloid content.18

To conclude, green tea is an excellent guard of the emperor, protecting the heart through a wide range of mechanisms. In this way, green tea is highly effective in ensuring a strong, healthy body pulsing vibrantly with chi, the energy of life.

.

----------------

1Li Ting, A Primer of Medicine (Yixue Rumen) as quoted by the Institute of Traditional Medicine. To view: http://www.itmonline.org/5organs/heart.htm.

2Pitchford, Paul. Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, 3rd ed. North Atlantic Books: Berkley, 2002. Pgs. 84-85.

3Interactive Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery. 2004 Dec;3(4):612-5.

4Life Science. 2007 Feb 20;80(11):1020-32. Epub 2006 Nov 25.

5American Journal of Hypertension. 2007 Dec;20(12):1321-8.

6Journal of Veterinary Science. 2007 Jun;8(2):121-9.

7Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutricion. 2004 Dec;54(4):380-94.

8Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology. 2006 Dec;33(12):1184-9.

9Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2003 Jun;14(6):326-32.

10Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2006 Mar 8;104(1-2):24-31. Epub 2005 Oct 3.

11Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2007 Mar;18(3):179-83.

12Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2007 Aug;26(4):389S-395S.

13American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 2007 Jan;292(1):R77-85. Epub 2006 Jul 13.

14Pitchford, Paul. Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, 3rd ed. North Atlantic Books: Berkley, 2002. Pgs. 116-117.

15Chemico-Biological Interactions. 2006 Aug 25;162(2):114-20. Epub 2006 Apr 28.

16Pharmacological Research. 2007 May;55(5):433-40. Epub 2007 Feb 2.

17Inflammation. 2002 Oct;26(5):233-41.

18Pitchford, Paul. Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition, 3rd ed. North Atlantic Books: Berkley, 2002. Pgs. 61-63.


About the author
Renata Lorenc is an award winning publicist and producer. She is a regular contributor to Independent Film Quarterly and the Jewish Times.

The thing about Depressions is; there depressing...

A colleague contributes...

"Sorry guys, gotta forgive me for the following lenghtly diatribe. While we’re experiencing some disruption in the normal flow that’s typical of BearChat, I thought it might be a good opportunity to share some discussion that I otherwise would not have bothered posting. Keen’s piece is the longest, and I culled that material from a discussion thread with over 150 messages.

I begin with a discussion from Steve Keen’s Debtdeflation blog and, from there, throw in a few other items, all of which have bearing on where we are today and what might be likely scenarios going forward.

I particularly liked the quote from a clinical psychologist in Chicago who said, ”This is really unprecedented. I’ve been practicing for 20 years, and I’m seeing just an unprecedented amount of anxiety, as are most my colleagues”. They call it collateral damage from the economy, a phenomenon that latter generations of Americans seem ill-prepared to cope. An extreme example is the case of the man who killed his wife and children after being fired from a job.

Keen says that, Ultimately, the only way out of this crisis is a still painful route of debt reduction via either inflation (which he doesn’t believe our economic managers know how to create) or legislative debt writedowns. That’s the “bottom line” and makes perfect sense to me. The only thing else that matters is how this “thing” actually plays out.

Keen thinks that attempts to bailout the economy financially have to be given time to fail before more serious measures will finally be considered. Thus, if you buy his arguement, it would indeed appear that we’re in the early innings of what looks like an unfolding painful scenario. Won’t be the end of the world, but for some it will definitely feel like it.

Ballmer Gets “It”, by Steve Keen

http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2009/01/23/ballmer-gets-it/

Ordinarily I’d simply post a link to a media report in either my Gems or Brickbats page. But this quote from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer shows that he really understands what is going on now, in a way that no other person in authority seems to have done as yet.

Ballmer’s perceptive analysis of what is going on is:

“We’re certainly in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic conditions. The perspective I would bring is not one of recession. Rather, the economy is resetting to lower level of business and consumer spending based largely on the reduced leverage in economy.”

For consumers, that may mean less discretionary income to spend on....(name your poison - Ballmer was talking 2nd or third computers).

That is precisely what is happening. It is also why, though government action might slow down the decline, ultimately it can’t prevent a serious decline in economic activity. That can happen only gradually as we slowly replace debt-generated spending capacity with income-generated capacity. What the government can do is remove the logjam standing in the way of that process, which is the crippling mountain of debt accumulated by the Ponzi financing behaviour of the last 4 decades (and in particular the last one). But that will require much more drastic action than simply bailouts: given the scale of debt accumulated, either the debt has to be devalued by inflation, or written down via government decree.

We’re still a long way from any government official or politician realising that. But the fact that someone as influential as Ballmer has put his finger on the problem implies that maybe that day of realisation is approaching.

Keen says that, given the scale of the debt we’ve accumulated, and our dependence on growing debt for aggregate demand, that he thinks we’re in for a serious Depression no matter what, and it will be prolonged for as long as governments continue trying to help the private sector validate debt that should never have been issued in the first place.

I expect we’re in for currency collapses galore , and I expect deflation rather than inflation overall. Government’s can’t create inflation simply by increasing fiat money in a debt-encumbered credit-based economy–unless they’re willing to “print” a factor of ten more dollars than they’ve yet done, which I doubt. (When the deleveraging gets up a head of steam, even a deliberate 1% reduction in debt levels would take (multiple) times as much money out of the economy as the...injection pumped into it.)

So he expects we’ll see international finance collapse and debt defaults galore, with cross-border interest rates becoming prohibitive, but domestic nominal rates heading for zero amid collapsing prices and incomes. And, ultimately, the only way out of this crisis is a still painful route of debt reduction via either inflation (which I don’t believe our economic managers know how to create) or legislative debt writedowns. Keen thinks attempts to bailout the economy financially like at present have to be given time to fail before more serious measures will finally be considered.

"I expect the US dollar would plummet. As for its effect on inflation, it might simply wipe out a section of US consumption rather than drive its price all that much higher. Sales of Asian-manufactured consumer goods have already plummeted, even though the US dollar has appreciated largely so far, thus making these goods notionally cheaper. If the dollar’s oil prop were removed and its currency depreciated, sales of these items might evaporate even more. There might be some domestic stimulus in that, but don’t forget that debt dynamics dominate here. Revival via domestic consumption is still a long way off."

The problem with trying monetary means to cause inflation–which Bernanke is doing right now–is that in an overindebted credit-money economy, the increase in fiat-generated money is more than offset by a collapse in credit-created money. That is apparent in the US data right now (though there is still a time lag to be taken into account). As a result, the money supply in toto can fall, even though the government is trying desperately to increase it.

In Japan’s case, even in a country with a high personal savings rate, increased fiat money was completely absorbed into private debt reduction. Japan tried a 30% increase in base money one year, only to see the rate of deflation accelerate the year after.

Minding the Deflation Spiral, by Desmond Lachman

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/minding-the-deflation-spiral

The Fed meets this week amid bad news on labor markets, consumer spending, and industrial production

In the six weeks since the last meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC), there has been a further material weakening in the U.S. economy and renewed strains on the U.S. financial system. At the same time, there has been an abrupt weakening in labor market conditions and an unprecedented deceleration in inflation that raises anew concerns about a deflationary spiral.

1. Employment conditions continue to deteriorate rapidly.

2. Labor market and output gaps continue to widen, which must be expected to exert considerable downward pressure on wages and prices.

3. Deteriorating labor market conditions and falling asset prices have contributed to a collapse in consumer confidence to its lowest level in 25 years.

4. Consumer spending, which accounts for around 70 percent of GDP by expenditure, is dropping at its fastest rate since World War II.

5. Industrial production is declining at its fastest pace in 30 years.

6. Housing starts have plumbed new lows, while housing permits suggest no sign of stabilization in the housing market.

7. Over the past three months, consumer prices have decelerated at their fastest pace in the post-war period.

In the context of a significant weakening in the U.S. economy, it is likely the FOMC will make clear in its statement that it considers that inflation risks have further receded, while the downside risks to the economy have increased.

Man kills wife, five kids, himself after being fired

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/28/family.dead.california/index.html

The bodies of five children and two adults -- the children's mother and father -- were found Tuesday in a home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington. Among the dead, authorities said, were an 8-year-old girl and two sets of twins -- 5-year-old girls and 2-year-old boys.

Ervin Lupoe apparently called 911 and contacted a television station by fax before committing suicide, authorities said.

Kaiser Permanente said Lupoe and his wife, Ana, were both former employees of the medical center. Both had been terminated, Hayes said, with Lupoe's termination coming last week. It appears there were grounds for the termination, and it did not come as a result of layoffs, he said.

In Lupoe's suicide note, he offered a detailed account of his and his wife's work circumstances, calling the family's situation a "tragic story." He ended it by saying, "So after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone's else's hands."

Therapists seeing more 'collateral damage' from economy

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/23/recession.therapy/index.html?iref=newssearch

No formal data exist on the number of Americans who are turning to therapy during the recession, but most clinical psychologists say that referrals are up.

"This is really unprecedented," says Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist in Chicago, Illinois. "I've been practicing for 20 years, and I'm seeing just an unprecedented amount of anxiety, as are most of my colleagues."

Rick Weinberg, a clinical psychologist in Tampa, Florida, says that in one recent week 80 percent of his patients were discussing the pain inflicted on them in the economy. His patients included a small business owner who was forced to lay off longtime staff, a family of four evicted from their home and moving into a rental, and a family with two teenagers that was down to a one-parent income and experiencing frequent spending arguments and acting out by the teens.

"I have many patients who come in to see me in such crisis, they haven't opened their bills in three months. They haven't opened their statements. They're not functioning," Molitor says. "We need to really address that in a very quick way to begin to help alleviate their anxiety enough so that they start functioning."

"It's gotten worse. It's absolutely gotten worse. Most people are feeling anxious about money right now," says Bradley Klontz, a clinical psychologist in Hawaii. "When you're struggling with money issues and it affects your ability to carry out your various roles -- if it's keeping you up at night -- I'd say that's when you know it's time."


Beyond elevated anxiety levels, there are concerns about depression and suicide."

"We've had people who are so depressed that they are thinking that maybe life isn't worth going on. It's a small number of people but, you know, that is something that we're becoming more concerned about.”

Get Moving, Avoid Pain and Amputation: Exercise Can Beat Peripheral Arterial Disease

After a lifetime of smoking and lots of motorcycle accidents and a not perfect radius ulna fracture repair which decreased my arm rotation, I had developed a lot of bad habits posture wise and tended to favour one side, two years ago I got a sore that wouldn't heal on my left foot and felt that as far my body was concerned, the joy of life was all but over.
I took to taking hot baths to raise circulation in my feet, took up swimming and bicycle riding, cut the smoking to between five and ten a day on the way to zero and two years later feel great and look much better.

Now that was like making 500K in the markets and took exactly the same skills, patient application and attention, discipline, self belief and treating myself with kindness.

Best thing I ever did....

"NewsTarget.com 19/12/2008 08:00
(NaturalNews) According to the American Heart Association (AHA), about 8 million Americans have the most common form of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) known as peripheral arterial disease, or PAD. The risk of PAD increases as we get older and, by age 65, some 12 to 20 percent of the population has the condition. PAD is caused by deposits of fatty plaques in arteries that interrupts blood flow to the legs. You may have no symptoms of PAD or you can experience sometimes excruciating leg pain that doesn't go away when you finish exercising , the pain, called "intermittent claudication", is caused when plaque prevents muscles from getting an adequate blood supply during exercise. Other symptoms of PAD can include leg or foot wounds that heal slowly or not at all, and a marked decrease in the temperature of one leg compared to the rest of your body.

Finding out if you have PAD is crucial because, undiagnosed and untreated, the condition can lead to gangrene and even amputation. What's more, AHA statistics reveal people that with PAD have a four to five times higher risk of heart attack or stroke. But there's good news: a study just published in The Journal of Physiology concludes regular, moderate exercise can go a long way to eliminate PAD symptoms by some unexpected mechanisms. The new research suggests that exercise triggers the body to naturally solve the problem by expanding and multiplying the surrounding smaller blood vessels in a blocked area and also making blood vessels healthier.

In animal experiments, University of Missouri researchers studied rats with blocked femoral arteries. When the rodents were made to exercise regularly, the scientists found that blood flow increased and was effective in restoring normal muscle function. This wasn't unexpected because, when a major artery in the leg becomes blocked, the body often creates another route for the blood to pass through by expanding and multiplying blood vessels in the area. This is known as collateral blood flow. But the scientists found that exercise appeared to spur the collateral vessels to become larger and less likely to contract , and vascular constriction is known to be a problem with PAD. More unexpected results: the blood vessels downstream from the blockage also went through healthy changes and became more efficient.

Dr. Ronald Terjung, of the University of Missouri's Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, and other authors of the study stated in a media release they believe a regular exercise program would delay the onset of pain and increase mobility for people suffering with PAD. "Our findings raise the potential that new collateral vessels, that can develop in patients with PAD who are physically active, will function effectively to help minimize the consequences of the original vascular obstruction," Dr. Terjung said in the press statement.

The AHA points out that smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol increase your risk for the condition. Bottom line: exercise, smoking cessation, weight control and a healthy diet are all lifestyle factors that can help beat PAD, naturally.

For more information, see the links below. The American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3020242


Media statement: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-12/w-sof121208.php

About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's "Men's Health Advisor" newsletter and many others."

Get rid of that Liver Fat..

(NaturalNews) For years, people who are pear-shaped with extra fat deposited in their thighs and backsides have been designated at lower risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes than those who are rounder and apple-shaped with excess fat stored around their middles. But two studies from nutrition researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, published in the journals Obesity and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, conclude body shapes don't tell the whole story.

Instead, the most important key to high cholesterol, insulin resistance and other problems that can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease is having too much fat stored in your liver. The cause of this condition, known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, is overeating. But there's good news: scientists say simply by changing eating habits to a healthier diet and getting weight under control, the condition can be completely reversed.

"Since obesity is so much more common now, both in adults and in children, we are seeing a corresponding increase in the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease," Samuel Klein, M.D., who heads the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science and the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University, said in a statement to media. "That can lead to serious liver disorders such as cirrhosis in extreme cases, but more often it tends to have metabolic consequences."

Dr. Klein headed a research team that studied obese adolescents divided into two groups: one group had excessive liver fat and another with no evidence of fatty liver disease. The groups were matched by age, sex, body mass index, body fat percentage and the degree of their excess weight. The scientists found the teens with fatty liver disease also had abnormalities in glucose and fat metabolism, including lower levels of HDL cholesterol ( known as the "good" cholesterol). The youngsters who didn't have fatty livers also didn't have markers of metabolic problems. Bottom line: it wasn't bodies shaped like apples that indicated metabolic risks, it was fat in their livers.

"Abdominal fat is not the best marker for risk," Dr. Klein, who also directs the Nutrition Support Service at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, said in the media statement. "It appears liver fat is the real marker. Abdominal fat probably has been cited in the past because it tends to track so closely with liver fat. But if you look at people where the two don't correspond -- with excess fat in the liver but not in the abdomen and vice versa -- the only thing that consistently predicts metabolic derangements is fat in the liver."

In a second study, Klein's research team found nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was linked to the release of larger amounts of fatty acids into the bloodstream. Those fatty acids, in turn, were associated with high triglyceride levels and insulin resistance -- strong risk factors for type 2 diabetes. "Multiple organ systems become resistant to insulin in these adolescent children with fatty liver disease," Dr. Klein stated. "The liver becomes resistant to insulin and muscle tissue does, too. This tells us fat in the liver is a marker for metabolic problems throughout the entire system."

The findings indicate that both children and adults with fatty liver disease are at particularly high risk for heart disease and diabetes. However, there's a way to naturally treat fatty liver disease. In fact, it can be totally eliminated by losing excess weight and the condition of your liver can be improved in a matter of days. "Fatty liver disease is completely reversible you lose weight, and you quickly eliminate fat in your liver. As little as two days of calorie restriction can improve the situation dramatically, and as fat in the liver is reduced, insulin sensitivity and metabolic problems improve," Dr. Klein stated.

About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's "Men's Health Advisor" newsletter and many others.

Lack of Vitamin D Ups Heart Risk

I have always thought that medicine had shattered into speciality. I have no doubt that other things being equal sun exposure is bad for you, but sunlight tunes the immune system after sun damage and is an excellent example of hormensis, the way things that are bad for you in high doses are good for you in small doses. I am confident that ionising radiation from external sources (not ingested) will prove to be far less harmfull than once thought. I think most of the benefit of fresh fruit and vegs come from plant nutrients but evidence exists that the stress response to toxins evolved to combat herbivores are also part of the health benefit. The connection between autoimmune disease (MS,lupis) and lack of sunlight is pertinent and the capacity of sunlight to improve mood and energise the body are clear.

Credible medical evidence not directly funded by self interested party's for the effacy of most treatments of chronic disease such as statins and beta blockers simply doesn't exist. Even where it does exist, it is never acknowledged that rarely is a drug effective in more than 60% of the population due to individual genetic differences.

The burden of illness caused by adverse drug reactions, especially in the elderly, is vastly under reported and is responsible for 30% of elderly admissions. The capacity of blood thiners to cause bleeding after an acident, of drugs perscribed to curtail minor divergences in individual ECG's from a model beat in the elderly to greatly increase the risk of falls and for the metabolites of drugs to build up in the liver are largely unexamined.

Speaking personally, I beleive very strongly in the power of science to inform evidence based medicine and despise folk nonsense as much as I do the corruption of clinical practice by precision marketing and the psychological mapping of perscribers by the Drug Companies.

My advice is never to accept the advice of a doctor without a second opinion and more significantly reviews of databases of evidence based medical treatments. The Cochrane Collaboration is an example of best practice here.

I wanted to make my position absolutely clear before reposting this item discovered by Duncan.

"(NaturalNews) Vitamin D deficiency has long been linked with weak muscles and bones. Now research shows a lack of the "sunshine" vitamin may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In fact, evidence is mounting from numerous studies that low vitamin D levels could play a role in a host of CVD risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. What's more, a lack of the vitamin may be a direct factor in cardiovascular events, including stroke and congestive heart failure.

In a review article just published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), James H. O'Keefe, M.D., cardiologist and director of Preventive Cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, and his co-authors list practical recommendations to screen for and treat low vitamin D levels, especially in patients with risk factors for CVD and diabetes. The article points out that recent data from the Framingham Heart Study suggests people with vitamin D levels below 15 ng/ml were twice as likely to experience a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event within the next five years compared to those with higher levels of vitamin D. This elevated risk remained even when researchers adjusted for other well-known cardiovascular risk factors.

"Restoring vitamin D levels to normal is important in maintaining good musculoskeletal health, and it may also improve heart health and prognosis. Vitamin D deficiency is an unrecognized, emerging cardiovascular risk factor, which should be screened for and treated," Dr. O'Keefe, M.D., said in a media release. "Vitamin D is easy to assess, and supplementation is simple, safe and inexpensive."

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) review points out that about half of U.S. adults and 30 percent of children and teenagers are estimated to have vitamin D deficiency. Low vitamin D levels are believed to raise the risk of hypertension and a stiffening and thickening of the heart and blood vessels. By altering hormone levels and immune system function, vitamin D deficiency can also increase the risk of diabetes, a major contributor to CVD.

According to Dr. O'Keefe's statement to the press, vitamin D deficiency is far more prevalent than once thought. This may be due to the fact most of the body's vitamin D usually comes from exposure to the sun , but indoor lifestyles and use of sunscreen, which eliminates 99 percent of vitamin D synthesis by the skin, means many people are not getting enough of the essential vitamin. "We are outside less than we used to be, and older adults and people who are overweight or obese are less efficient at making vitamin D in response to sunlight," said Dr. O'Keefe.

To increase levels of vitamin D, Dr. O'Keefe suggests exposing yourself to sunlight for 10 minutes between the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., if you are Caucasian. If you have increased or dark skin pigmentation, you may need to spend more time in the sunshine. Other sources of vitamin D include salmon, vitamin D-fortified foods, some cereals and supplements.

About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's "Men's Health Advisor" newsletter and many others."

Interesting Take on Cancer Prevention/Treatment

The Proven Cure and Prevention for Cancer the Medical Establishment Doesn't Want You to Know (Part I)
NewsTarget.com 13/12/2008 08:00
(NaturalNews) This article is about how you can prevent and cure cancer with a bottle of flax oil and a carton of cottage cheese. As incredible as this may seem, it is a truth that has been well proven and documented. It is also a truth that has been vigorously suppressed because the cancer industry is big business at its worst.

You or someone you love may have been diagnosed with cancer, and you are very much afraid. You have been taught by the disease establishment that you have a life threatening condition, and you had better sign on for the "standard of care" treatments before it is too late. Your doctors have thrown all sorts of frightening statistics at you about what will happen if you don't have immediate surgery followed by radiation, chemotherapy, and probably a lifetime of debilitating drug use. You are being pressured to make an immediate commitment to these toxic treatments.

Your mind is in a whirl, you can't think straight, and you're scared out of your wits. Now the cancer industry has you right where it wants you. You are in no condition to investigate alternatives. If you could gather your wits enough to start investigating what cancer really is and how it should be treated, your doctors know that you would run from them and their poisons. That's why the pressure on you is so intense.

So what is cancer really? Does a person get cancer because he is suffering from a deficiency of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and drugs? Once you realize that the answer to this question is obviously 'no', you will see that traditional "standard of care" treatments, even if administered at state of the art cancer clinics, have no cure to offer you. So there is no rush to sign up for those treatments. You really can afford to take the time to relax and regain your composure, and then decide on a rational approach based on alternatives that do offer you the potential for complete cure. Whether you have a lot of money or not, and even if you have no health insurance, you really can make a complete recovery from cancer.

Cancer is an indication that something is drastically wrong with what you are putting into your body. If you have a family with a high incidence of cancer, maybe you think cancer is in your genes and you really can't do anything about it. This is not true. No matter what your genetic makeup, it is the choices you make that determine whether genes that induce cancer will get switched on. Cancer is not a deadly disease. Cancer is a life saving wake up call. So, with all this in mind, let's get back to the flax oil and cottage cheese.

Johanna Budwig

Dr. Johanna Budwig was born in Germany in 1908 and died 95 years later. She devoted her life to cancer research and was often referred to as the top cancer research scientist in Europe. She was also a biochemist and physicist who was a leading authority on fats, oils and nutrition. After original and exhaustive research which included years of clinical trials, Johanna proved beyond doubt that unheated and unprocessed flaxseed oil could provide the body with the essential fatty acids that would replenish the loss of critically needed phosphatides and lipoproteins missing from the diets of many people of her time and are missing to an even greater degree in the diets of Americans today.

Through blood analysis of many cancer patients, Johanna determined that cancer patients were always grossly deficient in these critical nutrients. Blood samples from all patients with later stage cancer revealed a greenish yellow substance in place of normal, healthy red oxygen carrying hemoglobin indicating an inability of the blood to transport oxygen to the cells. After she treated them for a few months with daily doses of flaxseed oil, their cancer tumors gradually receded and the unhealthy blood color was replaced by healthy red blood cells. This change in blood color signaled the rise of phosphatide and lipoprotein levels.

Her discovery of how to make the fats water soluble was her crowning moment. She realized that fats become water soluble and able to pass through the cell membrane only when they are bound to protein. This is where the cottage cheese comes in. It is the binding of the electron rich fats from the flax oil with the sulphurated protein from the cottage cheese that ushers these electrons in through the cell membranes and into the cell walls.

Johanna was adamantly against the use of hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, and polyunsaturated fats. She saw the chemical processing of these fats as damaging to every organ in the body. The heart rejects these fats and they end up as inorganic fatty deposits on the heart muscle, blocking circulation, damaging heart action, inhibiting cell renewal and disrupting the normal flow of blood and lymph fluids.

Johanna's patients were those so terminally ill that traditional medical practitioners had given up on them, with many having been given only days or hours to live. She treated these patients with a simple diet based on a combination of flax oil and quark, the European version of cottage cheese. Her published research is full of testimonials from people around the world that were diagnosed with terminal cancer and were completely cured by the Budwig diet. The benefits of Johanna's research extend to the healing of anyone with any of the major debilitating diseases.

There are thousands of documented cases of recovery from cancer using the Budwig protocol. For her research and practice, Johanna was nominated for seven Nobel Prizes, but was kept from receiving any of them by the German pharmaceutical and medical industries that subjected her to endless vilification and harassment and blocked the publication of her writings and clinical studies.

We are the body electric

In addition to compromising the integrity of our cellular membranes, processed and cooked oils lower the voltage in the cells of our bodies making us highly susceptible to chronic and terminal disease. Boiled and processed unsaturated fats have their field of electrons altered and destroyed resulting in the inability of the cells to fire properly. The ability of fats to associate with protein and to achieve water solubility in the body is destroyed. When fats are able to bond with protein to achieve water solubility, they are able to enter the cells, provide them with oxygen, and restore proper electrical energy levels. Remember, it is only in an oxygen deficient environment that cancer cells can thrive.

The proper metabolism of fats affects every vital function and organ of the body, including cell regeneration and death. When new cells grow there is a di-polarity between the positive charge of the nucleus and the negative charge of the cell membrane. During the division phase of the cell cycle, the new or daughter cell must have enough energy to completely divide off from the old cell. It is electron rich fatty acids that facilitate this process. When this process is interrupted because di-polarity is missing through lack of electron rich highly unsaturated fat, cells do not completely divide from each other.

This process can be reversed by providing the body with food that restores the ingredients necessary to return di-polarity and resolve the stagnated cell cycle. The molecular configuration of flax oil, with its two unsaturated fatty acid components composed of three pi-electron double bonds between atoms of the molecule is capable of transferring an immense amount of energy, allowing the body much greater assimilation and transport capacity of oxygen. This causes any tumors present to dissolve, and the range of symptoms indicating lack of di-polarity to disappear. Here is an excerpt from Johanna's research:

"The moment two unsaturated double links occur together in a fatty acid chain, the effects are multiplied and in the highly unsaturated fats, the so called "linoleic" acids, there is generated a field of electrons, a veritable electrical charge which can be quickly conducted off into the body, thus causing a recharging of the living substance ,- especially of the brain and nerves. It is exactly those highly unsaturated fatty acids which play a decisive role in the respiratory functioning of the body. Without these fatty acids, the enzymes in the breath cannot function and we asphyxiate, even when given extra oxygen, as for example in hospitals. The lack of these highly unsaturated fatty acids paralyses many vital functions. Primarily, it cuts off the air we breathe."

Let the sun shine in

Johanna also investigated the relationship between fats, electrons, photons, and the solar energy from the sun. She was aware of the health giving energy of the sun and its effect on the body. This energy is in part due to the photons in sunlight which are the purest form of energy. People are meant to be in relationship with the sun as indicated by their high level of photons. This concentration of the sun's energy is improved when we eat electron rich food such as the flax oil, cottage cheese mixture which attracts the electromagnetic waves of sun beams.

According to Johanna, "Matter always has its own vibration, and so, of course, does the living body. The absorption of energy must correspond to one's own wave length." This is what makes the sun and the human body so compatible when the body is in proper condition to receive it. Once Johanna's patients were feeling better, they were instructed to sit in the sun and found it easily tolerated.

Johanna saw the electrons in the food we eat as our resonance system for the energy of the sun. She viewed the human body as an antenna for the sun and the interplay of the sun with the electrons in our food as the governing principal for all vital functions of the body.

What this research means for you

Most of the foods and almost all of the snacks of the American diet contain boiled or otherwise cooked oils, the oils that have lost their integrity and are unable to provide the life giving energy and oxygen transport essential to the proper functioning of your cells. If you have cancer now, have had it in the past, or wish to prevent it in the future, you must come to terms with this fact. Your doctor may tell you that what you eat has nothing to do with whether or not you are a victim of cancer. But nothing could be further from the truth.

About the author
Barbara is a school psychologist, a published author in the area of personal finance, a breast cancer survivor using "alternative" treatments, a born existentialist, and a student of nature and all things natural.

Meta cross post by duncan

Get some sun, its good for you!

Following the release of a new study strongly correlating vitamin D deficiency with Parkinson's disease, the mainstream media (MSM) has once again gone out of its way to intentionally distort the findings of the study and mislead readers about vitamin D. The study was conducted by Emory University, the same university that has just had $9.3 million in NIH grants frozen because of undisclosed ties between its researchers and the drug companies (http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000362_drug_researchers_financial_ties_NIH.html). Thus, from the start, we already know that Emory University researchers are working for Big Pharma and likely have a financial stake in promoting pharmaceuticals or discrediting natural alternatives.

Nevertheless, the study -- which was published in Archives of Neurology -- examined 300 people: 100 with Parkinson's, 100 with Alzheimer's and another 100 they called "healthy" (which, by modern medicine standards, could have been seriously diseased but not yet diagnosed with disease). The study found that 90% of the healthy people had sufficient vitamin D levels in their blood. In the Alzheimer's group, the number was lower: 84%. And in the Parkinson's group, it was lower still: 77%.

What the study showed was a statistically significant correlation between low vitamin D levels and higher risk of Parkinson's disease.

Why vitamin D is a miracle nutrient for the brain
To anyone who knows even a little bit about vitamin D, these results are not surprising. Vitamin D is essential for proper functioning of the nervous system. The protective effects of vitamin D on cognitive function are well known and well documented. You can see a sampling of the thousands of clinical studies on vitamin D and brain function here: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/science/research/cognitive-function.shtml

Thus, it is no surprise that patients who lacked sufficient levels of vitamin D would suffer poor brain function and eventually be diagnosed with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, both of which are entirely preventable through nutrition.

But the relationship between vitamin D and neurological function remains a great mystery to those in the mainstream media (or so they want you to believe). In fact, they've gone to great lengths to misrepresent these clinical findings and try to twist the story around to imply that vitamin D causes Parkinson's!

The false headlines
Today's BBC health headline declares, "Parkinson's linked to vitamin D."

The implication, of course, is that vitamin D causes Parkinson's. There's a word conveniently missing from this BBC headline: "deficiency." The correct headline should be, "Parkinson's linked to vitamin D deficiency," right? But no, that would tell the truth. Instead, BBC editors have decided to remove the word "deficiency" and, in doing so, completely flip the meaning of the headline, making readers believe that taking too much vitamin D might cause Parkinson's disease. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7666749.stm)

Not to be outdone by the BBC, The Press Association parroted the same loopy logic in their own headline: "Vitamin D 'link' to Parkinson's" (http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j_Akl-UbnuEQnQB5nw97eG6mJRsg). Just like the BBC headline, this carefully-phrased headline also implies that vitamin D causes Parkinson's.

The Craegmoor Healthcare news website in the UK went even further, declaring that sunshine is linked to Parkinson's! Here's their headline: "Sunshine linked to Parkinson's" (http://www.craegmoor.co.uk/news/industry/18828283/sunshine_linked_to_parkinsons.aspx)

Do they really think readers are so stupid as to believe sunshine exposure causes Parkinson's disease? They're apparently willing to print the false headlines and find out.

Composing such obviously-false headlines requires an incredible leap of really bad logic (or a sinister agenda). But mainstream media journalists have had a lot of practice over the years, reporting lies about 9/11, the War on Iraq, vaccines and just about every other contentious topic gullible news consumers have swallowed without a single moment of critical thinking. To become a mainstream media journalist, the first thing you have to do is leave your brain at home. It's far better to arrive at work with a hollow head that can be filled with nefarious agendas and false facts.

Some of those journalists work at HealthDay news, of course, where today's headline in the Washington Post hilariously declares, "Parkinson's Patients More Prone to Vitamin D Deficiency." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/13/AR2008101301738.html)

In case you missed that, this HealthDay headline implies that Parkinson's disease causes vitamin D deficiency! Wow. The idiocy of it would be hilarious if it weren't being reprinted in a news source read by so many people. I suppose scurvy causes vitamin C deficiency, too, and cancer causes vitamin D deficiency. Maybe osteoporosis causes calcium and magnesium deficiencies. It is a worrisome sign of the times when the mainstream media engaged in such blatant logic reversals and prints them as fact.

If it all sounds familiar, it should: George Orwell's 1984 book provided the template for such newspeak:

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

And vitamin D causes Parkinson's disease, if you believe HealthDay news.

I've found HealthDay news, by the way, to be the very worst agenda-driven health news misinformation organization in America. HealthDay editors have famously authored some of the most intellectually-challenged stories I've ever seen, including one that claims people can lose weight by chugging sodas and eating ice cream and pizza (http://www.naturalnews.com/022453.html).

HealthDay editors have also authored insanely stupid stories on vaccines (http://www.naturalnews.com/022479.html) and even a story that claims lip balm defies the laws of physics and bends light rays (http://www.naturalnews.com/023122.html).

Where does HealthDay find these people? And what do they make them smoke before they start work in the morning? Given how incredibly retarded some of the news reports are that come out of HealthDay, it's no surprise that they've achieved global distribution with CNN, the Washington Post, Yahoo, Business Week, Forbes, MSN and even iVillage. What these organizations do is copy and paste the misinformation from HealthDay and run it as their own stories. This is how health lies get spread through the mainstream media.

Today, HealthDay's home page declares, "Smoking Makes You Old Before Your Time." Gee, really? That might have actually been news in 1973, too.

Not all the MSM journalists are complete idiots
A few mainstream media sources actually got the vitamin D story right. Astonishingly, even WebMD managed to state the correct headline: "Low Vitamin D Level Tied to Parkinson's." (http://www.webmd.com/parkinsons-disease/news/20081013/low-vitamin-d-level-tied-to-parkinsons)

The Telegraph (in the U.K.) also got the story headline correct. It reported, "Lack of sunshine linked to Parkinson's" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/3189563/Lack-of-sunshine-linked-to-Parkinsons.html)

Kudos to the Telegraph's medical editor, Rebecca Smith, who apparently has a far greater grasp of logic than, say, certain editors at HealthDay. Then again, the Telegraph is a far smarter newspaper to begin with.

But if you want to find really smart news sources, you've got to turn to the alternative press. Check out www.Alternet.org or www.OrganicConsumers.org or www.PRwatch.org

NaturalNews, of course, remains the most trusted online destination for honest news about natural health. We don't take money from any advertisers at all (other than Google, whose ads we don't choose). Our only "agenda" is to empower the People with honest, independent information they can use to prevent ALL disease (cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's, you name it...) and enhance the quality of their lives.

Far too often, the agenda of the mainstream media is to distort the truth, and in doing so, intentionally mislead readers with harmful disinformation. A careful review of mainstream newspapers, magazines and news websites reveals a clear, intentional pattern of news distortion that just happens to benefit the drug companies that fund so much of their advertising.