The Benefits of Caffeine : Beware

There is information being circulated about the benefits of caffeine.

Beware! There is a lot of money behind this push, so it is wide spread. Even some medical doctors have bought into the idea. However it is based on very questionable studies. These studies don't concentrate on caffeine, they are just used as excuses to say that caffeine is good for you.

It's kind of like all the studies on alcohol. There is so much money behind it, and so many people wanting to have excuses for using and abusing alcohol. They come up with all kinds of supposed health benefits of alcohol. But in the process they totally ignore the simple fact that alcohol kills brain cells every time it is taken internally in any amount. They also ignore the problem of addiction.

Caffeine has all the same problems, but in slightly different ways. It stops the brain from functioning normally. It makes the body think that there is an emergency, so that it kicks up the production of adrenaline. It is also very addictive. It disrupts sleep, even when taken much earlier in the day. You might still sleep through the night, but you don't get the deep restful and restorative sleep that the body needs to really heal and recuperate.

Caffeine causes headaches, and it can relieve headaches. This is because it causes constriction of the blood vessels in the brain. Some headaches are caused by this and some are relieved, depending on the cause of the headache. Remember, that alleviating pain is not always a good thing. Some one stomping on your toe will make you forget about your sore finger for a while, but it doesn't solve the problem. It creates more problems. This is the long term problem of most all drugs.

Looking at the studies, we see that pretty much all the supposed health benefits of caffeine are actually from the polyphenols in the coffee beans, not actually a product of the caffeine.

Caffeine also raises blood pressure. This is not something that most people need. And if you do need to raise your blood pressure there are much more healthy ways to do it. Low blood pressure is often a symptom of dehydration. This means your body needs more salt water. I highly recommend that everyone gets lots of mineralized water everyday, all day. Exercise is also an excellent way to stabilize blood pressure. Yoga has been show to be excellent for both lowering high blood pressure and raising low blood pressure.

Caffeine is a drug, and it is addictive. The supposed health benefits are highly exaggerated. Beware!

What Are You Afraid Of? Doctors Or The News?

Today's medical system seems to be all about fear mongering.

The stories in the news are telling us how fearful we need to be of medical problems.

Today CNN carries a story about how unreliable flu tests are. The point of the story is to scare you into thinking that you may have the H1N1 flu even though you test negatively for it. Even though, in reality, almost no one who gets sick has the swine flu, we are supposed to all assume that we all have the swine flu.

MSNBC runs a story about how more and more women are opting to have their babies at home instead of in hospitals. They then proceed to talk about all the things that can go wrong in a home birth. Again trying to scare people into going to hospitals.

But for those of us who understand the basics of human health, and the realities of the business of medicine as practiced in hospitals today, these stories are just sad commentaries on how badly our medical system is functioning.

The first story actually shows how a mother is fearful due to all the hype, so when her daughter gets a fever, she runs her down to the emergency room. There, they do a quick test and tell her that she doesn't have the flu and she will be fine if she takes a couple of drugs.

So instead of the mother making sure the child is getting plenty of water and antioxidants to help her immune system function well, the child is given drugs to cover up symptoms. So, the next day, the symptoms reappear and the fever is even higher. This time up to 104 degrees.

Now a person who understands the immune system knows that this is the body trying to fight off some kind of infection. But people who get their news from the big business controlled media see this as an emergency that can only be handled by big business. So, the mother again rushes the child to the emergency room. This time they decide to give the child antibiotics.

What the medical community and this mother are too blinded to see, is that antibiotics are another attack on an already challenged immune system. So instead of doing anything to boost the immune system, they have only succeeded in throwing more challenges at the immune system in the form of drugs and antibiotics.

They could have encouraged more fresh fruit and veggies, plenty of water with minerals, fresh air and sunshine, and a little exercise. All of these would help the immune system to do it's job. But none of that was even mentioned.

This is a major flaw in the current medical paradigm. There is a basic disconnect with reality. Everything is supposed to be taken care of with pills and injections, when in reality these things can only cause more imbalance in the body, eventually leading to further problems. They are trying to micro-manage a system that they don't understand. That, in my opinion is idiocy.

The second story is also all about trying to scare you into getting extra medical attention.

Pregnancy is a natural process. It is not a disease. Yet when a woman is pregnant she is told how horrible the experience could be and how she needs to have lots of medical attention or she and her baby could die.

Is it true? Yes, there are various things that can go wrong with a pregnancy and birth, but if you study the reality of births at home and births at hospitals, you find that the home birth is actually much safer.

Why is a home birth safer? Because it is viewed as a wonderful natural experience. Why is a hospital birth more dangerous? Because it is viewed as a disease that needs to be treated.

In today's medical system it is almost impossible to have a normal natural birth in a hospital. Because they interfere all along the process with little things that they think will help.

But in reality, most of their helps are hindrances. They are trying to micro-manage a normal process that has it's own time schedule, to make it match a text book scheduled "ideal".

The fears are so ingrained into the system, that any deviation from "the norm" must be dealt with. Usually with some drug. The drug interferes with the natural process and throws it out of whack. The consequences of this is that the process is now pushed into an artificial mode. The body is now no longer doing what it would have done normally, so there is more need of further interventions. In most cases, these days, this eventually leads to surgery. The baby has been put into so much stress by all the unnatural intrusions on the body, that it needs to be taken out of the mother's womb forcibly through extreme measures.

These scenarios of course reinforce the whole idea that giving birth is a very dangerous process that requires constant medical attention. Look at all the problems that are "discovered" when women are "properly monitored".

Now, let me be clear. I do not recommend that women give birth at home completely alone. There are real challenges that can arise in a birthing process. But a good midwife can handle most of these and help to allow the process to continue naturally. This leads to a much healthier outcome for both the mother and the child.

It seems that everywhere you look these days you see some representative of the medical establishment trying to scare people into getting unnecessary interventions, that in the long run are detrimental to human health.

In my opinion the medical establishment has gone so far astray that they now promote disease more than health. They want everyone to be scared to death of every little cough or sniffle. They want everyone to believe that the only way to be healthy is to have your body micro-managed by a medical professional. In the process, they have become more and more disconnected from the knowledge of the normal and natural processes that take place in the human body.

Remember that drugs are a source of imbalance. If doctors still believed in the old adage "First Do No Harm", they would only think of drugs as a very last resort. They would rarely use any.
Did you know that today, drugs are responsible for more deaths than any one disease?

Most all illness can be handled very well with whole foods and wholesome practices. But don't expect miraculous results over night. Long term health is all about healthy lifestyle.

Next time you see a story in the news that makes you think you might need to go see a doctor to see if you are normal, take a deep breath and sit back and think. You didn't think you needed to see the doctor before you read the story. So, it is probably just the story that is sick.

Balance Is Everything

As one studies health and fitness, it becomes very evident that all things must be in balance. You can have too much or too little of any nutrient.

You can have too many free radicals, but you can also have too few. You can have too little iron, but you can also have too much. You can even have too little or too much arsenic.

So then the big question becomes, how do you find that balance?

Many would have you believe that taking drugs can help you reach that balance. It can not.

All man made drugs are anti-balance by their very nature. When you take something from nature that has been shown to be beneficial for health, and then you dissect it and decide that a certain part of it is the active part that you want to use, you have just destroyed the balance that existed in nature. By concentrating a particular part of a plant (which you have to do, if you are going to be able to patent the drug), you are creating something that will stimulate the body in an unnatural and imbalanced way. That is why all drugs have side effects.

It would be so much nicer to just create a list of the beneficial plants that we have discovered to help us be healthy. But you can't patent a natural plant, so you can't make an insane mark up of the price.

So if drugs aren't the answer, what about supplements?

Unfortunately most supplements are not much different than drugs. Yes, they will often have a lot fewer dangerous side effects than drugs, but sometimes not. You still have the same problem of taking a large dose of a particular thing. If supplements were really to work, you would have to constantly monitor your levels of the nutrient you are supplementing to see when you have enough, but not too much.

The problem with that is that we can't even agree on what the correct level of most nutrients is, not to mention the problem of constant testing to see when your levels are up or down. The other thing is that all the nutrients work together, synergisticly, to keep us functioning correctly. We don't even know what all the nutrients to the human body are, let alone how they all work together. We have some basic ideas, but it is nowhere near the point of being able to micromanage the nutrients in the body.

Another interesting observation is that the symptoms of having too much of something, are quite often pretty much identical to having too little of the same thing. So we don't really even know for sure.

Even blood tests can fool us, because somethings that we have too much of can be very low in the blood, because the body is storing it away elsewhere so that it doesn't have to deal with the overload. Other times, things that we are deficient in can show good levels in the blood while the body tries to rush them around to share in all the places they are needed. For example, when we are deficient, the body can be pulling certain nutrients from the bones to use in other body processes. So a blood test might show that those nutrients are plentiful in the blood.

The beautiful thing is that we don't have to try to micromanage everything. If we eat the things that the creator has made for us, they have a special ability, that we haven't even begun to understand yet, to balance all the systems of the body.

If you think you need a particular nutrient, (and again we really don't know if you do) just make sure that you are eating a variety of good nutritious food made by God. Of course, make sure that it is not processed by man to the point of destroying a lot of its balance. Fresh and raw are usually the best. Try to get something from all the major food groups each day.

The major food groups are : Whole unprocessed grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes and nuts, and carefully chosen animal products (think raw milk and eggs).

The other major keys to making everything balance are water, exercise and sleep. Without those three, the other nutrients can't even be used by the body.

Again, water is of paramount importance. Without adequate water the body cannot move nutrients around the body. Without water it cannot flush out the toxins and waste and keep the body clean. Also remember that your water needs to be mineralized. Use real mineral water fresh from the earth if possible, or put a dash of real sea salt (complete with all the trace-minerals) in the water you drink. If you are drinking sufficient quantities of water (one tenth of your body weight in pounds, cups of water a day) your body will be able to use what it needs and flush out what it doesn't need.

Balance is a natural thing for the body to do. We just have to give it the resources it needs, and not burden it to much with the toxins or overeating.

Ryan's book on "The Dependables" is a great way to gain a lot of understanding along these lines. Get it HERE.

Why Cancer Survivor Doesn't Do Walk-A-Thons

As a cancer survivor, I'm often approached about joining a run or a walk to help raise money for cancer research. I don't participate. But I do run marathons. Why?

Let me say that I have great love for the compassionate souls who choose to participate in, and promote these events. I just can't bring myself to do it.

You see, I have done a lot of study about cancer. And I cannot support the whole idea of researching to find more drugs, radiations, and surgeries to fix a problem which can be easily solved by teaching people to live a healthy lifestyle.

Here is what I believe, after all of my research about cancer.

There are simple steps that can be taken by people to avoid getting cancer, that are generally accepted to be very effective.

There are also very effective natural means to treat those already diagnosed with cancer, without having to resort to the awful destructiveness of drugs, radiation, and surgery.

Now, of course, this will depend on the circumstances of each individual case. In some cases, if the cancer has progressed to an advanced stage, or the body has become significantly compromised, drugs and chemotherapy can help to save a life. That's a good thing.

Cancer doctors and cancer institutes are doing the best they can to help people survive. I don't hold any of that against them. I just think that if they would put their resources to use in the direction of better education for the public at large, the epidemic of cancer in our society could be drastically curtailed.

Education about what causes cancer, and what cancer actually is, could easily drop cancer rates substantially. Eating fresh green veggies and avoiding artificial, chemical ingredients in our food would make a huge difference all by it's self. Stopping the use of microwave ovens is also an important step which could solve many problems.

Another big step in the right direction would be to help people understand estrogen overload. Estrogen overload is very closely related to the incidence of cancer. Eliminating excess polyunsaturated oils from our diets will make a huge improvement in that direction.

Read some of Ray Peats articles to understand fats and oils better.

I would support an organization that would use it's resources to shout out the message that we already know how to conquer cancer. We don't need more death and destruction caused by more drugs and radiation.

But every cancer event I've been invited to, is mostly about creating more drugs and radiation protocols to use after someone is already diagnosed with cancer.

Some will say that I am unfair, because I went through traditional cancer treatments and am alive to talk about it. But I survived because, I fought hard to survive. I used many herbs and vitamins and whole foods. I had the mental mind set that I would survive and beat the cancer. This is one of the strongest indicators as to who will survive a bout with cancer.

I also survived because of a loving family and much prayer. God has blessed me in so many ways, and He still blesses me. Every cancer patient needs a great support team.

I was one who needed drastic measures to combat my cancer. I was already fourth stage when it was discovered that I had cancer. Heavy duty chemotherapy helped to break up the cancer in my body so that my body could clear it out. Other drugs were used to help boost my immune system as well.

But chemotherapy and other drugs are very hard on the body. Good hydration, good nutrition, good attitude, body balancing foods, and even some exercise, are needed for the body to rebuild and become healthy after the chemotherapy has caused so much destruction.

Most cancer doctors and cancer institutes do not talk about this very important need. To feed the body the proper resources that it needs to actually heal and rebuild. They act like somehow they are going to cure you by causing all this destruction in your body. Some survive the onslaught, some don't.

The statistical ineffectiveness of the standard medical protocols is obvious to those who want to look. Drugs can not create balance in a human body, only more imbalance. If they work, then why are we asking for so much more money to try to find ones that really will work? Why are cancer rates still increasing? Why is it that 97% of people who survive these standard cancer treatments, are using natural and alternative treatments at the same time. Why are many who die after traditional cancer treatment, found to be cancer free when the autopsy is done? Can it be that the treatment killed them?

Yes, chemotherapy will kill cancer. We know that. But it doesn't only kill cancer. It is by nature destructive to the whole organism. Why not teach people how to build a strong body through healthy lifestyle?

Instead we leave people to try to find their own ways to overcome the destructive drug therapies. So cancer patients end up spending all kinds of money on all kinds of pills and potions, that are peddled by all kinds of people.

So, as you can see, I do believe that we need to have better treatments for those who have cancer, but I do not believe that drug research can get us to that point. The drugs are very helpful in drastic cases to help save human life. But unless we teach people the importance of recovering and rebuilding from the destructiveness of the drugs, we are not really helping them.

Give me an organization that will push for doctors and institutes to vigorously teach people to live healthy lifestyles, and I will march in that walk-a-thon.

Let me know what you think.