We're being forced to a debate that we shouldn't need to have; rather to breastfeed or not.  There is an undeniable advantage to infant health that comes with breastfeeding.  This benefit, however, now must be weighed against environmental pollutants that accumulate in mother's milk.  As an example, breastfed children now have significantly higher levels of PCB's than non-breastfed children.

Currently,  we know that breastfed babies are healthier as a group than non-breastfed babies.  As we continue to pollute ourselves with man-made toxins, there is concern that we may may (sadly) reach a tipping point where it is actually bad for children to breastfeed!

What can you do?  Read the following from the paper:

"...many of the environmental chemicals commonly measured in human milk come from the mother's diet. For example, he says, up to 90% of human exposure to the persistent and lipid-soluble dioxin-like chemicals, including certain PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs, is attributed to dietary intake. These chemicals are found at higher concentrations in fatty foods such as red meat, dairy products, and fish. Some of the highest levels of contaminants are seen among women in remote northern areas, such as the Canadian Inuit, who eat a diet rich in seal, whale, and other fatty marine species high on the food chain. Meat eaters in general tend to harbor more POPs than people eating predominantly vegetarian diets."

This is yet another reason to consume organic foods, and to eat mainly a vegetarian diet.  If you eat meat be sure that it is grass-fed free range.  Organic foods are much lower in pollutants (read more in my paper on the subject here) as are grass-fed meats and dairy (read more on that here).   If we support these types of foods by purchasing them and avoiding commercial food we can not only improve the health of our children and ourselves, we can put financial pressure on industry to farm the way that we demand, organic!

Read the paper here.

Thyroid disorders are becoming increasingly common for 2 reasons:

1. Diet--soy consumption has been shown in a number of studies to have an adverse effect on thyroid function.  I'll be highlighting some of the research in an article on the thyroid soon.  Soy appears to be most detrimental in people with low levels of iodine--a deficiency becoming more common for reasons outlined below.  If you have thyroid problems cut all soy out of your diet for three months--after that you can begin consuming miso and tempeh, but I recommend avoiding other soy products, including tofu.  Other foods can also adversely affect the thyroid--they are Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, Kohlrabi, Mustard, Rutabaga, and Turnips.  If you have thyroid problems I suggest cutting these vegetables out of your diet completely for 3 months, then having your thyroid tested.  If your thyroid function is better, continue eliminating these foods.  If there is no change eat them in moderation.
2. Environmental pollutants.  Perchlorate and Bisphenol-A are two pollutants that appear to be in every human alive--and they both are known to disrupt thyroid function.  Perchlorate does this by interfering with iodine absorption (a major cause of iodine deficiency), and bisphenol-a does it by inappropriately stimulating estrogen receptors.  In an upcoming article I will provide info on how to avoid these and detox your body—keep an eye out.  In the meantime you can view the environmental pollutants page for more information.
   

Sons of women who are exposed to pesticides during pregnancy have impaired reproductive development.  You'll recall from my article on organic foods that this has been shown before--this new study from the National Institutes of health once again demonstrates the importance of eating organic!

The authors state "Boys of pesticide-exposed mothers showed decreased penile length, testicular volume, serum concentrations of testosterone, and inhibin B."

Given increases in cancer, degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, decreased fertility and altered sex organs and hormones, organic is the only way to go!  You are not only taking proper care of yourself, but of generations to come.

Read the study here. 

 The following is published in this month's Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institutes of Health.  The moral is buy organic sheets and PBDE-free furniture whenever possible.  Buy your children organic "sleepwear", as opposed to pajamas, because most states require pajamas be treated with PBDE's.  Read on....
"Researchers have known for years that house dust is a major exposure route for lead and certain pesticides. Now a growing body of evidence indicates that polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants released from a wide variety of consumer products such as electronics and upholstered furniture are finding their way into air and dust in homes, cars, and workplaces. Several states and nations have banned or are considering banning PBDEs, but because these substances have recently been shown to bioaccumulate and persist for long periods in the environment, people will continue to be exposed to them. Moreover, investigators are finding extremely high concentrations of these substances in individuals in certain segments of the U.S. population, including children and the elderly. Studies are now focusing on how these substances are ending up in dust, how and to what extent exposure is occurring, and the impact of exposure on human health."

"A new epidemiologic study of French children diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma in 2003 or 2004 suggests that a child has about twice the risk of developing acute leukemia (AL) or non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) if his or her mother used insecticides in the home while pregnant."  That's from the journal "Environmental Health Perspectives", published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Here's a link to the full text study--I recommend taking a look at it, especially if you are considering using chemical pesticides or herbicides.  These products are not only killing the organisms that we are targeting, they are killing us and depleting our food.  This recent study demonstrates that you are doubling your child's risk for certain cancers by using pesticides!  How can we require motorcyclists to wear helmets, but not ban harmful pesticides?  For more information, read my article on Organic Food.  

As noted in my recent blog on Mercury Detox, NAC is a natural product that is very effective in helping you to get toxic chemicals out of your body.  You can purchase it in my store as an excellent product called Complete Glutathione.

Read more on Environmental Pollutants.
 

More and more research demonstrates that we are living in a mercury-toxic environment.  Fish, seafood, seaweed (kelp, dulse, etc), and many vaccinations are all sources of methylmercury (methylmercury is a form of mercury that is readily absorbed by body tissues that acts as a neurotoxin).

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently performed an experiment with profound results.  The researchers exposed rats to mercury, then supplemented the rats with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an amino acid that raises your body’s glutathione levels (read more about glutathione in my Antioxidant Article and on the Whey Protein page).  Astonishingly, after the dose of NAC the rats excreted 5% of the mercury load in their urine within 2 hours!  More impressively, they found that in pregnant rats “NAC markedly reduced the body burden of Methylmercury, particularly in target tissues such as brain, placenta, and fetus.”

The authors prefaced the study “Many people, by means of consumption of seafood or other anthropogenic sources, are exposed to levels of methylmercury (MeHg) that are generally considered to be quite low, but that may nevertheless produce irreversible brain damage, particularly in unborn babies. The only way to prevent or ameliorate MeHg toxicity is to enhance its elimination from the body.”

How does it work?  NAC is a very effective way to raise glutathione levels in your body—glutathione is your body’s main detoxifier and antioxidant.  Elevated glutathione levels increase the amount of mercury that you excrete.

In my store you will find an excellent NAC product called “Complete Glutathione”—check it out.  I recommend using this product as directed for 2 weeks, the using it for the first 3-4 days of every month.  Glutathione levels can be kept high throughout the month by using Undenatured Whey Protein daily (also available in my store).

Read the full-text study here.

As a follow-up to the recent blog on cell phones causing cancer, I looked into ways to decrease cell phone radiation.  Here's the lowdown:

• Blue tooth headsets don't help, and some are worse than just using your phone.
• Ferrite beads and various other gizmos that you stick onto your phone don't seem to work.  I could not find any valid research to prove effectiveness for these products--the only information available on them is from the seller's websites--if its on the internet it must be true, right?  Ferrite beads that clip onto wires do decrease radiation--the problem with the stick on ones is that your phone is generating 360 degrees of radiation in three dimensions--a little bead appears to make minimal difference.

So here's what works...drum roll please..."bluetube" headsets.  These use tubes rather than wires to transfer sound to your ear, and have an insulated microphone system to transmit your voice.  Even better, they're cheap!  You can get them on the Mercola website, just follow this link. 

Christmas is upon us, and I'm going to risk offending a few people by offering a few suggestions on what to get and what not-to-get for children.  I know I'm a little late in getting this out, but better late than never!

Before I give my holiday tips, consider the following:

• Kids are fatter than ever.  Fifteen percent of 6-19 year olds are clinically obese, triple the rate of 1980.
• Kids' scores in math, language, and science have plummeted in the past three decades.
• As of 2001, 1 in 10 children were reported to have some sort of mental health problem.
• As of 2001 autism was reported to be 20 times commoner in children than it was just a few decades before.

 There is a huge body of evidence on causes for these problems--here's the main culprits:

1. Sedentary lifestyle--think television, DVD's, video games, "learning gadgets" where you stare at a screen and follow prompts--remember my recent blog showing worse language skills in children watching Baby Einstein videos!
2. Lack of physicality--here I don't just mean not being sedentary, I mean practicing tasks that demand attention, coordination, timing, speed, and dexterity.  These are fundamental driving impulses for building a healthy brain.
3. Environmental pollutants--think mercury from vaccines, food preservatives and food colorings, make-up, trans fats, etc.

All that being said--here are your holiday gift-buying guidelines for kids:

• Don't buy kids things that encourage them to be sedentary--DVD's, video games, and gizmo's with batteries in general.  This year my goal was to not buy anything with batteries or a cord.  These non-gizmo toys also tend to require more human interaction--a musical instrument that requires a teacher, a bow and arrow that requires supervision etc.
• Encourage activities that demand physical participation and coordination: a basketball, a frisbee, an instrument, a gift certificate to a martial arts class, art supplies, etc.
•  Don't buy kids things that make them sick!  Candy, junk food, make-up with toxins in it (read more here), shampoos, lotions, or dyes with parabans.  Instead, buy them healthy stuff--dark chocolate, homemade cookies with quality ingredients, paraban-free body-products.

Follow these guidelines for a healthy Christmas!

Another new study demonstrates a link between cell phone use and cancer:  "The study, published Friday in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found a clear link between cell phone use and cancerous growth in the saliva glands. Researchers found that among groups who tend to hold the phone on one side and use the phone frequently or for prolonged periods, the risk of saliva-glad cancer increased by 50 to 58 percent, compared to people who did not use a cell phone regularly. A number of studies in recent years indicate an increased cancer risk in the auditory nerve, the brain and the saliva glands for long-time cell-phone users." --http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/137807.

Don't hold your cell phone next to your head for prolonged periods--use speakerphone or a hands-free set instead.  In a future blog I'll look over some of the gadgets that claim to decrease cell phone radiation.