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By Dr. Mercola
If you think your birth control pill is the best pregnancy prevention tool there is, you may be surprised by new research looking into its failure rates.
Compared to other forms of protection, the Pill failed miserably, which only adds to the myriad of reasons why you should heavily question its use.
About 99 percent of sexually active women use at least one method of birth control, the most common of which is the birth control pill (oral contraceptives). The Pill was used by nearly 11 million U.S. women from 2006-2008.i
Meanwhile, nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended.ii Certainly not all of these are due to a birth control failure, but some of them -- estimates suggest about half -- undoubtedly are. Which brings me to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.iii Out of the 7,500 women in the study, who used various forms of birth control including an intrauterine device (IUD), implant, birth control pills, patch, ring and contraceptive injection, 334 became pregnant, 156 of which were due to birth control failure.
The contraceptive failure rate among pills, patch or ring was 4.55 percent, compared to 0.27 percent among participants using reversible contraception such as intrauterine devices. The effectiveness—or non-effectiveness—was no different in adolescents or young women. The implications—that birth control pills are 20 times more likely to fail than IUDs—should give some women a pause to think about the method of contraception they want to use.
As for the varying degrees of effectiveness, the Pill must be taken daily, preferably around the same time for it to work its best. Study author Dr. Jeffrey Peipert, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, noted:iv
"This study is the best evidence we have that long-acting reversible methods are far superior to the birth control pill, patch and ring. IUDs and implants are more effective because women can forget about them after clinicians put the devices in place ... If there were a drug for cancer, heart disease or diabetes that was 20 times more effective, we would recommend it first."
Unintended pregnancy is clearly a big one, but artificially manipulating your hormones using oral contraceptives, the patch or ring, or an injection like Depo-Provera is also a very risky proposition. Most birth control pills are a combination of the derivatives of the hormones estrogen and a synthetic progesterone(progestin). They work by disrupting the hormones in your body, essentially fooling your intricate hormonal reproductive system into producing the following effects:
- Preventing your ovaries from releasing eggs
- Thickening your cervical mucus to help block sperm from fertilizing an egg
- Thinning the lining of your uterus, which would make it difficult for an egg to implant, should it become fertilized
However, it is naive to believe that these are the only impacts the synthetic hormones are having. Your reproductive system does not exist in a bubble ... it is connected to all of your other bodily systems as well. The Pill, too, does not only influence your reproductive status; it's capable of altering much more.
Ten years ago, in 2002, one of the largest and best-designed federal studies of hormone replacement therapy was halted because women taking these synthetic hormones had a such a higher risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots that continuing forward with the study would have been unethical. The news made headlines because millions of women were already taking these synthetic hormones, but fortunately it prompted many of them to quit. And what do you think happened a year after millions of women quit taking hormone replacement therapy? Incidents of breast cancer fell dramatically -- by 7 percent!
What does this have to do with the Pill? Birth control pills contain the SAME type of synthetic hormones -- estrogen and progestin -- that were used in the ill-fated study!
That's just one risk. Oral contraceptives have been linked to more than two dozen conditions, including heart disease, liver cancer, deep vein thrombosis and inflammatory bowel disease.v Research suggests they are not only carcinogenic (cancer-causing) but also cardiotoxic (toxic to your heart) and endocrine disrupting.
Birth control pills are rarely, if ever, necessary or beneficial. In exchange for the convenience of preventing pregnancy (which you can do naturally perhaps even more effectively, and I'll explain how below), you are putting yourself at risk of a myriad of health issues.
A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that several types of hormone-based birth control methods increased women's risk of heart attack and stroke.vi The link was found between oral contraceptives as well as contraceptive patches and the vaginal ring. Women using the ring were found to have a 2.5 times greater risk of stroke compared to those not using hormonal contraceptives, whereas the other methods increased the risk to varying degrees.
Other known health risks of hormone-based birth control include:
| Cancer: Women who take birth control pills increase their risk of cervical and breast cancers, and possibly liver cancer as well. | Fatal blood clots: All birth control pills increase your risk of blood clots and subsequent stroke. | Thinner bones: Women who take birth control pills have lower bone mineral density (BMD) than women who have never used oral contraceptives. | Impaired muscle gains: A study found that oral contraceptive use impairs muscle gains from resistance exercise training in women.vii |
| Long-term sexual dysfunction: The Pill may limit the availability and/or action of testosterone, leading to long-term sexual dysfunction, including decreased desire and arousal. | Heart disease: Long-term use of birth control pills may increase the buildup of arterial plaque, which may raise your risk of heart disease and cardiac mortality.viii | Migraines and nausea | Weight gain and mood changes |
| Irregular bleeding or spotting | Breast tenderness | Yeast overgrowth | Yeast infection |
The other hormonal-based options are not much better. Birth control patches (Ortho Evra) have resulted in an avalanche of lawsuits over the past several years due to the overwhelming health problems women have experienced from using them. One of the reasons the patch is so risky is that you absorb up to 60 percent more synthetic estrogen than if you were taking an oral contraceptive. Side effects of the patch include:
Raised risk of heart attack and stroke Irregular bleeding Problems wearing contact lenses Fluid retention or raised blood pressure Nausea Headache Breast tenderness Mood changes Menstrual cramps Abdominal pain Skin irritation or rashes at site of patch
As far as injections like Depo-Provera, or depo medroxyprogesterone (DMPA), go, this synthetic analogue of natural progesterone known as a progestin interferes with hormone signaling to prevent your ovaries from releasing eggs. Progestins carry with them a vast array of negative side effects, including:
Side Effects of Depo-Provera
- Weight gain
- Headaches
- Breast swelling and tenderness
- Decreased sexual desire
- Depression
- Bloating
- Swelling of the hands and feet
- Nervousness
- Abdominal cramps
- Dizziness
- Weakness of fatigue
- Leg cramps
- Nausea
- Vaginal discharge or irritation
- Backache
- Insomnia
- Acne
- Pelvic pain
- Lack of hair growth or excessive hair loss
- Rashes
- Hot flashes
- Joint pain
- Convulsions
- Jaundice
- Urinary tract infections
- Allergic reactions
- Fainting
- Paralysis
- Osteoporosis
- Lack of return to fertility
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Pulmonary embolus
- Breast and cervical cancers
- Abnormal menstrual bleeding
- Increased risk for STDs
- Unexpected breast milk production
- Changes in speech, coordination, or vision
- Swelling of face, ankles or feet
- Mood changes
- Unusual fatigue
Intrauterine devices are small, plastic, T-shaped sticks with a string attached to the end. The IUD is placed inside the uterus and prevents pregnancy by rendering the sperm unable to fertilize an egg, and by changing the lining of the uterus so that it is less supportive for an embryo. It also works by releasing hormones into your body, specifically a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel, which is often used in birth control pills.
One of its major advantages, and what contributes to its increased effectiveness rate, is that it essentially eliminates the compliance failure issue as all you do is insert it once. There is no daily task to remember to do. However, it, too, carries significant risks, including some that are unique to a foreign body being placed inside your uterus. Among them:
- Pelvic infection: IUDs may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, a serious infection
- The device may attach to or go through the wall of the uterus
- Pregnancy while using an IUD can be life threatening, and may result in loss of the pregnancy or fertility
- Ovarian cysts may occur
- Bleeding and spotting
You may not be aware that there are many effective and safe methods for preventing pregnancy. Some of the more common, barrier methods are:
- Male condoms: Condoms have a 98 percent effectiveness rate when used correctly. A water-based lubricant will increase the effectiveness; do not use an oil-based lubricant, however, as they break the latex and usually are petrochemical in origin.
- Female condoms: These thin, soft polyurethane pouches fitted inside the vagina before sex are 95 percent effective. Female condoms are less likely to tear than male condoms.
- Diaphragm: Diaphragms, which must be fitted by a doctor, act as a barrier to sperm. When used correctly with spermicidal jellies, they are 92 to 98 percent effective.
- Cervical cap: This heavy rubber cap fits tightly against the cervix and can be left in place for 48 hours. Like the diaphragm, a doctor must fit the cap. Proper fitting enhances the effectiveness above 91 percent.
- Cervical sponges: The sponge, made of polyurethane foam, is moistened with water and inserted into the vagina prior to sex. It works as a barrier between sperm and the cervix, both trapping and absorbing sperm and releasing a spermicide to kill them. It can be left in for up to 24 hours at a time. When used correctly, the sponge is about 89-91 percent effective.
Many people are familiar with these barrier methods, and less familiar with natural family planning (NFP) tools, which a woman uses to track when she is ovulating, and then avoid sex during that time (or does so only using a back-up barrier method). Many women feel empowered by NFP because it allows them to get in touch with their fertility cycle.
Some of the most popular methods include:
- Calendar Method: Abstention from sex during the week the woman is ovulating. This technique works best when a woman's menstrual cycle is very regular. The calendar method doesn't work very well for couples who use it by itself (about a 75 percent success rate), but it can be effective when combined with the temperature and mucus methods described below.
- The Temperature Method: This is a way to pinpoint the day of ovulation so that sex can be avoided for a few days before and after. It involves taking your basal body temperature (your temperature upon first waking) each morning with an accurate "basal" thermometer, and noting the rise in temperature that occurs after ovulation.
Illness or lack of sleep can change your body temperature and make this method unreliable by itself, but when it is combined with the mucus method, it can be an accurate way of assessing fertility. The two methods combined can have a success rate as high as 98 percent.- The Mucus Method: This involves tracking changes in the amount and texture of vaginal discharge, which reflect rising levels of estrogen in your body. For the first few days after your period, there is often no discharge, but there will be a cloudy, tacky mucus as estrogen starts to rise. When the discharge starts to increase in volume and becomes clear and stringy, ovulation is near. A return to the tacky, cloudy mucus or no discharge means that ovulation has passed.
I encourage you to become actively involved in fertility awareness, and embrace natural family planning or barrier methods that will not interfere with your hormones and health. Some excellent reading to get you started on this path include:
- The Ovulation Method: Natural Family Planning, by John J. Billings
- Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health, by Toni Weschler
- Honoring Our Cycles: A Natural Family Planning Workbook, by Katie Singer
References:
Research funded by the British Heart Foundation and presented to the British Cardiovascular Society showed how beets may reduce harmful inflammation in people who have coronary heart disease.1
There's a lot to be said for this humble red root. Archaeological evidence shows that beets were a part of the diet dating back to the Third Dynasty and Greek records show beets were cultivated around 300 BC.2 Originally, it was the beet greens that were prized as food and not the fibrous roots.3
Ancient Romans, Greeks and Italians believed that beats were an aphrodisiac.4 The roots were occasionally used for medicine but not consumed regularly until 1542. The plant is easy to grow and whether it's juiced, cooked, pickled or fermented, beets have a wide range of health benefits.
Although packed with nutrients, up to 8% of each beetroot is simple sugar,5 so people who struggle with insulin resistance should partake carefully. In 1747, a chemist discovered how to extract the sucrose from beets, leading to the development of the beet sugar industry, which uses fewer resources than sugarcane.6
Research presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester showed just one glass of beetroot juice each day could help reduce the harmful inflammation found in people who have coronary heart disease.7
According to the CDC,8 heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. and coronary heart disease is the most common type, killing 360,900 people in 2019. Nearly 20% of deaths from coronary artery disease occur in adults who are younger than 65 years.
The team engaged 114 healthy participants to test the theory that beetroot juice could help reduce inflammation in the endothelium and speed healing.9 They split the group in two. One group of 78 participants received a typhoid vaccine. This temporarily increased blood vessel inflammation. The researchers triggered a localized inflammatory response on the skin in the last 36 participants.
Half of each group drank 140 milliliters (approximately 5 ounces) of beetroot juice each morning that was high in nitrate while the other half drank the same amount of beetroot juice without nitrates. The researchers tested blood, urine and saliva for biomarkers of nitric oxide and found those who drank the nitrate-rich beetroot juice had higher levels.
In the group that received the typhoid vaccine, the researchers noted the endothelium function was restored, which is lost in the inflammatory response. They also found that those with blisters healed more quickly than those who drank beet juice without nitrates. The Guardian reported:10
“The researchers believe the increased levels of nitric oxide helped to speed up how quickly the volunteers were able to recover from inflammation by switching key immune cells from a state that promotes inflammation to a more anti-inflammatory state.”
Researchers from the Queen Mary University of London led the study. Dr. Asad Shabbir, clinical research fellow at the University, spoke with a reporter from The Guardian about the results.11
“Inflammation is vital to protect the body from injury and infection. However, in people with coronary heart disease persistent inflammation can exacerbate the furring of the arteries, making their condition worse and increasing their risk of a heart attack. Our research suggests that a daily glass of beetroot juice could be one way to get inorganic nitrate into our diet to help to interrupt harmful inflammation.”
Watermelon is another summer delicacy that can raise nitric oxide production. However, watermelon is also high in net carbs and regularly consuming large amounts can likely worsen insulin resistance and increase your risk of heart disease.
One study12 followed men in their mid-40s to mid-50s for more than 12 years and found the carotenoid antioxidant that gives watermelon13,14 its pink color — lycopene — reduced the risk of stroke in the group Watermelon has a varied concentration of l-citrulline,15 which is a precursor of L-arginine and a substrate for a nitric oxide synthase in the production of nitric oxide.16
Another study17 showed that taking 2 grams of fresh garlic could increase plasma concentrations of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide has long been known as a potent vasodilator18,19,20 that promotes healthy blood flow for efficient oxygenation of your tissues and organs. It also helps remove waste products and carbon dioxide.
By relaxing and dilating your blood vessels, nitric oxide improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. In conventional medicine, nitrates are used to treat angina and congestive heart failure.21 Research shows a daily glass of beetroot juice could lower blood pressure.22,23
Additionally, it improves your brain neuroplasticity by participating in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and is required to activate BDNF receptors.24 Beet juice increased tissue oxygenation, blood flow and brain neuroplasticity in a study25 published in The Journals of Gerontology in a group of 26 middle-aged men and women diagnosed with high blood pressure.
In this short video,26 Dr. Michael Greger discusses the top 10 widely available natural sources of nitrates. He compares the number of milligrams (mg) of nitrates per 100 grams (g) of food and found beets barely made the top 10 having 110 mg per 100 g of beets. However, concentrated raw beet juice has 279 mg of nitrates. This puts it in the No. 3 position behind rhubarb with 281 and arugula with a whopping 480 milligrams of nitrates.
Past studies27 have shown that nitrates can help improve muscle function, potentially by optimizing the way the muscle uses calcium. One animal study28 split mice into two groups. The mice were 24 months old, which is equivalent to roughly 70 years in humans.
One group was given drinking water with sodium nitrate for 14 days and the other group was given plain water. At the end of 14 days, the researchers measured the isometric force and peak power of the diaphragm muscles and found that both measures were significantly increased in the mice that drank nitrates. This increase in force and power translates to improved contraction of the diaphragm muscle, which can improve lung function and breathing.
This may help the elderly clear their lungs more effectively, which in turn could reduce the risk of developing infections. Nitrates have also shown to help improve oxygen uptake by dilating the blood vessels. This improves the delivery of oxygen to muscles and other cells.
Improved oxygen delivery may be one factor in how nitrates can improve athletic performance. One literature review29 looked at the effects that beetroot juice supplementation has on cardiorespiratory endurance in athletes. They selected 23 studies for analysis and found the results suggested beetroot juice improved cardiorespiratory endurance by increasing efficiency, and time to exhaustion at a submaximal intensity and may improve performance at the anaerobic threshold.
The researchers hypothesize that beet juice could moderate the exercise impairment "of hypoxia on cardiorespiratory endurance in athletes" and "it is possible that the effects of supplementation with beetroot juice can be undermined by interaction with other supplements such as caffeine."30
In addition to nitrates, 100 g of beets has a mere 43 calories. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,31 other nutrient values found in beets include:
|
Fiber 2.8 grams |
Calcium 16 mg |
|
Magnesium 23 mg |
Potassium 325 mg |
|
Folate 109 µg |
Choline 6 mg |
|
Vitamin A 33 IU |
Beats also contain a phytonutrient called betalains. This compound gives them the reddish-purple cuddle color and helps reduce inflammation and fight cell damage in the body. According to one study,32 the antioxidant capacity of red beetroot is correlated with the betalain content.
Betalains33 also have anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antihepatitis properties, and have demonstrated the ability to improve cognitive impairment. The phytonutrient has exhibited antimalarial and antimicrobial effects and studies have confirmed the phytonutrient can reduce glycemia without weight loss or liver impairment.
The phytonutrient responsible for the beet’s color can also add a red tinge to your bowel movements and urine.34 Holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy35 suggests using it as a simple way to get a sense of how long it takes food to pass through your gastrointestinal system since the beets add a red hue to your bowel movements.
Beets are also high in oxalic acid. An overconsumption of foods high in oxalic acid can lead to the development of calcium oxalate kidney stones.36 If you are predisposed to kidney stones or have calcium oxalate stones already, your doctor may recommend avoiding foods rich in oxalates.
These include dark green vegetables (especially spinach and Swiss chard), bran, rhubarb, beets and beet greens, chocolate, nuts (especially almonds, cashews and peanuts) and nut butters.37,38 Increasing calcium in your diet may seem counterintuitive, seeing how calcium is the largest component of these stones.
However, the answer to this paradox is that high dietary calcium actually blocks a chemical action that causes the formation of the stones. Cleveland Clinic explains:39
"Low amounts of calcium in your diet will increase your chances of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones ... [C]alcium binds oxalate in the intestines. A diet rich in calcium helps reduce the amount of oxalate being absorbed by your body, so stones are less likely to form."
Cruciferous vegetables also influence your heart health. These vegetables are widely recognized for their anticancer benefits, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussel sprouts. One study40 examined the effects vegetable intake has on carotid artery measures, which are indicative of arterial health.
They found those who consumed the most cruciferous vegetables had healthier carotid arteries than those who consumed the fewest. Narrow hard arteries restrict blood flow and can lead to a heart attack and stroke. The researchers found that on average, those who had at least three servings of cruciferous vegetables each day had thinner (healthier) carotid arterial walls than those who ate two servings or less each day.
The fiber41 and healthy bacteria found in traditionally fermented and cultured foods can also benefit your heart. Probiotic-rich sauerkraut has been shown42 to reduce inflammation, promote good health, improve high blood pressure, reduce triglyceride levels and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Each of these factors benefits your cardiovascular and heart health.
Magnesium is also profoundly important for heart health and many people are deficient. More than 300 enzymes rely on the magnesium for proper function, and it is needed for a host of biochemical processes.43 The best way to get a healthy amount of magnesium is to ensure you're eating plenty of dark green leafy vegetables. Foods that are highest in magnesium include:44
|
Spinach |
Swiss Chard |
|
Lima Beans |
Acorn Squash |
|
Artichokes |
Kale |
|
Green Peas |
Okra |
Finally, consider including onions in your nutrition plan. They are packed with quercetin45 that helps combat inflammation and boost immune function.46 One 2016 meta-analysis47 found quercetin effectively lowered blood pressure at a dose of roughly 500 mg per day. Other studies have shown it helps reduce your risk of atherosclerosis.48
The best way to maximize your health benefits is to eat a wide variety of vegetables daily. Make sure to include nitrate-rich leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, onions and some homemade sauerkraut.
This article was previously published January 4, 2018, and has been updated with new information.
I believe meditation practice can be an important part of health and well-being. Meditation not only is a powerful means of relaxing, but also useful for addressing anxiety, managing pain, preventing disease and relieving stress.
There is growing evidence demonstrating your mind and body are intricately connected, and wide acceptance that whatever is going on in your mind has some bearing on your physical health. Brain imaging has shown meditation alters your brain in beneficial ways, and scientists have identified thousands of genes that appear to be directly influenced by your subjective mental state. The mind-body connection is real, and what you think does affect your health.
In fact, research1 suggests a persistent negative state of mind is a risk factor for heart disease. Conversely, happiness, optimism, life satisfaction and other positive psychological states are associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
The study authors said:2 “[The] findings suggest that positive psychological well-being protects consistently against cardiovascular disease, independently of traditional risk factors and ill-being. Specifically, optimism is most robustly associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular events.”
While some people appear to be born with a sunnier disposition than others, meditation has been shown to boost optimism and help regulate mood. Meditative practices have also been shown to help optimize your LDL cholesterol and lower your:3
Such findings are consistent with a downregulation of your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system, both of which are overactivated by stress. Stress is also a well-known risk factor for heart disease, making meditation all the more important. In addition to promoting heart health, meditation:4
|
Boosts emotional health and well-being |
Encourages self-awareness |
|
Helps fight addictions |
Improves sleep |
|
Increases feelings of compassion and kindness |
Lengthens attention span |
|
Lessens anxiety and depression |
Manages pain |
|
Promotes concentration and memory |
Reduces stress |
Meditation can be considered a form of “mental exercise” for your brain. The goal is to continually draw your attention to your breath to the exclusion of everything else. Whenever your mind wanders, you seek to gently bring it back to your breath. According to Forbes.com, meditation helps us connect with and leverage our minds:5
“Through meditation, we get better acquainted with the behavior of our minds, and we enhance our ability to regulate our experience of our environment, rather than letting our environment dictate how we experience life.
With recent neuroscientific findings, meditation as a practice has been shown to literally rewire brain circuits that boost both mind and body health. These benefits of meditation have surfaced alongside the revelation that the brain can be deeply transformed through experience — a quality known as ‘neuroplasticity.’”
Indeed, neuroplasticity allows the nerve cells in your brain to adjust to new situations and changes in their environment. The short-term effects of meditation include enhancing attention, inhibiting inflammation, lowering blood pressure and reducing stress.
Long-term meditation benefits, reaped over time with consistent practice, include enhanced empathy and kindness, greater emotional resilience and increased gray matter in brain regions related to memory and emotional processing. As noted in one of the largest studies6 to date on meditation and the human brain, different types of meditation produce different changes to your brain.
Neuroscience researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences conducted a meditation program through which 300 participants were examined with respect to three different types of meditation, for three months each.
Brain scans performed after each three-month program showed more gray matter in regions of the brain involved in each type of meditation, as compared to scans from the control group. The focal point for each type of meditation and the brain changes elicited were as follows:7,8
| Type of Meditation | Meditation Focused On | Brain Region Showing Increased Gray Matter |
|---|---|---|
| ATTENTION (MINDFULNESS) | Mindful attention to breath and body | Prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes, both of which are linked to attention control |
| COMPASSION | Emotional connections established through loving-kindness meditations and partner-based problem-sharing sessions | Limbic system, which processes emotions, and anterior insula, which assists in bringing emotions into conscious awareness |
| COGNITIVE SKILLS | Thinking about issues from different perspectives through both partner activities and individual meditation | Regions involved in theory of mind, which helps attribute thoughts, desires and intentions to others as a means of predicting or explaining their actions |
The study authors suggested additional research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of meditation training for individuals suffering from social cognition deficits, such as those related to autism or psychopathy. Other areas of potential future work include meditation-related training to increase cooperation and well-being in corporate settings and social intelligence in children. About the current outcomes, the study authors stated:9
“[O]ur findings of structural plasticity in healthy adults in faculties relevant to social intelligence and social interactions suggest that the type of mental training matters.
Depending on whether participants’ daily [meditation] practice focused on cultivating socio-emotional capacities (compassion and prosocial motivation) or socio-cognitive skills (putting oneself into the shoes of another person), gray matter increased selectively in areas supporting these functions. Our findings suggest a potential biological basis for how mindfulness and different aspects of social intelligence could be nurtured.”
Stress is one of the biggest challenges facing U.S. adults, with many reporting the negative impact stress has on their mental and physical health. The American Psychological Association’s 2015 Stress in America survey revealed a sizable portion of adults did not feel they were doing enough to manage their stress.10 Nearly half of Americans said they engage in stress management activities just a few times a month or less, while 18% said they never do.
Nearly 40% reported overeating or eating unhealthy foods as a result of stress, while 46% said they lie awake at night due to high stress levels. In October 2021, the APA reported new findings after more than two years under the pandemic. In that report:11
Given the extent of stress and its far-reaching effects, meditation is a simple technique you can practice anytime, anywhere to alleviate stress. If you are not sure where to begin, gratitude can be a great focal point for lower stress.
Simply reflecting on things for which you can be thankful (versus what is irritating or lacking) can do wonders to energize your mood and ratchet down your stress levels. One type of meditation easily applied to virtually any activity is called "mindfulness,” which involves paying attention to the moment you're in right now.
Rather than letting your mind wander, you actively choose to live in the current moment, while letting distracting thoughts pass through your mind without getting caught up in them.
You can incorporate mindfulness into virtually any aspect of your day — eating, doing household chores, driving or working — simply by reining in your mind and paying attention to the sensations you are experiencing in the present moment. In a 2017 study,12 70 adults with generalized anxiety disorder who completed a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) class fared better when facing stressful situations than those who were trained in stress-management techniques alone.
In the MBSR class, participants learned elements of mindfulness meditation, including paying attention to the present moment, as well as gentle yoga and body scan meditation. The MBSR group reported meditation helps reduce stress. Notably, their physical measures of stress were also lower, including the stress hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) and proinflammatory cytokines, which are markers of inflammation.
Essential oils can enhance your meditation experience by promoting relaxation, peacefulness and mental clarity. If you have trouble calming your mind when meditating, try incorporating essential oils, which have even been shown to help attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). You can use essential oils during meditation by:
When you inhale the fragrance of an essential oil, the aroma penetrates your bloodstream via your lungs. This is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which aromatherapy exerts its physiological effects. The fragrance affects your brain’s limbic system, which controls both memories and emotions.
While it would be difficult to state all of their benefits for meditation, essential oils have shown particular promise in alleviating stress, boosting your energy, enhancing your sleep, improving your memory, reducing nausea and pain and stabilizing your mood.
Many essential oils have antibacterial, antifungal and/or antiviral qualities and, unlike antibiotics, they do not promote resistance.13 Essential oils are a great way to enhance your meditation experience,14 and you will receive maximum benefits if you use 100% pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils derived from the highest quality ingredients.
Bergamot, lavender, lemon, peppermint, pine, vetiver and ylang ylang have been shown to be effective in reducing stress, while clary sage, lavender, orange, Roman chamomile and sandalwood are a few of the oils used to soothe anxiety.15
According to The Chopra Center, those who practice mind-body medicine recognize the interconnection of all things — your mind, body and surrounding environment. As such, every breath puts you in harmony, or sets you at odds, with whatever is going on in and around you. That said, health is best defined as a state of optimal well-being, wholeness and vitality, not simply the absence of disease. About the mind-body connection, the editors at Chopra.com suggest:16
“Since the body and mind are inextricably connected, every time [you] have a thought, [you] set off a cascade of cellular reactions in [y]our nervous system that influence all the molecules in [y]our body.
[Yo]ur cells are constantly observing [y]our thoughts and being changed by them … [You] have amazing potential to heal and transform [yourself] through [y]our thoughts, perceptions, and choices. The body is a magnificent network of intelligence, capable of far more than current medical science can explain.”
The following tips will help you maintain a healthy balance of dialogue between your mind and your body. When your thoughts and physical nature are in harmony, you are more likely to listen to your body, treat it well and make choices that support your well-being. To cultivate your personal mind-body connection, each day you may want to:17
1. Take time to quiet your mind and meditate — Research led by a team from Massachusetts General Hospital18 found that as little as eight weeks of meditation induced not only calmness, but also produced positive brain changes. Areas of the brain affected by meditation included those responsible for empathy, memory and stress regulation.
2. Eat a healthy diet — Eating a diet filled with organic fruits and vegetables, plenty of healthy fats and moderate amounts of grass fed meat is vital to nourishing your body and fueling your mind. Be sure to eat mindfully and chew your food well.
3. Engage in daily exercise and nonexercise movement — Exercise not only benefits your body, but also energizes your mind and promotes emotional well-being. Whatever you choose, be sure your program includes a range of activities such as core training, stretching and weight training.
4. Get adequate sleep — I cannot emphasize enough the importance of getting sufficient, high-quality sleep every night. Most adults need about eight hours of sleep for proper brain and immune function. In addition, adequate sleep enables you to better handle stressful situations.
5. Release toxic emotions — If you make a habit of harboring unprocessed feelings such as anger, disappointment and hurt, you may be unknowingly infecting yourself with toxic emotions that drag down your mind and body. The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a great tool to release emotional toxins. EFT has been shown to be especially helpful in soothing anxiety.
6. Cultivate loving relationships — A strong social support network is vital to your mental and physical health. Loneliness has been shown to be more hazardous to your health than obesity or smoking. If your network of friends is small, consider volunteering.
7. Enjoy laughter — Some suggest laughter is the best medicine, and scientific research supports the belief that laughter boosts your immune system and curbs the production of stress hormones. If you haven’t laughed in a while, the laughing baby in the video below is just what this doctor recommends to lighten your mood.
Two years ago in May 2020, I predicted the COVID-19 pandemic would be followed by famine, thanks to the intentional shutdown of businesses and global supply lines.1
Depending on where you live, you're now starting to see shortages to a greater or lesser degree. But regardless of how things appear right now, expect changes, potentially drastic ones, over the coming months and into 2023, because that's when the diminished yields from this current growing season will become apparent.
With each passing week, it's becoming increasingly clear that severe food shortages are going to be inevitable, more or less worldwide, and whatever food is available will continue to go up in price.
The cost of agricultural inputs such as diesel and fertilizers is skyrocketing due to shortages — caused by a combination of intentional and coincidental events — and those costs will be reflected in consumer food prices come fall and next year.
On top of that, mysterious fires, alleged bird flu outbreaks and other inexplicable events are killing off livestock and destroying crucial infrastructure. Since the end of April 2021, at least 96 farms, food processing plants and food distribution centers across the U.S. have been damaged or destroyed by fire (see below).2,3
An estimated 10,000 cattle also perished in Ulysses, Kansas, in mid-June 2022,4 under mysterious circumstances. The official claim is that the cattle died from heat stress, but that seems highly unlikely. Heat could conceivably kill some weaker cattle, but 10,000 on the same day?
Recorded temperatures were said to be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the loss,5 but other states have also had 100-degree temperatures, with no recorded cattle deaths.
Combined, all of these factors set us up for guaranteed food shortages, food inflation and, potentially, famine in some places. If you're still sitting on the fence, I would urge you to get off it and begin preparations. Those who fail to prepare are likely to find themselves in an incredibly difficult situation this fall and next year. Don't let that be you.
In May 2022, a number of experts started speaking out about the inevitability of coming food shortages. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned of "the specter of a global food shortage in coming months" unless international action is taken,6 and The Economist featured "The Coming Food Catastrophe" on its cover.7
During the 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told attendees that "the anxiety about access to food at a reasonable price globally is hitting the roof,"8 and President Biden, in March 2022, told reporters that food shortages are "going to be real."9
A May 30, 2022, Reuters report10 showed the global food price index had risen 58.5% above the 2014-2016 average as of April 2022, due to a convergence of "post-pandemic global demand, extreme weather, tightening food stocks, high energy prices, supply chain bottlenecks ... export restrictions and taxes" combined with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Together, Russia and Ukraine account for as much as 12% of all globally traded calories,11 making the timing of the conflict a particularly perilous one for the world. Not surprisingly, countries that are heavily reliant on imports have seen the steepest food price increases.
In early April 2022, Rockefeller Foundation president Rajiv Shah and Sara Menker, founder of Gro Intelligence, published an op-ed12 in The New York Times blaming "Putin's war" for the looming food crisis but, clearly, we were already on the path toward global famine long before Putin entered Ukraine.
Weather, for example — whether natural or manufactured — plays an important role. As noted by Shah and Menker, "historic drought" plagues many parts of the world, including the U.S. Midwest, Brazil, Argentina, North Africa, the Middle East13 and India.14 Meanwhile, China's agricultural lands are drowning under the "heaviest rains in 60 years."15
While it's difficult to predict just how bad it will get in any given area, it seems safe to say that everyone should prepare for some degree of food shortages, regardless of where you live, as we're staring at a perfect storm of confounding factors that are global in nature and therefore can cause far-reaching and somewhat unpredictable ripple effects.
As noted by David Wallace-Wells in a June 7, 2022, New York Times op-ed, referring to the price index charts published by Reuters and Shah and Menker:16
"... one thing charts like these do not obviously signal is mass starvation. And yet, according to David Beasley, the former Republican governor of South Carolina who now leads the U.N. World Food Program [WFP], that is what they imply:
[T]he possibility that, as a result of an ongoing food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, climate change and the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, 323 million people are 'marching toward starvation' as we speak, with 49 million 'literally at famine's door' ...
[It] is worth keeping in mind that 49 million is not the number facing 'acute food insecurity,' to use the W.F.P.'s technical category distinction.
That number is the much higher one: at least 323 million, which is up, Beasley says, from 276 million before the war, 135 million before the pandemic and 80 million when he joined the W.F.P. in 2017 — a fourfold increase in a single leadership term. Forty-nine million is just the number of those at most immediate risk of death.
Before the war, 'I was already warning the world that 2022 and 2023 could be the worst two years in the humanitarian world since World War II,' Beasley says, speaking with me from Rome on last Friday.
'I'm trying to tell everybody how bad it is — how bad it's going to be. And then, the next week, I'm like, you know, wipe that clean — it's worse than what I was saying' ... Beasley believes that 2023 could take a still darker turn.
This year's price crisis could be succeeded by a genuine supply crisis, in which food is pushed out of reach for many millions not just by price but by ongoing structural conditions (including the failure to plant next year's harvest in Ukraine and the surge in the price of fertilizer, which can be one-third or more of farmers' total annual cost), and the world could experience the once-unthinkable: a true shortfall of food."
According to Menker, the current problem is "not cyclical" but rather "seismic" — "It's not a moment in time that's going to pass."17 Wallace-Wells writes:18
"She cites a longer list of causes, including not just the demand shocks caused by the pandemic and related supply-chain issues but 'a record number of supply shocks' that are 'all climate related,' such as the rebound of China's pig population from swine flu and the resulting increase in demand for feed, the problem of public debt in poor countries, the spillover effect of the price of one commodity driving up another and that driving up a third, and so on.
'Any one of those issues on their own would be considered a big market event. But when you have five of them happening at the same time, that's what makes it seismic,' she says.
Russia and Ukraine's transformation into 'bread baskets of the world' was 'the agricultural miracle of the last sort of 30 years,' she says, invalidating cataclysmic predictions made by people like Paul Ehrlich and the Club of Rome.
To take that supply off the market — 'it's not an inconsequential fuel to the fire,' she says. As for the ultimate scale of the impact? 'I think it's going to be as big as we make it.'"
That said, Wallace-Wells points out that agricultural economists appear somewhat more optimistic, as "most food is consumed domestically, not traded on international markets." So, in many areas, there may be substitutes available for shortages.
According to agricultural economists, "at baseline, there is no true global food shortage, only that unassuming-sounding 'price crisis,'" Wallace-Wells says,19 and price problems are fixable. It can take time, however, that many won't have. Personally, I'm not so sure relying on agricultural economists' optimism is a good idea.
Even though a lot of food is produced and consumed locally, farmers everywhere are struggling with soaring overhead and shortages of required inputs. And, if local farmers can't grow food because of it, there won't be any substitutes available when imports lag.
As by Daniel Greenfield with the Gatestone Institute International Policy Council notes, globalization has left the United States extremely vulnerable, as globalization "globalizes the ineptitude of the global order":20
"Globalization advocates ... just recreated Marxist central planning with a somewhat more flexible global model in which massive corporations bridged global barriers to create the most efficient possible means of moving goods and services around the planet ...
What an interdependent world really means is Algerian Jihadists shooting up Paris, gang members from El Salvador beheading Americans within sight of Washington D.C., tampon and car shortages caused by a war in Ukraine ...
The technocratic new world order of megacorporations consolidating markets and then doling out products with just-in-time inventory systems now flows through a broken supply chain. Rising inflation and international disruptions makes it all but impossible for even the big companies to plan ahead, and so they produce less and shrug at the shortages.
We're in a wartime economy because our system has become too vast and too inflexible to adjust to chaos. Biden keeps trotting out the Defense Production Act for everything until, given time, the entire economy has been Sovietized. The more that the government tries to impose stability on the chaos, the less responsive and productive the dominant players become.
Market consolidation due to government regulations has left a handful of companies sitting atop the market. When one of them, like Abbott for baby formula, has a hiccup, the results are catastrophic ...
Behind all the brands on the product shelves is a creaky Soviet system in which a handful of massive enterprises interconnected with the state lazily crank out low-quality products from vast supply chains that they no longer control and feel little competitive pressure to perform better ...
Under stress, the failure points are all too obvious, and what is less obvious is that the system has no intention of repairing any of them ... An out-of-touch elite responds to problems with meaningless reassurances, glib jokes and wokeness. Like Soviet propaganda, the only thing corporate statements communicate is the vast distance between the lives of those running the system and those caught inside its gears ...
Biden and the Democrats have been eager to blame companies for 'profiteering' from the inflation created by federal spending ... The Democrats were the biggest champions of globalization. Their regulations led to record market consolidation and domestic job cuts.
Corporations were pressured to export dirty Republican jobs to China and keep the 'clean' Democrat office jobs at home. The devastation wreaked havoc on the working class and the middle class, and rebuilt our entire economy to be dependent on China and a worldwide supply chain only globalists could believe was bulletproof ... After selling off American economic sovereignty, globalists proved unable to maintain global stability."
While the prognosis is grim, panic is not the appropriate response. Taking clear-headed action to get prepared would be far better. Once you've shored up some basic supplies and backups, you'll feel more at ease, knowing you're prepared to handle whatever crises crop up next.
As for how to prepare and what to stock up on, that's going to depend on your individual situation, location and financial means. A person living in the country surrounded by farmers and clean, freshwater brooks is facing a very different situation from someone living in a concrete jungle.
So, assess your surroundings and personal situation. Then, go through and determine how you can solve some of your most pressing needs, such as:
• Securing a potable water source and the means to purify less-than-ideal water sources — Examples include stocking up on water purification tablets or drops, and/or independent water filtration systems such as Berkey that can filter out pathogens and other impurities (meaning a filtration system that is not tied to the tap in your home, in case pumps go down and you have no tap water).
Even a small survival water filtration system is better than nothing, as drinking contaminated water can result in serious illness and/or death. Having a rain barrel connected to your gutter downspout is a good idea. You can use it to water your garden, and in a worst-case scenario, you have a source of fresh water to drink, cook and take sponge baths in.
• Buy shelf-stable and nonperishable foods in bulk — Freeze dried foods, for example, have a shelf life of 25 years or more. Canned foods and dry staples such as rice and beans can also stay viable long past their expiration date under the right conditions.
Other good options include canned salmon, canned cod livers, sardines in water (avoid ones preserved in vegetable oil), nuts, powdered milk and whey and other nutritional powders you can mix with water.
Ideally, you'll want to store food in a cool, dark place with low humidity. Bulk packs of rice and beans are best stored in a sealed food-grade bucket with some oxygen absorbers. Vacuum sealing food can also extend shelf life.
• Energy backups — To prepare for eventual energy shortages, brownouts, rolling blackouts or a complete shutdown of the power grid, consider one or more power backups, such as gas-powered generators and/or solar generator kits such as Jackery or Inergy. Having backup power can prevent the loss of hundreds of dollars worth of food if your home loses electricity for more than a couple of days.
Scale up and diversify according to what you can afford. Ideally, you'd want more than one system. If all you have is a gas-powered generator, what will you do if there's a gas shortage and/or if the price skyrockets into double digits? On the other hand, what will you do if the weather is too overcast to recharge your solar battery?
• Cooking backups — You also need some way to cook water and food during a blackout. Here, options include (but are not limited to) solar cookers, which require neither electricity nor fire, small rocket stoves, propane-powered camping stoves and 12-volt pots and pans that you can plug into a backup battery.
• Start a garden and learn some basic skills — The more food you can produce at home, the better off you'll be. At bare minimum, stock up on sprouting seeds and grow some sprouts. They're little powerhouses when it comes to nutrition, they're easy to grow and are ready to eat in days rather than months.
If you have the space, consider starting a garden, and if local regulations allow, you can add chickens for a steady supply of eggs. (Just remember that they too may need additional feed.)
Also, start learning some basic food storage skills such as canning and pickling. While it can feel intimidating at first, it's really not that difficult. For example, raw, unwashed, homegrown eggs can be preserved in lime water — 1 ounce of lime (calcium hydroxide, aka "pickling lime") to 1 quart of water — thereby extending their shelf life to about two years without refrigeration.21
The lime water basically seals the eggs to prevent them from spoiling. Before using the eggs, be sure to wash the lime off. This does not work with commercial eggs, however, as the protective coating, called "bloom," is stripped off during washing.
Fermented vegetables are also easy to make and will allow you to store the proceeds from your garden for long periods of time. For inspiration, check out my fermented veggie recipe. In the video below, I explain the benefits of using starter culture and kinetic culture jar lids. They're not a necessity, but will cut the odor released as the veggies ferment.
Remember, The Great Reset includes the recreation of the global food system. That's why we can be so sure that none of the current problems will be effectively addressed or counteracted.
They intend for the current food system to fall apart, so they can then "solve" the problem by introducing a new system based on patented lab-grown synthetic and genetically engineered foods, along with digital identity, carbon footprint tracking and a programmable centralized digital currency to track not only what you eat but also everything else you do.
The end game is total control of the global population, and this will require the destruction and dismantling of current systems, including the food system. The only way out of this intentional chaos is to become more self-sufficient and create alternative parallel systems locally, outside of the globalists control.
More than 80 percent of schools in America use toxic pesticides as a preventative measure, whether it‘s needed or not.
Mark Lame, an entomologist and professor at Indiana University‘s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, believes this is an entirely unnecessary practice that carries more risks than benefits to students and faculty.
The most widely used pesticides are, in fact, nerve poisons. They cause uncontrolled nerve firing, and disrupt the delicate hormone systems.
The link between pesticide exposure and health problems in children is already well established. Research has connected these endocrine-disrupting pesticides to health problems such as ADHD, autism, and infertility -- all of which are on the rise.
Professor Lame says pest problems are better managed through an integrated approach -- by preventing the conditions that attract pests into school facilities in the first place.
Lame serves as a consultant for schools around the country, helping them reduce the toxic load by implementing his Integrated Pest Management (IPM) process.
Science Daily July 21, 2007
By Dr. Mercola
In its latest move against small farmers who dare to operate outside the umbrella of CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) and Monsanto-dominated crops, the U.S. government has seized $70,000 from a small dairy farmer in Maryland. The feds did this under the "Bank Secrecy Act," which requires that paperwork be filled out for any cash deposit in excess of $10,000.
The farmers, Randy Sowers and his wife Karen, made deposits totaling more than $295,000 from May 2011 to February 2012, but each transaction was less than $10,000.
Now they are being accused of "structuring," a violation of federal currency reporting requirements, as the feds are accusing them of deliberately depositing money in increments of less than $10,000 in an attempt to evade Currency Transaction Reporting requirements.
The dairy farmer's "crime" stems from his weekly sales at local farmers' markets. The sales averaged about the same amount each week and, dutifully, the Sowers deposited them. They'd reportedly never even heard of the Bank Secrecy Act or "structuring," but that was of no interest to the feds—the consistency of the amount the Sowers deposited, always less than $10,000, raised red flags to the feds, who claimed that this was indicative of a crime.
The government promptly seized about $70,000 from the bank account, then issued a warrant for the seizures. As reported by Food Freedom News:1
"The Dept. of Justice has since sued to keep $63,000 of the Sowers' money, though they committed no crime other than maintaining their privacy. Without funds, they will be unable to make purchases for the spring planting. When a similar action was taken against Taylor's Produce Stand last year, the feds seized $90,000, dropped the charges, and kept $45,000 of Taylor's money.
Knowing that most farms operate on a very thin margin, such abuse of power wipes out a family's income, and for a bonus, the feds enhance the monopoly power of Monsanto, Big Dairy and their supply chain.… Former Maryland assistant U.S. attorney Steven Levin told the paper [City Paper], "The emphasis is on basically seizing money, whether it is legally or illegally earned. It can lead to financial ruin for business owners, and there's a potential for abuse here by the government.""
The raid on the Sowers was conducted by an agency created in 2009 to go after money-laundering criminals. The agency started out with a bang by seizing $1.2 billion from a real money launderer, but it appears that what it's interested in now is making criminals out of small business persons, including small farmers.
If they're not seizing bank accounts, it seems the government will find other ways to attack small farmers. A family farm in rural Michigan—and possibly others—may be shut down by a new state law that designates certain breeds of hogs as a threat to neighboring hog breeders and croplands.
Basically, the fight is over the definition of feral hogs vs. domestic hogs. The dictionary definition of "feral" refers to an animal running wild. But Michigan authorities have taken it a step further and extended the definition to include enclosed private hunting preserves and small farms that house what authorities call an "invasive species" of hogs.
There is no genetic test to determine whether the species on these farms are truly invasive, so authorities are basing their cases against these farmers solely on visual observations. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) uses this vague description to describe the prohibited hogs, and makes it clear that this does not apply to the domestic hogs raised on CAFOs:2
"Wild boar, wild hog, wild swine, feral pig, feral hog, feral swine, Old world swine, razorback, eurasian wild boar, Russian wild boar (Sus scrofa Linnaeus). This subsection does not and is not intended to affect sus domestica involved in domestic hog production."
Other descriptions supplied by the MDNR include such a wide variety of characteristics that virtually any pig other than the familiar pink domestic breed raised on CAFOs could potentially be deemed "feral":
- Erect or folded/floppy ear structure
- Straight or curly tail
- Solid black, wild/grizzled, solid red/brown, black and white spotted, or black and red/brown spotted coat colorations
- "Other characteristics" not currently known to the MDNR
Interestingly, the Big Pork industry has been planning this anti-feral pig campaign for years, and even bragged about it in a 2010 newsletter.3 It was the same newsletter where they declared a win against the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in Ohio, where HSUS was seeking legislation to end the practice of sow gestation stalls (cages so small the sow can't turn around or move).
What this means for residents of Michigan is that soon they will be unable to purchase sustainably and humanely grown meat from the Mangalitsa "wooly" hogs raised on Baker's Green Acres farm. This particular breed is being raised by only a handful of small farms across the country; whereas more than 2 million pigs are slaughtered each week in the United States, only about 50 of them are Mangalitsas (which have been called the "it" pig by the New York Times, as several high-end restaurants and specialty markets have featured the rich, naturally raised meat4).
But, of course, this issue is about much more than pasture-raised pork from a heritage breed ... it's about your ability, your right, to purchase and consume pure, unadulterated food – a right that continues to be threated for those living in the United States.
Another glaring example of government going out of its way to prohibit your access to pure, unprocessed food is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) war against raw milk. When the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) filed a lawsuit against the FDA over their raw milk ban, stating that banning raw milk in interstate commerce is unconstitutional, the FDA rebutted with the following extremely concerning and outrageous statements:
- "There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food."
- "There is no 'deeply rooted' historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds."
- "Plaintiffs' assertion of a 'fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families' is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish."
- FDA's brief goes on to state that "even if such a right did exist, it would not render FDA's regulations unconstitutional because prohibiting the interstate sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk promotes bodily and physical health."
- "There is no fundamental right to freedom of contract."
Since when did the FDA have authority to tell you what you can and cannot eat and feed your children? Apparently they believe they've had it all along. If you go by these assertions, it means the FDA has the authority to prohibit any food of their choosing and make it a crime for you to seek it out. If, one day, the FDA deems tomatoes, broccoli or cashews capable of causing you harm (which is just as ludicrous as their assertions that raw milk is harmful), they could therefore enact such a ban and legally enforce it.
What this means is that freedom of food choice is a myth if you live in the United States, and this simply is not acceptable. No one, and certainly not any government agency, should be able to restrict your access to pure, unadulterated food, but the dairy industry and other industrial farmers that depend on CAFOs employ powerful lobbyists will stop at nothing to persuade government to remove the small farmers from the market entirely. The truth is, if enough people start demanding naturally, sustainably and humanely raised meat, dairy and produce, the giant farming monopolies that currently dominate the market would not be able to compete.
Their businesses depend on pesticides, CAFOs, genetically modified seeds, growth hormones and the like … so when they see all-natural creameries like the one operated by Randy Sowers and his wife Karen, or natural farms like Bakers Green Acres gaining loyal and growing customer bases, they get nervous – and they get the government involved in any way they can.
The healthiest food choices are nearly always those that come from responsible, high-quality, sustainable sources.
This is why I encourage you to support the small family farms in your area. This includes not only visiting the farm directly, if you have one nearby, but also taking part in farmer's markets and community-supported agriculture programs. Now that summer is almost here in the United States, fresh produce and other wonderful whole foods are available in abundance. Not only is the food so much tastier and healthier when you get it from sustainable, non-CAFO sources, but there is something about shopping for fresh foods in an open-air, social environment that just feels right. An artificially lit, dreary supermarket -- home to virtually every CAFO food made -- just can't compete.
If you want to experience some of these benefits first-hand, here are some great resources to obtain wholesome food that supports not only you but also the environment:
- Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
- Farmers' Markets -- A national listing of farmers' markets
- Local Harvest -- This Web site will help you find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
- Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals -- The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.
- Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) -- CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.
- FoodRoutes -- The FoodRoutes "Find Good Food" map can help you connect with local farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSA's, and markets near you.
Finally, for more information on the ongoing attacks against small family farms in the United States consider watching Farmageddon: The Unseen War on American Family Farms, a documentary by Kristin Canty. But I warn you … the injustices it contains may just make your blood boil.
This article was previously published February 15, 2018, and has been updated with new information.
Oftentimes the simplest strategies pay great dividends. Getting sensible sun exposure and grounding — walking barefoot on the ground, whether it’s sand, grass or rock — are two examples. Sleeping on an incline is another. While sleeping on a horizontal surface is a well-established norm, few may have heard that raising the head of your bed 6 to 8 inches so that you're sleeping on an incline of varying degrees may have a number of benefits, including:1
Inclined bed therapy was developed two decades ago by Andrew K. Fletcher,8 a British mechanical engineer said to have "an avid interest in how things work." He stumbled upon the theory by studying the circulatory system of plants. In trees, gravity pulls the denser sap from the top of the tree downward, which then forces the more diluted sap at the bottom to rise upward.
In other words, the interplay between gravity and the varying density of fluids is what causes the sap, which delivers nutrients within the tree, to circulate up and down in a perpetual loop.
He wondered if the same mechanism applied to the human body, and experimentation and further research convinced him that it does. In the video above,9 Fletcher performs a simple kitchen demonstration to show how circulation is caused by density changes in fluids.
Similar experimentation was used to determine the ideal incline, which he concluded was about 6 inches, or 5 degrees. In one experiment, varicose veins disappeared after four weeks of sleeping on a 6-inch incline, which he took as a sign that "a positive change in circulation" had been achieved.
Interestingly, archeological evidence suggests some Egyptians slept on inclined beds,10 and a Boston Museum curator confirmed that the incline on one of these historical beds was in fact 6 inches.
Now, it's important to note that sleeping on an incline is not the same as sleeping on an adjustable bed that allows you to raise the head while the lower portion remains horizontal. Fletcher stresses the importance of lying straight, but on an incline. You're not looking to sleep in a sitting position where only your torso is lifted.
In fact, sleeping on your back in a neutral position can help avoid shoulder and hip problems, according to Dr. Peter Martone, a Boston-based chiropractor and physiologist who explained the importance of proper cervical posture while sleeping in a previous interview.11
The alignment of your body is important, as you want your blood to circulate freely throughout your whole body and avoid stress on your hip joint. On his website, InclinedBedTherapy.com, Fletcher lists a number of methods for creating an inclined bed.12 For example, you can build your own wooden bed frame, or use leg risers or full-length foam wedges.
As you can see by the list above, people who have tried inclined bed therapy have reported improvements in a wide array of health problems. When you consider the importance of blood circulation for the healing and regeneration of your body, this isn't entirely surprising. In a Micronesian study,13 inclined bed therapy was evaluated to see if it might benefit people with diabetes. In conclusion, the researchers stated that:
"[S]leeping on an inclined bed seems to help efficacy in reducing blood sugar levels with those who were dedicated in controlling their blood sugar levels. Inclined bed therapy may not be effective alone … [T]o be successful … it is recommended that diabetic individuals need to incorporate sleeping on inclined beds with medication, taking some alternative remedies and changing lifestyles by eating a proper diet and doing enough exercise …
Interestingly, all participants listed other problems including: back pain, edema, difficulty sleeping, frequent night urination, snoring, morning light-headedness and pain in joints. All participants claimed to have noticed improvement in all these problems."
Acid reflux is another extremely common health problem that may be improved through inclined bed therapy. Another term used for this condition is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Two of the most common causes of acid reflux are having insufficient amounts of stomach acid and/or having a hiatal hernia — a condition in which a portion of your stomach passes through an opening in your diaphragm, which can cause complications in your esophagus.
It can also lead to GERD, a condition in which acid is coming out of your stomach, where it's supposed to be. There's a valve between your stomach and your small intestine called the pyloric valve. When the acid in your stomach refluxes over that valve, it causes symptoms that are very similar to that of acid reflux, heartburn being one of the primary ones. Heartburn is a burning sensation that radiates up from your stomach to your chest and throat.
It occurs when food and stomach juices reflux up into your esophagus, which is the tube that leads from your throat to your stomach. It's typically most bothersome at night, and tends to occur in connection with certain activities, such as eating a heavy meal, bending over or lifting a heavy object and lying down, especially when laying on your back. While inclined bed therapy will not cure acid reflux, it may reduce the pain associated with lying down.
On his website, Fletcher has a list of dozens of testimonials from people who have tried inclined sleeping with great success for all kinds of issues, from digestion to mobility to fatigue to burn recovery. According to Fletcher, results also seem to suggest sleeping on an incline helps boost both metabolism and immune function, which could help explain some of these success stories.
According to anthropologist Sydney Ross Singer,14 sleeping on an incline may also benefit other brain conditions, including ADHD and Alzheimer’s. Indeed, while not mentioned, it's possible by altering the intracranial pressure you allow for improved glymphatic drainage. It was long believed that the brain was unable to clean itself out, as the lymphatic system does not include the brain.
More recent research has proven this to be incorrect, showing the brain actually has its own lymphatic system that gets into your brain by piggybacking on blood vessels. Amyloid beta deposits and other toxins are cleaned out of your brain nightly during deep sleep. This waste-removal system is now known as the glymphatic system.
By pumping cerebral spinal fluid through your brain's tissues, your glymphatic system flushes waste from your brain back into your circulatory system and onto your liver for elimination. Just about anything that hampers the efficient function of your glymphatic system promote Alzheimer's, by allowing waste to accumulate in your brain, and it stands to reason that improving this brain detoxification would help prevent Alzheimer's and other neurological dysfunction as well.
In addition to sleeping on my back with a pillow to support my neck (opposed to my entire head), as recommended by Martone, I also changed my bedframe to one that allowed me to elevate the head of my bed to achieve a 5-degree incline. While I have no health problems that would call for this, I find it helps improve my sleep.
When you first start out, you may want to ease into it by raising the head of your bed just 3 inches. Once you're used to that, raise it to the recommended 6 inches. Going up to 8 inches, which is the maximum recommended elevation, can be tricky, as you'll start sliding quite a bit. Also, be aware that in some cases you may experience muscle soreness and/or a stiff neck for the first week or two until your body has adjusted to the new position.
Fletcher also recommends drinking more water than usual, as the elevation will decrease fluid retention and enhance urination. This also means your body's waste removal will be enhanced, so more water is needed to help flush out toxins. Overall, I believe inclined bed therapy can be of all-around benefit for your health and is well worth a try.
