As you get older, your body’s energy needs drop and demands for nutrients increase. While aging is inevitable, many of the degenerative changes that prevail past middle age can be easily prevented. Recent medical research confirms that good nutrition can prevent, or slow, conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. Proper nutrition is an important part of any ‘aging well’ strategy.

Our Recommendations

Although nutrition is important, healthy eating isn’t just about taking the right nutrients. Remember:

. If you dislike eating alone, organize regular potlucks meals with friends and neighbors.

. Select foods that supply contrasts in color, texture and flavor. Avoid adding salt to improve flavor; instead, use herbs and spices.

. It helps to gather a good mix of ages around you- it will make the transition to old age more varied and enjoyable.

. Maintain old friendships and make new contracts. Go for walk to the nearby park.

. Eat at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables such as carrots, peppers, melons and berries. These contain compounds that protect against aging ailments like heart diseases and cancer.

Must Read: How do i prevent Wrinkles? Anti-Wrinkle Tips and Strategies at
. Opt for foods not supplements. Beta carotene-rich foods are one of the top sources of key nutrients promising anti-aging.

. Cook vegetables in as little liquid and for as short a time as possible.

. Make sure to drink six to eight glasses of water, juice or other non-alcoholic fluids everyday to avoid constipation, kidney problems and increased risk of dehydration.

. Exercise regularly in the form of walks or yoga to preserve muscle strength, improve appetite and mood.

. If you have trouble chewing opt for pureed vegetables, soups and other nutritious foods rather than bland liquid diet, which can lead to constipation

. Include Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, which you can get from flax seeds, canola oils and fish.

Do not change your diet drastically. Gradually include the nutrients and requirements for old age. People over 85 are one of the fastest growing segments of the population, proving that you can live longer and healthier if you practice good food habits.

As you get older, your body’s energy needs drop and demands for nutrients increase. While aging is inevitable, many of the degenerative changes that prevail past middle age can be easily prevented. Recent medical research confirms that good nutrition can prevent, or slow, conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. Proper nutrition is an important part of any ‘aging well’ strategy. Lets now figure our these changing needs.

Changing Needs: A person’s body composition changes with age; muscle mass decreases due to disuse and fatty tissue increases. The metabolism slows down and fewer calories are required. A 50-year-old who needs 1,800 calories a day will require 1,440 at the age of 70.

People who fail to cut on food intake are likely to gain weight. With increasing age, the body is less efficient in absorbing some nutrients. An older person will need extra amounts of the following essential nutrients:

. Calcium to prevent osteoporosis and maintain healthy bones. Include sesame and mustard seeds, leafy greens, figs, milk and milk products and fish in your diet.

. Vitamin D, needed in order to absorb the calcium. Fish oil is the best source of Vitamin D. Ghee, butter and eggs also contain a small amount of Vitamin D. The best natural source is sunlight.

. Vitamin B12 to build red blood cells and maintain healthy nerves. Eat dairy products, meat, shrimps and eggs.

. Zinc to help compensate for lowered immunity. Cereals, nuts and oilseeds are important sources of Zinc.

. Potassium, especially in the presence of high blood pressure or the use of diuretic drugs. Pulses like green gram, cow’s peas, red gram, black gram and vegetables like lotus stems and sword beans are rich in potassium. Other good sources are legumes, leafy vegetables and fruits like bael, sweet limes, peaches and apricots.

. Folic Acid, B vitamin, used to make DNA and red blood cells, will help lower blood levels of homocysteine, a compound in the blood associated with an increase risk of heart disease. Pulses and legumes such as Bengal gram and green gram are rich sources. Green vegetables, cluster beans, spinach and mint are valuable sources. Others include gingelly seeds and meat.

. Fiber to prevent constipation. Include all vegetables, fresh fruits and whole grain and cereals.

Must Read: How do i prevent Wrinkles? Anti-Wrinkle Tips and Strategies at
. One of the most important nutrients is water. It prevents dehydration. Have at least 12 glasses per day.

Random Tip for Dull Skin: To improve a dark and dull complexion, take 1 tablespoon of gram flour, pinch of turmeric powder, few drops of lime juice, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon milk. Mix the ingredients together. Apply the mixture to your skin. Leave it on for half an hour. Wash off with water.

What started out as a medical research resulted to an industry. The concept of a tanning bed first originated from Germany when a certain company first reconsidered the use of a device to cure rickets and to help patients with poor bone density. This initial research proved to be more important than what was first thought. Other institutions followed suit in the later years, attesting to the fact that the project really hit something big.

The 1970s brought forth the emergence of the first tanning lamps intended for scientific studies. German Wolff, a German scientist first thought of using artificial indoor tanning UV light to determine the benefits of tanning for athletes. Interestingly enough, tanning is becoming a powerful norm among Americans. When he saw the potentials of producing artificial tanning machines, he used his researches and created the first indoor tanning beds. Thus the birth of a new industry.

Indoor tanning beds were initially introduced in Germany and Europe followed by producing the first large-scale production of tanning beds. Up to date, indoor tanning is a well-regulated professional industry in the region.

In those times, tanning beds in the United Sates were not as advanced as those made in Europe and were as well equipped. The earliest tanning beds in America have poor regulation on the emission of UVB rays and often cause skin disorders and severe sunburns. This issue caused large numbers of campaigns against the used of such tanning beds in the medical community.

The tanning industry reacted positively. Researches were made and a new lines of tanning beds were produced- those that use UBA rays instead of the harmful UVB. UVA rays are less harmful and may cause lesser sunburns than that of the UVB. A reason that probably pushed tanning beds manufacturers to recreate their standard models.

These 30 years of research fashioned the modern tanning beds that most tanners enjoy now. With careful use, tanning may be as healthy as most tanners would prefer it to be.

Though many advances were created since the beginning of the industry, modernity still cannot negate the fact that there are no ways to avoid the harm brought by tanning. Though most people realize that tanning is the manifestation of a certain degree of damage to the skin, they still welcome the “healthy looking skin” fashion.

It is not to discourage people from tanning at all. But if scientifically viewed, tanning (either indoors or outdoors) is really a great health concern. There are no significant differences between the traditional tanning and tanning beds. Both release almost the same amounts of UV rays that are instrumental to creating skin cancers. And the process of tanning the skin is alike. Both have alike side effects as well. The good thing though is that tanning beds are regulated. Many people associate intensity with harm. They miss out the point that the duration of exposure to tanning rays is also an essential part of the issue. Tanning beds are specially engineered to provide control for the emission of the UV rays. Each session has controlled sessions to minimize the degree of burn and of tanning.

The majority of tanners are faced with both of these issues. Tanning is healthy and so is the minimized exposure to sunlight. So the choice is actually something that needs deep insight.

In an information rich society, too many people are still starving their decisions of enough of the right information.

INTRODUCTION

How do you know if your decision process is well-informed or ill-informed? And even if you could detect the clues of an ill-informed decision process, would you know what to do about it? Here are some ideas for how to get more rigour into your decision process by sliding a little further away from fantasy and a little further toward fact.

CLUES THAT YOU’RE WITNESSING AN ILL-INFORMED DECISION PROCESS

You can tell the hallmarks of an ill-informed decision process simply by listening for all the substitutes that are offered in place of real data, fact and evidence. Usually these substitutes go quietly unnoticed, or are selectively ignored. We either aren’t aware that they are indeed poor stand-ins for good and sufficient information, or we remain silenced by our fear of the repercussions of publicly questioning them.

The alternative is actually more frightening. Think for a minute about the consequences of medical researchers making decisions about introducing new drugs on the basis of a handful of test subjects, or of civil engineers making decisions about bridge design on the back of professional opinion, or aircraft manufacturers making decisions about fuel economy without thorough analysis of the impacts of changing the fuel system. It’s not always a case of life and death, but if you can imagine the money and time being wasted on account of ill-informed decisions, then you might start imagining how different the world could be if that money and time were available for better use.

If slaying ill-informed decisions is a crusade you’re up for, then a skill worth sharpening is your ear for those poor substitutes for good information. Here are some clues for what to listen for, and some linguistic lances to prod with.

VAGUE, NON-SPECIFIC CLAIMS

When people are asked for an update or progress check on how their initiatives or projects or functions or processes are going, and they are ill-equipped to answer with specific data or evidence, you’ll probably hear them say things like the following:

“It is working really well.”
“We’re tracking along fantastically.”
“The result was slow to get off the ground, but now it’s up to speed.”
“Cycle time is too high.”
“That project is failing to realize benefits.”

Are responses like these really enough to enlighten a decision making team sufficient that they need interrogate no further? Hardly. They are too vague and non-specific, and they tempt all to snuggle up together in a false sense of security from which they either ignore what is really going on or make rash untested decisions. If you hear this genre of performance update dialogue, have courage to ask questions that dig for specifics:

“What exactly is working well?”
“How are we tracking, specifically?”
“How slow was it? What speed is it at now?”
“Too high compared to what?”
“What kinds of benefits is it failing to realize?”

OPINIONS AND HEARSAY

When you’ve been around something for a long time, you get to know the way things work by the patterns that keep recurring. It is super easy to be seduced by the predictive power of those patterns, especially when it saves you effort. When uttered by recognised experts, opinion and hearsay shine like pearls of wisdom:

“Obviously we have the best sales performance.”
“Our customers are very satisfied with our responsiveness.”
“That project is failing to realize benefits.”
“I think we’ve done a great job this year.”

Opinion and hearsay are dangerous when they come clothed in crisp words and confident tones. But they are fact no more than the Emperor’s new clothes are fabric. It’s a brave soul indeed that asks the dumb questions of those who are certain. Time and again, however, the dumb questions turn out to be excellent questions when they turn attention to concrete evidence:

“How is it obvious?”
“How do you know? How did you find this out?”
“In what ways is the project failing?”
“What leads you to conclude this?”

LOGIC LEAPS

The cause-effect conversation is a mainstay of management decision processes, but its familiarity doesn’t guarantee its sensibility. “Cause-effect” is a simple form of logic connecting two results in a distinct relationship. It takes a keen ear to hear logic leaps in a cause-effect argument connecting the results of familiar performance attributes:

“We’ve met our downsizing target and costs are rationalizing now.”
“We have improved customer loyalty because we implemented the CRM.”
“Several initiatives together have improved revenue.”
“Employee turnover has reduced because of our performance planning system.”

Leaps in logic of this ilk are a symptom of failure in the planning process to establish sound and clearly articulated hypotheses of which strategies are supposed to impact which results, and failure in the strategy implementation process to validate these hypotheses as early as possible with evidence of the real impact. Armed with common sense, curiosity and a coping strategy for the uncertainty likely to ensue, you can put a stop to long-held logically flawed beliefs about what really causes what:

“How was the relationship between costs and downsizing determined and verified?”
“Is it possible that customers might not stay loyal, despite the fact we implemented a CRM?”
“Which factors have the most influence on revenue?”
“What size is the impact that the performance planning system has, compared with other factors that influence turnover?”

THE CLICHÉ

It could be just about the best attempt to inform a decision with no information at all. The clichés, the motherhood statements, the cultural truisms of your industry or organisation, are all tactics of those too detached to even have their own opinion about how performance is going:

“Customers are never satisfied. We just do what we can with what we have.”
“The goal posts are constantly moving, and we don’t have enough resources to keep adjusting.”
“We’re getting runs on the board.”
“No-one in this industry ever gets more than 80% on-time performance.”
“The call centre is best practice.”

What is the basis for such broad-brushed and sweeping claims? Where did they come from? Someone will need to take the bull by the horns, pin him to the wall, break it down and get to the bottom of it. Seriously, it’s likely some stale beliefs need to be contested, and the current boundaries of knowledge need to be acknowledged:

“Never? Has there never been a satisfied customer?”
“Why do you say that customers are never satisfied?”
“Which goal posts?”
“How are the goal posts moving?”
“What kind of runs are you talking about?”
“What makes 81% so impossible?”
“What defines best practice?”

MOVING TOWARD WELL-INFORMED DECISIONS

Challenging the dialogue of the decision process is simply about asking for evidence. When results are claimed, or success declared, or hypotheses taken as given, and no sufficiently supporting information offered along with, then it’s time to test and probe. If no data or fact or evidence is forthcoming, two choices are available. Either wear the cost of gathering such data or fact or evidence, or wear the cost of making the wrong decision. Only one of these is the responsible choice to make.

Rest assured, challenging the dialogue of the decision process is going to take you all into some uncomfortable territory where egos feel poked at, fears have to be faced, and more effort expended on the planning, implementing and measuring processes than hoped or imagined. But it is a job that must be done. And if you have read to this point and have witnessed the clues of ill-informed decision processes in your organisation, there’s a good chance it’s a job that must be done by you. “They” probably won’t.

More than 200 researchers and collaborators in the development of gene tools have found substantial evidence related to human genetic variation to disease from real time PCR primer design, helping them to understanding human evolutionary history, grounded in data described in a significant paper recently published.

The result of the international consortium from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and Nigeria, describe common patterns of genetic variation in human DNA on primer design collected from four different sites around the world. Real time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) allows uncovering the root cause of disease and other genetic disorders.

Compared with the evidence of previous scientific work, research suggests that genetic variants located physically closer to each other are inherited as groups. This collective variation are called haplotypes, and the catalog of all of these blocks, usually referred as the “HapMap” today is publicly available to the biomedical research community interested in real time PCR.

In fact, the community has accelerated the development of new gene tools, searching for gene variants in primer design relating to disease, finding new insights into the old scientific conception of the genes involved in human evolution and real time PCR, although inheritance can also influence the different responses to environmental factors or to certain drugs.

David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., said “Built upon the foundation laid by the human genome sequence, the HapMap is a powerful new tool for exploring the root causes of common diseases. Such understanding is required for researchers to develop new and much-needed approaches to understand the still-elusive root causes of common diseases such as diabetes, bipolar disorder, cancer and many others”.

Although the medical community knows that several causes of disease run in families for generations, it was not until the development of gene tools related to real time PCR, when it was found that half of the risk of diseases is closely related to genetic differences in a primer design, demonstrating that it has been inherited from parents.

Real time PCR is commonly used to determine the underlying causes of common inherited diseases, but the different therapeutic responses are not well known at this time. Studies using primer design are intended to find the necessary information to identify genetic contributors to human health, developing new biomedicine approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

WHY ARE WE DYING TO KNOW THE TRUTH?
Please take the time to really read this report thoroughly as it contains vital information on health you will not find easily obtainable from other publications.

If you weren’t aware of the carcinogens and POISONS in your everyday personal care items then these reports will shock you!

Please READ ON!
Learn critical health secrets the giant vested interests don’t want you to know! This new information may save your life…. but only if you put it into practice! To fully understand the significance of what is contained in these reports requires some basic knowledge.

Let’s begin by reviewing the way cancer is treated in North America, the UK and most “developed” countries today. One of the most frightening things a person can hear from their doctor is, “you have cancer”. This is because we all know people who have been affected by this terrible disease. We may have friends or family members who have suffered and died from cancer. We may also know people who have contracted cancer and survived, but we also know the price some of them paid in chemotherapy induced illness and hair loss, in physical disfigurement from surgery, or in side effects from radiation treatments

The purpose of these reports is not to scare you, nor is it to provide medical advice. Ultimately, only you can decide what is best for you whether you are trying to prevent cancer or if you already have cancer and are seeking treatment. To make good decisions, you must first have good information. Would you agree… Informed people make informed decisions? If you want to reduce your chance of getting cancer, you must know something of what may cause cancer. You must know how you can minimize your potential exposure and how you can support your body’s natural abilities to protect itself from cancer. In this report, we will attempt to provide some of that information. The first step will be to expose a few myths

• MYTH #1:
We are winning the battle with cancer, and survival rates are much better today than in the past.
False! Cancer has become AN EPIDEMIC… effecting massive numbers of people in all social and economic groups. It is now the 2nd leading cause of death in North America, Australia and the UK. Death from cancer is exceeded only by heart disease.

The American Cancer Society says that 1 in 2 of all men and 1 in 3 of all women in our country today will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. This is a massive increase over the 1 person in 80 who contracted cancer 100 years ago. Due to the huge numbers of people dying in the USA from all degenerative diseases, not just cancer, life expectancy is being revised downward for the first time ever by medical researchers. According to the NEJM report, studies suggest that two-thirds of American adults are overweight. One study cited by the authors indicates that the prevalence of obesity in U.S. adults has increased about 50 percent per decade since 1980.

Additional research has shown that people who are severely obese live up to 20 years less than people who are not overweight and are much more prone to contracting cancer. Some researchers have estimated that obesity causes about 300,000 premature deaths in the U.S. annually. In addition, obesity is fuelling an epidemic of type 2 diabetes, which also reduces lifespan and is the cause of many debilitating diseases and blindness.

Life expectancy in the USA is now at a high of 77.6 years. If the researchers’ predictions hold true in the next 50 years, it would be the first reversal in life expectancy since the government started keeping track in 1900.

This year, about 1,200,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the USA alone, with hundreds of thousands more in the UK and in Australia and other Western countries. When added to the millions who already have cancer, the anticipated loss of life easily exceeds 1,000,000 per year. (Over 1,500 people in the U.S. alone die every day from cancer.) In spite of massive investments in research, cancer rates are increasing markedly among all age groups, including children, whose rate of increase is nearly 1% per year according to the American Cancer Institute. In some parts of the world, cancer already affects 1 in every 2 people, and the trend continues to get worse. Eventually the rate could approach 100%

Although small improvements have occurred in treating some cancers, the overall rate of recovery for cancer patients has changed very little over the past 50 years. The average cancer survival rate was about 50% in 1950, and it is still about 50% today. For African-Americans, the survival rate in 1950 was under 40%, and it also remains about the same today.

• MYTH #2:
Chemotherapy is very effective in treating cancer and in saving the lives of cancer victims.
False!

Over the years, many dramatic claims have been made by pharmaceutical companies and other members of the cancer establishment regarding drug based treatments for cancer. Today, chemotherapy is the most common form of cancer treatment. If such successful results were actually being achieved, improvements could readily be observed in the survival rates. Yet, survival rates remain basically unchanged.

Chemotherapy consists of a mixture of highly toxic drugs which are given the patient in a series of treatments over a period of time. Research shows that chemotherapy can often cause a partial or even complete shrinkage of a tumour, although this shrinkage does not necessarily prolong expected survival.

In fact, studies have found that the cancer often returns even more aggressively than before, because the chemotherapy has created more resistant cells. In addition, a strongly negative side effect of chemo is that it can severely damage the body’s immune system as well as the kidneys and liver. Some patients will die from these complications alone. It is often a case of the cure being far more serious and deadly then the disease.

A good indication of the effectiveness of chemotherapy can be found in polls surveying cancer doctors regarding what they would choose for themselves if they were diagnosed with cancer. Many US doctors have stated they would not choose chemotherapy for themselves due to its ineffectiveness and its unacceptable levels of toxicity. Sixty percent of doctors who responded to a similar poll in the UK indicated that they would not submit themselves to chemotherapy!

Still, doctors continue to administer chemotherapy because they do not have approved medical alternatives. The fact is, there are large profits to be made by the drug companies in administering chemotherapy, whether it is actually effective or not.

Well that is all in this first Toxic Chemical and Cancer Report. I hope you have enjoyed reading this, the first report in a ten report series. The reports will continue to give you factual hype free information about the myths concerning cancer and other health issues in future reports.

Every day we hear the news talk about the latest miracle drug that cures all or the new diet pill that will help you shed pounds without doing anything. We know in our minds that these things can’t really be true like the ads say, but there is something we can do that will help our health and help keep us fit and trim. It’s simple! Become a vegetarian!

Several top-doctors and healthcare experts have come out and spoken about the benefits of leading a vegetarian lifestyle. Let’s look at a few of the reasons why becoming a vegetarian can be a positive for your health.

A diet without meat and dairy products helps cut down on the increased risk of contracting illnesses such as: obesity, heart disease, asthma, diabetes and osteoporosis. These are serious health issues that not only affect a person’s physical health, but also their quality of life. It has been proven in tests that vegetarians have stronger immune systems, than those that are not vegetarians. Having a strong, healthy immune system helps your body to fight colds and the flu virus, thus letting you escape the sickness that others catch.

Medical research has shown the following statistics as they relate to being a vegetarian:
- There is a 50% less chance that vegetarians will develop heart disease.
- Those following a vegan lifestyle are nine times less likely to become obese.
- Being a vegan reduces the risk of ending up with cancer.
- Vegans have the lowest rate of coronary diseases of any group.
- Vegan kids’ IQs are higher than their classmates.
- Older people can prevent or even possibly reverse health conditions by switching to a plant-based diet.

The majority of vegans also tend to be slimmer and fitter than others not following this lifestyle. Plant-based foods do not carry the cholesterol and saturated/trans fat that is found in so many “convenience foods” and meat products. Plants have the necessary nutrients that the human body needs to be strong and healthy, such as vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. This means we can eat more plants than we could meat products and still not gain as much weight or store as much fat. This alone is worth its weight in gold for those of us that like to eat a lot.

Manufacturers have taken notice of those that would like to be vegan and have come up with some creative solutions. Veggie Burgers look just like real hamburger patties, but they are made of wheat, oats, assorted vegetables, etc. There are sausages made of soy that look just like a real sausage. These are great substitutes if you were previously on a heavy meat-based diet and are facing meat withdrawal. If you want to go totally vegan, you can also find dairy substitutes, such as soy milk and soy cheese.

Excessive amounts of vitamin A have been known to increase the occurrence of hip fractures and other disabilities among seniors. Like anything else, the correct balance of vitamin A in your diet is essential. According to a study done by Harvard medical researchers in 2002, they report that high levels of vitamin A increase the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women especially in the hip area. With the aging process, the chance of fractures especially to the hip are increased and have been linked to excess retinol in the diet. This active ingredient is found in vitamin A and has been known to diminish the bone strength in both men and women, especially the hip area. Although a good anti aging supplement is important, it is important to consult with an expert in anti aging supplements to make sure that you’re getting the right balance you need.

Vitamin A can be found in many of the food items that we include in our diet every day such as eggs, liver, milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products, fish liver oils and cereal. As senior citizens have a hard time metabolizing retinol properly, they are, therefore, more likely to experience fractures of the bones than when younger. Older people are advised to find a good antiaging product and stick with it.

Beta-carotene is derived from vitamin A and doesn’t carry the same risks as retinol. Beta-carotene is a tremendous anti aging supplement and doesn’t carry the same risks as retinol does. The body converts beta-carotene into exactly the amount of vitamin A that your body needs daily. This great antiaging product can be found in colored vegetables and fruits such as pumpkin, carrots, yams, red peppers, tomatoes, oranges, cantaloupe, apricots, and many other different types of fruits and vegetables. Here are some healthy antiaging tips for your bones. Try and refrain from taking vitamin A supplements and take a good anti aging supplement, such as a multivitamin that includes beta-carotene. If you’re unsure if the product contains beta-carotene, call them and ask. Always perform a weight bearing exercise on a daily basis. This will help improve your bone density. Get 1200 mg of calcium daily and 400 IU vitamin D along with eating lots of fruits and vegetables that contain beta-carotene.

Mumps is sweeping the Midwest with the speed of a California wildfire. Doctors have diagnosed a thousand cases of the viral disease, and there’s no end in sight. Those most at risk for severe disease in the outbreak are adults with waning immunity and unvaccinated children.

Adult cases are understandable. After all, immunity from vaccination can decline over time. The involvement of unvaccinated children, on the other hand, is inexcusable. Free MMR vaccine is available to every American child at local Health Departments, and moms and dads who fail to get it for their children should spend an afternoon in the public stocks with “bad parent of the year” signs hung around their necks.

Vaccines are becoming victims of their own success. Today’s parent doesn’t remember the day when measles and diphtheria killed thousands of American children. They weren’t around when polio paralyzed a generation. They didn’t witness the miracle of Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine. In those days parents clamored to get their kids immunized, and thousands of children were spared a lifetime of metal braces and wheelchairs.

Today’s parent doesn’t exactly clamor for vaccines. Instead, she approaches them with reluctance and fear because of ranting quasi-scientists and militant moms who blame childhood vaccines for little Bobby’s autism.

The MMR-autism flap began in 1998 when Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British bowel specialist, conducted a chart review of twelve patients. Really, I’m not making this up. Twelve patients. Based on that chart review, Dr Wakefield concluded that MMR causes intestinal inflammation, which leads to “leaky bowel,” which allows harmful toxins to enter the body. These toxins then travel to the brain and cause autism. Since every autistic child in the developed world had received an MMR vaccine and since autism is most commonly diagnosed between the first and second birthdays, around the time of the MMR, many parents of autistic children clung to the report like a colony of mold on old bread.

Never mind that the United Kingdom Medical Research Council condemned Dr. Wakefield’s report. Never mind that other medical researchers from around the globe found fault with his research methods. Never mind that subsequent well-designed statistically significant studies failed to show any link between MMR and autism. These stricken parents had found what they wanted–a reason.

So now many parents fear the MMR vaccine, and some downright refuse it. They’ll put their children in a speeding automobile a median’s throw away from a twenty-ton eighteen-wheeler rocketing in the opposite direction. They’ll let their children ride in an airplane traveling 500 miles-per-hour at an elevation of 35,000 feet. They’ll allow their children to swim unattended and ride bicycles without helmets and get on slapped-together carnival rides run by a guy sporting more tattoos than teeth, but they won’t get the MMR vaccine. It’s too risky. After all, Dr. Wakefield looked at twelve kids, and those militant moms–the ones who don’t want you vaccinating your children–agree with him.

Perhaps the current mumps outbreak will begin to change this misguided attitude. I guess mumps is as good a start as any. It’s an uncomfortable disease, but rarely fatal. You get headache and fever and painfully swollen salivary glands under the jaw. Ovaries and testicles can swell. Every now and then deafness results, or the brain swells. But for most, it’s a walk in the park compared to other vaccine-preventable diseases. The results of a widespread measles outbreak would be worse, and if diphtheria or polio ever raise their ugly heads, it will be tragic.

If you are one of those worried parents who haven’t vaccinated your children, please give it another thought. Talk to your child’s doctor. Sure, there may be some risk with immunizations, the most common being allergic reaction, but the benefit far exceeds the risk. If you still disagree with me, that’s fine. Don’t get the MMR. Don’t get any vaccines. But maybe you should also keep your children out of cars and airplanes. And please, oh please, don’t get them anywhere near those carnival rides.

In spite of the advanced technology and abundance of information the quality of our health continues to decline. The exceptions are those who seek and use information to change their life style and eating habits to something that more resembles nature. Those who have made these changes are healthier than those that don’t.

It is all about the money. That’s why we now have more chemicals in the form of fertilizers and pesticides in our growing fields, and antibiotics and hormones in our dairy and milk products. They use what ever they can regardless of the effect it has on our body. The effect on the bottom line and escape from prosecution are the bench marks for the products they make.

In addition MSG, filler and flavor enhancers are distributed freely and hidden in many products. These ingredients will exacerbate our already existing allergies or create new ones. When we eat processed foods we weaken both our adrenal and immune systems. We can compromise our health to such a degree it is only a matter of time before we become very ill.

”Despite this gloomy picture, there is a bright side. Knowledge and information is constantly being brought forth from the Alternative health care field. This information continues to be substantiated by solid clinical and medical research. Understanding has emerged regarding the role of vitamins, minerals, and quality nutrition in health”. Allergy Free Eating, Key to the Future” The Nutritional & Dietary Consultant/March 1994

We are learning that if we remove the toxins from our environment and our food and water we can prevent most of the illnesses we seem to be subject to. We understand that vitamins and minerals will help us maintain a good level of health; however we also know this is not enough.