Root Canals Can Have Devastating Effects on Health

(NaturalNews) Is it wise and prudent to have a root canal? There are issues with root canal therapy that everyone should know before deciding to have one.

There has been recent research that presents valid proof of systemic illnesses that are a direct result from latent infections lingering in filled roots. These conclusions are based on research performed by Dr. Weston Price over a 25 year period in the beginning of the twentieth century.

The research done by Dr. Weston Price discusses how root canals can cause bacteria to become trapped inside the structure of teeth. This can be the cause of many diseases that can be traced to one single source.

A high percentage of chronic degenerative diseases may actually originate from root canals. The most common diseases are circulatory and heart disease. The next common diseases are those involving joints and arthritis.

The allegation is that there was a series of events that led to important information being hidden about seventy years ago by a group of doctors who didn't fully understand the "focal infection theory."

What is the focal infection theory… and how is it connected to root canals?

The focal infection theory says that germs from a central focal infection (decaying teeth, roots, inflamed gum tissues, and tonsils, can metastasize to the heart, eyes, kidneys, lungs, or other organs and tissues. This then spreads the same infection to these new areas. This theory has been proven extensively and is regarded as fact.

Focal infection states that the bacteria can move into surrounding tissues and travel to other locations in the body through the bloodstream. This new location may be an organ or tissue and the new colony will be a new infection for the body.

Currently, however, patients and doctors have been led into complacency by believing that infections are not as serious because of antibiotics. This is simply not true. In the situation of root-filled teeth, the no longer alive tooth does not have blood being supplied to its interior. This means that antibiotics will not reach this area and will not fight any bacteria that exist there.

Dr. Price performed many experiments while conducting his research. One such experiment involved removing an infected tooth from a woman who had severe arthritis. Dr. Price took the infected tooth and implanted it under the skin of a healthy rabbit. Incredibly, within 48 hours the rabbit had severe arthritis as well.

The claim is that all root-filled teeth contain bacteria or other infective agents. It doesn't matter what technique is used or what material is used.

Another important point is that the main part of teeth that appear solid is called "dentin." While this appears solid, it is actually made up of tiny "tubules." In healthy teeth, these tubules will transport a fluid that nourishes the inside of the tooth. A root-filled tooth does not have any fluid circulating through it anymore, but the tubules remain. The bacteria that are present in this area of the root-filled tooth seem to be out of reach of antibiotics. The tiny organisms hiding in the tubules move further in to the interior of the tooth to stay and then multiply.

One more factor that plays an important role in this situation is the fact that large bacteria are common in the mouth. These bacteria will change and adapt to changing conditions. They can shrink to fit small areas and they can also survive on small amounts of food. The organisms that must have oxygen are able to mutate and then survive without oxygen. Because of this adaptation, these organisms can become pathogenic and are able to produce serious disease.
Today's scientists are able to confirm the research conducted by Dr. Price all those years ago. Recent research has shown strains of "streptococcus," "staphylococcus," and "spirochetes" existing in root canals.

Root canals will not make everyone sick. However, current belief is that every root canal filling will leak and this leakage will allow bacteria to invade the structure. The variable between those who become sick with a degenerative disease and those who do not seems to be the strength of a person's immune system. People who are in good health will be able to control the organisms that escape from their teeth and infiltrate other areas of the body.

This is because the white blood cells and other fighters are not constantly busy with other diseases. The immune system is able to prevent new bacterial colonies from taking over other tissues in the body. Over time, however, most people who have had root canals seem to develop various types of systemic symptoms that were not previously present.

If an extraction is necessary, it is now apparent that merely extracting the tooth is not enough. It has been determined that bacteria are present in the tissues and bone just adjacent to a tooth's root. The new recommendation is slow-speed drilling with a burr to remove 1 millimeter of the entire bony socket.

If the tooth is dead and can't be saved, then the best course of action would be to have a root canal with a material called  "Biocalex." "Biocalex" eliminates many of the dangerous bacteria and will cause fewer complications. If this fails, it may be necessary to extract the tooth. It would be best to find a biological dentist for this procedure. Many biological dentists have alternative methods that can save a tooth in some cases.

Sources:  http://www.healingdaily.com/exercis...  -  Root Canal Cover-Up by George Meinig

You Are What You Eat: 7 Food Additives That Are Secretly Making Us FAT

I'm here to tell you that the food industry is lying to you. There are many "safe" food additives on the market that really are NOT SAFE!! Yes, you heard me right AND I will give you a small list of them below to prove it. These food additives are literally making you sicker, robbing you of your youth, and making you gain weight!

Food additives are man-made, synthetic chemicals used to preserve foods, make them taste better, add supposed nutritional value and get this... THEY BYPASS YOUR HUNGER MECHANISM MAKING YOU CRAVE MORE AND EAT MORE FOOD! Now, let's think like the food industry for a second... If people, eat more food and increase in size, then they will crave more food and then we can sell them more food! It's a great way to make money if you really think about it. Very unethical, but brilliant. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS IS HAPPENING!Look around at the American population. Do you really think that it is coincidence that 70% of the US is obese? By 2030, the Journal of Obesity is predicting that 90% of the United States will be obese.

Will You Be A Victim Too?

The sad part about this whole situation is the fact that the general public has no idea that they are being lied to. This reminds me of a quote...

"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it" - Adolf Hitler

The media is using psychological marketing tactics to make you believe that foods that are "fat free" are healthy and helping you to lose weight.

Please, please, please don't trust everything that you hear. Especially from the news, commercials, TV, radio, etc. Their job is to capture your attention and sell you things. Whether it be their belief systems or weight loss pills.

Alright, sorry about all the ranting and raving. I just get so emotional about this topic because I see people everyday in my office who suffer because they have been lied to.

The Worst Ingredients On A Food Label

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): This is a man made sweetener that is cheaper to produce and actually sweeter than sugar. There are actually new commercials touting how healthy HFCS is. They are trying to say that it is safe and natural.

Let me ask you this: Can you squeeze corn syrup from corn? Can mom make high fructose corn syrup at home? NO! It's a lie! Remember the quote above? HFCS is anything but natural and will actually shut off your hunger mechanism allowing you to eat without feeling full which will MAKE YOU FAT!

It is associated with blood sugar problems (ATTENTION Moms: Childhood obesity, and Juvenile Diabetes is on the rise! So is ADD/ADHD. HFCS is a huge culprit!) depression, fatigue, B vitamin deficiency, indigestion and tooth decay.

HFCS is found in soda, candy, condiments, cereals, breads, etc.

Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG): MSG is a food flavoring that is notorious in Chinese foods. It is also hidden in a variety of other foods and goes by many different names: hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed plant extract, plant protein extract, sodium caseinate, yeast extract, texturized protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed oat flour, natural flavorings and calcium caseinate to name a few... there are dozens more names.

MSG is the MOST addictive substance known to man and makes you want to eat more and more! It is called an excitotoxin because it excites your brain cells to the point that it actually makes them explode and die. Sound like something good to put in you and your kids bodies?

Watch out.. it is found in everything from fast food, to kids snacks, drinks, chips, etc., allergic reactions. (80% of people are shown to be allergic to MSG)

MSG causes headaches, itching, nausea, brain, nervous system, reproductive disorders, high blood pressure.

Artificial Sweeteners: Splenda (sucralose), Nutra-Sweet (aspartame), Equal (aspartame), SweetNLow (saccharin) , sorbitol, maltodextrin, dextrose, and acefulsame are all falsely representing weight loss foods. They are very toxic to your body and will bypass your hunger mechanism, causing you to crave more food. Stay away from anything labeled fat free, lite, no fat, no calories, calorie free, sugar free, reduced sugar and reduced fat. Most of these foods have been filled with artificial sweeteners. READ YOUR LABELS! Is having no calories in your "diet" drink worth the risk?

By Dr. Michael Allen  -  Fitness Instructor & Fat Loss Factor™ Founder

Rare Syndrome Causes British Teen to Sleep for Days at a Time

Two years ago, a bizarre ordeal unfolded for Louisa Ball and her family. The then 15-year-old girl initially came down with flu-like symptoms. While it seemed like a normal occurrence (after all, everyone gets sick from time to time), Ball subsequently contracted a rare syndrome called “Sleeping Beauty Sickness” (Kleine-Levin Syndrome). As a result of the affliction, the young girl sleeps — very literally — for days at a time. MSNBC has more:

Doctors don’t know what causes it or how to cure it — only that it strikes teenagers and goes away by itself after eight to 12 years…

…victims worldwide may number no more than 1,000. The victims live normally for weeks or months at a time, with normal sleep patterns and normal energy levels. Then, with little warning, they’ll go to sleep for days or weeks at a time. So far, Louisa’s longest bout in bed has been 13 days.

KLS stumps modern medicine and has yet to be successfully treated. Researchers claim that the disorder effects the hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain responsible for regulating appetite, sleep and libido. Thus, the disorder triggers sleep, aggressiveness and hyper sexuality.According to ABC News:

Mood stabilizers like lithium and hormone therapies help those with KLS around the edges, but they don’t ward off the extreme sleep.

“[When I wake up] I’m always confused as to what day it is, because I don‘t know how long I’ve slept for,” Louisa said. “And then when I realize, I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s a long time!’”

While some outlets first began to report on Ball’s ordeal back in early 2010, ABC’s Nightline covered the medical dilemma this week. Watch the fascinating report, below:

Video:  Sleeping Beauty Disorder  - 17-Year-Old Sleeps for a week at a time

This bizarre illness certainly impedes the young girl’s life, as she regularly sleeps through exams, family vacations and other important moments that most teenagers typically treasure. She and her family anxiously await the day when KLS no longer causes such saddening disruptions.

Source:  The Blaze

The Expanding Catalogue of Obamacare Fables

Is there a health insurance horror story disseminated by the White House and its allies that ever turned out to be true? Obamacare advocates have exercised more artistic license than a convention of Photoshoppers. Now, a prominent sob story shilled by President Obama himself about his own mother is in doubt. It's high past time to call their bluffs.

The tall-tale-teller-in-chief cited mom Stanley Ann Dunham's deathbed fight with her insurer several times over the years to support his successful push to ban pre-existing condition exclusions by insurers. In a typical recounting, Obama shared his personalized trauma during a 2008 debate: "For my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they're saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don't have to pay her treatment, there's something fundamentally wrong about that."

But there was something fundamentally wrong with Obama's story. In a recently published biography of Obama's mother, author and New York Times reporter Janny Scott discovered that Dunham's health insurer had in fact reimbursed her medical expenses with nary an objection. The actual coverage dispute centered on a separate disability insurance policy.

Channeling document forger Dan Rather's "fake, but accurate" defense, a White House spokesman insisted to the Times that the anecdote somehow still "speaks powerfully to the impact of pre-existing condition limits on insurance protection from health care costs" -- even though Dunham's primary health insurer did everything it was supposed to do and met all its contractual obligations.

No matter. Expanding government control over health care means never having to say you're sorry for impugning private insurers. Democrats have dragged every available human shield into the contentious debate over Obama's federal takeover of health care. Personal anecdotes of dying family members battling evil insurance execs deflect attention from the cost, constitutionality and liberty-curtailing consequences of the law. The president's Dunham sham-ecdote is just the latest entry in an ever-expanding catalogue of Obamacare fables:

-- Otto Raddatz. In 2009, Obama publicized the plight of this Illinois cancer patient, who supposedly died after he was dropped from his Fortis/Assurant Health insurance plan when his insurer discovered an unreported gallstone the patient hadn't known about. The truth? He got the treatment he needed in 2005 and lived for nearly four more years.

-- Robin Beaton. Also in 2009, Obama claimed Beaton -- a breast cancer patient -- lost her insurance after "she forgot to declare a case of acne." In fact, she failed to disclose a previous heart condition and did not list her weight accurately, but had her insurance restored anyway after intense public lobbying.

-- John Brodniak. A 23-year-old unemployed Oregon sawmill worker, Brodniak's health woes were spotlighted by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof as a textbook argument for Obamacare. Brodniak was reportedly diagnosed with cavernous hemangioma, a neurological condition, and was allegedly turned away by emergency room doctors. Kristof called the case "monstrous" and decried opponents of Democrats' health care proposals as heartless murderers. The truth? Brodniak not only had coverage through Oregon's Medicaid program, but was also a neurology patient at the prestigious Oregon Health and Science University in Portland (a safety-net institution that accepts all Medicaid patients). Kristof never retracted the legend.

-- Marcelas Owens. An 11-year-old boy from Seattle, Owens took a coveted spot next to the president in March 2010 when Obamacare was signed into law. Owens' 27-year-old mother, Tiffany, died of pulmonary hypertension. The family said the single mother of three lost her job as a fast-food manager and lost her insurance. She died in 2007 after receiving emergency care and treatment throughout her illness. Progressive groups (for whom Marcelas' relatives worked) dubbed Marcelas an "insurance abuse survivor." But there wasn't a shred of evidence that any insurer had "abused" the boy or his mom. Further, Washington State already offered a plethora of existing government assistance programs to laid-off and unemployed workers like Marcelas' mom. The family and its p.r. agents never explained why she didn't enroll.

-- Natoma Canfield. The White House made the Ohio cancer patient a poster child for Obamacare in 2010 after she wrote a letter complaining about skyrocketing premiums and the prospect of losing her home. After Obama gave Canfield a shout-out at a health care rally in Strongsville, Ohio, and promised to control costs, officials at the renowned Cleveland Clinic, which is treating her, made clear that they would "not put a lien on her home" and that she was eligible for a wide variety of state aid and private charity care.

Since Obamacare passed, the amount workers pay in health care premiums has soared an average of nearly 14 percent; thousands of businesses have sought waivers in search of relief from the law's onerous mandates; medical device makers have slashed jobs and research; and the private individual health insurance market is in critical condition. Post-Obamacare truth is bloodier than pro-Obamacare fiction.

By Michelle Malkin Posted on TownHall

Related:

Turns Out Obama’s Story About His Mother’s HealthCare Struggle Is Inaccurate

Drug Company Gets Special Fix

CBS News report
US Congress Is In The Pocket Of US Corporations

Jun 29 2011 CBSNews.com -- Before leaving town for 10 days last week, the House of Representatives found time to pass an amendment designed to help a single drug company. And, as Nancy Cordes reports, this type of special fix is par for the course in Congress.

Video:  Drug Company Gets Special Fix

Rattlesnake Bite

This is very graphic... Just a warning.. But very interesting...

Ya'll need to forget about those itty, bitty snake-proof boots and find yourself a full snake-proof SUIT.., AND HAT!!!

My fellow friends and family,

We have killed 57 rattlesnakes on two separate ranches this year. 24 @South bend & 33 @ Murray , since mid May. Not one has buzzed! We provoked one fair sized boy with a stick and he coiled & struck at the stick a couple of times before he buzzed up and rattled. The purpose of this explanation is that I have been hearing the same from fellow ranchers and hunters in regards to the lack of warning with rattlesnakes.

I had lunch with a friend today and he offered a theory about the fact that these buggers aren't rattling anymore He raised pigs for years and reported that when he would hear a rattlesnake buzzing in the sow pen, the sows would bee line to it and fight over the snake. For the uninformed, pigs love to eat rattlesnakes.. Therefore, the theory is they are ceasing to rattle to avoid detection, since there are plenty of pigs roaming the countryside. I have a neighbor ranching lady who was bitten 3 weeks ago 2 times by the same snake without any warning....she spent 5 days in ICU, after 22 vials of anti-venom she is back at the ranch and still may lose her foot or worse yet her lower leg.

The days of perceived warning are over. Keep your boots on and use a light when out and about. As you all know, one can pop up just about anywhere! You may wish to forward this to anyone that would be interested.

The ranch where this big rattler was killed is outside the city of Coleman which is located in (West Texas) near Abilene . Oh, for reference, the guy stands 6'-2". Seems there's been a boom in the snake population there.

Story of a Rattlesnake Bite Suffered near Yosemite

On July 21, just after my 13th birthday, I was bitten by a Northern Pacific rattlesnake (the snake was originally identified as a Western Diamondback rattlesnake but that species is not found near Yosemite ). I was on a trail in a hiking area near Yosemite National Park, California . The bite occurred when I was sitting on a small boulder at a distance of 4.5 miles from the trail head with my cabin group at camp.

I had my arms dangling at my side and a five foot long rattlesnake bit me in the middle of my left palm. From this point, an amazing rescue took place, taking four hours to transport me the 4.5 miles to the trail head

The camp director had previously called the hospital and a helicopter was waiting at the trail head. During the 30 minute helicopter ride I was going in and out of consciousness, having trouble keeping my eyes open.

We arrived at the Modesto hospital, where the doctor in the emergency room decided that my case was too severe to treat at that medical center. He told me this, which was the last thing

I heard before going unconscious.

Although I was unconscious for approximately the next 24 hours, I have heard about the following events from my parents.

I was taken from the Modesto hospital to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento , the trauma center for Northern California . My snake bite was determined to be too severe for Modesto to deal with. At the UC Davis hospital I underwent a fasciotomy, which involved the doctors cutting open my arm from the palm up to about the middle of my biceps. This was to relieve the extreme pressure that had built up in my arm from the rattlesnake venom, making my arm as hard as a rock until the fasciotomy.

I spent the next 35 days in the UC Davis hospital, had eight surgeries performed for cleaning out the dead tissue from my arm, and finally had a skin graft from my leg to close up my arm, which had remained open for 30 days after the fasciotomy until the skin graft surgery. That is 10 surgeries in total at UC Davis.

I was released from the hospital on August 24, had four months of intense physical therapy, and flew to Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina for a follow-up surgery. This was a vascular flap surgery, during which they took a chunk of skin and muscle from my back, attached its blood vessels to the ones in my arm using microsurgery, and then stitched it to my arm. Although 2 emergency surgeries were required within 24 hours on account of blood loss, the vascular flap was a success, and after six more months of physical therapy, my hand had a significant improvement in mobility from when I left UC Davis and could move each finger only 2-3 millimetres.

My hand now has fully mobility and is about 80% as strong as it was before, thanks to my Dad and I resuming our rock climbing after a one year break due to the lack of strength in my left hand. I use it for about 90% of the things I used to do with my left hand (I am right handed). 13 surgeries, $700,000 worth of helicopter flights, surgeries, and hospital stays (paid by my insurance), and 20 months later, I am very happy with the outcome of this experience and my good fortune of getting through all this without any significant loss.

This is the reason you don't ever want to be bitten by a rattlesnake!

TURNS OUT OBAMA‘S STORY ABOUT HIS MOTHER’S HEALTHCARE STRUGGLE IS INACCURATE

A new book by New York Times reporter Janny Scott sheds new light on the life of Barack Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, including her final years. Scott found while assembling information for “A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother,” that Dunham in fact did have health coverage for her ovarian cancer, based off Dunham’s own past correspondence.Washington Examiner’s Byron York:

“Dunham decided to stay in Jakarta, where she underwent an appendectomy. But the pain did not go away, and Dunham feared, correctly, that she was terribly ill. In January 1995 she left Indonesia to go home to Honolulu, where she was diagnosed with advanced uterine and ovarian cancer. She began a regime of surgery and chemotherapy.

That is the time during which Obama says his mother battled insurance companies to cover her illness. But Scott, who had access to Dunham’s correspondence from the time, reveals that Dunham unquestionably had health coverage. ‘Ann’s compensation for her job in Jakarta had included health insurance, which covered most of the costs of her medical treatment,’ Scott writes. ‘Once she was back in Hawaii, the hospital billed her insurance company directly, leaving Ann to pay only the deductible and any uncovered expenses, which, she said, came to several hundred dollars a month.”

Often in his 2008 campaign and throughout his push for national healthcare reform, Barack Obama retold a compelling story of his mother’s struggle against non-budging insurance companies for care in the final years of her life before the cancer over took her.

Additional Discussion today on Radio:

Obama caught in a massive lie

So has the President been caught in a massive lie? Apparently author Scott Wright has been doing some research on stories he told on the campaign trail, and he has found some contradictory information – primarily that a story he told on the campaign trail about his mother’s cancer coverage was exaggerated, to say the least.

“For my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in a hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they’re saying that this may be a preexisting condition and they don’t have to pay her treatment, there’s something fundamentally wrong about that.

“There is something fundamentally wrong about that.  It’s a lie,” Pat said. “Her insurance company covered her completely for the problem that she was suffering.”

“That is weird.  According now to the records in January 1995, she left Indonesia to go to Honolulu where she was diagnosed with an advanced uterine and ovarian cancer.  She began a regimen of surgery and chemotherapy.  This is the time which womb says his mother battled the insurance companies to cover her illness.  But Scott, an author of a new book who has access to Dunham’s correspondence from the time reveals that she unquestionably had health coverage.  Ann’s compensation for her job in Jakarta had included health insurance which covered most of the cost of her medical treatment,” Glenn read.

Glenn emphasized that she came from another country to the United States and received her medical care. Pat added that she was actually misdiagnosed in Indonesia, where she was said to have appendicitis.

“ Once she was back in Hawaii, the hospital billed her insurance company directly leaving Ann only to pay the deductible and any uncovered expenses, which she said claimed to be several hundred dollars a month.  Scott Wright said Dunham, who wanted to be compensated for those costs as well as for her living expenses.  She filed a separate claim under her employer’s disability insurance policy.  It was that claim with the insurance company Cigna that was declined in August 1995 because as Cigna investigators said, her condition was known before she was covered by the policy.  Dunham protested the decision and informed Cigna that she was turning the case over to my son, an attorney, Barack Obama.  Cigna did not budge,” Glenn continued.

“September 1995 Dunham traveled to New York for an evaluation at renowned Memorial Sloan‑Kettering.  She returned to Hawaii, began a new course of treatment.  She died in November.  A dozen years later her son turned ordeal into a campaign pitch for national healthcare.  But the story Obama told Scott Wright was abbreviated.  The abbreviation was to leave out the fact that she had health insurance and it paid for her treatment.  Though he often suggested that she was denied health coverage because of a preexisting condition.  It appears from her correspondence in her own writing that she was only denied disability coverage.  That’s a different story altogether but one that nobody in the press seems to care.”

What are some other Obama healthcare related lies that have been exposed?

“One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn’t reported gallstones that he didn’t even know about.  They delayed his treatment and he died because of it.”

But as Pat pointed out, it has been revealed that the man received treatment, his coverage was paid for, but he passed away anyway.

Glenn and Pat then went through a series of hyperbolic statements wherein the President implied that doctors were removing amputating feet from diabetics or needlessly removing tonsils for money. Obama, of course, did not provide concrete examples.

Video Discussion:  Beck on Radio – Obama Caught in a Massive Lie

But maybe O just comes by it naturally: Evidence of Deception Reaches White House  as Well as New Book on Obama Senior

h/t to the Blaze  -  Cross-Posted at True Health Is True Wealth

ObamaCare… the Gift that just keeps on Giving~

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PROBES JUSTICE KAGAN‘S ROLE IN OBAMACARE...

The House Judiciary Committee has launched an inquiry into Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in the health care overhaul at the request of 49 Republican House members.

The probe will examine whether Kagan, who served as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general prior to her Supreme Court nomination, will be required to recuse herself for cases challenging the health care law, and the accuracy of her answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearings last July, CNS News reported.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas) requested “relevant documents and witness interviews in order to properly understand U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in health care legislation or litigation while serving as United States Solicitor General.” Smith requested they be made available by July 29.

Federal law bars Supreme Court justices from being involved in cases where their impartiality could be questioned or they previously served in an advisory capacity related to the case at hand.

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) led 48 of his Republican colleagues in a letter to Smith and House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) on June 24, pointing to statements made during her hearings the House members called “contradictory” to released Justice Department documents and urging an investigation.

Kagan said in written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had no involvement in developing the government’s legal responses to the health care law and was never asked her views or offered them, according to the Washington Times.

Fleming issued a statement Thursday applauding Smith’s request to Holder:

“I am confident that this investigation will uncover even more evidence that Justice Kagan was involved in Obamacare defense activities, contrary to her Senate confirmation testimony. How can any reasonable person believe that Justice Kagan can be impartial on ANY Obamacare case if she was involved in formulating a defense of this destructive law?

Video:  Rep. Fleming Discusses Call For Kagan Investigation

Posted on July 7, 2011 at 2:49pm by Madeleine Morgenstern

Source:  The Blaze

SCHEDULED MEDICARE PREMIUM INCREASES

For those of  you who are on  Medicare, read the article below. It is about the monthly amount of money you are going to pay  in Medicare premiums in 2011, 2012 and the huge  increase you will pay in 2013. It's  a short but important  article:

Congress will not allow an increase in the social  security COLA (cost of living adjustment); however,  the per  person monthly Medicare insurance premiums are being  increased as follows: 

2009 premium of  $96.40

2012 premium of  $104.20 

2013 premium of  $120.20

And increases to a whopping  $247.00 in 2014!

Thank You  Obamacare!

Congress also gave themselves a $3,000 a  month Cost of Living Adjustment!
Send this to all  seniors that you know.

REMEMBER TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER  2012

And in the meantime you might consider moving from AARP, who sold seniors out for profit on ObamaCare, to the ASA or AMAC.  Just like hating Progressivism and what it is doing to America, you can’t talk about changing it and about making a difference and then buy Progressive Insurance.  You gotta help starve the Beast!!

For anyone who missed the Progressive Insurance information:

Friends it is important that we have and share information like this…I would not be sending this out to you if it had not been confirmed by Snopes.com and Truthorfiction.com.

BTW, Snopes is also a leftist group that receives Soros funds, so be aware when checking.  The aren’t always accurate or truthful, but got this one right!

You’ve seen and smiled at the Progressive Insurance TV commercials.
Well, you’re about to learn the rest of the story:

PROGRESSIVE AUTO INSURANCE

You know their TV commercials, the ones featuring the
actress all dressed in white. What you might not know is that the Chairman of Progressive is Peter Lewis, one of the major funders of leftist causes in America . Between 2001 and 2003, Lewis funneled $15 million to the ACLU, the group most responsible for destroying what's left of Americas Judeo-Christian heritage. Lewis also gave $12.5 million to MoveOn.org and American Coming Together, two key propaganda arms of the socialist left. His funding for these groups was conditional on matching contributions from George Soros, the America-hating socialist who is the chief financier of the Obama political machine.

Lewis made a fortune as a result of capitalism, but now finances a progressive movement that threatens to destroy the American free enterprise system that is targeting television shows on Fox News.

Peter Lewis is making a fortune off of conservative Americans (who buy his auto insurance) that he applies to dismantle the very system that made him wealthy. He's banking on no one finding out who he is, so, STOP buying Progressive Insurance and pass this information on to all your friends.

Verify at Snopes:  http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/peterlewis.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/aclu-lewis.htm

Cross-Posted By Blogger to True Health Is True Wealth and Daily Thought Pad at 7/09/2011 11:41:00 AM

Related:

Obama Fixed Medicare With Rationing

Senate Confirms Elena Kagan As Newest Supreme Court Justice… Another Nail in America’s Coffin

Papers Prepped to Disbar Elena Kagan

Dirty Little Secret:  Rationing is at Heart of ObamaCare

The 10 Worst States for Retirees

FORMER FIRST LADY, CANCER SURVIVOR AND FOUNDER OF THE BETTER FORD CLINIC… BETTY FORD HAS DIED AT AGE 93

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Betty Ford, the former first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center in California, died at age 93, a family friend said late Friday.

Her death Friday was confirmed to The Associated Press by Marty Allen, chairman emeritus of the Ford Foundation. Family spokeswoman Barbara Lewandrowski said later that the former first lady died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs. Other details of her death were not immediately available.

Video: Former First Lady Betty Ford Dies at 93

“She was a wonderful wife and mother; a great friend; and a courageous First Lady,” former President George H.W. Bush said in a statement on Friday. “No one confronted life’s struggles with more fortitude or honesty, and as a result, we all learned from the challenges she faced.”

While her husband served as president, Ford‘s comments weren’t the kind of genteel, innocuous talk expected from a first lady, and a Republican one no less. Her unscripted comments sparked tempests in the press and dismayed President Gerald Ford’s advisers, who were trying to soothe the national psyche after Watergate. But to the scandal-scarred, Vietnam-wearied, hippie-rattled nation, Mrs. Ford’s openness was refreshing.

And 1970s America loved her for it.

According to Mrs. Ford, her young adult children probably had smoked marijuana — and if she were their age, she’d try it, too. She told “60 Minutes” she wouldn’t be surprised to learn that her youngest, 18-year-old Susan, was in a sexual relationship (an embarrassed Susan issued a denial).

She mused that living together before marriage might be wise, thought women should be drafted into the military if men were, and spoke up unapologetically for abortion rights, taking a position contrary to the president’s. “Having babies is a blessing, not a duty,” Mrs. Ford said.

“Mother’s love, candor, devotion, and laughter enriched our lives and the lives of the millions she touched throughout this great nation,” her family said in a statement released late Friday. “To be in her presence was to know the warmth of a truly great lady.”

Candor worked for Betty Ford, again and again. She would build an enduring legacy by opening up the toughest times of her life as public example.

In an era when cancer was discussed in hushed tones and mastectomy was still a taboo subject, the first lady shared the specifics of her breast cancer surgery. The publicity helped bring the disease into the open and inspired countless women to seek breast examinations.

Her most painful revelation came 15 months after leaving the White House, when Mrs. Ford announced that she was entering treatment for a longtime addiction to painkillers and alcohol. It turned out the famously forthcoming first lady had been keeping a secret, even from herself.

She used the unvarnished story of her own descent and recovery to crusade for better addiction treatment, especially for women. She co-founded the nonprofit Betty Ford Center near the Fords’ home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982. Mrs. Ford raised millions of dollars for the center, kept close watch over its operations, and regularly welcomed groups of new patients with a speech that started, “Hello, my name’s Betty Ford, and I’m an alcoholic and drug addict.”

Although most famous for a string of celebrity patients over the years — from Elizabeth Taylor and Johnny Cash to Lindsay Lohan — the center keeps its rates relatively affordable and has served more than 90,000 people.

In a statement Friday, President Barack Obama said the Betty Ford Center would honor Mrs. Ford’s legacy “by giving countless Americans a new lease on life.”

“As our nation’s First Lady, she was a powerful advocate for women‘s health and women’s rights,” the president said. “After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment.”

Mrs. Ford was a free spirit from the start. Elizabeth Bloomer, born April 8, 1918, fell in love with dance as a girl in Grand Rapids, Mich., and decided it would be her life. At 20, despite her mother’s misgivings, she moved to New York to learn from her idol Martha Graham. She lived in Greenwich Village, worked as a model, and performed at Carnegie Hall in Graham’s modern dance ensemble. “I thought I had arrived,” she later recalled.

But her mother coaxed her back to Grand Rapids, where Betty worked as a dance teacher and store fashion coordinator and married William Warren, a friend from school days. He was a salesman who traveled frequently; she was unhappy. They lasted five years.

While waiting for her divorce to become final, she met and began dating, as she put it in her memoir, “probably the most eligible bachelor in Grand Rapids” — former college football star, Navy veteran and lawyer Jerry Ford. They would be married for 58 years, until his death in December 2006.

Two weeks after their October 1948 wedding, her husband was elected to his first term in the House. He would serve 25 years, rising to minority leader.

While her husband campaigned for weeks at a time or worked late on Capitol Hill, she raised their four children: Michael, Jack, Steven and Susan. She arranged luncheons for congressional wives, helped with her husband’s campaigns, became a Cub Scout den mother, taught Sunday school.

A pinched nerve in her neck in 1964, followed by the onset of severe osteoarthritis, led her to an assortment of prescription drugs that never fully relieved the pain. For years she had been what she later called “a controlled drinker, no binges.” Now she began mixing pills and alcohol. Feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated, she suffered an emotional breakdown that led to weekly visits with a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist didn’t take note of her drinking but instead tried to build her self-esteem: “He said I had to start thinking I was valuable, not just as a wife and mother, but as myself.”

The White House would give her that gift.

In 1973, as Mrs. Ford was happily anticipating her husband’s retirement from politics, Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced out of office over bribery charges. President Richard Nixon turned to Gerald Ford to fill the office.

Less than a year later, his presidency consumed by the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. On Aug. 9, 1974, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the only chief executive in American history who hadn’t been elected either president or vice president.

Mrs. Ford wrote of her sudden ascent to first lady: “It was like going to a party you’re terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you’re having a good time.”

She was 56 when she moved into the White House, and looked more matronly than mod. Ever gracious, her chestnut hair carefully coifed into a soft bouffant, she tended to speak softly and slowly, even when taking a feminist stand.

Her breast cancer diagnosis, coming less than two months after President Ford was whisked into office, may have helped disarm the clergymen, conservative activists and Southern politicians who were most inflamed by her loose comments. She was photographed recovering at Bethesda Naval Hospital, looking frail in her robe, and won praise for grace and courage.

“She seems to have just what it takes to make people feel at home in the world again,” media critic Marshall McLuhan observed at the time. “Something about her makes us feel rooted and secure — a feeling we haven’t had in a while. And her cancer has been a catharsis for everybody.”

The public outpouring of support helped her embrace the power of her position. “I was somebody, the first lady,” she wrote later. “When I spoke, people listened.”

She used her newfound influence to lobby aggressively for the Equal Rights Amendment, which failed nonetheless, and to speak against child abuse, raise money for handicapped children, and champion the performing arts.

It’s debatable whether Mrs. Ford‘s frank nature helped or hurt her husband’s 1976 campaign to win a full term as president. Polls showed she was widely admired. By taking positions more liberal than the president’s, she helped broaden his appeal beyond traditional Republican voters. But she also outraged some conservatives, leaving the president more vulnerable to a strong GOP primary challenge by Ronald Reagan. That battle weakened Ford going into the general election against Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Carter won by a slim margin. The president had lost his voice in the campaign’s final days, and it was Mrs. Ford who read his concession speech to the nation.

The Fords retired to a Rancho Mirage golf community, but he spent much of his time away, giving speeches and playing in golf tournaments. Home alone, deprived of her exciting and purposeful life in the White House, Mrs. Ford drank.

By 1978 her secret was obvious to those closest to her.

“As I got sicker,” she recalled, “I gradually stopped going to lunch. I wouldn’t see friends. I was putting everyone out of my life.” Her children recalled her living in a stupor, shuffling around in her bathrobe, refusing meals in favor of a drink.

Her family finally confronted her and insisted she seek treatment.

“I was stunned at what they were trying to tell me about how I disappointed them and let them down,” she said in a 1994 Associated Press interview. “I was terribly hurt — after I had spent all those years trying to be the best mother, wife I could be. … Luckily, I was able to hear them saying that I needed help and they cared too much about me to let it go on.”

She credited their “intervention” with saving her life.

Mrs. Ford entered Long Beach Naval Hospital and, alongside alcoholic young sailors and officers, underwent a grim detoxification that became the model for therapy at the Betty Ford Center. In her book “A Glad Awakening,” she described her recovery as a second chance at life.

And in that second chance, she found a new purpose.

“There is joy in recovery,” she wrote, “and in helping others discover that joy.”

Family spokeswoman Lewanbrowski the family expects to organize a service in Palm Springs over the next couple days. Ford’s body will be sent to Michigan for burial alongside former President Gerald Ford, who is buried at his namesake library in Grand Rapids.

___

Associated Press writers Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles and Mike Householder in Detroit contributed to this report  -  Posted:  The Blaze

Betty Fords Funeral Arrangements Announced:

PALM DESERT, Calif., July 10 (UPI) -- The family of former U.S. first lady Betty Ford said her California memorial service Tuesday would be private, although the public was welcome afterward.

The 93-year-old wife of former President Gerald Ford died Friday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage of natural causes with family members at her side, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Family spokesman Greg Willard, the Fords' longtime attorney, said in a statement a private memorial at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert would begin at 11:20 a.m. Tuesday. Eulogies will be given by former first lady Rosalynn Carter, news commentator Cokie Roberts and the director of the Betty Ford Center for addictions, Geoffrey Mason.

Public visitation at the church was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., Willard said.

Ford's remains will be flown to Grand Rapids, Mich., for burial beside her husband, who died in 2006.

The wife of the 38th president used her status to raise awareness of women's healthcare and substance abuse treatment. She underwent a mastectomy and overcame addictions to alcohol and painkillers, leading to the founding of the clinic named for her in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Related: 

U.S. Presidential Libraries

Former President Gerald Ford Dies at Age 93

Betty’s Books:

Betty: A Glad Awakening

Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PROBES JUSTICE KAGAN‘S ROLE IN OBAMACARE AT GOP’S REQUEST

The House Judiciary Committee has launched an inquiry into Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in the health care overhaul at the request of 49 Republican House members.

The probe will examine whether Kagan, who served as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general prior to her Supreme Court nomination, will be required to recuse herself for cases challenging the health care law, and the accuracy of her answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearings last July, CNS News reported.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas) requested “relevant documents and witness interviews in order to properly understand U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan’s involvement in health care legislation or litigation while serving as United States Solicitor General.” Smith requested they be made available by July 29.

Federal law bars Supreme Court justices from being involved in cases where their impartiality could be questioned or they previously served in an advisory capacity related to the case at hand.

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) led 48 of his Republican colleagues in a letter to Smith and House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) on June 24, pointing to statements made during her hearings the House members called “contradictory” to released Justice Department documents and urging an investigation.

Kagan said in written responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had no involvement in developing the government’s legal responses to the health care law and was never asked her views or offered them, according to the Washington Times.

Fleming issued a statement Thursday applauding Smith’s request to Holder:

“I am confident that this investigation will uncover even more evidence that Justice Kagan was involved in Obamacare defense activities, contrary to her Senate confirmation testimony. How can any reasonable person believe that Justice Kagan can be impartial on ANY Obamacare case if she was involved in formulating a defense of this destructive law?

Video:  Rep. Fleming Discusses Call For Kagan Investigation

Posted on July 7, 2011 at 2:49pm by Madeleine Morgenstern

Source:  The Blaze

Exclusive footage: Police raid organic food stores

Check out this exclusive footage obtained by RTAmerica from George Hemminger (George4Title) showing California police raiding an organic grocery store with guns drawn!

Video: Exclusive footage: Police Raid Organic Food Stores 

Gun-Toting Investigators Raid Venice Raw Foods Grocery

Investigators recently entered an organic grocery with a search warrant and ordered the hemp-clad workers to put down their buckets of mashed coconut cream and to step away from the nuts.

Then, guns drawn, four officers fanned out across Rawesome Foods in Venice. Skirting past the arugula and peering under crates of zucchini, they found the raid's target inside a walk-in refrigerator: unmarked jugs of raw milk.

"I still can't believe they took our yogurt," said Rawesome volunteer Sea J. Jones, a few days after the raid. "There's a medical marijuana shop a couple miles away, and they're raiding us because we're selling raw dairy products?"

Cartons of raw goat and cow milk and blocks of unpasteurized goat cheese were among the groceries seized in the June 30 raid by federal, state and local authorities — the latest salvo in the heated food fight over what people can put in their mouths.

Read the full story on raw food here.

-- P.J. Huffstutter

Photo: Ebrahim Rafatjah stands in the walk-in cooler full of unpasteurized dairy products. On the other side are Ziploc bags of raw chicken, beef and pork, many without expiration dates. Credit:Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Video referenced in:  Agenda 21 – Ending Liberty in America

Survival Health and Safety Tips for Picnics and the holidays like the 4th of July

Survival Health Tips for Your Picnic

            If you’re having a picnic today, or just grilling out in the backyard for friends or family, be sure you exercise proper food safety.  Be sure not to leave food sitting out too long, since it could pick up bacteria that makes you and your guests sick.   We wouldn’t want this to become a situation where someone has to go to the doctor or even the hospital.

            Here is some helpful information on taking care of leftovers.  Also, remember these tips when you bring those perishables home from the grocery store next time.

How Long Is Food Good For 

by Victor Epand

Raw hamburger: has a refrigerator shelf life of 2-3 days after purchase. If you do not use the hamburger within 3 days, it should be frozen for future use. It can be frozen either raw or cooked.

Hummus: It has the typical ingredients – chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Hummus can be refrigerated in a closed container for up to 5 days and can be kept in the freezer in an air-tight container for up to one month. If the hummus appears dry when you take it out of the refrigerator or freezer, you can add a little olive oil.

For meat leftovers, the general guideline is 3-4 days. After that time, bacteria could grow to a level that could cause food borne illness, even in refrigeration. Food spoilage organisms, on the other hand, cause changes in color, texture and flavor and while they are not harmful to eat, they often mask harmful food borne illness bacteria. That’s why we recommend that if food spoilage organisms are present the food should definitely not be consumed.

How many times can you reheat food like this? Technically, if you handle the food properly.By handling properly I mean that the food was cooled within 6 hours to 40 degrees, rapidly reheated to 165 degrees, cooled within 6 hours to 40 degrees, rapidly reheated to 165 degrees, etc. So technically if it is handled as above it’s safe. But as you know, food doesn’t get better with heating/cooling/re-heating. Vegetables break down and become mushy and food takes on a dull color.

Most restaurants do not reheat foods more than 1 time if at all. They don’t reheat because it takes time to monitor food to ensure that it has been handled properly to remain safe and because food doesn’t get better with reheating. Even restaurants famous for chili (one food that does get a better flavor when reheated)prepare fresh chili each day as their reputation is built on good quality, fresh food.

An obviously if you are having a pool party where you have access to a house or facility, keep the food displayed inside if it is possible!

Leftover cooked carrots need to be refrigerated for proper storage after preparation. Cooked vegetables such as carrots can support the growth of harmful bacteria if not handled properly after cooking. Prompt refrigeration helps tremendously in reducing the chances that the carrots will support the growth of harmful bacteria.

It is not recommended to eat leftover ahi tuna that has not been cooked before initial consumption. Raw fish is highly perishable and loses flavor, color and moisture as it is held. Also, food borne pathogens are more prominent in raw fish and can grow to harmful levels as the fish ages.

The recommendation for thawed poultry in the refrigerator is a maximum of 3 days. If you put a frozen turkey in the refrigerator, once it has defrosted, you then have up to 3 days before it must be cooked.

The Government provided Food Safety chart is an excellent guide on how long to store foods in the refrigerator for both quality and safety. While you may be able to store food longer, it has been found that if you stay within these guidelines you will have both a safe and tasty food product to cons

h/t to Survival Sally and Victor Epand -http://www.VacuumFoodSealer.info/.

A few additional considerations:

If you are having a group gathering where you don’t know everyone’s allergy and health issues you might want to stay away from dishes containing peanuts and peanut butter.  Reactions to peanuts and  can range from mild to death.

And leftover onions are poisonous

Homemade lemonade or a jug of fresh water are great alternatives to sodas and if possible, even on a hot day, access to a jug of coffee is great for those that have had a little too much beer, wine etc, whose affects are often accelerated by being out in the sun.

Healthy food and calories are always something good to consider, but for the holidays and especially outdoor events, safety and freshness of the food you are serving should always be the greater concern.

And make sure there is plenty of water for the pets who are attending and watch what they are being fed!  Real food is far superior for pets than any commercial pet food, but junk food and too much fat is bad for them, just like for humans and they do have a list of absolute no-no foods:

The “Not So Safe Food For Pets” List

The following foods are not safe for dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, or guinea pigs. Never give the following foods or beverages to your pets:

• Alcohol of any kind
• Anything with Caffeine
• Bones from Ham, Chicken, or Turkey (any fowl)
• Candied Yams
• Casseroles (unless you absolutely know that none of the no-no foods are in them)
• Chocolate and Cocoa (this includes things like brownies and chocolate chip cookies) and dark chocolate is the worst… exactly opposite from people.
• Jell-O Molds
• Macadamia Nuts (this includes things like cookies and pies) and go easy on nuts in general
• Pecan Pie
• Potato Skins
• Careful of processed Pork Products because of the nitrates, especially ham.
• Stuffing, unless you made it from scratch yourself. (it usually contains onions, which is very harmful to pets)
• Anything with onions in it (and garlic should be fed in moderation)
• Anything with Xylitol in it
• Grapes or raisins
• Raw eggs – this is only on the list because of possible exposure to salmonella bacteria, not because the raw eggs are bad for them.  (It is the same as concerns over E Coli and other bacterial contamination with raw meat, even though the raw meat is great for them!)
• Mushrooms
• Baby food if it contains onion powder
• Milk (and American Cheese) can be a problem for some dogs. And be aware that some animals can be lactose intolerant like some people.
• Avocados – especially for birds and cats
• Sage as well as many other herbs contain essential oils and resins that can cause gastrointestinal upset and central nervous system depression to pets if eaten in large quantities. Cats are especially sensitive to the effects of certain essential oils. (Often used in dressing and stuffing)
• Also keep them away from any rising bread dough or other rising dough.  It can kill them and kill them very quickly.

Related:

FIREWORKS DOS AND DON’TS

DO:

• Use fireworks outdoors, in an area clear of dry vegetation and combustibles.
• Follow the directions on the packaging.
• Wear safety goggles and close-toed shoes.
• Keep a hose or bucket of water handy, and soak each device after burning.
• Keep kids and spectators at a distance.

DON’T:

• Don’t freestyle. Avoid altering or combining fireworks, and steer clear of homemade devices made from illegal explosives.
• Don’t try to relight a “dud” firework.
• Don’t hold or light more than one sparkler at a time.
• Don’t let kids under 12 use sparklers.
• Don’t drink alcohol. Have a “designated shooter.”

4th of July Fireworks Safety Tips Video

Memorial Day Weekend Safety Tips

Pet Safety Tips for the Fourth of July Weekend

Perils of Peanuts and Peanut Butter… Even Organic

Ask Marion - True Heath Is True Wealth

Meanwhile, enjoy your picnic today!

Perils of Peanuts and Peanut Butter… Even Organic

Pretty much everyone is aware that many people are allergic to peanuts, and many schools even ban any form of peanuts because of the dangers to children who may be allergic.  Any severe allergy to a food, or something else, can be life threatening.  (It may actually be the molds/fungus or aflatoxin that people are allergic to rather than the peanuts.)

What a lot of people aren't aware of are the other dangers of peanuts.  I don't eat peanuts, in any form, mostly because of that.  Peanuts can be confusing because we hear they contain a good fat, monounsaturated, but so do avocados, nuts (which peanuts aren’t)and olive oil, which would be healthier choices.  Peanuts also contain a high amount of omega-6, but a more balanced omega-6 to omega-3 ratio would be best as in hemp seeds, fish oil or a high grade natural supplement.  We also hear peanuts are high in antioxidants and some vitamins and minerals.  The biggest claim to health lately has been that they contain resveratrol, which they do, but so do other foods, such as grapes, cranberries and blueberries, so you don't need to eat peanuts for that benefit either.

One problem with peanuts is that they are one of the most highly pesticide contaminated crops there is.  One important reason to only use organically grown peanut products if you choose to continue to eat peanuts.  Conventional peanut farmers have a disproportionately high rate of cancer, mainly because of all the pesticides they use, and because they eat a lot of peanuts.

But the most important reason not to eat peanuts or peanut butter is because they are often contaminated with aflatoxin.  Aflatoxin is a mycotoxin that is produced by many different species of a fungus called Aspergillus.  It is very dangerous, and it is a carcinogen.  It is so potent it has been known to wipe out complete tribes in Africa because of contaminated food there.  In smaller amount it can be a slow killer, as in cancer, and is believed to cause liver cancer.  (Aflatoxin can be in other products as well, corn is another likely one, which is another thing I don't eat.)

Peanuts are particularly susceptible to contamination during growth and storage. Poor storage of peanuts can lead to an infection by the mold fungus Aspergillus flavus, releasing the toxic and highly carcinogenic substance aflatoxin. The aflatoxin-producing molds exist throughout the peanut growing areas and may produce aflatoxin in peanuts when conditions are favorable to fungal growth.

Organic Peanut Butter is part of the top 5 items to buy organic.  Why should you focus on peanut butter? This is because, many peanut farms contaminate their peanut crops with a chemical to treat mold. This mold is one of the major problems that causes peanut crops to die. This chemical is classified as a fungicide.

The peanut, or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a species in the legume or "bean" family (Fabaceae).

The most common way most people get aflatoxin in their diets is through peanut butter. Peanuts have an especially high naturally-occurring concentration of aspergillus flavus mold. Furthermore, while most peanuts are roasted, the roasting process rarely kills all the mold. The longer peanuts sit around in the store or in your house, the more of the mold will grow back--and again, it generally won't be visible to the naked eye. The longer the mold grows, the more aflatoxin builds up.

Here's the most interesting thing about all this: usually your "organic" or "natural" peanut butters will have the highest aflatoxin concentration. The highest concentration of all, though, will typically be the stuff you buy in the store where they take peanuts and grind them into peanut butter for you while you wait. Because while the USDA and FDA has rules for how much aflatoxin is allowed in food before it's shipped to stores, there's no measure of it after it reaches the stores. Those peanuts could have been sitting on the shelves at the story for weeks or months at room temperature, building up mold. It's even worse if the air is mildly moist. Furthermore, if you fresh-grind those nuts into peanut butter, the mold keeps growing in the peanut butter.

This means that your safest source of peanut butter is generally your cheap, garden variety Jif or Skippy or the like (But Skippy just had a recall). The companies that make those generally get the peanuts fresh, roast and grind them immediately, put them through an effective cooking and homogenization process, then seal them in airtight jars. The mold buildup on those will be much lower than your typical "fresh" or "natural" peanut butters and they pretty quickly out of the stores.

The risks for children are the highest as their health can be even more impacted then adults because of their size and their still developing immune systems.  And often they eat more of it regularly than adults.  Pets can also have both allergies or negative affects from the molds, fungus and toxins.

Our suggestion… don’t eat peanuts, peanut butter or organic peanut butter… period!!

By the way, the aflatoxin threat is taken seriously enough that OSHA actually requires workers dealing with large quantities of peanuts to wear facial masks so they don't breath in too much of the mold. And statistically, just as a rule of thumb, two tablespoons of peanut butter a day (regular or organic) produce a higher risk of death than living next to a nuclear power plant.

The number one thing to look for in organic peanut butter is that it is made from organically ‘grown’ peanuts and that it is a brand bought at a store where the jars move quickly!

From the lists and surveys, these seem to be the top 6 Organic Peanut Butters:

1. Nature's Promise - This peanut butter is made of 100% natural ingredients. Also, Nature's Promise has been around for a while, and supplies many products. Such as, milk, butter, broth, snacks, pizza, and cookies.

2. SunLand Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter- SunLand has been around since 1988, and it is dedicated strictly peanut butter. Best of all, it is United States based; New Mexico to be exact. SunLand's peanut butter is very unique also; the company has many different flavors. The flavors range from "Regular" to "Hickory Smoke".

3. Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter - Their peanut butter comes in four flavors; Dark Roasted Creamy, Dark Roasted Crunchy, Light Roasted Creamy, Light Roasted Crunchy. Although, this brand does not only make peanut butter. They also make a variety of items from juices to chocolate syrup.

4. Adams - Adams has been around since 1922. There peanut butter is 100% all natural. They make natural, organic, and no stir peanut butter. While their natural peanut butter has four choices, their organic peanut butter has two choices of varieties.

5. Justin's Organic - This brand is awesome. They now make chocolate flavored peanut butter. Those flavors are "Chocolate Peanut Butter", "Chocolate Hazelnut Butter", and "Chocolate Almond Butter". My personal favorite is "Chocolate Hazelnut Butter", and "Chocolate Almond Butter".

6. Maranatha Nut Butters  - This company has been around since 1982 in Ashland, Oregon. The company to use the purest ingredients, and now allows for their peanut butters to be brought online. I favor two of the products by Maranatha Nut Butter. Those products are Dark Chocolate Peanut Spread and Dark Chocolate Almond Spread. Both have a dark chocolate flavor, making them both irresistible.

 

Does anyone else long for the days when rat droppings were the scariest thing about peanut butter? Anyone? Show of hands?

Let's see. The problems with peanut butter now include:

• Really scary chemicals, including neurotoxins (as if we need something else getting on our nerves).
• Deadly salmonella outbreaks.
• The mysterious rise of very serious peanut allergies.
• A peanut butter aisle so big that it makes you want to curl into a ball and rock back and forth -- right there in the store -- from stimulation overload. (Omega-3 peanut butter ... really?)
• Rat feces, still.
• The Frankenut-butter threat. Although there are no genetically modified peanuts on the market right now, according to the National Peanut Board website, money is being poured into genomic research. (Note to peanut growers: Consider inserting the genes of a Labradoodle. As far as I can tell, no one is allergic to them.) But seriously, on the upside genetically modified peanuts could save lives.

OK, peanut allergies aside, some of the contemporary problems with peanut butter can be avoided by buying organic peanut butter. Of course, this begs some questions: Do any of these organic spreads taste good? And do you have to break the bank for a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich?

And while we're at it, is the "Skippy Factor" real? A while back, when I wrote about turkey, I spoke with Cooks Illustrated senior editor Lisa McManus. She described the Skippy Factor this way: Tasters often favor foods that are comfortingly familiar, such as Skippy peanut butter, over something higher quality. (This also explains why Cooks, which I read regularly, is so shockingly successful. For these food science geeks, taste trumps all. They don't really give a rip about health-consciousness or greenness or food trends.)

So, back to the point: Do organic peanut butters taste good? ARe they worth the extra money? And if they are… choose from the six organic creamy peanut butters that were readily available at local grocery stores that move off the shelves.

 

h/t to Lou Bendrick, Jeanne Coffey, Sanoviv, Dr. Mercola

 

One Way To Mitigate The Risks Of Aflatoxin

The best way to avoid any risks from peanuts is to avoid eating them. There is something you can do, though, if you still feel the need to consume peanuts and peanut butter, even with all the risks.  One type of peanut has been fairly resistant to aflatoxin, and that is the Valencia peanut, which is grown mostly in New Mexico.  These type of peanuts, when they are grown in the southwest of the US, mainly New Mexico, grow in dry conditions not conducive to aflatoxin, a mold which likes moisture.

One problem is that not all Valencia peanuts are grown in that area, but most are.  If you use Arrowhead Mills organic peanut butter, you will avoid the pesticides and the aflatoxin, because it is made with organic Valencia peanuts, and that particular brand has never been shown to contain aflatoxin at all.

Although, that is no guarantees it will be that way forever, but it is certainly the safer way to go.

Choices:

• Stop eating peanuts and peanut products
• Eat regular peanut butter because is moves quicker and there is somewhat less chance of getting sick from the molds and fungus (aflatoxin)
• Eat organic peanut butter because you won’t get the pesticides, but you might get more of the mold and fungus
• Through care to the wind and take your chances…

 

So in the end we suggest… skip eating peanuts, peanut butter and organic peanut butter all together… period!!  And definitely don’t feed feed them to your kids or pets!