Healthy Homes Asia

by Mary-Jane Liddicoat
 
Do no harm, avoid harmful chemicals

Keeping our children safe and healthy is the first concern of most parents.

So you buy soap, moisturizer and bubble bath labeled ‘gentle for baby’ and feel comforted knowing that even if you can’t control the environment ‘out there’, you are doing your best at home.

But are you really? If you look down the list of ingredients on the back of many ‘baby safe’ products, you will find that, in fact, many contain a range of potentially harmful ingredients.

Ingredients linked to skin and eye irritations, eczema, respiratory and mental problems, and even cancer and birth defects.

Our skin protects us?

Once upon a time, we thought our skin was a barrier that protected us from most things.

We now know that anything we use on our skin can be absorbed directly into our bodies and stored over time in our organs and can lead to serious illness.

Surely our governments and major well-known manufacturers would not allow the use of such ingredients in baby (or indeed any other) personal care products?

Sadly, the discoveries of melamine in baby formula, diethylene glycol in toothpaste, and talc (asbestos) in baby powder have shown us that their quality control systems are not failsafe.

What if it were easy?

Feeling overwhelmed? What it it were as simple as being aware and choosing differently? Here's how.

• Be aware of the potentially harmful ingredients commonly used in food, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, moisturizers and other personal care products, including in those labeled ‘gentle for baby’, 'all natural', 'wellbeing' etc
  
  
• Take a list of these ingredients with you when you go shopping to make sure you don’t buy products containing them
  
  
• Identify companies committed to using only safer, effective ingredients, and use only their products (don't know? ask us!), and
  
  
• Invite your local shops to add more chemical free food and non-toxic personal care products to their shelves. In some countries you'll need to take a magnifying glass with you to read the labels!
  

Would that be easy? Give it a go. See what a difference YOU can make.

Story at-a-glance

• Laundry detergents typically contain hazardous ingredients, including: sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)/sodium laureth sulfate (SLES); 1,4-dioxane; NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate), and phosphates
• The typical American home contains 3-10 gallons of toxic household cleaning materials that can cause respiratory problems, eye irritation, endocrine system disruption, and cancer
• The dangers of SLS alone have been documented in 16,000 studies
• 1,4-dioxane, aka dioxane, is a byproduct rather than ingredient and is therefore not listed on any label. And it's been found to be toxic to your brain,central nervous system, kidneys, liver and respiratory system, and two-thirds of laundry detergents contain it

Your laundry detergent may contain toxic ingredients

When most people think of pollution, they think of the outdoors—garbage-choked streams or industrial waste.

But you probably spend a large portion of your time indoors—as much as 80 to 90 percent of your life.

You work, study, eat, drink and sleep in enclosed environments where air circulation may be restricted.

The typical American home contains 3-10 GALLONS of toxic materials—everything from glass and bathroom cleaners to garden pesticides and fertilizers.

Health effects of ingredients in common household products include:

• Respiratory problems
• Eye irritation
• Cancer
• Disruption of the endocrine system

As a result of cleaners and other toxic household products, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the air inside the typical home is 2-5 times more polluted than the air immediately outside—and in extreme cases, 100 times more contaminated.

Did you know that cleaning products are responsible for nearly 10 percent of all toxic exposures reported to U.S. Poison Control Centers?

In one New York medical center, reports of burns, rashes, dizziness and scratchy throats among hospital employees plummeted after the staff switched over to less toxic cleaning products. The number of missed work days due to cleaning product injuries declined from 54 in 2004 to zero in 2009.

Contributors to indoor pollution include the products you use every day in your home, which can come in contact with your skin and lungs. Household products have been found to contain very powerful and often toxic chemicals that you unknowingly expose yourself to in the course of an ordinary day. One of the most common household products is laundry detergent.

Getting Down on Dirty Detergents

The average family washes approximately 80 pounds of laundry per week--or 35 billion loads of laundry per year! This means that 17.5 billion cups of laundry detergent are being used every year in the U.S. alone. Not only can you come in contact with caustic chemicals via your clothing, from having been laundered in them, but you can breathe them into your lungs once they become airborne in the process of doing your laundry.

The detergent you're using may contain a cocktail of potent cancer-causing chemicals, some of which the manufacturer doesn't even have to list on the label. This loophole reduces the odds that you'll ever discover what's in there.

Four of the worst offenders are:

1. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)/sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
2. 1,4-dioxane
3. NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate)
4. Phosphates

Not only are these chemicals potentially damaging to your health, but they are also contaminating waterways and harming the environment.

According to an article in the Journal of Oleo Science, a laundry detergent concentration of only 2 ppm can cause fish to absorb DOUBLE the amount of chemicals they would ordinarily absorb. The accumulation of these compounds—phosphates and toxic surfactants—in the environment through wastewaters has had a terrible impact on aquatic wildlife. First, let's take a look at the surfactants, SLS and SES.

Any discussion of SLS/SLES must include a discussion of 1,4 dioxane because the manufacturing process of SLS/SLES results in its being contaminated with 1,4 dioxane—a known carcinogen.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), and Ammonium Laurel Sulfate (ALS)

Sodium lauryl sulfate is a surfactant, detergent and emulsifier used in thousands of industrial cleaners and cosmetic products. It is present in nearly all shampoos, scalp treatments, hair color and bleaching agents, toothpastes, body washes and cleansers, make-up foundations, liquid hand soaps, and laundry detergents.

Although SLS originates from coconuts, the chemical is anything but natural.

SLS is mixed with sulfur trioxide or chlorosulfuric acid and then neutralized with aqueous sodium hydroxide (lye). SLS is the sodium salt of lauryl sulfate and is classified by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Cosmetics Database as a "denaturant, surfactant cleansing agent, emulsifier and foamer," rated "moderate hazard."

Similar to sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is sodium laureth sulfate (short for sodium lauryl ether sulfate, or SLES), a yellow detergent with higher foaming ability. SLES is considered to be slightly less irritating than SLS. SLS goes by other names, including:

• Sodium dodecyl sulfate
• Sulfuric acid, monododecyl ester, sodium salt
• Sodium salt sulfuric acid
• Monododecyl ester sodium salt sulfuric acid
• A13-00356
• Akyposal SDS
• Aquarex ME
• Aquarex methyl

Ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS) is another variation commonly put into cosmetics and cleansers to make them foam. ALS is similar to SLS, showing similar risks.

Sixteen Thousand Studies Document the Hazards of SLS

According to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews, research studies on SLS have shown links to:

• Irritation of the skin and eyes
• Organ toxicity
• Developmental/reproductive toxicity
• Neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, ecotoxicology, and biochemical or cellular changes
• Possible mutations and cancer

If you visit the SLS page on EWG's website, you will see a very long list of health concerns and associated research studies. In fact, you will also see mention of nearly 16,000 studies in the PubMed science library (as well as their link to that list) about the toxicity of this chemical.

A number of studies report SLS being damaging to oral mucosa and skin. This is not at all surprising since SLS is actually used as a skin irritant during studies where medical treatments for skin irritation require first using an intentionally irritating agent. A study appearing in Exogenous Dermatology confirmed SLS to be a very "corrosive irritant" to the skin—irritation which persisted in research subjects for 3 weeks. SLS exerts its damage by stripping your skin of protective oils and moisture.

SLS has also been linked to nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are potent carcinogens that cause your body to absorb nitrates, also known to be carcinogenic. For more information about SLS/SLES, please refer to my earlier article.

Two-Thirds of Laundry Detergents Contain 1,4 Dioxane

David Steinman, an environmental health consumer advocate with the Green Patriot Working Group (GPWG) and former representative at the National Academy of Sciences, has been on a mission since 2007 to organize product testing for the petrochemical 1,4-dioxane in your personal care and household cleaning products. He forged a partnership between his organization and the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) to get the dirt on dioxane-laden products.

In 2008, the focus was personal care products, and 2010 has brought the spotlight to laundry detergents. In 2008, the findings were shocking.

Many popular brands of shampoos, body washes, lotions, and even baby products—as well as many "natural" and "organic" brands--were found to contain 1,4-dioxane.

Levels of contamination were so high that many companies have come under legal attack for poisoning consumers. Unfortunately, this phase of testing proved no lesser threat. About two-thirds of the laundry detergents tested contained 1,4-dioxane. Results suggest it's time for these companies to clean up their acts.

It is reassuring, however, that all brands with the USDA organic certification were found to be dioxane-free.

At a press conference in Anaheim, California, on March 12, 2010, Steinman shared the test results from 20 laundry detergents—13 conventional brands and 7 "natural" brands. As you would expect, the natural brands fared better.

The Organic Consumers Association and Green Patriot Working Group have put together a handy printable guide for Personal Care and Cleaning Products that includes everything from dish soap to hand soap to deodorant, and everything in between.

Why You Should be Concerned About 1,4-Dioxane

Don't confuse 1,4-dioxane with dioxin— they are completely different compounds. Dioxin is not manufactured commercially but is a byproduct of combustion. For example forest fires and the burning of garbage, produces a family of 17 different compounds of varying toxicities. Dioxane (also called 1,4-dioxane) is a byproduct of an industrial process used to make cleaning ingredients, and this is what can contaminate your personal care and cleaning products.

How does 1,4-dioxane get into your products? It's not added intentionally. As I mentioned earlier, it is a by-product of SLS, which is an extremely common ingredient in detergents.

According to the "1,4-Dioxane Product Safety Watch" website, dioxane is a byproduct of ethoxylation, "a cheap shortcut process companies use to provide mildness to harsh cleaning ingredients." Ethoxylation involves combining low-sudsing ingredients with ethylene oxide (which is a known human carcinogen) to produce softer detergents that produce more suds. The result is diethylene oxide, or 1,4-dioxane, or simply dioxane.

Since it is a byproduct rather than ingredient, it doesn't have to be listed on product labels. But you really DON'T want to have your skin coming into contact with this stuff, byproduct or not. 1,4-dioxane is considered by the State of California to cause cancer and has been found to be potentially toxic to your brain and central nervous system, kidneys, liver and respiratory system, according to the CDC. According to the Organic Consumers Association's 1,4-Dioxane Facts Sheet:

• The cumulative effects of 1,4-dioxane exposure, even at very low levels (a few parts per billion) resulted in laboratory animals developing cancer.
• 1,4-dioxane is readily absorbed through the lungs, skin and gastrointestinal tract of mammals.
• The U.S. federal regulation systems consider dioxane's potency to be equivalent to or greater than many pesticides considered dangerous to humans.
• Cosmetics (and detergents, presumably) contaminated with 1,4-dioxane may also have traces of other contaminants, including formaldehyde, nitrosamines, and phthalates.
• There are many inexpensive and effective alternatives to ethoxylation in the manufacturing of your personal care and cleaning products.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) substance profile sheet confirms that 1,4-dioxane is "reasonably expected to be a human carcinogen" based on the research to date, and even trace amounts bring cause for concern.

Dioxane is a Major Groundwater Contaminant

Dioxane is an increasing threat to waterways across the country and is of growing concern to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dioxane has fouled the water in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in several towns in Orange County, California. But it is likely present in many other places that do not routinely test for it. Since it has only recently been identified as a health hazard, it hasn't been tested for. So no one really knows just how prevalent it is. Water filters can't remove it—and it isn't biodegradable.

When you use a laundry detergent contaminated with dioxane, it goes everywhere. It never breaks down. According to a quotation Steinman uses from the March 2008 issue of Chemosphere:

"As a groundwater contaminant, 1,4-dioxane is of considerable concern because of its toxicity, refractory nature to degradation, and rapid migration within an aquifer."

What we do know is, when it's tested for, it often shows up—and that fact is of great concern. To be proactive about your own health, you have to learn how to read labels. To avoid 1,4 dioxane, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) recommends avoiding products with indications of ethoxylation.

Look for the following suffixes in the ingredient list

• "Myreth," "oleth," "laureth," "ceteareth," any other "eth"
• "PEG"
• "Polyethylene," "polyethylene glycol," or "polyoxyethylene"
• "Oxynol"

Remember, sodium laureth sulfate (as well as sodium laurel sulfate) are often contaminated with 1,4-dioxane. But there is more bad news. SLS and SLES are not the only surfactants warranting concern.

NPE (Nonylphenol Ethoxylate)—the "Gender Bender"

Like SLS and SLES, NPE is an inexpensive nonionic surfactant frequently used in laundry detergents. NPE is an endocrine disruptor and estrogen mimicker that can potentially cause hormonal problems, or even cancer. When you absorb NPE, your body can't tell the difference between NPE and estrogen.

Organisms exposed to NPE show kidney and liver damage, decreased testicular growth and sperm count, disrupted growth and metabolism, and increased mortality.

When rainbow trout are exposed to NPEs, they become part male and part female! According to the Sierra Club, who recently petitioned the EPA to regulate NPE, roughly 270 million pounds of NPE are used in the United States each year—and the majority of this ends up being rinsed down your drain. A U.S. Geological Survey study found metabolites of NPEs in more than 61 percent of tested streams in the U.S. (reported by Sierra Club).

According to a Sierra Club paper, researchers now believe that:

"NPE pollution is likely to be at least partly responsible for a variety of odd gender bending phenomenon now being seen in aquatic species. And while human effects remain unknown, scientists believe it may be affecting people, too."

NPEs have been banned already in Canada and Europe. Even Wal-Mart has listed NPEs as one of three chemicals they're asking suppliers to phase out.

Even the most sophisticated water treatment plants are unable to remove NPEs and their toxic metabolites. In fact, according to the Sierra Club report, sewage processing can make NPE metabolites more toxic, more estrogenic, and more persistent than NPE itself.

Look for evidence of NPE on your laundry detergent label—or declaration that it's not in there. Some detergents contain NPE alternatives such as alcohol ethoxylate, which the Sierra Club suggests is less toxic and can break down naturally. Another enormous threat to your water supply is phosphates.

Phosphates and the Choking of Aquatic Life

Phosphates are the main cleaning ingredient in many detergents and household cleaners because they break down dirt particles and remove stains by softening the water and allowing suds to form, which enhances the cleaning power of the detergent. Some dishwasher tabs are more than 30 percent phosphates!

However, there are human health problems as well as major environmental hazards associated with phosphates. Phosphate residues on items that have been cleaned with phosphate-containing detergents have been known to cause nausea, diarrhea and skin irritations.

The largest concern with phosphates, however, is the environmental hazards they are creating.

Phosphates are difficult to remove from wastewater and often end up in rivers and lakes, where they increase algae growth, choking off waterways and suffocating salmon and other aquatic life, literally starving them of oxygen. Phosphates act like a "fertilizer" in waterways. When the overabundant algae die, they release toxins that deplete the waterways of oxygen. Phosphates remain active even after wastewater treatment.

Phosphate Wars and Water Spots

Detergents are available with or without phosphates—so you have a choice! As of March of 2008, twenty-five states had issued phosphate detergent bans, and the list continues to grow. Fifteen new states joined the cause in July of 2010. These new laws ARE making a difference. In Spokane, officials reported a 10.7 percent decrease in phosphate coming from the city's sewage treatment plant, which discharges into the Spokane River, after their phosphate limit was put into effect.

You always know you're making a difference when some serious pushback begins to occur. The transition to phosphate free products is no exception, in terms of bumps in the road.

Some folks report the performance of phosphate-free cleaning products just isn't up to snuff, particularly with respect to dishwasher tabs. Many people have complained the greener cleaners just don't do as good a job as the original (but more toxic) cleaners. One representative from Cascade said the conversion to low-phosphate has been "complex, with three or four ingredients needed to match what the phosphates accomplished alone."

The phosphate war has even sparked a team of angry rebel dish detergent smugglers who, in vehement protest to the phosphate ban in Spokane, drove all the way to Idaho to buy phosphate-based detergents as a means of "sticking it to the environmentalists."

But seriously, how clean do you REALLY need to be? Are water spots on your glassware worth fouling the precious water filling them?

Get over the water spots. If they bother you, wipe them off with a towel. New products can butt heads with our old cultural concepts of cleanliness. As I see it, we all need to start making some concessions for the good of our planet and our health. Besides the chemicals I've already mentioned, are there other agents lurking in your laundry soap, for which you should be on the lookout? Unfortunately, yes.

Pretty Scary Laundry List

Besides surfactants and phosphates, the average detergent has a long list of other chemical ingredients—and most are not good for you or the Earth. Anything in those products can potentially be absorbed through your skin or breathed in through your nose, as well as passed down the drain to our waterways.

Typical chemicals include:

• Linear alkyl sodium sulfonates (LAS), a.k.a. anionic surfactants
• Petroleum distillates (a.k.a. naphthas), which have been linked to cancer
• Phenols, which can cause toxicity throughout the entire body
• Optical brighteners, which cause bacterial mutations and allergic reactions, and can be toxic to fish
• Sodium hypochlorite (bleach)
• EDTA (ethylene-diamino-tetra-acetate)
• Artificial fragrances, which have been linked to various toxic effects on fish and animals, as well as allergic reactions in humans

And polysorbate 60 and polysorbate 80 are also often contaminated with 1,4 dioxane, according to Dr. Samuel Epstein. Over time, these toxins can build up in your body and cause a number of unknown, unpredictable effects.

Tips for Greener Laundering

Hopefully, public awareness about dioxane and surfactants will, in time, result in bans similar to those now being implemented for phosphates. The wheels of progress are slow, but at least they are turning.

In the meantime, there are some relatively painless steps you can take to decrease your exposure and shrink your ecological footprint (some of the tips below were incorporated from Planet Green's How to Go Green Laundry page):

• Become a label reader. Look especially for "Does not contain..." because manufacturers are not yet required by law to list what is in the product. However, green companies will proudly display what is NOT in the product if they want to sell their product to environmentally conscious people like you.
  
  Look for "phosphate free," "no bleach," "SLE free" and "NPE free." Look for "biodegradable" detergents since those often do not contain the harmful ingredients listed above. Look for plant- and animal-based ingredients, instead of petroleum-based.
• Buy concentrated detergents. These have reduced packaging and a smaller carbon footprint (requiring less space and fuel for shipping).
• Become a Soap Nut! Soap nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree (Sapindus mukorrosi). People have been using these natural soap-releasing berries for thousands of years, and they've recently caught on in the U.S.
• Wear it more than once. Too often, we just toss our clothing into the hamper after wearing it, out of habit, without regard to whether or not it's really dirty. Washing less often also extends the life of your clothes.
• Wash and rinse in cold water. You will save a bundle on electricity (one estimate is $100 per year) just by doing this, because 90 percent of the energy required for washing lies in heating the water.
• Wash only full loads of laundry. It's more energy efficient.
• Hang it out to dry. Put up a clothesline! Become part of the Right to Dry movement.
• Try making your own detergent. Here's one formula costing pennies per load.
• Ditch the dry cleaning. Traditional dry cleaning is a very un-green and toxic process using harsh, carcinogenic chemicals, such as perchloroethylene (aka "perc"), which has been linked with a variety of cancers and other problems. Many "dry clean only" products can be safely hand washed. For those that can't, try to find a greener dry cleaner in your area.

If you're interested in the Enzyme Formula we produced, you can read more about it here!

Source:  1,4 Dioxane Product Safety Watch Source:  Safe Laundry Guide Source:  Worldwatch.org, “Cleaning products” Source:  “Dioxane is not the same as dioxin” (March 2009) DioxinFacts.org Source:  “Sodium lauryl sulfate facts?”

By Mary-Jane Liddicoat (broadcast on TBSe FM 1013 Mainstreet 'Family Affairs' program 23 November 2011 - radio interview link below

Here are two great, simple tips for keeping families safe and healthy.

Do no harm

The first tip is: avoid potentially harmful chemicals in all your personal care, beauty and household products.

Keeping our children safe and healthy is the first concern of most parents.

So we buy soap, moisturizer and bubble bath labelled ‘gentle for baby’ and feel comforted knowing that even if you can’t control the environment ‘out there’, we are doing our best at home.

But are we really? When we look down the list of ingredients on the back of many ‘baby safe’ products, we find that, in fact, many contain a range of potentially harmful ingredients.

Ingredients linked to skin and eye irritations, eczema, respiratory and mental problems, and even cancer and birth defects.

Our skin protects us

Once upon a time, we thought our skin was a barrier that protected us from most things.

We now know that anything we use on our skin can be absorbed directly into our bodies and stored over time in our organs and can lead to serious illness.

Most of us would think that our governments and major well-known manufacturers would not allow the use of such ingredients in baby (or indeed any other) personal care products.

Sadly, the discoveries of melamine in baby formula, diethylene glycol in toothpaste, and talc (asbestos) in baby powder (Korea 2009) have shown us that their quality control systems are not failsafe.

What if it were easy? At this stage some people start to feel overwhelmed. What can we do? Many people simply ignore it because they feel helpless do change anything.

What it it were as simple as being aware and choosing differently? Here's how.

• Be aware of the potentially harmful ingredients commonly used in food, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, moisturizers and other personal care products, including in those labelled ‘gentle for baby’, 'all natural', 'wellbeing' etc
  
  
• Take a list of these ingredients with you when you go shopping to make sure you don’t buy products containing them. Start by avoiding products using alcohol (mouthwash) SLS and propylene glycol. Enter your email here to receive a FREE downloadable list of the most common ones.
  
  
• Identify companies committed to using only safer, effective ingredients, and use only their products, and
  
  
• Invite your local shops to add more chemical free food and non-toxic personal care products to their shelves. In some countries you'll need to take a magnifying glass with you to read the labels!
  

Would that be easy? Give it a go. See what a difference YOU can make.

Amazing black magic: charcoal

The second tip is: keep a pot of black gold – charcoal – on hand

Charcoal is truly amazing stuff, used across Asia for centuries. Walk into most restaurants in Korea and you'll see lumps of it nestled in the corner of the shoe rack or in the toilet. Why? It absorbs the nasty smells.

Did you know that many people, medical practitioners, hospitals, companies and even NASA uses charcoal for a variety of purposes: to filter water and air, to purify food, to make clothes, to preserve things, to cook with, to grow things, to work for us underground, underwater and out in space. It also helps clean up our environmental mistakes.

Not least and not last, medicinal charcoal plays an increasingly significant role in maintaining, restoring and enhancing our family's overall level of health.

Did you know?

Charcoal has been known to:

• whiten teeth (no need to use toxins like hydrogen peroxide!)
  
  
• absorb 4000+ deadly poisons from your body (keep it in your house and car as part of your standard first aid kit)
  
  
• alleviate hangovers (ok, so charcoal won't absorb alcohol, but it does absorb many of the impurities in common beverages which contribute to a hangover)
  
  
• clear up bacterial infections (great for kids with cuts and scrapes)
  
  
• remedy cystitis, ulcers, gallstones, hepatitis, jaundice, and many other medical conditions
  

It's natural, cheap and highly effective. You would not have this in your house for what reason?

What is charcoal?

Charcoal not a drug or a mineral (minerals are defined as inorganic). Sometimes it's listed as a food supplement, but that's incorrect. Charcoal is unique and there are no other elements or compounds like it, with which it can be grouped. It is completely inert and indigestible.

Charcoal science

The simplest description of charcoal is the cold hard black left overs after a campfire has gone out. Essentially all the water has evaporated, along with a few other bits and pieces, leaving behind the crusty crumbly black chunks we see in the shoe cupboard.

Charcoal can be made from animal bones or coal, but for medicinal use it primarily comes from plant-based sources such as hardwood, bamboo, coconut, or peat.

What is left after the fire goes out is, apart from a few trace minerals, pure carbon, just like the carbon atoms that make up the soft graphites in a "lead" pencil or the 345 carat diamonds.

What makes the carbons different from each other is their distinct physical structures. Unlike the ordered carbon atoms in graphite and diamonds, charcoal's carbon atoms have an intricate lattice-like design with no recognizable pattern.

The tiny particles of charcoal are riddled with a network of crevices, cracks, and tunnels such that 1 cm cube unfolds to a 1000 square meters! And it is to this large surface area that a vast number of chemicals (primarily those that are poisonous to life), bind electrostatically.

By subjecting the raw charcoal to the "activation" of oxidizing agents such as air, steam, or oxygen, at high temperatures, the internal structure of the charcoal particle is further eroded creating an even greater surface area.

Want to know more? Read more about the science of charcoal here.

A mystery we adore

Science has no complete answer about how charcoal works. Personally, we know it works wonders. If you would like to know more, there are many documented medical, pharmacological and scientific studies on charcoal which you can find referenced in the book Charcoal Remedies by John Dinsely available here.

If you are sick, suffering pain, or battling some infection, why not first consider a simple and natural remedy like medicinal charcoal? Here's how we use it regularly at home (my kids actually come and ask for it):

• mosquito and other insect bites and stings – rub a little on the spot or wrap up with a bandage takes the itch/sting out almost immediately
  
  
• sore throats/ears – make a poultice and leave on overnight
  
  
• coughs/chest infections – make a poultice and leave on overnight
  
  
• sore tummies – a mouthful washed down with water or juice is very effective in alleviating tummy upsets
  
  
• cuts and scrapes – it absorbs any potentially harmful bacteria to allow the cut to heal without infection
  

And mum and dad use it before and after a night on the town. It won't absorb alcohol, but it will absorb the nasty chemicals which often come in alcohol and which often lead to a headache the next day. Charcoal and LOTS of water helps avoid a hangover and bad breath...as does not drinking too much in the first place.

Five reasons to keep charcoal on hand

There are at least five good reasons why you should choose a natural remedy such as medicinal charcoal.

Charcoal WORKS

• for poisoning, drug overdose, and food poisoning
  
  
• for digestive and other gastrointestinal problems: such as acid reflux, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, and gas
  
  
• for poisonous bites: including bees, hornets, brown recluse spiders, scorpions, and poisonous snakes
  
  
• for allergic reactions to poisonous plants: such as poison ivy and poison oak
  
  
• for infections: including pink eye, diabetic ulcers, abscesses, UTI, and gangrene
  
  
• for diseases such as gout, Tourista, tetanus, diphtheria, and cholera
  
  
• for animals: including poisoning, infections, odors, and as a digestive supplement
  
  
• for purifying water, air, and food
  
  
• and more
  

Charcoal is SAFE

• a safety record that goes back 3500 years
  
  
• rated Category 1 (Safe and Effective) by the FDA
  
  
• recommended by Poison Control Centers, Pediatric & Toxicologist Associations
  
  
• has no known adverse side effects
  
  
• non habit forming
  
  
• indefinite shelf life - does not age or spoil if properly stored 
  

Charcoal is ACCESSIBLE

• universally available around the world
  
  
• in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and healthfood stores
  
  
• in the city, in the country
  
  
• in disasters, calamities, times of war
  

Charcoal is AFFORDABLE

• for the wallet and for the body
  
  
• for whatever currency, whatever culture
  

Charcoal is EASY

• easy to make
  
  
• easy to take - orally
  
  
• easy to apply - as a poultice or bath
  
  
• requires no dictionary, prescription, license or degree 

It's natural, cheap and highly effective. You would not have this in your house for what reason?

***
Mary-Jane Liddicoat is an ex-diplomat now looking at what different choices we might be making to help create more ease, joy, prosperity and abundance in our communities. Visit www.mary-jane.co and www.healthyhomes.asia for more information. Mary-Jane lives between Seoul, Korea and Sydney/Wollongong/Canberra, Australia, with her Korean sculptor husband and their three children, aged eight, six and three.

Labelling of cosmetics is following the route taken by food products thanks to a recent Australian federal ruling.

Now there will be an online database with a chemical assessment of each ingredient in cosmetics.

Up to now, the regulation of ingredients in cosmetics has been split between the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the National Industrial Chemicals Scheme (NICNAS), which has been confusing for consumers and a burden on industry. This more transparent approach should eliminate that confusion.

The move toward the public database came following growing public concern about cosmetics ingredients, particularly those thought to be carcinogens.

A full public report for each chemical assessment is available on the NICNAS website www.nicnas.gov.au

STILL CARRYING AROUND THIS POTENT NEUROTOXIN NEXT TO YOUR BRAIN?

This eye-opening video from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology is worth more than a thousand words when it comes to illustrating the very real danger of mercury fillings.

It contains a powerful visual demonstration of how mercury vapors are released into your oral cavity every time you chew, visit the dentist, or drink hot tea or coffee, for example.

‘Sure it's going to kill a lot of people, but they may be dying of something else anyway.'
- Othal Brand, Texas pesticide review board, on chlordane

In Health Wars and Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth, I devote some time to potential and actual carcinogens to be found in our food, as well as the personal care and household products we use. The problems stem from governments' inability to test and effectively regulate chemicals coming onto the market with the limited budgets they have available. Compounding this are the conflicts of interest existing between chemical manufacturers and government regulatory agencies, making objective adjudication of these drugs and chemicals a near impossibility.1

Personal care and household products Poor regulation, self-regulation and a blizzard of confusing and contrary scientific data have resulted in a large number of chemicals making it into our food and the products we buy with little or no warnings attached. Most people have no idea, for example, what the personal care products they use every day may be doing to them.

In 1990, 38,000 cosmetic injuries were reported in the US that required medical attention.2 Health concerns are continuously being raised over ingredients in shampoos, toothpastes, skin creams and other grooming products. Researchers in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and the US say many ingredients in personal care products may be related to premature baldness, cataract formation, environmental cancers, contact dermatitis and possible eye damage in young children. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found 884 chemicals available for use in cosmetics had been reported to the US government as toxic substances.3

Tobacco industry playbook

On 10th September 1997, Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, while discussing an FDA reform bill, stated, ‘The cosmetic industry has borrowed a page from the playbook of the tobacco industry by putting profits ahead of public health.' Kennedy further stated, ‘Cosmetics can be dangerous to your health. Yet this greedy industry wants Congress to prevent the American people from learning that truth. Every woman who uses face cream, or hair spray, or lipstick, or shampoo, or mascara, or powder should demand that this arrogant and irresponsible power-play by the industry be rejected.

A study by the respected, non-partisan General Accounting Office reported that more than 125 ingredients available for use in cosmetics are suspected of causing cancer. Other cosmetics may cause adverse effects on the nervous system, including convulsions. Still other ingredients are suspected of causing birth defects. A carefully controlled study found that one in sixty users suffered a cosmetic-related injury identified by a physician.' 4

Samuel Epstein MD, a world-renowned authority on the causes and prevention of cancer, was named the 1998 winner of the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize'). Dr Epstein has devoted the greater part of his life to studying and fighting the causes of cancer. He is Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, and the chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition.

Don't posion yourself

Author of The Politics of Cancer and The Breast Cancer Prevention Program, Epstein recommends the use of cosmetics and other products that are free from suspected carcinogens. The company he recommends (and so do I) is Neways International. Neways' Convert Your Bathroom pack contains shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, shaving gel, deodorant, toothpaste and mouthwash that are not only free from damaging ingredients, but are of the highest quality.

Whether you are undergoing treatment for a condition or are simply interested in exercising disease prevention, stop the cumulative toxic onslaught today:

• Don't poison yourself
• Check every product you are using over the long-haul
• See Health Wars, Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth or The ABC's of Disease for more information on which chemicals do what, and which ones to avoid

Resources www.neways.com

Register with us to receive your free Healthy Homes pocket shopping guides.

Join our Help 15 Project and make a difference.

References
1. Day, Phillip Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth, op. cit.
2. Steinman, D & Samuel S Epstein The Safe Shopper's Bible, pp. 182-183, ISBN 0020820852; also Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Product summary report: Washington DC, 1990
3. Steinman, D & S Epstein, Safe Shopper's Bible, op. cit.
4. Quoted from Senator Kennedy's office on www.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/970910fda.html

Listen to the big gun against fluoridation

The governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Britain and many other countries routinely fluoridate their citizens' water supplies.

Here, Dr. Paul Connett, Professor of Chemistry at St. Lawrence University in New York, gives a damning interview on the history of water fluoridation, the collusion of major industries to put certified toxic waste into your drinking water, and why government health authorities refuse to conduct scientific studies into the dangers of fluoridation.

Dr. Paul Connett, Professor of Chemistry at St. Lawrence University in New York, gives a damning interview on the history of water fluoridation, the collusion of major industries to put certified toxic waste into your drinking water, and why government health authorities refuse to conduct scientific studies into the dangers of fluoridation. After watching this video, you will never look at tap water the same way again. Connett describes how he initially thought people who opposed fluoridation were "a bunch of whackos," before conducting his own research which found that sodium fluoride was a toxic substance that contributed to a wide array of health defects. Heavy industry is barred from dumping this toxic waste into the sea by international law, but being able to sell it enables them to remove its hazardous characteristic and it becomes a product, explains Connett, polluting not only our water supply but also toothpaste and thousands of different foods.

Connett provides a detail run down of the many health problems caused by fluoride consumption, including dental fluorosis, which the Centers For Disease Control just recently announced was a problem for 41 per cent of children aged 12-15 in the United States, clearly indicating that children are being over-exposed to fluoride and that this is affecting other tissues and organs in the body, including bone disorders, a problem also wreaking havoc amongst adults in the United States as one in three now suffer from arthritis, which again is being caused by a build-up of toxic fluoride in the body. Connett also points to fluoride's connection with thyroid disorders.

There have now been over 100 studies involving animals which show that fluoride damages the brain, stresses Connett, which is a particular concern for newborn babies who are susceptible to fluoride build up because of their weak blood-brain barrier. Connett cites numerous studies which prove a link between moderate exposure to fluoride and lowered IQ.

by Phillip Day

The short bottom line?

• You don't need meat, fish, dairy or eggs to maintain health. In fact, in the case of calcium, meat can be a problem.
• Humans are not designed to eat meat; plants can provide everything we need for optimum health.
• Of course, humans can eat some meat and dairy if they choose. Sometimes it can even taste really good.
• Be aware that leading clinics use a 100% plant-based diet to reverse cancer, heart, disease and the other problems mentioned in this article. Results can be dramatic.

Don't believe us? Read on. Still don't believe us? Conduct an experiment yourself. Eat nothing but whole plant-based foods for a month see what a difference this makes to your weight, energy and well-being. The sheer variety of foods you have available is astonishing if you take the trouble to seek them out. If you can't do a month, try a week or fortnight. Let us know what you find out.

Haven't we always eaten meat?

The first thing to appreciate is how much more meat society eats these days compared with the past. In fact, culturally, chronic meat-eating by Western populations is a relatively recent fad. Back in the medieval times, meat was a luxury few could afford. The average peasant subsisted on a largely vegetarian diet. He didn't kill his cows because he wanted the milk. He didn't kill his chickens because he wanted the eggs. Straying into the King's parks to poach himself some venison or even a rabbit would, likely as not if he were caught, see him twisting in the wind by sunset.

Perhaps single-handedly though, the rise of the burger after World War 2 changed diets forever when Ray Kroc and Richard McDonald became everybody's fast-food fixation. There is no doubt that meat features prominently in most people's diets in the developed world today but why do we think we eat it?

Why do we eat meat?

We think we eat meat because we love it, because it gives us protein and because it makes us strong. But once again, consumption of meat, especially on the scale we are currently witnessing, goes against logic, common sense and instinct if you pause to think for a moment. It is not my intention to persuade you to give up meat, fish, sugar, milk, cigarettes, and a host of other ‘goodies' if you're attitude is, ‘I am a consumer, I intend to consume!'

My intention is to give you the information you need to make an informed decision about your lifestyle if you are serious about achieving a healthy longevity or clearing a life-threatening disease. And with meat, this decision is probably as confusing a choice as any you are likely to contemplate, because not even the experts appear to agree on what's best. But it need not be so. Let's use a little common sense.

Excessive meat-eating, according to researcher Ethel R Nelson MD, is at the root of many of the health woes that have damaged our families for years:

"For about the past twenty-five years, researchers in human nutrition have pointed to the unrefined plant dietary as a more ideal food than animal products. They have designated the Western world's high-fat animal product, fibre-poor, refined diet as the chief cause of so-called "Western diseases", e.g. coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, gallstones, appendicitis, diverticulosis of the bowel, hiatus hernia, haemorrhoids, osteoporosis, kidney disorders, varicose veins, cancer and accelerated sexual development in children.

Some of today's most prevalent and devastating diseases in the United States have now been credited to excessive consumption of meat and animal products (milk, cheese, eggs) and insufficient ingestion of plant foods." [1]

Humans are not natural carnivores

Humans, as Harvey Diamond explains, are not natural carnivores:

"A carnivore's teeth are long sharp and pointed - all of them! We have molars for crushing and grinding. A carnivore's jaws move up and down only, for tearing and biting. Ours can move from side to side for grinding. A carnivore's saliva is acid and geared to the digestion of animal protein; it lacks ptyalin, a chemical that digests starches.

Our saliva is alkaline and contains ptyalin for the digestion of starch. A carnivore's stomach is a simple, round sack that secretes ten times more hydrochloric acid than that of a non-carnivore. Our stomachs are oblong in shape, complicated in structure, and convoluted with a duodenum.

A carnivore's intestines are three times the length of its trunk, designed for rapid expulsion of animal proteins which quickly rot. Our intestines are twelve times the length of our trunks and designed to keep food in them until all nutrients are extracted. The liver of a carnivore is capable of eliminating ten to fifteen times more uric acid than the liver of a non-carnivore.

Our livers have the capacity to eliminate only a small amount of uric acid. Uric acid is an extremely dangerous toxic substance that can wreak havoc in your body. All meat consumption releases large quantities of uric acid into the system. Unlike most carnivores and omnivores, humans do not have the enzyme uricase to break down uric acid.

A carnivore does not sweat through the skin and has no pores. We do sweat through the skin and have pores. A carnivore's urine is acid, ours is alkaline. A carnivore's tongue is rough, ours is smooth. Our hands are perfectly designed for plucking fruit from a tree, not for tearing the guts out of a dead animal as are a carnivore's claws."[2]

Fancy some road kill? (parental guidance advised)

If the above doesn't convince you humans are not natural carnivores, then trust to instinct. What do you think you are psychologically programmed to eat? Next time you pass over some road kill, screech to a halt, leap out of the car with your juices flowing and go back and get stuck into the blood and guts. Tear that rabbit apart and delight as the blood flows down your throat.

Feel the satisfying crunch of its bones and the slippery visceral sensation of its organs in your mouth. Well, why not? You're a meat-eater by instinct, aren't you? Any of your brothers and sisters-in-kin, like a fox, dog or a crow, would likely beat you to it. Don't be the runt of the pack! Get your muzzle in there, barge aside the competition, and chow on down.

And, while you're about it, leap over the fence when you're done and go and suckle a few of those Jerseys to slake that rabid thirst with some liquid meat. Don't worry about the cars pulled over on the side of the road, occupants staring in ghastly fascination. They're just a jealous bunch of failed meat- and milk-scarfers wishing they'd come along and got tuckered down a minute before you did.

The point being made is that even though they disapprove of your meat-garnering activities, these hypocrites will be down at Safeways, Asda or Piggly Wiggly's later that afternoon buying up their own supplies of meat and milk.

Do you watch wildlife programs because you wish you were out on the Serengeti, charging down the zebras yourself? Is your toddler crying in the kitchen? Maybe your little one is hungry. Try an experiment and give her a live hamster in one hand and a strawberry in the other. What will this child do by instinct? Eat the hamster alive and then toy with the strawberry?

Then imagine walking through a vineyard in summer time. You're sweating from the heat that is only now burning off the dew and mist cloaking the pasture in its morning glory. Above you, glistening in the sun, are bunches of grapes still with the dew on their skins. What are you instinctively going to do?

Nutrional value of meat

Meat is touted as ‘a source of protein', but what kind of protein? Animal protein! Humans cannot create human protein directly from animal protein. We have to break down the animal protein into its constituent amino acids and then reconstruct human protein from these building blocks. Proteins are formed from chains that can range anywhere from 50 to 200,000 amino acid links. These chains have to be deconstructed and recombined into human links, a procedure extremely tiring to the human not to mention remarkably inefficient for manufacturing protein.

Flesh foods have very little going for them in terms of their nutritive value. They come with a whole slug of dietary cholesterol which thickens the blood for up to five hours after consumption. Even if you're eating meat for protein you aren't, since the meat is almost always cooked, charbroiled, fried, boiled or roasted, which destroys much of its enzyme and amino acid content, resulting in a toxic, acidic gunk the body will later have to eliminate.[3] A true carnivore chomps its beef, chicken and duck raw to maximise protection of the meat's amino acids.

The other deficit in logic centres around the question seldom asked - where do the animals we eat, such as cows, sheep, fish and chickens, get their protein from? That's right, from grass, vegetation and cereals! From the amino acids and nutrients they derive naturally in the plant kingdom. Notice carnivores only attack and eat other carnivores in an emergency. In almost all cases they eat herbivores, commencing with the stomach cavity first to slop down the amino acid pool collected there, comprised of pre-digested, nitrilosidic grass and vegetation.

Meat makes us strong?

"But I eat my steaks to make me big and strong!" This also is a lie. All your tumultuous steaks are doing is giving you corpse-like breath, a bypass by sixty, an overdose of cholesterol and protein your body has to neutralise and eliminate, an inside track on bowel cancer and arthritis, and chronic indigestion problems resulting in bowel movements from hell.

I worked with many bodybuilders when I was in California, and the ones who were clued up weren't using meat to win their contests. Many of the top 230lb hulks at Gold's Gym, World's Gym and the Marina Athletic Club were mostly fruit and salad boys, consuming a minimum of flesh foods but ingesting free amino acids.

As Harvey Diamond points out, the silverback gorilla is pure vegetarian and has no problems with strength. It's three times as large as you are and over thirty times as strong.[4] Have an arm-wrestling match with one of those and I'll guarantee two things off the bat. The gorilla won't have had a milk shake or a T-bone steak all day. And it'll rip your arm off at the shoulder.

In regard to energy, meat contains almost no carbohydrates, yet carbs are where your fuel comes from. Meat also contains next to no fibre, is high in saturated fat and can take days to pass through the gut.[5] Meat quite literally rots in the stomach, especially when ill-combined with carbs such as rice, potatoes and pasta. Meat proteins require the stomach to secrete acid to digest them whereas carbs require an alkali.

Put the two together in the form of steak and fries, chicken tagliatelli, or eggs on toast, and the digestive juices cancel one another out. Later, as this gridlock jams up our insides the putrefaction commences, resulting in bear's breath, foul gas, rancid body odour, deposits of mucoid plaque along the colon, a frantic race against time to procure a ready supply of Tums, and 15 minutes reading the Wall Street Journal straining on the toilet with the veins popping out of your forehead.[6]

Dr Herbert Shelton wonders at the insanity of modern man's predicament: "Why must we accept as normal what we find in a race of sick and weakened human beings? Must we always take it for granted that the present eating practices of civilized men are normal? ...Foul stools, loose stools, impacted stools, pebbly stools, much foul gas, colitis, hemorrhoids, bleeding with stools, the need for toilet paper are swept into the orbit of the normal." [7]

The meat industry

At the turn of the 20th century, heart disease was so rare it was barely given a mention in the medical texts. That all changed when the world began to embrace industrial farming between the wars and diets went from being plant-based to animal-based.

Worse, a cosy arrangement soon developed between commercial meat and milk producers in America, who gave big campaign contributions to politicians in return for significant state and federal subsidies to produce milk and meat. By the 1960's, heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and other problems familiar with us today were becoming endemic. What man had begun to eat was literally killing him.

Nutrition researcher Mike Harrison points out that today $30 billion is spent by the food industry marketing processed products in the US against $30 million for fruits and veg. Put another way, $100 is spent per person per year advertising food products that kill Americans against a mere 10c on what will save and prolong their lives.[8]

Many doctors are now waking up. Like Dr Ethel Nelson, Dr Dean Burkitt indicts the West's fibre-deficient, refined animal-based diet for causing heart, stroke, cancer, kidney, osteoporosis, diabetes and liver problems.[9] So do Drs Dean Ornish, Andrew Saul, John McDougall, Neal Bernard, Malcolm Baxter, Caldwell Esselstyn and Joel Fuhrman.

By studying bowel transit times, Dean Burkitt and colleague Alec Walker determined that meat-heavy, ill-combined meals were creating an aftermath of appendicitis, constipation, diverticulosis, varicose veins, haemorrhoids and colon cancer (the second leading cancer death). They found that the average time for passage for this putrefying detritus was three to five days, and even as long as two weeks in the elderly. Rural Third World peoples, by contrast, consuming diets rich in yams, cassava, cereals, vegetables and fruits, with little animal products, passed easily propelled stools in 24 to 36 hours.[10]

William J Mayo, founder of the famous Mayo cancer clinic in America, addressed the American College of Surgeons thus: "Meat-eating has increased 400% in the last 100 years. Cancer of the stomach forms nearly one third of all cancers of the human body. If flesh foods are not fully broken up, decomposition results, and active poisons are thrown into an organ not intended for their reception." [11]

We need the protein?

We also chomp meat because our society has bought into the fear of dying through lack of protein, most believing that unless we scoff down animal flesh by the rack-load we are in danger of becoming protein-deficient. This myth originated from early trials conducted on rats. Later it transpired rats require up to eleven times more protein than humans, as evidenced by the commensurate supplies of proteins in their milk compared with human milk.

Whoops. Today, it is recognised that human protein requirements are not nearly as great as formerly assumed (between 20 - 40 g/day), yet many are ingesting 100 - 200 g/day! It is this excess that causes acidosis in the population that can often prove fatal. Nevertheless, the protein-scoffing trend has been hard to extirpate from the minds of the laity, which in turn has led to an overabundance of illness in the protein-gorging West.

Research shows that ancient peoples were also cursed with diseases that came from heavy protein consumption, ironically a trait of prosperous societies. In Exodus 15:26, God addresses the Israelites, refering to the diseased Egyptians:

"If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians."

What were the diseases suffered by the Egyptians? Dr Marc Armand Ruffer is a paleopathologist who, with his associates, has performed over 36,000 autopsies on Egyptian mummified remains of Pharaonic royals. Ruffer's research demonstrates that most of the diseases striking the Egyptian royalty are those killing us today: atherosclerosis, various forms of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, obesity, tooth decay, arthritis, diverticulosis of the colon and early sexual development in children.[12] [13]

Meat's links to cancer

Even back in 1992, heart disease alone was claiming 3,000 Americans a day. Stroke is the leading cause of disability in most industrialised cultures today. Colon and rectal cancers, now the second cause of cancer-death in America, are associated with high-protein, low-fibre diets (excessive bile acids are required to process proteins in the bowel and bile acids are carcinogenic to humans [14]).

The transit time for foods through the alimentary tract is prolonged with low-fibre content, allowing a longer period for bile acids to act on bowel mucosa. Pork, beef and chicken consumption closely correlates with the incidence of colon cancer.[15]

Interestingly, Americans have two and a half times the incidence of colon cancer deaths as the Chinese, and yet Chinese-American women who adopt the high-fat, high-meat dietary of the US suffer four times the rate of colon cancer of their counterparts in China. In Chinese-American males, the colorectal cancer rate is seven times that of their Chinese counterparts. Colon and rectal cancers increase more than 400% among sedentary people, which also correlates with the increased incidence of constipation in this group.[16]

High protein diets have also been linked to breast cancer since high estrogen levels are a predominant factor in the disease. Meat-eating women have higher levels of estrogen in the urine than vegetarians, according to research.[17]

The simple fact is, if you consume a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts, you couldn't get a protein deficiency if you were hit over the head with one, because your body will have access to all the amino acids required to construct human protein. There are twenty-three amino acids, fifteen of which can be produced by the body. The final eight have to be procured through diet and so have been labelled the ‘essential amino acids'.

Meat does not need to enter into the picture so far as amino acids are concerned. The body makes use of a constant circulating bank of amino acids in the blood and lymph systems - known as the amino acid pool - which the liver and cells use to withdraw whatever material is required. The liver and cells are also capable of storing amino acids, which in a balanced diet are in more than plentiful supply.

Once we understand how the body trades in amino acids, not proteins either foreign or domestic, all the claptrap about protein deficiency can be tossed out and a new, healthier, leaner ‘you' can emerge from the myths. The remaining problems with meat-eating are in essence very similar to those with milk.

Beware chemical contamination?

Meats can be contaminated with recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, pesticides, insecticides, arsenic, antibiotics, hormone accelerators, steroids, ticks, parasites, viruses and pus cells. In many countries, additives such as estradiol and DEA (synthetic estrogen mimics) are added to the food chain. In spite of a clear record of carcinogenicity since its introduction in 1947, the FDA has failed to curtail DEA use in spite of repeated attempts to have it scrapped.[18]

Meat is rarely unadulterated. Some meats are treated with dyes to turn them a ‘healthy' red from the grey of dead flesh. Some meat receives sulphite treatment to decrease decay.

The bottom line?

1) Meat, fish, dairy and eggs are not required to maintain health. In fact, in the case of calcium, meat can be a problem. Meat is generally high in phosphorous, an acid, which bonds with calcium ions to form apatite. This is then precipitated from the body causing a net calcium loss.

2) Humans are not designed to consume human milk past infancy, nor for carnivorous meat intakes. All humans require for optimum health may be obtained from the plant kingdom with no downside save that of a recent mineral deficiency (over-farming). A good organic supply of fruits and vegetables should be the first thing you secure.

3) This is not to say humans cannot eat some meat and dairy. If you are completely stubborn, intakes of animal-based foods should be kept below 5% of total food intake to avoid serious illness.

4) A 100% plant-based diet is used by leading clinics to reverse cancer, heart, disease and the other problems mentioned in this article. Results can be dramatic.

5) Conduct an experiment. Eat nothing but whole plant-based foods for a month see what a difference this makes to your weight, energy and well-being. The sheer variety of foods you have available is astonishing if you take the trouble to seek them out. If you can't do a month, try a week or fortnight. As time passes, you'll be glad you read this article!

Resources

Green Superfoods 283 g and Green Superfoods 907 g tubs

Nature's Living Superfood 142 g

See our range of organic foods, seeds, nuts, grains, etc.


Footnotes
[1] Nelson, Ethel R The Eden Diet and Modern Nutritional Research, the Twin Cities Creation Conference, Northwestern College, 1992 [2] Diamond, Harvey & Marilyn Fit For Life, Bantam Books, pp.97-98

[3] Okitani, A et al The Journal of Food Science, "Heat Induced Changes in Free Amino Acids on Manufactured Heated Pulps and Pastes from Tomatoes" 48 (1983): 1366-1367

[4] Diamond, Harvey, Fit For Life, op. cit. p.89

[5] A 3 oz piece of steak contains around 75 mg of cholesterol. The same size of skinless chicken comes in at around 72 mg. (www.ravediet.com)

[6] Heartburn can be easily treated by simply increasing your daily intake of water to 4 pints a day and cutting out animal foods. The extra water adequately hydrates the stomach and colon and the pain of heartburn will pass. Drink a glass of fresh water half an hour prior to eating, and then two and a half hours after eating a meal. Drink before you sleep. Drink when you wake up, and especially drink water during exercise. If you feel the heartburn sensation coming on, simply drink water. If you have any kidney complaints, consult a health practitioner prior to increasing your intake of water. Your diet should be amended to avoid acidic ash foods in favour of the alkali alternatives.

[7] Shelton H M Food Combining Made Easy, Shelton Health School, TX, 1951. p.32

[8] The Eating documentary, www.ravediet.com

[9] Burkitt, D P Don't Forget Fibre in Your Diet, London: Martin Dunitz Ltd., 1979

[10] Walker, A R P, Burkitt & Painter Lancet 2, "Effect of Dietary Fibre on Stools and Transit-Times, and Its Role in the Causation of Disease", (1972): pp.1408-1412

[11] Leonardo, Blanche Cancer and Other Diseases from Meat Consumption, Santa Monica, CA: Leaves of Healing, 1979

[12] Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and other heavy meat-consumers sometimes married young girls who were under 10 years of age. Such actions demonstrate that these children were apparently ready for child-bearing.

[13] Mysteries of the Mummies, Loma Linda: Slide-tape program produced by Loma Linda University School of Health, 1984

[14] Galloway, D "Experimental colorectal cancer: The relationship of diet and faecal bile acid concentration to tumour induction", Br. J. Surg. 73:233-237, 1986

[15] Berg, J Quoted in Robbins, J Diet for a New America, Stillpoint Publ. 1987. p.254

[16] Whittemore, A "Diet, physical activity and colorectal cancer among Chinese in North America and China", J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 82:915-926, 1990. Also Nelson, Ethel, op. cit.

[17] Schultz, T "Nutrient intake and hormonal status of premenopausal vegetarian Seventh Day Adventist and premenopausal non-vegetarians", Nutr. Cancer, 4:247-259, 1983

[18] Epstein, Samuel S, Politics...op. cit. p.151

The research is in. Neglecting this lifestyle habit can cost you up to a 70 per cent greater risk of developing heart disease along with a higher risk of diabetes, lung disease, and stroke. A study of more than 11,000 adults backs previous research linking gum disease with heart problems.

The bottom line

Clean your teeth for good health. How simple.

Be aware also that your mouth is the quickest way into your bloodstream. Check that your toothpaste and mouthwash don't contain potentially harmful chemicals, including fluoride, alcohol, glycerin, hydrogen peroxide, sodium laurel sulphate, propylene glycol, saccharin, and artificial colours and flavours.

Sources

Enjoy more details about the health risks of not cleaning your teeth here.

BBC News 28 May 2010

British Medical Journal 28 May 2010

Dr Mercola 15 June 2010