Healthy Homes Asia

Is it time to question our reliance—some would say, over-reliance—on antidepressants to ease the pain of depression, which seems to be so common these days?

A 2010 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that anti-depressants such as Paxil are only effective for the most severely depressed patients.  Only the most severely depressed were even included in the studies, and only the most depressed among those were found to benefit from the medication.

Is the public being subjected to false advertising?  “The important feature of this evidence base is not reflected in the implicit messages present in the marketing of these medications to clinicians and the public,” said the researchers, who studied the results of 6 different studies on the effectiveness of anti-depressant medications.

Despite warnings from experts and research showing anti-depressants aren’t effective except in the most severe cases, usage of feel good pills is booming.  Between 1996 and 2005, prescription of antidepressants in the US more than doubled, from 13 million to 27 million.  Drug companies quadrupled their spending on direct-to-consumer advertising between 1999 and 2005.  Drug companies spent $122 million dollars a year in 2005 to sell $10 billion worth of anti-depressant drugs in 2009.

Why should an alternative to having a tenth of the American population on mood-altering drugs be considered?  Our current situation could bear an uncanny resemblance to the drugged and controlled populace described by Aldous Huxley in 1984. In his novel, the public was so addicted and pleased with their use of the drug Huxley called soma that they failed to notice their freedoms and rights were being callously stolen by their own government.

In “My Chemical Romance,” a story of getting off the anti-depressants he’d been using for 10 years without ever demonstrating a clinical need for them, writer Chris Norris describes his months long struggle to live a drug-free existence. Psychiatrist Peter Greggin and sociologist David Karp found that using these drugs can in effect burn out the body’s own ability to produce serotonin, which is essential in preventing depression.  In other words, taking anti-depressants could make you much more depressed than you were to start with, if you ever stop taking them.

If there were a cure—or at least treatment–for depression that was effective, had no side effects, and could be used by anyone interested, wouldn’t that merit trying?

Practitioners of an Access Consciousness™ hands on method called “Access Bars™” say there is.  Dr. Dain Heer, Co-Creator of Access Consciousness™, publicly credits his first bars session with permanently curing him of suicidal depression.  Then a struggling doctor, he used to lie in bed in the mornings planning the date for his own suicide.  At his first bars session, he giggled non-stop and never contemplated suicide again.

While the results are not necessarily so instantly dramatic for everyone, Gary Douglas, the discoverer of the Bars and founder of Access Consciousness, states, “The worst that can happen is that you’ll feel more relaxed than after a great massage.  The best that can happen is your whole life can change.”

Whether the results from an individual session are dramatic or not, one doctor who frequently receives the bars reports the bars absolutely work for stress relief.  “Whatever I’m worried about when I lie down on the table, I can’t hold onto it,” she says.  “By the time the hour is up, whatever was bothering me is long gone.  It’s great!”

Those who have tried meditation with or without success report that the stillness and inner peace that they seek while trying to “quiet the mind” in meditation is achievable without effort when someone else touches the specific points on their head.

There are 32 of those points, which are activated by simple light touch so simple a child can learn it.  In fact, often sessions performed by children are more effective than an adult’s because the kids have fewer preconceptions about what is not possible.

Each of the 32 points relates to an issue that causes us difficulty here on earth—money, control, body, sexuality, healing are just a few of them.  Negativity in the form of fixed beliefs, decisions, emotions, and judgments from many lifetimes are electrically stored in these points.  Touching these points releases that stored limitation, magically melting away our limitations on the subject and allowing new possibilities we couldn’t see before to appear.

Several doctors who are experts in biofeedback have reported on the brain wave changes they experienced while receiving the bars.  They reported moving from beta to alpha into theta brain waves, the waves of the deep relaxed state.

You’ve never heard of the bars, you say?  Just how available is this method?  Quite available, it turns out.  There are currently more than 700 licensed facilitators of the bars—people who have been licensed by Gary Douglas to not only perform a bars session on you, but also to facilitate the day long class in which you can learn to do the bars on yourself and others.  These facilitators span 25 countries from the U.S. to India to Turkey to Australia.

Anyone who has completed the bars class once is qualified to perform a session on you if you choose, and Bars classes are offered daily all over the globe.

You can find more information about the Bars, as well as a practitioner near you, by checking the Access Bars™ website.

This excerpt from Phillip Day's excellent book Simple Changes discuses why our intake of these familiar liquids should be moderated. It's not all bad news though, as there are often healthier ways to balance our cravings for such vices. Read the full story here.


LIMIT CAFFEINE, ALCOHOL AND CARBONATED DRINKS by Phillip Day

Excerpted from Simple Changes.

Alas, some things are rotten for us, and we live in an age where if a little is good, more must be much better. A later chapter, There is Danger in Excess, Moderation in All Things,is a motto directly applicable to the Parlour Room Three. Let’s find out what the problems are.

Caffeine

… is the most widely used drug in the world. It perks us up by stimulating the body into producing adrenalin to generate temporary physiological stress. The fight-or-flight response is supposed to be just that – temporary (e.g. the length of time it takes to wrestle Matron to the ground). However, many become addicted to how caffeine changes their psychological state from perceived pain (‘Oh dear – morning’) to a state of action (‘Right, let’s get on with it’), and thereby get drawn into a day-long usage of it. I think the beverage industry knows this.

Excess stress depletes Vitamin C, provides the conditions for plaque to generate in arteries (atherosclerosis/scurvy), reduces iron absorption and degrades mental performance. 1 Caffeine has been linked to increased risk of stroke 2 and rheumatoid arthritis 3 Caffeine also reduces insulin sensitivity so we don’t process sugars as efficiently, which can lead to insulin resistance, diabetes and a conviction for Murder One. 4 A cup of coffee in the morning is not what I’m talking about. Five cups a day is.

Chronic coffee drinkers are surfing the bean – hate to say it, but it’s a drug addiction. Try giving it up and you’ll witness all the evidence of addiction withdrawal. Some of the unpleasantness is down to the caffeine, the rest attributable to mental patterning/comfort zones we have installed (see Deal With Addictions). Try switching to tart vegetable juices when you get up – much better for you and the nutrients help overcome caffeine cravings (see Juice Veggies). Disrupt your mental patterning by changing your morning routine to avoid the breakfast table (see Free up Your Digestive Cycles). Exercise aerobically with a brisk walk or jog after you get up (remember to stretch). Your body is craving oxygen, not a skinny latte with cinnamon and a chocolate torpedo. If you are a coffee, alcohol and carbonated beverage quaffer, you’ve probably got reflux (heartburn) and some digestive issues by now, even more so if you’re a smoker. Repent!

But… But…

If you really must drink coffee, Dr Joseph Mercola offers the following useful pointers:

• Use organic coffee – Coffee is a heavily sprayed crop, so drinking organic coffee might reduce or eliminate the exposure to toxic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. The only drawback is that the countries where coffee is produced probably have less control and monitoring for compliance to organic practices. You will also be helping to protect the health of the people working in the coffee fields, as you will be helping to reduce their toxic exposure as well
• “Swiss Water Process” decaf – If you are going to drink decaffeinated coffee, be sure that it is one that uses a non-chemical-based method of decaffeination. The “Swiss Water Process” is a patented method and the best choice. Most of the major brands are chemically decaffeinated, even if it says “Naturally Decaffeinated” on the container. If you are unsure of the methods, contact the manufacturer
• Avoid sugar and/or milk – These are actually much worse for you than the coffee itself. Don’t compound the detrimental health effects by adding milk or sugar to your coffee
• Unbleached filters – If you use a “drip” coffee-maker, be sure to use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones, which most people use, are chlorine-bleached and some of this chlorine will be extracted from the filter during the brewing process

Alcohol

Once again it’s a matter of scale. Alcohol is a cell-poison. A glass of red wine a day has shown antioxidant benefits, but not because of the alcohol! 5  If you want antioxidant benefits, eat blueberries. The danger with any mood-changers lies in the perceived change in state from ‘pain’ to ‘pleasure’, which tempts us into renewing the high. Bound up with addiction is the denial issue (“Huh? I have it under control…”), the protective mechanism the brain uses against the anticipated pain of withdrawal. If that’s you in any area of addiction, rule number one: Don’t justify what’s hurting you. Rule number two: Get help (see Deal With Addictions).

Carbonated Drinks

Sally Squires reports: ‘Americans drink more soda pop [fizzy drinks] than ever before. These popular beverages account for more than a quarter of all drinks consumed in the United States. More than 15 billion gallons were sold in 2000. That works out to at least one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child.

Kids are heavy consumers of soft drinks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and they are guzzling soda pop at unprecedented rates. Carbonated soda pop provides more added sugar in a typical 2-year-old toddler’s diet than cookies, candies and ice cream combined. Fifty-six percent of 8-year-olds down soft drinks daily, and a third of teenage boys drink at least three cans of soda pop per day.

Not only are soft drinks widely available everywhere, from fast food restaurants to video stores, they’re now sold in 60 percent of all public and private middle schools and high schools nationwide, according to the National Soft Drink Association. A few schools are even giving away soft drinks to students who buy school lunches.

As soda pop becomes the beverage of choice among the nation’s young – and as soda marketers focus on brand-building among younger and younger consumers – public health officials, school boards, parents, consumer groups and even the soft drink industry are faced with nagging questions:

How healthful are these beverages, which provide a lot of calories, sugars and caffeine but no significant nutritional value? And what happens if you drink a lot of them at a very young age?” 7

Well, it’s not good. Carbonated drinks are acidic and cause oesophageal reflux. The carbonation process, as its name implies, uses carbon dioxide in a medium of phosphoric acid. Though carbonation is alluring by dint of its ‘thirst-quenching’ properties, real thirst-quenching is accomplished using water not acid. Many of the diet versions of these drinks are also ‘sweetened’ with aspartame, a neurological excitotoxin 7 while those that aren’t can contain anywhere from six to ten teaspoons of sugar. And if all that isn’t enough, phosphorous depletes calcium, which leads to bone loss, the condition known as osteoporosis. And then there’s the aluminium can!

Summary

In a perfect world, we would do without the lot and just drink water. Am I kidding? No. However, advertising and the taste monster have conspired to seduce an entire planet, so I suspect the reality for most of us will be a casual usage somewhere in between.

My advice? Try doing without them or set strict limits on use and ruthlessly enforce. These three can be an addictive, lethal deluge of acid (not to mention all the chemicals and preservatives involved). When ill-advisedly combined with a stressful, busy lifestyle and maintained over the long-haul? See Choose the Right Doctor.

(NaturalNews) More than 90 years ago doctors and health practitioners discovered the life-saving, disinfectant and germicidal properties in colloidal silver. Anecdotal evidence has confirmed its efficacy as a natural antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal agent. Click here for the full story.

Experts who carried out one of the largest diet and heart studies conducted, found the potent mixture of these everyday foods can have a major impact on long-term health. (Click here to read the full story) 

For a detailed investigation into this and other methods to help correct different forms of cardiovascular disease, see Phillip Day's comprehensive online seminar, AFFAIRS OF THE HEART. Have you seen Mike Anderson's excellent "Eating" DVD yet? A must for all your family and friends!

(For the full story click here - Natural News)

The regretful passing of an American entertainment icon - Whitney Houston - marks yet another sad milestone in the devastating body count of the prescription drug industry. TIMELINE OF CELEBRITIES KILLED BY BIG PHARMA: WHITNEY HOUSTON, MICHAEL JACKSON, HEATH LEDGER, FARRAH FAWCETT, ELVIS AND MORE.

KILLS MORE PEOPLE THAN HEART DISEASE OR CANCER (BUT HARDLY ANYONE KNOWS).

Have you ever thought if only you didn't procrastinate you'd be happier, more successful and make more money? What if procrastinating wasn't what you thought it was? Ask yourself these questions and see what shows up for you. 

Experts warn sugary foods and drinks are responsible for illnesses including obesity, heart disease, cancer and liver problems. And they claim it contributes to 35 million deaths a year worldwide and is so dangerous it should be controlled through taxation and legislation. They warn obesity is now a bigger problem than malnourishment across the world. Read the full story here.

Scientists used data from analysis of Australian children and how rates of food allergies, eczema and asthma varied throughout the country. On average children in the south of the country were twice as likely to develop eczema as those in the north. There was also a link between latitude and allergies to peanuts and eggs. Read the full story here.

Mike Anderson has done a great job with Healing Cancer From Inside Out and Eating. These films, which Phillip Day was promoting on his last tour, are ideal to pass around family and friends.

Healing Cancer from the Inside Out, 2nd edition
This award-winning film is two hours long, in two parts, and covers a comprehensive range of topics. From the failings of conventional treatment to how cancer can be successfully healed with dietary treatments and natural supplementation.

Eating, third edition
Join over 40 million people throughout the world who have watched this award-winning film. It covers a lot of ground very comprehensively - and all within 88 short minutes. Among the many highlights are interviews with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Neil Pinckney, Dr. Ruth Heidrich and Dr. Joseph Crowe.

Scientists at UCLA's school of medicine have found that negative social interactions can lead to increased inflammation, which may in turn cause a host of illnesses. Read the full story here.