The Rise of Obesity in America - Why America Is Sick!

The information on the map below speaks for itself. Either we take the time to get healthy or we will take the time to be sick. The map indicates a very unhealthy America.

Now is the time to begin a new chapter in your life--that of health and wellness. No one has to be a statistic.

Don't wait until January, 2008--that is called procrastination which is why most people are sick to begin with. Choose health today! To help you achieve your health goals I have written a comprehensive e-book that will take you through the steps that will help you to reach each goal. This is the same health plan that OAW clients use to get healthy and now you can, too, from the comfort of your own home.

Learn how to--eat to live--rather than--live to eat. There is a huge difference!

Get your copy today. Optimum Health Strategies...Doing What Works!

Beating Colds & Flu: The Natural Way

Because I am constantly asked about natural remedies for the flu and colds that will not load the body up with harmful chemicals and toxic excipients but yet allow the body to heal safely and naturally, I put together an extensive ten page cold and flu article that provides suggestions, remedies and supplementation that will help the body to heal naturally.

It has been calculated that the average American gets two to four colds every year and has at least a 20-30 percent chance of getting the flu; these numbers are especially higher for women, especially those who are around young children. Keeping your body strong and healthy enhances your chances of getting through the cough-and-sniffle season untouched. But since no one is totally immune, it's best to always be prepared by practicing prevention and having a plan to minimize the misery should a virus come into play.

It is possible to effectively ease the pain and discomfort of colds and flu, naturally.
The time to treat a cold/flu is when you do not have it!
Prevention is always easier than cure.

The common cold is caused by any one of 200 different viruses. After infection occurs, symptoms range from sore throat, runny nose, nasal and chest congestion, watery eyes to a hacking cough, pressure headache, and fever. Recurrent colds (constantly suffering) may indicate a lowered immune function possibly caused by too much stress, unhealthy diet, not enough sleep or possibly a more serious health concern. These are some of the reasons that we see more and more colds/flu during the often hectic holiday season that runs from November through February.

Of course we all realize that colds and flu are highly contagious. Coughing, sneezing or hand to hand contact will easily pass the virus around. The virus can live for several hours on everyday surfaces such as door knobs, shopping baskets, toys, computer keyboards, cell phones, TV remotes and telephone receivers, etc.

The purpose of my ten-page article, Beating Colds & Flu: The Natural Way is to educate about effective natural offenses and defenses that can be implemented before and during cold and flu season.

When implementing the preventative measures that I outline, chances of contracting cold and flu become minimal. I have found through clinical practice that the faster a person implements preventative measures, the better the chance of escaping an episode with the flu and/or cold.

By following the suggestions in Beating Colds & Flu: The Natural Way, you will be educating yourself on how to prepare, prevent and treat colds and flu, in a safe, natural manner--all from the comfort of your own home.

You can get your FREE copy here.

One more thing...

Should you find yourself battling a cold and/or the flu, besides implementing the suggestions in my aritlce, please, please stay home, forego all activities for a while and give your body the time and rest that it needs to heal and rejuvenate. Your body will thank you and so will the people who are around you everyday!

The Many Benefits of Iodine in the Body

Radio Liberty host Dr. Stanley Monteith. interviews Dr. Jorge Flechas about the importance of iodine in its relationship to the endocrine system, PCOS, cancer, senility, breast cancer, thyroid disease, ADD, IQ, ovarrian cysts and infertility.

Interview with Dr. Jorge Flechas - Benefits of Iodine

Standard Player

Iodine has now been taken out of bread and milk and half has been taken out of salt. We are told to eliminate salt at any hint of high blood pressure. Iodine has been replaced by bromide for all commercial bread making. We are told not to consume fish (another source of iodine) because of mercury contamination.

Bromide is a very toxic substance. Bromo-seltzer, in the 1920's, was used for headaches or hangovers. Many of the people using bromo-seltzer were getting pyschotic. Between1920 and 1960 over 20% of people admitted to American pyschiatric hospitals were admitted for psychosis secondary to consuming bromo-seltzer.

Mountain Dew contains brominated vegetable oil. Bromide supresses the central nervous system. Also, more caffeine in Mountain Dew than in Coke! Also, Fresca and Gatorade products that contain citric acid. Almost all soft drink dispensing machines in schools contain Montain Dew. Many kids are drinking from 9-10 Mountain Dew drinks per day!

If we took most kids off off of just soda, most would naturally lose between 10 and 20 pounds in one year.

When bromide is placed into liquid oil such as olive oil it will turn it into a solid oil. Possibly a reason that so many children have problems getting weight to come off and stay off.

We are now selling brominated flour. In 2000, Brazil out-lawed the use of bromide in any type of flour.

Bromide comes out of the Dead Sea and is used to spray strawberries and other types of fruit to kill the bugs. California was thinking about allowing companies to begin spraying fruits and vegetables with fluoride in order to get rid of fluoride that has been stored up.

Go to Wal-Mart and look at reverse osmosis and distilled water aisles and you will see distilled water with ADDED FLUORIDE for children.

The average American eats 138 mcgs of iodine per day. The body can utilize up to 9-10 mgs per day.

Development of cysts throughout the body -- relationship to iodine.

Thyroid cancer has doubled within the last 10 years.

Iodine helps the body to sweat. Many people have lost the ability to sweat.

Natural source of iodine - We need to teach our population how to become good marine vegetarians, not just vegetarians.

Iodine tends to detoxify the body from bromine and fluoride. Iodine helps to chelate out toxic heavy metals but will not touch the essential metals and minerals that they body needs.

If a person can eat iodized salt with NO REACTION then they can take Luguols or Iodoral.

http://www.helpmythyroid.com/ - Dr. Flechas website.

Maryland Threatening Jail Time for Parents Not Vaccinating

This is absolutely outrageous and every parent in the US who values their right to provide and protect their children should be flooding the office of Glenn F. Ivy with calls of protest. This is nothing short of the state's underlying mantra, "we know best for YOUR children, we will take care of you." Last I heard, our children are OUR children, not the states, and "we the people" run this country, not elected officials (in theory, anyway). I have NOT seen a check in my mail box reinbursing to me the expenses that have been incurred in raising children. If we do not take a stand on riduculous abuse of power such as this, then we better get ready to stand in lines for government mandatory shots of which only the government knows what the ingredients consist of. This IS all about FREEDOM OF CHOICE and FREEDOM to decide how we choose to take care of our health and that of our children. Please do your research about vaccinations and the fact that most don't protect like they would have us to believe. Many children suffer side-effects and some of them are as dangerous as the side-effects from drugs that have been pulled from the market. This is also about putting toxic chemicals into the bodies of our children. If a family wants to vaccinate then that should be their choice, but let us protect that freedom of choice for everyone, including those who choose not to vaccinate. Contact your state reps today along with Prince George, Maryland State Attorney Glenn F. Ivy. Maybe Maryland parents should propose that, since Mr. Ivy is so concerned about childrens vaccination records, he should be willing to sign a waiver stating that he will personally provide, financially, for any child whose health is harmed in any way by the side-effects of a vaccine. I wonder if his big-time threats would change. Possibly he would become silent.

You can always put vaccines in... but you can never take them out. If we do not shout NOW about this attempt to take away parental rights and healthcare freedom, we may be crying later!


Jail Tim For Not Vaccinating In Maryland
by Barbara Loe Fisher
http://www.nvic.org/

Tomorrow, Nov. 17, Prince George, Maryland States Attorney Glenn F. Ivy (D) and the countys public health and education officials are bringing the power of the State down on parents who have not gotten their children injected with vaccines for chickenpox and hepatitis B.

In a Nov. 13 press release issued by the Prince George's County Public Schools (http://www1.pgcps.org/interior.aspx? id=30956 ) and at a press conference that day, state officials made it clear they were going to use whatever means they had to use to force the children to get vaccinated. Ivy said he was prepared to throw the parents whose children had not gotten their shots in jail: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it has got to be done. I am willing to move forward with legal action." The parents of children, who have been kicked out of school for failing to get their shots and are subject to state truancy laws, are being summoned to the Prince Georges County Courthouse in Upper Marlboro on Saturday with their children to get them vaccinated on- site or face fines and jail time.

Yesterday, in two televised debates on CNN with longtime national vaccine policymaker William Shaffner, M.D. of Vanderbilt, and on MSNBC with Prince Georges County Health Officer Donald Shell, M.D., I made the following points:http://w ww.youtube.com/v/G6z3htbpq70http:// www.youtube.com/v/BLHRceEUz8w

1) Terrorizing and threatening parents with jail time for not getting their children a chickenpox shot is not the way to handle the situation;

2) Some of the children may have had serious reactions to previous vaccinations and their parents are only trying to protect them from harm;

3) Even though it is unclear why all of the parents have not complied with the new vaccine requirements, when government officials use threats and intimidation to force parents to do what they want them to do, parents will fear and mistrust government officials;

4) There are many new vaccines being developed that will be added to the childhood schedule and what has happened in Maryland brings up the question that many parents are asking: How many more vaccines are children going to be forced to get to be able to get a public education? Many parents think too many vaccines are already required;

5) Chickenpox is not smallpox and hepatitis B is not polio. Hepatitis B is not an infection that can be transmitted in the school setting and chickenpox is mild for most children. These diseases do not fit the model of highly contagious diseases with a high rate of complications leading to permanent injury and death that have led to state vaccine requirements in the past;

6) Although Maryland and other states may allow medical and religious exemptions, they are very difficult for parents to obtain. Doctors cannot easily write medical exemptions that are not second- guessed by public health officials, who require strict adherence to narrow contraindications blessed by the CDC. Often parents, who attempt to file religious exemptions, are thrown into rooms and grilled about the sincerity of the religious beliefs;

7) Parents are wondering why every vaccine that industry produces is always automatically recommended for universal use by the CDC and then mandated;

8) The vaccine safety and informed consent debate is becoming more intense because more parents are reporting that their children are regressing into poor health after receiving many vaccines. Vaccines carry risks of seizures, brain inflammation and even death and often high risk children are not screened out of the program;

9) It is time for the people to take back the power - through their elected representatives - to decide which vaccines their children should have to take to go to school. In the past few decades, legislatures have given up their power to vote on which new vaccines will be mandated and have handed that power over to public health officials who have never met a vaccine they did not want to mandate;

10) The ethical principle of informed consent that applies to every other medical procedure that carries risks should also be applied to vaccination. Everyone should have the right to make an informed, voluntary vaccination choice.

There are many reasons why children do not receive vaccines. Some parents want to vaccinate their children but do not have access to public health clinics that are open during times that are convenient for parents. There may be cost and affordability issues. Others want to exempt their children from certain vaccines for reasons of religious belief or conscience but, as is the case in Maryland, cannot file a religious exemption unless they refuse all vaccines. Some may have children who have regressed into poor health after previous vaccinations and believe their children are genetically or otherwise at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions but can't find a doctor to write a medical exemption and do not have religious beliefs that qualify them for a religious exemption. Others are opposed to all vaccine use because they have determined that vaccines are not necessary, safe or effective.

Whatever the reasons for parents not vaccinating their children with all state mandated vaccines, it is inappropriate for state officials to threaten parents with jail time. Reportedly, there are about 6,000 truant students in the state of Maryland. Are the parents of the other 4,000 students who are missing from school also being given deadlines and facing jail time their truant children?

Or could this military action by what some parents are referring to as "The Vaccine Police" be simply a case of an eager State's Attorney looking for a political platform teaming up with over-zealous health and education officials to achieve a 100 percent vaccination rate with all state-mandated vaccines in Maryland?

Whatever the case, hopefully the several thousand children showing up with their parents at the courthouse tomorrow to get vaccinated will be carefully screened for pre-existing health conditions that could put them at high risk for suffering severe reactions and their parents will be fully informed about how to monitor their children for symptoms of vaccine reactions. In the zeal to implement public policy, what health and education officials often forget is that individual responses to pharmaceutical products vary. The one-size-fits-all approach increases the risk of side effects for those genetically and otherwise biologically at higher risk and that is just one of many good reasons why the right to informed consent to vaccination is a human right.

If you live in a state which does not have philosophical or conscientious belief exemption and are interested in educating your elected state representatives about vaccination and the need for informed consent protections in vaccine laws in your state, please contact NVIC at nvicINFO@gmail.com

Maryland Vaccine Exemption Form:http://edcp.org/pdf/896_form_revised_Dec- 2005.pdf

New Chickenpox and Hepatitis B Vaccine Requirements in Maryland:http://www.ma rylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/8D232316- E7C2-4A7A-91E2- 009E3D36F95C/13616/FAQ_0808.pdf

Total Vaccine Requirements for children living in Maryland:http://ww w.edcp.org/pdf/at105092.pdf

"Children should not be deprived of an education when our County offers free immunizations. This is a public health and childrens rights issue that we are determined to correct," said Board of Education Chair R. Owen Johnson, Jr.

"The goal is to get kids in school,"State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said. (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

School, Health Department Working Together to Immunize All School Children County Schools, Government Go to Court to Provide Children's Immunizations

Putting the educational and health needs of children first, Prince Georges County Public Schools (PGCPS) and the County Health Department announced today that parents have been ordered to appear in court so their children can become compliant with State immunization requirements.

"Children should not be deprived of an education when our County offers free immunizations. This is a public health and childrens rights issue that we are determined to correct," said Board of Education Chair R. Owen Johnson, Jr., who made the announcement today outside the Circuit Court of Prince George's County. "Children need to be in school to learn. Every day they are not permitted to attend school because they have not received their vaccinations is a missed opportunity."

On Saturday, November 17, 2007, the first of a series of hearings will be held in the Circuit Court of Prince George's County, 14735 Main Street, Upper Marlboro. Parents will appear with 1,671 children, who will receive needed vaccinations administered by the Prince Georges County Health Department's licensed health care professionals.

"One of the most important things parents can do to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases is to make sure their children receive all their immunizations," said Donald Shell, M.D, M.A, Health Officer "Working in partnership with our county's schools, our goal is to provide immunizations to all children in need. With immunization of children, parents must partner with Health Department to authorize the delivery of services to their child.

"The School System and Health Department have given parents of more than 2,300 students currently out of compliance with State school immunization requirements ample notice of the impending court dates. The following steps have been taken to notify parents of the severity of non-compliance:

1. Letters were sent to the homes of students not in compliance stating the deadline to acquire immunizations. These letters first mentioned the possibility of being summoned to Court.

2. Letters were sent to Physicians on April 24, 2006 to inform them of the new state immunization requirements that went into effect on September 1, 2006.

3. Additional immunization clinics were scheduled on Saturdays, evenings, and at additional sites.

The following steps will be taken if parents/guardians fail to respond:

1. Their name will be forwarded to the Court Liaison for referral to Circuit Court.

2. Parents will receive a letter from the Circuit Court Judge commanding their appearance in Court.

3. When parents appear in Court, the Judge will issue a verbal reprimand and direct them to have their children immunized on site.

4. The Health Department will be on-site to immunize non-compliant students.

5. Students will return to school as soon as they receive their required immunizations.If a parent refuses to attend the Court hearing and/or allow their child to be immunized at Court, a Pupil Personnel Worker will prepare a packet that will facilitate parental referral to Court for further action

Get Kids Vaccinated Or Else, Parents Told
Pr. George County Threatens Legal Action

The Washington PostNovember 14, 2007by Nelson Hernandez
Click here for the URL: (registration required)

The parents of more than 2,300 Prince George County students who failed to get needed vaccinations could face fines of $50 a day and up to 10 days in jail if their children do not meet the state's immunization requirements, county officials said yesterday.

The threat of legal action is a last resort after months in which Prince Georges has struggled to get its 131,000 students immunized for chicken pox and hepatitis B, as mandated by the state. More than 2,300 students have not been immunized and have been barred from attending schools, almost two months after a Sept. 20 deadline for meeting the requirement. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it's got to get done," Prince Georges State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said at a news conference in Upper Marlboro. "I'm willing to move forward with legal action."

School officials have made calls, sent letters and conducted home visits to make arrangements for free appointments for the needed shots. But often the students addresses and phone numbers have been outdated, making contacting them difficult. Other students have received the vaccines but failed to get the necessary booster shots.

The school system turned to the justice system as a final option and received the backing of Circuit Judge William D. Missouri, the countys administrative judge, and Circuit Judge C. Philip Nichols Jr., who handles juvenile matters.

"This is an educational crisis," said R. Owen Johnson Jr., chairman of the school board. "This is a public health and a childrens rights issue.

"Nichols and Ivey sent another round of letters to the families still out of compliance. Nichols letter ordered the parents to show up at Prince Georges Circuit Court for a court hearing and a free vaccine; Iveys letter warned that "unexcused absences by your child may subject you to a criminal charge.

"They expect almost 1,700 children to show up Saturday with their parents for the first in a series of Circuit Court hearings on the matter. School officials said the parents would receive a verbal reprimand from the judge and be ordered to have their children immunized in the courthouse. The students would then be allowed to return to school.

Parents who do not appear could face fines of $50 for each day they fail to get their children immunized after being charged. They also could serve up to 10 days in jail. Ivey said he hoped charging parents would not be necessary.

"The goal is to get kids in school, not to put parents in jail," Ivey said.

Missouri said he looked forward to talking to the parents who had not gotten their children immunized, to understand why.

"I would like to know exactly what the reasons are because the reasons may be able to be addressed without ratcheting it up to this point," he said.

Schools officials said they were sorry the crisis had gone this far, but that it needed to be solved immediately.

"This has really, really been a difficult time for us," said Betty Despenza-Green, the school systems chief of student services. "It hurts us when any child is out of school because he needs to be immunized, and so we felt we needed to be creative. We need those students immunized. We need them in schools."

Parents Face Fines, Jail Time for Failure to Immunize
School District Orders Parents to Appear in Court for Failure to Immunize

ABC NewsNovember 14, 2007
by Cullen Dirner

Click here for the URL:

A Maryland school district has ordered parents of more than 2,300 students to court Saturday for failure to immunize their children. The parents could face fines and jail time if they do not appear. The students, in grades five through 10, will be required to report to court with their parents. While students can expect to be vaccinated before they leave the courthouse, parents will be lectured to by Circuit Court Judge Philip Nichols Jr. on the necessity of vaccination. Those who fail to appear face fines of $50 a day and up to 10 days in jail.

According to Prince Georges County Schools spokesman John White, the students were required to receive two shots before Sept. 20: one for hepatitis B and the other for the chickenpox. Parents who did not meet the deadline for both shots were asked not to bring their children to school until they were immunized or provided proof of an immunization appointment.

White said students still continue to show up at school without having received the shots or providing proof of an appointment. The parents were also asked to sign a consent form allowing the schools to provide the necessary vaccinations, White said.

"This shows you how redundant our attempts have been. In many cases kids still have to come to school, and when they come to pick their child up, they are asked if they could sign the consent, and in some cases they don't sign it," said White.

According to Prince Georges County Schools, neglecting to have a child vaccinated is not the norm. Out of 132,000 students in the county school system, 2,300 students have been tardy in meeting the immunization deadline. "The majority of parents have done the right thing," said White.

A Nationwide Survey of Vaccination

Despite discrepancies in state immunization laws, the nationwide vaccination rate is approximately 95 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, says that on the whole, "we are doing a very good job vaccinating children."

"We vaccinate infants and insist that children be vaccinated before they attend day care and kindergarten. So, by the time they enter kindergarten, more than 90 percent of the children are well-vaccinated against a whole spectrum of communicable diseases," said Schaffner.

According to Schaffner, the responsibility to vaccinate children lies on the shoulders of the parents.

"When we bring children into the world, responsibilities go with that. These parents have had ample opportunities. The vaccine is available. They could have organized to do this. So shame on them," he said.

Circuit Court Judge Philip Nichols Jr. was asked by the school board to send out the letters to the parents ordering them to court. With the help of the school district and the county health board, the Circuit Court gathered all the tools necessary to immunize all the children Saturday. The plan is to get the students back in school.

"They asked me to ask everybody who has a child who is not going to school to explain to them how important it is to go to school," Nichols explained. Nichols said that by working with the school board on this issue, he hopes it will teach the students lifelong lessons about the importance of staying in school and the importance of preventing bad habits -- the kind that would send them back to the courts -- from forming. "It is a lot of kids not going to school for something that is easy to fix," Nichols said.

HEALTH FREEDOM - HOPE FOR AMERICA - RON PAUL

SUPPORT HEALTH FREEDOM
Ron Paul's Natural Health Platform

Americans are justifiably concerned over government escalating intervention into their freedom to choose what they eat and how they take care of their health.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in order to comply with standards dictated by supranational organizations such as the UNs World Food Code (CODEX), NAFTA, and CAFTA, has been assuming greater control over nutrients, vitamins and natural health care providers to restrict your right to choose the manner in which you manage your health and nutritional needs.

I have been the national leader in preserving Health Freedom.

I have introduced the Health Freedom Protection Act, HR 2117, to ensure Americans can receive truthful health information about supplements and natural remedies.

I support the Access to Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 746, which expands the ability of Americans to use alternative medicine and new treatments.

I oppose legislation that increases the FDAs legal powers. FDA has consistently failed to protect the public from dangerous drugs, genetically modified foods, dangerous pesticides and other chemicals in the food supply. Meanwhile they waste public funds attacking safe, healthy foods and dietary supplements.

I also opposed the Homeland Security Bill, H.R. 5005, which, in section 304, authorizes the forced vaccination of American citizens against small pox. The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations.

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/health-freedom/

http://www.youtube.com/RonPaul2008DotCom

Play Grounds & Artificial Turf - Full of Toxins

The following article is an example of how we continue to be bombarded with chemicals in our every-day lives. In trying to make our lives more convenient we are literally causing disease and illness by "hoping" that these "make life more convenient" chemicals are really safe which is exactly what the chemical companies want us to believe. Placing old crumb rubber on children's playgrounds sounds innocent enough, but when considering the chemical make-up of these tires, even the "possibility" of contamination is enough to insist that this practice is stopped. Out of 80,000 chemicals now used in the US, standards exist for only 500 and comprehensive testing is not required. Huge red flag? The next question would be "why" is conprehensive testing not required? Obviously the chemical companies are glad about this and just maybe the public is being used as lab rats....following the same practice of the pharmaceutical companies. Think about it.

Artificial Turf Full of Toxins That Can Cause Cancer
Abram Katz , Register Science Editor NewHavenRegister.com

Every new expanse of artificial turf contains plastic grass and about 120 tons of finely chopped tires that emit a small amount of toxic, cancer-causing, mutation-triggering chemicals and metals.

The layer of rubber "crumbs" makes the surface softer and more forgiving. It also gives off dozens of compounds that have not been studied or assessed for safety in the United States.

Despite assurances from the state Department of Public Health that the chemicals in artificial turf are little cause for concern, environmentalists and a growing number of public officials in the Northeast are questioning the wisdom of building athletic fields containing the equivalent of 26,000 tires of unknown composition.

Outdoor sports were played on grass and dirt until 1966 and the advent of the enclosed Houston Astrodome, which was too dark inside to grow grass. A Monsanto subsidiary produced ersatz grass that came to be called Astroturf. In 1967, Indiana State built the first stadium with outdoor Astroturf.

Astroturf evolved into a product similar to a plastic shag carpet in-filled with granulated rubber.

Preliminary safety studies conducted in Connecticut, California, Missouri and Europe suggest that these polypropylene mats, topped with loose, dusty rubber crumbs, may pose a risk to toddlers, children and teens.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and environmental organizations in Connecticut and other states call for research into the properties and safety of the scores of chemicals that leach out of tires.

However, the number and unfamiliarity of these rubber chemicals are so extreme that assessing the substances safety may require decades of work, experts said.

Meanwhile, minced tires are being sold as mulch and as a surface for playgrounds.

Environment & Human Health Inc. of North Haven completed a 30-page study of artificial turf in July, becoming one of the first environmental groups to address the issue.

Nancy Alderman, president of EHHI, said, "People have been calling from all over the country. We are one of the few organizations that has done anything."

Whatever is seeping out of rubber crumbs is an unnecessary exposure, she said. "What are we doing to children? We should not put the stuff in playgrounds," she said.

Some civic officials are starting to think the same way.

Fairfield conservation officials blocked an artificial turf field at Fairfield Country Day School last week. Artificial turf fields were also recently rejected in New York and New Jersey townships.

Out of the 850 or so artificial fields in the U.S., Connecticut has around 50; New York, 150; and New Jersey, 150. East Haven, Milford, Guilford and Branford have artificial turf playing fields.

Schools invest in artificial fields because natural grass is easily damaged and costly to maintain and replace. Grass also needs regular watering and application of pesticides.

While safety studies of rubber granulate are beginning in the U.S., the Swedish Chemical Agency recommended in April that the material not be used in artificial turf because crumbs release hazardous materials. The South Korean education ministry began investigating the safety of recycled rubber granules over the summer following student complaints, and last year a study undertaken by the Italian minister of health found that synthetic turf fields are potentially carcinogenic.

Just what is in the tires, and what chemicals emerge when the synthetic rubber breaks down is difficult to determine, said David R. Brown, director of public health toxicology for EHHI.

"Tire crumbs is a very generic term. Different tires contain different chemicals. Different crumbs give off different chemicals in different proportions, but they all have carbon black," he said.

The comprehensive California study found that tire crumbs contain 15 metals, including zinc; 20 volatile organic compounds; 14 semi-volatile organic compounds; and particulates.

Researchers found five benzothiazoles, used to speed vulcanization of rubber. Phenol, used as a softener and extender, was also detected. Two nitrosamine compounds were also evident. Other chemicals to slow degradation of rubber, and to bond rubber to metal belts also turned up.

Where do all of these chemicals come from?

Few, if any, tires are made from natural latex rubber. Most are synthetic and contain styrene-butadiene, ethylene propylene diene monomer and other petroleum-based polymers.

When the materials break down, or are left out in the sun and rain, a related family of chemicals emerges.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven analyzed rubber crumbs and the chemicals they leach, finding benzothiazole, butylated hydroxyanisole, hexadecane, a phenol, zinc, selenium, lead and cadmium.

Mary Jane Mattina, chief of analytical chemistry at the experiment station, said laboratory tests are informative but cannot reveal how the rubber granules will perform in the field.

"More work is appropriate," she said.

Brown said, "We are not taking a minimal problem and blowing it out of proportion. On a hot day with low wind, the chemicals do not dissipate quickly."

Brown said the tire industry seems to have found a lucrative way to dispose of used tires as crumb rubber. "Then came the idea that $500,000 to $1 million fields could be sold to schools. If the crumbs are consumed, they are digested and release carcinogens. Eating 10 grams, the equivalent of 10 Splenda packs, puts you over the risk threshold for cancer in California. You can not say it is trivial. It is not," Brown said.

While a grass field would be decked with fertilizer, pesticides and other chemicals, agricultural chemicals are tested, licensed and regulated, Brown said. Grass turf has no surprises, whereas crumb rubber might.

"There needs to be some basic, common sense assessment before we go and do these kinds of things. The more I looked at artificial turf, the more concerned I have become," Brown said.

"If someone got serious about this, someone could come up with the right questions, sampling and establish the risk. It is easier to argue about it than get data," he said.

That could prove easier said than done.

Tim Morse, associate professor at the Occupational and Environmental Health Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center, said that out of 80,000 chemicals now used in the United States, standards exist for only 500. "We do not require comprehensive testing," he said.

Beside, the U.S. chemical inventory is mostly stock with which to make other products. No companies make poly aromatic hydrocarbons, or other exhaust or waste products.

One solution to the crumb rubber problem might be to change the way tires are manufactured, Morse said. Perhaps safer chemicals could be used.

Blumenthal is still pushing for $200,000 with which to conduct research into crumb rubber. If state agencies will not supply the money, he may seek private contributions, he said.

"There is a need for more research and study on the health hazards," Blumenthal said.

Rather than review every chemical detected in crumb rubber, investigators could search for known harmful compounds, he said.

"Few people anticipated that their children would stick their faces into chopped up tires, or swallow any. My four children played on synthetic turf. I am not panicking," Blumenthal said.

Simple measures, such as washing after playing on artificial turf and avoiding artificial turf when temperatures are high, could minimize whatever risk the rubber poses, he said.

"The connection between tires and health effects are unexplored. It is counter-intuitive to use tires where children play. I can understand the apprehension of parents," Blumenthal said.

"There seem to be serious questions here. Maybe we should find answers," he said.

MRSA - Prevention is Best

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an illness of obscurity and mostly confined to a small amount of hospital intensive-care units, is presently on its way to becoming a household word.

Though still almost always hospital-acquired, MRSA is spreading, and reaching epidemic levels in parts of the United States, such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and Texas.

A recent study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that MRSA was the culprit in 94,000 life-threatening infections in 2005, and 18,650 people died from MRSA that year. Deaths from MRSA have now ran ahead those from another deadly epidemic, AIDS. In 2005, close to 16,000 people died from AIDS.

According to the report some of MRSA's concerning trends are:

An estimate of 15 percent of invasive MRSA infections occurred among those who had not been in a hospital or health care setting.

Of the 85 percent of infections that could be traced back to hospitals or health care settings, two-thirds appeared after the patient was no longer hospitalized.

People over the age of 65 were almost four times as likely to get an MRSA infection than people of other ages.

And outbreaks of MRSA are now happening in schools across America. Students in at least six states have become infected; three of the children have died.

MRSA: The Superbug

MRSA is called a superbug because it's apparent resistant to many types of antibiotics. Not only is MRSA resistant to methicillin, which includes penicillin and related antibiotics, but it's beginning to show resistant properties to newer antibiotics.

It is not uncommon for people to carry MRSA on their skin -- about 30 percent of people do -- but the bacteria has become a problem because of the overuse of antibiotics in the United States, in both humans and the routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock, which people then ingest via their food and water. It is believed that this has caused the bacteria to mutate into one that is a challenge to control.

People who carry MRSA on their skin without being sick (which happens regularly), are said to be "colonized" with the bacteria. Though a person may not be affected, they can still pass the germs on to others.

It is important to note that about 12 million people receive treatment for skin infections caused by MRSA each year, according to the CDC's Jeff Hageman.

Prevention

1) Wash hands with a non-antibacterial natural soap before and after every meal and after each trip to the bathroom. Teach your children to wash their hands frequently while at school especially after gym or recess. Be sure to shower/bathe daily, preferably in the evening.

2) Keep your immune system healthy by eating a healthy diet; drinking pure clean water; performing a liver/gallbladder cleanse and digestive tract cleanse at least 2x yearly; getting 30 minutes of sunshine and exercise daily; reducing stress and negative emotions; eliminating all hydrogenated oils and incorporating healthy oils into the diet such as flax seed oil, hemp seed oil and coconut oil; eliminating all white flour and sugar.

3) Take a good organic multi-vitamin mineral supplement daily. I recommend intraMAX for adults and intraKID for children. intraMAX and intraKID are100% natural flavored liquid organic homeostatic soil-based microComplexes derived from 100% organic plant sources and thus are ultra dissolved, organically complexed trace minerals.

4) Keep cuts and abrasions covered with bandages until they have healed. Replace bandages daily.

5) Shower immediately after any contact sports.

6) Don't share personal articles such as razors, towels, sheets, make-up, clothing or athletic equipment. Wash athletic uniforms immediately after use.

7) Germ Fighter Spray - Germ Fighter Spray is proven to help in the battle against germs such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and much more. A simple spray of your hands or any area where germs may be present and you will have the added protection of powerful all natural germ fighting.

8) Cell phones and land-line phones - After each use, spray Germ Fighter Spray on the parts of your cell phone and home phone that touch the skin.

9) Should you be in a hospital ore health-care setting make sure, or ask a family member to make sure, that no one touches you without having washed their hands first. This means doctors, nurses, therapists, etc. Also when visiting your healthcare practitioner insist that--before your examination--they wash their hands or apply gloves to their hands.

Clean Water - Hydration for Wellness

Hydration is the most important thing that we can do to keep our cells functioning normally. When drinking a lot of juices, teas, etc. it is easy to neglect pure, clean water and the body’s need for it. All the body wants and needs for hydration is water. Once you become dehydrated it takes at least 3x the normal fluid to get the body back to a hydrated state. A good recommendation is to drink ½ your body weight in ounces of pure, clean (preferably NOT in a plastic bottle) water every day. It may be difficult at first, but soon your natural thirst will take over and all you will want is water.

So Drink UP!

In Water - The Stuff of Life Phillip Day says --

"The human body is a bio-electrical water machine that requires a quart a day for every 50 lbs of body weight. The blood alone is made up of a large percentage of watery serum. The lymph fluids which transport waste and nutrients, comprising four times the volume of blood in the body, are made from the water we consume.Water is used by the body for digestion, detoxifying cells, watering the lungs, lubricating joints, keeping the body alkalized and a host of cleaning duties. When the body does not receive a constant, reliable supply of water, it has to ration what is available and cut back on certain functions to make the supply go round."

Water helps to keep skin vibrant and young looking. However, it is not the amount of water you drink but how well your skin holds the water and keeps the water from evaporating. Skin requires sufficient levels of fatty acids, ceramindes (a type of fat) and cholesterol to hold onto the water that is put into the body. This is the reason that many vegans and people on low-cholesterol diets or choleseterol-lowering drugs experience dry skin.

A natural and easy way to add minerals to your water (distilled water) is to add organic apple cider vinegar. 1 capful per 16 ounces of water or 2-3 tablespoons per gallon. It takes a bit to get used to the taste, but after a while you will get to where you prefer it. Apple cider vinegar contains all the minerals that the body needs. Organic apple cider vinegar is also good for metabolism.

It is important to take 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt every day. And we need to make sure that it is sea salt and not table salt, which contains nothing of much value, is bleached and not useable for the body.

I have not tried this recipe, but it looks like it would be good. I would suggest this only when absolutely needed.

Natural Gatorade

1 cup warm spring water
1cup freshly squeezed organic lemon or lime juice
3 tbsp. raw honey
1 tsp. bee pollen
1 pinch grey unrefined sea salt
1/2 tsp. vitamin C powder


Water and Hydration

77% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population)

In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

Even mild dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

Lack of water is the number 1 trigger of daytime fatigue. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day is capable of significantly easing back and joint pain for up to 80 percent of sufferers.

A mere 2% drop in body water is capable triggering fuzzy short-term memory trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it is capable of slashing the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Water assists to prevent bladder infections. Studies indicate that men who consume more than 10 glasses of water per day are less likely to develop bladder infections than those that did not. Water also helps keep your heart functioning.

You have most likely heard that our bodies are not capable of lasting more than two to three days without water, though that you would be capable of going weeks without food. Water is required for very basic physiologic functions such as regulating blood pressure and body temperature, hydration and digestion (The body requires about 1.5 milliliters of water to absorb every calorie ingested).

Humans all really need to drink more water, the human body is about 60% water. Your muscles and your brain are about 75% water. Your blood is about 82% water. And your bones are about 25% water, drinking coffee and other drinks with caffeine do not count because caffeine is a diuretic, which makes the body rid itself of water. So, your body requires water to survive and function properly.

One requires water to sustain one's physical and the physical body's many vital chemical reactions and maintain correct body temperature. Water also rehydrates you for the reason that during a workout, water is lost as perspiration (and expired air), and this is capable of leading to dehydration if fluids are not replaced. Another plus, drinking water before and during physical activity is capable of enhancing your athletic performance. It also assists the body to eliminate waste, which in turn is capable of reducing long-term risk of colon cancer.

According to a survey, nearly three quarters of Americans are aware of the recommendation of drinking eight 300ml servings a day, though only 34% actually drink this amount of water each day. Most humans consume only about 6 servings of water a day and nearly 10% declared that they do not drink water at all.

Carbonated juices

All types of soft drinks are very acidic, especially colas. In order to neutralize a glass of cola, it takes 32 glasses of high pH alkaline water. It is clearly known by the medical profession that dis-ease loves acid. In fact, a physician from Loma Linda University declared in a speech that if we were capable of getting our cells to maintain a normal pH (slightly alkaline), cancer would not be capable of growing in the human body.

Active girls who drink cola drinks are five times more likely to have had bone fractures than girls who do not drink soda, according to a study published by Grace Wyshak of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

A survey of 460 ninth and tenth grade girls found a correlation between drinking soft drinks and having broken bones. Girls drinking carbonated beverages were three times more likely to have a broken bone than girls not drinking them. Prior research has found that caffeine leaches calcium out of bones, leading to increased incidences of osteoporosis in the long term. This study attributes immediate damage to the phosphoric acid in colas. For more than a century our scientists have known that workers exposed to phosphorus suffered more broken bones. Sixteen-year-old girls currently consume an average of two-plus 12-ounce soft drinks daily. For boys, intake tops three 12-ounce soft drinks daily.

Francisco Contraries, M.D., of the Contraries Cancer Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico stated, "Cancer is like a plant cell; it can't live in an oxygen-rich environment. Cola drinks make our bodies poor in oxygen. Cancer is the second cause of death in America. (It is now NUMBER ONE)

The average American is consuming 800 or more soft drinks annually". Be more responsible for your own life. Doctors have no responsibility for another's health."

A three-year study of over 1,000 men with a history of kidney stones showed: "There was a clear-cut difference in the group's experiences, with much less renal colic in the men who had avoided soft drinks. Of those who continued to use soft drinks, there was also a big difference in outcome depending upon the nature of the soft drink consumed. Soft drinks acidified with phosphoric acid were the worst offenders. Colas of all kinds, of course, are well known for their high phosphoric acid content."

The soft-drink industry as a whole has consistently portrayed its products as being "positively" healthful, saying they are 90% water and contain sugars found in nature. M. Douglas Ivester, Coca-Cola's chairman and CEO, said, "Actually, our product is quite healthy. Fluid replenishment is a key to health....Coca-Cola does a great service because it encourages people to take in more and more liquids." New York Times. 26 May 1998

It is a fact however, that soft drinks pose health risks both for the reason that what they contain (for example, sugar and various additives) and what they replace in the diet (beverages and foods that provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients).

Nutritionally, soft drinks are low in value. Their food energy comes solely from refined sugar. Every element of nutritional importance, except calories, is zero. "Soft drinks have much in common with hard liquor", claimed the co-discoverer of insulin, Dr. Charles Best.

Coffee

Coffee has over 1000 chemicals per cup of coffee, and 500 of them are known carcinogens. Caffeine is a "pesticide" given off by the bean to keep the bugs from eating it. Each cup of coffee contains about 120 mg of caffeine. Were that amount injected directly into your veins, you would physically die. It is a lethal dose. The rush you get from your coffee is your body speeding up your metabolism to rid itself of this poison, and your body steals water from everywhere to help flush the caffeine out.

Please note that the International Olympic Committee had outlawed the use of caffeine for its events until recently. Caffeine's harmful diuretic effects appear to outweigh any potential performance benefits. To protect themselves from the caffeine, women's bodies use calcium to neutralize it. You lose about 5 milligrams of calcium for every 165ml of coffee, or two cans of caffeinated juice.

Sports Drinks

Sports drinks that contain a carbohydrate level greater than 8% or 2 gm/oz hinder the absorption of fluids into the body, thus having a perceived negative effect on the human body. Fruit juices have high levels of carbohydrates varying from 10% to 17%, so if one prefers to use fruit juice instead of water, it ought to be diluted with water by 50%.

Though whether to consume water or sports drinks really depends on three things:

The type
The amount of exertion you are getting,
The heat, and your own body.

In general, water is unsurpassed. After all, humans and almost all other land animals except a few rare desert species have evolved to thrive on water, not sports drinks.
However, in certain situations, usually when doing prolonged and strenuous activity in hot weather, you may sweat so much that your body's electrolyte balance is compromised. That is when sports drinks come in.

Hyponatremia is a dangerous condition in which hikers sweat so much that their electrolytes go out of whack. It usually occurs when strenuous exercise takes place in extreme heat, and it is more common among ultra-endurance athletes and high-mileage long-distance hikers than among casual day hikers, although day hikers are capable of being affected in places where it is common for people to overextend themselves in severe heat. Drinking water alone does not solve the problem. In fact, drinking too much water after depleting your electrolytes actually makes things more serious.

Caffeinated drinks (tea, coffee, some sodas) are definitely a bad idea in hot weather, for the reason that they are diuretics. That means that they actually contribute to dehydration. They are not such a hot idea in cold weather either, for the reason that caffeine is capable of contributing to hypothermia.

The sports drinks vs. water debate rages on: water will always be an excellent fluid replacer for most recreational athletes who exercise for less than 60 to 90 minutes. Water is inexpensive, readily available, popular and what your body requires most. It settles comfortably and does a fine job of replacing sweat losses.

According to the Ohio State University Medical Center dietitian Beth Miller, there is no advantage to drinking sports drinks unless you are exercising for less than a solid hour.

Sports drinks are high in calories. Using them to "replenish" without exercising sufficiently are capable of actually leading to weight gain.

Obesity increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular dis-ease and causes severe social and psychological problems in millions of Americans. Between 1971-74 and 1988-94, obesity rates in teenage boys soared from 5% to 12% and in teenage girls from 7% to 11%. Among adults, between 1976-80 and 1988-94, the rate of obesity jumped by one-third, from 25% to 35%. Hence the importance of proper hydration to prevent hunger pangs being mistaken for thirst.

Many beverages, including water, provide water for the body to prevent dehydration. However, many substances in beverages (as opposed to water) have a large effect on how well your body retains this water as well as other side effects. Without listing them all, there are obvious limitations to drinking alcoholic beverages (due to ethanol), soda (due to sugar and synthetics), etc. In addition, there are times due to hot weather or health conditions that preclude the consumption of certain beverages.

When your body enters a state of ketosis it is extremely important during this time to drink plenty of water to flush out the ketones in your system.

Ketones are produced by the liver through metabolism of fatty acids. They are produced to provide a ready energy source from stored lipids at times of low carbohydrate availability. Through ketone bodies are always present in your body, levels increase to meet your extra energy requirements when you are fasting, involved in prolonged exercise, or release of "JUNK." Drinking water assists you to flush out the ketones from your system.

Water also assists in flushing other toxins out of your system, especially in the beginning when your body is still detoxing. Water assists in flushing out your kidneys, which is an especially important part of healing. Water also dilutes the bile in the gallbladder. After years and years of low fat diets your gallbladder is not used to working all that hard anymore.