Can This Mineral Improve Hearing Loss?

By Dr. Mercola

The mineral zinc has received some attention as of late because it appears to help fight the common cold when taken at the onset of symptoms.

However, new research has shown another potential use in regard to idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, also known as SSNHL.

What to Know About Zinc if You Experience Sudden Hearing Loss

SSNHL, which is a sudden, unexplained loss of hearing, impacts about five to 20 people per 100,000 each year, although it's suspected that a significant number of cases go unreported.

Recovery is possible (and occurs in an estimated 32-65 percent of cases), but treatment usually involves systemic, high-dose steroids even though their use is controversial and evidence to support their efficacy is limited. 

While it's not known exactly why some people develop SSNHL, one theory is that a viral infection or immunologic disease is involved, which brings us to zinc.

The reason why zinc has received some attention in regard to fighting colds is because it appears to have some anti-viral properties that prevent the cold virus from replicating or attaching to your nasal membranes.

Research also indicates zinc may have immune-boosting properties, allowing your body to mount a stronger first response at the onset of a viral infection.

This may help explain new research showing zinc supplementation may enhance the hearing recovery of SSNHL patients.

For the study, 66 SSNHL patients were randomly divided into two groups. Thirty-three were given corticosteroid treatment (control group) and 33 were given oral zinc gluconate plus corticosteroid treatment (zinc group). The zinc group reported a significantly larger hearing gain, an increased percentage of recovery, and an increased rate of successful recovery compared with the control group. Further, a significant correlation was found between serum zinc level changes and post-treatment hearing thresholds.

Regarding zinc, the researchers noted:

"Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects may help reduce the oxidative stress of the cochlea in SSNHL, implying a new direction in the treatment of this disease."

Many are Deficient in Zinc

The study does not extend so far as to suggest that a zinc deficiency might be a contributing factor in SSNHL, however it is important to make sure you have enough of this essential mineral regardless. It's estimated that up to 45 percent of adults over the age of 60 may have lower than recommended zinc intakes; even when dietary supplements were added in, an estimated 20-25 percent of older adults still had inadequate zinc intakes, according to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

One of the symptoms of zinc deficiency is actually frequent colds and infections, and zinc is also important to protect your body against oxidative stress and DNA repair. While some level of oxidative stress is a normal result of your body processes, many factors, from pollution to obesity to mental stress, can cause an excess of free radicals in your body -- and this is associated with oxidative stress and various chronic diseases and aging.

If you are deficient in zinc, your body may become less able to repair genetic damage caused by oxidative stress. Having low levels of zinc has even been found to cause strands of DNA to break and studies have linked zinc deficiency to various types of cancer, infection and autoimmune diseases.

A report in the British Medical Journal noted that more than 300 catalytically active zinc metalloproteins and more than 2,000 zinc-dependent transcription factors involved in gene expression of various proteins have been recognized. In a nutshell, there are more biological roles for zinc than for most other trace elements put together. For example, it plays a crucial role in:

• Cell growth
• Gene transcription (the process that allows your cells to read genetic instructions)
• Keeping your immune system strong
• Stabilizing your metabolic rate and balancing your blood sugar
• Maintaining your sense of taste and smell

A Well-Balanced Diet is the Best Source of Zinc

Any time you isolate one mineral and ingest it independently of the others, the potential exists for imbalance, or in the worst case, overdose, and this is true of zinc. Taking too much zinc can interfere with your body's ability to absorb other minerals, especially copper. Further, in 2010 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers to stop using Zicam nasal sprays and swabs, which contain zinc, after numerous reports that some users lost their sense of smell after using the product.

For adults, the RDA for zinc is about 11 milligrams per day for adult men and 8 milligrams for women. If you are lactating or pregnant, you need about 3 mg more. For children, 4-8 year olds need about 5mg, and 9-13 year olds need 8mg, while infants need only about 3 mg.

Besides protein-rich foods like meats and fish, other good dietary sources of zinc include raw milk, raw cheese, beans, and yogurt or kefir made from raw milk. If you are healthy and you eat a well-balanced diet, you will rarely need supplements to complete your body's zinc needs.

Are There Other Natural Options for Sudden Hearing Loss?

So far, in addition to zinc research suggests the following may improve recovery in cases of sudden hearing loss:

• Intravenous magnesium
• Acupuncture
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

In the event you experience sudden hearing loss, it's important to seek qualified medical help immediately, as it appears the sooner you receive treatment, the better your chances of recovery.

Is Nerve Damage The Rule, Not the Exception With Cholesterol Meds?

By Dr. Mercola

Spending on cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins increased by $160 million in 2010, for a total spending of nearly $19 billion in the U.S., the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics reported in their Use of Medicines in the United States: Review of 2010.

In all, more than 255 million prescriptions were dispensed for these drugs in 2010, making them the most commonly prescribed type of medication in the United States.

Unfortunately, this excessive use is an artifact of a medical system that regards prescribing pills to lower cholesterol as a valid way to protect one's heart health -- even though the low "target" cholesterol levels have not been proven to be healthy … and cholesterol is actually NOT the underlying culprit in heart disease.

Worse still, these drugs, which are clearly not necessary for the vast majority of people who take them, are proven to cause serious and significant side effects, including, as new research shows, definite nerve damage.

Are You Taking Drugs You Don't Need … and Getting Nerve Damage as a Result?

It must be understood that any time you take a drug there is a risk of side effects. Oftentimes, these risks are not fully understood, especially when multiple drugs enter the equation, and appear only after a drug has already been taken by millions of people. Even once a drug has been FDA-approved, you are depending on a limited number of clinical trials to dictate a drug's safety … but it's impossible to predict how a drug will react when introduced into your system, in a real-world setting. Not to mention, the accuracy of medical research is dubious at best.

In many ways, any time you take a drug YOU are the guinea pig, and unforeseen side effects are the rule, rather than the exception.

In terms of statin drugs, side effects are already clearly apparent; at GreenMedInfo.com you can see 304 conditions that may be associated with the use of these drugs, and this is likely only the tip of the iceberg. Among one of the more well-known risks is harm to your muscles and peripheral nervous system with long-term use. Indeed,  new research on 42 patients confirmed that:

" … long-term treatment with statins caused a clinically silent but still definite damage to peripheral nerves when the treatment lasts longer than 2 years."

If You Take Statins for Two Years or More, Nerve Damage Appears to be the Rule

What does it mean when you sustain damage to peripheral nerves? As reported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS):

"Symptoms are related to the type of affected nerve and may be seen over a period of days, weeks, or years. Muscle weakness is the most common symptom of motor nerve damage. Other symptoms may include painful cramps and fasciculations (uncontrolled muscle twitching visible under the skin), muscle loss, bone degeneration, and changes in the skin, hair, and nails."

At GreenMedInfo.com you can see 88 studies on statin-induced neurotoxicity (nerve damage), with12 studies further statin drugs directly to neuropathy, including chronic peripheral neuropathy. As explained by NINDS:

"Peripheral neuropathy describes damage to the peripheral nervous system, the vast communications network that transmits information from the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system) to every other part of the body. Peripheral nerves also send sensory information back to the brain and spinal cord, such as a message that the feet are cold or a finger is burned. Damage to the peripheral nervous system interferes with these vital connections.

Like static on a telephone line, peripheral neuropathy distorts and sometimes interrupts messages between the brain and the rest of the body.

Because every peripheral nerve has a highly specialized function in a specific part of the body, a wide array of symptoms can occur when nerves are damaged.

Some people may experience temporary numbness, tingling, and pricking sensations (paresthesia), sensitivity to touch, or muscle weakness. Others may suffer more extreme symptoms, including burning pain (especially at night), muscle wasting, paralysis, or organ or gland dysfunction. People may become unable to digest food easily, maintain safe levels of blood pressure, sweat normally, or experience normal sexual function. In the most extreme cases, breathing may become difficult or organ failure may occur.

Some forms of neuropathy involve damage to only one nerve and are called mononeuropathies. More often though, multiple nerves affecting all limbs are affected-called polyneuropathy."

One of the more disturbing implications of this finding is that since statins damage the peripheral nerves, it is also highly likely that they damage the central nervous system (which includes the brain), as well. One study published in the journal Pharmacology in 2009, found statin-induced cognitive impairment to be a common occurrence, with 90% reporting improvement after drug discontinuation. There are, in fact, at least 12 studies linking memory problems with statin drug use in the biomedical literature, indicating just how widespread and serious a side effect statin-induced neurological damage really is. 

Lower Your Cholesterol and Increase Your Diabetes Risk by Nearly 50%

As mentioned, neurological damage is only one potential risk of statins. They are also being increasingly associated with increased risk of developing diabetes.

Most recently, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed statins increase the risk of diabetes for postmenopausal women by 48 percent! Statins appear to provoke diabetes through a few different mechanisms, the primary one being by increasing your insulin levels, which can be extremely harmful to your health. Chronically elevated insulin levels cause inflammation in your body, which is the hallmark of most chronic disease. In fact, elevated insulin levels lead to heart disease, which, ironically, prevention of is the primary reason for taking a statin drug in the first place!

As written on GreenMedInfo:

"The profound irony here is that most of the morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes is due to cardiovascular complications. High blood sugar and its oxidation (glycation) contribute to damage to the blood vessels, particularly the arteries, resulting in endothelial dysfunction and associated neuropathies due to lack of blood flow to the nerves.

Statin drugs, which are purported to reduce cardiovascular disease risk through lipid suppression, insofar as they contribute to insulin resistance, elevated blood sugar, and full-blown diabetes, are not only diabetogenic but cardiotoxic, as well."

A separate meta-analysis has also confirmed that statin drugs are indeed associated with increased risk of developing diabetes. The researchers evaluated five different clinical trials that together examined more than 32,000 people. They found that the higher the dosage of statin drugs being taken, the greater the diabetes risk. The "number needed to harm" for intensive-dose statin therapy was 498 for new-onset diabetes -- that's the number of people who need to take the drug in order for one person to develop diabetes.

In even simpler terms, one out of every 498 people who are on a high-dose statin regimen will develop diabetes. (The lower the "number needed to harm," the greater the risk factor is. As a side note, the "number needed to treat" per year for intensive-dose statins was 155 for cardiovascular events. This means that 155 people have to take the drug in order to prevent one person from having a cardiovascular event.)

The following scientific reviews also reached the conclusion that statin use is associated with increased incidence of new-onset diabetes:

• A 2010 meta-analysis of 13 statin trials, consisting of 91,140 participants, found that statin therapy was associated with a 9 percent increased risk for incident diabetes. Here, the number needed to harm was 255 over four years, meaning for every 255 people on the drug, one developed diabetes as a result of the drug in that period of time.
• In a 2009 study, statin use was associated with a rise of fasting plasma glucose in patients with and without diabetes, independently of other factors such as age, and use of aspirin or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. The study included data from more than 345,400 patients over a period of two years. On average, statins increased fasting plasma glucose in non-diabetic statin users by 7 mg/dL, and in diabetics, statins increased glucose levels by 39 mg/dL.

Side Effects Often Don't Show Up Immediately …

Oftentimes statins do not have any immediate side effects, and they are quite effective at lowering cholesterol levels by 50 points or more. This makes it appear as though they're benefiting your health, and health problems that develop later on are frequently misinterpreted as brand new, separate health problems.

Again, the vast majority of people do not need statin drugs, and if you are one of them, taking them is only going to expose you to serious, unnecessary risks! 

If your physician is urging you to check your total cholesterol, please be aware that this test will tell you virtually nothing about your risk of heart disease, unless it is 330 or higher. HDL percentage is a far more potent indicator for heart disease risk. Here are the two ratios you should pay attention to:

1. HDL/Total Cholesterol Ratio: Should ideally be above 24 percent. If below 10 percent, you have a significantly elevated risk for heart disease.
2. Triglyceride/HDL Ratio: Should be below 2.

To understand why most people don't need a statin drug, you first need to realize that cholesterol is NOT the cause of heart disease. Your body NEEDS cholesterol -- it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. For more information about cholesterol, and why conventional advice to reduce your cholesterol to ridiculously low levels is foolhardy, please listen to this interview with Dr. Stephanie Seneff.

Urgent Information: If You Take Statins You Need CoQ10

It's extremely important to understand that taking a statin drug without also taking CoQ10 puts your health in serious jeopardy. Unfortunately, this describes the majority of people who take them in the United States.

CoQ10 is a cofactor (co-enzyme) that is essential for the creation of ATP molecules, primarily in your mitochondria, which you need for cellular energy production. Organs such as your heart have higher energy requirements, and therefore require more CoQ10 to function properly (cardiac muscle cells have up to 200 times more mitochondria, and hence 200 times higher CoQ10 requirements, than skeletal muscle). Statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which can have devastating results.

As your body gets more and more depleted of CoQ10, you may suffer from fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and eventually heart failure. Interestingly, heart failure, not heart attacks, is now the leading cause of death due to cardiovascular diseases. Coenzyme Q10 is also very important in the process of neutralizing free radicals. So when your CoQ10 is depleted, you enter a vicious cycle of increased free radicals, loss of cellular energy, and damaged mitochondrial DNA.

If you decide to take a CoQ10 supplement and are over the age of 40, it's important to choose the "reduced" version, called ubiquinol.  The reduced form is electron-rich and therefore can donate electrons to quench free radicals, i.e. function as an antioxidant, and is much more absorbable, as nutrients must donate electrons in order to pass through membrane of cells.  In other words, ubiquinol is a FAR more effective form -- I personally take 200 mg a day since it has such far-ranging benefits, including compelling studies suggesting improvement in lifespan.

How to Optimize (Not Necessarily Lower) Your Cholesterol Without Drugs

Seventy-five percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize your insulin level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol! By modifying your diet and lifestyle in the following ways, you can safely modify your cholesterol without risking your health by taking statin drugs:

• Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your diet, replacing them with mostly whole, fresh vegetable carbs. Also try to consume a good portion of your food raw. 
• The average American consumes 50% of their diet as carbs. Most would benefit by lowering their carb intake to 25% and replacing those carbs with high quality fats.
• Make sure you are getting enough high quality, animal-based omega 3 fats, such as krill oil.
• Other heart-healthy foods include olive oil, palm and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats, as described in my nutrition plan.
• Exercise daily.
• Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.
• Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

The goal of the tips above is not to necessarily lower your cholesterol as low as it can go; the goal is to optimize your levels so they're working in the proper balance with your body.

213 Women Who Took This Suffered Permanent Disability

By Dr. Mercola

Naomi Snell, a 28-year-old woman in Melbourne, Australia, is leading a class-action civil lawsuit against drug maker Merck after suffering autoimmune and neurological complications following injections with the HPV vaccine, Gardasil.

After receiving the first of three doses of the vaccine, Naomi suffered convulsions, severe back and neck pain, and lost her ability to walk.

Doctors actually diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis, which was later retracted and labeled a neurological reaction to the vaccine.

Seven other women, who say they have suffered various physical problems, including anaphylaxis and miscarriage, after receiving Gardasil may also join the civil lawsuit, and this is likely only the beginning, as Gardasil is being implicated in a growing number of serious, permanent and sometimes deadly adverse reactions.

Multiple Sclerosis-Like Symptoms and Paralysis Not Unusual After HPV Vaccination

Unfortunately, stories like Naomi's are all too common in relation to Gardasil.

One of the vaccine injury cases featured in the movie The Greater Good is that of Gabi Swank, a 15-year-old honor student who decided to get the Gardasil vaccine after seeing a "Be One Less" Gardasil vaccine advertisement on TV.

Like so many young girls, she wasn't warned about any possible side effects when she got the shots, which are given as a series of three injections.

At the time the documentary was filmed, she had already suffered two strokes and experienced partial paralysis. She also lost part of her vision and today suffers frequent seizures. When she was in high school, many days she had to use a wheelchair to get around school due to muscle pain and chronic fatigue.

A similar reaction happened to 13-year-old Jenny Tetlock, who began seeing signs of trouble just one month after she was vaccinated against the HPV virus. Fifteen months later, a degenerative muscle disease left her nearly completely paralyzed.

Neurological symptoms such as these were also reported in a study done in 2009 by neurologist Dr. Ian Sutton. He reported five cases of multiple sclerosis-like symptoms emerging shortly after women received the Gardasil vaccine, noting:

"We report five patients who presented with multifocal or atypical demyelinating syndromes within 21 days of immunization with the quadrivalent human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil. Although the target population for vaccination, young females, has an inherently high risk for MS, the temporal association with demyelinating events in these cases may be explained by the potent immuno-stimulatory properties of HPV virus-like particles which comprise the vaccine."

Further, Judicial Watch, a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, recently issued an update on adverse reaction reports relating to Gardasil.

The documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) detail 26 new deaths reported to the government following HPV vaccination between September 1, 2010 and September 15, 2011. That's 26 reported deaths of young, previously healthy, girls after Gardasil vaccination in just one year.

Other serious side effects reported during that time frame included:

Seizures	Paralysis	Blindness	Pancreatitis
Speech problems	Short term memory loss	Guillain-Barre syndrome	Ovarian cysts

Between May 2009 and September 2010, 16 deaths after Gardasil vaccination were reported. For that timeframe, there were also 789 reports of "serious" Gardasil adverse reactions, including 213 cases of permanent disability and 25 diagnosed cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome, Judicial Watch reported.

Serious Vaccine Reactions, Deaths, Often Labeled "Coincidence"

While it is not clear exactly what is causing so many adverse reactions, it is known that Gardasil contains genetically engineered virus-like protein particles as well as aluminum, which can affect immune function.

Further, according to the vaccine manufacturer product information insert, the vaccine has not been evaluated for the potential to cause cancer or to be toxic to genes.

In fact, Merck only studied the Gardasil vaccine in fewer than 1,200 girls under 16 prior to it being released to the market under a fast-tracked road to licensure. To date, most of the serious side effects, including deaths, that occurred during the pre-licensure clinical trials and post marketing surveillance have been written off as a "coincidence" by Merck researchers and government health officials.

But on the National Vaccine Information Center's (NVIC) Web site, you can read about Gabi Swank's Gardasil reaction and other descriptions of women and girls who have suffered serious health deterioration after Gardasil shots and, in some cases, have died shortly after receiving this vaccine. The growing Gardasil vaccine injury toll has become too large to ignore:

• Christina Tarsell, a 21-year-old college student majoring in studio arts at Bard College, who died suddenly and without explanation shortly after receiving the third Gardasil shot in June 2008.
• Megan, a 20-year-old college student who died suddenly, without explanation, about one month after receiving her third Gardasil shot. No cause of death was found.
• Ashley, a 16-year-old who became chronically ill after receiving Gardasil, and now suffers regular life-threatening episodes of seizure-like activity, difficulty breathing, back spasms, paralysis, dehydration, memory loss and tremors.

Gardasil Protects Against Just FOUR of the 100 Types of HPV Viruses

There are more than 100 types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Of them, about 40 types of HPV are sexually transmitted and 15 of these types are most associated with cervical cancers and genital warts in women and men. HPV infections that remain unidentified and untreated for a long time are also associated with development of vaginal, vulvar, penile, anal and oropharyngeal cancers. Some HPV infections can cause minor skin infections and common warts on your hands and feet.

Certain types of chronic HPV infections, which are not identified or treated for a long time, can lead to cervical cancer. It is only when the HPV virus lingers for many years that abnormal cervical cells could turn into cancer. This is why PAP smears identify cervical changes and can prevent cervical cancer deaths far more effectively than the HPV vaccine ever will, because there's a sufficient amount of time to find and treat any cervical abnormalities if you're getting regular PAP smears.

It is important to know, however, that over 90 percent of women infected with HPV clear the infection naturally within two years, at which point cervical cells go back to normal.

The death rate from cervical cancer in the United States is 3 per 100,000 and it is estimated that, in 2011, about 12,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 died. In 2009, there were about 34,000 deaths from car accidents in the U.S. for a death rate of 11 per 100,000.

Women have a much higher risk of dying in a car accident than dying from cervical cancer!

Cervical cancer rates are even lower in some European countries. The reason why the mortality rate is so low is because -- for the vast majority of healthy women living in developed countries like Europe and the U.S. -- their immune systems are usually strong enough to naturally clear HPV infection within two years. Again, this happens in more than 90 percent of all cases!

Of course, even if you get HPV vaccine, if you contract one of the 40 or more types of HPV that are sexually transmitted and aren't included in the vaccine, you will not be protected from HPV infections. And, if you've already been exposed to one of the four types of viruses in the vaccine, it doesn't work against those either.

This means that, even if you accept the risks and get vaccinated, your chances of experiencing some form of HPV infection are still very high. Whether or not the HPV virus will lead to genital warts or cervical cancer or other kinds of health problems, however, depends in large part on the state of your immune system and, in the case of cervical cancer, is affected by whether or not you get routine PAP screenings.

Many Teens Mistakenly Think HPV Vaccine Cuts Risk for All STDs...

Unfortunately, according to a recent study nearly one in four girls who get the HPV vaccine mistakenly believes it will also reduce their risk of getting other sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis and gonorrhea. Clearly, more education is needed in this area.

The study polled close to 340 girls, average age nearly 17, after their first of three HPV doses, and their mothers. The poll was intended to determine the girls' perceived risk of getting HPV after the vaccination, their perceived risk of getting other STDs, and their perceived need for continued safer sex behaviors. While the majority of the girls correctly thought the vaccine would not protect them against STDs other than HPV, 24 percent responded they thought the vaccine would reduce their risk of other STDs. According to the authors, those with this misperception were also less likely to be informed about HPV infection and the HPV vaccine in general.

According to the authors:

"Education about HPV vaccines and encouraging communication between girls and their mothers may prevent misperceptions among these adolescents."

If You Live in California, Your Minor Daughter or Son Can Be Given  Gardasil Vaccine Without Your Knowledge or Consent

In October 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed bill AB499 that permits minor children as young as 12 years old to be vaccinated with sexually transmitted disease (STD) vaccines like Gardasil -- without parental knowledge or parental consent. This means that, if you live in California, school or medical personnel will soon be allowed to give your child Gardasil, hepatitis B vaccine and future vaccines for STD's without you ever knowing it.

At issue, of course, is whether 12-year-olds are mature enough to fully analyze the benefits versus risks of vaccination (or any medical treatment for that matter), or recognize the benefits of alternatives to STD prevention, such as abstinence or use of condoms. Meanwhile, a child could suffer a serious vaccine reaction and the parent, not knowing the child had been vaccinated, could mistake it for the flu or another less serious health problem, delaying getting the child to an emergency room until it is too late.

Of course, also at issue is whether this law violates long held legal rights for parents to be responsible for making important medical decisions for their children, especially when risk-taking is involved. If a child is injured from complications of a medical procedure or use of a pharmaceutical product, it is the parent who will be legally and financially responsible for providing care for the child. Therefore, the legal right for parents to exercise informed consent to medical risk-taking for minor children, which includes giving consent for use of a pharmaceutical product, such as a vaccine, that carries a risk of injury or death, is an important legal right to defend and protect in America.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is currently exploring legal options for overturning this new law, which violates parental informed consent rights.

Will Merck Get its Day in Court?

The class-action civil lawsuit in Australia being brought against Merck for injuries and deaths following Gardasil vaccination may help to bring more attention to the risks of this vaccine, which was fast-tracked in the U.S. and brought to market without adequate scientific evidence proving safety and effectiveness. Like in Australia, there are many girls and women in the U.S. speaking out about what happened to them after getting Gardasil shots. If you or a loved one has been harmed by Gardasil or any other vaccine or pharmaceutical product, please consider sharing your story with others so there is greater public awareness about vaccine and prescription drug risks.

Of course, Merck is no stranger to legal action. The company paid out billions in lawsuit claims to tens of thousands harmed by the drug Vioxx, and over the years has had more than $5.5 billion in judgments and fines levied against it. Unfortunately, in the U.S. Merck is protected from civil lawsuits for Gardasil vaccine injuries and deaths because of the liability shield granted to pharmaceutical companies by the U.S. government.

Barbara Loe Fisher, founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, explains:

"In 1986, there were three major drug corporations selling vaccines in the U.S. (Merck, Lederle, Connaught) and now there are eight (Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Astra Zeneca, CSL Biotherapies, Emergent BioSolutions).

That is because, in 1986, Pharma blackmailed Congress into giving them partial liability protection from vaccine injury lawsuits by suggesting they would have to abandon the U.S. childhood vaccine market without a liability shield.

In February of this year [2011], drug companies got what they wanted all along: the U.S. Supreme Court gave Pharma total immunity from lawsuits – even if they could have made a vaccine less harmful.

Vaccines, said the Court, are "unavoidably unsafe."

So if your child is brain injured by a vaccine that you may not have wanted your child to get in the first place, all you can do is file a claim in the federal vaccine injury compensation program. Even though the program has awarded more than $2 billion dollars to vaccine victims, two out of three plaintiffs are turned away empty handed.

With no liability or accountability for those making, licensing, selling and giving vaccines in America, there are no checks and balances to ensure that vaccines are safe and effective. Doctors, who have been taught to believe that infectious microorganisms should be eradicated from the earth with the mandatory use of multiple vaccines, are as ripe for exploitation as the people they vaccinate."

What You Can Do to Make a Difference

While it seems "old-fashioned," the only truly effective actions you can take to protect the right to informed consent to vaccination and expand vaccine exemptions, is to get personally involved in educating your state legislators and the leaders in your community.

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY.

Mass vaccination policies are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level, and it is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact.

Signing up for NVIC's free Advocacy Portal at www.NVICAdvocacy.org not only gives you access to practical, useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your own community, but when national vaccine issues come up, you will have the up-to-date information and call to action items you need at your fingertips to make sure your voice is heard.

So please, as your first step, sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.

Contact Your Elected Officials

NVIC will help you learn how to effectively write or email your elected state representatives and share your concerns. You might want to call them, or better yet, make an appointment to visit them in person in their office. Don't let them forget you!

It is so important for you to reach out and make sure your concerns get put on the radar screens of the leaders and opinion makers in your community, especially the politicians you elect and are directly involved in making vaccine laws in your state. These are your elected representatives, so you have a right and a responsibility to let them know what's really happening in your life and the lives of people you know when it comes to vaccine mandates. Be sure to share the "real life" experiences that you or people you know have had with vaccination.

Share Your Story with the Media and People You Know

If you or a family member has suffered a serious vaccine reaction, injury or death, please consider sharing your experience with others.  If we don't share information and experiences with each other, everybody feels alone and afraid to speak up. Write a letter to the editor if you have a different perspective on a vaccine story that appears in your local newspaper. Make a call in to a radio talk show that is only presenting one side of the vaccine story.

I must be frank with you -  you have to be brave because you might be strongly criticized for daring to talk about the "other side" of the vaccine story. Be prepared for it and have the courage to not back down. Only by sharing our perspective and what we know to be true about vaccination will the public conversation about vaccination open up so people are not afraid to talk about it.

We cannot allow the drug companies and medical trade associations funded by drug companies to dominate the conversation about vaccination. The vaccine injured cannot be swept under the carpet and treated like nothing more than "statistically acceptable collateral damage" of national one-size-fits-all mass vaccination policies that put way too many people at risk for injury and death. We shouldn't be treating people like guinea pigs instead of human beings.

Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More

I encourage you to visit the following web pages on the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) website at www.NVIC.org:

• NVIC Memorial for Vaccine Victims: View descriptions and photos of children and adults, who have suffered vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths. If you or your child experiences an adverse vaccine event, please consider posting and sharing your story here.
• If You Vaccinate, Ask 8 Questions: Learn how to recognize vaccine reaction symptoms and prevent vaccine injuries.
• Vaccine Freedom Wall: View or post descriptions of harassment by doctors or government officials for making independent vaccine choices.

Connect with Your Doctor or Find a New One that Will Listen and Care

If your pediatrician or doctor refuses to provide medical care to you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you don't want, I strongly encourage you to have the courage to find another doctor. Harassment, intimidation, and refusal of medical care is becoming the modus operandi of the medical establishment in an effort to stop the change in attitude of many parents about vaccinations after they become truly educated about health and vaccination.

However, there is hope.

At least 15 percent of young doctors recently polled admit that they're starting to adopt a more individualized approach to vaccinations in direct response to the vaccine safety concerns of parents. It is good news that there is a growing number of smart young doctors, who prefer to work as partners with parents in making personalized vaccine decisions for children, including delaying vaccinations or giving children fewer vaccines on the same day or continuing to provide medical care for those families, who decline use of one or more vaccines.

So take the time to locate a doctor, who treats you with compassion and respect and is willing to work with you to do what is right for your child.

Dangers of Feminine Hygiene Products that Every Woman Needs to Know

By Dr. Mercola

Many women have heard of toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare bacterial infection that can lead to a potentially fatal drop in blood pressure (shock) and organ damage, and most associate it with the use of tampons -- particularly super absorbent varieties that are left in too long.

In fact, most tampon boxes contain a warning about TSS, leading many people to believe, mistakenly, that tampons themselves are the cause of this disease.

Instead, and more importantly, the health risks associated with tampons depends on how they interact with your body as a whole; your bodily state of health, or lack thereof, can create a perfect storm of conditions for TSS to develop.

As described in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, tampons are an example of biologically incompatible technology, which can react with constituent bacteria and women's menstrual cycles "to create the ideal environment for the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria to live and flourish in some women."

The real cause of TSS is typically toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria -- and this cause is often exacerbated by the use of certain tampons.

Why Staph Bacteria and Synthetic Tampons Can be a Deadly Mix

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria are commonly found on your skin and mucous membranes, such as in the vagina.

Normally they are harmless but under certain conditions they can enter your bloodstream, releasing toxins that can even turn deadly.

For instance, TSS can occur from an infected wound or insect bite, and cases occur every year in children and men -- along with menstruating women.

It's been known for decades that a significant number of TSS cases occur in women using tampons, but conventional medicine notes the reason for this is still not understood.

It appears, however, that tampons alter the course of this disease in a complex way, one that began when synthetic materials were introduced into the feminine hygiene product market. In an essay in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, Sharra L. Vostral, PhD, Department of Gender and Women's Studies and Department of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, writes:

"The link between TSS and tampons was not intuitive. Tampons had become a trusted and normalized technology in upwards of 70 percent of women's hygiene routines. What had changed were the materials, whose composition shifted from cotton to synthetic materials. Companies often sought cheaper ingredients, and rayon — derived from wood pulp and combined with cotton — served to be a cost-effective and efficient absorptive material in some tampons.

As new polymer technology emerged during the 1960s, companies began to add more synthetic materials, such as polyachrylates, to tampons. Most major brands utilized synthetics to varying degree … "

The Three Major Factors That May Trigger S. Aureus to Turn Into TSS

S. aureus bacteria are a normal part of a woman's vagina, and ordinarily they are harmless. Under certain conditions, however, these bacteria can grow out of control, releasing toxins that send your body into hypotensive shock (a dangerous drop in blood pressure), which causes your organs to stop working.

As it turns out, synthetic tampon components, coupled with higher absorbency, appear to be particularly "amenable" to S. aureus bacteria, as are certain other conditions in a woman's body during menstruation. Vostral explains using the example of Proctor & Gamble's Rely superabsorbent tampon, which was recalled in 1980 due to its link to TSS (while Rely is no longer on the market, many superabsorbent tampons made from synthetic materials are):

"The unique components, instead of being inert as Proctor & Gamble scientists assumed, possessed what I call reactive traits that set into motion a complex chain of events that few understand well to this day.  Philip Tierno, a politically active microbiologist, contends in his 2004 book The Secret Life of Germs that there were three major factors promoting S. aureus to present as TSS.

First were the synthetic components of Rely, consisting of foam cubes and the gelling agent carboxymethylcellulose encased in a polyester pouch. The gelled carboxymethylcellulose in essence acted like agar in a petri dish, providing a viscous medium on which the bacteria could grow. Along with this, the foam cubes offered increased surface area for proliferation.

Second was the changing pH of the vagina during menstruation, to about 7.4. The optimal pH for S. aureus to trigger TSS is 7, or neutral. The relatively acidic, non-menstrual vagina measures a pH of about 4.2, which keeps S. aureus well in check. Tierno also hypothesized that a tampon introduces both carbon dioxide and oxygen into the usually anaerobic vagina, thus the gases offered an abundant food source to S. aureus.

Finally, the pyrogenic toxins produced by S. aureus induced fever in humans.

This fever of about 102 degrees proved to be the perfect temperature for S. aureus to reproduce and thus create further deadly toxins. An additional factor was a woman's age; many adult and older women had built up immunity to some forms of S. aureus, while young women and teenagers were more susceptible without a developed immune response to the pathogen. In some cases, TSS presented as mild, flu-like symptoms, while in others the toxins released literally sent the person into shock."

To sum up, it's suspected that the following, in combination, may provide a prime breeding ground for S. aureus bacteria, greatly increasing the risk of TSS:

1. Synthetic components in tampons, which encourage bacterial growth, along with the outgassing of carbon dioxide and oxygen from the tampon, which provide a food source for bacteria
2. A change in vaginal pH during menstruation, transitioning from an acidic environment that keeps bacteria in check to a more neutral pH that allows bacteria to grow. Once the S. aureus bacteria released toxins, it induces fever of about 102 degrees F, which further promotes bacterial growth and the production of more toxins
3. Younger women and teenagers, who are the most frequent tampon users, are also less likely to have built up immunity to S. aureus; many adult and older women already have immunity to certain forms of the bacteria

You Can't Predict What Will Happen When You Introduce a Foreign Material Into Your Body

What is becoming more and more frequently understood is that your body does not exist in isolation from its environment; it is, rather, an active participant. Any time you introduce a new technology, be it a cell phone, a drug, a medical device or even something as seemingly innocuous as a tampon, it alters the very complex, intricate workings of your body and the microbial communities it coexists with.

As Vostral explains:

"This naturalized understanding of the body as empire falls far short in conceptualizing how multiple life forms interact with technologies in and out of the body. It may be that there are technologies that are fundamentally compatible with muscle tissue, but not the indigenous bacteria living quite well on the skin. I suggest the category biologically incompatible technology to help interrogate those innovations that are not primarily deadly or harmful to humans but have potential to produce other biological harm through their use.

With this analytical move, I suggest that it is not enough for scientists and designers to consider just the human body, but a core question in the design of medical and bodily technologies must also be "how will this object interact with bacterial constituents?"

In the case of TSS, this powerful relationship between technology and bacterium was not just overlooked (since this would imply willful disregard) but worse, unimagined as a possibility."

The truth of the matter is, some woman harbor S. aureus communities as a permanent fixture in their vaginas, and as such may be at increased risk of TSS every time they use a tampon. The only way to know for sure would be to run a bacterial culture, which is not commonly done. Further, because the bacteria can be transient, repeat cultures would be needed.

What's the Bottom Line Regarding Feminine Hygiene Choices?

Toxic Shock Syndrome is rare, impacting only about 1 to 2 women per 100,000  each year. Still, for those who are impacted, the disease can be devastating, even deadly in about 5 percent of cases. If you're a woman looking for the safest feminine hygiene options, this risk may seem like too much to take, in which case avoiding tampons altogether is one strategy you can take. If you prefer the convenience and fit of tampons to pads, you should use only those that are natural, with NO synthetic ingredients and made with 100% organic cotton, such as the ones in my Premium Feminine Care line.

These tampons are not only made from 100% hypoallergenic organic cotton, but they also have a special cotton safety layer to help prevent fibers from remaining inside your body (the fibers left behind from rayon, viscose, and fluff pulp in tampons may contribute to TSS, especially since micro-tears in the vaginal wall from tampons allow bacteria to enter and accumulate).

While any tampon can create a friendly environment in your vagina to the growth of either Staphylococcus aureus or group A streptococcus (strep) bacteria, which is also sometimes linked to TSS, there are several other steps you can take to minimize your risk of this potentially life-threatening condition:

• Avoid super absorbent tampons -- choose the lowest absorbency rate to handle your flow
• Alternate the use of tampons with sanitary napkins or mini-pads during your period
• Never leave a tampon inserted overnight; use overnight pads instead
• Change tampons at least every 4-6 hours
• When inserting a tampon, be extremely careful not to scratch your vaginal lining (avoid plastic applicators)
• Do not use a tampon between periods

Finally, no matter what type of feminine hygiene products you choose, it's important to seek out natural organic varieties to avoid being exposed to unnecessary chemicals and toxins. For instance, popular feminine hygiene products may contain:

• The toxic carcinogen dioxin and disinfection-by-products (DBP's) such as trihalomethane, which are present whenever a product is bleached
• Phthalates – chemical plasticizers used in plastic tampon applicators and to make the glossy coatings on cardboard applicators
• Pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers found in non-organic cotton

Remember, vaginal tissue is an exceptionally absorbent area, which is why you need to give careful consideration to choosing only pure feminine hygiene products.

Dr. Oz Proves This Fruit Juice Can be Toxic

By Dr. Mercola

Inorganic arsenic, the form most likely to cause cancer, occurs naturally in the earth and is released into ground water that travels through rocks and soil. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits the amount of trace arsenic allowable in drinking water to 10 parts per billion (ppb).

However, arsenic has also been found in other drinks and foods, for which no safety limit has been set, raising concerns about overexposure through the diet.

Juices and Foods Tainted with Arsenic

This past summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a "voluntary suspension" of the arsenic-laced drug Roxarsone, which has been widely used on chickens raised in CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) to control an intestinal parasite.

More recently, an investigation into arsenic and lead levels in apple- and grape juice prompted Consumer Reports to call for government standards to limit consumer exposure.

Ten percent of the 88 juice samples tested by Consumer Reports had arsenic levels exceeding the U.S. federal drinking-water standard. A quarter of them also had lead levels higher than the 5 ppb limit set for bottled water.

According to Consumer Reports:

"The investigation included an analysis of the National Center for Health Statistics' National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 2003 to 2008.

The results of that analysis suggest that these juices may be an important contributor to dietary arsenic exposure.

Through interviews with physicians and authors of peer-reviewed studies, Consumer Reports also found mounting scientific evidence suggesting that chronic exposure to arsenic and lead even at levels below federal standards for water can result in serious health problems, especially for those who are exposed in the womb or during early childhood. FDA data and other research reveal that arsenic has been detected at disturbing levels in other foods as well.

… In addition to juice, foods including chicken, rice, and even baby food have been found to contain arsenic -- sometimes at higher levels than the amounts found in juice ..."

In September, Dr. Oz also discussed this issue on The Dr. Oz Show. He claimed to have tested 50 different brands of apple juice, and found they ALL contained high levels of arsenic. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contested Dr. Oz's findings, stating that his testing was inaccurate because he tested for both inorganic and organic arsenic, the latter of which is considered fairly harmless.

(As a side note, I was recently invited as a guest on The Dr. Oz Show for the third time. During that episode, we covered such issues as vitamin D, CoQ10, blood pressure medications, statins and antidepressants. For more information about that episode, please see this article that delves into those topics in greater detail than I was able to on the show.)

Are Arsenic Levels in Juice a Safety Hazard?

There are currently no official limits set for arsenic in juices, but according to a 2008 FDA hazard assessment, 23 ppb of inorganic arsenic would represent "a potential health risk." However, the Consumers Union (the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports) has warned that this level should NOT be used as a reference point for establishing a safety limit, because it does not take into account the now well-established carcinogenicity of inorganic arsenic.

The group has proposed the FDA set the limit for arsenic at three ppb—a far cry from the FDA's stated "level of concern."

The FDA has responded to the Consumers Union, indicating that the agency is considering creating a guidance for the permissible level of arsenic in apple juice. In a November 21 letter to the Empire State Consumer Project, the agency states it will collect and analyze up to 90 retail juice samples from across the US by the end of this year. However, the FDA already has data on arsenic in fruit juices. They've been sampling juices for several years, as part of the Total Diet Study (TDS). The results can be found on the FDA's website.

In their letter, the FDA states "FDA monitoring has found that total arsenic levels in apple juice are typically low." But is it low enough to protect public health?

Their sampling has already revealed that in some instances, the arsenic levels can be quite high. Consumer Reports points out that while the FDA had posted the results of 70 samples over a six-year period, an additional eight samples were not released until late November. All eight samples, which were collected in 2008 and 2009, contained arsenic levels of 23 ppb or higher.

The FDA's Total Diet Study program also reveals that between 1991 to 2009, a quarter of the juice samples tested contained 10 ppb of arsenic or higher. Five percent contained 23 ppb or more of arsenic… So while the FDA may be technically correct in its statement that arsenic levels are typically low, their own data still shows that 25 percent of samples test above the EPA's safe water limit, and that's not necessarily negligible. Especially when you consider the increased risks of skin-, lung- and bladder cancer associated with repeated exposure to arsenic.

Juice Drinkers have Higher Arsenic Levels than Non-Juice Drinkers

According to Consumer Reports:

"We wanted to know whether people who drink juice end up being exposed to more arsenic than those who don't. So we commissioned an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics… Our analysis was led by Richard Stahlhut, M.D., M.P.H., an environmental health researcher at the University of Rochester with expertise in NHANES data…

Stahlhut reviewed NHANES data from 2003 through 2008 from participants tested for total urinary arsenic who reported their food and drink consumption for 24 hours the day before their NHANES visit.

Because most ingested arsenic is excreted in urine, the best measure of recent exposure is a urine test... The resulting analysis of almost 3,000 study participants found that those reporting apple-juice consumption had on average 19 percent greater levels of total urinary arsenic than those subjects who did not, and those who reported drinking grape juice had 20 percent higher levels.

The results might understate the correlation between juice consumption and urinary arsenic levels because NHANES urinary data exclude children younger than 6, who tend to be big juice drinkers. "The current analysis suggests that these juices may be an important contributor to dietary arsenic exposure," says Keeve Nachman, Ph.D., a risk scientist at the Center for a Livable Future and the Bloomberg School of Public Health, both at Johns Hopkins University. "It would be prudent to pursue measures to understand and limit young children's exposures to arsenic in juice."

The Health Dangers of Arsenic

Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of chronic arsenic exposure can easily be overlooked or misdiagnosed as something else. For example, early symptoms include:

• Gastrointestinal problems
• Skin discoloration or lesions, including hyperkeratosis
• Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic long-term exposure also increases your risk of:

• Various cancers
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes (A 2008 study linked low-level arsenic exposure to higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the US)
• Reproductive problems

As recommended by Consumer Reports, if you're concerned, or suspect your health problems may be related to arsenic poisoning, ask your doctor to test you to determine your arsenic levels. Just make sure you do not consume any kind of seafood for up to 72 hours prior to the urine test, as fish is high in naturally-occurring arsenic that can throw off your results.

Arsenic exposure in utero and during early childhood is particularly problematic, as it can cause lasting harm to children's developing brains, and endocrine- and immune systems. For example:

• A 2006 study found that Chileans exposed to high levels (peaking at 1,000 ppb) of naturally-occurring arsenic in drinking water in utero and during early childhood had a six times higher lung cancer death rate compared to Chileans living in areas with lower levels of arsenic in their water. And their mortality rate in their 30s and 40s from another form of lung disease was almost 50 times higher than for people without that arsenic exposure.
• A 2004 study showed children exposed to arsenic in drinking water at levels above 5 ppb had lower IQ scores. Earlier studies have linked chronic arsenic exposure to a range of cognitive dysfunctions, including learning disabilities, memory problems, poor concentration, and peripheral and central neuropathies.
• A study published in 2011 examined the long-term effects of low-level exposure on more than 300 rural Texans whose groundwater was estimated to have arsenic at median levels below the federal drinking-water standard. It also found that exposure was related to poor scores in language, memory, and other brain functions.

Sources of Arsenic

Naturally-occurring arsenic in groundwater is one of the most common sources of exposure, and those with private wells may face greater risks than those on public systems. If you have a well, you would be well advised to have your water tested and treated accordingly. For example, in Maine, where almost 50 percent of the population relies on private wells, the US Geological Survey has occasionally found arsenic levels in well water as high as 3,100 ppb! Disturbingly, tests have also found very high levels of inorganic arsenic in a variety of baby foods.

For example, according to Consumer Reports:

• Last year, Brian Jackson, Ph.D., an analytical chemist and research associate professor at Dartmouth College reported finding up to 23 ppb of arsenic in lab tests of name-brand jars of baby food. Inorganic arsenic represented 70 to 90 percent of those total amounts.
• A 2004 study conducted by FDA scientists in Cincinnati found arsenic levels as high as 24 ppb in baby food, with sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, and peaches containing only the inorganic form.
• A 2008 UK study found levels of inorganic arsenic in 20-ounce packets of infant rice cereals ranged from 60 to 160 ppb.

The reason why rice frequently contains high levels of inorganic arsenic is twofold. First, rice is very efficient at absorbing arsenic from the soil, and second, in the US, rice is frequently grown on land previously used to grow cotton, on which arsenic-based pesticides were heavily used. According to research by Andrew Meharg, professor of biogeochemistry at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, American-grown rice has among the highest average inorganic arsenic levels in the world. US rice contains nearly three times more arsenic than Basmati rice imported from Nepal, India, and Pakistan. Egyptian rice has the lowest inorganic arsenic levels of all.

Water Filtration—A Must for Clean Pure Water…

If you have well water, it would be prudent to have your water tested for arsenic and other contaminants. If you have public water, you can get local drinking water information from the EPA.

One of the most comprehensive test kits I've found is from National Testing Laboratories. We have these test kits available at cost, a significant discount from the standard online price. If you're interested, you can purchase a test kit for Well Water or for City Water. Alternatively, you can also locate a certified lab by contacting your local health department or call the federal Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.

In general, most water supplies contain a number of potentially hazardous contaminants, from fluoride, to drugs and disinfection byproducts (DBP's), just to name a few. You can get a good idea of what types of contaminants could be in your drinking water right now by viewing this awesome graphic from GOOD Environment (reprinted with permission.) It gives you a look at the five most and least polluted water systems in America (in cities with more than 100,000 population), including pointing out the pollutants of largest concern.

I strongly recommend using a high quality water filtration system unless you can verify the purity of your water. To be absolutely certain you are getting the purest water you can, you'll want to filter the water both at the point of entry and at the point of use. This means filtering all the water that comes into the house, and then filtering again at the kitchen sink. I currently use a whole house carbon-based water filtration system, and prior to this I used reverse osmosis (RO) to purify my water.

You can read more about water filtration here to help you make a decision about what type of water filtration system will be best for you and your family. Since most water sources are now severely polluted, the issue of water filtration and purification couldn't be more important.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Family from Arsenic

Aside from your water supply, foods and beverages are also common sources of arsenic. Here are some common-sense guidelines to limit your and your family's exposure:

• Limit your child's juice consumption. This is a general guideline for optimal health anyway, as juices contain high amounts of fructose that if taken in large quantities can cause very serious health problems.
• Buy organic, pastured chicken. Organic standards do not allow organically-raised chickens to be given conventional feed grown with synthetic pesticides.
• Avoid processed baby food. Not only are many baby foods contaminated with potentially toxic chemicals, they also tend to be loaded with sugar and trans fats, and some may even contain genetically engineered ingredients.

Instead, make your own baby food using all-organic ingredients. Simply cooking a squash or sweet potato, mashing it up and freezing it in an ice cube tray is an easy way to have ready-made multiple servings available for the rest of the week.

Egg yolk is another healthy food that requires little preparation. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, egg yolk should be your baby's first solid food, starting at approximately 4 months, whether your baby is breastfed or formula-fed. Egg yolks from free-range hens will contain the special long-chain fatty acids so critical for the optimal development of your child's brain and nervous system. (However, the egg whites may cause an allergic reaction so they're best avoided until your child is at least one year old.)

 

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