New Guide Format Online!

The Guide has a new Online look! View at: http://issuu.com/greentravel/docs/althealthguide10-11

Pesticides and ADHD

Yet another reason to seek out organic food and local farm stands....and this from mainstream researchers and press:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/17/pesticides.adhd/index.html?hpt=T2

We are fortunate to have such an abundance of organic and good local foods in Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as the ability for many of us to grow our own!

Essential Oils to Fight Superbugs

While information about the anti-microbial properties of essential oils has been around in the alternative-traditional-sustainable medicine worlds for a long time, research is just coming to light in the more mainstream allopathic realm. Researchers in Greece have found that the essential oils of Thyme and Cinnamon are especially effective in combatting otherwise resistant "super" strains of bacteria.

This information is critical in terms of our health care system and lack thereof. In Jane Buckle's excellent 2003 book, Clinical Aromatherapy, she details information about these important aspects and sites studies and clinical uses of essential oils for these purposes. The book is available at Buckle's Web site along with a host of other information, as well as on Amazon.com.

At the link below you can read the Science Daily article about the Greek findings.

Essential oils to fight superbugs

Another Source of Mercury Contamination - Oh Joy!

I am not sure humans are ever going to quite "get" the mercury issue... it is insidious and on some level a contributing factor to many illnesses. While mercury-contaminated fish is already on the list of foods to eat in limited quantities (or not at all), some high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been found to be contaminated with mercury. While this was discovered over a year ago, and I wrote about it in a brief blog post last fall, a recent report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy shows that of the brand-name products they tested containing high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), over thirty percent were contaminated with mercury. There are plenty of other reasons to not eat foods containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but this addition of mercury contamination adds a whole other level to the issues of food quality and safety, as well as long term health implications of diet.

Please visit the Health Observatory site of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy to view their full information about HFCS and Mercury Contamination and download the reports. For more information about the health effects of Mercury see the Guide Blog post about Vaccine Preservatives.

And for a more humorous educational experience be sure and check out King Corn a somewhat goofy but accurate documentary film about two college-age kids who set out to learn about corn by “adopting” a one acre plot in corn-country and seeing the cycle through harvest and commodity. The revelations about high-fructose corn syrup, cattle feed, food, and health are devastating, but they manage to do it so you keep laughing.

A Few Website additions to the Last Post

I wanted to add some additional Web resources to the post Cancer - Mammograms, TKTL1 and Diet.
The TKTL1 Website is in English- a welcome relief no non-German speakers as even the wonders of Google Translate wear thin with information dense web sites. And the Coy-Principle Website , while also in German, offers some information not found on the regular Dr. Coy site.

Cancer - Mammograms, TKTL1 and Diet

There is some interesting information surfacing about diagnostic tools for cancer. Devra Davis, PhD has written an excellent piece about mammograms on The Huffington Post, A Secret History of Mammography.

While mammograms may have their place and purpose, there are less problematic alternatives for screening such as ultrasound, more widely used in Europe. Dr. Johannes Coy, a German cancer researcher has developed a blood test for cancer, TKTL1. Dr. Johannes Coy’s anti-cancer (anti-Krebs in German) diet book is currently only available in German. For those curious and intrepid, you can find his book on Amazon.co.uk. The concept is that indeed diet can and does effect the growth of cancer. Dr. Coy's recommendations based on his research include a low-glycemic diet, with critical oils and proteins. Oil blends and other products can be found on the German Tavarlin Web site.

For those who do not speak or understand German, you will be ever thankful for Google Translate and although not perfect is most helpful for just this sort of situation.

Dr. Coy's work is groundbreaking and I hope will become more widely known in the United States and the world.

A truly public health plan is having access to ALL modalities and technologies, not just those dictated by insurance companies, politicians, pharmaceutical companies and narrow-minded physicians. There are a wealth of health care possibilities and people should be able to choose diagnostics and treatments just as they can choose religion, education, and appliance brands.