Natural Treatment for Bacterial Infections

Bacterial infections are occasionally life-threatening health concerns. Older and newly emerging antibiotic-resistant infections are an increasing danger for children, the elderly, and people who have chronic diseases. Bacterial infections can disrupt normal intestinal flora, reduce nutrient and mineral supplies, and compromise immune responses. A healthy immune system can prevent or neutralize bacterial infections.

When dealing with a possible bacterial infection, it is impossible to tell, short of laboratory tests, which pathogen is causing the problem. Therefore, it is important to visit a physician for proper testing and, if necessary, to obtain prescription antibiotics. In addition, many nutrients have been shown to help strengthen the immune system and inhibit bacterial infection.

Nutrients that have been demonstrated to inhibit bacterial activity or enhance the immune system include:

Lactoferrin—300 milligrams (mg) daily
Oregano oil—400 to 1000 mg of essential oils daily
Garlic extract—600 to 1200 mg of Kyolic garlic daily
Norwegian shark liver oil—200 mg of active alkylglycerols
Bromelain—500 mg before each meal
L-arginine—900 mg daily
L-glutamine—1 to 2 grams (g) daily
Cranberry extract—500 mg daily
Probiotics—Follow directions on label.
Whey protein—1 to 2 scoops daily
Green tea extract—725 mg daily
Garlic bulb powder—1800 to 9000 mg of Pure Gar daily (if you already have an infection)

lifeextension@lefbc.com

Life Expectancy Drops To 69.3 Years In The US

Makes a person ashamed of what is going on in the United States!

10-22-8

(Reuters) -- What is the average life expectancy of Americans? For a long time it has been the low seventies for men and upper seventies for women. So it comes as a shock to learn that the average life expectancy for Americans has dropped to 69.3 years, according to the America's Health Rankings report, issued at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting. This figure is exceeded by 28 other countries, including Britain, France and Germany and is about five years less than the life expectancy in Japan. According to Dr. Reed Tuckson, this dismal number reflects increasing obesity, fewer people quitting smoking (although only 20.8 percent of Americans smoke today, down from almost one-third in 1990), and increasing numbers of people without health insurance. Officials made no mention of the increasing consumption of processed foods containing refined sweeteners, processed vegetable oils and toxic additives, and certainly did not allow even a whisper about the almost complete absence of nutrient-dense foods such as organ meats, shellfish and butterfat and eggs from grass-fed animals from the American diet (December 13, 2005). Nor does it mention the failure of the health care (sic) system, the chemicals added into the food system, GMO "Frankenfoods" in the supermarket with out any scientific testing for harm, the tainted colorless sky (chemtrails with barium and aluminum) and the poisonous water (MBTE, percholrate amongs other nasties). It doesn't count the stress that everyday people are under trying to purchase daily necessities, the drugs being pumped in to us and the mercury containing vaccines (thimerosol) which turn our children into medicated autistic kids. There is much that lends support to this report and the situation will only become worse!

My View of Life

Today is October 1st.

The US is in a meltdown of unprecedented proportions. Wall Street Security Traders and bankers are twisting arms for the US taxpayers to bail them out of their scams, while those who perpetuated these frauds scramble to protect their loot. Banks are holding onto their money, refusing to loan any money-even to each other. Gasoline is in short supply in the southeast apparently due to a hurricane three weeks ago, gasoline prices are as high as they've ever been, food prices continue to rise at ridiculous rates, unemployment is soaring even as the government understates the real unemployment levels, crime is soaring through the roof in the US cities as people desperately try to survive. The government responds by building more prisons and criminalizing most all behavior. Yet, instead of tackling these problems the US government continues to threaten other countries with air strikes in Pakistan, the illegal wars continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, continued threats on Iran, trying to pull off a coup d'etat in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela against popularly elected Presidents; the scams on the US people continue forward, AND beginning today the US Army is stationing battle hardened troops on US soil (for the first time since it was banned after the Civil War) in order to respond to "terrorist attacks", disasters or civil unrest (by US citizens) or for any national emergency the "President declares" in his infinite wisdom. But...

here in Mexico life is still peaceful. Fall has arrived. The monarch butterflies will be here at the end of the month. They must be somewhere in northern Mexico, right about now, on their annual migration. Last year they appeared in our yard October 31 for All Hallows Eve. The rains have slowed to a couple of times a week. This week the days have been sunny, cool with a deep blue sky. The winds pick up in the evenings allowing our wind chimes to sing their wonderful songs. I lay in bed at night and can hear the chimes singing merrily in the night down on the first floor beneath my bedroom, as the sheer curtains blow gently. Yesterday morning it was 38 degrees at 7:30 in the morning as we took our garbage to the street for pickup. The nights are cool enough for the need of two blankets and a two dog-night. Day temperatures are now in the mid-60's.

The apple trees are turning red and yellow, the pear trees are blooming with their white flowers, yet the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. We picked the rest of our peaches last week; peeled them and put them in the freezer for winter pies. Two weeks ago, I harvested our pears and made pear preserves. The pears were exceedingly juicy this years and so sweet! We are now harvesting fennel seeds, parsley, borage (with its beautiful blue star flowers), to be dried and used later. We have very tall and beautiful hyssop plants, which have bloomed all summer with their beautiful, purple blossoms attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. We will harvest these next week and make lozenges out of them for sore throat this winter, if needed. Our epazote grew furiously in the wet summer and now have gone to seed and small epazote plants are springing up in the garden. Sunflower heads have been harvested and are being dried for planting next spring. The roses are still blooming their beautiful, fragrant blossoms. Sunlight is moving south and the shadows grow longer on the north side of the house. Nature continues and the seasons change.

Across the lake and along the highways the Cosmo's are blooming. The pink hue covers the north shore peninsula and as seen from our balcony adds a sharp contrast to the blue water and green mountains whose top is often covered by white clouds.

Last week we had a new visitor. A Black Witch Moth took up residence in our living room. This moth is huge! Ours was probably 6 or 7 inches wing-tip to wing-tip. It is so large you actually hear the wings flapping. When it flies, it looks like a bat which causes confusion for some people. It is large but completely docile. It does not bite or sting or threaten to take all your money (or securities). It just spent the day on one of our adobe walls under a painting and slept until night to go visiting wherever a Witch Moth visits.

This morning, in anticipation of the cooler nights which are soon to be here, my wife and I gathered dried kindling from along the road in front of our house. The early, cool morning felt like the fall mornings we had in our cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains a number of years ago. We placed the kindling in the garage, next to our hoard of firewood and now await our first fire of the autumn.

We haven't left our house in two weeks. We are completely content to be at home. We sit on the balcony overlooking the lake and we feel the sun warming our skin as the wind whispers through the trees. As I sit in the sun on the porch I may pick over black beans or peruana beans for our evening meal, or smoke our dinner on the grill. We watch the Great White Herons circle above us and over the lake looking for their meal, and also before a storm, the herons take flight in great numbers to circle high above us riding the thermals seemingly enjoying the shear joy of life. We listen to the roosters crowing and the donkey braying off in the distance and the sheep come each day to fatten up on the grass which has been nurtured by the summer rains. A flock of turkeys strut down the road (some times being led by a rooster) nibbling on the grass seeds and insects, a mother duck leads her ducklings along the road in single file while teaching them how to survive. We leave our windows and front door open and sparrows invite themselves into the house to feast upon the seed thrown out of the cage by our two canaries. They eat their fill and then fly out the window again. This seems to make the canaries happy.

So while the world as we knew it crumbles into the dust of history, we enjoy our simple life. We enjoy the simple joys that life really offers, you can too, if you will simply take the time to notice. The feel of the sun on your skin on a cool day, the smell of fresh roses, the taste of newly harvested peaches or pears, the sweet sounds of life around you, the happiness you feel when you awake in the morning and the sun shines through your window and a gentle breeze blows. The smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen as you awaken. Of living your life with joy with the person you love. The letting go of the past and embracing the present.

I don't know what the future holds, but I know this...I refuse to live my life in fear. I refuse to allow others to control me. I honestly do not care what anyone thinks of me. I refuse to allow my happiness to be controlled by events I cannot change. I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid being offered by the government and controlled media.

And for today...

I am content.

Vitamins and Minerals Food Sources

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Micronurients

Vitamin A: Green leafy vegetables, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, wheatgrass juice

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): Whole grains, nori, wakame, legumes (especially peanuts)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): Green vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nutritional yeast, hiziki

Vitamin B3 (Niacin): Whole grains (especially brown, black and red rice), posole, masa, nori, wakame, peanuts, nutritional yeast

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid): whole grains, beans, legumes, mushrooms, nuts, nutritional yeast

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine): Whole grains, leafy green vegetables, dulse, nori, nutritional yeast, carrots, peas, sunflower seeds, walnuts

Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin): Current scientific research has concluded that there are no reliable sources of B12 in plant sources, so it is best to take a supplement daily in lozenge form

Biotin: Soybeans, nutritional yeast, whole grains

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid): Citrus fruits, bell peppers, chiles, amaranth, berries, cabbage, parsley, sprouts, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts

Chlorine: Soybeans, whole grains, legumes

Co-Enzyme Q10: Peanuts, spinach

Vitamin D: Sunflower sprouts, fortified soymilk, fortified vegan cereal

Vitamin E: Nuts, seeds, wheat, oats, quinoa, brown, red and black rice, broccoli, cauliflower, dandelion greens, sprouts, asparagus, cucumbers, spinach, wheatgerm oil

Folic acid: Microalgae, sprouts, leafy green vegetables, whole grains, nutritional yeast, dates, beans, legumes, mushrooms, oranges, beets, fenugreek and root vegetables

Inositol: Whole grains, nutritional yeast, beans and legumes, especially soybeans)

Vitamin E: Alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, hempseed, blackstrap molasses, dark leafy green Vitamin K: vegetables, green tea, kelp, soybeans, oats, rye, wheat

Vitamin P (bioflavonoids): Peppers, buckwheat, black currants

Vitamin U: Green cabbage

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Macronutrients

Complex Carbohydrates:Found almost exclusively in plant foods. Whole grains, beans, legumes, and vegetables

Protein: Beans, legumes, seeds, grains (especially quinoa and amaranth), leafy green vegetables

Fat: Avocados, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds

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Minerals

Boron: Seaweed, alfalfa, unrefined sea salt, nuts, carrots, leafy green vegetables, apples, pears

Calcium:leafy green vegetables, almonds, nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, figs, dandelion greens, wakame, hiziki, kelp, kombu, amaranth, quinoa, oats, beans, legumes, microalgae, fortified soymilk.

Chromium: Seaweed (especially kelp and alaria), whole grains, mushrroms, beets, nutritional yeast, beans, legumes

Copper :Seaweed, whole grains, raisins, apricots, garlic, mushrooms, beets, nuts, leafy green vegetables

Fluorine: Seaweed, rye, brown rice, parsley, avocados, cabbage

Germanium: Seaweed, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, aloe vera, ginsing, onions

Iodine: Seaweed and unrefined sea salt

Iron: Seaweed, molasses, whole grains, nuts, beets, sesame, seeds, beans, legumes, prunes, rasins, dates, dried apricots, almonds (taken with a vitamin c source will boost the iron absorption)

Magnesium: Seaweed, whole grains, microalgae, amaranth, beans, legumes, leafy green vegetables

Manganese: Seaweed, whole grains, nuts and seeds, dark green leafy vegetables, avocados

Phosphorus: Seaweed, whole grains, beans, legumes, dried fruit, garlic, nuts, seeds

Potasium: Kelp, dulse, carrot juice, whole grains, beans, legumes, bananas

Selenium: Seaweed, whole grains, beans, legumes, garlic, mushrooms

Silicon: Seaweed, whole grains, bib lettuce, parsnips, dandelion greens, strawberries, celery, cucumbers, apricots, carrots

Sodium: Seaweed, celery, unrefined sea salt

Sulfur Seaweed, cabbages, beans, legumes, onions, garlic, nettles, soybeans

Vanadium: Seaweed, whole grains, vegetable oils, dill, radishes, green beans

Zinc: Seaweed, whole grains, legumes, beans, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, nettles, soybeans

10 RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

1. You will receive a body.
You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.

2. You will learn lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called "life".

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work".

4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned.
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end.
There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive that means there are still lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better place than "here".
When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here".

7. Other people are merely mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie within you.
The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Scientists may have cured cancer last week.

Yep.

So, why haven’t the media picked up on it?

Here’s the deal. Researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada found a cheap and easy to produce drug that kills almost all cancers. The drug is dichloroacetate, and since it is already used to treat metabolic disorders, we know it should be no problem to use it for other purposes.

Doesn’t this sound like the kind of news you see on the front page of every paper?

The drug also has no patent, which means it could be produced for bargain basement prices in comparison to what drug companies research and develop.

Scientists tested DCA on human cells cultured outside the body where it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but left healthy cells alone. Rats plump with tumors shrank when they were fed water supplemented with DCA.

Again, this seems like it should be at the top of the nightly news, right?

Cancer cells don’t use the little power stations found in most human cells - the mitochondria. Instead, they use glycolysis, which is less effective and more wasteful.

Doctors have long believed the reason for this is because the mitochondria were damaged somehow. But, it turns out the mitochondria were just dormant, and DCA starts them back up again.

The side effect of this is it also reactivates a process called apoptosis. You see, mitochondria contain an all-too-important self-destruct button that can’t be pressed in cancer cells. Without it, tumors grow larger as cells refuse to be extinguished. Fully functioning mitochondria, thanks to DCA, can once again die.

With glycolysis turned off, the body produces less lactic acid, so the bad tissue around cancer cells doesn’t break down and seed new tumors.

Here’s the big catch. Pharmaceutical companies probably won’t invest in research into DCA because they won’t profit from it. It’s easy to make, un-patented and could be added to drinking water. Imagine, Gatorade with cancer control.

So, the groundwork will have to be done at universities and independently funded laboratories. But, how are they supposed to drum up support if the media aren’t even talking about it?

All I can do is write this and hope Google News picks it up. In the meantime, tell everyone you know and do your own research.

This is a column of opinion written by Printz Executive Editor David McRaney. Comments can be sent to printz@usm.edu

UNC researchers find MSG use linked to obesity

This is another reason to avoid Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). MSG is known to cause allergic reactions, headaches, cardiovascular problems among it's many side effects. MSG is found in Chinese restaurant food, and all processed food. The purpose is to "enhance" flavor of otherwise flavorless processed food. It provides absolutely no nutritional value. It is place in food to help the manufacturer...not the consumer. Later I will post specific foods to avoid and the different names manufacturers use to hide MSG on their labels.

CHAPEL HILL – People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their food are more likely than people who don't use it to be overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical activity and total calorie intake, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study published this month in the journal Obesity.

Researchers at UNC and in China studied more than 750 Chinese men and women, aged between 40 and 59, in three rural villages in north and south China. The majority of study participants prepared their meals at home without commercially processed foods. About 82 percent of the participants used MSG in their food. Those users were divided into three groups, based on the amount of MSG they used. The third who used the most MSG were nearly three times more likely to be overweight than non-users.

"Animal studies have indicated for years that MSG might be associated with weight gain," said Ka He, M.D., assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. "Ours is the first study to show a link between MSG use and weight in humans."

Because MSG is used as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, studying its potential effect on humans has been difficult. He and his colleagues chose study participants living in rural Chinese villages because they used very little commercially processed food, but many regularly used MSG in food preparation.

"We found that prevalence of overweight was significantly higher in MSG users than in non-users," He said. "We saw this risk even when we controlled for physical activity, total calorie intake and other possible explanations for the difference in body mass. The positive associations between MSG intake and overweight were consistent with data from animal studies."

As the percentage of overweight and obese people around the world continues to increase, He said, finding clues to the cause could be very important.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health organizations around the world have concluded that MSG is safe," He said, "but the question remains – is it healthy?"

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Co-authors on the study included Liancheng Zhao and colleagues from Fu Wai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing. Other researchers on this study were from Northwestern University in Chicago and the INTERMAP Cooperative Research Group.

The study is available online at: http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n8/full/oby2008274a.html