East Orange County couple find paradise living off the grid

The Meers show you can live off the grid and be happy

By Rich McKay

Sentinel Staff Writer

October 22, 2009

After a year of living with no indoor shower, dishwasher or central air-conditioning, an east Orange County couple calls it an off-the-grid paradise.

Terry and Tia Meer built their electric-sipping, super-efficient log cabin down a gravel path alongside the Econlockhatchee River as a way to live what they preach — making as little environmental impact as possible.

“You don’t have to live uncomfortably, totally cut off from the world or in a tent to use less energy,” said Tia Meer, 30, recently as she tended one of the couple’s vegetable gardens on their 5-acre plot near Christmas.

DOJ begins Monsanto probe

On October 8, the seed and agrochemical giant Monsanto revealed that it is being questioned by the Department of Justice for a possible violation of anti-trust laws related to its control of much of the genetically engineered seed market, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The timing of the investigation coincides with an announcement in late August from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about a series of workshops to hear farmers’ concerns about corporate consolidation in the agricultural industry. Christine Varney, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, also recently announced a commitment to investigate competition issues within the agricultural industry.

Pesticides Destroying 60 Percent of Honeybees

Pesticides Destroying 60 Percent of Honeybees
by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) The pesticides used in industrial agriculture may eventually undermine its very existence by destroying the honeybees upon which the system depends, experts are warning.

“When I was teaching at Humboldt State University in northern California 20 years ago, I invited a beekeeper to talk to my students,” wrote former Environmental Protection Agency analyst Evaggelos Vallianatos on the Web site Truthout.org. “He said that each time he took his bees to southern California to pollinate other farmers’ crops, he would lose a third of his bees to sprays. In 2009, the loss ranges all the way to 60 percent.”

Vaccines & Autism

“It is not accurate for members of the media to report that the link between vaccines and autism has been “disproven.” This is especially true in light of recent news from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee – and a series of other news items from the Federal Court of Claims, Federal health agencies, leading universities and top autism researchers around the country. There are now many reasons why the media should continue its coverage of this serious and ongoing debate.”

David Kirby

Huffington Post

Relieved pain, fertility success, digestive balance – and more…

Anne Hirsch (www.midwifehomebirth.com)

Natural Herbal Remedies For Sleep Therapy.

Adequate sleep is required to stay healthy. It might not be that easy. Even with a lot of effort, you can still have trouble sleeping all night long. A lot of people try medication to help them sleep well.

However, these drugs can pose some risks as well. Some might be addicting. Some make us feel groggy when we wake up. Some have adverse side effects. Drugs aren’t the only solution to fix sleep troubles. The inability to sleep can be treated with safe and natural remedies.

Changing your Lifestyle and Sleep Atmosphere

Build Your Immune System The Chinese Medicine Way.

The immune system is a fascinating mechanism. When foreign germs enter the body, it immediately activates its defenses and protects us from outside invasions. Unfortunately, sometimes our immune system doesn’t work as well as we would like.

The immune system can be negatively affected by stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, and various environmental factors. Our chances of getting sick are greater when our immune system is weak. The immune system can be tonified, and it isn’t necessary to use over the counter or prescription drugs to make it happen. Instead, consider Chinese medicine nutrition to ensure that your body’s immune systems is functioning at it’s full capacity. It is important to consume the proper nutrients by eating the right foods.

Following are some of the best foods to help boost the immune system:

* Citrus fruits - Oranges, lemons and all other citrus are strong immune system boosters. They are good sources of vitamin C which helps boost the production of white blood cells and antibodies. 75 milligrams of vitamin C can be found in a medium sized orange.

* Carrots - Large amounts of beta carotene can be found in carrots. This phytonutrient helps out your immune system. It encourages the creation of infection fighting killer cells and T cells. Scientists have discovered that falcarinol, a compound in carrots, can aid in the prevention of cancer.

* Garlic - Garlic is excellent at battling just about any kind of infection. Herbal remedies often incorporate it. The immune system will be in optimal condition if you consume this just a few times throughout the week. Ensuring that the garlic is fresh and crushed completely will lead to the best results , and you will benefit the most from the infection-fighting elements it contains.

*Yogurt – The probiotic content of yogurt is high. Acidophilus bacteria, are found in yogurt and are beneficial to the proper functioning of the immune system. The body uses Acidophilus bacteria to maximize nutrients derived from food as well as to fight off harmful bacteria, yeast, and viruses. Bifidobacterium that is particularly beneficial for the aged, is another sort of bacteria in yogurt.

* Fatty Fish – Omega 3 fatty acids can be found in large amounts in fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel. They promote the effectiveness of phagocytes, the bacteria eating white blood cells. You can enhance this effect by taking vitamin E.

Many illnesses and infections can be fought off without the use of drugs and antibiotics by our immune system, if we take care of it. Putting these foods into your diet is a smart way to begin.

Why Sugar Free is Detrimental To Your Health

When we desire to lose pounds, we usually attempt to cut down on sugar. This is a sensible approach, since sugar contains a lot of calories and it has little nutrition. It is not too hard to change this, since sugar substitutes can give us the flavor we like without the calories. How is the safety of these sweeteners in regard to our health?

Based on various research done during the last twenty years, the response is definitely negative.  Aspartame, a man-made sweetener (also called NutraSweet) has been connected to headaches, blindness, seizures, loss of memory, depression, hypertension, metabolism problems, and actually cancer. In a case called “First Experimental Demonstration of the Multipotential Carcinogenic Effects of Aspartame Administered in the Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats,” it was discovered that “aspartame is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a dose… much less than the current acceptable daily intake. “  Additional artificial sweeteners also make problems for your health. Saccharin (Sweet ‘N Low) was previously listed as a carcinogen with the Food and Drug Administration. It has been taken off, although it was exactly connected to bladder cancer in male rats. An ingredient in Ace-K (Sweet One) is methylene chloride, a verified carcinogen, which hurts the kidney and liver, causesstomach sickness, depression and an headaches.

Many believe that since it’s derived from sugar, that Sucralose (Splenda) is safe. However were you aware than this sugar substitute was invented accidentally by researchers who were attempting to create a new pesticide. This procedure done to make sucralose creates chlorocarbons, which are verified to inflame the liver and kidneys. The FDA knows it has a maximum of two percent chemicals, consisting of methanol, arsenic and heavy metals.

Why are Artificial Sweeteners employed?

Since they are so many health troubles connected to artificial sweeteners, it is difficult to understand why the FDA approves them. However they have been approved. The FDA has again disregarded the issues with various research that say these sweeteners are dangerous, with the reasons being that there are no tests on people and the experiments are not properly done. It has agreed with, however, the outcome of research done by the artificial sweetener business, which allege that these items don’t make any health troubles.

Some people put the fault on the acceptance of artificial sweeteners as a controversy. It is said by others that the approval of products that are unsafe by the FDA is a common practice. Anyway, the results of the research on artificial sweeteners reveal again and again that they are harmful.

Since there aren’t any signs that man-made sweeteners and the items that are made with them will be removed from the stores, it is our duty to stop using them. Rather than eating these possibly harmful items, attempt to eat normally sweet foods like fresh fruit, and choose honey when you want something sweet. This could actually preserve your life.

Much to Like – More to Come

Originally posted at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/much-to-like-more-to-come_b_282188.html

—–

I am encouraged.

There was much to like in President Obama’s Wednesday night health care reform speech to a joint session of Congress.

First, he promised to freeze out of the debate those who spew nonsense about death panels and similar claptrap. He thus exiled the bad-faith obstructionists to the outer darkness, where they belong.

Then, some necessary shaming: “Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy….We are the only advanced democracy on Earth – the only wealthy nation – that allows such hardships for millions of its people.” Exactly right.

This was followed by the financial stakes. “Our health care problem is our deficit problem…nothing else even comes close.” Spot on.

Finally, he laid out a system that would “build on what works, fix what does not, rather than build an entirely new system from scratch.” Many are now focused on the president’s ringing endorsement of a public medical insurance option: “If Americans can’t find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice.”

But as I have stated in my book, Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future, medical insurance reform of any kind is doomed without medical content reform. It doesn’t matter if the insurance is provided by a private corporation, the federal government or any other entity. A health care system that costs $64,000 annually for a family of four in seven to nine years – as ours will, without radical change in medical practice – will quickly bankrupt taxpayers, policyholders, or whoever pays the premiums.

That’s why a quick reference in the hour-long speech gets my most enthusiastic accolades. “We have long known that some places, like the Intermountain Healthcare in Utah or the Geisinger Health System in rural Pennsylvania, offer high-quality care at costs below average,” the president said. He added that a special commission “can help encourage the adoption of these common-sense best practices by doctors and medical professionals throughout the system – everything from reducing hospital infection rates to encouraging better coordination between teams of doctors.”

Absolutely!

These weren’t the most-well turned phrases and they garnered no applause, but to me, they were the vital heart of the speech. Everything the president proposed will fail, utterly, unless we transplant the “best practices” in the current system into medical facilities around the nation, too many of which are dysfunctional due to fear and greed.

To the two exemplary, physician-led medical systems cited by the president, I would add another valuable model: the clinical practices of integrative medicine, such as those we teach at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The low-cost, high-return medicine we have developed there can form the backbone of a new, less costly, much more effective American medical system.

Now, would I have liked to hear more from President Obama? Absolutely. As I expected, when he mentioned specific medical content at all, he emphasized disease prevention via passive measures such as colonoscopies and mammograms rather than through lifestyle change and health promotion. I wish he had pledged to foster healthy living throughout our culture. For example, we must:

• Reverse the perverse farm subsidies that make the worst calories in the supermarket the cheapest.
• Reinstate the slashed school fitness programs that have contributed to the child obesity epidemic.
• Create incentives and disincentives to encourage more Americans to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Health care reform that doesn’t address these issues will produce limited benefits. That’s why such reforms are the basis of my health care call to action. I hope these are next on the president’s agenda.

In the meantime, we cannot afford to wait on Washington. We must take responsibility ourselves to eat right, exercise, practice stress reduction and take the other necessary steps to maximize our own health and happiness.

While it frustrates me, I understand the president’s measured approach. Given that every chief executive since Theodore Roosevelt has tried to reform the medical system and none, so far, has succeeded, President Obama’s first major speech on the subject may not have been the time to overreach. If we can just move incrementally toward creating a system that spreads the efficiency, compassion and high-quality outcomes of our current clinical exemplars, we’ll have done something quite profound.

And we’ll have laid the groundwork for future measures that create a truly healthy citizenry.

Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com. His new book, “Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future” is now available.

A Call to Action: Why Our Health Matters

On the evening of President Obama’s healthcare speech, we stumbled upon this recently posted article by Dr. Andrew Weil.  Originally posted here, we hope it inspires you as it has us in its call to action toward true healthcare reform that starts with a clear understanding of our health and why it matters.

A Call to Action: Why Our Health Matters

As an American, you have a right to good health care that is effective, accessible, and affordable, that serves you from infancy through old age, that allows you to go to practitioners and facilities of your choosing, and that offers a broad range of therapeutic options.

We currently have an expensive system that is not making people well. While there has been tremendous debate over access and payment, there has been less focus on the content of health care. Without a change in that content, we will never have a sustainable system; all attempts at reform will be taken down by unmanageable costs.

As I outlined in my book, Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future, here are some changes we can demand immediately:

1. Ban direct-to-consumer marketing and advertising by big pharma.
Sales of $643 billion a year have made the pharmaceutical industry the number one most profitable business in the country. Most pharmaceutical companies spend a huge portion of their budget on advertising and promotion. The result is a nation of people who believe there’s a pill for every health problem. Big pharma advertising is producing a distorted and narrow view of how health care works, which is why there are several bills moving through Congress that aim to clamp down on it.

2. Create a National Institute of Health and Healing at the NIH and fund it generously
If our health care system is to achieve greatness, our medicine needs to return to its roots. It must focus again on the natural and innate healing power of human beings. This means investing more in research that will help us understand the body’s ability to maintain health, defend itself from harm, regenerate damaged tissue and adapt to injury and loss. Doing so will help us create and improve treatment and therapies that are less invasive and less expensive while making the most of our most powerful healing asset: ourselves.

3. Create an Office of Health Promotion within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and fund it appropriately.
We spend 40 times more on the health risks of terrorism than we do on the health risks of obesity, which kills about 400,000 people a year. There is too much emphasis on treating disease rather than on protecting health in the first place. We need to invest real dollars and ingenuity in educating people about nutrition, exercise and other healthy activities. It’s the single most effective way to defeat the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and conditions that lead to life-threatening diseases.

4. Teach health promotion and integrative medicine at medical schools and residency programs.
We need to create a new generation of hands-on primary care physicians who are as knowledgeable about promoting health practices that their patients can adopt to prevent serious, chronic diseases as they are about disease management and crisis intervention.

5. Require insurers to cover health promotion and integrative care.
Millions of Americans today are taking dietary supplements, practicing yoga and integrating other natural therapies into their lives. These are all preventive measures that will keep them out of the doctor’s office and drive down the costs of treating serious problems like heart disease and diabetes. Yet none of these healthy activities is covered by insurance companies.

6. Establish an Office of Health Education within the U.S. Department of Education.
We need to start healthy habits young. This office would make nutrition, diet, and exercise an integrated part of every child’s education and encourage innovative ways to teach healthy practices to young people so the messages stick.

7. Learn how to take care of yourself!
You can’t afford to get sick, and you can’t depend on the present health care system to keep you well. It’s up to you to protect and maintain your body’s innate capacity for health and healing by making the right choices in how you live.

Yours in health,
Andrew Weil, M.D.

Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future is available now. Visit the website Why Our Health Matters for more information.

Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com.