Dr Rea: An outstanding physician | ABC: You are incorrect

I just heard ABC's portrayal of the world's best and most respected Clinical Ecologist: Dr William Rea, MD

They trashed him and so is the Dallas medical association.

Watch ABC make an ass of themselves and trash a highly-respected physician.

Why? Because he treats the actual problem of patients rather than doling out drugs for them. Yes he prescribes medications when needed but he does so much less than the average doc out there.

He discovers that most of the patient's problems stem from environmental exposures such as:

• molds
• formaldehyde in carpets, furniture
• plastics
• poor water quality
• poor air quality
• mercury amalgams
• implants
• pollens
• patient specific food reactions
• electromagnetic energy ie cell phones, wireless phones
• chemicals in foods, cleaners, air fresheners
• industry

Dr Rea will stand on his two feet. The truth always wins out here. The drug companies are freaked out and so is 'traditional medicine'.

Treatments should not be: 'Symptom based prescribing'
Treatments should be: 'Locate cause of symptom and remove cause'

Dr Rea does this.

And so do thousands of other exceptional physicians.

To find a doctor who hunts for the cause of illness, visit:
American Academy of Environmental Medicine
American Association of Naturopathic Physicians


To find respected Environmental groups:
Environmental Health Perspectives
Environmental Working Group
Environmental Health News

To find a doctor who doles out medications to treat symptoms and ignore the cause of your illness:
Visit your local doc who is in support of ABC and against Dr Rea

In health and in support of Dr Rea,

Ben Lynch ND

SPRING CLEANSING?! Hype or Useful?

Depends on the person and depends on the cleanse.

If you are a individual who feasts on sugars, nuts, fast snacks, little sleep, coffee, type A, cheese, breads and processed prepared foods - then - yes - you need to cleanse.

If you are a vegan who sleeps well, relaxed, eats whole grains, fresh foods, exercises regularly and has regular bowel movements, then - no - you likely do not need the traditional cleanse kit. You need to make sure you are eating all the necessary nutrients - a cleanse could put you down for the count.

The products I do not recommend: laxatives, colonics daily, enemas daily, not eating and still working and exercising, eating only one food for a week, weird herbs which make your stools look like ...you've seen the ads. Don't. Don't Listen to the Hype.

I also don't recommend taking parasite cleanses, heavy metal cleanses or water fasting without talking to a naturopathic physician first. These cleanses are very involved and if done improperly - which is easy to do - one can get very ill quickly.

The standard products and tools that I recommend my patients to take for a cleanse are the following:

• BioCleanse Medical Food Powder is a detox support food for those in need of a full detox protocol.
• I highly recommend getting the BioCleanse Powder and the BioCleanse Capsules.
  
• If you only get the powder, you are lacking the necessary nutrients to get the freed toxins OUT of your body.
  
• This means that the BioCleanse powder mobilizes the toxins from your fat and puts them into circulation again.
  
• The BioCleanse capsules then provide the necessary nutrients to grab those toxins and make them water soluble and push them out via sweat and urine.
  
• Without the capsules, you will feel lousy.
  
• Here is the data sheet on the BioCleanse products. Download it.

Do these work??
Oh yes.

Start the dose small - don't think that faster is better here.

• Start with 1/2 scoop a day of the BioCleanse powder and the recommended dose on the BioCleanse capsules.
  
• Then after a week, take 1/2 scoop of the BioCleanse powder for a week.
  
• Then work your way up to 2 scoops two times a day.
  
• If you get 'weird' feeling, tired and groggy, you are detoxing too fast. Slow down. Don't take more BioCleanse powder when you are feeling this lousy feeling but do keep taking the BioCleanse capsules. The lousy feeling is due to you taking too much cleansing liver phase 1 nutrients and not getting them out of your body by your liver's phase 2 process.

Other must do's to properly cleanse:

• Add SAUNA to your protocol. This is a must. Sweat daily and take your electrolytes with you.
• Add filtered water: this means in your shower, bath and drinking water. I'm serious here. I'm not just pitchin products for you to buy. Chlorine is a major toxicant and one shower = 8 cups of chlorinated water in your system. Why spend money on a detox protocol if you simply climb into a shower and get blasted again??
• Breathe deeply and in a fresh area. Every breath in and out is a detoxification process. You'll feel deeply refreshed if you truely breathe deeply and consciously. Please do this in a forest, beach or somewhere pure otherwise you're defeating the purpose.
• Don't watch or read the NEWS. Avoid it. It's all negative for the most part. Don't need to get that energy in you.
  
• Laugh instead - watch comedy!

Can you detox while pregnant?
NO

Can you detox before getting pregnant?
A Fabulous idea. Meet with a naturopathic physician who is also a midwife to get the optimal care. Visit www.medfinds.com or www.naturopathic.org to find a ND and LM

Can you detox while breastfeeding?
I wouldn't recommend any cleanse while breastfeeding - just eat well and detox later -

You are already detoxing a ton while breastfeeding - not what you want to hear but it is true.

Many toxins are stored in fat and breast milk burns a ton of calories and is fat based so baby is getting a fair amount of your toxic load already - but - mind you - the benefits of breastfeeding FAR OUTWEIGH the toxins that are leaving through your breast milk.

While baby was in utero, baby was getting toxins through your bloodstream - so there is no way to avoid it anymore really - we live in a polluted environment which makes our internal environment polluted.

The only way to truly have a limited amount of toxins enter baby is to do a full detox before pregnancy and then wait a bit to get pregnant. Discuss this with a licensed ND and LM.

When your kids get older, simply have them detox a bit.

You may already do sauna and so can they. Discuss this with your naturopathic physician and midwife.

To me personally, sauna and breastfeeding is still ok for some breastfeeding women. My wife did it. You will stir up toxins but you stir up toxins when you exercise also.

How often you nurse is a factor. If there is a long span between feedings, you can breastfeed then sauna immediately after.

Sauna is great because it is getting rid of massive amounts of toxins through the skin.

I wouldn't recommend supplements during breastfeeding though - just plenty of fresh water, some teas and sauna with electrolytes.

Make sure you are getting your vitamin d3

Talk with your doc about ordering a serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D3 test.
Baby and you really need your D3 - so does your entire family. Yes milk has vitamin d in it but it is in the incorrect form - it is vitamin D2 which is bunk.

Let me know how your cleansing is going - post a comment.

It is always great to hear cleansing stories - bad breath, acne flare up all occur in the beginning and in the end - you feel outstanding...and it was all worth it!

In health,
Dr Ben

Bottled Water: It's Harmful for You and...

A recent TV spot showing flowers growing out of people's heads ended up being about Arrowhead water bottles being more environmentally sound.

"Arrowhead bottles now use 30% less plastic"

What a bunch of garbage that is. Literally.

1. What about the other 70% of plastic in their bottle?
2. What about the fact that you are likely drinking simply tap water anyhow?
3. What about the fact that those bottles weigh a ton and require fossil fuels to transport to supply chains?
4. What about the fact that the plastic leaches chemical compounds that we all know as Bisphenol A.

The alternative:
Purchase a Stainless Steel Water Bottle
Purchase a Water Filter

The benefits:
You'll save a TON of $$
You'll save a TON of plastic buildup
You'll save yourself getting loaded up with Bisphenol A
You'll actually get pure water - not tap.

Excerpt from Environmental Health Perspectives:
"The NRDC sent 103 brands of bottled water sold in the United States to be tested at independent, certified water-testing laboratories. A quarter of the samples contained chemical or microbiologic contaminants, including toluene, phthalates, and nitrates--though generally below levels deemed hazardous by law. Eight percent of the water purchased in California exceeded the 5 ppb warning level set for arsenic in that state, and samples from around the country contained coliform bacteria, although these results were not duplicated in later tests.

According to the NRDC report, bottled waters also may not be drawn from the pristine sources suggested by their labels. For instance, one brand advertised as "pure glacier water" came from a public water supply, and another touted as "spring water" was pumped from a parking lot next to a hazardous waste site. In addition, says Erik Olson, senior attorney at the NRDC and the report's lead author, phthalates from plastic water bottles can leach into the water under certain storage conditions, especially when exposed to high temperatures and sunlight."

And this guy does a great job in explaining more about Bottled Water.

Stop drinking bottled water will ya? I mean - really - who are you benefiting?

The bottled water companies. That is it.

You sure aren't.

Get a Stainless steel water bottle
Get a Water Filter
Educate others to do the same.

Have a bottled water story? Share it here.

Dr Ben

Vitamin D Discussed by Michael Murray ND

I subscribe to Michael Murray's newsletter. It is quite informative and comes once per month.

Vitamin D3 is in the news these days but not nearly enough. The news is neglecting highly useful information on vitamin D3- which Dr Murray has included.

Taking a multi-vitamin and fish oil daily is great. Adding liquid Vitamin D3 to your daily regimen is even better.

For more Vitamin D3 information:
Check out my natural health forum post on Vitamin D3 research.

Here is what Dr Murray has to say about Vitamin D3:

VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION:
A quick and easy way to reduce health care costs and extend life.

While there is considerable attention focused on the need for increased levels of calcium in promoting bone health, most experts now agree that much greater attention should be focused on vitamin D.

Its metabolic products not only stimulate calcium absorption but slow bone loss, increase bone formation, and reduce the risk of falling. It is estimated that by simply supplementing the diet with 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium and 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D more than half of all hip fractures may be prevented.

The economic consequence of such a policy would be enormous as it would translate over a five-year period of time that more than 734,000 hip fractures could be avoided and more than $13.9 billion in health care costs could be saved. In addition, another study showed that an analysis of studies with vitamin D showed that the participants who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death compared to those that did not.1

Of course, this result is not surprising. It is now known that virtually every cell in our body has receptors for vitamin D and that vitamin D is not just a vitamin. It also has very powerful hormonal activities and has protective effects noted against certain cancers (particularly breast and prostate), autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, and heart disease.2 So, lack of vitamin D would affect far more than just our bones. Can you imagine the marketing that a drug company would put behind a drug that was shown to increase your chance of living longer by 7%? Sadly, this benefit of vitamin D has gone largely ignored because there is no financial reward for anyone getting this important word out.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has added another major benefit for vitamin D and also provides an explanation for its longevity promoting effects.3 Vitamin D may slow aging by increasing the length of telomeres, the section of a chromosome that shortens each time a cell replicates. The shorter the telomere gets, the more it effects gene expression. The result is cellular aging. In the study, scientists studied the effects of vitamin D on the length of telomeres in white blood cells of 2,160 women aged 18 to 79 years. The higher the vitamin D levels, the longer the telomere length. In terms of the effect on aging, there was a 5 year difference in telomere length in those with the highest levels of vitamin D compared to those with the lowest levels. Obesity, smoking, and lack of physical activity can shorten the telomere length, but the researchers found that increasing vitamin D levels overcame these effects. What this 5 year difference means is that a 70 year old women with higher vitamin D levels would have the biological age of 65 years.

TROUBLING STATISTICS ON VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY
• 40% of the U.S. population is vitamin D deficient.
• 42% of African American women of childbearing age are deficient in vitamin D.
• 48% of young girls (9-11 years old) are vitamin D deficient.
• 60% of all hospital patients are vitamin D deficient.
• 76% of pregnant mothers are severely vitamin D deficient
• 80% of nursing home patients are vitamin D deficient.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR VITAMIN D LEVELS

Since vitamin D can be produced in our bodies by the action of sunlight on the skin, many experts consider it more of a hormone than a vitamin. The sunlight changes a compound (7-dehydrocholesterol) in the skin into vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). It has generally been thought that as little as 15 minutes of direct sunlight on the skin can produce significant increases in vitamin D levels, but recent research has challenged this conventional wisdom. For example, from the latitude of San Francisco northward—or from Buenos Aires southward—for 3 to 6 months a year, no amount of exposure will generate substantial vitamin D in even the palest skin.4

To insure adequate vitamin D levels, supplementation is warranted especially in those who live in extreme latitudes or who get little direct sunlight. There are two major dietary forms of vitamin D - vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Vitamin D2 is the form most often added to milk and other foods as well as the form most often used in nutritional supplements. Vitamin D3 in nutritional supplements is most often derived from fish liver oil or lanolin. Both D2 and D3 are capable of being converted to active vitamin D in the body. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D or are fortified. Fish such as wild salmon (360 IU per 3.5-ounce serving), mackerel, and sardines are good sources of vitamin D3, while fortified foods include milk (100 IU per 8-ounce serving), orange juice (100 IU per 8-ounce serving), and some breads and cereals provide D2. The reason I specified wild salmon is that farmed salmon has vitamin D content that is 75% less than wild caught salmon from Alaska.4

Amazingly, the U.S. Government’s National Academy of Sciences felt that there was insufficient scientific information to establish a RDA for vitamin D. Instead, the recommended intake is listed as an Adequate Intake (AI), which represents the daily vitamin D intake that should maintain bone health and normal calcium metabolism in healthy people.
Adequate Intake for vitamin D for infants, children, and adults

Dose is (µg/day)
Age Children Men Woman Pregnancy Lactation

Birth to 13 years 5 (=200 IU)
14 to 18 years 5 (=200 IU) 5 (=200 IU) 5 (=200 IU) 5 (=200 IU)
19 to 50 years 5 (=200 IU) 5 (=200 IU) 5 (=200 IU) 5 (=200 IU)
51 to 70 years 10 (=400 IU) 10 (=400 IU)
71+ years 15 (=600 IU) 15 (=600 IU)

Recently, most nutritionally-oriented physicians have been recommending higher dosages than the AI level, especially for elderly people not exposed to sunlight or living in the northern latitudes. While vitamin D conceivably has the potential to cause toxicity, the reality is that dosages in the range of 800 to 2,000 IU per day are now recognized as being safe levels.5
The drugs cholestyramine (Questran®), colestipol (Colestid®), phenytoin (Dilantin®), phenobarbital, and mineral oil all interfere with the absorption and/or metabolism of vitamin D. So, you will need to take vitamin D at the higher dosage recommendation of 2,000 IU daily if you are taking any of these drugs. The same is true if you are taking corticosteroids like prednisone because they increase the need for vitamin D. Vitamin D supplementation must be used with caution when using digoxin (Lanoxin®) and thiazide diuretics. If you are taking these drugs, do not take more than 400 to 800 IU daily without consulting your physician.


Key references:
1. Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D supplementation and total mortality: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med 2007;167(16):1730-7.
2. Holick MF. The vitamin D epidemic and its health consequences. J Nutr 2005;135(11):2739S-48S.
3. Richards JB, Valdes AM, Gardner JP, et al. Higher serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with longer leukocyte telomere length in women. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;86(5):1420-5.
4. Chen TC, Chimeh F, Lu Z, et al. Factors that influence the cutaneous synthesis and dietary sources of vitamin D. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2007;460(2):213-7
5. Holick MF. Optimal vitamin D status for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Drugs Aging 2007;24(12):1017-29

Source: www.DoctorMurray.com

ThinkBaby Bottles: BPA Free, Lead Free? Or are they...

I recently received an email from ThinkBabyBottles.com asking me to sell their bottles on my website

They claim that they have a plastic sippy cup that is bpa free and lead free.

Sounds good....but...

I asked them to send me a lab report verifying such statements.

The founder personally emailed me and said they are not providing the public
lab results. I told him I am not the public - I am a retailer, a physician and that I always verify product claims before I sell to the public to ensure safety.

I never heard back.

So - be wary of claims out there. And also if you would all inquire to thinkbabybottles.com and demand to see lab results, that would be great as it would push them to actually live up to their claims...or make them go away if they are providing a poor product.

We are talking about babies here...

Demand to see a lab report for any product that makes claims.

Perhaps ThinkBabyBottles.com are not hiding anything and they do indeed have a great product. But I say - prove it.

I asked Klean Kanteen to send me a lab report for their stainless steel water bottles. They sent it over right away. The lab report proved their claims and now I sell them online.

I highly recommend the Klean Kanteen 12oz Sippy Cup currently.

Perhaps I will highly recommend both the Klean Kanteen Sippy and the ThinkBaby bottles. I sure hope so. We need better alternatives out there.

All I need is a lab test.

Best
Ben Lynch, ND

The Best Advice: It's right here

I've the best advice right here. One click away.

Listen carefully to the words.

Then follow them. FOLLOW THEM.

Watch & Listen to the Best Advice - and listen daily.

Wear Sunscreen.

Download the song for your mp3 player:
Wear Sunscreen

Listen to it daily. I'm serious.

Best,
Dr Ben

PS - If you wear sunscreen, take vitamin D3 since you are blocking the sun's ability to provide you with the means to make it.

Many are Coughing: Beat It with 3 Steps

Loads of people are coming down with whatever current bug is out there.

This current bug seems to begin in the sinuses and then travel down into the throat and then the lungs.

Taking over-the-counter meds for mild fevers is not an effective treatment. Taking NyQuil or other sleep cough aids may be somewhat helpful but it is not treating the problem. Tylenol, Aspirin, Advil - again - worthless in my book when it comes to the flu or the common cold.

Three Problems:
Your immune system may be tired for one so that needs help.
The other is you may need assistance in breaking up the mucous and getting it up and out.
Another is you may be dehydrated. Drink pure filtered water - NOT bottled.

Resolution Step 1:
Low vitamin D is the likely culprit why many are ill. Given that the sun is no where to be seen for months during this time of year, vitamin D status in people is very subnormal. Low vitamin D is a common cause of immune weakness leading to 'catching colds.'

So boost your Vitamin D3 levels by taking a liquid vitamin D3 product. Many docs recommend taking anywhere from 2000 IU to 10,000 IU a day in order to get low D3 levels back to normal again.

You may want to test your D3 levels if you are currently taking a Vitamin D product. Ask your doctor to measure your serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D3 levels.

Vitamin D2 in your milk and yogurt is not doing you much, if any, benefit. Vitamin D2 is not the form used by the human body therefore vitamin D2 is not utilized well at all.

Resolution Step 2:
To get rid of the unsuccessful unproductive cough:
N-acetyl cysteine, otherwise known as NAC, is a potent nutrient for breaking up mucous in sinuses and lungs.

Taking 900 mg of N-Acetyl Cysteine three times a day between meals may significantly loosen up the mucous thereby getting rid of the dry cough. You may want to take 1800 mg or more three times a day if you are noticing a very unsuccessful dry hacking cough.

Caution: You will begin hacking more but you will also notice that the mucous will be coming up - so have a handkerchief with you. Getting rid of the sticky dry mucous is essential to recovery. The tickling cough will also go away as the mucous comes up. The tickling cough is caused mainly by sticky dry mucous.

Resolution Step 3:
Drink plenty of pure filtered water. Being dehydrated when you are ill is a big problem and commonly not addressed.

Dehydration causes mucous to become more sticky and harder to get out thereby causing you to hold on to your bug longer.

Don't buy bottled water. Bottled water is simply making bottling companies wealthy while giving you tap water in a plastic bottle.

Get a stainless steel water bottle, a good water filter and go on your way without plastics and damaging our planet even more.

There is a limit to how much water to drink - so don't go nuts. If you drink too much water, you simply are washing out your mineral stores. Drink a couple liters a day and it is best to toss in some electrolytes in it as well. Electrolytes are crucial to maintain cellular function.

Other Quick Cough Fighting Tips:
Nothing beats a humidifier with eucalyptus oil and sea salt in your room at night while you are sleeping. The humidifier helps soften the mucous and soothe the lungs.

Hanging a crushed clove of garlic or two also helps out. The garlic oils are antimicrobial.

Stop eating any and all dairy products for a couple weeks. Dairy causes mucous in many individuals. This means no milk, ice cream, sour cream, cream cheese, lactose free milk, cottage cheese, etc

Post a comment on what you do to successfully get rid of the common cold or treat hacking coughs.

Best,
Dr Ben

One Company: Making Cancer-Causing Pesticides & Providing Cancer Drugs: A Sick Loop

We are spending more money than ever to find and treat cancer—some $100 billion in direct treatment costs alone.

Today, one subsidiary of the global chemical firm Industrial Chemicals, Inc., makes a number of cancer-causing pesticides, such as atrazine—a compound banned in much of the industrial world—while another division of ICI, AstraZeneca, produces tamoxifen, one of the most widely prescribed cancer drugs in the world.

Could this paradoxical strategy have anything to do with the fact that both the incidence of cancer not tied to smoking and its treatment options keep steadily increasing, while efforts to restrain environmental causes of the disease remain stymied?

This quote remains anonymous to protect the author.