Build Massive Arms!

DECLINE DUMBBELL TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
MRI studies show this to be the most effective exercise for recruiting all three heads of the triceps. Position your body in a supine position on a decline bench, hooking your feet under the padded rollers. Lift the dumbbells overhead in bench-press fashion. Your grip should be semi-supinated so your palms are facing each other.

Begin by keeping elbows pointed directly upward. Lower the dumbbells until your forearms make contact with your biceps. At this point, the dumbbell plates will probably be in contact with your shoulders. Lift the dumbbells back up to the starting position by extending your elbows, keeping their position in space fixed. Elbows should be the only active joints during this exercise.

CALIFORNIA PRESSES
Your starting weight will be somewhere between what you can lift on close-dip bench presses and on lying triceps extensions. Grasp the bar with a 14-inch grip. From a supine position on a flat bench, lift the barbell off the rack and hold it at arm’s length. Lower the barbell to your upper chest by bringing your elbows down and forward as you lower the bar.

In the bottom position, your forearms should be in contact with your biceps and the bar should be in contact with your upper chest. Now, reverse the movement, pushing the bar upward from your chest. Extend your elbows to just short of lockout to maintain tension on your triceps.

DIPS
Use parallel or V-shaped dipping bars, preferably the latter. Use as narrow a grip as possible without compromising shoulder integrity. Grasp the bars and boost yourself until you’re stabilized over them at arm’s length. Lower yourself until your biceps make contact with your forearms. At the bottom, press back up by extending your elbows. Elbows should go only to 98 percent of full extension. Stay as upright as possible throughout the range of motion. If you can’t lower yourself under control until your biceps make contact with your forearms, perform decline close-grip bench presses until you have sufficient arm strength. At first, your body weight will probably suffice as the means of resistance. As you get stronger, progressively increase resistance by holding a dumbbell between your legs. Or, hook a plate to a chin/dip belt.

TEN-DEGREE DECLINE CLOSE-GRIP
Do these as you would close grip bench presses, but perform them on a decline bench with your feet hooked under the padded rollers. The angle of declination should be set at 10 degrees. It’s best to have a partner help you unrack the weight.

From a supine position, lift the barbell off the rack and hold it at arm’s length. On the descent, bring the bar to the lower portion of the sternum. On the ascent, as soon as the bar is four to six inches above your chest, concentrate on pushing the bar back toward the uprights and moving your elbows under the bar for greater leverage. Extend your elbows only to about 95 percent of lockout to keep tension on the triceps.

SEATED HALF PRESSES IN POWER RACK
Set up an adjustable incline bench inside a power rack. The angle of inclination should be 80-90 degrees. The seat portion should be angled upward so you will not slip off. Set the pins at hairline level.

Unrack the bar. Lower the bar to the pins, but maintain slight tension on the working muscles. Hold the bar in this dead-stop position for the duration of the pause. Do not release the tension. Press the bar upward to complete the movement. All the while, your elbows should be pointing outward. Dead-stops of from two to four seconds in the bottom position are best. Recommended tempo is 2210 or 3210, depending on arm length.

ONE-ARM DUMBBELL SCOTT-ZOTTMANN CURLS
Use a seated Scott bench. Have a partner hand you the dumbbell. Using a supinated grip (palms facing ceiling), curl the dumbbell to the point just before tension on the elbow flexors is lost. At this point, pronate your forearm completely, so your palm is facing away from you. When you lower the weight, the biceps brachii will have an ineffective line of pull, thereby shifting the load to the underlying brachialis and the brachioradialis.

Make sure elbow flexors are fully stretched in the bottom position of the eccentric range before you supinate your wrist to begin the next rep. To enforce this, your forearms should make contact with the padded surface of the Scott bench at the end of the eccentric range.

PAUSED, STANDING, MID-REVERSE-GRIP EZ BAR CURLS
Grasp an EZ Bar with a shoulder-width, semi-pronated (overhand) grip (the second bend away from the center of the bar). Curl the bar until the tops of your forearms make contact with your biceps.

Do not swing the bar or flare your elbows to complete the movement. For maximal isolation, support your shoulder blades with a Swiss ball.

SEATED DUMBBELL ZOTTMANN CURLS
Grasp two dumbbells and sit at the edge of a flat bench, or better yet, one that supports your lower back and allows you to lock your feet into place.

With arms fully extended downward and dumbbells in the bottom position, palms should face forward. To prevent recruitment of forearm flexors during the concentric phase, curl the dumbbells with palms up and wrists cocked back. At the top (forearms in contact with biceps), pronate your forearms (rotate hands so palms face away from you). At the same time, straighten your wrists.

From this point, the exercise is identical to the eccentric portion of a reverse dumbbell curl. Keeping wrists in a neutral position with palms facing away, lower the dumbbells in a controlled manner. Keep your elbows glued to your sides throughout. If your elbows flare out, your brachialis muscles are weak in relation to your biceps brachii. Decrease the weight so you can do the exercise correctly.

SEATED OFFSET-GRIP DUMBBELL CURLS
Sit on a regular bench and hold the dumbbells with an offset grip- that is, an asymmetrical grip in which the thumb side of your hand rests against the inside surface of the dumbbell plate. This grip increases the involvement of the short head of the biceps upon wrist supination. Start with your wrists semi-pronated ( i.e., as if holding a hammer) and curl the weight to about 40 degrees of elbow flexion. Then, supinate your wrists (turn palms up) and complete the curling movement. Your forearms should touch your biceps.

CLOSE-GRIP BARBELL SCOTT CURLS (PREACHER CURLS)
Use less resistance than you would on standard curls. Set the height of the seat so the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor. It’s best for your lower back if the seat is angled downward.

Sit on the Scott bench and grasp the barbell using a supinated (palms up) grip, with your little fingers four to six inches apart. Your arms should be outstretched so your triceps are in contact with the padded surface.

Initiate the movement by bending your elbows. Curl the barbell to the point at which your elbow flexors are just about to lose tension. Then, reverse the movement. Make sure your elbow flexors are fully stretched in the bottom position. Keep your wrists cocked back throughout the full range of motion.

By Charles Poliquin

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Body Building - Best Foods to Eat to Build Muscle Fast

Are you someone, who believes that health is wealth and for building strong muscles like your favorite sports star, you need to follow some healthy diet chart? You are absolutely correct. A healthy diet chart is very important if you want to develop your body muscles. If you want to develop your body muscles, you will have to consume different nutritious and high protein food. However, you need to avoid excessive fatty foods, as you do not want to add fat to your sculpted figure. If you are confused with the types of food that you should consume, the following chart might help you to some extent. By following this chart, you would be able to build body muscle fast and effectively.

•To build body muscles fast and effectively, fish oil can be your best choice. By consuming fish oil, you would be able to check the amount of inflammation. Not only that it would also lower fat contained in the body and help in increasing the testosterone level of the body. However, the quantity of fish oil that you need to consume per day should be recommended by an expert. Remember, only the experts can only recommend the amount fish oil that is needed by your body.

•It is often said that an egg a day keeps the doctor away. If you want to build body muscles fast and effectively, you need to consume one whole egg per day. Eggs are considered to be one of the cheapest and high sources of protein as well as vitamin. It also helps in increasing the testosterone level of the body. When it comes to egg, many people are worried about the cholesterol present in egg. There is nothing to worry about this cholesterol presence as it does not raise the blood cholesterol level.

•When you are considering building strong body muscles fast and effectively, you need to practice several workouts. To practice the difficult workouts, you need energy and for building energy there is no substitute of red meat. Red meat is rich in different nutritious value. It is also one of the tasty and yummy foods. Therefore, you should make a habit of consuming red meat to build your body. However, the quantity of red meat should be controlled else you might not get the best results.

•If you are a vegetarian, you must be wondering that the diet charts to build body muscle fast and effectively, only includes some non-vegetarian foods like egg and meat and it will not be possible for you to build muscles like an athlete. There is nothing to be so much disappointed. Fruits and nuts form equally important part of the diet chart if you want to build muscles. Berries and nuts should be included in your diet chart if you want to build strong muscles at ease. These are rich in nutritious value and will increase your strength and stamina for exercising your body muscles.

•Oats should also form a part of your diet chart if you want to reduce the excess flab in your body and increase your energy level of body. Oats consumed with different fruits is highly advantageous for your body as you would also get the nutritious value of fruits.

•Whether you consume vegetarian or non-vegetarian food, you should ensure that you consume a large amount of water. If you do not consume water in large amount, your body would dehydrate soon and you would suffer from different health problems. Therefore, you should always take care of water consumption as well as diet chart to build body muscles fast and effectively.

Posted by : Mohamed Herrassi  http://bodybuilding03.blogspot.com.br/2013/08/body-building-best-foods-to-eat-to.html

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11 Natural Ways to Increase Your Immunity

11 Natural Ways to Increase Your Immunity
By PositiveMed-Team
Edited By Stephanie Dawson

Getting sick is something most of us don’t want or have time for, its something we can’t plan, and is often uncomfortable. Even with a healthy diet a cold or a flu virus can strike without warning. We are exposed to millions of viruses and bacteria everyday that may not affect us because of our immune system. The immune system fights these pathogens and identifies them to defend against them in the future. A healthy immune system is capable of dealing with the constant bacterial and viral load, it’s our armor that protects us from disease.

Some of the basic functions of the immune system are to create a barrier against pathogens and microorganisms, prevent dangerous bacteria and viruses to multiply, and trigger the destruction of damaged cells.

There are a number of factors that can weaken the immune system and seriously threaten our health. Autoimmune diseases such as lupus, arthritis, fibromyalgia, RA, MS, and others have sudden and unexplained onset with chronic symptoms that limit quality of life. Other more common factors that weaken our immune system are stressors, lack of physical activity, fast food or junk food, exposure to toxins, and pollution.

Because a healthy immune system is crucial for good health, like a knight with armor that protects us from external and internal diseases, scientists researched the foods, supplements, and behaviors that increase the presence of T-cells or white cells, the cells responsible for fighting disease.

Garlic- It reduces cold and flu and can even prevent it. It does this by increasing the number of immune cells NK and gamma-Delta T. You can swallow a whole garlic first thing in the morning when you are sick or you can use it to season almost any dish.

Astragalus root and herb- A powerful antiviral and immune booster, it’s rich in flavonoids and amino acids, increases activity of T-cells, and can help prevent colds and respiratory infections. It’s recommended to be taken as tea or extract.

Iron- An essential mineral for immunity, it fights inflammatory processes. Any iron deficiencies impair the immune system and increase the susceptibility to viral and bacterial infection. It’s recommended to extract iron from vegetables, fruits, nuts, or seafood. Some examples are spinach, beets, beans, nuts, almonds, and oysters. Too much iron is not good either, use caution.

Olive leaf- Has antioxidants and is a bacteria-buster. Use it for cooking and in salads, it promotes healthy bacteria that destroys harmful bacteria. In several studies the extract of olive leaf was enough for treating common microbes such as Helicobacter pylori and staphylococcus aureus.

Oregano- Has antioxidant powers, can kill salmonella and staphylococcus, it will boost your immune system. Try to use the fresh herb as tea or oil.

Probiotics and yogurt- Will improve the immune system of your stomach and promote healthy bacteria, they are a natural killer of bad breath and digestive tract problems. Kefir and yogurt are great sources.

Carrots- An excellent source of beta carotene, will increase the number of NK cells and other T helper cells.

Fish oil and fish- Have Omega-3 fatty acids that reduce inflammation and protein to clear out the body.

Vitamin C- Will prevent and cure colds, flu, and other inflammatory processes. Kale, lemons, tomatoes, strawberries, berries, and pineapple contain vitamin C that stimulates growth of tissues and cells.

Ginger tea- It’s loaded with virus-fighting substances, antibacterial and antiviral, it’s one of the most effective natural treatments, even small doses in extract or tea shown its effectiveness. It will suppress cold and will help you avoid stomachaches due to anti-inflammatory properties.

Yoga- Exercise positively stimulates our immune systems, in clinical trials it has been shown to increase immune cells and decrease number of infections and colds suffered each year.
Cold showers- Effectively boosts testosterone, an immunity booster and protector, and white T-cells according to recent studies.

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This is how prescription drugs became the 4th largest cause of death in America

This is how prescription drugs became the 4th largest cause of death in America

Lisa Bloomquist | Collective-Evolution

Prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death in America. (1) People know this to be true, they know it to be appalling, but it’s still seen as incomprehensible and absurd. How could medicine hurt so many people? We all know that side-effects happen, but they are thought to be rare. They must be rare, right? We all know some good, kind, generous, thoughtful doctors who want nothing more for their patients than health and happiness, so they certainly aren’t giving their patients drugs that hurt them, are they? We know that the FDA is a federal bureaucracy, so it must be too restrictive of the pharmaceutical industry, right? And the FDA is supposed to protect consumers, so we’re as safe as we can be, right? And people can sue, so the legal system must be keeping the bad aspects of the medical system in check, right? All of these questions, and many more, bring up some cognitive dissonance for people when they’re faced with the fact that prescription drugs, used as prescribed, kill an inordinate a number of people. It brings up the questions -

How do prescription drugs get to be the 4th leading cause of death in America? How does that happen?

Here is a tale of how prescription drugs, used as prescribed, kill people.

Kerstin (age 30) comes down with a urinary tract infection. It’s a Saturday so her regular doctor’s office is closed. Urinary tract infections are painful so she knows that she can’t wait ‘til Monday to get treatment. She goes to an Emergency Services Clinic close to her house. She tells them that she has a urinary tract infection and they write her a prescription for Cipro (Ciprofloxacin – a fluoroquinolone antibiotic). They do not culture her urine because they don’t have the time or capacity to do so. It doesn’t matter what kind of bacteria is in her urine though, they know that Cipro will kill it because Cipro is a broad-spectrum antibiotic and it will kill all the offending bacteria in her urinary tract, plus some.

Kerstin is relieved. Her painful urinary tract and bladder are about to be healed.

Kerstin takes two 500 mg. pills of Cipro two times a day for a week. On the 5th day of taking Cipro, Kerstin starts to feel a bit off. Her bladder feels full even when it isn’t, she has dark “floaters” interfering with her vision and she feels anxious. She doesn’t think anything of these things. They’re strange, but not too worrisome. She doesn’t think for a second that they could be due to the antibiotic that she is taking. Kerstin finishes the seven day course of Cipro. Her urinary tract infection is gone and she is pleased about that. Her bladder fullness, floaters and anxiety come and go and she doesn’t think much of them.

Ten days pass in which Kerstin feels fine. On the eleventh day after she has finished taking Cipro, she starts taking ibuprofen to treat menstrual cramps. On the thirteenth day after she has finished taking the Cipro, it feels as if a bomb goes off in her body. Her hands and feet swell to twice their normal size. It becomes painful for her to walk or to do anything with her hands. Her knees are burning as if every tendon in them is inflamed. She is weak. She develops hives all over her body. Her anxiety levels are sky-high.

Kerstin goes to the doctor. The doctor says that the hives are a result of an allergic reaction and tells her to take Benadryl. Kerstin asks the doctor why she can barely walk when she was going to the gym daily just a few days earlier. The doctor says that she doesn’t know, but that she will run tests.

Kerstin takes Benadryl but it doesn’t seem to help. She goes back to the doctor for something stronger. She is put on prednisone.

The swelling in her hands and feet goes down, but her other symptoms worsen. She develops insomnia. She sprains her wrist while opening a jar. Intermittent pain throughout her body, but especially in her legs, begins. She loses her memory and has trouble concentrating.

Her test results come back. They are all “normal.”

Her pain worsens. She is diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. She asks the doctor who diagnoses her with Fibromyalgia how she could have gone from being healthy and active to being disabled and in pain, now with a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. The doctor mutters something about mysterious diseases and unexplained symptoms. Kerstin asks if her symptoms could be related to any of the medications that she took – Cipro, ibuprofen and prednisone. The doctor says no. More tests are run to see if there are other causes of Kerstin’s symptoms.

Kerstin is put on Lyrica to help her with her Fibromyalgia pain.

The Lyrica seems to help some of her pain but her mental symptoms get worse while she is on it. In addition to her already existing memory and concentration problems, Kerstin develops brain-fog. She feels slow, stupid and like she is living in a dream. She gains 15 pounds in two months. Her hair starts to fall out. She feels suicidal. She is taken off of Lyrica by her doctor.

Kerstin continues to have problems in her joints, especially her wrists, knees and ankles, so she is not surprised when she is diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She starts seeing a Rheumatologist who puts her on Humira. Humira decreases some of her inflammation symptoms but many of her other symptoms remain. She receives Humira treatments for 2 years.

After two years of Humira treatments, Kerstin is diagnosed with hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma – cancer. She dies on the operating table when her surgeon attempts to remove the lymph nodes on her neck that had been affected by the cancer. She is 34 years old when she passes away.

Kerstin’s story is fictionalized, but it is far from fantasy. Stories like hers happen every day. A large portion of her story is my own and it was both true and horrifying to experience. Stories that are significantly worse, where a doctor’s injection site turn into a staph or MRSA infection to start the whole process, or where anti-psychotic medications that the patient are put on drive her to homicide or suicide. And I didn’t delve into the PAIN that comes with Fluoroquinolone Toxicity (Cipro is a fluoroquinolone and the others are just as bad, if not worse), so it’s a light fictionalized version – with the hope that you’ll find the horror to be believable, because it is very, very real for too many people.

The Explanations, Journal Articles and Facts behind Kerstin’s Story

I don’t expect you to accept the story above as fact without some thorough explanation. Here is the information behind my assertions:

The antibiotic that Kerstin took is Cipro (Ciprofloxacin). Cipro is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, along with Levaquin, Avelox, Floxin and a few other less commonly used drugs in the fluoroquinolone class. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are the “big guns” of antibiotics. They are broad spectrum antibiotics that will kill all bacteria in their path. (2) They are frequently prescribed to treat urinary tract infections (3) because they penetrate kidney tissue well (4).

Cipro, and all the other fluroquinolones, have terrible side-effects. Many of the awful side-effects that can be experienced, often all at once, are listed on the Cipro Warning Label. However, many things are left off of the warning label, they are listed onhttp://www.ciproispoison.com/.

Additionally, here are articles backing up Kerstin’s symptoms:

Vision Floaters – The JAMA article entitled “Oral Fluoroquinolones and the Risk of Retinal Detachment” notes that fluoroquinolones increase the incidence of Retinal Detachment (5). If the connective tissue in your eye is damaged, visual disturbances, including floaters, can result.

Anxiety – The Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practices’ article entitled “Levofloacin-induced Acute Anxiety and Insomnia” notes that Levofloxacin (another fluoroquinolone – Levaquin) can induce anxiety and insomnia (6) Cipro/Ciprofloxacin can do the same.

Bladder fullness – This is a symptom that I experience, along with many other people suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity. I’m not completely sure what it stems from, but here are a couple of possibilities. This article in the Journal of Urology entitled “Role of Mitochondria in Ciprofloxacin Induced Apoptosis in Bladder Cancer Cells” notes that Cipro disturbs the mitochondria in bladder cells and causes apoptosis (cell death) (7). It is also possible that the feeling of bladder fullness is a result of dysglycemia as it is noted in an article in Medscape Medical News that fluoroquinolones increase the risk of severe dysglycemia in diabetics. Additionally, “one fluoroquinolone antibiotic, gatifloxacin (Tequin, Bristol-Myers Squibb), was already withdrawn from the US market in 2006 due to the risk for severe dysglycemia” (8)

Pain and swelling in hands and feet – This symptom can be more succinctly described as peripheral neuropathy. The FDA issued an update to the labels for fluoroquinolones noting that PERMANENT Peripheral Neuropathy is a possibility in August, 2013 (9). This neuropathy may stem from destruction of the Myelin caused by the fluoroquinolone.

There are likely other causes and reasons for Peripheral Neuropathy being a result of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity, including the production of neurotoxins caused by the drugs (10) and the fracturing of DNA (11).
Skin problems like hives/uticaria/rashes are listed on the warning label

Tendon pain/tear/strain/rupture – This adverse effect is so well documented that fluoroquinolones carry a black box warning about the danger of rupturing a tendon on the top of the warning label. An article in Musculoskeletal Medicine entitled “Musculoskeltal Complications of Fluoroquinolones: Guidelines and Precautions for Usage in the Athletic Population” notes that young, healthy, athletic people’s muscles and tendons are adversely effected by fluoroquinolones.

Fibromyalgia – Mysterious, sometimes intermittent, sometimes constant, pain is common among those with fluoroquinolone toxicity. The information above about peripheral neuropathy should ring a lot of bells for those diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.  Additionally, Carboxylic Acid is attached to the quinolone molecule. It is a known neurotoxin. Also, a quinolone studied in the article “Cytotoxcicity of Quinolones toward Eukaryotic Cells” notes that quinolones “kills cells by converting the (topoisomerase) type II ezyme into a cellular poison.” Cellular poisons can lead to pain.

A diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis – Per Toxicologist, Professor Joe King, “when a cell is malfunctioning (due to a mutation caused by a toxin or radiation) the body deems it alien and begins and autoimmune response as a defense mechanism. Thus producing positive autoimmune antibodies in lab tests, but in actuality you don’t really have the disease, it is bad cells. For example I test positive for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but I don’t have RA, I have Fibrillan Connective Tissue destruction upon biopsy. But the doctor reads the lab report for RA and recommends anti-inflammatory steroids. Bad diagnosis, because the problem is not RA but Fibrillan and steroids will dissolve the Fibrillan faster.” Also per Professor King, “the cells in your tissue, organs, etc. are not functioning correctly, there is a mutation in there somewhere and the body is reacting to this weird cells as alien, thus producing an inflammatory process (which is painful).” Additionally, it should be noted that Cipro was found to cause chromosomal abnormalities in immune system cells.

I mentioned NSAIDs and steroids. Both NSAIDs and steroids are contraindicated with fluoroquinolones. Please note that Kerstin didn’t take NSAIDs or steroids at the same time as the Cipro. Both NSAIDs and steroids are contraindicated for any person who has ever experienced an adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone, likely because of the production of acyl glucuronides, “which are chemically reactive electrophiles formed by carboxylic acid-containing drugs” and/or because of the depletion of the CPY450 enzymes by quinolones/fluoroquinolones that leave the body unable to metabolize other drugs.

How do fluoroquinolone ANTIBIOTICS cause all that harm? The harm that they cause is in the essence of the way they work. They are the “first antibacterial agents that efficiently inhibited DNA replication.” Antibiotics in the penicillin and cephalosporin classes, by comparison, work by disrupting bacterial cell walls, not by doing anything to bacterial, or human, DNA. Fluoroquinolones also form “a poisonous adduct on DNA”. Fluoroquinolones cause chromosomal abnormalities in human cells and also have tumor killing qualities. While that might sound great on the surface, if you read between the lines you’ll note that if these drugs kill tumor cells, they kill human cells. Fluoroquinolones cause apoptosis, programmed cell death, at a massive rate. Patient studies have shown, through a DNA Adduct Mass Spectrogram Analysis, that quinolone molecules have adducted to their DNA. Adducting to and breaking human DNA can cause every single one of the problems that Kerstin experienced, all of the problems listed on the FDA warning label for these drugs, and more. It’s a bad idea to mess with human DNA and chromosomes – a look back at the history of Agent Orange will tell you why this is true.

The consequences of the DNA destruction done by fluoroquinolones is yet to be established. An article was published in Nature in September, 2013 connecting topoisomerase inhibiting drugs (fluoroquinolones inhibit topoisomerases II and IV with triggering the expression of autism related genes. I wrote about this on CE – http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/09/18/a-horrifying-cause-of-autism-dna-damage-from-synthetic-antibiotics/ Of course, more studies need to be done to determine the implications of this study.

Studies of the DNA make-up of Gulf War Veterans and their children may also be revealing as all 1991 Gulf War Veterans were given Cipro prophylactically because of fear of anthrax. Likewise, in 2001 United States Postal Workers who took Cipro prophylactically, also to prevent anthrax, and any ensuing health issues that they have (57% reported side-effects) may be related to their exposure to fluoroquinolones.

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are dangerous drugs that have been used recklessly since their introduction to the market as a first-choice broad-spectrum antibiotic. They are likely responsible for many of the “mysterious” illnesses that have been on the rise since the early 1980s when Cipro was patented by Bayer and Levaquin was patented by Johnson & Johnson. Everyone who has Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Thyroid Dysfunction, any Autoimmune Disease, Gulf War Syndrome, Leaky Gut Syndrome, Dysautonomia, etc. should look at their medical records to see if they have ever taken a fluoroquinolone. If a fluoroquinolone is in your past, fractured genes may have resulted, and thus your pain and suffering. Please note that adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones are often delayed for weeks or sometimes months or years after administration of the drugs has stopped and there is a tolerance threshold for metabolism of these drugs so most people do not react to their first dose.

Lyrica and Humira

Here is the warning label for Lyrica – (link – Source 27) Please note that suicidal ideation is one of the acknowledged adverse effects caused by this drug. Weight gain, difficulty concentrating, etc. are also listed on the warning label. Patient reports (these people aren’t lying) can be found on askapatient.com – Lyrica.

Humira, Enbrel and other TNF inhibiting drugs CAUSE CANCER. This is well documented and known. The warning labels for both Humira and Enbrel state in a big black box warning that various cancers are associated with use of those drugs. In case it needs to be spelled out, cancer can be deadly.

Here is an excellent blog post about how Humira can kill, and how it is marketed –http://davidhealy.org/welcome-to-the-humiraverse/

Conclusions

It is often noted as people are bemoaning the unwillingness of the pharmaceutical industry to create more antibiotics, that there isn’t enough money to be made from antibiotics to encourage their production. While there may not be much money to be made in selling antibiotics directly, there is a whole lot of money to be made in treating autoimmune diseases. Humira reached $7.9 Billion in sales in 2011 despite the undisputed fact that it causes cancer. If a class of antibiotics can cause the body to react as it would if it had an autoimmune disease for an extended period of time (the ill effects of fluorouquinolones can be permanent but they typically last from 6 to 36 months), and therefore a person gets diagnosed and treated for an autoimmune disease, though they don’t actually have the autoimmune disease, they actually have an autoimmune reaction to a poisonous drug, the pharmaceutical industry has effectively taken an acute problem, an infection, and converted it into a chronic problem, an autoimmune disease. Chronic conditions mean repeat customers and the pharmaceutical industry makes billions. (I doubt that this process is a conspiracy or even planned on the parts of the people in the pharmaceutical industry. Rather, I think that it is caused by willful ignorance among those in the medical professions, encouraged by greed and a complete lack of checks and balances on the pharmaceutical companies, those that have the most to gain in creating repeat customers.)

People are being hurt by their medicine and it is unacceptable. If harm is impossible to avoid completely, it should be minimized. There is zero effort on the part of Doctors, Pharmacists, the FDA or anyone else to minimize adverse effects of drugs. If an effort were being made, we would not be in the tragic situation that we’re in, with the pharmaceutical industry being the 4th leading cause of death of Americans.

The mantra of “all drugs have side-effects” has been so ingrained into the collective consciousness that we have come to think of it as acceptable that drugs have side-effects, and for drug side-effects to be devastating. In accepting this “better someone else than me” / “it can’t happen to me” attitude, we have given permission to the FDA to be inept, incompetent and lazy. In their ineptitude, they have ignored 15 years of research noting that commonly prescribed ANTIBIOTICS are damaging our DNA. We can only hope that this oversight caused by laziness and incompetence is not consequential to us all. Because I can accept the possibility that it may be worth it for society for me to be sacrificed so that we can have powerful antibiotics, but no drug of any sort, no matter what good it does, is worth sacrificing our collective DNA.

Post Script:  The author’s web site, with more information about fluoroquinolones, is www.floxiehope.com

Credit: Collective Evolution via Real Farmacy

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10 Things You Should Know About Raw Milk

10 Things You Should Know About Raw Milk

In recent years, there’s been a crackdown on small dairies producing raw milk, designed as an obstacle to the growing legions of consumers demanding healthier and more flavorful milk. Raw milk has been deemed “unfit” for human consumption by the FDA and other government sting operations, and the public propagandized into fearing it. According to some fear-mongers, for example, raw milk causes rabies.

David Gumpert, author of popular blog The Complete Patient and forthcoming book Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights (Chelsea Green, Oct 2009), asks an important question: How much of the fear-mongering from the pro-pasteurization people is real, and how much is propaganda from Big Agribusiness? Gumpert says the anti-raw-milk campaign is just another governmental technique to sanitize the food supply—even in the face of ever-increasing rates of chronic disease like asthma, diabetes, and allergies.

Here are 10 things you should know about raw milk that the government won’t tell you:

1. Raw milk is healthier: Pasteurized milk is accused of causing everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer, but back in the day, these diseases were rare. In fact, clean raw milk from grass-fed cows is chock full of healthy amino acids and beneficial enzymes, and was used as a cure.

2. Raw milk does not make you sick: That is, if it is properly collected from cows fed good, clean grass. Grass-fed milk has natural antibiotic properties that help protect it from pathogenic bacteria. But it’s worth noting, if you’ve been using pasteurized dairy products, you might want to eat small amounts of yogurt or kefir for a week or so, for a dose of probiotics, just to be safe. I did, and it helped.

3. Not all raw milk is the same: The cow’s diet, how and where it’s raised, and how the milk is collected are all factors in the safety and quality of raw milk. Cows pastured on organic green grass produce milk with good health benefits. It’s good to know where your milk is coming from.

4. Pasteurization was instituted in the 1920s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods. But modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks, and inspection are enough of a precaution, and pasteurization has become irrelevant.

5. Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

6. Calves fed pasteurized milk don’t do very well, and many die before maturity. Scary, considering the milk originally came from their mom.

7. Raw milk sours naturally but pasteurized milk turns putrid; processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process called centrifugal clarification. Gross.

8. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk. This means, pasteurization is used as a nifty way to wash away all forms of bad bacteria that are allowed to flourish freely before the process. Imagine that for a second.

9. Raw milk has more butterfat, which is rich in fatty acids that protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. Skim milk doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better for you, in other words.

10. Pasteurization laws favor large, industrialized dairy operations and push out small farmers. When farmers have the right to sell raw milk directly to their consumers, they can make a decent living even with a small number of cows. Support small farmers!

http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2013/10/10-things-you-should-know-about-raw-milk.html

Flu shots

The Core Challenge

Yoga

Clean up our diet in 5 weeks!

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The Benefits of Optimal Testosterone

Welcome to the first installment of Testosterone Week! Based on the reaction from yesterday’s announcement post, this is a subject that many of you are both interested in and passionate about. I’m looking forward to reading your constructive contributions to the discussion.

I know many of you are clamoring for the “how-to” part of this series (which will go up on Thursday), but before we get to that, it’s important to cover why you should even care about your testosterone levels in the first place, what T is and how it’s made, and how to get properly tested for it. Building a sound foundation before we dive into the nitty gritty details will be highly beneficial.

Today we take a look at some of the physical and psychological benefits that come with having optimal testosterone levels (I’ll talk about what “optimal” means regarding T later this week). You probably know about some of the benefits already, but some of the ones I discuss may surprise you. When appropriate, I’ll report any health benefits that I experienced during my own 90-day testosterone boosting experiment.

First, A Caveat…

Before we delve into the benefits, let me begin with a caveat. Research on the benefits of testosterone is inconclusive in some areas. You’ll find some research saying, “T gives you ‘x’ benefit,” but other research that says, “No, T actually does the opposite.”

The other problem researchers run into when studying the benefits of testosterone is distinguishing between “cause” and “effect.” Is it T that’s providing all these great health benefits or does simply being healthy give you optimal levels of testosterone? It’s tricky because in some instances the answer is “both.” Testosterone (like all hormones) often plays a part in a “virtuous cycle” that regulates a whole host of  processes in our bodies — as you increase T, you get healthier; as you get healthier, your T levels rise. It can also play a part in a “vicious cycle” — as your T levels go down, your health suffers; as your health suffers, your T levels decrease even more.

Below, when a supposed benefit of testosterone is not 100% conclusive, I’ve used the modifier “may” in the opener.

The Benefits of Optimal Testosterone Levels

Testosterone may fight depression. If you’ve been battling the black dog of depression, it may be because of low testosterone levels. Researchers have found that men suffering from depression typically have deficient testosterone levels. While scientists haven’t been able to figure out whether it’s low testosterone that causes depression or if depression causes low T levels, preliminary research has shown that some men suffering depression report improvement in mood and other factors of depression after undergoing doctor-directed testosterone treatments.

As someone who’s prone to being an Eeyore, I can report that I definitely felt much more hearty and hopeful during my experiment. Kate also noticed that I was less moody and in better spirits.

Testosterone decreases body fat. Testosterone plays an important role in regulating insulin, glucose, and fat metabolism. As our T levels decrease, our body’s ability to regulate insulin, glucose, and fat metabolism decreases, which in turn causes adipose tissue (i.e. fat) to begin accumulating. To add insult to injury, that increased adipose tissue may also contribute to further decreasing testosterone levels because it converts testosterone into estrogen.

This negative feedback loop may explain why obese men typically have below-normal testosterone levels and higher levels of estrogen. However, research has shown that by taking steps to increase testosterone levels, you can break the vicious cycle of low T and high body fat and actually create a virtuous cycle of fat loss and increased T levels.

For an in-depth article on the interplay between testosterone and body fat, click here.

I can report that I saw decreased body fat during my three-month testosterone experiment. I started off with 18% body fat and ended the experiment with 12% body fat. I almost have a six-pack! This is the leanest I’ve ever been in my entire life. The funny thing is, I wasn’t even trying to shed body fat. It just happened. All hail, mighty testosterone!

Testosterone increases muscle mass. We all know about testosterone’s ability to increase muscle mass and strength. It works its muscle-building magic by increasing muscle protein synthesis.

I definitely enjoyed an increase in muscle mass during my experiment. Despite dropping six percentage points in body fat in three months, my weight stayed about the same; I began the experiment weighing 185 pounds and I ended it weighing the same. The body fat I lost was replaced with muscle. It was fun to see and hear Kate’s reaction when I’d take off my shirt to get into the shower. “Whoa! Your muscles have gotten huge!”

Another benefit of the increased muscle mass was that I got stronger. My bench press, squat, and deadlift all enjoyed significant gains during my experiment. It’s great to be able to bench press 225 pounds again for 5 sets of 5 like I used to in high school, and I’m on track to beat my maxes on the bench and squat that my 18-year-old self set over 12 years ago.

Testosterone may strengthen your heart. Research on testosterone’s relation to heart health is split. Some scientists have found that men with higher testosterone levels have an increased risk of heart disease, while recent studies have shown that men with below-normal T levels are more at risk for heart problems. The research is still on-going, but many doctors find the evidence compelling that optimal testosterone levels can help prevent cardiovascular disease.

To be clear, it’s not the testosterone hormone itself that strengthens your cardiovascular system, but rather the myriad of health benefits that come from optimal testosterone levels.

Testosterone strengthens bones. You may have thought of osteoporosis as a health problem that only women have to worry about, but men can suffer from this bone-weakening disease too. And low testosterone levels may be to blame. Testosterone has been shown to play an important role in bone health. It increases bone density by stimulating bone mineralization as well as decreases bone resorption. Elderly men suffering from osteoporosis typically have sub-optimal testosterone levels. If you want to enjoy strong, healthy bones well into old age, take steps to improve your testosterone levels now.

Testosterone increases libido and improves erections. Testosterone is a sex hormone, so it’s not surprising that low libido and erectile dysfunction are two of the first signs of low T that men notice. If you’ve noticed a sharp decrease in your interest in sex, you might have low testosterone.

When I told people that I was doing an experiment to increase my testosterone, the question that people would invariably ask in hushed tones was, “So, did it, you know, improve your sex life?” Honestly, I didn’t see too much change. I had a robust and healthy sex life before the experiment and continued to do so afterwards. I guess I was a bit more randier than usual, but not much. I’d imagine if you had been suffering from low T for a long time and took steps to increase it, you’d likely see improvement in the bedroom department.

Testosterone may decrease your chances of Alzheimer’s Disease. Several studies have linked low testosterone levels to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  In a 2010 study by the University of Hong Kong, researchers studied 153 Chinese men who were recruited from social centers. They were at least 55 years and older, lived in the community, and didn’t have dementia. Of those men, 47 had mild cognitive impairment — or problems with clear thinking and memory loss.

Within a year, 10 men who were part of the cognitively-impaired group developed probable Alzheimer’s disease. These men also had low testosterone in their body tissues.

That study is not alone. Researchers at the University of Southern California have reported that increasing testosterone levels in mice with Alzheimer’s actually slows the progression of the disease. This observation has led scientists to hypothesize that maintaining optimal T levels into old age may help prevent Alzheimer’s in humans.

Testosterone may improve cognitive ability. Not only have studies shown that there is a link between testosterone levels and Alzheimer’s, they’ve also shown a link between T levels and overall cognitive ability, particularly in older men. One such study performed by Dutch researchers found a direct linear relationship between T levels and cognitive function, while other studies have found a linear relationship between memory loss and T levels. Because of these correlations, many researchers believe testosterone plays a role in preventing brain tissue decay in elderly men. The hormone’s connection to cognition explains why some of the symptoms of low T in men are memory loss, trouble concentrating, and “fogginess.”

While studies haven’t found a link between increased testosterone levels and cognitive ability in young men, that shouldn’t stop you young bucks from striving to achieve optimal T levels. It’s important to establish testosterone-healthy habits NOW, so you can reap the benefits in old age.

Testosterone may increase competitiveness. Men are known to be a competitive bunch and testosterone is likely responsible for our drive to win. Testosterone is linked with a man’s desire for power and status (Dabbs & Dabbs 2000). Testosterone ramps up before a fight or competition – producing effects on muscle mass and hemoglobin, quickening reactions, improving visual acuity, and increasing your feelings of endurance and indomitability. It also increases your “gameness:” One study showed that a man’s testosterone level after losing a game predicted whether or not he got back in for another round. Men who experienced a severe drop were less likely to play again, while men who experienced little or no drop in T levels got back into the game. Researchers concluded from this observation that T is one of the factors driving competitiveness in men.

Testosterone increases dominance and the desire for power. The link between testosterone and dominance has been demonstrated in numerous studies. T motivates men to gain and maintain social status. The desire for dominance can be a bad thing if it leads to criminal behavior, but it’s also what fuels the climb for success, motivates men to resist oppression and buck authority, and may even help you with the ladies…

Testosterone may help you woo a woman. In the animal kingdom, higher testosterone levels have long been shown to be associated with a male’s dominance in the competition for mates. But a recent study has shown this is true for human males as well. When a pair of men were instructed to compete for the affection of an attractive female undergraduate, the men’s assertiveness, ability to control the conversation, and ultimately, their chances of having the woman say she “clicked” with them most, were positively associated with their pre-competition testosterone levels. So there is truth to the idea that men with swagger get the girl, and this self-assuredness may be partly rooted in T.

Testosterone increases the tolerance for risk-taking. Testosterone has a strong link with one’s willingness to take risks. Studies show that men with low levels of power and status, but high levels of T, are motivated to take risks in order to gain status and power. On the other hand, men with high T, who already have power and status, are more risk-averse, because they want to hold on to what they have.

It has also been found that college graduates with higher levels of T (men and women alike) are more likely to go into riskier careers. Another study discovered that among financial traders, a trader’s morning level of testosterone accurately predicted his day’s profitability – higher levels of T mean he’s more likely to take risks that day and score big.

Finally, related to the point about competitiveness above, studies have shown that testosterone levels not only go up before a fight or competition, they increase after each win, and this gives the winner a much higher probability of winning his next round, and the next round after that, even against evenly matched competitors. This is called the “winner-effect,” and John Coates, author of The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust, explains why it works:

“Life for the winner is more glorious. It enters the next round of competition with already elevated testosterone levels, and this androgenic priming gives it an edge that increases its chances of winning yet again. Through this process an animal can be drawn into a positive-feedback loop, in which victory leads to raised testosterone levels which in turn leads to further victory.”

The potential downside of this positive feedback loop, Coates argues, is that testosterone levels can eventually surge past optimal levels and have the opposite effect – leading to overconfidence and poor decision-making. When this happens to animals, Coates, observed, they “go out in the open, pick too many fights [and] patrol areas that are too large…Risk taking becomes risky behaviour.”

For this reason, after the 2008 financial market meltdown, some commentators put the blame for the crash on the male-dominated profession, arguing that men take too many risks, and the economy would do better and be more stable if it was run by women. Of course, risk-taking does come with inherent risk, but it has also been responsible for the lion’s share of society’s progress and innovation since the dawn of time. Financial markets would likely not exist – period – without testosterone-driven risk-taking.

Myths about Testosterone

Testosterone results in anti-social behavior. Testosterone gets a bad rap as causing antisocial behavior – bullying, aggression, not getting along with others, taking advantage of others, etc.

However, studies have found that social success among men is actually linked with high testosterone levels. For example, teenage boys who were perceived as socially adept and dominant had higher levels of testosterone than boys that were low on the totem pole. What’s even more interesting is that this same study found that teenage boys who had a history of being anti-social and displaying high physical aggression were found to have lower testosterone levels at age 13 compared with boys with no history of high physical aggression.

Testosterone’s pro-social effect can also be seen in grown men. Swiss researchers found that men with increased testosterone acted much more fairly in a bargaining game than men with lower T. The results were a surprise to researchers, who thought they’d see more unethical and anti-social behavior among men with higher testosterone.

In a similar study using a bargaining game, researchers found that aggressive social behavior occurred in men with high testosterone ONLY when there was a perceived unfairness in the bargaining situation. So if there’s a threat of getting bamboozled by someone, a man with high T gets unfriendly.

Testosterone makes you angry. This is probably the most common myth about T. The reality is that there’s no concrete evidence that high testosterone levels cause anger and violent outbursts. In fact, the opposite might be true; low testosterone, not high T, is what causes anger and irritability in men. As discussed above, having low T levels has been linked to depression in men and it just so happens that two of the primary symptoms of depression in men are increased angry outbursts and irritability. So if you’re chronically angry, you might be depressed, and you might be depressed because you have low T. As I mentioned above, I became less moody and irritable during my experiment, which I attribute to the boost in my testosterone levels.

Where did the myth about T and anger come from? It’s likely from people’s association of testosterone with steroid use and “roid rage.” What’s interesting is that the anger and aggressiveness that comes with steroid use is likely due to decreases in natural testosterone production that is a byproduct of artificially juicing. No T = roid rage.

Testosterone causes prostate cancer. Since the 1940s, it was commonly believed in the medical field that high testosterone levels were the cause of prostate cancer in men. Doctors reached this conclusion because two scientists in 1941 noticed that prostate cancer regressed in a patient after they castrated him and his T levels subsequently declined. This conclusion was based on the results from a single patient!

Since then, multiple studies have found no link between high testosterone levels and increasing your chances of developing prostate cancer. However — and this is a BIG however — if you already have prostate cancer, increased levels of testosterone may exacerbate the problem. It’s best to wait until after you treat your prostate cancer before you begin any T-boosting regimens. Tread carefully and talk with your doctor.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/01/14/testosterone-benefits/