Author: Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards is the founder, owner, editor-in-chief, and janitor for Organic Lifestyle Magazine. At age 17, Michael weighed more than 360 pounds. He suffered from allergies, frequent bouts of illness, and chronic, debilitating insomnia. Conventional medicine wasn’t working. While he restored his health through alternative medicine he studied natural health and became immersed in it.

Drug Companies Responsible for Massive Environmental Pollution

(Dr. Mercola) Environmental pollution is a tremendous concern, and the sources of toxic pollution are many. One source that has managed to skirt below the radar is the drug industry.1,2,3,4 In 2016, the nonprofit foundation Changing Markets issued a report on “Impacts of Pharmaceutical Pollution on Communities and Environment in India,”5 on behalf of Nordea Asset Management, a major investment firm in Sweden.

According to this report, the severe water pollution problem in India can be, to a significant extent, traced back to the generic drug industry. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of contaminated waterways in India more than doubled, and by 2015, more than half of the nation’s rivers were polluted. India’s low cost of manufacturing has lured a number of drug companies to set up shop, congregating in the city of Hyderabad and along the Andhra Pradesh coastline.

Recommended Reading: How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials

According to a recent economic survey by the Finance Ministry of India, Hyderabad’s drug industry accounts for nearly half of the country’s drug exports.6 “Outsourcing of production to the emerging markets, where labor is cheap, workforces skilled and environmental standards lax, has now become second nature for the pharmaceutical majors, many of which are based in the United States and Europe,” the report noted.

The report also stressed that there’s a disturbing lack of transparency within the drug industry about the origin of active ingredients and the finished drugs, and that while regulators “who could easily demand greater transparency from the drug industry, have so far shied away from taking action.”

New Report Calls Renewed Attention to India’s Pollution Crisis

In a follow-up report,7 the Changing Markets Foundation now calls renewed attention to the pollution crisis in Hyderabad, with a focus on heavy metal and other toxic waste pollution created by the “bulk drug” industry operating in India.

Based on visits to the area, interviews with experts and locals, and analysis of published research and media articles, the report concludes that drug companies in Hyderabad continue to “discharge untreated or inappropriately treated wastewater into the environment and that local and national authorities are failing to get the situation under control.”

In fact, in the two years since the publication of the first report, the situation in Hyderabad has deteriorated further. What’s worse, plans to expand drug production in the city, combined with a lack of regulations to control toxic waste emissions, makes for “a grim future” for local residents in the area, the report warns.

In addition to the release of untreated effluent, local media investigations have revealed the practice of illegal toxic waste dumping, where drug companies are discarding hazardous waste under the cover of night, using unmarked vehicles.8,9 Mass die-offs of fish have also made headlines, and the dead fish were found to contain toxic solvents used during the drug manufacturing process.

Source: Changing Markets Foundation, 

Hyderabad’s Pharmaceutical Pollution CrisisWater sampling near drug factories in the area, collected in September 2017, reveal significant amounts of heavy metals — including lead, mercury, copper, cadmium, vanadium, hexavalent chromium, nickel, zinc and arsenic — as well as toxic industrial solvents, are being released into the city’s waterways.

“In some cases, these were found to be present at extremely high concentrations, orders of magnitude higher than maximum regulatory limits or safe exposure levels, which points to substantial human and ecological risk potential,” the report states, adding “The mere presence of some of these substances is cause for alarm given their extreme toxicity.”

Antibiotic Production Poses Grave Risks

The report also highlights previous studies showing factories manufacturing antibiotics pose a grave risk by fueling antibiotic resistance in the environment. Antibiotic pollution is a problem not only in India, but also in China, Pakistan, Korea, Denmark, Norway and Croatia, and promotes the development of drug-resistant pathogens.

In November 2016, German researchers collected water samples from “the direct environment of bulk drug manufacturing facilities, the vicinity of two sewage treatment plants, the Musi River and habitats in Hyderabad and nearby villages.”10

Twenty-eight sampling sites were surveyed, and the water samples were analyzed for 25 anti-infective pharmaceuticals as well as multidrug-resistant pathogens and certain resistance genes. Disturbingly, all of the samples were contaminated with antimicrobials, including high concentrations of moxifloxacin, voriconazole and fluconazole. Area sewers also contained elevated concentrations of eight other antibiotics.

Some of the water samples contained antimicrobials at levels up to 5,500 times higher than the environmental regulation limit. What’s more, more than 95 percent of the samples also contained multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungi. The researchers called the contamination “unprecedented” and blamed it on “insufficient wastewater management by bulk drug manufacturing facilities, which seems to be associated with the selection and dissemination of carbapenemase-producing pathogens.”

Toxic Antibiotics Pollute India’s Waterways and Farmland

What happens is that during the drug manufacturing process, significant quantities of antibiotics are flushed out into wastewater, which then find its way into rivers, drinking water and farmland. The Patancheru water treatment plant, located near Hyderabad, receives 400,000 gallons of wastewater from 90 drug companies each day. All of this manufacturing effluent is combined with domestic wastewater, less than 25 percent of which actually undergoes treatment.

Swedish researchers, who have studied and published environmental reports about Hyderabad since 2007, have reported that some drug levels found in wastewater are higher than what is found in patients’ blood.11 The worst water contaminant detected was the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which was found at a concentration high enough to give 44,000 people a full course of treatment.

Cipro is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, a class of synthetic antibacterial drugs that directly inhibit bacterial DNA synthesis, and has been linked to permanent nerve damage in some patients. Due to their tremendous health risks, fluoroquinolones should be reserved for treating serious bacterial infections that will not respond to any other treatment. The idea that Cipro is being disseminated at those levels into the environment and people’s drinking water is disconcerting, to say the least.

Antibiotic Pollution Promotes Spread of Drug-Resistant Genes

Researchers have also confirmed that this wastewater is toxic to a number of organisms, and promotes drug-resistant genes. DNA samples taken downstream from drug manufacturing facilities reveal nearly 2 percent of the samples contain drug-resistant genes. Aside from direct ingestion, contaminated wastewater also finds its way onto crop fields via irrigation and sludge (biosolids) used as fertilizer.

In this way, drug-resistant genes are spread, shared and multiplied throughout the environment. A 2013 paper12 published in Environmental Health Perspectives addresses management options for reducing antibiotics and drug-resistant genes into the environment — such as safe disposal practices, wastewater and biosolid treatment, limiting agricultural and aquacultural use of antibiotics — and using alternatives to antibiotics whenever possible. But, so far, regulators and the industry itself have done virtually nothing.

Indian Drug Manufacturers May Lose European Supply Contracts

According to Changing Markets, Indian drug manufacturers who fail to clean up their act may soon lose their competitive advantage though. According to the report:13

“European NGOs have recently called for major procurement bodies, including the U.K.’s National Health Service, German health insurance companies, and French hospitals, to blacklist the worst-offending polluters and embed environmental criteria in all the contracts with pharmaceutical suppliers. Several of these organizations are now reviewing the situation. In Sweden, the country’s regions have come together and introduced environmental criteria and audits in their contracts.”

Sasja Beslik, who heads Nordea’s Group Sustainable Finance, also warned that “The pharmaceutical industry has to take action to tackle pollution at Indian factories supplying medicines to the global market,” adding that Nordea is willing to “continue the engagement with the pharma industry in order to find constructive and concrete solutions for these significant challenges that are impacting millions of people and the environment.”14 Changing Markets’ campaign manager Natasha Hurley also stressed that:15

“Multinational pharmaceutical companies which outsource API [active product ingredient] production to India to cut costs and maximize profits have a responsibility to take rapid action to put a stop to pollution in their supply chains.

Given the lack of transparency within the industry and the slow progress the global pharma giants have made on this to date, it is of paramount importance that regulators introduce environmental criteria that guard against such bad practices, both at national and international level.”

Pollution From Drug Manufacturing — A Supply Chain Problem That Must Be Tackled

According to the report, pollution from drug manufacturing has been “clearly exposed as a supply chain problem,” and the answer lies in holding drug companies responsible for their supply chains. While some have started taking steps in the right direction, “the industry and regulators are not moving fast enough to address the threat,” Changing Markets warns, saying that multinational drug companies that outsource production of active ingredients to India must step up and “take rapid action to end pollution within their supply chain.”

Regulatory agencies and medical agencies must also add environmental criteria to the good manufacturing practices standards, to prevent uncontrolled pollution within drug manufacturing. It’s a truly sad irony that millions of people in India are being poisoned by the very industry producing “lifesaving” medication for the rest of the world.

On a personal level, there’s not much you can do about this state of affairs. Governments and the drug industry need to address these problems head on, and hopefully Nordea’s push to hold drug companies accountable will have a marked effect.

Cleaning Up Your Own Household

That said, it’s important to remember that pollution is a global problem, and that pollutants don’t stay in any one area. Toxins and drug-resistant pathogens in India’s waterways spread far and wide. As noted in a 2008 report16 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multidrug-resistant E.coli bacteria have even been found in the Arctic; brought there by migrating birds!

So, no matter where you live, it would be wise to consider the purity of both your food and water. Also be mindful of not adding to the problem yourself. Never dispose of unused drugs by flushing them down the drain or toilet. It’s also inadvisable to throw them out in your garbage, as then they just end up in a landfill. For guidance on proper drug disposal, see this previous article.

Unfortunately, toxic biosolids may be used even in organic farming, and may be found in USDA 100 percent organic compost, mulch and potting soil for use in your own backyard. These products do not need to disclose the presence of biosolids, but some companies will list “milogranite” on the label, which means it contains toxic biosolids.

Your best alternative is to contact your local nursery and ask them if they use biosolids in their compost. Another alternative is to make your own, using a composting bin or wood chips for example. When it comes to buying organic food, the only way to find out if biosolids were used is to talk to the farmer.

Lastly, consider installing a high-quality water filtration system in your home, as drugs are a commonly occurring contaminant just about everywhere. The reason for this is because water treatment facilities are not equipped to filter these substances out. For more information and guidance on water filtration, see “How to Properly Filter Your Water.”

 Recommended Reading:

Curcumin Beats Malignancy

(Dr. Mercola) Besides giving Indian curries their rich golden color, turmeric contains a polyphenol called curcumin, which has been shown to possess many health benefits, including being a malignancy-fighting powerhouse. Curcumin’s health-boosting properties are well-documented and this single compound exhibits more than 150 potentially therapeutic actions.

With thousands of studies performed,1 researchers have shown curcumin has antibacterial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic and wound healing properties.

Animal studies have suggested curcumin may be useful in the treatment of a wide range of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurologic conditions, obesity and psychiatric disorders, as well as chronic illnesses affecting your cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems, eyes, kidneys, liver and lungs.2

Related: Turmeric’s Anti-inflammatory Properties Explained

While turmeric is widely available in powdered form, it contains a very small amount of curcumin, which is known to be poorly absorbed through your gastrointestinal tract. For these reasons, you’ll receive more health benefits from a curcumin extract. A typical anticancer dose is up to 3 grams (just under 1 teaspoon) of high-quality bioavailable curcumin extract, taken three to four times a day.

Because it’s a lipophilic (fat-loving) molecule, many curcumin preparations include some sort of oil or fat to improve its absorbability and bioavailability.

The Many Benefits of Curcumin

As the active ingredient in turmeric powder, curcumin is well-known for its broad range of curative properties. It has been used for thousands of years as a spice and beauty aid, and in both Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine to treat a wide range of maladies — from cancer to indigestion and heart disease to neurodegenerative conditions. Given its many antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, below are a few of the conditions responsive to curcumin:3,4

•Cancer prevention and treatment: Taking a curcumin supplement regularly may help prevent and treat cancer based on the fact it appears to block the blood supply to cancerous tumors, thereby suppressing the growth and replication of malignant cells.

•Heart health: Animal studies have shown curcumin can help regulate blood pressure and prevent heart disease. It may be particularly beneficial to reduce the incidence of atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries. In other studies, curcumin has been found to lower LDL and total cholesterol and prevent your blood from clotting.5

•Intestinal and bowel issues: Because curcumin stimulates your gallbladder to produce bile, it may help improve your digestion, reduce bloating and gas and soothe digestive disorders. When combined with conventional treatments, curcumin may help promote the remission of ulcerative colitis.6

Related: Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases

•Neurodegenerative conditions: Curcumin may help prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.7,8

Scientists investigating curcumin’s biological activities had this to say about the extent to which it plays a vital role in supporting your health:9 “Modern science has shown that curcumin modulates various signaling molecules, including inflammatory molecules, transcription factors, enzymes, protein kinases, protein reductases, carrier proteins, cell survival proteins, drug resistance proteins, adhesion molecules, growth factors, receptors, cell-cycle regulatory proteins, chemokines, DNA, RNA and metal ions.”

Curcumin Is a Powerful Weapon Against Malignancy

In animal-based lab research during the past 20 years, curcumin has been shown to have both cancer-prevention and cancer-treatment properties. Its usefulness in the treatment of colon cancer is particularly well established.10,11,12 One group of scientists investigating curcumin’s ability to suppress the proliferation of colon cancer cells by targeting a major cell-cycle protein, said:13

“Curcumin … is one of the most popular phytochemicals for cancer prevention. Numerous reports have demonstrated modulation of multiple cellular signaling pathways by curcumin and its molecular targets in various cancer cell lines. Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), a major cell-cycle protein, was identified as a potential molecular target of curcumin. Indeed, in vitro and ex vivo kinase assay data revealed a dramatic suppressive effect of curcumin on CDK2 kinase activity.”

Related: How To Use Turmeric To Kill Cancer

Other cancers in which curcumin has shown protective effects in rodent models include breast, bladder, brain, esophageal, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, prostate and stomach, to name a few.14 As noted by Dr. William LaValley — one of the leading clinical researchers and medical practitioners in the field of integrative cancer treatment, whom I’ve previously interviewed on this topic — curcumin appears to be universally beneficial for nearly every type of cancer treatment.

This is unusual considering cancer’s many varied molecular pathologies. One reason for this universal anticancer proclivity is curcumin’s ability to affect multiple molecular targets, via multiple pathways.

Once it gets into a cell, curcumin affects more than 100 different molecular pathways. And, as explained by LaValley, whether the curcumin molecule causes an increase in activity of a particular molecular target, or a decrease or inhibition of activity, studies repeatedly underscore its potent anticancer activity.

Notably, curcumin is nontoxic, and does not adversely affect healthy cells, suggesting it selectively targets cancer cells. In cases in which certain chemotherapy drugs are used, curcumin has been shown to work synergistically with the drugs to enhance the elimination of cancer cells.

Related: Turmeric and Diabetes

Woman Beat Myeloma Using Therapeutic Daily Dose of Curcumin

In terms of real-life success stories with this potent cancer-fighter, the British Medical Journal15,16 presented a case study on Dieneke Ferguson, age 57, who successfully treated blood cancer using curcumin. After complaining of high blood pressure, Ferguson was diagnosed with myeloma in 2007. Myeloma is a cancer that begins in plasma cells within your bone marrow, causing your plasma cells to become abnormal, multiply uncontrollably and release only one type of antibody that has no useful function.

Within 15 months, Ferguson’s myeloma advanced to stage 3 and she underwent several rounds of chemotherapy. In 2009, she had a stem cell transplant. None of the treatments were effective in beating the cancer. After stem cell therapy failed again, in 2011, Ferguson began taking daily doses of curcumin extract with bioperine (a black pepper extract) to aid absorption. She took 8 grams (a little over 2 teaspoons) every night on an empty stomach. The cancer stabilized.

A few months later, she began weekly hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in an enclosed chamber. Over the past five years, which incidentally is the average survival rate for myeloma, Ferguson’s cancer has remained stable and her blood counts are in the normal range. By all accounts, she enjoys a good quality of life. Ferguson continues to take her daily dose of curcumin and receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy once a week.

Ferguson’s doctors, who practice medicine at London’s Barts Health NHS Trust, believe she may be the first recorded case of curcumin being more effective than conventional treatments to beat cancer. They said:17

“A small but significant number of myeloma patients consume dietary supplements in conjunction with conventional treatment, primarily to help cope with the side effects of treatment, manage symptoms and enhance general well-being. Few, if any, use dietary supplementation as an alternative to standard antimyeloma therapy.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which curcumin has demonstrated an objective response in progressive disease in the absence of conventional treatment. The fact that our patient, who had advanced stage disease and was effectively salvaged while exclusively on curcumin, suggests a potential antimyeloma effect of curcumin.”

About her experience, Ferguson said,18 “I hope my story will lead to more people finding out about the amazing health benefits of curcumin. I also hope that as a result of the publicity, more research will be undertaken so curcumin may become freely available on the national health service and can help others.”

Suggestions for Using Curcumin Therapeutically

While turmeric is readily available in the spice section of nearly every grocery store, it’s important to realize if you want clinical results, it’s not enough to simply use turmeric as a spice in your cooking. The turmeric root itself contains only about a 3 percent curcumin concentration. To complicate matters further, curcumin is poorly absorbed by your body. According to LaValley:

“There is truly a broad array of disease that curcumin has significant potential for benefit. The challenge is how to get enough of it into the bloodstream to make a difference. That’s where the bioavailability of the product comes into play. There’s now a range of products on the market that allow substantial amounts of curcumin and metabolites of curcumin that are therapeutic … people now have much better options than what was available even five years ago.”

While I usually suggest raw foods, curcumin is an exception. When taking it in its raw form, from the turmeric root, you’d only be absorbing about 1 percent of the available amount. Even in supplement form it’s unlikely to provide the type of results reflected in scientific studies. That said, if you want to use curcumin therapeutically, you can try one of the following three alternatives:

Related: How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption – With Golden Milk Tea Recipe

1.Locate a high-quality turmeric extract. Look for an extract containing 100 percent certified organic ingredients, with at least 95 percent curcuminoids. The formula should be free of additives, excipients (substances added as a processing or stability aid) and fillers. Typical anticancer doses are up to 3 grams of good bioavailable curcumin extract, taken three to four times a day.

2.Make a microemulsion. Combine 1 tablespoon of raw curcumin powder with one or two egg yolks and 1 to 2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil. Use a high-speed hand blender to emulsify it. Keep in mind curcumin contains a strong yellow pigment that can permanently discolor clothing, kitchen tools and surfaces, so take care when using it in powder form.

3.Boil curcumin powder. Another strategy that can help increase absorption is to put 1 tablespoon of raw curcumin powder into 1 quart of boiling water. (The water must be boiling when you add the powder — it will not work well if you add the curcumin first and then heat the water.)

After boiling the mixture for 10 minutes you will have created a woody-tasting 12 percent solution that you can drink once cooled. With this method, the curcumin will gradually fall out of the solution over time, so be sure to drink it within four hours to achieve the best results.

Other Ways to Help Your Body Fight Malignant Disease

If you have cancer and are overweight, or have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and/or diabetes, then insulin and leptin resistance are very likely affecting your body’s ability to fight the disease.

From my perspective, a ketogenic diet — with or without intermittent fasting — would be a prudent treatment strategy to resolve that underlying problem and give your body a better chance of responding to cancer treatment. Once you’ve normalized your insulin and leptin, you don’t necessarily need to maintain a ketogenic diet, especially if you find it too restrictive. About this approach, LaValley states:

“I agree that a ketogenic diet is really appropriate in many cases, probably the significant majority of cases. It’s been known for probably 80 years or longer that solid tumors, and some of the blood cancers, are sugar-loving. I use a PET scan to demonstrate to patients … objective proof that the tumors they have in their body are sugar-avid. They’re taking up sugar at a rate much higher than the other regular healthy cells.

I want to drive home that message, so people are motivated to alter their diet to have a low [starchy] carb intake, causing their body to generate additional nutrient supply molecules called ketones … What that means is we’re trying to provide an anticancer, antagonistic pressure on the cancer cells by reducing the amount of sugar that’s readily available for uptake.

We do so by reducing the easily available sugar in the diet and compensating for the nutrient and sugar reduction by increasing healthy fats.”

In addition to cutting out sugar, it would also be prudent to assess your protein intake. Many Americans eat far more protein than required for optimal health. Importantly, excess protein stimulates your mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway which, while useful for building muscles, can be detrimental when treating cancer. This is the case because mTOR is a pathway that increases cellular proliferation, which you don’t want when it comes to cancer cells.

The formula I recommend for calculating protein intake calls for 1 gram per kilogram of lean body mass or 0.5 grams per pound of lean body weight. To determine your lean mass, first determine your fat mass. As an example, if your body fat mass is 20 percent, your lean mass is 80 percent of your total body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, your lean mass would then be 120 pounds (150 X 0.8), and your protein requirement would be about 60 grams (120 X 0.5).

If you are doing vigorous exercise or are pregnant, you can add up to 25 percent more protein. If you need some encouragement with respect to those who are beating various forms of cancer by treating it as a metabolic disease, check out my previous article “Promoting Advances in Managing Cancer as a Metabolic Disease.”

Need a Doctor Familiar With Curcumin and Other Alternative Treatments?

LaValley is available to consult with you or your physician on a wide variety of health challenges, including cancer.19 He’s licensed to practice medicine in the U.S. and Canada. His medical clinic is located in Chester, Nova Scotia, where he sees patients, and he also spends time in Austin, Texas, where he conducts research.

When there, he’s available to consult with other physicians and their patients. Says LaValley, “For instance, if a patient has pancreatic cancer and the physician wants to implement one of the protocols I provide, I will do a consultation … and then make recommendations to the physician for implementation.”

LaValley acknowledges the many challenges he faces with respect to working within the medical establishment, mainly because there’s so much information that’s not readily known or understood by traditional doctors. In the U.S. and Canada, when a physician wants to administer one or more natural products like curcumin or some off-label pharmaceuticals for anticancer use, they very often fear recrimination or disciplinary action. He said:

“That is, I think, very unfortunate, because the evidence base does exist for [natural approaches] … I think the most important movement that needs to occur is for patients to recognize their own value in the decision-making process and to demand they have access to [alternative] therapeutic choices. They’re available, they’re supported in the evidence base, and [you] have the right to ask for them rather than just accept whatever the physician is offering in the conventional realm.”

Marijuana Advisor To Sessions Wants To Drug Test Everyone

Drug Test

(Natural Blaze by Heather Callaghan)  “We want [drug screens] to be routine in all medicine…” It’s bad enough in 2018 that the war on drugs still exists in the deluded minds of government higher-ups, just as some states begin to legalize recreational marijuana. And just as they do, Attorney General Jeff Sessions dropped the bomb that the Federal Government ended its leniency toward states’ rights for medical marijuana. Thus, we devolve as a nation.

But the biggest blow to Americans was when Sessions’ DEA, although going after marijuana as a dangerous substance – in essence gave a Pharma opioid maker the rights to a partial national monopoly on synthetic THC!

What’s worse, it looks like the War on Drugs has just collided with Mad Medicine.

Herb.co reports:

A top-level advisor to Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants doctors to drug test all their patients, and to force users, they suspect of addiction into rehabilitation against their will. If Robert DuPont gets his way, drug testing could become a required part of your visit to the doctor.

DuPont, 81, is one of a small group of drug-policy “experts” Sessions invited to a closed meeting last month to discuss federal response to marijuana legalization. He is one of the most hardline and influential architects of the Drug War, having started out in the 1970s as a liberal on the drug control issue. But by the 1980s DuPont had taken a hard right turn, popularizing the long-debunked claim that cannabis is a “gateway drug.”

DuPont wants to force people into treatment for up to 5 years.

In an interview last year, DuPont pushed for expanding drug testing. His idea includes having physicians force patients whom they believe to have substance abuse problems to submit to drug tests, or lengthy stays in treatment facilities reportsNewsweek.

“Among other things, he proposed giving doctors the authority to compel suspected substance abusers into treatment against their will,” reportsThe Daily Beast. “Once in treatment, patients could face up to five years of monitoring, including random drug tests.”

“We want [drug screens] to be routine in all medicine,” DuPont said. “Doctors already check for things like cholesterol and blood sugar, why not test for illicit drugs? Right now the public thinks that if we provide treatment the addicts will come and get well … that’s not true. So let’s use the leverage of the criminal justice system.”

It is quite the understatement to say that America has been ejected right off that proverbial slippery slope. Can you imagine anything more invasive when modern medicine and drug laws are already so intrusive?

DuPont doesn’t even want to try treatment but views all drug use as a forbidden crime for which there must be government intervention.

In 2010, he penned a national model bill that “called on cops to test anyone stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence for all controlled substances, and arresting them on the spot if the slightest trace showed up — regardless of the amount. While the bill includes an exemption for drivers with prescriptions, cannabis users would still get busted. Medical-marijuana patients don’t have prescriptions (due to federal law), just doctor recommendations.”

That bill would not only punish legal medical marijuana patients in states which permit its use, but anyone for any substance that is legal to consume – even alcohol or medicine. Any failure of a bodily drug test would constitute possession of the substance!

So with DuPont’s ideas, we could look forward to a nation of forced drug testing, invasive extraction of bodily fluids, zero tolerance of substances including alcohol or cold medicine, instant arrests and federal charges of crimes for any deviation. Bye, bye 4th Amendment.

A few notable things about DuPont:

  • He was the former drug czar to Richard Nixon.
  • Vaguely warned The Washington Post the marijuana would have “horrendous” effects on society.
  • Although serving for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) he later had ties to the drug-testing industry. (source)
  • “In 2000, he appeared before the federal Food and Drug Administration, pushing for expanded hair follicle testing.” ! (source)
  • Yes, it is and would be financially gainful for him to continue opposing friendly cannabis legislation. He was a ” paid consultant and shareholder in Psychemedics, which offered costly hair testing analysis.”

What else can we say? Whereas the state laws allowing cannabis freedom were a breath of fresh air in the midst of a war on freedom – we are heading back to the dinosaurs where the breath of aging, drug-war addled elites whispers into the ear of the Attorney General. President Trump is strangely absent from these conflicts.

Recommended Reading:

Go With Your Gut – How To Support Your Gut Microbiome and How This Heals The Body

(Dr. Mercola) More attention than ever is being put on your gut health, and understandably so because 70 to 80 percent of your immune function resides within your gastrointestinal tract. As such, optimizing your gut microbiome is a worthwhile pursuit that will have far-reaching effects on your physical health and emotional well-being.

A first important step toward balancing your gut flora is to eliminate sugar from your diet, especially sugars found in processed foods. Then, you will want to begin eating fermented foods — some examples are kefir, kimchi, natto, sauerkraut and raw grass fed yogurt. A healthy diet, including the consumption of prebiotic foods, influences your health because it helps create an optimal environment for beneficial gut bacteria, while decreasing pathogenic or disease-causing bacteria, fungi and yeast.

Must Read: Fungal Infections – How to Eliminate Yeast, Candida, and Mold Infections For Good

Taking a probiotic or sporebiotic supplement can also be beneficial, especially during and following antibiotic treatment, to restore and promote a healthy microbiome. Many don’t realize your gut bacteria can influence your behavior and gene expression. Gut bacteria have also been shown to play a role with respect to autism, diabetes and obesity.

Mounting scientific evidence continues to suggest a large component of nutrition centers on nourishing the health-promoting bacteria in your body. In doing so, you can keep harmful microbes in check, manage your weight and protect against chronic disease. Given its importance to your overall health, now is the time to “go with your gut!”

What Is Your Gut Microbiome and What Does It Affect?

Research has determined about 100 trillion bacteria comprise your body’s microbiome. However, it is far greater than that as for every bacterium there are at least 10 viruses and fungi living on or inside your body, helping with life-sustaining functions that would not be possible without them. Your microbiome takes shape very early in life.

In fact, if you were delivered via a vaginal birth, you were coated with your mother’s microbes as you passed through the birth canal. More microbes were passed along during breastfeeding, as breast milk contains many gut-nurturing properties.

Must Read: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

During the early years, your family, dietary and environmental exposures contributed to your microbiome in ways that have and will continue to influence your lifelong health. Your microbiome is made up of several distinct areas, including your eyes, genitals, mouth and skin, as well as your intestines, which comprise your gut microbiome. Everyday activities such as brushing your teeth, eating, kissing someone or handling a family pet affect your microbiome. Notably, your gut microbiome has been shown to play a role in:

•Autism: Establishment of normal gut flora in the first few weeks of life is vital to your baby’s immune system. Babies with abnormal gut flora have compromised immune systems and are particularly at risk for developing ADHD, autism and learning disabilities, particularly if they are vaccinated while their gut flora is imbalanced.

•Behavior: A study published in Neurogastroenterology and Motility1 found mice lacking in gut bacteria behave differently from normal mice. Their altered behavior was construed as “high-risk” and was accompanied by neurochemical changes in the brain. It is widely known that your gut serves as your second brain, producing more of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is known to have a positive influence on your mood, than your brain does.

•Diabetes: According to a Danish study,2 the bacterial population in diabetic guts differs from those of nondiabetics. According to researchers, Type 2 diabetes in humans is linked to compositional changes in intestinal microbiota, highlighting the link between metabolic diseases and bacterial populations in the gut.

•Gene expression: Your gut health has been shown to be a very powerful variable of epigenetics, a cutting-edge field of medicine highlighting the role your lifestyle plays with respect to genetic expression. As noted in ScienceDaily:3

“New research is helping to tease out the mechanics of how the gut microbiome communicates with the cells of its host to switch genes on and off. … the study4 … reveals how the metabolites produced by the bacteria in the stomach chemically communicate with cells, including cells far beyond the colon, to dictate gene expression and health in its host.”

•Obesity: Because probiotics may help fight obesity, optimizing your gut flora is an important consideration if you’re struggling to lose weight.

The Importance of Fermented Foods

I often mention the value of fermented foods in helping to “heal and seal” your gut as a means of boosting your health and/or reversing disease. As demonstrated in the video above, culturing vegetables is easy and inexpensive. You can also make your own homemade yogurt. Other examples of fermented foods include kefir, kimchi, natto and sauerkraut. These foods are not only packed with good bacteria, but also are associated with the following health benefits:

Must Read: Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases

•Nutrient rich: Some fermented foods are outstanding sources of essential nutrients such as vitamin K2, which helps prevent osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries. Cheese curd is an excellent source of both probiotics and vitamin K2, as are certain fermented foods like natto or vegetables fermented at home using a starter culture of vitamin K2-producing bacteria. Fermented foods also produce many B vitamins.

•Immune system booster: Because up to 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut, probiotics play a crucial role in keeping your digestive tract operating smoothly. A healthy gut is your first defense against disease and a major factor in helping you maintain optimal health and well-being.

•Powerful detoxifier: Fermented foods are some of the best chelators available. The beneficial bacteria in these foods are highly potent detoxifiers, capable of drawing out a range of toxins and heavy metals from your bloodstream, which are then eliminated through your kidneys.

•Cost-effective: Adding a small amount of fermented food to each meal is cost-effective because it contains 100 times the probiotics of the average supplement. Given that a high-quality probiotic is expensive, you can culture vegetables for a fraction of the cost.

•Natural variety of microflora: If you vary the types of fermented and cultured foods you eat, you’ll benefit from a much wider variety of beneficial bacteria than you could ever receive in supplement form.

Eating Prebiotic Foods Can Help Nourish Your Gut

You can positively impact your friendly gut bacteria by providing them with the nutrients they need to flourish in the form of prebiotics. Prebiotics are found primarily in fiber-rich foods, which is perfect because your good gut bacteria thrive on indigestible fiber. Inulin is one type of water-soluble fiber found in asparagus, garlic, leeks and onions that helps nourish your beneficial gut bacteria.

In lab research5 involving young rats, dietary prebiotics were found to have a significant effect on rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep cycles, which may positively affect your sleep quality. Researchers studying the effect of prebiotics on gut health and REM sleep gave the test animals a diet rich in prebiotics beginning at 3 weeks old, and found:

  • Rats eating prebiotics had an increase in beneficial gut bacteria as compared to the control group6
  • As friendly bacteria metabolize prebiotic fiber, they not only grow and multiply, but also excrete a metabolite beneficial to brain health7
  • The group eating a prebiotic-rich diet spent more time in restful and restorative NREM sleep than those eating the control diet
  • Rats eating prebiotic foods spent more time in REM sleep after being stressed, which is important for promoting recovery8

The study authors said:9 “Given that sufficient NREM sleep and proper nutrition can impact brain development and function, and that sleep problems are common in early life, it is possible that a diet rich in prebiotics started in early life could help improve sleep, support the gut microbiota and promote optimal brain/psychological health.”  The following whole foods help add prebiotic fiber to your diet and improve the health of your microbiome, thus improving your overall health:10,11,12

Must Read: Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
Apples Asparagus Banana
Beetroot Breast milk Burdock root
Cashews Chicory root Couscous
Fennel bulb Garlic Grapefruit
Green peas Jerusalem artichokes Jicama
Konjac root Leeks Nectarines
Onion Persimmon Pistachios
Pomegranate Savoy cabbage Seaweed
Shallots Snow peas Tamarillo

How Probiotics Can Help

While I highly recommend you obtain most of your nutrients from real food, probiotic supplements can be helpful, especially if you are unable to eat fermented foods. That said, for probiotics to do their job, you need to optimize the conditions where these “good” bacteria will flourish.

The first step is to nourish your microbiome with real food. If you continue to eat a highly processed diet and foods containing added sugars, you’ll only be feeding the potentially pathogenic bacteria in your gut. Pathogenic disease-causing microbes simply love sugar!

On the other hand, these microbes will not thrive in the presence of fiber-rich foods or those containing complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and proteins. When you focus on eating whole, natural foods, you’re supporting the growth of your beneficial gut bacteria. Research suggests the benefits of probiotics aren’t limited to your gut, but also affect your brain.

This is the case because your gut is connected to your brain via what’s called the gut-brain axis, which means whatever affects your gastrointestinal tract affects your brain, and vice versa.

As such, when your gut microbiome is unbalanced, it can affect your immune system, mental health, mood and even your brain function. Probiotics have even been shown to help reduce the symptoms of depression. Factors to look for when trying to identify a high-quality probiotic supplement include:

  • Make sure it’s a reputable, non-GMO brand, manufactured according to current Good Manufacturing Practices
  • Look for a potency count (colony forming units or CFUs) of 50 billion or higher
  • Check the shelf life of the CFUs and avoid capsules only declaring CFUs at the “time of manufacture”
  • Choose a product containing multiple species of bacteria; products containing species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria are generally recommended
Must Read: Candida, Gut Flora, Allergies, and Disease

Sporebiotics Stand up to Antibiotics, Help Resolve Food Intolerances

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Spore-based probiotics, or sporebiotics, are an excellent complement to regular probiotics. They are part of a group of derivatives of the microbe called bacillus. This genus has hundreds of subspecies, the most important of which is bacillus subtilis. Essentially, sporebiotics consist of the cell wall of bacillus spores, and they are a primary tool to boost your immune tolerance.

Because sporebiotics do not contain any live bacillus strains, only its spores — the protective shell around the DNA and the working mechanism of that DNA — they are unaffected by antibiotics.

Antibiotics, as you may know, indiscriminately kill your gut bacteria, both good and bad. This is why secondary infections and lowered immune function are common side effects of taking antibiotics. Chronic low-dose exposure to antibiotics through your food also takes a toll on your gut microbiome, which can result in chronic ill health and increased risk of drug resistance.

If you are wondering how antibiotics get into your food, you may not realize about 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used in food production, including antibiotics given to farm animals living in concentrated animal feeding operations. Sporebiotics can more effectively help reestablish your gut microbiome since they’re not being destroyed by antibiotics.

Must Read: Candida, Gut Flora, Allergies, and Disease

If you are not sure sporebiotics could benefit you, be advised many acidophilus products have the drawback of not being able to survive the passage through your stomach acid, especially when taken on an empty stomach.

Poor-quality probiotics may not even be alive by the time you take them, which means you’ll receive little to no benefit. Spores, on the other hand, once established in your gut, help improve your intestinal barrier function. Your gut’s mucosal barrier determines which nutrients are absorbed and which are to be excreted.

The intestinal barrier also influences your immune function, and spores increase your immune tolerance, which means they help repair damage in your intestinal barrier, such as that caused by leaky gut. My longtime mentor Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, who also holds a Ph.D., and founder of the Klinghardt Academy in Washington (state), has used sporebiotics for the successful treatment of food intolerances for those suffering from ALS, autism, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Whatever approach you take — eliminating sugars, adding prebiotic foods, eating fermented foods, taking probiotics or sporebiotics, or all of the above — I encourage you to begin optimizing your gut. A healthy gut will boost your immunity, help your body resist disease and positively affect your health and well-being. Now is the time to “go with your gut!”

Government Knew About Dangerous MMR Vaccine Strain, Used It On Children Anyway

BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 26: A children's doctor injects a vaccine against measles, rubella, mumps and chicken pox to an infant on February 26, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The city of Berlin is facing an outbreak of measles that in recent weeks has led to over 700 cases and one confirmed death of a little boy who had not been vaccinated. Vaccination in Germany is not compulsory by law though the vast majority of parents have their children vaccinated. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

(Natural Blaze by Brandon Turbeville) Because mass media and technology are geared to shift from one topic to the next with no real depth or understanding of the subject matter, the vast majority of people, even those who are generally more intelligent, simply cannot remember important events that took place only a year ago. For that reason, it is occasionally important to revisit recent occurrences in order to refresh the collective memory.

Nearly ten years later, many will simply not remember that the UK government, which today nauseatingly pushes vaccines and vaccine propaganda, allowed a dangerous MMR shot (more dangerous than regular MMR shots) to be sold on the market for two years in the UK, putting millions of children at risk in addition to the already toxic and deadly nature of the vaccine at play.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Government officials were made aware of some problems with a version of the MMR vaccine in other countries but still introduced it in Britain in the late 1980s, newly released documents show.

The MMR vaccine with the Urabe strain of mumps was first used in Britain in October 1988. It was blamed for the deaths of several children after being withdrawn by the Department of Health in September 1992.

Previously confidential documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show how officials gradually learned of the dangers of the Urabe strain MMR which caused encephalitis-type conditions, including meningitis. Involving swelling of the brain or of the lining of the brain or spinal chord, they can lead to brain damage, deafness or even death.

The papers show that many months before the Urabe MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK, officials were made aware of problems in America, Sweden and Canada.

Related: The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness

The first warning came when an unnamed official at a meeting of the Government’s Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation in May 1987 “expressed his reservations concerning reported adverse reactions to MMR in the USA”.

The second came in a letter from the Central Microbiological Laboratory in Sweden in September that year, where authorities reported “52 cases of febrile convulsions probably associated with MMR vaccination”.

Then, a Government working party on the introduction of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, learned of “a report of cases of mumps encephalitis” in Canada at a meeting in Feb 1988.

The documents show that the statistical risk from Urabe MMR was considered to be low. The UK went ahead with its nationwide MMR programme in October 1988 in which 85 per cent of the triple-vaccinations contained Urabe.

The minutes of another meeting of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, in May 1990, show that there was “especial concern” about “reports from Japan of a high level of meningoencephalitis associated with the administration of MMR”.

Related: Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research

Yet the government waited another two years before ending its use of the Urabe MMR vaccine. That decision to stop using the Urabe vaccine, however, only came after the manufacturer informed the government that they were going to stop making it.

The Telegraph continued by writing,

The minutes were obtained by the FOIA Centre, a specialist research company, on behalf of one of the parents of a child in a group bringing litigation at the High Court. The Government insists it acted swiftly as soon as it became aware of the dangers of Urabe MMR in September 1992.

Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, told one of the parents in a letter: “As soon as the Department of Health had clear evidence that there was a risk with Urabe-containing MMR and that there was no such associated risk with a different strain of mumps virus (the Jeryl Lynn strain) used in an alternative MMR vaccine, the department moved quickly to discontinue use.”

Related: How Plumbing (Not Vaccines) Eradicated Disease

The Telegraph cont.,

Prof Kent Woods, chief executive officer of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, confirmed that the UK authorities had been aware of “sporadic cases” in Canada. However, the risk of meningoencephalitis from Urabe MMR was lower than the risk of the same condition resulting from “wild-type mumps virus”, he said.

Urabe MMR was withdrawn “following reports of generally mild transient meningitis caused by the mumps vaccine virus in some children who recently received the Urabe mumps vaccine containing products”.

Yet, in typical fashion, the government admitted no wrongdoing, instead doubling down on its collectivist view that the “benefits outweigh the risks” and that you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Too bad if you’re the egg.

The Telegraph wrote,

A Government spokesman said: “The UK investigated the evidence and acted promptly when this problem with Urabe strain of mumps vaccine was identified.

“On the basis of information obtained in studies, the UK was in a position to make an informed decision on whether to continue using the Urabe vaccine, as there was an alternative vaccine strain, called Jeryl Lynn, which did not appear to have the same risk.”

The spokesman added: “In 1992 the Committee on Safety of Medicine considered all of the evidence and concluded that the benefits of vaccinating with Urabe mumps strain vaccines still outweighed the risks.”

Although haven taken place in 2007, it is important to revisit incidents such as these in order to show how much things change while they remain exactly the same.