My friend Irina forwarded me this video of a lecture by Dr. Samuel Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition. In it, he named certain ingredients in consumer products that are particularly responsible for increased rates of cancers. I'm listing them below so you don't have to watch the entire video:
Hot Dogs, Bacon and Ham: We've all heard of nitrites being bad. When combined with amines found in all meat (histamine, tyramine, etc.), you get nitrosamines, the lovely stuff in cigarette smoke. Children who eat a dozen hot dogs every two weeks have a 7-fold increased rate of leukemia and a 4-fold increased rate of brain cancers. Fortunately, there are nitrite-free alternatives: look for Coleman and Applegate Farms "all natural" brands.
Milkfat (whole milk, butter, cheese) from factory farms: Milkfat is a cesspool for industrial carcinogens, such as those found in fertilizers and pesticides. More reason to buy organic.
Beef grown in the U.S.: unless explicitly labeled otherwise, cattle are injected with diethylstilbestrol (DES) during their final month in the feedlot, to make the meat nice and fatty. DES was previously used on pregnant women in an attempt to prevent miscarriages, until it was found to lead to cervical cancer in their daughters, and was then banned. It has also been banned in chicken and lamb, but for some reason it's still allowed in cattle. It's been implicated in ovarian, testicular, and breast cancers. Luckily, you can get organic beef these days, which is free of DES.
Talc or talcum powder: Used in numerous cosmetics and in baby powder, this stuff has been linked to a 3-4-fold increase in ovarian cancer when used on the skin. Good news: companies like Neways produce cosmetics that are free of talc and other carcinogens.
Coal tar dyes, particularly those containing phenylenediamine: Next time you dye your hair or get a Henna tattoo, watch out for this compound. Dr. Epstein thinks this is how Jackie Onassis got Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma--she would dye her hair dark brown every other week.
Saccharin: We all know saccharin is carcinogenic. But there aren't any warning labels on toothpastes containing saccharin. Companies claim "children don't swallow toothpaste"--shyeah. So either teach your kid not to swallow toothpaste, or use natural toothpaste brands like Tom's.
Lanolin: Sounds innocuous, but all sorts of nasty industrial and agricultural carcinogens are concentrated in this fatty secretion from sheep. Beeswax-based hand care products like Burt's Bees might be safer.
Polyethylene glycol (PEG), polysorbates, laureths, ethoxylated ___-ol: These are commonly found in hair products and shampoos. They are not carcinogenic in-and-of-themselves, but a by-product of producing these compounds is dioxane, a potent carcinogen in humans. Dioxane finds its way into these products even though it's not listed in the label.
Bronopol (2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol), DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl or imidazolidinyl urea, quaternium 15: All of these compounds break down into formaldehyde, and are found in deodorizers (including Lysol), disinfectants, personal care products (including shampoo) and cosmetics (including nail polish and hardeners). Formaldehyde, of course, is a known human carcinogen. Many condominiums use cleaning agents containing these compounds.
There are a few more in the "dirty dozen" that probably don't apply to most of us. Dr. Epstein has a book out, The Safe Shopper's Bible, that goes into more detail about the research behind these claims.
This guy has changed my mind about it:
Some of power of the demonstrations is probably due to kiss-ass students jumping backwards, but there are times where he does seem to be defying conservation of energy (say, at 1:35 remaining). All I can say is, I wanna be like that!
A. Mainstream medical paradigm: Just follow the US RDA, get your necessary vitamins and minerals, cut down on saturated and trans fats, pump up your intake of omega-3's (almonds, salmon) and you'll be fine.
B. "Carbs are evil" paradigm: carbs are bad, except for veggies and (some) fruits. They spike your blood sugar and make you secrete excess insulin, causing you to store energy as fat. Instead, you should eat protein-rich foods like meat, eggs, yogurt, soy, and gluten. Try the Atkin's diet, the zone diet, or South Beach diet; eat protein bars for snacks, don't touch anything with sugar or white flour in it, and you'll be fine.
C. "Carbs are good" paradigm: load up on carbs the night before an athletic event, fuel up with high-carb "energy" bars and goo during a race, drink Gatorade. Snack on carbs in between meals, so that your body never starves, and you'll be fine.
D. Gut allergy paradigm: the ills of the world are caused by subtle allergic reactions happening in the gut to certain foods--wheat/gluten and dairy being the most common--causing your gut to be "leaky" and allowing toxins from gut bacteria to enter your bloodstream. This results in inflammation, fatigue, and various autoimmune disorders. Go on an allergy elimination diet (restricted to root vegetables, rice, and maybe soy) for a week or until your symptoms subside, then add on your everyday foods one by one to see if your symptoms show up, then you'll know what you're allergic too. Avoid these and you'll be fine.
E. Food allergy/applied kinesiology paradigm: there are particular foods each particular person is allergic to, and an applied kinesiology practitioner (usually a chiropractor) can help you find out what these are. If you hold a closed vial of clear liquid that contains an extract of the food close to your body, your "energy field" picks up on it and the practitioner can detect a decrease in your muscle strength. Avoid these foods and you'll be fine.
F. Whole foods paradigm: the ills of the world are caused by food processing, which depletes food of its "natural" elements--substances that we need to make use of the vitamins in the food. Eat whole wheat and other whole grains (or even better, sprouted grains), get a wheatgrass juicer, eat chitlins and liver, take whole-food supplements, and you'll be fine.
G. Live/raw foods paradigm: "dead" foods like flour have no "energy" left in them. Eat live fruits and raw veggies/legumes, and you'll be fine.
H. Slow foods paradigm: the ills of the world are caused by people eating in a hurry. Eat foods grown locally for the best natural combination, take your time to eat, and you'll be less stressed, your gut will be prepared to absorb all the nutrients, and you'll be fine.
I. Macrobiotic paradigm: cancer is caused by foods being too hot, too cold, or too full of foods from the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant). Avoid these, and you'll be fine.
J. Antioxidants paradigm: cancer and cardiovascular disease are caused by oxidative damage to DNA and blood-vessel linings (respectively). Avoid meat, drink noni and mangosteen and pomegranate juice, take antioxidant supplements (vitamin E, selenium) and you'll be fine.
K. Blood type paradigm: the ills of the world are caused by people not eating the foods that they evolved to eat, back in the day when we were all agriculturists (blood type A), nomads (type B), or hunters (type O). People with type A blood should be vegetarians, people with type B are the only ones who can drink milk, and people with type O should eat lots of meat. Eat according to your blood type, and you'll be fine.
L. Acidic/alkaline paradigm: wheat, dairy, and meat are bad because they're too acid-forming as we digest them. Most fruits are acidifying as well. Eat more alkaline foods (most veggies; there are charts for acid/alkaline foods), drink slightly alkaline water, and you'll be fine.
M. Chinese medicine paradigm: foods are either "yin" or "yang" (also termed "cold" and "hot"). Rock sugar is "cold", while honey is "hot". Find out what is what, eat a happy balance of both, and you'll be fine.
N. Glyconutrition paradigm: the ills of the world are caused by poor cell-to-cell communication, which is caused by incomplete cell-surface ligands, and this is cause by a lack of certain sugar monomers (mannose, xylose, arabinose, etc.) in our modern diet. Eat seaweed and roughage, or take Ambrotose--a proprietary blend of these sugar monomers made by Mannatech (an MLM company)--and you'll be fine.
I honestly don't know what to believe anymore. All I know is that when I deprive myself of tasty food, I get crabby and my neck starts to hurt.
http://sefs.sparkart.net/crissangel/video/2003/tslevi.htm
The only explanation I can think of is that everyone is an actor, she's already hooked up to wiring, and the only remarkable thing is that she's hypnotized, so that she doesn't swing when he has them let go of her.
So I got this e-mail from "Amazon.com" with the subject: "New email address added to your account!" Here's what it said:
You have added richard.fr@yahoo.com as a new email address for your Flagstar Bank account.
If you did not authorize this change or if you need assistance with your account, please contact Amazon.Inc customer service at:
http://203.237.176.3/EPageCampus/amz/index.html
Thank you for using Amazon.Inc!
The Amazon.Inc Team !
Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your Amazon account and choose the "Help" link in the header of any page.
I was immediately suspicious when I saw that it asked for my SSN and other personal info. Turns out this was a phishing expedition. What clever SOB's!
Well, that's a decision you make not just for yourself, but for your kids (who get exposed to whatever you put in your breastmilk, or your lawn), and for the environment in general. And for other taxpayers, who will be footing the bill for the tremendous healthcare costs associated with cancer treatment.
nice list... other environmentally AWFUL + makes-you-sick stuff matt and i avoid: 1.) TEFLON coated anything! whyyy would anyone get teflon pans when cast iron is vastly superior and cheap as hell from amazon.com... and becomes more and more nonstick the more you use it.... 2.) shitty stain-repellants you spray on your couch etc... similar to teflon.
PS i luuvv tom's of maine "wintermint" toothpaste!! it's the yummiest toothpaste ever.... and i used it to get rid of one of my cavities, hA!
How do these corporate and government criminals live with themselves? The way I see it, they basically convince themselves that they're providing for their spouse and family, and that means more to them than thousands of innocent lives. Which comes down to deeply-engrained fallacies in our culture, like the myth about American dream.