New research: sporadic type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (mad cow) results from surgery

(NaturalNews) There is probably no more horrific and frightening incurable disease than Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Also known as the human form of mad cow disease, this degenerative, always fatal brain disorder strikes about one person in every million worldwide each year, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). CJD results in the brain literally being turned into sponge-like, hole-filled tissue (the reason the disease is also known as spongiform encephalopathy ). It usually runs a rapid course, causing failing memory, hallucinations, lack of coordination and visual disturbances followed by total mental deterioration, involuntary movements, blindness and coma. Although some cases are known to be caused by eating meat containing mad cow disease-causing infectious prions, by far the most common form of the illness is known as sporadic CJD. The NINDS says sporadic CJD accounts for at least 85 percent of the cases. Supposedly, sporadic CJD just strikes out of the blue for no particular reason. But Spanish scientists say they’ve found compelling and disturbing evidence that people are infected with the disease during operations. “Based on the monitoring records of spongiform encephalopathy in two Nordic countries, we studied the possibility of transmission of the sporadic form of CJD through general surgery,” Jesus de Pedro, main author of the study and head of prion monitoring in patients at the National Epidemiology Center of the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid, said in a statement to the press. The research team’s study, just published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry , came to this startling conclusion: the sporadic form of CJD strikes after a person has surgery — usually at least 20 years after an operation. The data suggests, Dr. DePedro stated, the disease enters and spreads much more quickly within the central or peripheral nervous system due to surgical procedures. So what makes this evidence so strong — and why hasn’t anyone noticed a clear surgery/CJD association before now? According to the authors of the new study, the key to finding the surgery and CJD connection was computerized surgery records kept in hospitals in Sweden and Denmark since the early l970s. These records allowed the researchers to see if people who had developed CJD had been surgery patients in past decades. With virtually no exceptions, they had been. Bottom line: the new findings point to an external and preventable cause for so-called sporadic CJD. It also raises the question about the true causes of other mind robbing maladies. “It may signify a shift in our understanding of the nature of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s,” the research team stated. “We might, therefore, ask ourselves if other types of motor neuron diseases can be transmitted through surgery and be latent for decades, such as those where risk factors, particularly physical professions and activities or certain sporting activities, for example, which are more likely to lead to surgery, have already been indicated.” For more information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20547628 http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cjd/detail_cjd.htm

OCA exposes phony organic products

(NaturalNews) The organic products sector continues to boom, but not everything with the word “organic” on its label is truly organic. If a product does not bear the USDA organic certification seal, it is difficult to determine whether or not it is truly organic. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is working to expose phony organic products and brands through its “Coming Clean Campaign” which aims to clean up the natural and organic personal care industry. Currently, there are no set standards for what constitutes a “natural” or “organic” personal care product, other than for those that are USDA certified organic. As opposed to food products which are better regulated, natural care products often contain the words “natural” or “organic” either in their brand names or somewhere on their labels even when their primary, active ingredients are synthetically derived from petrochemical compounds. Last year, the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) made formal recommendations that the National Organic Program begin to regulate personal care products as it does food products in order to ensure that products being marketed as organic receive some sort of independent certification to prove that the claim is true. OCA immediately responded to this recommendation by launching its own boycott of the major “organic cheater” brands. Recently, OCA conducted a demonstration outside Natural Products Expo West, the largest convention of manufacturers, retailers, buyers and suppliers in the natural and organic products industry. OCA representatives held giant, five-foot-tall “sham”poo bottles at the entrance to the convention and passed out informational flyers to passersby about the products being featured at the expo that were not truly organic. Some of the brands and products exposed by OCA as being “organic cheaters” include: Jason Pure, Natural and Organic Avalon Organics Kiss My Face Obsessively Organic Nature’s Gate Organics Stella McCartney 100% Organic Giovanni Organic Hair Care Head Organics Desert Essence Organics Ilike Organic Skin Care Eminence Organic Organic Wear Sapien Certified Organic Organic Bath Co. Goodstuff Organics Though some of these brands and their respective product lines contain a few items that are USDA certified organic, the vast majority are labeled “organic” despite the fact that they are composed of synthetic and petrochemical ingredients rather than truly organic, agricultural material. Companies are selling these phony “organic” products at a premium and deceiving consumers. OCA has also prepared a spreadsheet outlining “organic cheater” brands and how they rate on the Hazard Ranking scale designed by the Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep” Cosmetic Safety Database. OCA also performed tests on products labeled “natural” and “organic” to see if they contained the toxic 1,4-dioxane contaminant commonly found in conventional consumer products. The results of that study were released in a recent Consumer Alert . More information about consumer care products is available at OCA’s Coming Clean Campaign .

To save America’s health, we must end nutritional illiteracy among doctors, patients

(NaturalNews) An obese doctor comes home to his wife at dinner time carrying yet another bag full of drive-through junk food from a local restaurant. Worried about his health, his wife asks, “Don’t you realize all that junk food you keep eating is destroying your entire body?” “That’s not my concern,” the doctor replies. “I’m only an ear, nose and throat specialist.” This joke illustrates an important point: That even the most brilliant scientists, doctors and researchers can seem downright clueless when it comes to their own health. And this joke isn’t really a joke at all: It’s a sad but true commentary about the blind spots in the knowledge of those who are among society’s most intelligent thinkers. I’ve known many brilliant people. Even a few geniuses. But rarely do I meet anyone whose knowledge of food and nutrition rises very far above outright ignorance. Perhaps one in a hundred people in the western world today have taken it upon themselves to actually learn about foods and health — the rest simply wing it, going along with the mainstream. (And the mainstream is diseased…) Brilliance in one field doesn’t always translate into nutrition But here’s the really interesting part: The more intelligent a person is in their own field of specialty, the more informed they think they are about foods and nutrition (even if they aren’t). A typical rocket scientist, for example, is so used to being right that when it comes to his dietary decisions and food shopping habits, he thinks he is right by the mere fact that he is the one making his food consumption decisions. Because he’s always right, then whatever decision he makes — whether it deals with food, finances or relationships — must also be the right decision. Making matters even worse, really smart people are especially susceptible to strategies of non-conscious persuasion — such as those used by food advertisers. Food companies don’t appeal to logic and reason when advertising their junk foods because there really isn’t much logic or reason behind consuming their products at all. Instead, they use emotional anchoring to unconsciously attach feelings to brands. That way, when you’re in the store shopping, you unconsciously experience a preference for a particular product or brand without knowing why . This gets the smart people every time, it seems. They may have superior logic and intellect compared to the rest of the world, but when you examine their grocery store receipts, they’re buying all the same junk as the guy with an IQ of 70 who lives next door. Having brains, it seems, doesn’t necessarily translate into making good decisions about food and health. And yet these people should know better. Food and consequences Most scientists, doctors and high-IQ people believe in The Law of Cause and Effect . Every action (a cause) results in some reaction (an effect). Every input has an output. Most people acknowledge this universal truth, and yet when it comes to foods and health, there’s a bizarre disconnect about this. People have been trained by the big food companies — and even government regulators to a large extent — that what they choose to eat has almost no bearing on their health outcomes. The establishment would rather have you believe that your genes control your health while glossing over the far more important point that it is your diet that controls the expression of your genes. They would rather ignore the truthful fact that vitamin D prevents infectious disease 500% better than a vaccine because this allows them to promote vaccines rather than teach nutritional responsibility. Even mainstream dieticians from the American Dietetic Association are taught that there is no difference between dead foods and living foods . A calorie is a calorie, they’re taught, no matter where it comes from or whether it’s in a plant from Mother Nature or a sugar factory made by Man. The nutritional ignorance in our culture is astounding, and as long as such ignorance remains so widespread, we will never achieve a health care system that’s both effective and affordable. As long as our doctors remain nutritionally illiterate, we will never have a health care system that values educating patients about what they put in their mouths. Ignorance is the enemy of lasting health , and sadly our own government institutions such as the FDA maintain policies of enforced ignorance that outlaw companies selling natural products from linking to scientific studies that discuss the health benefits of their products. Everything from cherries, green tea and walnuts have been under relentless attacks by the FDA, which threatens company founders with arrest and prosecution unless they remove their website links to point to scientific studies published in peer-reviewed science journals. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019366.html) One important victory over FDA censorship has just been achieved in the courts (http://www.naturalnews.com/028929_FDA_health_claims.html), but the FDA’s campaign of enforced ignorance continues. Nutritional ignorance may be fantastic for generating obscene profits for the drug companies, but it’s a terrible policy for public health. Americans will only achieve true lasting health when they are granted open access to truthful information about the healing capabilities of natural foods, superfoods, nutritonal supplements and herbal remedies. Until that day comes, we will remain a nation locked in a cycle of ignorance and disease that will ultimately bankrupt us at every level. Nutrition can help us break that cycle, but only if we can get past the ignorance and unleash a new era of nutritional literacy for our people. Read my related report, “Nutrition Can Save America!” for more details on how this might work: http://www.naturalnews.com/report_Nutrition_Health_America_0.html And keep reading NaturalNews.com to stay informed. We’ll keep bringing you more news about natural remedies, nutritional cures, and the dangers of synthetic chemicals. If you’d like these stories brought to your attention via email, just subscribe to our free daily email newsletter using the subscription form below. It’s free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

The Coming Gulf Coast Firestorm: How the BP oil catastrophe could destroy a major U.S. city

(NaturalNews) It’s hurricane season in the Atlantic, and that means Mother Nature could be whipping up fierce storms and sending them charging into the Gulf Coast any day now. In a normal hurricane season, that’s bad enough all by itself… remember Katrina? But now there’s something even more worrisome in the recipe: There’s oil in the water . So what happens when a Katrina-class hurricane comes along and picks up a few million gallons of oil, then drops that volatile liquid on a major U.S. city like Galveston or New Orleans? Now, before we pursue this line of thinking any further, let’s dismiss the skeptics out there who think oil can’t drop from the sky because oil doesn’t evaporate. Actually, if you look at the history of hurricanes and storms, you’ll find thousands of accounts of lots of things that don’t evaporate nonetheless falling out of the sky. The phrase “raining cats and dogs” it’s entirely metaphor, you know: There are documented accounts of all sorts of things raining down from the sky: Fish, frogs, large balls of ice, and so on. If rain storms can pick up fish out of the ocean, then drop them on land, then they certainly have the capacity to pick up oil, too. Besides, as any chemist will tell you, the various petrochemicals found in crude oil evaporate even without a storm picking them up! Oil, in other words, does evaporate into the air. Or, more accurately, some of the lighter chemicals in crude oil evaporate even at temperatures of around 100 degrees (F). Those are Gulf Coast temperatures. These chemicals burn Now, these lighter chemicals that more easily evaporate also happen to have lower flash points, meaning they catch on fire more easily and at lower temperatures than other elements in the oil. The flash point for gasoline, for example, is much lower than diesel fuel. That’s because gasoline is “more flammable” and is a lighter fuel than diesel. The EPA classifies oils into Classes A – D. Class A is the lightest kind of oil, which the EPA describes as follows (http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/learning/crude.htm) “These oils are highly fluid, often clear, spread rapidly on solid or water surfaces, have a strong odor, a high evaporation rate, and are usually flammable. They penetrate porous surfaces such as dirt and sand, and may be persistent in such a matrix.” That same EPA document makes it quite clear that the more volatile oils can evaporate from crude oil, rendering the remaining oil heavier and more “tar-like.” And we already know these oils can catch on fire. That’s the whole point of tapping crude oil, of course: To pump it into engines then catch it on fire in order to turn the energy of that mini-explosion into force (to drive the eight pistons in your gas-guzzling SUV, for example). How the fire happens So let’s say the oil blowout continues, and the Gulf of Mexico is carrying millions of gallons of crude oil as a massive hurricane approaches. It’s a hot July day in the Gulf of Mexico, with temperatures soaring towards 110 degrees, accelerating the evaporation of volatile oils which get mixed in with hurricane-force winds. The hurricane makes landfall in New Orleans, let’s say, dumping potentially hundreds of thousands of gallons of what is essentially “volatile fuel” on the city of New Orleans. Now, at first it’s just a wet, slippery toxic mess that kills trees and grass. But what happens after the storm when the sun dries out the city? All the dead trees killed by the oil turn into kindling. The sun evaporates off the rain water, leaving behind fuel. A few days of sun baking and you have a city doused in fuel, ready to burst into flames . It’s every fireman’s worst nightmare. The whole city is essentially turned into a giant match. Now, sure, the more volatile fuels might evaporate, but as they do, they’d fill the city with explosive fumes . One spark, one fire, one lightning strike and your whole city literally goes up in flames. The BP oil spill, in other words, provides the fuel that could turn an ordinary hurricane into Mother Nature’s arson attack on an entire city. Like a nuclear bomb This would not be an ordinary city on fire, either: It would be a city doused with volatile fuels that soaked it to the core. The sewers would explode like massive terrorist bombs, ripping to shred any underground infrastructure (fiber optics, water delivery, electrical infrastructure, etc.). The pavement itself would be on fire, as would parks, grasslands and forests. The city would burn from top to bottom, and there would be no point even trying to put out the flames. All we could do is evacuate and watch it all burn to the ground. And in the aftermath, you’d still have oil covering the beaches, oil in the ocean, and the threat of more firestorms yet to come. It could be just the first of many such incidents striking the Gulf Coast. Think this couldn’t happen? Sure, and BP said the oil was a “tiny” little leak that didn’t matter, either. They said the oil rigs would never explode. They said they would cap the blowout. They said they would protect the shores. And all along the problem just got worse and worse until even the press noticed that these corporate criminals just couldn’t stop lying. Now, BP is at least $20 billion in the hole in an effort to compensate some of the Gulf Coast businesses for the damage they’ve caused. But how will they compensate people if an entire city burns to the ground? The answer? They won’t. That would be the end of BP. Immediately bankruptcy. B.P. = “Bankruptcy Protection,” after all. No more payments go out to anyone. BP goes belly up just like all the fish being murdered by CorExit dispersant chemicals in the Gulf right now. The company goes down in flames just like New Orleans (or some other major city on the coast). Of course, the scenario I’m describing here is theoretical, and I hope it’s a worst-case scenario, too. But it is possible. Catastrophe is what happens at the intersection of poor planning and bad luck. BP has given us poor planning, and now Mother Nature may be about to deliver a heavy-handed dose of bad luck in the form of a seasonal hurricane that takes oil from the Gulf and dumps it on land. We can only hope that these two elements do not collide on our shores. For if they do, we may witness loss on a scale our world hasn’t seen since the dropping of atomic weapons on civilian populations in World War II. If a hurricane drops oil on New Orleans (or any other Gulf Coast city) and it goes up in flames a few days later, the aftermath will, indeed, resemble the effects of a nuclear bomb explosion. You probably don’t want to be anywhere near that. Needless to say, if it starts raining oil in your neighborhood, that might be a good time to grab whatever you value and get outta Dodge.

PCBs found in 10 fish oil supplements

(NaturalNews) A California lawsuit is accusing several fish oil supplement manufacturers of selling fish oils that contain unsafe levels of polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, also known as PCBs. The state’s Proposition 65 requires products that may contain toxic ingredients above safe levels to have warning labels for consumer safety. Five supplement companies, CVS and Rite Aid drug stores, and Omega Protein, Inc., the world’s largest producer of omega-3 fish oil, are all named in the suit, which the plaintiffs hope will bring light to fish oil contamination problems. They also hope to see more accurate labeling of fish oils that includes specifics about contaminants like PCBs; that way, consumers will be able to make better decisions about which kinds are safe to buy. The PCB chemical family consists of 209 different chemical compounds, all of which were tested for in the lawsuit by a California lab. That same lab also tested each of the product samples for 12 of the most toxic PCB compounds. It then evaluated each sample in terms of daily exposure to PCBs overall, and daily exposure to PCBs in terms of toxicity. The brands tested included Nature Made, Twinlab, Now Foods, Solgar and GNC. Each brand included various types of fish oil, including cod liver, shark liver and salmon. Those that tested the lowest for PCBs contained one-70th the amount of those with the highest levels, indicating a significant difference in contamination among various brands, and types, of fish oil. According to David Roe, the man who filed the lawsuit in San Francisco’s Superior Court, the oils that tested highest exceed California’s daily limit for PCBs by a factor of ten in terms of cancer risk. On the same token, some of the oils tested very low, and are not of particular concern to consumers. Both Nature Made and Twinlab issued immediate responses to the lawsuit in defense of their respective brands’ safety. Erin Hlasney from the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a supplement industry trade group, also came to the defense of fish oils in general, explaining that they have been used safely for decades. But the plaintiffs contend that it is not enough to simply say that a product meets guidelines; consumers have a right to know how a product actually tests for contaminants once it arrives on store shelves. Many brands claim that their fish oils have been purified and treated to reduce or remove contaminants, but few actually explain to what extent these toxins have been removed. For complete details about the case and to view the fish oil test results, please visit www.fishoilsafety.com. Sources for this story include: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14501591?source=most_viewed http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/truth-fish-oil-concerns/story?id=9994049

Top ten things to love about Vilcabamba Ecuador, the Valley of Longevity

(NaturalNews) If you love perfect year-round weather and enjoying your own locally-grown foods, you’ll love Vilcabamba, Ecuador. I lived there, on and off, for over two years, and in that time I came to know many of the people, places and cultural highlights of Vilcabamba. In this story, I’ll share with you some of the best of Vilcabamba, Ecuador, where you can visit as a tourist or find a home to live the good life for pennies on the dollar! Here’s what I like most about Vilcabamba, Ecuador: #1) Amazingly nice locals As my Spanish ability improved with practice, I made many friends with the local Vilcabamba people. They are exceedingly nice, polite and very friendly to visitors. They even have an unusual knack for understanding the really bad Spanish spoken by many visitors, and they go out of their way to try to communicate with you in simple words that you’ll easily understand. Most of the really good friends I made in Vilcabamba were locals, and we would spend hours chatting about various things: The climate, gardening, horses, tourist activity, politics, health and much more. #2) Ridiculously good climate The climate in Vilcabamba just can’t be beat: It’s absolutely perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Not too dry, not too wet. The air is crisp and clean, and the temperature is so perfect that they don’t even build homes with air conditioning or heating units. I’ve traveled the world and the closest I’ve ever come to the perfection of this climate is the Big Island of Hawaii. But land on the Big Island can cost anywhere from 20 to 100 times the cost of similar land in Vilcabamba. #3) Papaya’s Cafe If you visit Vilcabamba, you’ve got to visit Papaya’s Cafe . Launched earlier this year by an American named Carey, Papaya’s Cafe became an instant hit with both the locals and the foreigners living in the Valley of Longevity. The cafe serves up a variety of menu items, both from the realm of health-conscious eating (they sometimes host raw food dinners) and local Ecuadorian cuisine. The decor and ambiance of the restaurant is outstanding, and the view from the second floor is quite breathtaking. You can hang out in Papaya’s Cafe for hours, chatting with friends and living the good life while enjoying smoothies, desserts, main courses and much more! Papaya’s Cafe is located adjacent to the Vilcabamba bus terminal, on the North side of the street. Just ask anyone in town to point you in the direction of either the cafe or the bus terminal. It’s easy to find. #4) Very low cost of living The cost of living in Vilcabamba, Ecuador is surprisingly low, even if you’re hiring a lot of help. A typical garden worker makes from $10 – $15 per day, and locals are always looking for more work. (I frequently had people stop by my house asking for more work.) To help create our amazing food forest ranch on 20 acres, I hired as many as 3 grounds workers, plus a house helper who would prepare raw food smoothies and keep the house clean for us. The total cost of these four people was significantly less than one full-time helper working in the U.S. If you want to see what we accomplished with the food forest, see the photos of my ranch at: http://www.naturalnews.com/Valley-of-Longevity-Property.html #5) Madre Tierra The most amazing resort in the Valley of Longevity is Madre Tierra (“Mother Earth”), a beautifully constructed resort with a spa, restaurant, water pools, and an assortment of other natural features. Madre Tierra offers an incredible value as a really nice place to stay in the valley. It’s just outside of town: Far enough away to avoid the party noise on Friday and Saturday nights, yet close enough to walk to town in about 15 minutes (or you can take a short taxi ride). Check out their website or make reservations at www.VilcabambaMadreTierra.com The resort is under new ownership as of one month ago, and I personally know the new owners. They’re really dedicated to updating and improving the resort to meet western standards. They’ve already enhanced many of the rooms, and they’re working on remodeling the kitchen to improve it as well. If you visit the kitchen, say hello to Lolita (one of the cooks), as I’ve known her for several years and she’s a really friendly lady who makes some wonderful Ecuadorian dishes. She makes an amazing (yet simple) dessert with egg whites and fresh Maracuya fruit! #6) Tourist activities There are a great number of fun and exciting tourist activities in Vilcabamba. The first is horseback riding , where you can take adventures into the Podocarpus National Forest (see below), or up to the sacred mountain of Mandango (the sleeping Inca) on horseback. There are several horseback riding tour organizers in town, and I don’t know them all, but here are two that I personally know and trust: • Angel. He’s a long-time resident of Vilcabamba who is extremely nice, humorous and highly skilled in the outback. His front door, which is a carved mural of horses, is located just 1-2 blocks North of the main town square (downhill from the town square). Just ask anyone for “Angel” and mention horses (“caballos”), and they’ll point you in his direction. • Holger is another horse tour guide, and he’s really fun to ride with. He’s a super nice person who really cares for animals and the environment. He has a cool temperament and solid knowledge of all the paths and roads throughout a wide-ranging area around the valley. His shop is located just one block East of the NE corner of the main square. Ask anyone for “Holger the horse guy” and they’ll point you in the right direction. (The photo at the top of this story is a picture of Holger and one of his horses, which usually grazes on the grass in front of my house.) Bicycle tours: There are also some great bicycle tours around Vilcabamba, including combination bicycling / walking tours to some amazing waterfalls! The bike tour guy in town is called “El Chino” (that’s his nickname), and he’s located 2 blocks East of the NE corner of the main square, right across from Maria’s shop (which sells fresh fruits, avocados and sometimes even organic tomatoes). Once again, just ask anyone for “El Chino” and mention bicycles (“bicicletas”) and they will point you in the right direction. There are many other tourist activities in Vilcabamba as well, including a hummingbird garden to the South, a botanical garden in Loja, the cacao-growing town of Zamora to the Northeast, and the Sunday market at Malacatos to the North. There are plenty of taxi drivers to get you from place to place (look for the white pickup trucks; they’re the taxis), and many of the drivers can now speak English. In fact, lots of the people in Vilcabamba have been learning to speak more English over the last two years. Be sure to also check out the nice restaurants located around the town square. You’ll find a selection of restaurants (including a French cafe), internet cafes and tourist shops. If you’re there on a Saturday, you’ll often find crafts for sale under tents set up along the sidewalk. It’s a fun time! #7) Podocarpus National Forest The Podocarpus National Forest is one of the natural treasures of Ecuador. Check out the photos from my own tour of the forest right here: http://www.naturalnews.com/phototours/podocarpus-vilcabamba-ecuador-tour/index.html Here’s one of the more amazing photos of the scenery you’ll experience there: http://www.naturalnews.com/phototours/podocarpus-vilcabamba-ecuador-tour/content/IMG_1185_large.html Read my description of our adventure into Podocarpus in this story: http://www.naturalnews.com/028997_Podocarpus_Vilcabamba.html Podocarpus is an immense and deeply diverse biological preserve that stretches from the edge of the Valley of Longevity all the way to Peru. It is an extraordinary forest with so many unique and fascinating life forms that scientists come here from all over the world to study it. I only took a short adventure into Podocarpus, and even then I got to see numerous waterfalls, lush rainforest trails, bizarre and unique plant life covering the tops of the mountain ridges, and much more. It was truly an amazing experience, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to catch a glimpse of the natural beauty that Mother Nature has to offer. By the way, you can hire the horse guides I mentioned above to take you into the Podocarpus National Forest. They’ll arrange anything from a 1-day trip to a 7-day tour, if you like! #8) Food everywhere! Food production in the Valley of Longevity is so easy and abundant that it’s almost hard to believe. In mere weeks , you can grow a huge garden full of vegetables from the rich topsoil. In a few months , you can grow endless papayas, figs, babacos and berries. In a few years , you can have your own orchard of oranges, macadamia nuts, jungle almonds, noni fruit, avocados and much more. (I’ve got all those in my orchard of over 100 fruit and nut trees…) And if you don’t want to grow anything at all, you can just start juicing the grass as we have been doing for several months. The field grass mixes extremely well with pineapple juice to make a delicious, refreshing raw living juice right from the fields. (And there’s grass everywhere in the valley.) The amazing food production capability in the Valley of Longevity is what makes Vilcabamba a destination of choice for many people concerned about preparedness and the world food supply. In Vilcabamba (and in Hacienda San Joaquin in particular, which has some of the best soils in the whole valley), you can grow a year-round food supply that will easily outlast any disruptions or interruptions that might impact the cities of western nations. #9) Affordable homes and properties Vilcabamba offers a wonderful place to live for those looking for homes or land in South America. Prices are relatively affordable compared to anywhere in North America or Europe, and there are some very nice properties available right now, in many different price ranges. The best location for living in Ecuador, in my opinion, is Hacienda San Joaquin , a 500+ acre ranch that is now a gated community where many people from all over the world have built homes and are growing a considerable amount of food on their land. This is where I’ve been living on and off for the last two years, growing my food forest. Because I now have a much greater need for privacy than I first realized, my “preparedness paradise” ranch is available for a new family. It’s a six-figure price range. Check out the amazing photos at http://www.naturalnews.com/Valley-of-Longevity-Property.html For those looking for something more on the high end, there’s a gorgeous estate property available on the same ranch, just down the road from my own property, that’s selling in the seven figures. Email us at vilcaland@gmail.com and we’ll send you the link to the photos and description for that property. It has its own indoor swimming pool, volleyball courts, tennis court, private orchards, horse fields and a whole lot more. If you’re looking for something on the more affordable side, my neighbor Matt has some land available right across the street from my own ranch. They’ve got something like 2.5 acres of good land available in the five figure range. Email us at vilcaland@gmail.com for more details. If you’re looking for something outside the Hacienda San Joaquin gated community, simply contact the Vilcabamba Real Estate Company (VREC), which is the local real estate company I recommend: Nick Vasey, nick@vrec.org or visit www.VREC.org for information. They have a lot of property listings for land and homes around the valley. Remember when buying real estate in Vilcabamba that land is cheap if it has no roads, no electricity, no internet, no water and no access. But land that’s actually usable for living or growing things needs support infrastructure, and that’s what ultimately costs more money. You can get land dirt cheap if it’s out in the middle of nowhere and has no roads. Some properties are literally only accessible by horseback… #10) Freedom from electromagnetic pollution, chemtrails, air pollution, water pollution Vilcabamba, Ecuador is remarkably free from most kinds of pollution: Electromagnetic, air and water. On the electromagnetic spectrum, Vilcabamba has only one cell tower, and the electro “vibe” of the valley is relatively clean and pristine. No planes fly overhead dropping chemtrails on the population, either. (So you can breathe a sigh of relief…) The ground water is amazingly clean because it’s recharged from rainfall on the nearby Podocarpus National Forest, where water flows down into the valley on a regular basis. It creates a unique situation where you have lots of sunshine hitting the valley, but you also have a very large water supply from the nearby mountains, so you have both full sunshine and lots of water (two things that normally don’t exist together in the same exact geographic region). The air in the Valley of Longevity is also strikingly clean. It has even been studied by scientists in an effort to determine whether some special property in the air encourages greater longevity. Personally, I think the longevity factor is more about eating lots of local foods and spending a lot of time outdoors walking, working or playing. Come visit Vilcabamba! Whether you just enjoy the natural beauty or you’re looking for a place to live in a “preparedness paradise” with abundant food, Vilcabamba has a tremendous amount to offer. Come check it out! Some travel tips: • Quito is the capitol of Ecuador. That’s where you’ll fly to. Quito is located south of Florida, almost to the equator. • Continental Airlines flies from Houston to Quito (roughly 4.5 hours). LAN Airlines flies from Miami to Quito. • From Quito, you fly TAME Airlines (the local Ecuadorian airline) which offers some very nice Embraer jets on routes between Quito and Loja. From Loja, it’s a 90-minute taxi ride to the Valley of Longevity. Once in Vilcabamba, you can stay at Madre Tierra, Hosteria de Vilcabamba, Hosteria Izhcayluma, or other available places. There are usually plenty of rooms available except during celebration events when the whole town sells out! If you’re coming to look at property, Nick at www.VREC.org can help you organize transportation. Joe’s staff at Hacienda San Joaquin (www.VilcabambaHomes.com) can also assist with that effort if you’re coming to look at properties on the Hacienda (where my ranch is located). There are also a few unsold lots at Hacienda San Joaquin that might interest you if you prefer to live in a gated community. Enjoy your trip and take lots of great pictures!

Nature’s Baby Organics, an industry leader in organic personal care products

(NaturalNews) Finding safe, natural personal care products is something for which every parent should be conscious. But in a world full of products claiming to be safe and natural, how does one figure out which brands deliver on their claims and which ones are merely peddling marketing hype? One company, Nature’s Baby Organics, produces organic care products of the highest quality and purity. Founded by Adena Surabian, president and mother of two, Nature’s Baby Organics got its start when Adena realized that her daughter was allergic to the synthetic chemicals commonly used in personal care products. After performing some investigative research into the hard-to-pronounce ingredients on product labels, this concerned mother began to lament about the lack of natural, safe and pure products. “I wanted a natural product that had clean, healthy ingredients that would also perform well, so I could use it too,” she states on her company’s website. Because she was unable to find suitable products already on the market, Adena decided to start formulating her own in order to meet her high standards. Today, her company produces five certified organic personal care products, including diaper ointment, skin soother, chest rub, baby oil and dusting powder. All of her products contain between 70 and 95 percent organic ingredients, depending on the specific formula. The reason why not all of Nature’s Baby Organics products are certified organic, meaning they have at least 95 percent organic ingredients, is because Adena believes the National Organic Program (NOP) preservative guidelines are not entirely acceptable. “A baby product cannot be 100 percent USDA certified organic, in our opinion. We do see companies that are making lotions, shampoos and conditioners, and we just don’t agree with that process. The NOP stipulates that the only approved preservative is alcohol. Alcohol to us is too astringent and can be processed through the skin; it is the one ingredient that passes into the bloodstream. Some alcohols can’t even be processed by the liver. So for us, we think it is an irresponsible process for people to be coming out with USDA certified organic under the current standards for children and infants.” she explained in an interview. A valid position, Adena has chosen instead to use naturally-sourced alternatives like sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate to preserve her products. This brings up another interesting fact about many organic products that Adena finds disturbing. “We’re seeing companies that aren’t even properly preserving, and might even have an anhydrous product without an antioxidant, so those products are going to become rancid. The other thing is that products that have organic content have a higher microbial count, so the need for preservation or an antioxidant is greater. And lots of companies are not even micro-challenging their products to see if they’re going to grow mold or bacteria or even be safe for children.” In other words, companies that produce all-organic personal care products are either using alcohol as a preservative, which can be harmful, or they are not properly preserving their products. This is what sets Nature’s Baby Organics apart from other organic personal care products on the market. Nature’s Baby Organics is a truth-in-labeling company that lists all of its ingredients right on its product labels. None of its products contain parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), phthalates, propylene glycol, or 1,4-dioxane. The bottles are also BPA-free. For more information about Nature’s Baby Organics, please visit www.naturesbabyproducts.com.

Stunning documentary: Raw in 30 days reveals rapid cure for type-2 diabetes

(NaturalNews) Very few films have the power to change the world and shake up the establishment, but Raw in 30 Days is one of them. Filmed at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona, this courageous reality film documents the trials and successes of a group of everyday Americans who experience the healing results of 30 days of raw, living foods. Featuring supporting interview with Tony Robbins, Morgan Spurlock, David Wolfe, Woody Harrelson, Rev. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Bruce Lipton, Mike Adams, Gary Null, Dr. Julian Whitaker and many others, this documentary (and its companion DVD) offers a wealth of enlightening (and sometimes surprising) information about the seemingly miraculous healing effects of a raw living foods diet. Check out the trailer for this film by clicking here. This film is a powerful eye opener for anyone suffering from obesity, diabetes (both type 1 and type 2, believe it or not), heart disease, cancer or any other chronic degenerative disease. You’ll watch these real people go through a fascinating transformation that revolutionizes their health. You can reverse diabetes April 25th, by the way, is “Reversing Diabetes Action Day,” and as part of that celebration, for the next six days the producers of this film are offering their 3-DVD set including “Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days” and the two companion DVDs “Raw for Life” at a deep, deep discount for the viewing public: 50% off the regular price . On top of that, the Raw for Life producers are giving away an impressive collection of extra downloadable bonuses, including: • “Kitchen Gadgets” 40-minute instructional video • Top 5 recipes from “Raw Food Made Easy” by Jennifer Cornbleet • A one month raw menu planner • The entire book “The Raw Life: Becoming Natural in an Unnatural World” • The entire book, “Revealing the Physical Changes” E-Book by Angela Stokes • The entire book, “Raw Success” by Matt Monarch • The entire book, “How to Get Started with Raw Foods” by Karen Knowler These downloadable bonuses are worth $110.85 by themselves! Yet you get them all for free as a bonus, plus the 50% discount on the 3-DVD set, only for the next six days. It’s an unbeatable deal, and it ends Friday, April 30th. “I found myself nodding my head, laughing out loud, exclaiming ‘YES’, ‘WOW’ and so on countless times throughout the 90-minute presentation. It is SO gratifying and exciting to see six people who have all been told that they will be ‘on their medication for life’ not only COME OFF all allopathic meds, but also lose weight, shift through emotional stumbling blocks, get more physically active and start SHINING with healthy skin and eyes… in just 30 days…” – Angela Stokes, author and raw food champion. Click here to take advantage of this time-limited special offer. My experience at the Tree of Life Even though I’m not a 100% raw food follower myself, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. I’ve interviewed Dr. Gabriel Cousens many times and I’ve spent many hours talking with the residents there who experienced stunning health transformations on a raw foods / living food diet. This is for real . There is a cure for diabetes, and it’s happening right now in Patagonia, Arizona at the Tree of Life (www.TreeofLife.nu). I’ve personally talked face to face with patients who cured their own type-2 diabetes in less than 30 days. Even when they arrived with very high fasting blood sugar levels, within one month on a living foods diet, blood sugar returned to normal, healthy levels for many of them. They no longer needed medication (see disclaimer below). They were cured of type-2 diabetes through their own inner healing potential (plus the help of Mother Nature’s healing foods). An amazing documentary that may change your life This film can change your life because it will open your eyes to a whole new universe of possibilities you may not have known existed. Mainstream consumers are stuck in a very narrow way of thinking, and they believe that somehow the American Diabetes Association or some other non-profit group will one day invent a chemical cure for their diabetes that still allows them to eat all the processed junk food they want (and drink all the sodas they want). But that’s never going to happen! Curing diabetes will never happen from an injection or a pharmaceutical. That approach is forever doomed to fail. But curing diabetes by consuming raw, living foods really works and it’s available right now! You don’t need a prescription, you don’t need injections and you can start curing yourself by visiting the fresh produce section of your grocery store right now. This film is available at this 50% discount (with all the extra bonuses worth $110) for the next 6 days. It should be required viewing at all medical schools, in my view. Mainstream doctors simply don’t know this stuff. But YOU can learn about it in this DVD set that will absolutely astound you with what it reveals: Click here to watch the trailer or get the DVDs with all the extra bonuses, too. Medical Disclaimer: If you are on diabetes medication, insulin, or oral hypoglycemics, please do not attempt to come off medication without medical supervision, for the approach in this film or any other approach. If you are not on any diabetic medication, oral hypoglycemics, or insulin, then we invite you to safely explore this option on your own. The program featured in the film at the Tree of Life Rejuvination Center is most effective with diabetes type 2 but is also very effective at increasing quality of life and reducing insulin levels for diabetes type 1. The 21 day cycle at the core of this program is also a powerful modality for hyperglycemia and pre-diabetes as well as improving quality of life for those in need of rejuvenation and healing.

Artificial pancreas breakthrough offers solution for health effects of eating artificial food

(NaturalNews) It’s downright amazing: A biomedical engineer at Boston University has developed a so-called “artificial pancreas” that helps diabetics maintain balanced blood sugar levels by monitoring the blood and releasing either insulin or glucagon as needed. Now all those people who eat artificial food advertised through artificial worlds on television can add an artificial pancreas to their artificial health care plan. The mainstream media is all over this story, but what they’re not telling anybody is that for type-2 diabetics, artificially using insulin injections to “balance” blood sugar levels only serves to convert blood sugar into body fat, increasing the obesity of the patient. This is one reason why most diabetics are obese. The idea of an “artificial pancreas” gives false hope to diabetics by implying that they can replace their “failed” pancreas with a new medical device that will cure them of their diabetes. But that’s just flat-out false: The only cure for type-2 diabetes is a radical lifestyle change that involves regular exercise, greatly enhanced nutrition and the elimination of refined carbohydrates and sugars from the diet. What diabetics need isn’t an artificial pancreas but real food to replace their processed, fabricated, factory-produced junk foods and sugary soft drinks. Real food, however, is hard to come by in a society where virtually everything is now artificial: Foods, boobs, lips, snacks, flavoring, food coloring, the television news and much more. Most of us live in an artificial world , wrapped inside our little cocoons of “pretend health” constructed by drug companies and junk food manufacturers who all somehow manage to claim their products are good for you. But I have a radical idea: Why not take care of your REAL pancreas? Why not exercise, get some sunshine, choose superfoods instead of junk foods and swear off refined sugars and carbohydrates for life? You were born with the only pancreas you’ll ever need, and instead of living your life hooked up to a blood sugar monitor that you have to drag around with you everywhere, wouldn’t it be easier to rely on the intelligent organs that already exist in your chest cavity? Mainstream medicine, you see, thinks it’s so smart when they develop an artificial heart, lung, kidney or pancreas. And yet none of these function with anything that comes close to the intelligence and complexity of the organs you were born with . Take care of the organs given to you by Mother Nature and you won’t have to live the rest of your life connected to medical machines that are billed by the hour. Oh, yeah, and did I mention that your own pancreas works for free? Unlike with an expensive medical device, you don’t have to pay any money to use your own pancreas. But you do have to pay attention to your diet , your exercise and other health and lifestyle choices. By the way, in terms of clarifying the tone of this story, I do recognize that there are a relatively small number of people who suffer from type-1 diabetes through no fault of their own. For them, an artificial pancreas might be a lifesaving technology. But for the vast majority of diabetics, the root cause is lifestyle choices that can be revised and improved through conscious health. For them, the promise of an artificial pancreas is just an empty promise that will never cure their diabetes. Instead, it will only have them living out the rest of their lives tethered to a machine that pumps them full of blood sugar hormones. Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63D47V20100414

Jesse Ventura speaks out about conspiracy theories in NaturalNews interview

(NaturalNews) Jesse Ventura is known as being a tough, principled and courageous advocate of liberty and freedom. His new book, American Conspiracy , outlines a fascinating and well-documented accounting of some of the most important conspiracies that shaped American history — including the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. As part of the launch of this new book, Jesse joined us by phone for an interview with NaturalNews.com. You can hear the full interview as a downloadable MP3 file here: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html In it, you’ll hear Jesse talking about why conspiracy theories are now receiving more mainstream attention across America and why the American people are usually not taught the truth about history in public schools. America was created out of conspiracy American history is, of course, born out of conspiracy. The Founding Fathers who penned the Declaration of Independence were, of course, acting in conspiracy against the British King. Had they been caught, they would have been charged with conspiracy (and treason). Conspiracy simply means multiple people working in secret to achieve a common goal. This describes the executive boardroom of virtually every major drug company, and it certainly describes the actions of the FDA and the way it works in secret to destroy natural health remedies. Conspiracies may be positive in nature — as in “We are conspiring to teach the world about nutrition” — or negative in nature . Conspiracies are so commonplace that probably nothing would ever get done in Washington or Wall Street without conspiracies (which might actually be a good thing, come to think of it). Check out the TV show Jesse Ventura is also the host of a popular television show called Conspiracy Theory. During our talk, Jesse told me that the TRU network had signed on for another season of Conspiracy Theory episodes. I asked Jesse whether those episodes would cover fluoridation of the water supply , aspartame or other similar health-related conspiracies. He indicated that one such topic was planned to be included in the upcoming season, but he didn’t reveal which one. Listen to the full interview yourself at: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html Like anyone who speaks their mind, Jesse Ventura is a controversial figure, and some of his stated positions may hit peoples’ hot buttons. But such is the nature of real freedom: The freedom to say what you believe inevitably means somebody else won’t agree with it. But they, too, have the freedom to say what they believe. Jesse believes in our inherent freedom to speak out about the things we believe, regardless of whether our views conform to what might be popular or convenient. And that’s what makes Jesse’s work so refreshing: It’s uncensored, untamed and just a little bit “in your face.” Even though I don’t agree with everything he says (nor would he agree with everything I believe), his approach represents exactly the kind of free speech America needs right now. We’ve suffered too long under watered-down, “I don’t want to offend anyone” non-speech that has been adopted as routine by our politicians and mega corporations. What America really needs is some down-to-earth truth-telling that pulls no punches and boldly states the simple truths. Jesse Ventura brings to the table precisely the kind of uncompromising attitude that America now needs to get past its current age of mass deception and move forward into a new era of empowered people who question the government, the media and the corporations. Ron Paul, by the way, is another such person who shares this approach to telling the truth. Can you imagine how different our country would be right now if these two guys held the offices of the President and Vice President? The Fed would be running scared, and Big Pharma would be trying every trick in the book to silence them both. Whether you agree with Jesse or not, his message will likely get your attention. Hear more from Jesse Ventura himself in our audio interview: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html (This commercial-free, downloadable MP3 file plays on iPods or any MP3 player, including your computer.) And check out his book American Conspiracies at Amazon.com, BN.com or other booksellers near you.

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