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

Heal yourself in 15 days by correcting your "nature deficiency" (part nine)

(NaturalNews) Do you suffer from a “nature deficiency?” If you’d like most people in modern society, you spend most of your 24 hours of the day indoors . You work under artificial fluorescent lights, you eat and sleep inside a house or apartment, you commute in the artificial environment of a car, bus or train. You rarely get outside and even when you do, it’s not real nature — it’s some artificial “planned” park with concrete sidewalks and maintained lawns. I suspect you may have a nature deficiency. I know because I’ve been there. Probably much like you, I spent a lot of time outdoors as a child, but in my adult years, I found myself spending more and more hours indoors . It didn’t take long to realize that breathing re-circulated indoor air and having little or no time in nature wasn’t a good recipe for lifelong health. Today, I’m a nature advocate . Time in nature is healing all by itself, and children are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of a nature deficiency. But few people in the field of conventional medicine embrace the idea that nature itself a healer , so the message of spending time in nature to improve your health doesn’t get much attention. However, I believe that not spending enough time in nature promotes depression, obesity and even cancer. In fact, I believe that nature is so important to lasting health that I took up permanent residency in a country where I have spring-like weather year-round, just so that I can be outside in nature every single day of the year! That’s not possible to do in most places, but wherever you are, more time in nature can help you heal . Here’s how: How spending time in nature helps you heal • Sunlight Sunlight supports all life on our planet. Without sunlight, we would simply have no life on Earth. Your body is designed to be exposed to sensible levels of sunlight, and that’s why experiencing a reasonable amount of sunlight directly on your skin makes good sense for your health. As you well know, sunlight also causes your skin to generate vitamin D — perhaps the most miraculous nutrient yet discovered in the modern world. Vitamin D prevents cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It boosts bone density and immune function, and it prevents infectious disease far better than vaccines could ever hope to. To get more vitamin D, simply spend more time in nature! • Natural sounds The natural sounds of nature are, in and of themselves, healing therapy. Simply surrounding yourself with the sounds of real nature causes a scientifically-provable reduction in stress levels and blood pressure. The most powerful healing sounds in nature seem to be those from water : Waterfalls, water running down a creek or stream, rain and thunderstorms, etc. You can mimic these sounds with “sound conditioning” devices that broadcast sound loops of natural sounds. They’re very effective machines, but still nothing equals the healing potential of real sounds experienced directly in the real world. • Colors The colors of nature are, scientifically speaking, different wavelengths of light striking your retina and being interpreted as colors by your brain. These different wavelengths are, in essence, a form of energy medicine . Light is energy, and what your body needs to be healthy is exposure to a diverse assortment of those energy wavelengths. That’s why looking at all the various colors of flowers, plants and animals is, by itself, a healing experience. It also stimulates the brain to become more active and more intelligent . Spending more time in nature allows your brain to explore a more diverse natural reality, causing it to function at a higher cognitive level. Dull people, in contrast, tend to spend a lot of time indoors where the scenery never changes. • Movement Being in nature makes physical movement almost mandatory. When you’re in nature, you’re often walking, running, biking or swimming. And yet because the scenery is so beautiful, it doesn’t feel like exercise! It simply feels like fun! The health benefits of all this movement are tremendous: A boost in circulation, increased bone density and muscle strength, increased flexibility, lymph fluid circulation and much more. And yet being in nature allows you to experience all these benefits without it feeling like hard work. • Air There’s something qualitatively different about fresh air versus indoor air . Indoor air is contaminated with chemicals that have been off-gassed from all the synthetic materials used in the construction of homes and buildings: Carpets, furniture, paints, glues, dyes and so on. Plus, you often get mold spores from indoor air ducts. The air in a living pine tree forest (or any forest) is refreshingly different! Some people attribute it to the “negative ions” in the air, but there’s much more to it than that. There’s something almost magical about fresh air in a natural environment — it’s “sweet” and energizing! The more time you can spend in nature, the more fresh air you can take into your lungs and enjoy as a healing experience. It’s an innate thing to desire “fresh air.” Every person on the planet intuitively knows that fresh air is better than indoor air. Ever wonder why this knowledge is so deeply imbedded in the human brain? • Microbes Western medicine believes that sterility is safety . They want people to live in a sterile environment, where all the microbes in your environment (or on your food) are killed by antimicrobial soaps and pharmaceutical drugs. But certain microbes are very important for your health! Exposure to microbes in the real world is hugely important for the healthy balance and functioning of your immune system, and the best place to have exposure to these microbes is out in nature! When I was a kid growing up, I played in the dirt. I swam in the pond. I camped out on the grass. Today, many parents would be horrified to allow their children to even touch dirt or swim in the “non-sanitized” water of a natural stream. This obsession with sterility is deeply misguided. Seek out nature and don’t be afraid to experience the real world even if it means getting your hands dirty. • Bio energy Beyond the light, the sounds, the air and all the other healing elements of nature, there’s also something less tangible: The bio energy of living systems. In some way that scientists still don’t understand, lush living ecosystems “recharge” the human body and mind. Spending time in nature rejuvenates your system, and when city life leaves you feeling depleted, nature can bring your energy back. Part of the magic of the bio-energy in nature depends on coming into physical contact with nature . Walk barefoot. Hug a tree. Touch a flower. Lie down on the grass. Touch nature as your body intended and you’ll create a closed circuit with the planet itself. Some people say that being electrically “grounded” with the earth (through barefoot walking) makes an important difference in reducing the electric “noise” that interferes with your health. There’s merit to this thinking. Your ancient ancestors didn’t walk around in Nike shoes . They walked barefoot, and they were healthier for it! Kids suffer from nature deficiency, too! Most modern children live their lives indoors, banging away on gaming consoles and social networking websites. Few children are offered opportunities to spend any real time outdoors, in nature. The idea of “going to camp” during the summer seems to have been lost on the current generation of children, most of whom spend their summers in air-conditioned environments that are highly detrimental to their health. One of the greatest gifts you can offer any child is time in nature . And the earlier you start teaching children about the joys of nature, the more success you’ll have in sharing outdoor experiences with them. Plus, introducing your children (or grandchildren) to more time in nature means that you get more time in nature, too . One way to encourage time in nature, by the way, is to get rid of the TV . Television is the enemy of the natural world, and the more time children (or adults) spend in front of the TV, the less time they tend to spend in nature. Once children spend enough time in front of the TV, they won’t even want to venture into nature at all. Their whole “world” becomes the virtual world broadcast into their brains from the television set. For teenage boys, time in nature has largely been replaced with time spent playing computer games and console games. While there’s nothing wrong with a little time spent gaming, when this act becomes the dominant focus of a child’s life, it is hugely destructive. What these children need is more time in the real world and a lot less time in virtual worlds. Seriously: I’ve often thought that somebody should launch a “nature camp” business that would offer rehab services for teenage boys who are addicted to gaming. It would be a hugely successful business given how widespread modern gaming addiction has become. In any case, whether you have kids or not, spending more time in nature will vastly improve your health! So make it a point to get outside, soak up some sunshine, breathe in the fresh air and get all the nature you can! You’ll be healthier, happier, more fit and even more intelligent for doing so! Previous articles in this 15-day “Heal Yourself” series Part One – Remove barriers to healing http://www.naturalnews.com/028053_self_healing_quality_of_life.html Part Two – Unleash your inner healing potential http://www.naturalnews.com/028060_self_healing_immune_system.html Part Three – You are what you absorb http://www.naturalnews.com/028067_self_healing_digestion.html Part Four – Transform your health by making new blood http://www.naturalnews.com/028075_blood_health_transformation.html Part Five – Experience the healing potential of living plant juices http://www.naturalnews.com/028100_self_healing_fresh_juice.html Part Six – Accelerate your healing with a 24-hour fast http://www.naturalnews.com/028117_self_healing_fasting.html Part Seven – Heal yourself by rejecting the mainstream crowd http://www.naturalnews.com/028136_self_healing_crowd_psychology.html Part Eight – Stop making disease http://www.naturalnews.com/028153_self_healing_disease.html

25 ways to improve your health and happiness in 2010

(NaturalNews) The New Year is upon us, and for many people, it includes a New Year’s resolution for achieving improved health and happiness in 2010. Here are twenty-five health-enhancing ideas to help you accomplish that goal. #1 – Replace sodas or soft drinks with tea or water. #2 – Commit to eating one raw fruit (or serving of vegetables) at every meal. #3 – Add just 5 minutes a day to your exercise routine. Don’t have an exercise routine? Start with 5 minutes a day! #4 – Get more sunshine! #5 – Learn some Pilates. It’s probably the #1 exercise system for core strength and flexibility. #6 – Drink a superfood smoothie every day. #7 – Buy more indoor plants: They purify the air in your home. #8 – Take a quality, wild-harvested fish oil supplement that contains vitamin D. #9 – Eat more quinoa: It’s a high-protein, low-carb “grain” that can easily replace rice or couscous. #10 – When you get out of bed each morning, do five sit-ups first. It sounds simple, but just 5 sit-ups a day can make a difference. #11 – Instead of trying to find a parking spot so close to the grocery store, park farther away. You’ll get a little more walking exercise and a little more sunshine. #12 – Get a good water filter so you can stop drinking tap water (or bottled water). #13 – Pick up a “gentle” art like Tai-Qi or Yoga. It will reduce your stress and improve your physical stamina. #14 – Take a relaxing hot bath with epsom salts and soothing herbs like lavender. It will do wonders for your mind and your muscles. #15 – Get a professional massage! Massage therapy is really, really healthy, and it’s a great way to reward yourself for some of the other accomplishments you’re making. #16 – Grow your own sprouts! With a simple, low-cost sprouting machine, you can grow and eat your own sprouts. Eating just one ounce of sprouts a day still had a huge impact on preventing cancer and boosting immune function. #17 – Prepare for a Spring garden. Sure, it’s cold and snowy right now, but make a commitment to start a garden this Spring, and you’ll reap many health benefits in the months ahead. #18 – Get a mini-trampoline and do some rebounding in your living room. You can even watch movies or documentary DVDs at the same time. #19 – Make a point to get at least eight hours of sleep for 2-3 nights a week (or more, if you can). Most people are sleep deprived, and the health cost is enormous. #20 – Start visiting local farmer’s markets so that you eat more local food in 2010. You’ll be healthier and happier as a result. #21 – Got a job you don’t like? Quit it! Downgrade your lifestyle to live on less money, then pursue what you really enjoy . Being happy in a small house is better than being miserable in a big one. #22 – Get off those medications! Make a point to learn how to safely and gradually get yourself off all the medications you can by eliminating underlying imbalances or illnesses. The fewer medications you take, the healthier you’ll be! #23 – Throw out your television! Are you still watching cable TV or satellite TV? It’s a complete waste of your life (but you already knew that). Disconnect the cable. Read more books and get your information online where news sources are more independent and intelligent. #24 – Make a decision to think of food as nourishment instead of entertainment . Eat what your body needs, not what your taste buds desire. #25 – Teach others how to be healthy! The more you talk with others about healthy habits, the more you’ll follow them yourself. That’s it! I hope you enjoyed these 25 ideas for improving your health in 2010 (and beyond). Of course, one of the best ways to keep improving your health in 2010 is to keep reading NaturalNews! We’ll be bringing you more natural cures, herbal remedies and self-care tips throughout 2010. I’m personally looking forward to sharing a great year with you!

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