Vitamin C

Jun

2019

Waking Up from the Fluoride Nightmare

By Ben Fuchs | PharmacistBen
Flouride nightmare? Pesticides. Fumigants. Prescription drugs. There are lots of nasty industrial 21st-century chemicals in our environment yet one that is intentionally, willfully and purposefully spewed into the environment is among the most toxic pollutants of all—it’s also the most unstable of all the elements—and that is fluoride. It’s poisonous, in fact deadly, nature is not in dispute. Fluoride is highly, highly reactive, especially to biological tissues. It burns so hot that it is not only useless to pour water on top of a fluoride fire, but fluoride flames are so hot and intense, they will literally burn water!

Fluoride’s “Slick” Reputation

Interestingly fluoride’s powerful magnetic properties make it valuable for non-stick purposes. In fact, fluoride has a reputation for being “the slickest” of all the elements. Check out these interesting fluoride facts:

It’s the only substance a gecko (a type of lizard whose Velcro-like feet allow it to adhere to and walk on pretty much anything upside down and sideways) will fall off of every time.
Fluoride is used in catheters and biological devices as an anti-microbial agent because bacteria can’t stick to it either.
The most famous use of fluoride’s slipperiness is in Teflon™, which is a type of fluoride known as Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE. When we cook with ordinary pans, reactions between the food we’re frying or otherwise heating and the pan we’re using create a stickiness. That doesn’t happen with fluoride and The Chemours Company (formerly DuPont) figured out that it could take advantage of this property with PTFE a.k.a. Teflon.

Fluoride’s Relationship to Chemical Pollutants and Pesticides

Fluoride compounds were also used as propellants for aerosol canisters until it was discovered that they can destroy ozone and release toxic hydrogen fluoride gas into the atmosphere to boot.

What’s more, fluoride in the form of chemicals known by the names R-12 and CFC-12 (also made by Chemours/DuPont in a joint venture with GM), burn so hot that it actually creates a cooling effect by sucking in all the energy around it. When this hot chemical is run through coils it can actually create cool air that can be channeled, effectively turning heat to cold. That’s how an air conditioner works. We know these fluorinated gas compounds as a chemical called Freon™, which is Chemours/DuPont’s brand name for these fluorinated compounds. This process of sucking in heat from the environment and then creating emission of cold is also used in refrigerators. Freon is technically a type of chemical-family halogenated hydrocarbon or specifically fluorinated hydrocarbon. Which basically means it contains the element fluoride, the same stuff that’s in our water.

On the upside, fluoride is a great pesticide and fumigant. It’s used on lettuce, turnips, mustard greens, apricot, kiwi and especially grapes. Fluoride kills bugs too, even bed bugs, in a chemical called Vikane® made by Dow.

Fluoride in the Water Supply

Fluoride is also an industrial waste added to water supposedly to prevent cavities. It’s the most “electronegative” element on the periodic table (electronegative refers to its “pulling power”). You can think of it as magnetism. Fluoride is highly magnetic. It attaches itself to other minerals very efficiently whether those minerals are calcium, magnesium, aluminum, sodium or tin (stannous). This magnetic property is what is so prized by dentists, as it allows fluoride to stick to enamel and supposedly prevent acid from breaking it down. This is the mechanism behind the supposed “dental benefits” of fluoride, backed by the government’s and dental authorities’ assurances that fluoride water, toothpaste, dental gels and mouth rinses are important for us and our children to use on a regular basis.

The best way to avoid fluoride is to not drink tap water. If you don’t have a choice, make sure you’re using lots of Vitamin C, which has anti-fluoride effects. You can also get a water distiller or reverse osmosis machine.

The Debate on Fluoride and Cavities

The government tells us that fluoride is good for us because it prevents cavities. That’s their pitch and the way they, as Edward Bernays put it, “engineered consent” for its addition to the water supply. But whether toxic fluoride is actually anti-caries (anti-cavity) is not a conclusive fact. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “The prevalence of dental caries in a population is not inversely related to the concentration of fluoride in enamel, and a higher concentration of enamel fluoride is not necessarily more efficacious in preventing dental caries.”

Fluoride is a Drug with “Direct” Effects

While fluoride’s dental health benefits remain controversial, what is a fact and not subject to debate or controversy is the toxicity and lethality that is linked to fluoride.

Remember, we are talking about a drug here. Unlike with all drugs, the use of fluoride comes with what are euphemistically called “side effects,” which in actuality are not side but DIRECT effects of drugging of the water supply. Fluoridation of the water is literally compelling human beings to medicalization, for our own best interest of course.

If you take a look at the package insert that drug companies provide with their products, you’ll see that one of the side effects of the medication sodium fluoride is gastric distress and ulceration. And according to the package insert, “sodium fluoride…should not be used in patients with gastric problems.”

The raises the question: how much of unexplained gastric health issues (including ulcers, IBS, ulcerative colitis, nausea and vomiting) is simply the result of excessive ingestion of fluoridated drinking water? Fluoridated water contains a little less than three fluoride pills per gallon. Remember, these are prescription medications considered to be so toxic that you need a doctor’s prescription to get them, yet for every quart of fluoridated water you drink you’re basically getting three-quarters of a fluoride pill, which according to the manufacturer’s own information, can cause a whole range of side effects, including bone and joint problems, skin rashes and exacerbation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in addition to the digestion reactions.

Has any doctor ever told an RA patient that fluoridated water, by the drug manufacturers’ own admission, can make rheumatoid arthritis worse?

Research Points to More Fluoride-Related Risks…Related to Cancer

It is possible that even colon cancer may be related, at least partially, to fluoride ingestion. While there’s not a lot of research that links fluoride directly to cancer or of the colon, according to National Toxicology Program research published in 1990, there is some “equivocal” (uncertain) evidence of bone cancer-causing potential of fluoridated drinking water in male rats.

A paper entitled Fluoride – A Modern Toxic Waste presents the research of Dr. John Yiamouyiannis, which shows that fluoride, even in the tiniest of amounts, increases tumor growth rate by 25%, produces melanoma tumors, transforms normal cells into cancer cells, and increases the cancer-causing potential of other carcinogens.

And according to research biochemist and the former chief of cell chemistry at the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Dean Burke, who conducted studies on rats who drank fluoridated water, fluoride ingestion caused an increase in tumors, especially in the thyroid, bones and liver. Extrapolating from his research, Dr. Burke estimated that fluoridation had caused as of 1977 more than 10,000 cancer deaths. Other studies have linked fluoride-containing drugs, like the SSRIs, to increased incidence of breast cancer.

As far as the thyroid goes, when fluorine is present, iodine can be displaced form thyroid hormone. This equates to a functional hypothyroidism and given the fact that we are all ingesting significant amounts of this well-known anti-thyroid element, it’s hard to imagine that fluoride toxicity is not at least the partial cause of the hypothyroidism epidemic, which coincidentally (or perhaps not) has become a significant problem since the rise of fluoridation in the 1940s. In fact, it’s hard to distinguish between hypothyroidism and fluoride toxicity. Classic symptoms include the lethargy and tiredness that are the hallmark feature of hypothyroidism. In fact, the most obvious sign of fluoride toxicity is profound fatigue and lack of motivation and drive. According to many sources (although in fairness some people dispute this claim), this effect was exploited by the Nazis in World War II, who used fluoride to keep concentration camp prisoners docile.

Fluoride and Population Control

After the war, Charles Elliot Perkins, a researcher in chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and pathology, was sent to Germany to take charge of the IG Farben chemical plants, where nerve gasses and other toxic chemicals used on civilian population and concentration camp victims were produced.

What Mr. Perkins discovered was that the purpose behind water fluoridation is to reduce the resistance of the masses to domination, control and loss of liberty. Perkins found that even the tiniest amounts fluorine, when ingested chronically, will reduce the individual’s power to resist authority.

In a letter to the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, dated October 2, 1954, Mr. Perkins wrote:

“This plan was to control the population in any given area through mass medication of drinking water supplies. By this method they could control the population in whole areas, reduce population by water medication that would produce sterility in women, and so on. In this scheme of mass-control, sodium fluoride occupied a prominent place.

“Repeated doses of infinitesimal amounts of fluoride will in time reduce an individual’s power to resist domination, by slowly poisoning and narcotizing a certain area of the brain, thus making him submissive to the will of those who wish to govern him.”

Time to Wake Up from the Fluoride Nightmare

In 2001, the Caries Research Journal published research showing that fluoride accumulates in high levels in the pineal gland, which is responsible for melatonin production and therefore regulation of the body’s circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle), the onset of puberty in females, and protection of cells from free-radical damage. This phenomenon, referred to as “calcification” of the pineal gland, is promoted as normal effect of aging, yet research indicates this is only really a problem in the Western world.

This information is not new, yet fortunately there’s no shortage of natural alternatives to cooking with Teflon, drinking fluoridated water, using dental products with fluoride, taking SSRIs, and otherwise exposing yourself to this toxic poison. Fluoride may have interfered with the human sleep-wake cycle for decades but clearly it’s time to wake up!

Holy Basil May Be an Answer to Fluoride-Related Prayers

Some literature now suggests that the Tulsi (holy basil) plant can have anti-fluoride benefits. According to researchers at Rajasthan University in India, soaking 75 mg (a couple of pinches) of holy basil leaves in 100 ml of water containing over 7 parts per million of fluoride for 8 hours reduced fluoride concentration to just 1.1 parts/million. In addition, the powder also had fluoride-protection benefits and the researchers stated that holy basil can be used as a nutritional supplement for protection against fluoride-induced liver and kidney stress. As a bonus, the holy basil plant also contains other therapeutic compounds that have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, analgesic, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, antibacterial and antifungal properties. In India and Ayurvedic medicine, holy basil is used to treat fevers, coughs and colds, lung disease, arthritis, diabetes and spasms, and it is even used as an insect repellant.

Vitamin C is Protective Against Fluoride Toxicity

One of the most important nutritional strategies for fluoride protection is the regular use of Vitamin C. According to an article published in the February 2014 edition of “Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology And Food Technology”, fluoride treated animals that drank ascorbic acid water had less neurodegeneration that those given ordinary water. In addition, Vitamin C’s anti-oxidant effects can help mitigate some of the effects of fluoride toxicity. And, Vitamin C has chelating properties that may facilitate fluoride’s removal from the body.

Nov

2017

The Healthy Body Pak is 90 for Life

The Healthy Body Pak ™ is the minimum nutritional supplement combination that ensures you get "The Mighty 90" vitamins & minerals. It's also referred to as "The 90 for Life", formulated by Dr. Joel Wallach.

Your body needs 90 essential nutrients

True health and wellness is only possible if it radiates from a solid, fundamentally-sound center. There is a core group of 90 essential nutrients that have the most positive effect in bringing vibrant health to the body’s complex multi-dimensional systems.

Did you know that only 8-12% of the typical nutritional supplements available today are actually absorbed by your body? That means that approximately 90% of typical supplements are flushed down the drain.

Youngevity’s supplements are 90-98% absorbable! Why is there such a difference? The secret is our exclusive source of plant-derived minerals that dramatically increase bioavailability (absorbability).

"Every man, woman and child needs 90 essential nutrients just to survive, much less to thrive. To put the odds in your favor to live as long as possible, with the highest possible quality of life, you must get these nutrients every day.”

~ Joel Wallach, BS, DVM, ND

What are the 90 Essential Nutrients?

60 Minerals

Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, Sulfur, Cobalt, Copper, Aluminum, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Boron, Bromine, Carbon, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Selenium, Zinc, Cerium, Cesium, Chromium, Dysprosium, Erbium, Europium, Gadolinium, Gallium, Germanium, Gold, Hafnium, Holmium, Hydrogen, Lanthanum, Lithium, Lutetium, Molybdenum, Neodymium, Nickel, Niobium, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Praseodymium, Rhenium, Rubidium, Samarium, Scandium, Silica, Silver, Strontium, Tantalum, Terbium, Thulium, Tin, Titanium, Vanadium, Ytterbium, Yttrium, Zirconium

2-3 Essential Fatty Acids

Omega 3, Omega 6, Omega 9

16 Vitamins

Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Biotin, Choline, Flavonoids (Bioflavonoids), Folic Acid, Inositol

12 Amino Acids

Valine, Lysine, Threonine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Tryptophan, Phenylalanine, Methionine, Histidine, Arginine, Taurine, Tyrosine

Bioavailability

Youngevity's Plant Derived Minerals™ are extracted from humic shale, which is a layer of earth formed from ancient, mineral-laden plants. Humic shale is superior to other commonly-used supplement sources such as bentonite (ground up clay) or dried sea beds (ground up rocks).

As in plants, Plant Derived Minerals™ have a natural negative electrical charge that has two important benefits. First, it may enhance the transport and bioavailability of other nutrients, and second, it may support the body’s natural detoxification of toxins and heavy metals.

Youngevity has formulated dozens of comprehensive health "Paks". From weight loss to blood sugar balance to cardiovascular health to bone and joint health, the Paks are here to take out the guesswork and provide you with turn key nutritional solutions to your health goals.

Healthy Body Start Paks - Original or 2.0 for weight loss, bones and joints, digestion, brain & heart, blood sugar, athletes, anti-aging, on-the-go paks and more.

Apr

2015

The Health of Hair Depends on Internal Nutrients. Hair is Dead!

By Ben Fuchs | PharmacistBen

(PharmacistBen) Hair is dead! By the time the skin appendage has left its hidden home and birthplace in the follicle, and becomes a visible strand of substance, it is nothing more than a hard shell. Because this shell is largely composed only of dead cells filled with protein, the same stuff that makes up human fingernails as well a horse hoofs and rhino horns, trying to enhance hair’s appearance and texture with topical products is like putting lipstick on a corpse. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try!

Throughout history luxurious locks have been honored as a sign of fertility, virility, overall vigor and well-being. Men and women around the world have used a wide range of materials to improve its appearance. From ingredients, like the olive oil infused dead lizards or boiled bulls blood (!) used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks, to the more sophisticated high tech chemicals with difficult to pronounce monikers, like “quaternary ammonium complexes” and “polysiloxanes”, all manner of substances synthetic, natural, benign and toxic have been applied to the tresses to encourage growth, shine, thickness and bounce among other desirable characteristics.

Hair is mostly made up of protein. That’s why the more popular hair care ingredients found in modern shampoos and conditioners are the chemically modified extracts of protein-rich grain and seeds. These derivatives purport to enter into the surface of the nonliving hair shaft to provide support and protection by filling in gaps and repairing microscopic defects. Most include an amino acid called “cysteine”. Cysteine contains a little piece of sulfur, the element that is responsible for hair’s resilience and strength. From a quantum chemistry perspective the electronic nature of sulfur makes it very magnetic. It holds on to things and doesn’t let them go, like a really powerful heavy duty magnet. This micro-magnetic grip creates hardness on the macro level. Thus defining cysteine’s role in strengthening the hair shaft (as well as bone, joints and cartilage).

There are various ways manufacturers can leverage the power of cysteine for their hair care products. While you’ll rarely see the actual amino itself listed on your product’s ingredient deck, what you will often find is some kind hydrolyzed protein. Whether it’s from wheat, barley, soy or some other plant product, these hydrolyzed proteins, which contain a significant amount of the hair hardening amino acid, can, theoretically at least, be released and delivered into the hair shaft as your shampoo or conditioner is being applied.

The major cysteine containing protein in the hair (and for that matter in nails and skin) is called “keratin” and oftentimes shampoos and conditioners manufacturers will include it as an ingredient in their formulations. L’Oréal, Jason and TRESemme among other companies all have hair products that feature keratin and there’s also hair styling products that have keratin in them. If you do a google search for keratin and shampoo, you’ll find over 5 million hits and if you just take a walk through the shampoo section at Walmart or your favorite grocery store you’ll find dozens of shampoos with names like Keranique and Keralique and Suave with keratin as well as keratin hair oils and keratin conditioners.

Do they work? Probably not. Remember, hair is dead and while keratin is composed of cysteine it isn’t going to be able do much to permanently change the quality of hair by simply applying it topically via a shampoo or conditioner. Keratin containing hair products are more about marketing and misinformation than actual keratin effects; at best keratin may soften hair a little bit by acting as a moisturizer. It’s possible that keratin may get deposited in the hair shaft allowing for a temporary strengthening effect, although that too is unlikely.

In the salon world hair stylists CAN make use of keratin and cysteine in a product called the Brazilian Blowout, which is basically a hair straightening treatment utilizing heat and cysteine that breaks and reforms the protein bonds in curly frizzy hair, turning it into smooth straight hair that can last for weeks. Previously most hair relaxers and straighteners simply used heat with a very harsh “alkalinizer” like lye and potassium hydroxide. As it turns out, by using cysteine, typically in in the form of keratin, Brazilian blowout and similar products manage to avoid the use of harsh chemicals and still achieve good hair straightening results. However in recent years it has come to the attention of the FDA and OSHA and other researchers that the Brazilian Blowout product actually achieved their fantastic results with formaldehyde, a not very pleasant carcinogenic chemical that’s used to preserve corpses. An OSHA study found 60 times the allowable level of Formaldehyde in one Brazilian blowout product, which comprised, at least according to OSHA, 12 % of the product. That’s a lot of formaldehyde! In any case whether or not there is formaldehyde in these kinds of products, hair straightening is by its very nature an aggressive procedure, because the hair’s natural cysteine bonds are so darn strong it takes really aggressive treatments to break them.

Ultimately, like everything else in the body, the health of hair depends on internal nutrients that are ingested, digested and delivered through the blood. That means eating cysteine is a way more important and better option for taking care of your tresses than applying it directly to your hair. Once a hair pokes out of a follicle on the head it is dead tissue. Now that’s not to say that nothing can be done with the appearance of the hair once it leaves the scalp. While it may not be living tissue, it is porous and can absorb certain materials from topical products to improve its appearance. But if your hair doesn’t seem to be healthy, if it’s limp or brittle and dry, you are probably dealing with an internal issue more than a topical hair issue.

Most importantly, hair structure depends on protein, especially the sulfur containing proteins found largely in animal foods, dairy (especially whey), eggs fish and meats. For vegetarians, beans and grains can provide sulfur proteins. Consider using digestive enzymes and apple cider vinegar with protein foods to help release the amino acids and make them more accessible to the hair making cells in the scalp. Using supplements like NAC (as a source of cysteine) and MSM (readily usable sulfur) as supplements can contribute to the pool or raw material for making hair, without violating vegetarian vows. Follicular health depends on Vitamin C, so make sure you’re eating lots of veggies and citrus fruits. You might want to think about supplementing with a gram or two on a daily basis. The B-vitamins, most especially biotin and pantothenic acid has historically been recognized as important for improving cellular energy. Because hair growth is typically rapid, improving the energy levels of follicular cells may provide significant benefits. No nutrient is more important for the hair than zinc, which not only stimulates its synthesis and growth inside the hair follicle, but also helps balance out the excess male hormones that are associated with hair thinning and loss. Zinc is also involved in hundreds of different biochemical reactions associated with health. Using 50mhg a day of the picolinate form (Zinc Picolinate) will not only keep hair healthy but can also provide general salutatory benefits for the whole body.

Jul

2014

About Hormones and Hormone Problems

I had just finished a talk, and as usual, folks were milling around looking to get some questions answered. A woman named Nancy steps out of the crowd. She’s in her early 50’s with a whole slew of symptoms that I’ve heard many times before; Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and anxiety. Her moods are swinging like a cheap screen door in a winter storm and loss of libido may end her marriage. She’s carrying an extra 30 pounds of body weight, and no matter how she changes her diet, she can’t drop them.

She, of course, knows it’s her hormones. At least that’s what she tells me. But when I ask her what exactly she means by hormones she really can’t come up with much of an answer. That’s because she has little understanding of what is meant by this catch-all term “hormones”, and Nancy isn’t alone. Women like Nancy come up to me after every presentation that I do. I receive letters, take phone calls, and answer texts and messages on this subject many times a week.

Modern scientific understanding of hormones is over a hundred years old, but do a random survey amongst your non-medical friends to see how many people could really explain what a hormone is and/or what it does. Probably not many, if any. How can we really understand how to address hormone related health issues without having a basic grasp of what these things are and how they work.

In order to understand hormones, we have to understand cells which are best thought of as little extraordinary animals. Each one of these creepy-crawly blobs of goo, so tiny it takes 1000 to make an inch, is studded with hundreds of thousands of sub-microscopic switches called receptors. When these switches are activated, stuff happens.

A hormone is nothing more than a chemical that activates those switches. It’s a bit more complicated in the sense that there are different hormones for different switches and because combinations of hormonal switches get activated simultaneously, but, in essence, it’s just a question of switches and chemicals, i.e. the hormones that activate them.

Because the body’s functions all result from the activities of cells, if it’s happening in the body, it’s happening because of hormones. Hormones can be thought of as messages; the very word “hormone” is Latin for: “I arouse to activity”. That means that we are healthy (or not) because of hormones. In fact, from a physical perspective, we are everything we are because of hormones. To say you have a hormone problem when you are sick is like saying you have a money problem when you’re broke. Or a mechanical problem if your car breaks down. Of course, it’s true, but it’s tautological (saying the same thing twice in different words) and not helpful for taking care of the problem.

We have two major types of hormones. One type is fast-acting and rapidly broken down. These are substances that activate quick biochemical functions such as nerve firings, muscle contractions, and various secretions in response to food or some kind of irritant. These quick acting hormones have names like “prostaglandins” and “leukotrienes,” and they live fast and die young. They allow cells to respond to their environment in a speedy fashion, and they’re quickly broken down. In the brain, these hormone chemicals are called neurotransmitters, and they’re associated with various moods and brain functions.
When most people talk about hormones and hormone problems, most of the time they are referring to the second type, more long acting hormone substances called steroids, typically the so-called male hormone testosterone and the so-called female hormone estrogen. I say “so-called” because it’s somewhat of a misunderstanding to refer to these hormones in this sex-specific fashion as both genders produce both substances. Nonetheless, despite the fact that there are dozens upon dozens of various hormone substances in the body, when women blame their hormones, they’re usually referring to estrogen; likewise, when males talk about theirs, they typically mean testosterone.

So, if you’re a guy or a gal and you want to work on your hormones (testosterone or estrogen), what can you do? Well, probably the most important step you can take to return these two steroid substances back to their appropriate levels and potency is pay attention to intake of fatty foods and fat absorption. Steroid hormones are all derived from cholesterol which is a major component of fat-dense foods like eggs and dairy and organ meats, so making sure you’re getting enough of these types of foods can be helpful. You, of course, want to make sure that you’re absorbing these substances in the intestine as well. That means after you eat your omelet, cheese, and liver, you use digestive enzymes, lecithin, and apple cider vinegar– all of which can improve the body’s ability to absorb and utilize their cholesterol content.

Nutrients can help too. Below are 13 nutritional supplements that can help improve steroid hormone health:

Probiotics – 10 billion units/multiple strains daily
Magnesium Chelate -1000-2000mg daily
B-100 Complex – 2-3 tablets daily
Vitamin C -1000-3000mg daily
Omega-3’s – 1-2 grams daily
Evening Primrose Oil – 1-2 teaspoonsful daily
Zinc Picolinate – 50mg daily
Selenium Chelate -400mcg daily
Vitamin A -20,000 iu daily
Vitamin E -400 iu daily
Vitamin D – Sunlight 5000 iu daily
Pregnenolone -100mg daily
Choline – 100-200mg daily

Jul

2014

Fibromyalgia Latin for “Muscle Fiber Pain”

The location of the nine paired tender points that comprise the 1990 American College of Rheumatology criteria for fibromyalgia.

The first thing I think about when I hear the dreaded diagnosis is something one of my professors in pharmacy school used to talk about at least once a semester. A diagnosis is a definition and not disease. What he meant was the nomenclature associated with some type of bodily dysfunction is nothing more than a moniker and designation. It tells nothing about what is occurring in the body or how to address it; it simply names it.
Fibromyalgia is the Latin term for “muscle fiber pain”. That means when you go to your doctor complaining of muscle pain and you leave with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, what your medical guru is basically doing is taking your complaint, translating it to a medieval dialect, giving you a pain medication or maybe an anti-depressant (!) and then billing you. This is a textbook example of how the medical model works. It can’t do anything real, but it can officiate your symptomology by sanctifying it with a Latin moniker.

It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz. As you’ll recall at the end of the flick, the scarecrow, with a head filled with nothing but straw, travels far and wide to find the magical wizard (doctor) who, it was said, could miraculously create for him a brain. As it turns out however, the wizard (doctor) is nothing but a fraud, and while he can’t deliver him any gray matter, he can give him something that, where he comes from, re-presents a brain. A diploma! In other words instead of giving his patient anything real, he gives him a piece of paper that supposedly symbolizes something real. Sounds a lot like the medical model to me!
So what to do if you are dealing with muscle fiber pain i.e. fibromyalgia? Well, as turns out you can actually do a lot. That’s because fibromyalgia represents toxicity, specifically blood toxicity. In 1990, Dr. John Couvaras, a fertility physician from Phoenix, discovered that women given an injection of the blood thinner heparin to improve circulatory problems associated with infertility reported that their fibromyalgia symptoms were dramatically reduced. He subsequently developed the “Hypercoagulation Theory of Fibromyalgia” that postulated that sticky, coagulated blood, following toxicity, results in the deposition of clotting proteins and other poisons in the muscle that eventually results in the classic pain syndrome associated with fibromyalgia. And where does that toxicity come from in the first place? Typically, the liver and the ultimately the small intestine. Here’s what happens:

The small intestine is the home of the “microbiome”, trillions of bacterial cells made up of many hundreds of strains. The numbers and types and exact proportions of these bacterial strains are tightly regulated. If there are long standing digestive health issues, especially in the processing of fats, over time these proportions get thrown off and the wrong types of bacterial strains can proliferate. Medical folks call this “dysbiosis” or “SIBO” (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth). Because these bacteria are constantly secreting waste material, eventually the body will mount an immune (defensive) response and an inflammatory reaction will ensue. As this progresses eventually the blood can become contaminated. And the major blood response to this kind of contamination is clotting.
To compound the problem the healthy microbiome is involved in estrogen metabolism. When dysbiosis occurs, estrogen is not broken down correctly and toxic byproducts can build up. Usually the liver can handle these byproducts, but under conditions of long term bacterial and estrogenic toxicity, this critical detox organ can become overload and even more poisons can enter into the blood. Thus fibromyalgia should be regarded as the final result of estrogenic and digestive system toxicity following long term dysbiosis.

So if you are dealing with the pain and misery of fibromyalgia here’s what you want to do: First of all correct digestive problems. Look for problem foods i.e. foods that cause any digestive distress (heartburn bloating cramps, loose stools, constipation etc.) and eliminate them. Get on a good probiotic supplement (I like Youngevity’s BioLumin Nightly Essence) and eat lots of fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, kim chee and fermented beets. You can make your own fermented veggies pretty easily, basically by mashing or cutting up veggies and adding some bacterial starter and salt. And use a good probiotic supplement on a regular basis and make sure you use a product that has multiple bacterial strains. Use digestive enzymes and apple cider vinegar after all meals, especially ones that contain lots of fat. And, taking digestive enzymes on an empty stomach can have blood thinning effects that can improve fibromyalgia symptoms. Practice calorie restriction (eating less) and take a food holiday (fast) once a week or so. Use essential fatty acid supplements which can support estrogen metabolism. Consider estrogen balancing supplements like Vitamin A (20,000 iu a day), Vitamin E (400 iu a day) and pregnenolone (100mg a day). And applying a progesterone cream 5-7 days a week cream can be helpful too.
10 other interesting supplements that may help improve fibromyalgia symptoms:

Melatonin-4-6 mg at bedtime
Theanine-100-500mg daily
Magnesium Glycinate-2000mg daily
Vitamin C -1000-5000mg daily
N-Acetyl Cysteine- 500mg daily
Vitamin E-(mixed tocopherols) – 400 iu daily
Selenium-200-400mcgdaily
Cetyl Myristoleate -100-500mg daily
Malic Acid – 1000mg a day
Sam-E – 100-200mg daily