Dr. Mom Online

Achieving better health AND a better body does not have to be hard or confusing or overwhelming.

Once you understand the “rules” of the game, you can keep it simple… AND effective!

Here’s a brief article I recently wrote on this subject… enjoy! (And please pass it along to someone you know who is struggling with body weight or chronic health issues.)

Click Here >>

If you’re interested in learning the most successful strategies for permanently shedding excess fat and achieving optimal health, you might also enjoy reading: Understanding the Wellness Formula to Help You Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals

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Yesterday we got a call from our daughter’s school… actually I missed the call when it came in, but checked my message immediately. It went like this, “Hi Colleen. This is ____ from school. Jacqueline has been in an accident, has cut open her head and is bleeding pretty badly. She needs you.”

Holy crap! There is nothing that compares to the intensity of emotions that a parent feels when their child has been hurt, or is ill.

Thank GOD my husband was home at the time… I think I would have had a heart attack, had he not been there! We woke our son up form his nap (which is always a lovely experience!), stuck him in his car seat, and drove like he** to get to her school at warp speed.

A little background: this is the THIRD time in a year and a half that this kid has split her head open!!! Unbelievable! I swear, anytime I hear a scream or a cry in a room full of children, I automatically assume that it’s most likely my daughter!

Anyhow, ultimately, she’s fine. This time, they were able to “glue” her. Good thing – I’m sure I would have passed out if I had to watch the whole needle into her forehead and stitches thing again! Not my strong suit!

Some ‘funny’ things happened during this little adventure with her yesterday.

First, it was her third time at this emergency clinic… and her fourth time at any doctor’s office or clinic since birth. She’s almost 6.

She was at a family doc we personally know when she was one. We took her in to confirm that she had Rubella… and wanted a 2nd opinion about whether or not we should proceed with our plans to travel to a seminar the following day. He confirmed that it was indeed Rubella… “most likely contracted by exposure to another child who had been recently vaccinated”. He agreed with us that she was absolutely fine to travel, as the virus was already passing through her system quite efficiently. No treatment of any sort – more like a visit with a trusted friend.

Interesting, he also commented on how lucky she was to have contracted this… “Now she’s immune for life… easy! 3 days from beginning to end for the virus to pass through the body, then you’re done! I don’t know we vaccinate for this.”

So, when we started this little parade of head injury trips to the emergency clinic, we had to deal with the shock, disbelief, disdain and disapproval of everyone involved in the process – from check in to consultation to examination and treatment to check out.

We just laugh now! We’re used to it.

The dialogue usually goes something like this:

“Immunizations up to date?”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“No. She has no vaccinations.” (The pen goes down, the head comes up. The look of confusion appears! The entire consultation comes to a screeching halt… and we’re only 15 seconds into it… this is gonna’ be interesting!)

“What, you don’t believe in immunizations?”
“Oh, no. We believe vaccinations are real. We choose not to give them to our children.”
“Do you care to explain?”
“No.”

(Believe me, we could give you a 12 hour scientific dissertation reviewing and dissecting every shred of evidence and research pertaining to vaccines and their entire progression throughout history… but our daughter might bleed to death in the process! We’re not trying to pick a fight here … can we stop talking about this now???)

“Hmm… “ (Head goes down. Writing begins.)
“Immunizations are very, very important you know.”
“We’ve done our research and choose not to. We’re here to have her injury treated, that’s all.”
“So, I suppose you don’t want a tetanus shot for the open wound she has, either?” (not the most approving tone at this point.)
“No thank you. Just proper wound cleaning, then whatever she needs – stitches or glue.”

“OK. What about previous medical history? Any problems?”
“No.”
“What medications does she take?”
“None.” (Suspicious eyes comes up from the paper again…)
“Any allergies to medications?”
“None that we know of. .. she’s never taken any.”

(They’re now certain that we have stepped right off another planet!! Guess what? We feel the same!)

We add, “She’s never needed any.” (hoping to make the note taker feel better!)

… the interrogation goes on for awhile… we’re pretty sure the note taker has pressed a secret button to have the police and child protective services come and take us away!!!

Fast forward to dismissal instructions. “If she asks for it, or looks mopey, give her Motrin.” My daughter begins to question me… I ‘shush’ her and say “I’ll tell you later.”

Moments later, when we’ve been released, she asks, “What’s Motrin?” I tell her. She says, “Why would I give my body drugs when it’s already injured and working so hard to heal?” I say, “I’m sure there’s a time and a place for Motrin honey… I just can’t think of it off the top of my head.” She asks if we even have any. Nope.

On our way out, we walked by the vending machine in the waiting room. My daughter turns to me and asks, “Mommy, isn’t it mostly sick or injured people who come here?” I answer affirmatively. She astutley observes, “Then they shouldn’t have all that junk here for those people to eat. How can their bodies heal properly if they’re putting all that junk in?”

Well spoken, little Scar Face! I say, “Someday, when you rule the world, you can fix all that!”

The other day, my daughter spent a couple of hours playing outside with a friend in the neighborhood. At one point, they went inside her friend’s house for a bathroom break. Or, so I thought.

Let me interject a critical piece of background information here….

We have gone over and over the “food and drink” ground rules for visiting a friend’s house. Real simple, it’s something like this: “Sweetie, you will be offered food and drinks that we don’t have at home. As long as you have filled up with health first (eaten clean protein, veggies, fruit and water), then you may try a bit of what is offered, if you choose. EXCEPT when it comes to drinks. ONLY water, unless you know for certain that it’s organic ‘real’ juice, then you may have that. Absolutely no milk, pop, sports drinks or juice drinks.”

When she came home from the friend’s house, she told me that, while inside their home, she had eaten a few homemade cookies that her friend’s mom had just made. OK. Not the healthiest choice, but totally understandable, I thought.

It wasn’t until much later that night, in the bathtub actually, that my daughter ‘slipped’ and told me that she actually had at least 6 cookies!! OK, I can still understand. Afterall, they sounded like really yummy cookies! But, I did remind her that the more toxins you put in, the less health is created.

Then it occurred to me, all those cookies must have made her really thirsty. That’s when she dropped the bomb!!

She had 2 or 3 glasses of MILK!!!!

YOU DRANK WHAT???

Oh my goodness… you would have thought she had just confessed to smoking pot with her friends!!! I couldn’t believe she would put that stuff in her little body! I was horrified!!!

I’ll make the very long version of this story much shorter…

We obviously had three issues:

1) we needed to review making healthy choices even when mommy and daddy aren’t around;
2) we needed to have a frank conversation about MILK.

My daughter’s eyes just about popped out of her little head when I told her that the milk she had chugged was loaded with drugs! (I had to get her attention!) We talked about the steroids, hormones and antibiotics it’s loaded with.

I know she just about threw it up when she heard this!

3) finally, we needed to discuss the contradictory nature of “healthy” food. She was very confused (again) by other people in her life saying that milk is very healthy for her (her friends, other parents, teachers, etc.) and that having cookies, cake and other sweets really isn’t so bad.

She looked at me, wondering why her father and I are the only two grown-ups on the planet that disagree! I told her that, unfortunately for her, this was something she’d have to get used to! I told her she could choose whatever she wanted to when she is a grown-up… but for now, it’s MY responsibility to protect and enhance her health. Period.

I am absolutely certain that this is only the beginning of our healthy choice journey with our kids! I’m sure we’ll be re-visiting this quite often!

Poor kid. I think she’s rather have parents that own a candy store!

Earlier this afternoon, my daughter and I took off for one of our adventure walks. It has been such a beautiful spring day here, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to spend some ‘girl’ time with her, as well as get some exercise in the warm sunshine.

About half way into our journey, I realized how differently a 5 year old and a grown-up approach “exercise”! For years I’ve read that our hunter/gatherer ancestors moved their bodies in an incredibly varied way… sometimes it was full-out running, either for food or for sake of not becoming someone’s food, sometimes climbing, balancing, walking, squatting, jumping, throwing, etc.

It has been said that the average adult ‘back in the day’ was in the same condition as our modern day elite, Olympic decathletes. Wow, how far we’ve strayed from our innate movement patterns!

So today, I saw first hand how truly amazing kids are! Left to their own devices, without the distraction of a pesky television or video game, they naturally move their bodies in a much more holistic way than us fuddy-duddy grown-ups tend to.

For a solid hour, this child of mine was performing an entertaining, energetic combination of sprints, skipping, walking, throwing rocks, climbing a tree, rolling down a hill, dancing the “booty-shake”, balancing on and walking effortlessly along a fallen tree, puddle jumping, more sprints and WAY more skipping!

It was some of the best and definitely the most fun interval training I’ve ever done! I couldn’t help but think, “no wonder this kid has such a lean, toned body with hardly an ounce of fat on her!”

I think exercise programs should be designed by 5 year olds! We’d all be more carefree, definitely more fit… and we’d certainly smile a LOT more since we’d all be skipping everywhere we go!

Check this out…

Do you enjoy eating out in restaurants? I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoy the idea of a nice dinner in a restaurant… someone else preparing it, setting the table, and doing all the dishes! Aaaahhhh, how relaxing…

BUT, it doesn’t really work like that in my real life because I can’t effectively come to terms with the amount of toxic, nutrient-lacking “food” served in our local restaurants. It just seems like empty, dead food. Oh sure, some of it tastes totally fabulous… but that has nothing to do with health!

I know this is very much a geographic issue as well. I’m in the wrong town… probably the wrong state to expect wholesome, pure, sufficient, fresh foods!

As I’ve said before, when our family is headed out to a resturant, I feel the need to plan ahead and make sure the kids and I (my husband is on his own!) have filled up with health first! We have a healthy source of protein and some fresh greens… relieves some mommy guilt!

Plenty of times, I’ll pack our own purified water (especially in one particular local town where the city tap water has very high levels of arsenic) and fresh veggies for the kids to munch on while waiting for their meal. I couldn’t care less about some of the glares I get from waitstaff… MY kids… their health is MY responsibility.

So, can you actually calculate your real age based upon how often you eat out? The theory, of course, would be that the more you eat out, the less healthy you are, the more accelerated your aging process would be.

Check out this Dr. Mercola link to find out how this is done… and be sure to read his comments after the article!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/04/01/can-you-calculate-your-age-by-how-often-you-eat-out.aspx

I was just about to check my emails a few minutes ago. Usually, I don’t even notice the banner ads along the top of the page… I purposely block them out because I can’t stand being constantly inundated with marketing messages.

This time I noticed. The ad says:

“Try a prescription sleep aid to see why it’s different from the rest. Click here for a FREE 7 day trial.”

(pardon me… I just threw up!)

How can drugs just be given away on the internet? Especially prescription strength drugs… these are more “potent” (ie. dangerous).

Last I heard about several of these sleep drugs, they were causing all sorts of completely abnormal and scary side-effects in people… seriously strange stuff. If we’re going to experiment with sleep aid drugs, shouldn’t we at least do so under the supervision of a licensed doctor? (Not that that makes the drugs any safer…)

Better yet, why don’t we just figure out why we’re having troubles sleeping in the first place?!! Oh, that’s too far-fetched, I know!

On the street, drug dealers know that if they can get us to try their drug JUST ONCE, we’ll be hooked.

Apparently, drug pushing is absolutely legal on the world wide web! God help us all!

If I were a street drug pusher, I’d seriously consider getting into online marketing, just like the ‘legal’ drug pushers have. I’m sure they could reach more people and increase their revenue substantially.

The other night, I was watching a documentary about children with severe food allergies.

FIRST, I want to make it perfectly clear that I don’t point the finger at any one parent or family… I fully trust that each family makes the best choices they can with the information they currently have at their disposal. I completely understand that if you knew your child could die within minutes of coming into contact with a certain food, you’d make whatever nutritional choices you were forced to make in the moment.

That being said, I sat there shaking my head in disbelief once again.

What this program demonstrated was that the nutritional decision making became heavily focused on the short term survival of these kids, rather than long term health and wellness.

I know full well that television edits the heck out of shows… but what I failed to see was any attempt to focus on BOTH short term survival AND lifetime health and wellness.

A large part of the program focused on how parents of these kids have to make an incredibly difficult decision about whether or not to even send their children with severe food allergies to school. Coming into contact with an offending allergen could be deadly. The parents have to basically inform every person dealing with their child, and sweeping changes must be made in order to insure the child’s safety.

One clip showed parents in the school cafeteria with their children who have these severe allergies. It showed them walking down the line of available lunch options for the day. If the food had nuts (or been exposed to nuts) or had milk in it, the food was off-limits.

Point #1
Our innate nutritional requirements do not include peanuts or dairy anyway. Our hunter/gatherer ancestors did not consume these foods. Essentially, our genes haven’t changed in 40,000 years… therefore, neither have our nutritional requirements. We still don’t need these foods in order to be healthy. Perhaps that’s why so many people have “allergies” to dairy and grains (gluten, wheat, etc.)… we’re not genetically designed to require them in the first place. Peanuts, even the organic ones, are loaded with toxic molds and known carcinogens. No wonder so many bodies out there reject them so obviously.

OK, now this is where my head really started to shake…

When they showed what these kids finally ended up choosing in the cafeteria, with the direct assistance of their parents, the plates were filled with CRAP! At least on this program, they didn’t show one, single child with any vegetables on their plate! The plates had spaghetti, french fries, pizza, potato ‘tots’, bread…

What on earth???

Point #2
Just because someone is labelled with a certain affliction, no matter how serious, we simply can’t overlook the bigger picture. There are certain irrefutable requirements for health and wellness. We innately require Purity and Sufficiency in our nutritional choices. Toxicity and Deficiency moves us away from optimal health.

On this show, I saw “sick” children with plates full of processed foods that were toxic and deficient of nutritional value.

This is what burns my buttocks about all the labels placed on people. It seems like we end up focusing on the label at the expense of overall wellness. Can’t see the forest for the trees…

At the very least, if a person’s body is loudly expressing the rejection of certain foods, that individual needs to adhere to the common sense of wellness-based nutrition more than anyone – their body is already telling them it’s in crisis. Ideally, we should ALL be eating this way… but that’s not how our society seems to work, unfortunately.

I can’t tell you how many individuals (or their parents) I’ve counselled that have a challenge with this. I see ‘gluten-sensitive’ kids munching down M&M’s, Pez candies, candy canes, ice cream and cake because “it’s gluten-free”. I’ve heard more than enough folks tell me they can’t eat vegetables because their doctor told them they have a digestive disorder. They’ll eat a loaf of bread a day, cookies, chips, fast food and drink gallons of milk… but no veggies., “‘cuz it’s bad for their digestive system”.

I could give you many more examples, but I’d start to cry… out of sadness AND sheer frustration!

We absolutely must remember to give the body what it needs in order to create health. Without these essentials, the body can’t possibly ever fully heal and function at its optimal levels. Then you’re stuck taking drugs that alter your function – but DON’T produce health.

… oh, but wait. That’s a whole lot more profitable than teaching people how to make healthy choices for life, isn’t it? Don’t get me started!

Yesterday, we took the kids on a field trip as we continue to celebrate our ‘staying-at-home-this-year’ spring break. We made the trek over to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the day to visit the Children’s Hands-On Museum. What a blast! The kids loved it!

After the museum, we stopped by a great little local brew pub for a bite to eat. It was a great spot – plenty of healthier options on the menu, as well as some excellent micro-brews for my husband and dad to sample!

I was thrilled to see that I had the choice of broccoli, asparagus or green beans for the kids’ side dishes, as well as the usual baby carrots. I’m a happy mom when I can get some quality greens into those little bodies at a restaurant!

The menu also did a great job of highlighting the “clean” meats they use in all their dishes: the chicken was promoted as being free-range, from a local Amish farm, raised without any antibiotics, hormones, steroids, etc. Nice! The beef was also from a local farm, from cattle raised without the usual chemical cocktail.

The one thing that caught my eye about the beef description (because it stuck out like a sore thumb!), was that they proudly announced that it was exclusively grain-fed. I thought, “Now why would you go to such lengths describing how ‘clean’ the meat is, then end up feeding it grains?” Cows need grass. That’s what they naturally eat. Not grains.

Cows only eat grains when farmers provide grains as their only source of food. It’s unnatural.

Grass-fed beef is far superior to grain-fed for many reasons. Think about why farmers started feeding cows grains in the first place… it was to fatten them up. Any guesses what happens to the people who eat the grain-fed beef? Grass-fed beef is leaner. Grass-fed beef is also high in omega-3 fatty acids. Grain-fed is absolutely not.

Anyhow, the choice is clear. It just seemed like such an odd contradiction on the menu. Unbeknownst to me, our daughter was listening intently as the grown-ups were discussing this inconsistency on the menu.

Later in the evening, she wanted to play “restaurant”. As she came to our table to present the ‘featured selections of the day’, she pointed out that one of our options was “cow’s meat tacos”! I asked her if it was ‘clean’ meat and she proudly declared, “Oh, yes! We take the meat and rinse it off in pure water, then lay it out in the sun to get it all heated up and burn off the toxins!” Hilarious!

Then she was quick to add, “Oh, and before they became meat, the cows ate what they were supposed to. They didn’t eat any grains at all. They ate only grass and all green vegetables. They’re really healthy cows – you’ll like them a lot!”

Funny, funny kid! I’m not sure if she was selling me a taco or a new pet!

“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”

~ Hippocrates
(460 B.C. – 370 B.C.)

… so what’s taking us so long to follow “The Father of Medicine’s” advice?!

Today marks the first day of the first full week of my daughter’s spring break. This is the first year we’re not travelling during the break… we’re home bound! That meant we had to sit down as a family and create a new set of house “agreements” to circumvent any potential ‘boredom-related’ troubles before they even got started. At least that’s the plan!

One particular bud I wanted to nip before it even began to bloom was the notion of watching television and movies. Although, having two children wrapped up in the drama and intrigue of a great show would certainly allow me to ‘accomplish’ more, I also recognize the inherent dangers of getting into this pattern.

Once in awhile, if it’s educational, or thought-provoking, or gets them up and moving, I don’t too much mind. But there was no way I was going to let this happen with any regularity for the next 2 weeks. Nuh-uh. Our family plan is to read tons, create, color and draw, cook yummy things, go outside and play, explore, ride bikes, dance, take a few family field trips and interact with each other. No time for one-way communication from the boob tube.

I’ve added a link to a recent article about this subject from Dr. Mercola. The initial article discusses the negative consequences of having a television in a child’s bedroom. Not an issue here. We’re a one television family, and most times I think it’s one television too many!

Dr. Mercola goes on to comment on television, movies and computers as they all relate to childhood development. It’s a great article and certainly makes you re-think allowing the casual use of any of these modalities with our kids. The reader comments are interesting, as usual.

Here’s the link:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/22/a-one-eyed-invader-in-the-bedroom.aspx

In our home, we have a few Leap Frog educational videos, some Spanish and French videos as well as yoga and dance for kids… these are the ones I’ll usually approve of in my “I-can’t-do-everything-I-need-to-do” mothering moments! I also let them watch Sound of Music, Mary Poppins and School House Rock (OK, that one’s mostly for me!).

The kids know they can’t just sit there like blobs during movie time. They get up and dance during every song, or they get up and move every 5 or so minutes if there aren’t any songs. Sedentary living begins in childhood.

I can’t stand “kids’ shows”, primarily because of all the subconscious programming of my children that the commercials attempt. If anyone’s gonna’ program my kids, it’s going to be ME!

In my opinion, kids’ shows require direct supervision from a caring, knowledegable adult. But hey – if that adult has time to sit down and watch a kid show, maybe they’d have time to read with, play with or converse with the child instead! Just a thought.

Oh relax… I’m not pointing the finger at anyone! I know how challenging it can be to set aside everything that needs to get done to pay 100% attention to your children. I also know how easy it is to turn on the tube and to ‘entertain’ them. We all just need to be aware of the consequences, that’s all.

The Spring Break Agreements in our home regarding television and movies go something like this: not everyday; only one movie per day; read 5 books first; take your fish oil; eat healthy snacks and drink water during the movie. Oh, and be nice to your mommy and each other during the movie or it gets shut off immediately.

Now go unplug your television, read a book or run around outside!

A few days ago, my 5 year old daughter and I shared some “big girl” time as we went out for a long walk/jog/adventure together. She was thrilled to have me all to herself, and to finally be big enough to keep up with me during ‘grown-up’ exercise, as she calls it. She did great – 2 and 1/2 miles! Although, we did have to stop a few times to investigate deer tracks, walk in the mud and throw the stick for our dog!

We shared several precious moments during our adventure. One of my favorites was the conversation that caused her to see me in a whole new light… to reach a new level of understanding of each other. And it all had to do with nutrition… hard to imagine, I know!

It was such a beautiful, sunny day, that it made her think of ice cream. She said, “Wouldn’t it be great to have ice cream on a day like today? I mean the organic, no hormone kind, of course.” I quickly and enthusiastically added, “YEAH! The super chocolately kind with chocolate chunks and caramel… mmmmmm!!!” Her eyes got as big as saucers! I’m pretty sure she thought my body had been taken over by some intruder!

I said, “What? I love ice cream!!” She incredulously said, “You do?! No way!” I continued to explain that I most certainly do love ice cream. And cookies. And cake, muffins, Pringles, brownies, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! She was now certain I was possessed. She simply couldn’t believe these words were coming out of her own mother’s mouth!

Of course, I followed up with, “But just because I like how all those foods taste doesn’t mean I’ll eat them. That wouldn’t be a very good choice for my body’s health.” She honestly couldn’t even believe that I liked how they tasted!!! It was hilarious! A new-found respect for me was instantly born! “Wow, mom! You’re SO cool! I had no idea that you actually like those junky foods!! And it’s so awesome that, even though you like them, you can still say ‘no thank you’! That’s cool mom!”

Again, I reinforced that although I do ‘like’ them, the way they taste, I really dislike what they do to my body. We talked about making the healthiest choices possible, even when the taste of something makes you absolutely drool!

She commented that she thought it would be much easier for her to make healthier choices (when presented with sweets in school, at parties…), now that she knew somebody else who felt the same way about sweets as her… her super cool sweet-loving-but-healthy-choice-making MOM!

What a crack up!

This is just something I’ve been thinking about since my last grocery shopping adventure with my 2 year old. I’m already finding myself answering his food and nutrition questions – interrogation, is more like it – as he tries to negotiate for the foods he sees on the shelves!

I remember having the same conversation with my daughter a few times in the last couple of years, as well as countless practice members.

The conversation begins when I hear, “but it’s organic, so it’s OK to have it… “, or “it’s organic, so it must be good for me!”

Keeping this real simple, sure… if it’s organic, it’s automatically less toxic to your body. BUT, just because it’s organic doesn’t necessarily mean that it will create health for you!

Imagine a dynamic “scale” of Health. On one end is Optimal Health. The other end is chronic illness and Death. The direction we’re moving on this scale in any given day depends on the choices we make (how we eat, move, think, rest).

Pure and sufficient choices move us toward Optimal Health. Toxic and deficient ones move us toward illness and death.

I guaranatee you that if you munch down a box of organic ‘oreos’ or a bag of organic cheese curls, they won’t do a thing to move you toward Optimal Health! I don’t care how organic they are! They fit into the classification of Deficient (lacking the nutrition we innately require to create Optimal Health). Therefore, these processed, nutrient -lacking foods move you the opposite direction on the scale.

Now, if you had the choice between the organic ‘oreos’ and the conventional ones…. organic wins, hands down! They’ll move you the wrong way on the scale, but not as much and not as quickly. I’m OK with making that choice once in awhile!

The same basic Wellness principles apply to all food choices, organic or not. REAL, God-grown food is always the healthiest choice.

Hey, I live in the real world too! I know that’s not always possible and certainly not always convenient. Just know that if you choose more foods that don’t even come with a label (eg. fresh produce), then you’re most likely moving the right direction on the Scale of Health.

OK, gotta’ go get some organic ‘oreos’!

I’m sure that many of you already subscribe to Dr. Mercola’s superb newsletter. If not, here’s another excellent example of why you really should consider it… it keeps you “in the loop” with current health research, reports and events. AND it gives you the ‘other’ side of the story – not just the side that media presents.

Here’s the link to start receiving these free newsletters:

http://www.mercola.com/forms/subscribe.htm?bid=25&aid=CD25&opt=

The story I wanted to make sure you knew about today is that of a young girl, with signs of the flu, dying shortly after being given Tylenol and sent to bed.

Please read all the way down to Dr. Mercola’s comments. He makes a critically important point – how predictable it has become for events like this to serve as the catalyst for drug companies and federal agencies to push mass vaccines and drug use on us.

They take advantage of our vulnerablilty and fear resulting from a story like this one.

No one stops to ask WHY or what other factors contributed to this girl’s death. Maybe a flu vaccine would have prevented this. Maybe not. I know what I believe. None of it matters to her family, by the way. None of it.

But don’t push toxic chemicals on MY family because on this.

Most of us will not develop the flu in any given year. Those of us that DO develop the flu will NOT do so because we have a shortage of flu vaccine chemicals in our bodies. Many that choose to be vaccinated will still develop the flu.

Once again, I’m confused. Disappointed. Saddened. Disturbed. Ticked off.

Will we ever see an end to the lies and greed-driven “system” that runs our healthcare??? I feel sorry for our children. Imagine what it’s going to be like for them.

Click here to read the article:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/18/girl-s-flu-death-happened-within-hours.aspx

By the way, remember, if you’re healthy, you CAN’T “catch” the flu. The notion itself is ridiculous. It removes the burden of responsibility from many people.

To get healthy, you’ve got to consistently Move Well, Eat Well, Think Well and Rest Well. If you don’t, you’re susceptible to the flu and a whole lot more.

Whether I’m speaking to a large group, having a one-on-one nutritional consultation or having dinner with friends and family who drink diet pop, the issue of Aspartame always comes up.

Not always initiated by ME, either… wise guys!

What boggles my mind is the overwhelmingly large number of people who roll their eyes and essentially put their hand up to my face, signalling that they dismiss the entire notion that aspartame, nutrasweet, splenda and all the other artificial sweeteners could possibly be that bad.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before,” they say.

Okaaaayyy… so why on earth are you still voluntarily, knowingly consuming a proven neurotoxin? Just like to live on the edge?

I really don’t get it at all. I absolutely do not lecture anyone on this subject – I present the facts in a non-judgmental way, then let it go. (OK, I also say a little prayer for the unfortunate soul first before completely letting it go!)

I fail to understand the resistance and hostility regarding this subject. Maybe aspartame causes that, too!

I think if I told some of these same folks that research shows that spinach isn’t good for them, they’d give it up yesterday and never turn back!!!

What do they think… that these reports are all fabricated? That the poor, innocent ‘food’ industry and its ginormous marketing partners would never, ever lead them astray??? C’mon!

Anyhow, here’s another great link from Dr. Mercola on the subject. Quite an experiment! Check out the photo.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/11/one-woman-s-astonishing-experiment-with-aspartame.aspx

If you haven’t yet signed up for Dr. Mercola’s free e-newsletter, you’re missing out on an incredible resource for your family’s health. You can quickly, easily sign up here:

http://www.mercola.com/forms/subscribe.htm?bid=25&aid=CD25&opt=

PUT DOWN your diet pop and have some water!!!