WHEN NOT TO STOP SMOKING

Dr, Mercola answers a question from a reader, and his answer will surprise you. This may be improtant to you if you are trying to stop smoking:

STAIN DRUGS DESTROY, NOT HELP, YOUR HEART

Is This Popular 'Heart Drug' Causing Dramatic Increases in the Risk of Prostate Cancer?

By Dr. Mercola

Statins, drugs that lower your cholesterol levels, are one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world.

In the US, a staggering one in four over the age of 45 is now taking this unnecessary drug!

Statins act by blocking a crucial  enzyme in your liver responsible for making cholesterol.

But that's not all this enzyme is responsible for.

This enzyme also makes CoQ10, which is essential for mitochondrial health.

Perhaps it's not so surprising then that many potentially dangerous side effects go hand-in-hand with statin drug use.

To date, there are no less than 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to diabetes, to birth defects and increased cancer risk.

Statins May Increase Prostate Cancer Risk

One recent study sought to determine whether the use of statin drugs was associated with prostate cancer risk.

The researchers looked at close to 400 prostate cancer patients who had a first-time diagnosis during the period between 2005 and 2008.

They found that use of any statin drug, in any amount, was associated with a significantly increased risk for prostate cancer.

In addition, there was an increasing risk that came along with an increasing cumulative dose.

According to the study:

"The results of this case-control study suggest that statins may increase the risk of prostate cancer."

Statins Have Been Linked to Increased Cancer Risk for More Than a Decade

While the evidence still appears a bit all over the map, with study results ranging from increased cancer risk to reduced risk, to no noticeable risk at all, what IS clear is that conventional medicine still does not understand the full ramifications of artificially lowering your cholesterol levels, and they simply don't know whether or not the use of these drugs may be adding fuel to an already out of control cancer epidemic.

In short, with well over 30 million Americans now taking statin drugs, we're witnessing a massive ongoing 'live' experiment.

Over 10 years ago, research indicated that besides lowering cholesterol, statins could also promote the growth of new blood vessels. And, although this effect may help to prevent heart attacks and other forms of heart disease, it may also promote cancer as well by increasing the growth of blood vessels in cancerous tumors. Meanwhile, other studies have indicated the complete opposite; that statins can inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels), so again, it's virtually impossible to say that statin safety and effectiveness is based on hard science...

But the statin-cancer connection actually goes much farther back than that. A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1996 stated:

"All members of the two most popular classes of lipid-lowering drugs (the fibrates and the statins) cause cancer in rodents, in some cases at levels of animal exposure close to those prescribed to humans. ...

Longer-term clinical trials and careful postmarketing surveillance during the next several decades are needed to determine whether cholesterol-lowering drugs cause cancer in humans.

In the meantime, the results of experiments in animals and humans suggest that lipid-lowering drug treatment, especially with the fibrates and statins, should be avoided except in patients at high short-term risk of coronary heart disease."

Cholesterol Guidelines are a Health Disaster

Needless to say, such warnings were completely ignored. Instead, public health officials have gone the opposite way, happily following the trail littered with the most cash.

Over the past decade, cholesterol guidelines have been altered to create ever more 'patients' to be treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs. In 2004, the U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education Program panel advised those at risk for heart disease to attempt to reduce their LDL (bad) cholesterol to extremely low levels, and it's been a health disaster ever since.

Before 2004, a 130-milligram LDL cholesterol level was considered healthy. The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk. These updated guidelines instantly increased the market for cholesterol-lowering drugs. The marked has further increased with the call to begin screening children prior to puberty, and prescribing statins to kids as young as eight.

Not surprisingly, eight of the nine doctors on the approval panel for these absurdly low guidelines had financial ties to the companies making these cholesterol-lowering drugs.

FDA Doesn't "Believe" in Statin-Cancer Link

Back in 2008, troubling study findings were released showing a dramatically increased risk of cancer related deaths in those taking Inegy (also sold under the trade name Vytorin). The drug combines the widely-used statin drug simvastatin with another medication called ezetimibe, which blocks the absorption of cholesterol in your gut. The study also found no benefit whatsoever from the drug.

This despite the fact that it reduced LDL cholesterol levels by a respectable 61 percent, which "should have" had an effect on cardiovascular events, based on the prevailing hypothesis that high LDL equates to high risk of heart disease.

So, in a nutshell, the drug had no beneficial impact on the primary outcome (meaning it did not reduce major cardiovascular adverse events), while more people developed cancer on the treatment (105 versus 70 patients taking a placebo), and more cancer related deaths (39 cancer deaths versus 23 in the control group).

A couple of months after the results were revealed, a panel assembled by the American Academy of Cardiology declared that:

"... the aggressively marketed drug combination should be used only as a last resort. There is currently no evidence that ezetimibe, which reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, improves clinical outcomes such as myocardial infarction or death."

In December 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the completion of their review of the disturbing SEAS trial (above), as well as interim data from two other large-scale ongoing cardiovascular trials using Vytorin: the SHARP and IMPROVE-IT trials. (The SHARP trial was concluded in 2010, while the IMPROVE-IT trial is expected to be completed in 2012.)

Their conclusion?

"FDA believes it is unlikely that Vytorin or Zetia increase the risk of cancer or cancer-related death."

I don't know how much faith you have in the FDA's beliefs, but mine is on pretty shaky ground... The FDA goes on to list a number of factors that were weighed to reach the conclusion that they believe cancer is unrelated to the drugs. You can review them for yourself here, and see if you would concur with their assessment.

Statins May Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease

Ironically, while reducing your risk of cardiovascular events and heart disease is the primary motivation for prescribing statins, these drugs can actually increase your risk of heart disease because they deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which can lead to heart failure.  Statins have also been linked to:

Weakness	Serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis)	Pancreas or liver dysfunction, including a potential increase in liver enzymes
Muscle problems, aches and pains	Diabetes	Polyneuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet)
Immune system suppression	Increased risk of food borne illness	Anemia
Sexual dysfunction (erectile dysfunction)	Cataracts	Cognitive impairment, including memory loss and transient global amnesia

The Importance of CoQ10 or, if You're Over 40, Ubiquinol

As mentioned in the beginning, statin drugs also block the production of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and that in and of itself poses a veryserious health risk. As your body gets more and more depleted of CoQ10, you may suffer from fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and eventually heart failure. Coenzyme Q10 plays a vital role in the process of neutralizing free radicals and the optimal production of cellular energy.

Unfortunately, the majority of people who take statins are unaware of their need for CoQ10, and physicians rarely advise their patients to take this supplement along with their statin—at least in the United States. It's also important to supplement right from the start, to ward off irreversible mitochondrial damage.

Make no mistake about it, if you're on a statin drug, you simply must take a CoQ10 supplement. If you're over the age of 40, I strongly recommend using the reduced version, called ubiquinol.

Ubiquinol is a far more effective form—I personally take it every day as it has far-ranging health benefits. There's evidence that CoQ10/ubiquinol is beneficial for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and even cancer, as well as staving off premature aging in general by preventing telomere shortening, which can slow or potentially even reverse the aging process.

Unlike drugs that kill over 125,000 every year in the US alone, there are no reported side effects of CoQ10 supplementation and no one has ever died from taking it.

What Drug Companies Don't Want You to Know About LDL

While statins drugs are very effective for lowering so-called "bad" cholesterol, the low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, it's important to realize that there are different sizes of LDL cholesterol particles, and it's the LDL particle size that is relevant, as small particles get stuck easily and causes more inflammation. Unfortunately, most people don't hear about that part, and very rarely, if ever, get it tested.

Naturally, the drug companies really don't want you to know about this, because statins do not modulate the size of the particles.  

The only way to make sure your LDL particles are large enough to not get stuck and cause inflammation and damage is through your diet. In fact, modulating LDL particle size is one of the things that insulin does. If you eat properly and maintain normal insulin levels, then everything works as it should—the LDL particles are large and buoyant; they don't get stuck, and don't cause inflammation.

So rather than worry about your cholesterol numbers, you really want to work on reducing inflammation, which can be caused by numerous things, including:

• Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid, such as that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)
• Eating lots of sugar and grains
• Eating foods cooked at high temperatures
• Eating trans fats
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking
• Emotional stress

When you get to the bottom of it, the real "villain" of heart disease is typically an unhealthy lifestyle, characterized by a heavy reliance on sugars and grains, processed, highly cooked foods, and insufficient amounts of exercise – not "high cholesterol" per se.

For more information about cholesterol and how to properly evaluate your heart disease risk, please see my detailed special report on cholesterol.

WHY IS THE USA 28TH IN LIFE EXPECTANCY?

Here is the story about our lousy longevity compared to other nations:


Easy answer:


1. Staten drugs and cholesterol myth


2. Over diagnosing on behalf of Big Pharma


3. High Fructose Corn syrup


4. Chlorinated water


5. Fluoridated water


6. Cancer treatment which ain't


7. Deadly cooking oils


8. MSG and Aspartame in food


9. Avoiding the sun (no vitamin D)


10. Lazy couch potatoes


11. FDA and USDA attack alternative medicine and supplements which other nations promote


12. Food designed for shipping, packaging, eye appeal, not for nutrition


13. four thousand plus chemicals in food


14. Fast food preferred to self-cooked food


15. Bathed 24/7 in Electromagnetic Field, Micro Wave, and Radio Wave energy


16. Eat 128 lbs of sugar a year compared to 9 lbs 100 years ago


17. Avoid animal fat and tropical oils, the best fats


18. Eat on the move and snack between meals


19. Government, schools, the FDA, and Big Pharma have become the big nanny of Americans who do not believe they must take responsibility for their own health destiny.


20. Nutrition is taught (warped) in grade school instead of Medical School. Doctors have only eight hours of nutrition training.


21. Peer pressure and the medical establishment threatens the average doctor into submission to the propaganda from above. These local doctors DO NOT take their own advice because they know it is lousy.


22. Too many vaccinations that are too early, too much at a time, and do not work, AND they destroy the God given immunity process of growing up.


23. Too much health advice from people who are reporters, not medical experts who have DONE IT


24. Too much nannying from Presidents wives and politicians who are the most blasted unhealthy people on earth, like fat man Al Gore


25. Too many precautionary procedures, and too many numbers treated when the "patient" is in perfect health


26. Too many tests, mammograms, MRIs, and PSA tests-- WORSE, too may biopsies


27. ERs that are manned by drop outs from the real world of medicine


28. To many foreign drug addicted "doctors" from India and other nations. These are doctors that would have been hanged in their nation of birth if they had not fled to the sucker republic of America. Too many losers in medical professions who treat people worse than veterinarians treat pigs.


29. Dehydration treated as some other disorder. Salt avoided way too much by Americans.


30. Woman not seen by doctors as different than men until the doctor wants to shack up with one.


31. 365 plus mental disorders that have NEVER been proven to really exist in a laboratory. Then, the alleged patient is drugged unto oblivion and addiction.


32. Let's face it, Americans suffer greatly from a lack of healthy skepticism about medical professionals.


I must have missed a lot, but this is a start.


DO YOUR OWN THINKING PLEASE. You will live longer.

CANCER CURE THE TERRIFIES THAT WHOLE MEDICAL SYSTEM

The medical system, especially the multi-billion dollar cancer research fraud system, are terrified of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, for he has found the holy grail of cancer treatment. And, it is cheap compared to chemotherapy and radiation murder. Conventional cancer treatment gives the victim from 4 days to 6 months to live longer....... without hair, often deaf, turned into a sexless vegetable. And, they will almost always relapse.


I realize there have been many cancer treatment quacks. I heard about my first one in 1953 as a kid when the Coke Therapy was around California. Coke moved to Mexico and treated patients who came across the border for treatment. Was he legitimate? Who knows?


But, this history and treatment protocol of Dr. Burzynski is a very well documented episode in the treatment of cancer, and there are a large number of cancer patients who were terminal and are now in prefect health. For this, Dr. Burzynski has been hounded by the FDA, and numerous web sites that are shills for the FDA have slandered the doctor.


If you or a friend are in trouble with cancer, you need to look at the following video and meditate.



You also should read Dr. Mercola's recent suggestions on how to avoid cancer. 


Dr. Burzynski's web site


They are practical, and the FDA and medical establishment will not tell you these simple steps to live cancer free. You MUST understand something..... the medical professionals, Big Phama, and government medical agencies all are committed to keeping you sick but barely alive until age 80. This will give them the maximum opportunity to harvest cash off of YOU and off of Medicare. 


Your VA and Medicare providers all are in complicity. Most doctors have misgivings about this, but they do not have the testicles to tell you the truth and send you to alternative doctors and treatments. So, all over the world, research is walking away from the USA criminal medical mob. The USA is becoming one of the most dangerous places on earth to get medical help.


If anyone reading here has any input, please leave a comment.

FRIED OR MASHED? COULD MAKE A BIG HEALTH DIFFERENCE

Are You Eating This All-Time Favorite "Cancer-in-a-Can" Snack?

By Dr. Mercola

To understand the nature of Pringles and other stackable chips, forget the notion that they come from actual potatoes in any recognizable way.

The Pringles Company (in an effort to avoid taxes levied against "luxury foods" like chips in the UK) once even argued that the potato content of their chips was so low that they are technically not even potato chips.

So if they're not made of potatoes, what are they exactly?

The process begins with a slurry of rice, wheat, corn, and potato flakes that are pressed into shape.

This dough-like substance is then rolled out into an ultra-thin sheet cut into chip-cookies by a machine.

According to io9:

"The chips move forward on a conveyor belt until they're pressed onto molds, which give them the curve that makes them fit into one another. 

Those molds move through boiling oil ... Then they're blown dry, sprayed with powdered flavors, and at last, flipped onto a slower-moving conveyor belt in a way that allows them to stack.


From then on, it's into the cans ... and off towards the innocent mouths of the consumers."

I suspect nearly everyone reading this likely enjoys the taste of potato chips. However, they are clearly one of the most toxic processed foods you can eat—whether they're made from actual potato shavings or not.

Potato Chips are Loaded with Cancer-Causing Chemical

One of the most hazardous ingredients in potato chips is not intentionally added, but rather is a byproduct of the processing.

Acrylamide, a cancer-causing and potentially neurotoxic chemical, is created when carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at high temperatures, whether baked, fried, roasted or toasted. Some of the worst offenders include potato chips and French fries, but many foods cooked or processed at temperatures above 212°F (100°C) may contain acrylamide. As a general rule, the chemical is formed when food is heated enough to produce a fairly dry and brown/yellow surface. Hence, it can be found in:

• Potatoes: chips, French fries and other roasted or fried potato foods
• Grains: bread crust, toast, crisp bread, roasted breakfast cereals and various processed snacks
• Coffee; roasted coffee beans and ground coffee powder. Surprisingly, coffee substitutes based on chicory actually contains 2-3 times MORE acrylamide than real coffee 

How Much Acrylamide are You Consuming?

The federal limit for acrylamide in drinking water is 0.5 parts per billion, or about 0.12 micrograms in an eight-ounce glass of water. However, a six-ounce serving of French fries can contain 60 micrograms of acrylamide, or about FIVE HUNDRED times over the allowable limit.

Similarly, potato chips are notoriously high in this dangerous chemical. So high, in fact, that in 2005 the state of California actually sued potato chip makers for failing to warn California consumers about the health risks of acrylamide in their products. A settlement was reached in 2008 when Frito-Lay and several other potato chip makers agreed to reduce the acrylamide levels in their chips to 275 parts per billion (ppb) by 2011, which is low enough to avoid needing a cancer warning label.

The 2005 report "How Potato Chips Stack Up: Levels of Cancer-Causing Acrylamide in Popular Brands of Potato Chips," issued by the California-based Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), spelled out the dangers of this popular snack. Their analysis found that all potato chip products tested exceeded the legal limit of acrylamide by a minimum of 39 times, and as much as 910 times! Some of the worst offenders at that time included:

• Cape Cod Robust Russet: 910 times the legal limit of acrylamide
• Kettle Chips (lightly salted): 505 times
• Kettle Chips (honey dijon): 495 times

Beware: Baked Chips May Be WORSE than Fried!

If you think you can avoid the health risks of potato chips by choosing baked varieties, which are typically advertised as being "healthier," think again. Remember that acrylamide is formed not only when foods are fried or broiled, but also when they are baked. And according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data on acrylamide levels in foods, baked chips may contain more than three times the level of acrylamide as regular chips!

Interestingly, the same trend holds true for other foods, too, which suggests that baking processed potatoes at high temperature may be one of the worst ways to cook them. For instance, according to the FDA's data, Ore Ida Golden Fries contained 107 ppb of acrylamide in the regular fried version and 1,098 when baked. So remember, ALL potato chips contain acrylamide, regardless of whether they are natural or not; baked or fried. Likewise, they will ALL influence your insulin levels in a very negative way.

Acrylamide is Not the Only Danger

Acrylamide is not the only dangerous genotoxic compound formed when food is heated to high temperatures.

A three-year long EU project, known as Heat-Generated Food Toxicants (HEATOX), whose findings were published at the end of 2007, found there are more than 800 heat-induced compounds, of which 52 are potential carcinogens. In addition to their finding that acrylamide does pose a public health threat, the HEATOX scientists also discovered that you're far less likely to ingest dangerous levels of the toxin when you eat home-cooked foods compared to industrially or restaurant-prepared foods.

Additionally, the HEATOX findings also suggest that although there are ways to decrease exposure to acrylamide, it cannot be eliminated completely.

According to their calculations, successful application of all presently known methods would reduce the acrylamide intake by 40 percent at the most—which makes me wonder whether chip manufacturers have really succeeded at this point in reducing acrylamide levels to within legal limits... There's no updated data as of yet, so there's no telling whether they've been able to comply with the 2005 settlement.

For more in-depth information about acrylamide, I recommend reading the online report Heat-generated Food Toxicants, Identification, Characterization and Risk Minimization.  In general however, just remember that cooking food at high temperatures is ill advised. A few of the most well-known toxins created in high-temperature cooking include:

• Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs): These form when meat is cooked at high temperatures, and they're also linked to cancer. In terms of HCA, the worst part of the meat is the blackened section, which is why you should always avoid charring your meat, and never eat blackened sections.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): When fat drips onto the heat source, causing excess smoke, and the smoke surrounds your food, it can transfer cancer-causing PAHs to the meat.
• Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs): When food is cooked at high temperatures (including when it is pasteurized or sterilized), it increases the formation of AGEs in your food. When you eat the food, it transfers the AGEs into your body. AGEs build up in your body over time leading to oxidative stress, inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease.

The Search for a "Healthful" Chip Continues...

Like a modern-day search for the Holy Grail, chip manufacturers keep searching for methods to improve the image of their health-harming but profitable snacks. For example, by the end of 2011, about half of Pepsi's Frito-Lay brand snacks will be reformulated with all-natural ingredients. The switch is part of PepsiCo's master plan to tap into the healthy foods market share. The Wall Street Journal recently reported the company hopes to boost their nutrition business from $10 billion to $30 billion by 2020.

The company will remove dietary hazards like monosodium glutamate (MSG), replacing it with natural seasonings, such as molasses and paprika. Artificial colors will be replaced with beet juice, purple cabbage and carrots. All in all, about different 60 snacks are scheduled to get an all-natural makeover.

This is certainly a good example of how consumer demand can alter the direction of food manufacturers in a positive way.

The reformulated chips may end up being less bad for you than the original formulations. However, chips will never be truly healthful. All-natural chips may be the lesser of two evils, but if consumed regularly, they will still push your health in the wrong direction... There's no getting away from the fact that modern plagues such as cancer, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes have a dietary component, and potato chips and French fries will always be a losing bet if you want to avoid becoming another disease statistic.

How to Avoid Heat-Induced Toxins in Your Diet

Ideally, you should consume foods that are raw or minimally processed to avoid these types of toxic byproducts—the more raw food, the better. My nutrition plan emphasizes the need for at least one-third of your foods to be consumed raw. Personally, I consume about 80 percent of my food raw, and I find it is one of the most important factors that help keep me healthy.

It may take you awhile to switch over to a less processed diet, but throwing out the most obvious culprits would be a great start.

These would include:

• French fries and potato chips
• All sodas (both regular and diet, as artificial sweeteners may be more problematic than fructose)
• Doughnuts

Healthy Eating Made Easy

Aside from creating potentially toxic byproducts, cooking and processing also depletes the food of valuable micronutrients, which is another reason for eating as much raw food as possible. This includes protein sources such as eggs. Raw whole eggs from organic, pastured chickens are an incredible source of high-quality nutrients that many are deficient in. Raw milk is another good example of a food that is beneficial in its raw state but becomes harmful after it is pasteurized.

By opting for foods that will benefit your health, such as raw, preferably organic and/or locally-grown vegetables, organic grass-fed meats, healthy oils, raw dairy, nuts and seeds, you can change your health for the better. These are the foods that are truly natural, and quite easy to prepare once you get the hang of it.

For a step-by-step guide to make the transition to a healthier diet as simple and smooth as possible, simply follow the advice in my optimized nutrition plan.

Remember, eating fresh whole foods is the "secret" to getting healthier, losing weight and really enjoying your food. It's unfortunate that so many are under the mistaken belief that it's "next to impossible" to create a meal without processed foods. Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough tackle this issue head-on in their book Real Food Has Curves, which is a great starting point to "relearn" the basics of how to enjoy and prepare real food.

Once you get used to it, you'll find you can whip up a healthful meal from scratch in the same amount of time it would have taken you to drive down the street to pick up fast food. The main difference will be greater satisfaction, both physically and mentally, and perhaps even financially, as processed foods typically end up being more expensive than cooking from scratch.

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP CON JOB

We lead off this new blog by exposing one of the most wicked food (which is ain't) tricks. It is about to go into hiding via the FDA's wimpy policy with big business:
_______________________________


HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP NAME GAME


High-Fructose Corn Syrup is a man-made sweetener used in hundreds of grocery store products.

But High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has a serious image problem. Consumers are avoiding it. Food companies are taking it out of the products they make. Some supermarkets have banned it. Demand for this highly-processed ingredient is falling fast.

So the corporations that make HFCS decided that changing the name was a way to fix this problem. They are trying to change the rules so that HFCS can legally be called "corn sugar" and ultimately maybe just "sugar" so we won’t know what we’re eating.

So far, these corporations have spent more than $50 million dollars on deceptive television advertising in an attempt to convince U.S. consumers that High-Fructose Corn Syrup is “corn sugar.”

But High-Fructose Corn Syrup is not sugar.

Sugar only comes from sugar cane and sugar beets. Corn is a starch that doesn’t have enough sugar in it naturally to be used as a sweetener. So the corn has to be altered in a lab and then fructose is chemically bonded to it to make it sweet......
MORE HERE

ANOTHER TAKE ON THIS


You need to understand that YOU are expendable as far as the FDA and big business are concerned. They are driven by the lust for wealth. Yes, the FDA is lusting for cash. How? Answer-- When you work for the FDA, and then retire, these big businesses that the FDA rules for will hire you for a second career.


1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.