Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hydration is Vital for Optimum Health

Sunday, April 26, 2009 by: Sheryl Walters, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) The human body is made up primarily of water. In fact, approximately 75 percent of your body is water and 25 percent is solid matter. Water is essential for absorbing nutrients, eliminating waste, cellular activity and all of the actions necessary for life. Drinking enough water is vital for preventing disease and enjoying a sense of wellbeing.

Without water, our bodies are unable to remove environmental toxins that most of us are exposed to daily. Generally speaking, people who suffer from chronic diseases are seriously dehydrated since the skin, stomach, liver, kidney, heart and brain rely on proper water intake. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic pain, headaches, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, cancer, Alzheimer`s, and many other diseases are often preceded by many years of not enough water. Many illnesses could be significantly improved by simply giving the body sufficient amounts of water so that toxins and waste can be removed.

When dehydrated, the body is seriously stressed, just as it would be if you were in a drought. This creates a fight or flight situation, meaning that stress chemicals are released to deal with the situation. When these chemicals are continually released over long periods of time, chronic disease is inevitable.

Unfortunately in modern society, most people reach for black tea, coffee, soda and alcohol instead of pure water when thirsty. While these beverages contain water, they are actually dehydrating. When these are consumed, the body requires even more water. Over consumption of caffeine, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners, e-numbers and other chemicals are stressful for the body, leading to suboptimal health. It is ironic that in our society where we have access to so much, most people`s bodies are functioning as if there is a famine due to lack of water as well as lack of nutrients from healthy food.

Dehydrating drinks create a strong diuretic effect, which means that the kidneys are overworked. They create imbalances in blood sugar levels, which can lead to tiredness and even diabetes, although they seem to boost energy levels in the short term. Chemicals and sugar can even lead to Attention Deficit Disorder, foggy brain and unclear thinking. Large quantities of water are needed to process these drinks.

Instead of addressing the underlying problem of dehydration, most people turn to pharmaceutical drugs to deal with their ill health. Pain killers and medications compound the problem since they also contain chemicals that the body has to deal with, leading to even more dehydration and potentially health compromising side effects. By simply giving your body the important nutrient of water, you are preventing disease with very little effort.

Just because you don`t feel thirsty, does not mean that you are not in severe need of water. This is because when the body believes that there is not enough water, it will turn off its thirst reaction. But don`t be fooled, when there is not enough water and the thirst signal is turned off, the body is in emergency mode. You may begin to hold on to water in your legs, feet, arms and face. There may be a decrease in urination, keeping the body from excreting potentially harmful waste. You may notice that if you drink plenty of water for several weeks, your thirst signal returns and communicates your need for this vital nutrient once again.

A common excuse for not drinking more water is fear of having to go to the toilet too often. When the body is severely dehydrated for a long period of time, it loses its ability to use the water efficiently. Therefore, it will simply get rid of the water because it does not know what to do with it. After some time, it will become balanced and the constant need to urinate will disappear.


See the rest of the story HERE

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Mother's Act - Mandatory Screening of Moms for Depression is Like a Bad Movie Rerun

Monday, April 20, 2009 by: Evelyn Pringle, health freedom writer

(NaturalNews) The promotion of the Mother's Act is like a rewind of a bad movie dating back to the 1960's when rock stars were singing songs about "mother's little helpers."

Women fought for years to gain acceptance of the fact that many female health problems were real and not symptoms of hypochondria. The psycho-pharmaceutical cartel's profit-driven invention of an epidemic of pregnancy-related mental disorders will wipe out a century of work toward that acceptance.

Sadly, the end result of this latest marketing scheme will be that the relatively few women who truly do suffer from postpartum depression will not be taken seriously.

The Mother's Act legislation has already passed in the US House of Representatives. A majority vote in the Senate would represent a major coup for a multibillion dollar industry.

"Like many of the acts of Congress, the real beneficiary will not be the mothers and their children but the "mental health" workers who will be handsomely paid and the drug companies that are behind this legislation," says Steve Hayes, the director of he Novus Medical Detox Center, in the center's July 31, 2008 newsletter.

"The drug store chains will expand more because more people will be hooked on these dangerous drugs," he points out.

"Doctor's offices will be more crowded because we know that these dangerous drugs often lead to serious health side effects that will require medical treatment," he writes.
The advocacy groups battling against passage of the Mother's Act are nearly equal in number to the Act's supporters, and include Unite for Life, AbleChild, the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology; Alliance for Human Research Protection; International Coalition For Drug Awareness; Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, Mindfreedom International, and the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
Same old song and dance
The Mother's Act technique has been used again and again in this country. A new sub-group of people is identified as not receiving enough treatment for mental disorders and the drug makers funnel money to front groups to fund the disease marketing campaign and set up screening programs.

The internet is now flooded with reports about the rise in pregnancy related disorders and the places to find treatment. Websites with names like "Postpartum Progress" and "PerinatalPro," provide links to programs that claim women need screening for postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders.

However, nowhere to be found, are reports about the sub-groups targeted in the past and all the depressed and anxious patients who became mentally healthy as a result of being screened and treated.

Dr David Cohen, a professor of Social Work at Florida International University and co-author with Dr Peter Breggin of the book, "Your Drug May Be Your Problem," gave a keynote address titled, "Needed: Critical Thinking About Psychiatric Medications," at the International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health, in Quebec City, Canada in May 2004, and noted the following:

"For the past 50 years, physicians in the West have been prescribing
psychotropic drugs systematically to hundreds of millions of people to alter undesirable and disruptive emotions and behavior."

"For the treatment of every single psychological affliction in men and women, in all ethnic groups, from the toddler to the aged, taking psychotropic drugs is now the cornerstone remedy, all other efforts secondary."

"Despite the reliance on psychopharmaceuticals, however, not even modest improvements in the incidence, prevalence, relapse rate, duration, or long-term outcome of any condition routinely treated today with psychotropics, such as depression and schizophrenia, can be discerned."

The full report cn be found here