Deficiencies in Vitamin D have been linked to numerous health problems, some very serious. According to a new study, we can now add increased chance of muscle injury to the already long list.

These findings are significant for everyone: Numerous studies have already shown a widespread Vitamin D deficiency among most Americans, and muscle injuries are among the most common of all complaints.

The new study of the relationship of between Vitamin D and muscle injuries was conducted among 89 National Football League players. During routine pre-season evaluations, in the spring 2010, researchers tested the Vitamin D levels of all the players from a single NFL team.

The study then correlated the Vitamin D levels with each players’ race – white, African American, Asian, and so on – with with the number of muscle injuries and their severity. Severity was measured as the amount of time lost due to the injury.

In every case, the lower the vitamin D level found, the greater the chances of muscle injury and of increased severity. Also, the Vitamin D level in the majority of the athletes in the study, regardless of whether or not they were injured, was insufficient to sustain optimal health – roughly the same as the general population.

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The digestive system is a key factor in the health of just about every vital organ, function and system in the body. Digestive processes and biological elements regulate our energy levels, immunity, and nutritional status. A healthy body starts with a healthy gut. A new study suggests that when our digestive system is out of whack, it’s not just our body that suffers: it also adversely affects our mental and emotional state.

The study, conducted at McMaster University’s Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute and published in the online edition of Gastroenterology, tested the mental and emotional reactions in mice to changes in the bacterial content of the gut.

The gut plays host to about 1,000 trillion bacteria, all of which perform vital functions. These are ‘good’ bacteria. But when the good bacteria is overwhelmed by the bad – as in the case of taking antibiotics, which kills both good and bad bacteria –the gastrointestinal tract ceases to function as it should. As a result, our energy level goes down, nutrients are not absorbed and passed through to the rest of the body, and we become much more susceptible to infection.

According to the new study, an imbalance of bad bacteria to good can also cause anxiety and depression.

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In 1996, Monsanto introduced a new genetic modification to their corn crops. This particular modification consisted of equipping the corn’s DNA with a gene from soil bacteria called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which produces the Bt-toxin. The public was told that the toxin would not survive in humans, and, therefore, was harmless. But a new study has proven otherwise.

At the time the toxin was introduced to the crops, both Monsanto – the granddaddy of genetically modified (GM) foods – and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assured us that the toxin was safe. It breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them, which is why it was used in the first place, but was supposed to be completely destroyed by the human digestive system.

The new study, conducted by doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec, found that the vast majority of pregnant women tested had the Bt toxin in their blood, and in the blood of their babies.

There were 30 pregnant women tested. The blood of 93 percent of the women contained the Bt toxin, as did the umbilical cord blood of 80 percent of their babies. Also tested was the blood of 39 non-pregnant women; 67 percent contained the toxin.

The effects of the Bt toxin have long been proven, through studies on animals and humans as well as anecdotal evidence, to be associated with a variety of diseases and health conditions, including: rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, various types of cancer, allergies, Lou Gehrig’s disease, autoimmune disease, colitis and multiple sclerosis.

In fact, knowing how the Bt toxin can affect the immune system has experts around the world wondering if it is connected to the shocking increase in several diseases and health conditions. Consequently, several organizations are calling for a ban on GM foods and further investigation into their safety.

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Health Freedom Resources recently released a message warning the public against the consumption of artificial sweeteners, such as Nutrasweet® and Equal®, which contain Aspartame.

“Aspartame, Nutrasweet/Equal are artificial sweeteners that can cause serious problems to one’s health if consumed too frequently,” said Ron Radstrom of Health Freedom Resources.

Aspartame becomes a problem because it breaks down to its poisonous constituents at 86 degrees —  Aspartic Acid (40%), Phenylalanine (50%) and Methanol (10%.) The temperature of the stomach is 98.6 degrees, which induces the immediate breakdown of Aspartame, causing the body to readily absorb these poisons — and left to deal with the problems and side effects that coincide.

These poisonous breakdowns have dangerous effects on the body.

Aspartame breakdown products can kill brain cells, can cause nerve damage, can trigger migraine headaches, can attack the body’s tissues and can create Formaldehyde, which remains in the tissues indefinitely and has been linked to causing cancer.  

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It’s amazing how many people who have a problem with addiction to painkillers start taking the drugs again after they’ve gone through addiction treatment. However, a new study on Acupuncture shows it could help prevent relapse, and even make withdrawal a little easier.

Being addicted to drugs used to be considered a somewhat shameful thing. But, these days, with so many people in chronic pain (nearly ¼ of the U.S. population), and with powerful addictive drugs being the ‘treatment’ offered by so many doctors, addiction has become rampant.

This trend has resulted in an epidemic of prescription painkiller addiction affecting doctors, lawyers, accountants, housewives, laborers – no profession or walk of life is exempt.  It comes as a surprise to most people to learn that the acetaminophen in their opioid painkiller could be more dangerous to them than the potentially deadly codeine, oxycodone and hydrocodone in those pills.

Getting off these drugs is very difficult; people need all the help they can get.

The new study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital, involved 48 patients, aged 18 through 59. Each was addicted to opioids (an opium-derived painkiller), and each sought treatment in an in-patient drug rehab facility.

Half of the group received transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation (TEAS), a form of Acupuncture that uses skin electrodes to apply electrical stimulation at specific points on the body; the other half were treated with simulated TEAS – not the real thing.

Two weeks after the patients completed the treatment program, 65 percent of those who had not received the real Acupuncture treatments were back on the painkillers. Of those who did receive the Acupuncture treatment, only 29 percent had reverted.

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Doctors across America have been prescribing high doses of opioid painkillers and not carefully monitoring those patients to make sure they are okay, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The study found that the higher the dose of opioids prescribed, the more likely it is that patients might suffer an overdose. Without saying so directly, the study clearly implies that physicians have been remiss in their duty to monitor how patients are doing on higher doses of opioid painkillers.

The authors concluded that “patients who receive higher doses require careful monitoring” by prescribing physicians. Doctors need to make sure their patients follow directions exactly as prescribed, and are not experiencing unwanted side effects.

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