Do you eat your meat and potatoes together at the same meal? If you’re a vegetarian that answer is obviously a resounding “no,” but for millions of people it’s something they’ve probably never even thought twice about.
“He’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy” is of course a common phrase and just one example of how eating these two favorite foods together has become ingrained in our DNA.
It’s a practice that hasn’t been questioned much, but the truth is that eating meat and starches like potatoes together could be doing serious harm to your body’s systems.
Should you really abandon your favorite Sunday meal of meat and potatoes? If you truly care about your health then the evidence is pretty clear.
The Problem With “Meat and Potatoes”
The science of food combining is not well known, but many naturopathic doctors have discovered some surprising patterns and rules for better health.
One of the biggest no-no’s is actually combining meat such as steak with high starch carbohydrates such as potatoes, or even buns with your hamburgers.
Dr. Wayne Pickering, a longtime friend of fitness legend Jack Lalanne, tells us why in this article.
“Starches require an alkaline digestive medium to digest,” he notes. But meat such as steaks require heavy acids to digest. “If you put your fist in your stomach while it’s digesting steaks and all that, chances are, you wouldn’t have a hand anymore. The acid is intense…”
When you mix meat and starches together in the same meal, Dr. Pickering says, your body chemistry does not allow them to mix at all.
“They neutralize…Then what happens? If the food is not digesting… it’s going through your body (undigested), throwing it into all kinds of turmoil.”
That type of turmoil can consist of: heartburn, discomforting gas, acid reflux, serious digestive issues and much more. To make matters worse, your body will be deprived of key nutrients from the food you just ate.
One Doctor’s Incredible Personal Story
Cutting out the meat and potatoes (or just bread and meat) together is one highly effective way that Dr. William Howard Hay, founder of the Hay Diet, was able to recover his health, and lose a ton of weight for that matter.
He had weighed 225 pounds and suffered from all sorts of medical conditions including a dilated heart, which he found out about while attempting to catch a fast-moving train.
Using the simple plan of not eating proteins such as meat with starches, he began to treat himself and lost 50 pounds in about three months while recovering from his life-threatening heart condition.
Dr. Hay then went on to create the Hay Diet (this book from Doris Grant has a good rundown) and the rest is history.
Suffice it to say if you’ve noticed any of the symptoms above or had any health problems similar to Dr. Hay’s, it may be time to stop eating your meat and potatoes together and see what kind of differences you notice.
Health is complex, but at the end of the day this one simple change really could save your health, not to mention your life.
“Cancer is a fungus, called candida albicans, and it can be treated using sodium bicarbonate”. So says Tulio Simoncini
Simoncini is a former Italian oncologist in Rome who developed a theory that all cancer is caused exclusively by a fungus called candida albicans. His alternative cancer treatment is simple: To alkalise the body and tumour by the use of a cheap, common compound, sodium bicarbonate, tackling the candida, shrinking the tumour and stopping metastases. Thus it is also a natural cancer cure.
Candida, beneficial bacteria, acid bodies and cancer
The background to Simoncini´s work involves the following theoretical elements:
Firstly, acid bodies are known to be linked to ill health and cancer.
Secondly, sodium bicarbonate can alkalise your body. It has been used in many preparations as an antacid; an indigestion aid. You can buy a small pot of it in high street chemists for a little over one pound.
Thirdly, the beneficial bacteria in your intestine are now known to direct up to 85 per cent of your immune response, to release anti-cancer vitamins (like biotin, B-12, folic acid, vitamin K) from your foods and even to produce a compound (sodium butyrate) which causes cancer cells to self-destruct. Beneficial bacteria work imperfectly if the acidity of the gut increases.
However, fourthly, at night when you sleep, beneficial bacteria digest vast quanities of microbes, fungus and yeasts that you consumed during the day with your food. In fact their favourite food is the yeast or fungus, Candida albicans. So, they are your first line of defence.
So how might candida cause cancer?
Candida albicans is known to be able to escape the intestine and travel around the body in the blood stream. Oregano oil and cinnamon can kill the yeast in the blood stream. About 25 per cent of type-2 Diabetics were shown to improve when given cinnamon. This is because the fungus sits on the outer membranes of cells, preventing crucial receptor sites from working properly – in the case of diabetes, those receptor sites are for insulin. However, candida also produces a sugar-like waste product. people with higher blood sugar levels develop more cancer; and survive less.
But there is a second potential problem. Yeasts like candida are anaerobes – this means they generate their energy in the absence of oxygen. Once in the blood stream they can colonise certain local areas of the body and greatly reduce the oxygen levels in that area. The result is that the local cells do not die, but switch their own energy production from an oxygen-based system to one that doesn´t use oxygen. This is the system employed by cancer cells, which also do not use oxygen to generate their energy from food molecules. In fact, Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize in 1931 for telling the world this property of cancer cells and that oxygen was their enemy!
Is it, then, any surprise then that women who had taken antibiotics more than 25 times during their lifetime had twice the risk of breast cancer, according to research covered in CANCER actives research service Cancer Watch? Their friendly bacteria were reduced allowing candida more chance to survive in the gut and move to the blood stream. Their immune systems were weak, indicated by the illnesses that required the antibiotics. And so on.
Dr Simoncini was a respected Italian Oncologist until he developed his theory … His theory is that all cancer is caused by the fungus, candida albicans. His cure is to alkalse the body to produce conditions in which the candida could not thrive. His main weapon is the inexpensive, sodium bicarbonate. He was struck off, in Italy.
Consuming lemon water, helps metabolize the acidic temperament of the body alleviating and preventing acne breakouts.
You can also rub the juiced lemons on your face to help with acne.
2. Appetite Suppression and Weight Loss
The vitamins and enzymes in lemons help regulate blood sugar in order to maintain normal weight levels. Pectin fiber helps fight hunger cravings. Lemon juice is also a digestive aid. It encourages the production of bile, which is what breaks down food during digestion.
3. Flushes Out Kidney Stones
Potassium in lemons helps increase citrate levels in the urine to prevent oxalate from forming.
4. Boosts your immune system
Lemon water is a great support to the lymphatic system, which works in conjunction with your immune system to trap and eliminate pathogens.
5. Gall Bladder Pain
Drinking lemon water while eating has helped some deal with painful gall bladder stones.
6. Cold and Flu Remedy
Lemons are high in vitamin C, a natural antioxidant that enhances the immune system and has antiviral and antibacterial properties.
7. GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease)
One reader used to go through TUMS like candy and since drinking lemon water, two weeks later, she hasn’t needed them.
8. Harder Finger Nails
Several people mention they feel lemon water has increased the hardness of nails and cleared up white spots seen on them.
9. Fights Off Food-Borne Illnesses
This might be handy while traveling. Drink lemon water to avoid food poisoning.
10. Helps Deal With Fibromyalgia
A combination of lemon water and yoga stretches helps a reader deal with exhaustion due to fibromyalgia.
11. Reduces Inflammation
Lemons have anti-inflammatory properties. They also help neutralize acidity which is the main cause of tissue inflammation.
12. Relieves Sore Muscles After Exercise
Have a hard workout? Squeeze a lemon into a glass of water and feel the pain ease.
13. Reduces Joint Swelling And Pain
Lemon water can help reduce uric acid in our joints, which is one of the main causes of inflammation, especially as related to arthritis.
One reader suffered a compressed vertebrae and the doctors were surprised that she was in less pain than is normal–she credits drinking lemon water.
14. Reduces Alcohol Cravings
Whether you’re in recovery or just cutting back, one reader reports success by drinking lemon water at parties to help kick a craving for alcohol.
15. Helps With Colitis
Colitis is an imbalance of acid/alkaline levels in the body so it’s no wonder that lemons can help with this. Drinking a glass of lemon water a day is a great way to bring your pH levels back into balance and reduce acidity.
Although I’ve been aware of the recent positive discussion of cannabis oil as a treatment for various serious diseases, I was still skeptical to consider this as a viable solution for certain health disorders. After all, so many people these days are looking for the perfect miracle pill to solve their health issues! Is this another panacea? Is this another way of buying into the mentality of one-size-fits-all treatments that come in a bottle without making any necessary dietary and life style changes?
In the end, it all depends on how we really make use of these extracts that nature provided us and how clearly we see the “big picture” of true healing.
So it was time I found out more! I interviewed one of my colleagues with extensive knowledge on the matter – Steven Sinay, VP of Nutritional Science for Empower Genetics and a fellow Metabolic Typing practitioner. This article is what he kindly shared with me on the very interesting topic of cannabis oil.
Understanding Cannabis Oil
Raluca Schachter: What is cannabis oil and how does it work?
Steven Sinay: Cannabis Oil is a thick, sticky, resinous substance that is extracted from the cannabis plant (Cannabis sativaor Cannabis indica). Cannabis oil is a base product that is prepared by separating the resins from the cannabis flowers (buds) using a solvent extraction process. Cannabis oil contains several Cannabinoids including Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component, and Cannabidiol (CBD), the medicinal component of cannabis.
For legal purposes becoming more commonly used over Cannabis oil, is Hemp oil which is being grown in Europe to have higher levels of CBD and with no THC. In 2001, the DEA issued a rule banning all import and cultivation of industrial grade hemp. In 2003, the Hemp Industries Association filed an Urgent Motion for Stay in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court sided with the Hemp Industries Association.
In the decision, Judge Betty Fletcher wrote, “[T]hey (DEA) cannot regulate naturally occurring THC not contained within or derived from marijuana-i.e., non-psychoactive hemp is not included in Schedule I. The DEA has no authority to regulate drugs that are not scheduled, and it has not followed procedures required to schedule a substance. The DEA’s definition of “THC” contravenes the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and cannot be upheld.”
Judge Fletcher is essentially saying that the DEA cannot regulate hemp or the chemicals within it because hemp contains no THC, is not marijuana, and is therefore not covered under the controlled substances act; and the DEA cannot regulate substances that have not been scheduled. This is why you can purchase and sell CBD hemp oil.
Over the last 20 years Cannabis has been at the center of one of the most exciting and underreported developments in recent modern science. Research on marijuana’s effects led directly to the discovery of an unknown biochemical communication system in the human body, the Endocannabinoid System, which plays a crucial role in regulating our physiology, mood, and everyday experience.
The discovery of receptors in the brain that respond pharmacologically to Cannabis and the subsequent identification of endogenous cannabinoid compounds in our own bodies that bind to these receptors has significantly advanced our understanding of human biology, health, and disease.
It is an established scientific fact that cannabinoids and other components of cannabis can modulate many physiological systems in the human brain and body. Cannabinoids are chemical compounds that trigger cannabinoid and other receptors. More than 100 cannabinoids have been identified in the marijuana plant. Of these, THC and CBD have been studied most extensively. In addition to cannabinoids produced by the plant, there are endogenous cannabinoids (anandamide and 2AG) that occur naturally in the body, as well as synthetic cannabinoids created by pharmaceutical researchers.
Cannabinoids promote homeostasis at every level of biological life, from the sub-cellular, to the organism, and perhaps to the community and beyond. Here’s one example: autophagy, a process in which a cell sequesters part of its contents to be self-digested and recycled, is mediated by the cannabinoid system. While this process keeps normal cells alive, allowing them to maintain a balance between the synthesis, degradation, and subsequent recycling of cellular products, it has a deadly effect on malignant tumor cells, causing them to consume themselves in a programmed cellular suicide. The death of cancer cells, of course, promotes homeostasis and survival at the level of the entire organism.
Scientists associated with the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) have elucidated a number of molecular pathways whereby CBD exerts a therapeutic impact. A preclinical study by Dr. Sean McAllister and his colleagues at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco reports on how CBD kills breast cancer by down regulating a gene called ID-1, which is implicated in several types of aggressive cancer. Silencing the ID-1 gene is thus is an excellent strategy for a cancer treatment.
Extensive preclinical research much of it sponsored by the U.S. Government (see U.S. Patent below) indicates that CBD has potent anti-tumoral, antioxidant, anti-spasmodic, anti-psychotic, anti-convulsive, and neuroprotective properties. CBD directly activates serotonin receptors, causing an anti-depressant effect, as well.
The United States Government holds U.S. Patent 6,630,507 (filed 1999) on Cannabinoids stating in their patent: “Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention.”
Raluca Schachter: Under what conditions has cannabis oil proved to be most successful?
Steven Sinay: According to many CBD Researchers the following are a list of conditions that the use of CBD has been shown to improve: Acne, ADD/ADHD, Addiction, AIDS, ALS, Alzheimer’s Disease, Anorexia, Antibiotic Resistance, Anxiety, Atherosclerosis, Arthritis, Asthma, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Cancer, Colitis/Crohn’s, Depression, Diabetes, Endocrine Disorders, Epilepsy/Seizure, Fibromyalgia, Glaucoma, Heart Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Inflammatory Disorders, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, Metabolic Syndrome, Migraines, Mood Disorders, Motion Sickness, Multiple Sclerosis, Nausea, Neurodegeneration, Neuropathic Pain, Obesity, OCD, Osteoporosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Prion/Mad Cow Disease, PTSD, Rheumatism, Schizophrenia, Sickle Cell Anemia, Skin Conditions, Sleep Disorders, Spinal Cord Injury, and Stress Stroke/TBI.
Raluca Schachter: What should we look out for, in terms of the quality of cannabis oil?
Steven Sinay: Since cannabis oil products have only been in the market place for a short period of time, it is important to source these products just as you would your produce, meat, fish, etc. As far as I can tell there are not a lot of regulatory organizations monitoring the quality and purity of these sources. Be sure to look for a product that has gone through some sort of third party lab testing that detect contaminants like pesticides, fungicides, mycotoxins, microbes, etc. Equally as important consumers need to be aware of the concentration of their medicinal cannabis.
It is fundamental in allowing the consumer to choose the correct medicine for their symptoms, as well as determining the proper dose. It’s good practice to find a manufacturer that is not afraid to allow access to each Certificate of Analysis on every batch they produce. Here in the United States a non THC CBD product is classified as a dietary supplement and is legal in all 50 states.
Raluca Schachter: The nutritional world is quite flooded with hypes these days. But as we know through Metabolic Typing ®, there is no nutrient, remedy or food that can be beneficial for everybody. Any nutrient has different effects in different metabolisms, biochemically speaking. So there are no one size fits all remedies, really. From your experience, have you had the chance to observe how this remedy had different effects in different metabolisms?
Steven Sinay: As previously mentioned, at the right dosage, CBD has been shown to significantly help with anxiety, pain, neurodegeneration, inflammation, etc. An appropriately high dosage of CBD will give you all the desired effects you need, and there is really no risk of overdose as CBD is harmless even in high concentrations. However, most people will feel little effect if they take too low a dosage, effectively wasting CBD’s powerful beneficial properties.
With the above in mind, the importance of correct CBD dosage becomes obvious. People with different requirements and different metabolisms will need accordingly different CBD dosages to experience CBD’s positive effects, and dosages can vary dramatically because there is no one-size-fits-all “typical CBD dosage.” While there is no such thing as “too much CBD,” you can in fact take too little to feel a difference. Dosage can range anywhere from 2-3 mg, up to 100 mg, 200 mg, or 500 mg to 1000 mg on the super high end. Remember, you cannot overdose and there are no reported side effects from taking high concentrations of CBD. Most people only need around 2-3 mg per day to start feeling a difference. Yet people with stronger needs may need to start at a lower dose and work their way up until they find the right dose for their body.
Raluca Schachter:What are your thoughts regarding the future of cannabis in the medical field?
Steven Sinay: This is the $64,000 Dollar Question! With our government holding a patent on several Cannabinoids, it leads one to be a little skeptical. Why? The forces that would keep cannabis illegal are vocal and very well-funded, but they are not impervious to persistent effort. The lynch pin in the War on Drugs has always been cannabis. Without the suppression and interdiction of this popular and widely used substance, there simply would not be enough “illegal drug use” going on to justify the huge amount of money and resources spent on “fighting drugs.” Once again all based on the all mighty dollar!
I feel CBD and other Cannabinoids with the persistence from those who can, and are truly benefiting from its medicinal properties, along with natural healers promoting its use, will find its place in future modern medicine. Time will tell.
When it comes to taking herbs for medicinal purposes, it seems the mainstream belief is that they are not as effective and not worth taking. While the effectiveness of herbs has not been studied deeply to determine how well they work across the entire population, the same could be said for most pharmaceutical drugs. Much of the time, pharmaceutical drugs attempt to mimic a compound that occurs in nature (herbs), but often bring the risk of side effects in the process.
Safety is one of the most critical areas of review amongst herbs and drugs. According to stats released by the American Association of Poison Control Centers, no deaths have been reported due to the use and consumption of herbs.[4] However, pharmaceutical drugs and physician prescribed medications kill approximately one million Americans each year. While it is important to note that herbal medicines can be lethal in extreme doses, it appears their safety is much greater than that of pharmaceutical drugs. [2]
Interestingly, pharmaceutical drugs are actually adding to the world-wide issue of declining health due to their side effects and encouragement of viral resistance. Antibiotics in particular are adding to the wave of increased viral strength when it comes to certain infections. [3] Herbs, on the other hand, can be a useful tool in fighting infections that have turned into superbugs due to the overuse of antibiotics.
It is always useful to perform as much research as possible, or as you see fit, when it comes to both pharmaceutical drugs and herbs prior to taking them. Just as we approach the use of herbs with skepticism, so too should we approach the use of any pharmaceutical drugs with the same discerning eye.
Contrary to popular belief, our reluctance to use herbs in Western culture is not a result of their inefficacy. It is because pharmaceutical companies (and those who can benefit from the sale of pharmaceutical drugs) have done a great job of making them seem unsafe and inadequate. Herbs cannot be patented and owned, unlike synthetic drugs, which is why many pharma companies operate the way they do. Seek out the assistance of a naturopathic doctor, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, ayurveda practioner, or herbologist before you use herbs. Like any medical issue, each illness can have different root causes and it’s always important to understand them before relying on any treatment to solve the entire problem.
Below is a list of herbs that can not only boost lung and respiratory health but can also repair it.
Herb information is courtesy of John Summerlywhois a nutritionist, herbologist, and homeopathic practitioner.
1. Licorice Root – Glycyrrhiza Glabra
Licorice is one of the more widely consumed herbs in the world. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it occurs in more formulas than any other single herb because it is thought to harmonize the action of all other herbs. Licorice is very soothing and softens the mucous membranes of the throat and especially the lungs and stomach, and at the same time cleanses any inflamed mucous membrane that needs immune system support . It reduces the irritation in the throat and yet has an expectorant action. It is the saponins (detergent-like action) that loosen the phlegm in the respiratory tract so that the body can expel the mucus. Compounds within this root help relieve bronchial spasms and block the free radical cells that produce the inflammation and tightening of the airways. The compounds also have antibacterial and antiviral effects to them as well, which helps fight off viral and bacterial strains in the body that can cause lung infections. Glycrrhizins and flavonoids can even help prevent lung cancer cells from forming. For people with high blood pressure this should be taken with caution.
2. Coltsfoot – Tussilago Farfara
Coltsfoot has been traditionally used by Native Americans for thousands of years to strengthen the lungs. It clears out excess mucus from the lungs and bronchial tubes. It also soothes the mucus membranes in the lungs and has been shown in research to assist with asthma, coughs, bronchitis, and other lung ailments. Coltsfoot is available in dried form for tea or as an alcohol extract known as a tincture.
3. Cannabis
The toxic breakdown of therapeutic compounds in cannabis from burning the plant are totally avoided with vaporization. Extracting and inhaling cannabinoid essential oils of the unprocessed plant affords significant mitigation of irritation to the oral cavity that comes from smoking. Cannabis is perhaps one of the most effective anti-cancer plants in the world, shown in study after study to stimulate cannabinoid receptor activation in specific genes and mediate the anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids. Vaporizing cannabis allows the active ingredients to stimulate the body’s natural immune response and significantly reduces the ability of infections to spread. Vaporizing cannabis (especially with very high amounts of cannabinoids) opens up airways and sinuses, acting as a bronchodilator. It is even a proven method for treatment and reversal of asthma.
4. Osha Root – Ligusticum porteri
Osha is an herb native to the Rocky Mountain area and has historically been used by the Native Americans for respiratory support. The roots of the plant contain camphor and other compounds which make it one of the best lung-support herbs in America. One of the main benefits of osha root is that it helps increase circulation to the lungs, which makes it easier to take deep breaths. Also, when seasonal sensitivities flare up your sinuses, osha root, which is not an actual antihistamine, produces a similar effect and may help calm respiratory irritation.
5. Thyme – Thymus
Thyme is very powerful in the fight against chest congestion. It produces powerful antiseptic essential oils which are classified as naturally antibiotic and anti-fungal. Thyme is well known to zap acne more so than expensive prescription creams, gels, and lotions. Thyme tea has the power to chase away and eliminate bacteria and viruses, so whether your infection is based on one or the other, it will still work. Thyme has been used as a lung remedy since antiquity and is used extensively today to prevent and treat respiratory tract infections and bacterial infection pneumonia.
6. Oregano
Although oregano contains the vitamins and nutrients required by the immune system, its primary benefits are owed to its carvacrol and rosmarinic acid content. Both compounds are natural decongestants and histamine reducers that have direct, positive benefits on the respiratory tract and nasal passage airflow. Oil of oregano fights off the dangerous bacteria Staphylococcus aureus better than the most common antibiotic treatments. Oregano has so many health benefits that a bottle of organic oregano oil should be in everyone’s medicine cabinet.
7. Lobelia Inflata
Did you know that horses given lobelia are able to breathe more deeply? Its benefits are not limited to equestrians. It has been used as an “asthmador” in Appalachian folk medicine. Lobelia, by some accounts, is thought to be one of the most valuable herbal remedies in existence. Extracts of Lobelia Inflata contain lobeline, which showed positive effects in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Lobelia contains an alkaloid known as lobeline, which thins mucus and breaks up congestion. Additionally, lobelia stimulates the adrenal glands to release epinephrine; in effect, this relaxes the airways and allows for easier breathing. Also, because lobelia helps to relax smooth muscles, it is included in many cough and cold remedies. Lobelia should be part of everyone’s respiratory support protocol!
Elecampane has been used by Native Americans for many years to clear out excess mucus that impairs lung function. It is known as a natural antibacterial agent for the lungs, helping to lessen infection, particularly for people who are prone to lung infections like bronchitis. Herbal practitioners often recommend one teaspoon of the herb per cup of boiling water, drunk three times daily for two to three weeks. Elecampane is also available in tincture format for ease.
9. Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus Globulus
Native to Australia, eucalyptus isn’t just for Koala bears! Aborigines, Germans, and Americans have all used the refreshing aroma of eucalyptus to promote respiratory health and soothe throat irritation. Eucalyptus is a common ingredient in cough lozenges and syrups and its effectiveness is due to a compound called cineole. Cineole has numerous benefits — it’s an expectorant, can ease a cough, fights congestion, and soothes irritated sinus passages. As an added bonus, because eucalyptus contains antioxidants, it supports the immune system during a cold or other illness.
10. Mullein – Verbascum Thapsus
Both the flowers and the leaves of the mullein plant are used to make an herbal extract that helps strengthen the lungs. Mullein is used by herbal practitioners to clear excess mucus from the lungs, cleanse the bronchial tubes, and reduce inflammation that is present in the respiratory tract. A tea can be made from one teaspoon of the dried herb to one cup of boiled water. Alternatively, you can take a tincture form of this herb.
11. Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis
As early as the 1600’s, lungwort has been used to promote lung and respiratory health and clear congestion. Pulmonaria selections come in all kinds so seek a herbologist for direction. Lungwort also contains compounds that are powerfully effective against harmful organisms that affect respiratory health.
12. Chaparral
Chaparral, a plant native to the Southwest, has been appreciated by the Native Americans for lung detoxification and respiratory support for many years. Chaparral contains powerful antioxidants that resist irritation, and NDGA, which is known to fight histamine response. NDGA inhibits aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis (the energy-producing ability) of cancer cells. Chaparral is also an herb that fights harmful organisms. The benefits of chaparral are mostly available in a tincture extraction but chaparral tea may support respiratory problems by encouraging an expectorant action to clear airways of mucus. [Source]
13. Sage – Salvia Officinalis
Sage’s textured leaves give off a heady aroma, which arises from sage’s essential oils. These oils are the source of the many benefits of sage tea for lung problems and common respiratory ailments. Sage tea is a traditional treatment for sore throats and coughs. The rich aromatic properties arising from sage’s volatile oils of thujone, camphor, terpene, and salvene can be put to use by inhaling sage tea’s vapors to dispel lung disorders and sinusitis. Alternatively, brew a strong pot of sage tea and place it into a bowl or vaporizer.
14. Peppermint – Mentha × Piperita
Peppermint and peppermint oil contains menthol — a soothing ingredient known to relax the smooth muscles of the respiratory tract and promote free breathing. Dried peppermint typically contains menthol, menthone, menthyl acetate, menthofuran, and cineol. Peppermint oil also contains small amounts of many additional compounds including limonene, pulegone, caryophyllene, and pinene. Paired with the antihistamine effect of peppermint, menthol is a fantastic decongestant. Many people use therapeutic chest balms and other inhalants that contain menthol to help break up congestion. Additionally, peppermint is an antioxidant and fights harmful organisms.
15. Plantain herb – Plantago major and P. lanceolata
Plantain leaf has been used for hundreds of years to ease coughs and soothe irritated mucous membranes. Many of its active constituents show antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, as well as being anti-inflammatory and antitoxic. Clinical trials have found it favorable against cough, cold, and lung irritation. Plantain leaf has an added bonus in that it may help relieve a dry cough by spawning mucus production in the lungs.
Not all sugars are created equal, and they’re hidden in most of today’s processed foods. Nutritionist, fitness trainer, and author JJ Virgin has written a new book that helps open your eyes to the way sugars are hidden.
The book also provides practical tips on how to wean yourself from this pernicious ingredient that will decimate your health.
In The Sugar Impact Diet: Drop 7 Sugars to Lose Up to 10 Pounds in Just 2 Weeks, she tackles the confusion surrounding sugar. Many health-conscious people are still under the mistaken belief that as long as the sugar is all-natural, it’s fine to eat.
Not so. Agave, natural fruit juice, raw cane sugar, and any number of other natural sugars will still wreak havoc on your health.
“[S]ugar is really public enemy number one,” she says. “That’s why I chose to focus on it. I don’t think added sugar is really the problem; I think it’s what’s in a lot of our food that we don’t recognize [as sugar].
Whether it’s having apple juice (which is worse for you than a soda), or having a yogurt sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, or whether you’re just thinking that fruits are free for all, these are all creating problems.
I wanted to create a structured program that could help someone break free of those sugar cravings, drop the weight forever, and then let them go back and [do a food] challenge… in order to connect the dots between what happens when they drink one of those big fruit smoothies that are supposed to be so healthy.”
To End Sugar Cravings, Your Body Needs to Burn Fat as Its Primary Fuel
As JJ notes, whether the sugar comes in the form of a muffin, a fruit juice-sweetened yogurt, or a smoothie, it’s all the same thing to your body. “Food is information,” she says. And she’s right.
Once you break free from your body’s constant need for yet another sugar fix (remember, sugar is more addictive than cocaine!), you’ll experience great levels of newfound energy and clarity of mind. But in order to get there, you need to retrain your body to burn fat as its primary form of fuel instead of sugar.
This can be a real challenge for many. JJ’s book specifically addresses the gradual process of getting from burning sugar to burning fat as your body’s primary fuel, in order to maximize your chances for success.
“There’s got to be a transition period, where you go from sugar burner to getting your body to be able to start to burn fat again,” she explains.
“You have to taper down from where your starting point is, which is what I call a Sneaky Sugar Inventory, of things you would never think about (like sundried tomatoes and marinara sauce) that we’re just using like crazy not realizing how much sugar this is actually adding into our food.”
The Sugar Impact Scales: A New Way of Looking at Sugar
As an initial step, you’ll want to weigh yourself and measure your waist-to-hip ratio, to determine your starting point. Next, you do an initial inventory of all the hidden sugars in your diet.
This means reading the labels on all the foods you eat, including items you might never expect to contain sugar, such as that jar of pickles, condiments, sauces, and marinades, and so on. JJ lists all the sneaky places sugars hide in your diet in her book, and by creating what she calls Sugar Impact Scales, she’s created a new way of looking at sugar.
“It looks at fructose grams, glycemic load, nutrient density, and fiber. Bad are fructose and glycemic load; good are nutrient density and fiber,” she explains.
“Depending on where the food falls, it can either be low, medium, or high-sugar impact. The reason this was so important to me is I keep looking at programs out there, and they either focus on fructose… glycemic index, or glycemic load.
That can be very confusing because it makes things like agave sweetener look great. It makes milk look great… People go, ‘We should have fructose because fructose is low on the glycemic index.’
The difference between fructose and glucose is fructose doesn’t trigger the whole insulin response. Because of that, it doesn’t trigger insulin, leptin, or ghrelin, so it doesn’t tell your body you ate anything. Instead, it just goes to the liver. If there’s no room for it to become glycogen… it starts becoming fat.
You look at that and you go, ‘Okay, food is information. What does fructose say?’ It says, ‘Hey, make fat but don’t tell us we ate. Stay hungry.’ What a nightmare!”
So what are the basic symptoms of having high-sugar impact? Gas and bloating are common, as sugar feeds yeast, fungi, and detrimental bacteria in your gut. Other symptoms include joint pain, headaches, fatigue, inability to lose weight or weight loss resistance, and sugar cravings.
By grading yourself on those and other symptoms, while tracking your waist, hip, and weight, you’ll get a clearer picture of how sugar impacts your body, and your progress in terms of retraining your body to burn fat instead of sugar as its primary fuel.
The Three Cycles of the Sugar Impact Diet
The first cycle is a one to two-week long taper cycle, in which you switch from high sugar impact foods to medium sugar impact foods. As an example, if you typically eat regular pasta, you’d switch over to quinoa pasta.
She also recommends scheduling your meals to where you’re not eating every two hours; rather you stretch the time between meals to prevent insulin spikes. This is one form of intermittent fasting. At the end of this taper-down period of one or two weeks, you retest yourself on the sugar impact quiz, to see how you’ve done.
If all is going as planned, you should notice a reduction in your symptoms. At that point, you move on to cycle two, in which you’re really resetting your taste buds and reclaiming your sugar sensitivity, meaning your ability to taste how sweet a food really is.
“What I’m doing is I’m getting rid of all of the fructose. We’re getting down to five grams or less [per day], just as low as possible because you don’t want your body to be good at processing fructose. One thing we know is that the more fructose you eat, the better you get at handling fructose, which means the faster it goes to your liver, the faster you start making fat, and the more fat you make.
If someone’s used to eating fruit, they eat more fruit, they eat more fruit, and they can handle it. If you never eat any fruit, and you ate a bunch of fruit, you’d be bloated, you’d be gassy, and it’d be horrible. I take fruit out altogether except for things like lemons, limes, avocado, tomato, and olives. And we go down to all low-sugar impact foods. But you’re still eating great stuff. You’re eating wild salmon, grass-fed beef, kale, avocado, nuts and seeds, a little quinoa, legumes, and lentils.”
Most people can make the shift from burning sugar to burning fat as primary fuel in this second cycle of the program in a couple of weeks, although it may take longer if you’re seriously insulin/leptin resistant. “The reason it can happen so fast is number one, you’ve got to do that initial one-week [taper] period,” she explains. “Whenever you look at a program, you want to jump right into the most intense part, but you can’t because you’ll fail.”
In the third cycle of the program, you start to challenge yourself by reintroducing some of the medium or even high sugar impact foods. Most people will now find that they’re overwhelmed by the sweetness, or they’ll feel bloated or downright ill by the high-sugar food. As a result, the psychological grip of sweet foods lessen, as you simply do not want to go back to feeling horrible once you’re feeling really great. Interestingly, sour taste, such as that from cultured vegetables, helps to reduce sweet cravings, too.
This is a doubly-beneficial thing, as fermented vegetables also promote gut health. “It’s a sweet tooth strategy,” JJ says. “One of the things that I do in these books is I try to keep it simple and give people simple strategies. But I’m always thinking, “How am I healing their gut with this? How am I improving their gut flora? How are we reducing inflammation?”
Healthy Snack Alternatives
Nuts, which are one of my favorite snack foods, are also great for satisfying the occasional hunger pang. Typically, when I’m at home, I only have one meal a day, a very large salad. But I will snack on nuts, specifically macadamia nuts and occasionally pecans, because of two criteria:
1. They’re very high in fat – the good fat, oleic acid, which is similar to olive oil, and
2. They’re low in protein, so you won’t run the risk of eating a whole day’s worth of protein in a few handfuls of nuts (which could be the case if you eat a lot of almonds)
That said, as JJ warns, be aware of your food triggers, and if you cannot keep a jar of nuts in your house without polishing off the whole thing in one sitting, you just turned a good thing into something bad. While nuts do contain healthy fats, they also tend to be high in calories, so moderation is in order.
“If you know something’s your trigger, don’t bring it into the house. It doesn’t matter if it’s healthy or unhealthy. But I think if you put them into little serving baggies, that’s a perfect way to go with it. I also like that because most people aren’t home all day long, so I say, ‘Put one in your car. Put it in your purse. Put it in your office so that you have them scattered around if you ever get in trouble.’
Another healthy snack that is much harder to overdo is dehydrated kale chips. I’m in the process of planting six dozen kale plants on my property to create a surplus for this very reason. That way I can have kale chips year-round. Roasted Brussels sprouts are another alternative that you can’t really “overdose” on.
Last But Not Least—The Maintenance Phase
It’s quite rare to find someone who’s not burning sugar as their primary fuel these days. To check yourself, simply observe how frequently you feel hungry. If you’re hungry every two hours or so, you’re burning sugar. You’re craving food because sugar is fast burning, and your hunger is an indication that your body wants to be refueled. Once you’re burning fat as your primary fuel, you can easily go five to six hours or longer without feeling hungry, as fat is a far slower-burning fuel. Sugar cravings are also virtually eliminated once you’re burning fat rather than sugar.
Most everyone watching this would benefit from applying a program such as the one JJ has put together. The question is, once you’ve successfully made the switch, how long do you have to continue eating this way? What does maintenance look like?
“The maintenance phase is different from the weight loss phase,” JJ explains. “It’s like dating and marriage. Totally different beasts, right? During the maintenance phase—for weight loss—it’s about setting new goals and doing different fitness activities. The biggest thing that I want someone to do is to connect the dots between what they’re eating and how they feel. It’s to lose that sweet tooth that they had and reclaim their sugar sensitivity so they really say, ‘Oh, wow, that’s how sweet a blueberry really is.’
[In the maintenance phase] you’ve got to mix up your exercise; you’ve got to mix up your food… [F]ood is information. You want your food to tell your body to burn fat not sugar, keep steady energy, great focus, and reduce inflammation. It’s the same with exercise. Exercise can be therapeutic or destructive. I do no endurance training at all. I do not believe in endurance training. I did so much endurance training [when I was younger, yet] I was always slightly overweight. I was never lean.”
JJ recommends high intensity interval-type exercises over endurance training, and for good reason. Endurance training is actually among the least effective forms of exercise when it comes to weight loss, and research has shown that the benefits of high intensity exercise are not necessarily related to calories burned. Rather, it creates beneficial metabolic changes that promote health and muscle growth while boosting fat burning.
These metabolic changes, which include boosting human growth hormone (HGH), do not occur when you’re doing endurance training such as long-distance running.
She’s also a big proponent of exercising in a fasted state, as this actually helps repair, restore, and rejuvenate your muscle tissues. A conflicting approach calls for loading up on carbs and protein before and after exercise, to boost performance and muscle building. So which one should you follow? It may be worth taking JJ’s advice, and experiment to determine what works best for you, depending on your fitness and weight loss goals:
“I kind of play with both of them. Because if you eat a little bit before you work out, you can generally work out harder. If you’re doing resistance training, a lot of times you’re better off having a little bit [of food] before. If you’re doing burst training, ideally here’s what you would do: on burst-training days, do it first thing in the morning. It doesn’t take long anyway. It’s 15 minutes at the most. Ideally, do that a couple of mornings a week, two or three mornings a week. You do your resistance training two times a week, have a little bit of food before; have something really good afterwards, and you’re set.”
More Information
If you’ve tried cutting calories while still eating foods like gluten, pasteurized dairy, and processed fructose, yet failed to lose weight, the problem lies not in insufficient calorie restriction. Rather, you were still eating the wrong foods, albeit in smaller amounts. Once you start viewing food as information, you can begin to appreciate how certain foods, fructose in particular, instructs your body to store fat and not let any of it go…
What you eat makes all the difference, and when it comes to successfully losing weight, a major key is switching your body from burning sugar to burning fat as its primary fuel. In order to do this, you need to cut down on the fructose-laden foods that tell your body to:
-Store the sugar as fat
-Eat more (as fructose doesn’t trigger insulin, leptin, or ghrelin to the same degree as glucose, which means it doesn’t tell your body you just consumed a whole bunch of calories)
Could your health problems actually be magnesium deficiency symptoms? The symptoms can be anything from headaches to PMS. Chances are you’re deficient in this mineral as more than 80% of the population is not getting enough magnesium.
Low magnesium is often overlooked, especially by doctors who rarely consider the role of nutrition and vitamins. Yet, there are hundreds of magnesium deficiency symptoms that this can cause, in addition to many diseases that can be exacerbated.
Almost a year ago, I went to my family doctor because I was having painful menstrual cramps every month. I asked him what could be causing this and what I should do about it. His response was that it was genetic; there’s nothing that can be done. His only suggestion was to take an over the counter medication to deal with the pain. But, after researching this online, I found that menstrual cramps are one of the common magnesium deficiency symptoms. Eager to try this, I corrected my ratio of calcium and magnesium and within a month voila! No more cramps!
Sadly, doctors today know little to none about the importance of magnesium in the body and the resulting magnesium deficiency symptoms. Your best hope is to be your own doctor and research magnesium deficiency symptoms to find out if this could be the cause.
Why Are we not Getting Enough Magnesium?
It is very hard to get enough magnesium through your diet, no matter how healthy you eat. This is because modern farming processes have depleted our soil of adequate natural magnesium. Also, there are many other factors that significantly decrease the amount of magnesium absorbed in our bodies. These include:
-Stress: Many of us experience high levels of stress on a daily basis. When we experience stress or anxiety, this causes our bodies to deplete our magnesium.
-Diet: Certain foods can also result in a decrease in magnesium such as caffeine, alcohol, and sugar. It has been estimated that it takes 287 molecules of magnesium to metabolize one glucose molecule.
-Medications: There are many over-the-counters and prescription medications that deplete magnesium. These include: birth control pills, diuretics, insulin, and antibiotics.
Why You Need Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that is responsible for numerous bodily processes. It is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies and is essential for carrying out over 300 reactions within the body.
Magnesium is commonly known for helping relieve constipation, but that is just one of it’s many crucial roles in the body. Magnesium is important for the functioning of your heart, muscles, kidneys, and balancing many other nutrients such as calcium and potassium. Having adequate magnesium levels has been found to ward off diabetes, prevent osteoporosis, and improve blood pressure.
These are just a few of the most common magnesium deficiency symptoms. Additional magnesium deficiency symptoms include: constipation, vertigo, stiff and achy muscles, insomnia, and muscle weakness. There are many more health problems that having low magnesium can cause. If you think you may be experiencing a magnesium deficiency symptom, but it’s not listed above, make sure to do a thorough search online.
Additional Conditions/Diseases Associated with Magnesium Deficiency:
Much research has found that individuals with magnesium deficiency are at an increased risk for developing diabetes, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s, kidney stones, and restless legs syndrome, just to name a few.
How to Find Out if You’re Truly Deficient in Magnesium
When comes to determining if you have a magnesium deficiency, unfortunately, there is not a great way to find out, such as from a test. There are blood tests that can be used to check the level of magnesium in your body to evaluate if you have magnesium deficiency; however, they have been found to be inaccurate. This is because the blood serum tests only give a reading of the level of magnesium in your blood and only one percent of the magnesium in your body is distributed in your blood. Thus, you have to rely on making a diagnosis for magnesium deficiency based on magnesium deficiency symptoms, not a blood test.
It is best to look at the symptoms your experiencing and try supplementing with magnesium and evaluate whether it helped or not.
For me, after looking at the list of magnesium deficiency symptoms, I knew there were at least 3 that I had and it was likely that I had a magnesium deficiency. I also have some anxiety and I’m sure that was contributing to my decreased magnesium.
How to Increase Your Magnesium:
There are several ways you can increase your magnesium.
1. Use Epsom salts – Add Epsom salts to your bath or make a foot bath. Magnesium is highly absorbed through the skin (transdermally) .
2. Apply magnesium oil – Similar to Epsom salts, magnesium oil is made from adding the magnesium flakes (see them here) to water. You can add them to your bath, make a small mixture and spray it on your skin or rub it on with a washcloth. You can also, buy it pre-made.
3. Eat foods high in magnesium – such as leafy green vegetables and nuts. (however, with magnesium deficiency, it would be tough to raise your levels enough solely through diet) This is a helpful chart that lists foods high in magnesium.
4. Take a magnesium supplement.
My Experience with Treating Magnesium Deficiency:
After I started researching magnesium deficiency, the more I explored it, the more I thought I found the cause of my health issues. However, my doctor ignored me when I brought up the fact that magnesium deficiency may be behind my anxiety, menstrual cramps, or difficulty sleeping, so I had to find out for myself if my self-diagnosis was right. I started to increase my magnesium slowly, first by adding more green vegetables into my diet and taking baths with Epsom salts. This did make a great improvement and decreased the occurrence of my magnesium deficiency symptoms; however, I still felt that I wasn’t getting an adequate amount. So, I started making and applying magnesium oil, once every morning and this helped very much. After a full month, nearly all of my symptoms had been resolved.
When trying to increase your magnesium levels, you may need to use a combination of ways to ensure you’re getting enough. You can base this off your symptoms. Also, one sign to watch for, while you increase your magnesium, is diarrhea, if you’re getting too much this will occur.
The digestive system is responsible for delivering essential vitamins and nutrients throughout your body. An encrusted, unclean colon blocks your body from absorbing the vitamins and minerals from your food.
When this happens to your colon can become very bloated and result in weight gain. When your colon can do its job properly it will make you less bloated, reduce weight gain and have fewer digestive issues.
If your want to keep your colon running smooth and your digestive system running efficiently simply try these natural methods.
Natural Colon-Cleansing Methods
Water:
For colon cleansing, the best thing you can do is drink plenty of water. It is essential to drink at least 10 to 12 glasses of water in a day. Regular consumption of water will give your body the liquid and lubrication required to flush out the harmful toxins and waste from the body in a natural manner.
Drinking plenty of water will also stimulate the natural peristaltic action, helping the food to move through the digestive system. Also, water is essential to keep your body well hydrated. Along with water, you can also drink fresh fruit and vegetable juices.
Yogurt:
Eating fresh yogurt on a regular basis is a good way to keep the colon healthy. Being a probiotic food, yogurt, especially the one with live and active cultures, will introduce “good” bacteria into the gut that promote digestion. It will also combat inflammatory bowel diseases.
Plus, it contains a good amount of calcium that discourages the growth of cells lining the colon. The intestine-friendly yogurt also solves various stomach problems such as indigestion, flatulence, irregular bowel movements and lots more.
You can eat yogurt as it is or add some fresh fruit such as apples, limes, bananas and berries.
Lemon Juice:
Lemon has antioxidant properties and its high vitamin C content is good for the digestive system. Hence, lemon juice can be used for colon cleansing.
Apple Juice:
Eat your favorite type of apple all day long or drink 100% apple juice with no sugar added, from morning to dinner time, to lose weight and cleanse your colon.
Directions
1.Start your day with one glass of unfiltered apple juice.
2. After 30 minutes, drink one glass of water.
3. Repeat this routine several times throughout the day and continue for three days.
4. In between, you can also drink one glass of prune juice. When following this remedy, it is advisable to avoid solid foods.
Fiber-rich Foods:
Eating foods rich in fiber will help cleanse the colon of the harmful toxins. Fiber helps keep the stools soft and improve the bowel movement, which ultimately encourages the body to expel waste products. At the same time, fiber-rich foods will also help get rid of any kind of intestinal problem.
You can add a lot of fiber into your diet by eating fresh fruits like raspberries, pears and apples, as well as fresh vegetables like artichokes, peas and broccoli. Cereals, whole grains, nuts, beans and seeds also contain a good amount of fiber.
Raw Vegetable Juice:
For colon cleansing, it is essential to keep away from processed and cooked food for one or two days. Instead of solid food, drink fresh vegetable juice several times a day. Green vegetables, in particular contain chlorophyll that helps remove toxins. Also, the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes present in it will keep your body healthy and well energized. You can also drink herbal teas.
Sea Salt:
Sea salt is another effective home remedy for colon cleansing. It stimulates the bowel movement and helps to remove all the harmful toxins that accumulated in fecal matter, regular feces, parasites and bacteria from digestive system.
Ginger:
Ginger not only helps to reduce bloating but also stimulates the functionality of colon and keeps it free from wastes and harmful toxins.
Flaxseeds:
Flaxseeds are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants and natural fibers that helps to cleanse your colon naturally. It absorbs the water and expands in the colon, assists in removing toxins and mucus as it passes through. It will be very effective if you include flaxseeds in your diet to get rid of the problem.
Aloe Vera:
Aloe vera is well known for its detoxification abilities and laxative property which makes it as an effective colon cleanser. It has some medical properties that not only improves the condition of the colon but also helps to treat other health problems like headache, diarrhea, constipation, skin infection and gastric pain.
Your productivity is directly impacted by what you eat. If you want both your mind and body to perform at optimal levels then you need to practice good nutrition.
It sounds great, but what does “good nutrition” mean?
With so much conflicting diet and health information online, it can leave you with more questions than answers most of the time.
What is a good mid-day snack to maintain high energy levels? Not candy bars and Red Bull — unless you want to trigger a blood sugar spike followed by a crash.
What we eat as well as when we eat it contributes to high productivity, and that’s why EBOC teamed up with HubSpot to create the infographic below, highlighting the food types that will help you maintain high energy levels and productivity throughout your day.
Use this as a guide to help you make better food choices, and don’t forget that every person will have different dietary needs — so consult your doctor or healthcare professional.
We have to admit, it makes sense why many people misunderstand cannabis and the benefits it holds for both individuals and society. Cannabis, after all, has been fraught with decades of misguided stereotypes, scare tactics, and inaccurate information masquerading as facts. Our legal system and anti-drug policies make it even harder to debunk these outlandish myths, as they themselves encourage misuse, perpetuate stereotypes, and spread fear-based messaging and biased conclusions, leaving society uninformed and struggling to separate the truths from the lies.
Exposing these false messages through research and awareness is our best bet at eliminating the misconceptions surrounding cannabis. Here are five misleading anti-cannabis sentiments we’ve all probably heard at some point or another. For each of these points, we state the facts and logic to debunk the arguments so you can decide on your own what to believe.
1. “Cannabis is a gateway drug.”
This myth has persisted despite being debunked on numerous occasions. It shouldn’t be surprising that people who consume harder, more illicit drugs have potentially consumed cannabis as well. We can say the same for alcohol and tobacco, yet, we don’t consider them a gateway to drug abuse because it’s foolish to associate a correlation as a cause.
The missing logic from the gateway argument unfolds even further when you look to its larger social implications. In a post on Psychology Today, Constance Scharff, Ph.D, points to alcohol and tobacco as the more sensible ‘gateway’ drugs:
“Many people mistakenly believe that marijuana use precedes rather than follows initiation of other illicit drug use. In fact, most drug use begins with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana, making nicotine and alcohol the two most common drugs of abuse.”
Aside from the confusing differentiation of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco, Dr. Karen Van Gundy, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire, recently completed a study on cannabis showing other factors of causation hidden in the gateway myth:
“But pot does serve as a ‘gateway’. Mainly for young people who are poor, unemployed and subjected to severe psychological stress.”
Larger social issues are at play here, so claiming that cannabis is a gateway drug is ignoring the numerous and complex factors, from environmental to psychological, that account for why heavy drug users turn to a variety of substances.
2. “Marijuana is worse for your lungs than tobacco.”
Hats off to the tobacco corporations who’ve successfully perpetuated the idea that smoking cannabis is more harmful to your lungs than cigarette smoke — a crux of capitalism rather than science. No matter the projected rationale behind these arguments, whether it’s harping on the lack of filters or claiming that you inhale longer with marijuana, no study proves marijuana to contain more harmful effects than tobacco.
“Marijuana may have beneficial effects on pain control, appetite, mood, and management of other chronic symptoms. Our findings suggest that occasional use of marijuana for these or other purposes may not be associated with adverse consequences on pulmonary function. It is more difficult to estimate the potential effects of regular heavy use, because this pattern of use is relatively rare in our study sample; however, our findings do suggest an accelerated decline in pulmonary function with heavy use and a resulting need for caution and moderation when marijuana use is considered.”
We aren’t saying that smoking marijuana doesn’t have any negative effects on your lungs — any sort of inhalation can have repercussions on your pulmonary health. But research has indicated on multiple occasions that tobacco is more harmful to your lungs than cannabis. Keep in mind that for both tobacco and cannabis, the resulting effect on your lungs is dependent on the quantity you consume.
If you’re concerned about your lung health as a cannabis user, remember that there are many other ways to consume cannabis without smoking it. Legalization opponents miss the mark when they spout this one off. Put this one to rest, people.
3. “Cannabis use leads to crime.”
Here’s an example of propaganda at its best: the 1936 film Reefer Madness. Prohibition and anti-cannabis supporters still ride the waves of fear induced by a film that’s almost 80 years old. It makes sense to link cannabis to crime if you don’t want it around but, similar to the gateway myth, the argument is blind to the bigger social issues.
This myth hangs on to a premise that largely relies on the status of cannabis in our legal system. Crime trends and statistics used to fuel the argument against legalization don’t make sense, as the whole point is to end those arrests and allocate police attention to the real issues.
To take a look at how crime and cannabis really interconnect, we refer to a study in London that decriminalized cannabis for a year in the borough of Lambeth. Results showed a large drop in crime rates across the board, even in non-drug related crimes:
“We use the key lessons from this localized policing experiment to shed light on what would be the impacts on crime if the same policy were to be applied citywide, by developing and calibrating a model of the market for cannabis and crime, we account for the behavior of police and cannabis users.”
This policy change decreased crime and allowed the borough to further understand how cannabis functions in their community. The authors also noted how police were able to prioritize higher-risk crimes, improving the overall safety of the borough rather than tackling low-risk cannabis offenses. Can you imagine if the entire US adopted this model?
Speaking of the United States, in March, The Washington Post reported the significant and positive impact Colorado’s retail cannabis legalization has been having on Denver crime:
“The total number of marijuana court cases fell from 39,027 in 2011 to 2,036 cases in 2014. Those 37,000 fewer cases represent a savings of untold millions of dollars in court costs and law enforcement fees. They represent 37,000 fewer people who have to deal with the stigma and financial burden of an arrest and possible conviction.”
Cannabis isn’t indicative nor a cause of criminal behavior. Rather, anti-drug policies use cannabis as a scapegoat for community issues, which only results in promoting illicit activity and the black market rather than eliminating it.
4. “Cannabis is addictive.”
A simple guideline when it comes to using cannabis is to consume responsibly and within moderation. Anything can be considered harmful if it’s done or used in excess. People can be addicted to food, exercise, and even sleep when that’s all they do, all of which are perfectly legal activities.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse tells us that 9% of users become dependent on cannabis, which is unfortunate, but less overwhelming than cannabis opponents would have you believe. The organization describes the symptoms of marijuana addiction as “linked to a mild withdrawal syndrome”:
“Frequent marijuana users often report irritability, mood and sleep difficulties, decreased appetite, cravings, restlessness, and/or various forms of physical discomfort that peak within the first week after quitting and last up to 2 weeks.”
Addiction is an issue with all substances, which is why both awareness and mindset are crucial when using cannabis. The potential harm, no matter how minimal, should be combated through education and proper protocol, not fear and misinformation.
5. “We all know what stoners look like.”
This one doesn’t need science to be debunked; instead, it requires a moral conscience and a willingness to dispel stereotypes as a way of seeing the world. The cannabis archetype is set in stone: Cheech and Chong, Snoop Dog, Scooby and Shaggy all come to mind, but they aren’t the only stoners out there (not to mention how truly successful these so-called “lazy” stoners actually are).
Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Maya Angelou, George Clooney, and many other successful people have all used cannabis, and they all look, live, and consume differently. There’s no one way or one type of person who consumes.
Not convinced? Check out these cannabis-friendly people, many of whom you probably recognize. Do all of them fit neatly into the archetypical stoner image?
We’ve got some work to do before the stereotypes and myths disappear, but consuming responsibly and being sensible with how we introduce the truths to others will lead to great things.
