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Well, it has been one month now since I completely stopped using toothpaste, my oral hygiene regimen of rinsing my mouth with baking soda / salt twice a day followed by brushing my teeth with plain water twice a day seems to have actually IMPROVED things!

Stumbling upon a far more effective alternative to mouthwash

I use to use mouthwash but it seems that, after a few hours, the “ickiness” would always return and overnight, well, in the morning I felt like I had drank from a swamp the night before. All those chemicals moving around in my mouth also don’t inspire much confidence considering all the health issues people are having later in life due to environmental and lifestyle choices followed over a lifetime. There HAD to be alternatives, I read a few online articles a few years back and stumbled upon the “salt” rinsing. It’s quite easy, fill a 1/2 cup of hot water and mix in about a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda. The result? Well, the best damn mouthwash you can ever have at a fraction of the price of what is being “marketed” as the best. Throw the rest into an oral irrigator and your mouth will be as clean as an emergency room floor (before the patient comes in of course).

Toothpaste, for all it’s wonders, is actually rather useless

I was brought-up being “marketed” by dentists and businesses that if I don’t use toothpaste, my teeth would fall-out and gingivitis was just around the corner… what a bunch of BS! Standing-up to commercial forces even in the face of conventional wisdom is actually a fantastic habit to have! Most of toothpaste ingredients are geared towards polishing, considering it’s thrown-out a few seconds after being “applied”, it makes you realize how either incredibly potent (ei: dangerous) or useless it really is. Consider toothpaste is a rather recent invention, I can safely say that it isn’t worth the status it has been given.

Results after one month

After one month of the no-toothpaste lifestyle, my gums have went from a slight redness along the gum-line to pink! My mouth always feels fresh and clean even after a meal or a few hours of heavy exercise. Even better… “tartar build-up” is gone and my teeth are actually WHITTER! What can I conclude? Well, I wish I started this regimen 30 years ago! It has saved me money and proven incredibly effective! Before you ask your dentist about following this regimen, realize that he or she, although a professional, is still being marketed rather heavily by companies that want you to use their oral products. Try this regimen for a month, go see your dentist, ask them if they see (or you feel) a difference THEN tell them what you have done!

Is Listerine environmentally friendly?

I have nothing against Listerine or other products but when a far more effective (and cheap) method exists that is environmentally friendly, why are we being marketed bogus junk? Just think of the chemical and logistical footprint that a simple product like Listerine has on the environment? A lot of wasted energy to produce an inferior product… that is mass-produced and marketed as THE BEST when it really falls rather short. I have no qualms about the “chemicals” in my salt/baking-soda mouthwash but who knows the long-term ramifications of the chemicals found in most toothpastes and mouthwashes these days. I think our governments have truly failed us on so many levels, it’s astonishing how much of our daily lives are influenced on a subconscious level by marketing whose focus is on profits rather than co-existing within our environment.

The Bigger Issue: The government doesn’t care

If the government really cared about our health, things such as alcohol, junk food (including TV diners), tobacco products… the list goes on, would simply not be available for consumption much less marketed to us on a daily basis. If the government really cared about the environment, mass-production of useless products when environmentally friendly alternatives existed wouldn’t be profitable. If the government really cared about it’s citizens, it would put a higher priority on physical education (government run gyms, school programs etc) instead of promoting a lifestyle of stagnation. Governments are there to help guide a population regardless of economic considerations but this sadly has changed where financial considerations have a higher priority than of the people it “should” be representing.

The Bottom Line

Only by standing-up against conventional wisdom can truth be discovered.

I was recently contacted by the Nursing Online Education Database to review an article they had written titled “50 Tiny Health Habits that Can Save You Big Money (And Add Years)” and I must say I agree with most of what I see. Just to clarify, I have no formal medical training, I am simply a person with many passions and one of them is spreading the word about the very big advantages of a healthy lifestyle!

Article Summary

It’s a known fact that people following a healthy lifestyle throughout your life, though you are never too old to start, save a fortune in medical expenses and lessen or even completely avoid a host of diseases that strike us mortals. Most importantly, a healthy lifestyle will add QUALITY YEARS to a limited lifespan.

Bad habits to avoid or stop immediately: Smoking, drinking, unhealthy snacking, promiscuity, tanning, nail bitting, drug abuse (including caffeine), leading a sedentary lifestyle and eating too fast.

Good habits to have: take vitamins, drink plenty of water, avoid sleep deprivation, exercise, avoid second-hand smoke, eat breakfast, eat your vegies, wear sunscreen, wear good shoes, stretch and floss regularly.

How to de-stress yourself: maintain a good posture, relax your jaw, get some sun, meditate, take your time when eating and most importantly, take a break!

Avoiding those evil diseases: wash your hands, drink green tea, eat fish, drink milk, scrape your tongue, eat a high fiber diet, wash your kids toys regularly, clean your sheets and towels and throw kitchen sponges away!

Invest in yourself: get tested for STDs, become best friends with your dentist, replenish your beauty products, get a flu shot, buy generic, don’t share (toothbrushes, shavers etc), save your money (in an account), avoid the junk food, go to the gym.

Personal habits that help: know your families medical history, accept your mortality, cook for yourself, find somebody to share your life with (no matter how brief) and push yourself to become more then you think you are capable.

My review of key items on this list

Overall, I think this is a great article, Laura knows what she is talking about! Some things I don’t completely agree with while others I believe need to be re-enforced.

Promiscuity

Here is a scary fact repeated many times but needs to be said again, a full 1/4 of Americans are walking around with an STD, whether they realize this or not, yes, that may include you (reading this now). This can range from HPV to AIDS and everything in between. Some are incredibly nasty while others are relatively benign, but an STD is an STD no matter how you describe it. Entering “morals” into the equation as to why promiscuity is “bad” is best left to religion, not the medical community in my opinion.

Drug Abuse

I have had first hand experience with the evils of drug abuse with both of my sisters, one of which died as a result. What I can tell you is that countries who behead drug pushers and traffickers are right on… people who make a profit off other peoples misery deserve no less a reward. The irrational and extreme mood swings, exponential aging and the breakdown that drugs cause within a family are incalculable. I am talking about hard drugs but I also saw my grandfather slowly die due to a life of smoking cigarettes. Drug abuse isn’t just the hard stuff, but any type of drug abuse, from smoking to prescription drugs can only spell problems in your later years.

Daily vitamins

So far, there have been NO studies out there supporting the use of vitamins or multi-vitamins, not one. If you eat a whole, balanced diet, multi-vitamins are not needed for a healthy life. That being said, I take a multi-vitamin twice a day, there may be no proof that it works, but I consider it an insurance policy as I can’t turn back the “health clock” within my body should such a study come out. There is A LOT of hype regarding the vitamin industry, buy the cheapest ones that have everything including the kitchen sink in them… multi-vitamins should be following this shot-gun approach for maximum effectiveness.

Exercise

Walking, running and climbing stairs has been shown to NOT BE ENOUGH. Any exercise regimen must include weight training. Why? Well, unlike running and general cardio-vascular exercises, which are great… weight training increases your muscle mass (promoting fat loss), keeps your body tones and stimulates your central nervous system including an optimization of your neuro-muscular pathways. Why is this important? Well, these all decline with age and lack of use, get them optimized when you are young and their degradation will happen at a slower rate.

Wear Sunscreen

I realize both sides of this argument but I do not wear sunscreen but when I go outside, I always have a hat, long sleeves (even in the summer) and avoid the sun during its peak hours, roughly 11am till 3pm. Sunscreens are effective but for me, they cannot replace common sense. If you go to a beach and spend a few hours in the sun, absolutely wear sunscreen but for daily activities like walking a dog… I consider this a waste of money and time.

Floss

I have to be honest, I don’t floss… what I do instead is put half a cup hot water, mix it with a heaping tablespoon of salt, a pinch of baking soda and wash my mouth with this at least once or twice a day. Why? Well, I believe it’s far more effective then flossing, not only does the salt get under the gum-line and between teeth but it also promotes blood flow. More importantly, this KILLS every bacteria and virus that may live in your mouth. I still brush my teeth of course, but since I have followed this regimen a few years ago, morning breath, tartar build-up and icky mouth feelings dissapeared! Kill them all and nothing is left to do you harm is my philosophy regarding oral care.

Drink Milk

You know what, I don’t agree with this what-so-ever. Where do cows get their calcium? Plant materials. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables will give you far more calcium then any glass of milk could ever hope to do. I believe the marketing of milk has been detrimental to the healthy eating habits of most people, they assume wrongly that milk is the only or BEST source of calcium on the planet, which it is not. Most milk is mass-produced by boosted cows and guess what, this stuff leaches into your milk. I use milk for recipes and that is the extent of my use for this substance.

Wash your kids toys

Before you rush-out and buy some cleaning chemicals, get yourself a steamer, they cost almost nothing and are by far more friendly to your child’s body. Using steam will kill everything, doesn’t produce environmentally damaging chemicals and is a far cheaper method of cleaning.

Replenish your beauty supplies

I think women are at their most beautiful when they wear NO make-up. I believe that the entire fashion and cosmetics industry is a farce that essentially tells women that they are ugly unless they SPEND MONEY on their stuff to look great. Sorry, but a healthy lifestyle will do far more good then any of this garbage will ever do. Preying on self-esteem of woman in order to gain access to their pocket book is just plain evil in my opinion.

Accept your mortality (embrace your age)

Love the skin you’re in, age gracefully and embrace your age sound nice but I disagree. The moment you accept this, in my opinion, is the moment you accept the inevitable that you can do little to nothing to FIGHT aging. I work hard at the gym to extend my lifespan and slow the aging process (the eye candy is a bonus) but you won’t see me ever sitting around saying “wow… I have really aged… great!”. Aging is a battle that I realize I cannot win but that doesn’t mean I will stop trying!

The Bottom Line

Great article… hopefully this gets other to take their health seriously!

Buzvia: 50 Tiny Health Habits that Can Save You Big Money (And Add Years)

There are two types of lies in this world, those you tell yourself and those you tell others… smokers seem to be experts in both! Caring about their health while smoking is one of the biggest.

Drug addicts are all the same

So far, I have talked to smokers from Canada, United States, Australia, Malaysia, Japan and Korea over an extended period of time and the excuses are all the same. They seem to relish describing how “addicted” or “hardcore” they are. I was talking to one addict yesterday and they where quite proud to say their breath smelled like that of an ash tray… interesting, another from Australia told me exactly the same thing while I was in that country! Here are some fantastically delusional lies you can expect to hear from a smoker (feel free to add more):

I can quit anytime

If this where true, they could quit right now but just try to get enough guts and throw their pack away in front of them… they will run like a squirrel right into the bin to get them. I know… I have done this several times with the same results.

I don’t smoke that much

Sadly, the effects of smoking both primary and second (onto non-smokers) is cumulative. You won’t die right away from emphysema or COD but I wouldn’t want to be a lung in a smokers body after a few decades of continual self-poisoning.

I feel fine

Next time a drug addict tells you that they feel fine, ask them to join you for a hike up a sizable hill… their tune will change guaranteed. The reason they feel fine is because they are use to living in a marginalized body, not because they are actually “fine”.

It helps me keep my shape (slim)

There are two ways to keep your body in shape, one is to exercise and the other is to under-feed it. Sure, smoking is keeping you slim, but guess what, you can accomplish far more by working out and quitting smoking then otherwise. What you are doing is actually starving your body, making it waste resources trying to clean the crap out of the air you take in instead of improving or optimizing it.

My father/mother/uncle smoked till they where 90 years old!

George Burns also smoked a cigar until he hit 100 years old, sure, there are some people out there with wonder genetics but odds are, you don’t have them. Imagine if George Burns never smoked, he might still be alive today! Regardless of how you cut it, smoking WILL reduce not only your lifespan but the quality of the live you live dramatically with time.

Smokers Facing Death

I had a grandfather who I wish everyday never smoked because he died a painful death over several years, his body was fine but his lungs where shot from a live addicted to cigarettes. Now, this week, I got news that one of my uncles, one who saw what my grandfather went through his final years, has been diagnosed with lunch cancer caused by smoking. My grandfather openly admitted that if he ever got a lung transplant that the first thing he would to is smoke and oddly, my uncle, even while at hospital surrounded by smokers slowly fading away, still had the conscience to go… you guessed it right… smoke in hiding! Each and every smokers has to face up to the fact that one day, guaranteed, they will face their maker far sooner then anticipated due to a slow, selfish, purposeful self-poisoning of the very body they inhabit.

Unfunny Joke

Here is an unfunny joke I seem to repeat to myself just about every time I see somebody smoking. What is the difference between a smoker and a junkie? One uses a legal substance. Sad isn’t it… mentally, a junkie is in the same place as a smoker.

How do I treat smokers?

I take my health very seriously, to the point that if I find out a friend smokes, they are no longer somebody I associate myself with. I would honestly prefer to be alone the rest of my life then to spend it with somebody hell bent on destroying their health. There is no sugar coating things, smokers have a death wish but are too much of a coward to get it over with, instead, they drag the emotions of those around them into the hole they inhabit. My only exception to this “banish them from my sight” rule is family but then I try to spend my time outdoors with them as much as possible, limiting exposure to second-hand smoke. Would I ever hire somebody who smoked? Nope, politically correct or not, why the hell would I want to invest my time and resources into somebody who doesn’t give a damn about themselves?

Spiders on Drugs

To some, alright, many out there, this may seem kinda harsh but I live my life by many simple rules, at the top of my list is that if you don’t care about yourself, then I don’t care about you. I do have a very well developed sense of humor so here is something to lighten up the mood on a serious topic. The effect of drugs on spiders! If you can’t laugh at even the worst of things, then the thoughts that follow them have no way out of your head.

The Bottom Line

Reversing a denial is the first step towards a successful life.

“This week with George Stephanopoulos” podcast for September 23rd, 2007 had a very interesting interview with Hillary Clinton regarding her scheme to provide affordable health insurance to all Americans.

Health Care Debate

What I find most interesting is that the United States, the worlds richest country, is still debating this while far poorer nations around the world have been providing universal, relatively free health insurance for all their citizens for decades! France has been offering this for a very long time, at relatively no cost to its citizens, same with the United Kingdom and most European Nations… even Cuba, considerably poorer then the United States offers free, basic health care for all its citizens! Their closest neighbor, Canada, has been offering this for decades and you wonder what the hold-up is with the United States in joining the modern world.

Interview Highlights

Politicians aren’t the most interesting during an interview so I will save your ears by listing key points about her proposal, you can pay me back by telling your friends about myfoodcount.com. Starts off good but then goes to shit once direct questions are asked.

• In 1994, her husband tried and failed to pass a universal health care plan in congress
• quality and affordable health care for everybody is an economic necessity for Americans
• believes she must work with congress in order to produce a plan that can pass legislative hurdles
• name of her plan is the “American Health Choices Plan”
• Americans can keep their current plan or migrate to one that better suits their needs and the poor can migrate into a federal plan for their health care needs
• small business tax credits to provide more affordable plans to their employees
• modernizing the health care system with electronic health records
• she believes the country is more receptive now then in 1994 for a universal health care plan
• she never loss her commitment to be smart economically and morally correct in providing health care, she just learned a lot from the 1994 experience which she applied towards this plan
• individuals must buy health insurance under her plan in order to get a job, she believes in shared responsibility between people and their employers
• doesn’t seem sure about how to implement her plan, saying there is a lot of discussions yet to happen to hammer down the details (presumably this will happen after she is elected into office)
• she answers many of George’s direct questions about her plan with basically a “lots of things in the air at the moment, we will see what drops first when I get elected” type vagueness
• oddly enough, she believes the “just say no” answers by the Republicans is unacceptable yet her “let’s talk about it” approach is, as the results from either approach is the same (so far)
• illegal immigrants are not covered under her plan but she will keep working for a basic safety net

My problems with these answers

Firstly, what is it with this vagueness? I would have thought that something that is so dear to her heart (and her husbands), 13 years after the initial failure of passing American National Health Care reforms that the point would be detailed to the max. Answering direct questions with “discussions need to happen” not only regarding implementation but how much can get through congress isn’t very ensuring.

Secondly, universal health care is just that, universal. Forcing the people who cannot afford health insurance on a federal plan while those of means, onto private plans doesn’t scream of universality.

The Bottom Line

Free, universal health care should be a human right, not a battle ground between the private and public sector.

Seems like every once in a while, there is a show (in this case, a confirmed hoax) that really sparks worldwide condemnation even if it actually serves a greater good.

The State of Organ Donations

People around the world are truly upset at how a TV show by Dutch TV channel BNN, which also created “Big Brother”, could have even done such an evil thing as possibly awarding a much needed organ for our entertainment but let’s look at some (although dated) very sobering facts.

USA

• There is a constant critical shortage of organs, in 2002 out of the 80 thousand waiting patience, less then 13 thousand organs where made available
• Organ transplantation waiting lists are growing at a faster rate then that of organ donation
• In 2001, over 6 thousand people DIED waiting for a much needed organ

Canada

• Between 1996 and 2000, waiting lists grew 62% while number of transplants grew by just 22%
• By 2001, there where almost 4 thousand patients waiting for organs
• In 1999, 170 people waiting for an organ died due to their condition which represented 40% of those ON the list

Organ Donation Rates (worldwide)

• USA: 22 per million
• Canada: 15 per million
• Europe: 15 per million

Let’s put this into perspective

In 2001, there where a reported 2,416,425 deaths reported in the United States, which includes 6 thousand waiting transplant patients representing 0.2% of this total. Based on this, more people died simply WAITING for an organs to be made available to them than almost twice the number that died during the September 11th terrorists attacks in New York City, yet, where is the worldwide outcry? Where is the hundreds of billions of fresh investment into educational and alternative technologies that benefit the health of ALL of mankind? Where are the UN resolutions upon resolutions casting a solid mandate towards solving this solvable problem? Where is the leadership? The sad fact is, diseases and health simply are NOT a high priority until they are needed by those in power. If you keep tabs on the marketing you see around you and you will quickly realize that there is far MORE money spent by companies promoting alcohol and tobacco consumption to the general public then those promoting healthy lifestyles!

What does all this mean?

If you believe in God, screw asking for a great afterlife, if you are in need of a transplantation, ask to live long enough for a donor to become available!

BNN Chairman defends the show

I don’t know if at the end of the show, the hoax was simply a way out of the controversy or the original intent was to actually award the organ, but I am happy that once again, a REAL AND GROWING problem has been pushed to the forefront around the world. As the chairman of BNN (Laurens Drillich) states while defending the show from the great criticism he and his network has received:

“At least in this case… the contestants in the show have a 33 percent chance of getting a new kidney. They would have to wait much longer in real life for the same deal.”

I couldn’t agree more!

Solutions

I do know that this is a Worldwide problem, some governments have decided to pursuit a “sign if you DON’T want to be a donor” instead of the conventional “sign if you DO want to be a donor” with great success. There is also the emergence of “living donors” for such items as kidneys but the problem is that a few years alter, these donors may themselves need a transplant. There IS a black market in third world countries for organs including China where “inmates” are routinely made available to wealthy individuals for organ transplantation before their execution.

The Bottom Line

Organ transplantation is the easiest sacrifice you could ever make as they no purpose to you once your dead. I always sign my organ donation card, do you?

References:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ICF/is_1_30/ai_n18615365
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14570230

A few years back during a very stressful time in my life when it seems everything was going the wrong way, my appendix decided it had enough and wanted out of my body. After a night of vomiting and a general feeling of being hung over, I visited the doctor in the morning and asked him what was wrong. It took him about 10 seconds to tell I had appendicitis and to head to the hospital.

Introduction to an opiate

I woke up the next day, not sure when but feeling so tired even though I slept all night. I asked the nurse if this was normal and she told me it was because I was on alternating IVs of antibiotics and an opioid called demerol (meperidine). I figured since I was in the hospital, I might as well experiment so I asked the nurse if she could hook me up with some morphine, I was curious about it but she told me Demerol produced similar results with less side effects. My experimentation was over and my curiosity was satisfied.

Second hit of opiate

About a year ago, I went in for a colonoscopy to check a few things out, the doctor who was performing the procedure mentioned the word Demerol to me for pain management but at first I refused. Around the end of the procedure, I told the doc to inject me, as I wasn’t feeling very well with too much hose up inside of me. Right after the injection, I felt very easy going - the stress just melted away and I was very relaxed.

Am I hooked?

From my two experiences with a mild opiate thus far in my life, I can easily say NO. It is probably safe to say that heroin, oxycodone (oxyContin), methadone (dolophine), morphine sulfateand and all those other opioids out there probably have a much stronger effect on the mind/ body then demerol. But for me, I actually enjoy knowing what is going on in my body, not somewhat spaced out. I enjoy the process of thinking clearly.

The Bottom Line

I can’t fathom the attraction to being strung out like I was for 3 days at the hospital and calling that a life. My two sisters seem to, and it even cost one of them their life, but I guess that I either physical or mental block as to craving or wanting that type of lifestyle. That is a good thing