Story at-a-glance

Health care workers are more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than the general population Among health care workers, health care providers such as doctors and nurses are more likely to use CAM than other occupations Increasing numbers of people, including those in the medical field, are recognizing and embracing the benefits holistic medicine can have on disease prevention and treatment

Alternative medicine is no longer so “alternative” for health care workers, the majority of whom use a variety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for themselves.

In fact, 76 percent of health care workers use CAM, compared to 63 percent of the general population, according to research in the journal Health Services Research. Even more revealing, health care providers, including doctors and nurses, were more than twice as likely to have used practitioner-based CAM, and nearly three times as likely to use self-treatment with CAM, during the prior year than support workers.

It seems health care workers are poignantly aware of many of the pitfalls of modern medicine and as such are embracing more holistic modalities. As psychiatrist Joya Lynn-Schoen, M.D., who practices alternative medicine, told Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health:

“As insiders, health care workers understand what’s missing in our medical system. They’re more educated than others about orthodox and alternative medicine … Mainstream medicine will say, ‘Here’s a pill’ or ‘Have an operation” or ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just tired.’”

With holistic therapies, attention is directed to finding the root cause of disease so you can heal on a deep, instead of surface, level. In simpler terms, holistic medicine focuses on health, whereas conventional medicine focuses on disease.

Holistic Medicine Increasing in Popularity

The trend of CAM use among health care workers is mirrored by that of the general population. Increasing numbers of people are looking for treatments that fall outside of the realm of conventional medical care, often because conventional medicine has failed them or even made their conditions worse.

In 2007, more than 38 percent of U.S. adults used complementary and alternative medicine, along with 12 percent of children — a rate that’s been increasing since 2002. This amounts to 4 in 10 adults, and 1 in 9 children, embracing CAM. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, while CAM is used by people of all backgrounds, use is greatest among women and those with higher levels of education and income.

CAM practices are very diverse and include, but are not limited to:

Doctors Referring More Patients to Alternative Treatments

Although the U.S. medical system is touted as being the best in the world, the truth is it has dismal success rates when it comes to treating and preventing chronic disease. A study published in Health Affairs revealed that the United States ranks 49th for life expectancy worldwide, a ranking that has fallen sharply from fifth place in 1950. At the same time that life expectancy has been declining at faster rates than many other industrialized nations, per capita health spending has been on the rise.

The average American between the ages of 19 and 64 now takes close to 12 prescription drugs every year!

But with all of these drugs, Americans are not walking around with stellar health. Rates of chronic diseases are through the roof, and we’re facing epidemics of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression and too many others to list. As a whole, Americans are not healthy – they’re tired, depressed, stressed out and often in pain.

As patients, many people have taken their health into their own hands by abandoning this fatally flawed medical model and embracing holistic modalities that can help heal on a body-wide level. And now doctors, too, are following suit!

Nearly 6.5 million Americans, or one in 30, were referred for mind-body therapy such as yoga, meditation or guided imagery by their doctor or other health care practitioner, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. What’s more, you can have an impact on your doctor’s tendency to recommend these alternatives, as when you inquire about them, some health care providers do in fact listen.

Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, an internist and integrative medicine fellow at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who co-authored the study actually did so because of her patients requests. As reported by CommonHealth:

“Nerurkar, 35, says she was “inspired by her patients,” to pursue the research because so many of them kept telling her how much better they felt — that their insomnia or anxiety had ceased — after taking a meditation or yoga class.”

So many people are now asking their health care providers about alternative options that medical schools have had no choice but to listen — many are now offering courses in alternative medicine, such as the use of herbs, acupuncture and mind-body medicine!

Are You Fed Up with Prescription Drugs and Surgery?

Taking medications and having surgery is clearly not the route to optimal health that the modern medical system would have you believe it is. Dr. Null and colleagues published an oft-cited report in 2003 about the death toll caused by drugs and conventional medical treatments, which included the following statistics.

• Adverse drug reactions — 106,000 deaths/year
• Medical errors — 98,000 deaths/year
• Unnecessary procedures — 37,136 deaths/year
• Surgery — 32,000 deaths/year

Additionally, a June 2010 report in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, which analyzed 62 million death certificates from 1979 to 2006 (the most recent year available), found that almost a quarter-million of those deaths were coded as having occurred in a hospital setting due to medication errors.  In an AMA article discussing the study, one co-author was quoted as stating that “medication errors are the second-leading cause of accidental death, and the only kind of accidental death that is increasing over time.”

An estimated 450,000 preventable medication-related adverse events occur in the U.S. every year, and adverse drug reactions cause injuries or death in 1 of 5 hospital patients. The costs of adverse drug reactions to society are more than $136 billion annually — greater than the total cost of cardiovascular or diabetic care.

Further, an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010 found that 18 percent of patients were harmed by medical care (some repeatedly) and over 63 percent of the injuries could have been prevented. In nearly 2.5 percent of these cases, the problems caused or contributed to a person’s death. In another 3 percent, patients suffered from permanent injury, while over 8 percent experienced life-threatening issues, such as severe bleeding during surgery.

In all there were over 25 injuries per 100 admissions! In other words you have a one in four chance of getting injured if you are admitted to the hospital, not very good odds by any stretch. So it is easy to understand why some people are abandoning conventional medicine like rats leaving a sinking ship! Alternative medicine typically offers a more positive treatment experience and typically produces better results, and Americans are also increasingly distrustful of prescription medicines, and rightfully so!

Holistic Medicine Helps You Take Control of Your Health

The more you take responsibility for your own health — in the form of nurturing your body to prevent disease — the less you need to rely on the “disease care” that passes for health care in the United States.

If you carefully follow some basic health principles — simple things like exercising, eating whole foods, sleeping enough, getting sun exposure, reducing stress in your life, and nurturing personal relationships — you will drastically reduce your need for conventional medical care, which in and of itself will reduce your chances of suffering ill side effects.

But in the event you do need medical care, seek a health care practitioner who will help you move toward complete wellness by helping you discover and understand the hidden causes of your health challenges … and create a customized and comprehensive — i.e. holistic – treatment plan for you. You and your family CAN take control of your health, and you can typically do so using lifestyle choices and other natural, holistic strategies.

By Dr. Mercola

With Consumers for Dental Choice

Story at-a-glance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been concealing the mercury in amalgam dental fillings from the American public for more than 30 years A revolving door allows amalgam insiders to bounce between well-paid positions in industry and high-ranking FDA positions that regulate industry FDA’s new commissioner Margaret Hamburg came straight from the boardroom of America’s largest seller of amalgam, Henry Schein, Inc. Public outcry against the FDA’s cover-up and lack of action in their amalgam rule, and the worldwide treaty addressing mercury, have the mercury issue poised for much-needed change Detailed action plan for Americans, Canadians, Australians, Britons, and Europeans to help remove mercury fillings from their countries

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), once the world’s “gold standard” for food, drug, and device regulation, has evolved from industry regulator to industry captive.

Political scientists are not surprised. The evolution from tough regulator to passive regulator to industry captive is a pattern in Washington. Unless an agency engages in a major system of reinvigoration, the spiral continues. But the FDA seems comfortable being the hand-maiden for industry; it has brought big bucks to the agency and lucrative jobs after time at the FDA.

The big bucks are in the FDA’s pay-to-play approval system. Drug companies pay seven-figure amounts into FDA coffers to gain approval of their drugs.

FDA staff knows that the cash means higher salaries and more perks in the agency budget. The drug companies know the high fees prevent small competitors with good ideas from getting their products to market. The coziness between the FDA and major drug and device companies gets tighter, while innovative entrepreneurs are shut out and the public loses twice: good drugs aren’t being considered, and controversial drugs are rubber-stamped.

FDA: Captive of Corporate America

Another bitter legacy of federal regulation is the “revolving door,” where insiders bounce between well-paid positions in industry, to high-ranking FDA positions that regulate that industry.

Those in the political party out of power hold cushy jobs awaiting their return to power, at which point – in the game of Washington musical chairs – those in the party leaving power in turn take the high-paying jobs in industry. The current FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, coming to FDA from Henry Schein, Inc., the largest seller of dental products and a major seller of medical products too, is a perfect example. Hamburg was a high official in the Clinton Administration, so Schein’s CEO Stanley Bergman, an active Democrat, tapped Hamburg for the light work of being a board member during the Bush II years, paying her millions of dollars to likey sit in meetings and file occasional reports.

When Bergman’s party returned to power in 2009, he escorted Hamburg back through the revolving door – as Commissioner of the world’s most powerful food and drug regulator, the FDA.

FDA Covers Up Amalgam’s Mercury from Consumers – for 32 Years

The dirty secret of conventional dentistry is this: those “silver fillings” aren’t silver. They are mainly mercury – and mercury, of course, is a virulent neurotoxin that can kill babies in the womb, can cause permanent brain damage to children, and can cause irreversible kidney damage in adults (among many other things).

When industry is engaged in a cover-up of a health problem, the solution for the past century in America has been to turn to the U.S. FDA. But on amalgam, like on many health issues affecting our lives in recent years, FDA has been AWOL – focusing on blocking Americans’ access to products Americans want and need and which are not harmful, instead of doing its legal duties.

In the case of amalgam, the violation of law was flagrant and continuing – and ultimately resulted in sharp language and a direct order from a United States federal judge.  In 1976, Congress directed the FDA to classify (determine the risk of) every medical device. Dental fillings are a medical device. The FDA proceeded to classify all filling materials except the most common one – and the most controversial one – mercury amalgam.

Despite letters, petitions, Congressional hearings, and a lawsuit, the FDA refused to budge. The FDA had no intention of doing what, by law, it was required to do.

Why?

Because by classifying amalgam, the FDA would have to address the dirty little secret of dentistry —they FDA would have to tell the American people that amalgam is mainly mercury. So instead of letting parents know that their child is getting a dose of the most toxic and the most volatile of the heavy metals, the FDA stood as the silent partner of the pro-mercury American Dental Association. For 32 years, from 1976 to 2008, the FDA defied the law. And they would still be doing so had not Charlie Brown and Consumers for Dental Choice sued them.

In 2008 Charlie Brown sued the FDA. United States District Judge Ellen Huvelle convened a hearing, and demanded to know why the FDA was refusing to classify amalgam. When the FDA’s lawyer said the agency was working on it, the Judge was incredulous — and ordered the parties into mediation to set a date to classify.

Since the FDA had not really started its work, and since its rule was still in the public comment phase, requiring clearance of all legal hurdles would require over a year. Hence, the FDA agreed to re-write its website in addition to classifying by August 2009. FDA Associate Commissioner Randall Lutter and Charlie Brown negotiated the website line by line, and, for the first time, the FDA issued this frank and serious warning about amalgam:

Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses.”

FDA’s New Commissioner Enters from Boardroom of Nation’s #1 Seller of Dental Amalgam

During the time between the court settlement and final action, enter Margaret Hamburg as Commissioner – coming straight from the boardroom of America’s largest seller of amalgam.   To get appointed, Hamburg was required to sign an agreement promising:

1. To sell her Schein stock and stock options
2. Not to participate in regulator matters affecting Schein while owning these options

Sign she did, but she apparently had her fingers crossed. Selling her stock, Hamburg retained her stock options, which in a few weeks gained from being “under water” (no value) to having market value. Promising to cut her ties with Schein, she allegedly continued regular correspondence with Schein’s general counsel on her private e-mail.

Charlie Brown wrote her June 1, 2009, to inquire whether she had recused (disqualified) herself from working on the amalgam rule.

Not even answering, she convened a meeting with the American Dental Association’s best friend at the FDA, dentist Susan Runner. On July 1, in a meeting whose notes are heavily expunged from public records requests, Henry Schein alumna Hamburg and pro-amalgam dentist Runner put together a disgraceful rule on amalgam, one that allowed continued concealment of the mercury, buried the warnings for children and unborn children so deep in the rule no one would find them, and allowed Runner to be the FDA’s spokesperson to proclaim amalgam safe.

At the end of July, Runner unveiled this monstrosity of a rule, along with a website that concealed all the language that Brown and Lutter had agreed to (Lutter by then having been shipped to another agency by Hamburg). Immediately after Runner’s announcement, Schein’s general counsel wrote Hamburg that Schein is “indebted” to her for her work as Commissioner.

“Unprecedented” Public Outcry Against the FDA’s Amalgam Rule

Consumers worldwide reacted harshly to the FDA’s decision to continue the amalgam cover-up.  Such a massive number of letters, e-mails, telephone calls, and faxes were generated that a leading journalist in the trade press, Jim Dickinson of FDA Webview, wrote:

“No final rule in FDA’s modern history, or perhaps ever, has attracted this kind of organized opposition.”

The American Dental Association sought help from the FDA to overturn state and local fact sheets that plainly warn of amalgam’s risks, but Consumers for Dental Choice turned back a second assault on our right to know. In early 2010, in a dramatic confrontation in Philadelphia, the FDA backed off any suggestion it sought to weaken that city’s fact sheet – and in fact asked the city to hold off acting because the FDA was considering its options.

The FDA threatened to retaliate against the leader of this grassroots opposition; its chief press officer wrote Commissioner Hamburg and Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein that the FDA needed to mount an “end game re: [Charlie] Brown.”

Enter Negotiations for a Worldwide Treaty Addressing Mercury

Things turned our way in 2010. The nations of the world began a series of meetings to hammer out a treaty addressing all mercury. To its great credit, the United States not only was an active participant, but a leader as these negotiations began – negotiations to address all major uses of mercury, including amalgam. With the Department of State, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality all seeking ways to phase out or at least reduce mercury in our society, the FDA became odd man out.

A noted attorney, Ellen Brown, called the breach between the FDA’s protection of amalgam and the Obama Administration’s stand the “Mercury Mischief.” Her article in the Huffington Post was headlined: “As Obama Warns of Hazards, The FDA Approves Mercury Dental Filling.”

In June 2010 the FDA retreated, announcing it would reconsider the amalgam rule it had issued only 10 months earlier. The FDA announced it would convene a scientific panel in December to determine what changes need to be made.

December 2010 Hearings

Two days of testimony that were alternatively scientific and emotional were utterly convincing, even to scientists handpicked by the FDA. With no dissent, they recommended that the FDA promptly:

1. Make sure that all consumers and all parents know that amalgam is mainly mercury
2. Stop amalgam use for children and pregnant women

As panelist Dr. Suresh Kotagal – a pediatric neurologist at the Mayo Clinic – summed it up, there is “no place for mercury in children.” Unprecedented press coverage accompanied these hearings, with every network and most major newspapers writing stories that the FDA is determining the health risk of amalgam.

FDA Town Meetings

But the FDA still did not act.

Instead, Jeff Shuren, director of its Center for Devices (amalgam is a device), organized three “town meetings” in 2011 to hear concerns about FDA policies. At both Dallas and Orlando, the turnout was overwhelmingly about amalgam, and about the FDA’s cover-up. Again, major press coverage about FDA inaction accompanied these meetings. The third “town meeting” will be in San Francisco on September 22; if you live in northern California and would consider going, write Charlie Brown, charlie@toxicteeth.org

On July 29 Director Shuren signaled he may act soon. In a letter to those who had petitioned FDA to act, Shuren wrote:

“We agree that the Panel [of scientists in December] raised issues concerning uncertainties with previous risk assessments on mercury vapor and sensitivities in certain populations to mercury released from dental amalgam.  Note that we are currently considering our regulatory options for determining what steps the agency will take to address these concerns.”

Help Consumers for Dental Choice Fight the FDA

Consumers for Dental Choice is challenging the world’s most powerful health regulator and the well-funded corporate interests that back it — and you can help!

During this Mercury-Free Dentistry Awareness Week, I urge you to take action.

Here’s what you can do:

Americans: Our number one problem is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has partnered with the American Dental Association (ADA) to cover up the mercury; to make you think you are getting silver instead of toxic mercury in your mouth. The FDA intentionally conceals the warnings about amalgam deep in its regulation — so parents will never see them. On its website, the FDA gives dentists the green light to continue to deceive consumers with the term “silver fillings”

“Americans are ready for the end of amalgam.” This was the theme of the testimony to the U.S. Department of State on August 18 by former West Virginia state Senator Charlotte Pritt. Yes, Americans are ready. But FDA is not. So let’s send them a message.Nine months ago, FDA scientists advised the agency to disclose the mercury to all patients and parents, and to stop amalgam for children and pregnant women. Yet FDA sits – sits actually in the pocket of the American Dental Association – ignoring its own scientists.

Please write the Director of FDA’s Center for Devices, Jeff Shuren, jeff.shuren@fda.hhs.gov Ask Dr Shuren why the FDA continues to ignore scientists and covers up the mercury from American parents and consumers. Ask when the FDA is going to get in step with the world on mercury.

Dr. Jeff Shuren, Director
Center for Devices, U.S. Food & Drug Admin.
10903 New Hampshire Ave.
WO66-5431, Room 5442
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002
Telephone:  301-796-5900
Fax:  301-847-8149
Fax:  301-847-8109

Californians: Dr. Shuren is coming to San Francisco for a “town meeting” on September 22. We urge Northern Californians to attend. It will go from 8 am to 12 noon, at the Embassy Suites Hotel, San Francisco Airport (telephone: 650.589.3400)

In Southern California, Consumers for Dental Choice is organizing a city-by-city attack on amalgam — and needs volunteers. If you wish to help with the grassroots work of organizing for city council hearings, gathering petitions, and telephoning, volunteer by writing announcements@toxicteeth.org

Australians: Your government, Aussies, is now in last place on the mercury treaty, asking the world to throw in the towel instead of working to phase out dental mercury. A great new group has started, Australians for Mercury-Free Dentistry, led by dentist Lisa Matriste and consumer activist Anna Priest. We urge you to go to its website and join: http://www.mercuryfreedentistry.com.au/

Canadians: The chief dental officer of Health Canada doubles as a lobbyist for the pro-mercury World Dental Federation. Pretty outrageous, eh? We ask that you write Minister of Environment Canada Peter Kent at Minister@ec.gc.ca, and tell him that you as a taxpayer are amazed that Environment Canada is letting someone with such a conflict of interest influence the nation’s treaty policy on amalgam. Ask him why Environment Canada is silent on amalgam, and if this is due to the fact that Canada’s Chief Dental Officer was at the treaty sessions boasting that he “wears two hats,” paid government employee and lobbyist for a special interest group.

Brits and other Europeans: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution this spring calling for the end of amalgam. The Council of Europe is not the European Union — it is every European nation, all 47 of them. Deputy Jean Huss drafted the meticulously-researched report upon which this resolution was based.  This ground-breaking report explained that “[A]malgams are the prime source of exposure to mercury for developed countries, also affecting embryos, fetuses (through the placenta) and children (through breastfeeding)… Exposure to mercury can seriously affect the health of patients and dental professionals…[B]etween 60 and 90 tonnes of mercury from dental surgeries are released into and contaminate Europe’s atmosphere, surface waters and soil every year.” Please thank Deputy Huss for his excellent work at Jhuss@chd.lu.

Folks worldwide: If you aren’t on that list, there’s plenty to do – for example, Dominique Bally, an outstanding young advocate from the Ivory Coast, runs the Amalgam-Free Africa Campaign. If you want to help somewhere, anywhere, and there’s nothing on the list above for you, write Charlie Brown at charlie@toxicteeth.org

Last but certainly not least, I encourage you to contribute to Consumers for Dental Choice. The Natural Health Research Foundation, founded by me, Dr. Mercola, will double match whatever you give this week. I believe that strongly in the mission, the commitment, and the quality of work of Consumers for Dental Choice and its Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry.

Dr. Mercola Recommends…

Every “Like” Helps Support This Cause

Donations can be made online at http://www.toxicteeth.org/donate.cfm. (Consumers for Dental Choice, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advocating mercury-free dentistry. Contributions are tax-deductible in the U.S.)

Checks can be mailed to:

Consumers for Dental Choice
316 F St., N.E., Suite 210
Washington DC 20002

Also, for timely updates and information, please join Consumers for Dental Choice on Facebook.

Thank you for supporting mercury-free dentistry!

A study has found that topical applications of moisturizers such as Dermabase, Dermovan, Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream, or Vanicream could increase skin cancer risk.

Irradiated mice who were treated with the moisturizers exhibited a significant increase in their rate of tumor formation and increase in tumor size per mouse. Treatment of the mice with Dermabase, Dermovan, Eucerin, or Vanicream for 17 weeks increased the total number of histologically characterized tumors by 69 percent.

According to the study, as reported by Green Med Info:

“The results indicate that several commercially available moisturizing creams increase the rate of formation and number of tumors when applied topically to UVB-pretreated high-risk mice. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of topical applications of moisturizing creams … in humans.”

This also applies to tanning oils and lotions—which many of you may be using right now with summer in full swing—as well as the baby oil or lotion that many parents unwittingly slather on their babies.

Many skin lotions, creams and oils contain mineral oil, as do many tanning products. Mineral oil may sound safe enough, but… it’s not.

Mineral oil is actually a derivative of petroleum, the same stuff you put in your car’s engine. Because it’s very viscous (slippery), many products use mineral oil as the main ingredient, as it allows the lotion to be spread easily across your skin. This despite the fact that it’s a known carcinogen!

It’s also comedogenic which means it blocks your pores and your skin’s natural respiration process. Blocked pores can lead to blackheads and pimples. And, because mineral oil can create an impenetrable film on your skin, it may also block the absorption of any beneficial ingredients that might exist in the product.

Moisturizing Creams with Mineral Oil Can be Tumorigenic

The featured study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, found that commonly used moisturizing creams containing mineral oil are tumorigenic when applied topically to UVB-pretreated high-risk mice. What this means is that these creams and lotions can increase the rate at which skin tumors form. The study tested four common skin lotions:

• Dermabase
• Dermovan
• Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream
• Vanicream

What these creams have in common is that they all contain mineral oil. Mice that were at high risk of developing skin cancer received a topical application of 100 mg of one of the creams once a day, five days a week for 17 weeks. The researchers concluded that the rate of tumor formation significantly increased, as did the tumor size per mouse. In fact, the number of histologically characterized tumors increased by a whopping 69 percent!

According to the authors:

“The results indicate that several commercially available moisturizing creams increase the rate of formation and number of tumors when applied topically to UVB-pretreated high-risk mice. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of topical applications of moisturizing creams on sunlight-induced skin cancer in humans.”

Watch Out for Tanning Oils Containing Mineral Oil!

In light of the potential tumorigenic effects effect of mineral oil on UVB-exposed skin, it stands to reason that this is NOT an ingredient you want in your suntan lotion or tanning oil. However, that’s just what you’ll find in many tanning products. Unfortunately, just because you don’t see it on the label, it doesn’t mean it’s not in there. Mineral oil has countless different names, but each has the same effect… one you’ll want to stay away from!

Alternate names include:

Mothers: Beware What You Put on Your and Your Baby’s Skin

Many women who breastfeed will apply cream to their breasts without too much consideration for what’s in it. Hopefully, you now will not be one of them. Studies have actually found that mineral oil paraffins can bioaccumulate in both fat tissue and human breast milk. According to the authors of one 2008 study:

“Mineral paraffins might be the largest contaminant of our body, widely amounting to 1gram per person and reaching 10 grams in extreme cases.”

It’s believed that your baby may receive about one percent of the mineral paraffin accumulated in your body and breast milk.  A previous study sums up the problem of using mineral oil-containing skin creams when you’re breastfeeding:

“Beside exposure of babies via human milk, the intake by direct licking off salves (in the worst case consisting of Vaseline) from the breast of their nursing mothers may be much higher. In a worst case situation, daily intake from breast care products by babies is estimated to reach 40mg/kg bw.

Many compositions do not comply with the specifications and a temporary group ADI of 0-4mg/kg bw established by the SCF. This possible exposure of babies either calls for a toxicological re-evaluation of the mineral paraffins or for measures ensuring that exposure of babies is reduced.”

The concern is a valid one, especially in light of the fact that mineral oil has been linked to no less than 23 different diseases and health problems, according to GreenMedInfo.com’s excellent research database, including autoimmune diseases and a number of different cancers.

With that in mind, please avoid using creams and lotions that contain mineral oil (especially Vaseline) on your breasts while you’re still breastfeeding. It would also be wise to avoid putting baby oil on your baby’s skin, as most baby oil brands contain straight mineral oil!

You Can Absorb MORE Toxins from Skin Care Products than Food

Remember, your skin is your largest organ — and also the thinnest. Less than 1/10th of an inch separates your body from potential toxins. Worse yet, your skin is highly permeable. Most items you rub on  your skin will end up in your bloodstream, and will be distributed throughout your body. This is why I’m so fond of saying “don’t put anything on your body that you wouldn’t eat if you had to…” and a petrochemical is certainly not something you would eat!

Putting chemicals on your skin may actually be worse than eating them. When you eat something, the enzymes in your saliva and stomach help to break it down and flush it out of your body.

However, when you put these chemicals on your skin, they are absorbed straight into your bloodstream without filtering of any kind, going directly to your delicate organs. And once these chemicals find their way into your body, they tend to accumulate over time because you typically lack the necessary enzymes to break them down. When you add up daily exposure over the course of a lifetime, it really adds up!

Safer Alternatives

Most of the personal care products in supermarkets and even high-end department stores contain toxic ingredients that can harm your health—mineral oil is just one among thousands of harmful chemicals lurking in these products.  You and your family deserve better, and there are other options. One of the easiest ways to ensure that you’re not being exposed to potentially hazardous agents is to simply make your own personal care products, using simple all-natural ingredients that many of you may already have in your home.

Two great all-natural moisturizers are pure emu oil, and pure coconut oil. Both can be used for facial and body moisturizers and lotions. Coconut oil has been used to moisturize skin for ages, and is also a potent source of the beneficial fat lauric acid.

You can also find many organic skin oils and lotions these days. Just be sure to read labels and check products out before buying them to make sure you’re not being fooled by less-than-honest claims. EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database is an excellent resource for finding and evaluating healthful personal care products. They also recently published their 2011 special report on sunscreens.

Finally, if you’re perusing your local health food store for some safe, natural options, here are my top guidelines to keep in mind:

• Look for the genuine USDA Organic Seal.
• If you can’t pronounce it, you probably don’t want to put it on your body. Ask yourself, “Would I eat this?”
• Look for products that are fragrance-free. One artificial fragrance can contain hundreds — even thousands — of chemicals, and fragrances are a major cause of allergic reactions.
• Pay attention to the order in which the ingredients are listed. Manufacturers are required to list ingredients in descending order by volume, meaning the first few ingredients are the most prominent. If calendula extract is the last ingredient in a long list, your calendula body wash isn’t very natural.
• Stick to the basics. Do you really need 20 products to prepare for your day? Simplify your life and rescue your bank account.
• Buy products that come in glass bottles rather than plastic, since chemicals can leach out of plastics and into the contents. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a serious concern; make sure any plastic container is BPA free.
• Look for products that are made by companies that are earth-friendly, animal-friendly and green.

Greasy Burgers, Sausages Don’t Belong In President’s Photo-Op