People are always telling you what to do to improve your health, they may suggest to eat this, or stop eating that. A friend wants to advise you on what she learned from the latest talk show episode. In addition, because you are generally curious and concerned about your health and ask your friend why do you make this recommendation? Her response is a simple “well everyone knows that!” In this blog, we will expose overall knowledge that the general population would agree that everyone thinks they know.
Everyone knows to stay out of the sun
Remember the days when as a child you were out playing all day long, or until the sun went down and you would have to go home? These days, everyone knows to stay out of the sun, or wear plenty of sun block because “everybody knows” the sun causes cancer. But let me ask you this… How many people do you personally know that have died of skin cancer? Or, have you even heard of a famous person that has recently passed because of this horrifying disease? Bear in mind that I am not trying to minimize the severity of skin cancer, but personally I do not know a single person who has been affected so gravely by this disease that I would want to cover myself head to toe in SPF 50 to block the sun’s rays. To be honest, there is a deadly type of skin cancer called Melanoma; however, very few people understand that there is no correlation between sun exposure and Melanoma. In fact, some studies suggest that lack of real, full spectrum sunlight actually contributes to the development of Melanoma. Moreover, an even more unknown fact is that lack of sunlight can also be attributed to the development of breast, lung, liver, and various other types of cancer. Additionally, sunlight deficiency can lead to depression, hormonal imbalances, sleep disorders, weight gain, immune system problems, osteoporosis, mood disorders, and a host of other diseases and conditions.
Everybody knows that sunlight helps your body synthesize vitamin D3, however, very few people realize that sunlight provides much, much more. To illustrate this let us consider a very common health condition that you may be familiar with called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). This all too widespread malady occurs when you become depressed due to lack of sunlight. No amount of Vitamin D supplements will reverse the effects of SAD. In fact, the only true cure for SAD is sunlight (or other sources of UVB light). Almost nobody knows that Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH) is a hormone which is extremely important to your health, and can only be stimulated through UVB light. MSH may be the most important hormone in your entire body and it is no exaggeration to state that UVB exposure is an absolute requirement for healthy living!!
Everyone knows to get a Mammogram
Everyone knows you need regular mammograms to detect breast cancer. However, have you ever thought about the harmful effects of the radiation exposure from the mammogram and how it affects your breast tissue? Mammograms are very uncomfortable and frequently inaccurate and yet almost every woman “knows” that she needs to get one on a regular basis. Unfortunately, mammograms are notorious for reporting significant amounts of false positive results, which wrongfully detect a cancerous lesion that is not there. This unfortunate situation will lead you to unnecessary worries and a needless, painful and scar producing breast biopsy. Conversely, mammograms all too frequently give false negative results, meaning they erroneously miss traces of cancer in your breast tissue. This situation leads to a delay in a timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment. If this information is not scary enough, the worst is yet to come. Are you aware that the radiation exposure from mammograms can actually CAUSE breast cancer?!!!
What everyone does not know is that there are much better alternatives to mammograms. Thermography is a diagnostic procedure that measures the temperature of your breast tissue. Since, cancer cells are higher in temperature than regular cells, thermography can detect whether you may have cancer cells in your breast tissue, simply by measuring the temperature of your breast tissue. There is no pain, no radiation and less false positive and false negative results.
Everyone knows to eat low fat, and “heart healthy”
Everyone knows to eliminate fast food meals, fried foods, and high sugary snacks from your diet. However, not everyone knows that low fat and “heart- healthy” foods can be dangerous to your cardiovascular health. Most doctors and experts will suggest a low cholesterol, low fat diet I in an attempt to lower your LDL (“bad”)cholesterol levels and presumably reduce your risk for heart attacks. However, avoiding dietary cholesterol and saturated fats is not a true “heart-healthy” way of eating. The truth is that the major cause of heart disease are foods like carbohydrates and sugars that raise your blood sugar too high (leading to elevated insulin levels and diabetes). If you were to adhere to a low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet, you would chronically suffer from symptoms of fluctuating (low and high) blood sugars. You would most likely be very hungry all the time and crave sweets, and since you are on a “heart-healthy” low fat diet, you would end up consuming way too many carbohydrates and sugars. This type of diet is the major cause of heart disease. To make matters even worse many “heart-healthy” foods contain inflammatory vegetable oils such as soy oil and canola oil The inflammation caused by these “heart-healthy” oils are also a major contributor to heart disease (and many other diseases) The bottom line is that foods like meat, fish, eggs, poultry and cheese, butter and coconuts are the real heart healthy choices as long as these foods are not fried, overcooked or cured. Believe it or not, saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet are the real heart healthy foods!!
Everyone knows not to waste money on bottled water
Water is one of the most important ingredients to the health of your body and makes up about 70% of your entire body weight. Many “experts” state that buying bottled water is a waste of money and that you should just drink filtered tap water. Unfortunately most of the tap water available is actually recycled water that originates from municipal sewage. This water is then processed and “cleaned” and sanitized by adding chlorine, fluoride and aluminum. The water coming out of your tap most likely contains significant quantities of these substances that can be extremely dangerous to your health. Filtered water is better than tap water, but filtering water only removes the bad chemicals (depending on the type of filter that you use) and at best you are left drinking processed (dead) water. The best water to drink is real, natural water from a spring, stored and served in a glass bottle.
Everyone knows that going for a long run is great for your health
Most people are under the impression that doing exercise is good and if a little is good, more must be better. This is absolutely not true. While you need to exercise to improve your circulation, muscle tone, muscle strength and your range of motion, too much exercise is very harmful. You must understand that exercise actually causes your muscles to break down. It is only when you rest that your muscles are rebuilt in a stronger fashion. However, if you over exercise, you will keep breaking down your muscles and injure them. Bear in mind that your heart is also a muscle and is subject to these same laws of nature. In other words, too much exercise is very bad for your heart! The truth is that you need to exercise, but you want to minimize the volume of exercise while maximizing the intensity of your exercise. Science has shown that the best type of exercise is known as HIIT (high intensity interval training). When exercising for health, scientific evidence suggests that you incorporate sprint training into your workout by doing three to five rounds of 30-60 second bursts of cardio at your highest intensity, followed by two to four-minute rest periods of walking. When doing weight training, do fewer reps and fewer sets with higher weights to increase intensity and reduce the volume of your training. Perhaps most importantly, do not over train. Unbelievably, the average couch potato will outlive the average highly trained, elite athlete!!
Everyone knows to get your children vaccinated
The debate over vaccinating your children has been raging for decades. A recent measles outbreak which was traced to Disney World Florida has brought national attention to this ongoing debate. News coverage of the vaccine controversy was further fueled when two possible Republican Presidential candidates, NJ Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Dr. Rand Paul, made statements supporting the freedom of choice to vaccinate your children.
The “mainstream” take on this debate is as follows; vaccines are extremely safe and effective at reducing illnesses and anyone questioning whether or not to vaccinate their children is a selfish, misinformed, and lunatic. However, the “mainstream is not telling the whole story.
Did you know that?
In 1986 the US Congress created the National Childhood Vaccine Act which indemnified drug companies against litigation from injuries sustained from vaccinations. This act of congress was instituted after concluding that vaccinations, in general, were “UNAVOIDABLY UNSAFE” and the drug companies needed protection from lawsuits in order to provide vaccines to the public.
In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist published the research article “Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children” in the journal The Lancet. Dr. Wakefield was attempting to ascertain if there was any connection between MMR vaccines and autism. Dr. Wakefield’s paper set off a firestorm of controversy and a powerful attack against him. Dr. Wakefield was accused of falsifying his data, his article was “debunked”, and his license to practice medicine was revoked. Not surprisingly, the other 11 authors of this paper, agreed to retract their support for the paper and “admit” to the public that the paper was without merit. These authors were fearful that they too would be subjected to the same punishment and attacks as Dr. Wakefield.
Are vaccines 100% safe? Absolutely not, this is a fact; otherwise there would be no National Childhood Vaccine Act of 1986. Should all children be immunized against diseases like hepatitis B, chicken pox, pneumococcal pneumonia, influenza, and many others all before they reach 2 years of age? This debate will continue to rage on. Keep in mind that just because “everybody knows” that vaccination is the proper thing to do, does not mean that this is a safe and beneficial practice. Did you know that autism used to be a very rare disease affecting 1/10,000 children? Autism now affects about 1/50 children and that number is increasing rapidly. The number of “required” vaccines continues to increase as well. Is there a connection? Well, “everybody knows” that……
When you are looking for answers to health related questions, or if you would like to speak more regarding the topics above, look for a source that provides common sense, scientific, and holistically oriented advice. Contact Dr. Rothman (732) 268-7663, a New Jersey based medical doctor for a consultation and a review of your health and get on the road to natural wellness.
