Monday, December 20, 2010

Second Thoughts about Vasectomy

Interesting article at Catholic.org about the real facts about vasectomies -- facts not always shared in the mainstream press when I research this topic.  In describing some of the side-effects of this "simple, outpatient procedure":

"Pain, bruising, and swelling for up to two weeks are common post-surgery occurrences. Although less likely, bleeding and infection can occur. Patients can develop sperm granuloma – lumps caused by an immune response to leaking sperm – or chronic pain in and around the testes, a side effect called Post Vasectomy Pain Syndrome. Some research has even linked vasectomies with an elevated risk for prostate and testicular cancer. With these side effects on the table, a vasectomy does not appear to be the easy fix so many men desire"

While theologically I'm a reformed five-sola type, I do respect the Catholic perspective when it comes to getting the word out about the health risks of sterilization surgeries and the abortifacent effects of birth control pharma.  Its just unfortunate that the Catholic argument against these things seems based not as much on the Biblical blessing of large families as it is based on obedience to Papal writ.

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Friday, December 17, 2010

Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions



Randy Alcorn's book about the link between the birth control pill and abortion.   Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? in its 8th Edition, comes with endorsements from ten physicians.  This is an important issue that few people seem to research or become notified by physicians or pharmacists.

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Food coloring in Christmas cookies

NaturalNews story about toxic food coloring additives.  I've tried to avoid red 40 and others for a long time, but this can be one of the more tricky ones, as its in so much stuff (even in unexpected products.)  Oddly, I don't have a label for "red 40" or "food coloring", so this will be the first one.  Probably not the last.

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

FDA reconsidering safety of mercury fillings

Article on the FDA re-investigating the safety of merciry fillings.  It's about time.  I love this part of the article:

"All the usual suspects insist mercury fillings are completely safe: TIME Magazine, the quack-busting critics who are quacks themselves, the ever-corrupt American Medical Association, FDA bureaucrats and of course the top officials of the dental industry. They acknowledge that mercury is a highly-toxic heavy metal that causes neurological damage, but they insist it's safe to put this metal in your mouth because somehow these metal fillings are impervious and won't release mercury into your body."

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Oikos yogurt - good yogurt... silly name

I tried out some Oikos yogurt today from HEB, and was impressed with the quality and taste.  Of course, I appreciate the fact that it's organic, and without rBST and pesticides, too.  The name is a little odd though, as oikos in Greek is "house".  I couldn't tell from their site why they called it this- I guess it was just put together in a house somewhere...  :)

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Triumph Over Disease by Fasting and Natural Diet - by Jack Goldstein

I read this book years ago and was fascinated by the message: natural healing from a severely degenerative case of ulcerative colitis through a controlled fast.  There is some remarkable material in this book, and even more fascinating to me is how LITTLE you ever hear about the health benefits of fasting from the medical community (presumably, there are just too many ties to the food industry and too much revenue to lose if everyone started fasting in order to heal.)

But the premise is simple enough: you fast, and by doing so you give your digestive system a "break", so that more energies can be focused to other systems like the immune system.  I really think there's something to this,  considering the vast amount of space and resources that the body has devoted simply to eating, metabolizing and digesting.  Worth checking out.

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