Brandon and I recently decided to start a vegetable and herb garden and wanted to have our soil tested for its composition and contaminants. We used a company in El Segundo called Wallace Laboratories and it cost $75 per sample and $70 if submitting more than 1 sample. Their results came relatively quickly and we were disheartened to find out that we had moderate levels of lead in our soil. According to our eco-friendly gardening instructor Darren Butler, he has found that the properties in the Eagle Rock/Mount Washington/Highland Park area are relatively high in lead. Boo. 
 
So what to do? First off, we removed all of the soil from our side yard that we want to designate as garden space. We had it legally dumped (I thought we could just drop it off on the side of the road!). Then I started asking around for good compost soils. A horticulturalist patient told me about Cal Blend, a compost soil that sells for $12.95 per cubic yard. She swears by this stuff. I also hunted around online and found a guy named Tim Dundon. He’s a legend in the Pasadena area and calls himself the guru of doo doo. I’m not kidding. He looks like he belongs in Humboldt County and not in the LA area and has been lovingly caring for his gigantic compost heap since 1973. He uses wood chips from trees in a pristine area in Oregon, horse manure from a local stable that really takes care of their equine friends. Anyway, he offers his compost soil for free and charges a small delivery fee. He does this out of the goodness of his own heart and thinks everyone should be growing their own food. I thought that was too good to be true so then we went to check out his property and obtain a sample for testing. So we did and the results are below. They came out really clean so now we can have him deliver us some rich, wormy compost for us to start living off our own land! 
 compost-testing.pdf
 
Tim Dundon 
(626) 794-1351 

This year I was only able to go to 1 day of the annual Natural Products Expo in Anaheim to scope out the latest and greatest for all of you folks. Rather than me telling you guys my suggestions during your treatments, I thought I’d save time by posting on our blog. Due to the events that have transpired in my personal life over the past year or so, you’ll see my new slant and why I was only able to attend 1 day of the expo. 
 
We should all be packing our lunches for work as much as we can. Not only is it cheaper to bring your own food but you actually have control over what goes into your food. It’s relatively obvious that Panda Express and McDonalds aren’t the best lunchtime options. But is Subway really that healthy? No. Lots of salt and preservatives in the cold cuts, probably MSG too, their flour (even the whole wheat stuff) is most likely brominated, which over time contributes to low thyroid function, which then slows down metabolism and causes weight gain, depression, dry skin, constipation, etc. Anyway, I digress. Here are some great companies I found that make lunch kits. 
 
Kids Konserve: The thing that really turned me on was the food kozy, which is an awesome reusable alternative to sandwich bags. It’s BPA and phthalate-free and secures the sandwich in with a small velcro enclosure. Seriously guys, this is an awesome product. www.kidskonserve.com 
Eco Lunchbox: Handsome looking stackable stainless steel containers with stainless steel tops, too! Years ago I purchased several stainless steel containers comparable to these at a Chinese housewares store and they work great but these are just so much more aesthetically pleasing. www.ecolunchboxes.com 
Eco Ditty: Really cute reusable sandwich and snack bags made of 100% cotton and low impact inks and dyes. In theory, I do like these better than the Kids Konserve products because it doesn’t have any plastic at all but I think that practically speaking, leakage is a definite possibility. www.ecoditty.com 
 
Looking for a gift for kids that is not only educational but green? Innovative Kids now has a product line called Green Start that features books and puzzles made from 98% post-consumer recycled materials and printed with eco-friendly ink. Each book also delivers a message of interconnectedness and respect for nature. Keep in mind that not ALL of their products are green. Click on the link for Green Start. www.innovativekids.com 
 
I usually use Ecover or Seventh Generation laundry detergent but I found a Vancouver-based company called Nellie’s All Natural that has super concentrated laundry soda. They gave me a sampler that is in a very small bag weighing 1.3 pounds with enough detergent to last 50 loads. 50 loads!!! I always prefer powder over liquid because like regular soap, they must have to add some pretty funky ingredients to make a liquid. They also have laundry “nuggets,” dishwashing powder and PVC-free dryerballs. And the price point is VERY reasonable. www.nelliesallnatural.com 
 
I hate using so many plastic produce bags. I often reuse them but then worry about the plastics. So now there is a reusable produce bag made of 100% recycled polyester called 3B Bags. They’re fantastic for the grocery store or farmers market! www.3bbags.com 
 
And last but not least, the latest kitchen gadget that I must get at some point in time. Handcrafted by a socially responsible Austrian company, Komo, this grain mill is beautiful, quiet, small, so easy to use. And did I mention how BEAUTIFUL these things are? I’ve always dreamed of milling my own fresh flours at home (boy do I sound like a total dork) and now I can. It has an adjustable fineness setting so you can flake your own oats (if you are gluten-intolerant and can’t handle commercially available cross-contaminated rolled oats) or make your own rice powder (for baby food). And just imagine - milling fresh wheat, rye, barley or spelt for breads and cakes. Ooooohhh. Dreamy… For some reason the website they provided for the US doesn’t work so here is their European website. www.frischmahlen.de/en To purchase the product, e-mail KoMoMills@gmail.com.

Oh how I’ve been waiting for this study. Turns out that arsenic poisoning is a big problem in India due to contamination of the water supply and no alternatives. So researchers from Hamdard University in New Delhi noticed that some people who ate a lot of sugarcane didn’t generally get arsenic poisoning. So they hypothesized that perhaps sugarcane had some protective effects against arsenic poisoning. To test this, they took a bunch of mice and administered arsenic together with sugarcane and compared it to mice fed only arsenic. They found that many of the adverse effects of arsenic were substantially mitigated or entirely prevented by sugarcane. These included enhancing levels of detoxification enzymes, preventing damage to the lungs and substantially reducing inflammatory markers. Keep in mind this is sugarcane juice and not sugar. There is a huge difference between the two. Also, the study did not look at the subsequent dental health of the mice.
 
Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 26. [Epub ahead of print]

I love this study. A perfect example of data manipulation. I actually cut and pasted the abstract below. The conclusion of the study stated that “Our data show that the 900 MHz EMF exposure, at least under our experimental conditions, does not appear to affect endocrine functions in men.” However, if you read it you’ll notice that growth hormone was reduced by 28% and cortisol was reduced by 12%. However, levels returned to normal when cell phone usage was discontinued…. Ok, so how many people use cell phones for a month and then discontinue using them? … that would be almost noone. These authors clearly had an agenda or were funded by a cell phone company.
 
Fortunately, we have the actual data (assuming it wasn’t also manipulated) and it showed that when you use cell phones, growth hormone levels and cortisol levels decrease dramatically. Consider that growth hormone is involved in tissue repair and in “anti-aging”. Cortisol helps control inflammation, anxiety, etc. So when you are using a cell-phone regularly or even a cordless 900mhz phone, you are accelerating aging and degenerative disease. If you have questions about this, you can call us, but use a land line .
 
Radiat Res. 2008 Mar;169(3):337-43

abstract from medline:
Influence of electromagnetic fields emitted by GSM-900 cellular telephones on the circadian patterns of gonadal, adrenal and pituitary hormones in men.
Djeridane Y, Touitou Y, de Seze R.

Faculté de Médecine Pierre et Marie Curie, Service de Biochimie Médicale et Biologie Moléculaire, INSERM U713, 75013, Paris, France.

The potential health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMFs) emitted by mobile phones are currently of considerable public interest. The present study investigated the effect of exposure to 900 MHz GSM radiofrequency radiation on steroid (cortisol and testosterone) and pituitary (thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, prolactin and adrenocorticotropin) hormone levels in 20 healthy male volunteers. Each subject was exposed to RF EMFs through the use of a cellular phone for 2 h/day, 5 days/ week, for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected hourly during the night and every 3 h during the day. Four sampling sessions were performed at 15-day intervals: before the beginning of the exposure period, at the middle and the end of the exposure period, and 15 days later. Parameters evaluated included the maximum serum concentration, the time of this maximum, and the area under the curve for hormone circadian patterns. Each individual’s pre-exposure hormone concentration was used as his control. All hormone concentrations remained within normal physiological ranges. The circadian profiles of prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropin and testosterone were not disrupted by RF EMFs emitted by mobile phones. For growth hormone and cortisol, there were significant decreases of about 28% and 12%, respectively, in the maximum levels when comparing the 2-week (for growth hormone and cortisol) and 4-week (for growth hormone) exposure periods to the pre-exposure period, but no difference persisted in the postexposure period. Our data show that the 900 MHz EMF exposure, at least under our experimental conditions, does not appear to affect endocrine functions in men.

A very interesting study conducted on 900 Mhz frequencies found that they reduced thyroid function in rats. 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week for 4 weeks only. Compare this to the average person talking on the cell phone for hours a day seven days per week, 52 weeks per year for many years. By the way, regular cordless phones are also frequently at 900Mhz, so these can also cause problems. Now other frequencies are being used as well, but we don’t yet have data on how they may be affecting us. Note that the study said it “lowers TSH and T4 and T3″, but they probably meant that it raises TSH and lowers T4, T3. Regardless, T3 is the more active form so if that is reduced then your thyroid function is reduced.
 
Toxicol Lett. 2005 Jul 4;157(3):257-62.

Thanks to our nutritionist Steve Gomberg for sending me info on this. A new study found that almost a third of the samples of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) were found to contain measurable amounts of mercury. This really emphasizes what we have been saying for so long: You can’t trust ingredients, you have to find companies you can trust. In other words, you have to do a lot of research to find out which products are tested thoroughly and are made responsibly. This is true of everything from vitamins, vegetables and fruit to things as simple as the flour or sugar you buy.
 
This is just one of the many unbelievable findings that have inspired us to make our webstore so that we can help patients get products that are good for them and that we have researched very carefully. For our herbs, we also do independent random testing in addition to the testing done by the herb companies. It is buyer beware in today’s day and age, the FDA can do very little to protect consumers. How do all those tainted products from China and elsewhere get to our shelves if the FDA is really able to monitor things. Why are they suppressing incidences of mad cow disease in the US? There are so many examples of this. At any rate, back to HFCS. Here are a list of products they found had mercury in their HFCS:
 

* Quaker Oatmeal to Go bars
* Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce
* Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (which by the way also had lead in it in samples that ECCM sent to a lab for testing).
* Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
* Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
* Manwich Gold Sloppy Joe
* Market Pantry Grape Jelly
* Smucker’s Strawberry Jelly
* Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry
* Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup
* Wish-Bone Western Sweet & Smooth Dressing
* Coca-Cola Classic: no mercury found on a second test
* Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
* Minute Maid Berry Punch
* Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink
* Nesquik Chocolate Milk
* Kemps Fat Free Chocolate Milk

 
Environ Health. 2009 Jan 26;8:2.

The list is taken from cnet.com and is updated regularly. Here are the current winners/losers…note that the numbers next to the phones are the SAR (specific absorption rate)…the higher it is the more radiation:
 
Ten lowest-radiation cell phones
 
Manufacturer and model SAR level
(digital)
1. LG KG800 0.135
2. Motorola Razr V3x 0.14
3. Nokia 9300 0.21
4. Nokia N90 0.22
5. Samsung Sync SGH-A707 0.236
6. Nokia 7390 0.26
7a. Samsung SGH-T809 0.32
7b. Motorola Razr2 V9 0.32
8. Bang & Olufsen Serene (Samsung SGH-E910) 0.33
9. LG VX8350 0.348
  
Ten highest radiation cell phones:
 
1. Motorola V195s 1.6
2. Motorola Slvr L6 1.58
3a. Motorola Slvr L2 1.54
3b. Motorola W385 1.54
4a. Motorola Deluxe ic902 1.53
4b. T-Mobile Shadow (HTC) 1.53
5a. Samsung Sync SGH-C417 1.51
5b. Motorola V365 1.51
5c. RIM BlackBerry Curve (AT&T) 1.51
6. Sanyo S1 1.48
 
cnet.com reviews

A new study done at Duke University found that ozone exposure in mice at levels approximating unhealthy levels for humans appears to enhance lung injury.
 
“Small amounts of inhaled foreign material can be relatively harmless, since they stimulate an appropriate innate immune response that protects the lungs,” said John Hollingsworth, M.D., pulmonologist and lead author of study whose results appear Oct. 1 in the Journal of Immunology. “However, it appears that ozone causes the innate immune system to overreact, killing key immune system cells, and possibly making the lung more susceptible to subsequent invaders, such as bacteria.”
 
In other words, stay far away from ozone air cleaners. This includes air cleaners that ionize the air (which creates ozone).
 
If you are looking for a high quality air cleaner, there are two kinds that are synergistic.
 
Airfree
 
IQair