Are Egg Yolks Good or Bad?

By Dr. Mercola

Egg white omelets and other yolk-free recipes have become synonymous with “healthy” to many. But if you toss out your egg yolks, you’re also tossing out some of the most nutritious parts of the egg.

For instance, egg yolks (but not whites) contain vitamins A, D, E and K along with omega-3 fats. Compared to the whites, egg yolks also contain more beneficial folate and vitamin B12. The yolks also contain far more of the nutrient choline than the whites, and all of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin.

Egg yolks have been unfairly vilified for decades because they contain cholesterol and saturated fat. But contrary to the prevailing nutritional dogma that such dietary components need to be avoided, the cholesterol and saturated fat in animal foods like egg yolks are quite beneficial for your health.

Cholesterol-Rich Foods Tend to Be Among the Best for Your Health

Many of the healthiest foods happen to be rich in cholesterol (and saturated fats). Cholesterol has been demonized since the early 1950s, following the popularization of Ancel Keys, Ph.D.'s flawed research.

But cholesterol has many health benefits. It plays a key role in regulating protein pathways involved in cell signaling and may also regulate other cellular processes,¹ for instance.

It's already known that cholesterol plays a critical role within your cell membranes, but research suggests cholesterol also interacts with proteins inside your cells, adding even more importance. Your body is composed of trillions of cells that need to interact with each other.

Cholesterol is one of the molecules that allow for these interactions to take place. For example, cholesterol is the precursor to bile acids, so without sufficient amounts of cholesterol, your digestive system can be adversely affected.

It also plays an essential role in your brain, which contains about 25 percent of the cholesterol in your body. It is critical for synapse formation, i.e. the connections between your neurons, which allow you to think, learn new things, and form memories.

Eating Cholesterol-Rich Foods Doesn’t Lead to High Cholesterol

One egg yolk contains about 210 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol, which is why public health agencies have long suggested Americans limit their intake.

This is a highly flawed recommendation on multiple levels; for starters, “high” cholesterol does not cause heart disease, and beyond that, eating cholesterol-rich food doesn’t cause your cholesterol levels to increase.

Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen estimates that only 20 percent of your blood cholesterol levels come from your diet. The rest of the cholesterol in your body is produced by your liver, which it makes because your body needs cholesterol.

One survey of South Carolina adults found no correlation of blood cholesterol levels with so-called "bad" dietary habits, such as consumption of red meat, animal fats, butter, eggs, whole milk, bacon, sausage, and cheese.²

Consumption of more than six eggs per week also does not increase your risk of stroke and ischemic stroke, for instance.³

Egg Yolks Have Little to No Impact on Cholesterol Levels for Most People

Further, eating two eggs a day does not adversely affect endothelial function (an aggregate measure of cardiac risk) in healthy adults, supporting the view that dietary cholesterol may be far less detrimental to cardiovascular health than previously thought.⁴

According to Chris Masterjohn, who received his Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from the University of Connecticut:⁵

"Since we cannot possibly eat enough cholesterol to use for our bodies' daily functions, our bodies make their own. When we eat more foods rich in this compound, our bodies make less.

If we deprive ourselves of foods high in cholesterol — such as eggs, butter, and liver — our body revs up its cholesterol synthesis. The end result is that, for most of us, eating foods high in cholesterol has very little impact on our blood cholesterol levels.

In seventy percent of the population, foods rich in cholesterol such as eggs cause only a subtle increase in cholesterol levels or none at all. In the other thirty percent, these foods do cause a rise in blood cholesterol levels.

Despite this, research has never established any clear relationship between the consumption of dietary cholesterol and the risk for heart disease … Raising cholesterol levels is not necessarily a bad thing either."

U.S. Dietary Guidelines Remove Dietary Cholesterol Limit

If you’re still worried about the cholesterol in egg yolks, take a look at the newly released 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines. As recently as 2010, U.S. dietary guidelines described cholesterol-rich foods as “foods and food components to reduce.”⁶

They advised people to eat less than 300 milligrams (mg) per day, despite mounting evidence that dietary cholesterol has very little to do with cholesterol levels in your body.

The latest guidelines have finally removed this misguided suggestion, and they even added egg yolks to the list of suggested sources of protein. Dietitian Lisa Drayer told CNN:⁷

"If you connect the dots together scientifically, we don't believe there is a strong influence between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol … So the government advice is catching up to the science."

The long-overdue change came at the advice of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), which finally acknowledged what the science shows, which is that “cholesterol is not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”⁸

Dr. Luc Djoussé, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who has conducted research on heart disease and eggs, further told TIME, “Dietary cholesterol does not translate into high levels of blood cholesterol.”⁹

More Research Shows Eating Eggs Doesn’t Raise Heart Risks

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, even carriers of the ApoE4 gene, which makes them highly susceptible to heart disease, egg and cholesterol intake was not associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease.¹⁰

The men in the study consumed an average of 2,800 mg of cholesterol a week via their diets, more than 25 percent of which came from eating an average of four eggs a week. No association was found between the consumption of cholesterol or eggs and heart disease, either in ApoE4 carriers or non-carriers.

Carotid artery thickness, which is a measure of atherosclerosis, was also not associated with cholesterol consumption.¹¹ Jyrki K. Virtanen, Ph.D. an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the University of Eastern Finland and the study’s lead author, told The New York Times:¹²

“Moderate intake of cholesterol … doesn’t seem to increase the risk of heart disease, even among those people at higher risk.”

On the contrary, separate research found dietary cholesterol from eggs led to increases in beneficial HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.¹³

This is the "good" cholesterol that helps keep cholesterol away from your arteries and remove any excess from arterial plaque, which may help to prevent heart disease.

Superstar Nutrients Are Plentiful in Egg Yolks

When you eat egg yolks, you’re providing your body with valuable nutrients, including the following:

Choline

Choline is a B vitamin known for its role in brain development. It’s a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which plays a role in both muscle control and memory. Choline is also important for the health of your cell membranes and has anti-inflammatory properties.

An estimated 90 percent of the U.S. population may be deficient in choline.¹⁴ Some of the symptoms associated with low levels include memory problems, lethargy and persistent brain fog. Your body can only synthesize small amounts of this nutrient, so you need to get it from your diet. One egg yolk contains nearly 215 mg of choline.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin

Lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids. Zeaxanthin is an antioxidant carotenoid found in your retina, but it cannot be made by your body, so you must get it from your diet. Lutein is found in your macular pigment, which helps protect your central vision and aids in blue light absorption.

Both zeaxanthin and lutein are also found in high concentrations in your macula lutea, the small central part of your retina responsible for detailed central vision.¹⁵ Together, they're believed to serve two primary roles that are particularly valuable for your vision health:

1. To absorb excess photon energy
2. Quench free-radicals before they damage your lipid membranes

While there's no recommended daily intake for lutein and zeaxanthin, studies have found health benefits for lutein at a dose of 10 mg per day, and at 2 mg/day for zeaxanthin. One egg yolk contains about 0.2 mg of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Egg yolks are also an excellent source of healthy fat and protein, while providing you with vitamins that many Americans are lacking. According to Masterjohn, eating egg yolks may even be an ideal way to resolve common nutrient deficiencies, including vitamins A, E and B6, copper, calcium and folate.¹⁶

What’s the Best Way to Prepare Eggs?

Eggs are so good for you that you can easily eat one dozen eggs per week, which is actually a simple and cost-effective way to add valuable nutrition to your diet — provided you cook them properly or, more aptly, don’t cook them.

The best way to consume eggs, provided they come from a high-quality source, is to not cook them at all, which is why my advanced nutrition plan recommends eating your eggs raw. In the beginner plan, however, eggs are still included, and you can prepare them anyway you like them. Less "well done" eggs are vastly preferable, such as poached, soft-boiled, or over-easy with very runny yolks.

It’s important to consume egg yolks that are only lightly cooked, as the heat will damage many of the highly perishable nutrients in the yolk. Two raw egg yolks have antioxidant properties equivalent to half a serving of cranberries (25 grams) and almost twice as many as an apple. But the antioxidant properties are reduced by about 50 percent when the eggs are fried or boiled, and reduced even more if they're microwaved.¹⁷

Additionally, the cholesterol in the yolk can be oxidized with high temperatures, especially when it is in contact with the iron present in the whites and cooked, as in scrambled eggs, and such oxidation contributes to chronic inflammation in your body. For this reason, scrambled eggs are one of the worst ways to prepare eggs if you want them to be healthy.

Organic and Free-Range: Choose Your Eggs Wisely

Even before you master how to cook your eggs properly, it’s important to choose eggs from a high-quality source. Free-range or "pastured" organic eggs are far superior when it comes to nutrient content, while conventionally raised eggs are far more likely to be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria such as salmonella.

An egg is considered organic if the chicken was only fed organic food, which means it will not have accumulated high levels of pesticides from the grains (mostly GM corn) fed to typical chickens. Ideally, the chicken should have access to the outdoors where it can consume its natural diet.

Testing has confirmed that true free-range eggs are far more nutritious than commercially raised eggs, likely due to the differences in diet between free-ranging, pastured hens and commercially farmed hens. In one egg-testing project, Mother Earth News compared the official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs with eggs from hens raised on pasture and found that the latter typically contains:¹⁸

• 2 to 3 times more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta-carotene

If you're purchasing your eggs from a supermarket, be aware that labels can be very deceptive. The definitions of "free-range" are such that the commercial egg industry can run industrial farm egg-laying facilities and still call them "free-range" eggs, despite the fact that the birds' foraging conditions are far from what you'd call natural.

The Highest-Quality Egg Yolks Are Bright Orange, Not Yellow

The key to finding truly free-range, pastured eggs is to buy your eggs locally. This is typically even preferable to organic eggs from the grocery store. If you live in an urban area, visiting the local health food stores is typically the quickest route to finding the high-quality local egg sources.

You can tell your eggs are free range or pastured by the color of the egg yolk. Foraged hens produce eggs with bright orange yolks. Dull, pale yellow yolks are a sure sign you're getting eggs form caged hens that are not allowed to forage for their natural diet. So in answer to the question, “Are egg yolks good or bad?” —the answer is a resounding good.

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New Studies Prove Organic and Grass-Fed Are Worth the Price

By Dr. Mercola

According to a Consumer Reports cost analysis,¹ some organic foods can cost as much as 47 percent more than conventional varieties. The question is, do the benefits of organics outweigh the added expense?

A number of studies² have confirmed that eating organic reduces your toxic load, as synthetic pesticides are not permitted in organic farming, and it’s a well-established fact that toxic chemicals have the capacity to harm your health.

A 2014 analysis^3,4,5,6,7 of 343 studies also found that, in addition to having fewer pesticide residues, organic food crops also have about half the amount of cadmium,⁸ a toxic metal and a known carcinogen.

More recent research again highlights the benefits of organic foods — such as fewer pesticides and higher amounts of nutrients — confirming there is indeed a difference, and that this difference may very well be worth the added expense if you’re concerned about your health, and the health of our environment.

Organics Have Fewer Pesticides, Higher Amounts of Valuable Nutrients

While conventional and organic fruits and vegetables contain similar levels of many nutrients, there are a few key differences.  

Previous research, such as the meta-analysis studies cited above, have shown that organic fruits and vegetables contain anywhere from 18 to 69 percent more antioxidants than conventionally-grown varieties — many of which have been linked to health benefits and disease prevention in clinical studies.

Antioxidants are a very important part of optimal health, as they can control how fast you age by fighting free radicals. So the fact that organic foods contain far higher levels vouches for the stance that organic foods are healthier in terms of nutrition, in addition to being much lower or free of pesticides.

Organic foods also frequently contain higher amounts of vitamins and minerals, and in the case of meat and dairy, higher levels of healthy fatty acids as well. For example:

• A 2010 PLOS ONE study,⁹ which was partially funded by the USDA, found that organic strawberries were more nutrient-rich than non-organic strawberries
• True organic free-range eggs are more nutritious than commercially raised eggs, typically containing about two-thirds more vitamin A, two times more omega-3, three times more vitamin E, and as much as seven times more beta carotene¹⁰
• Organic milk and meat from cows raised primarily on pasture have also been repeatedly shown to be higher in many nutrients, including vitamin E, beta-carotene, and CLA

• Organic milk also contains about 25 percent less omega-6 fats and 62 percent more omega-3 fats than conventional milk^11,12

New Research Confirms Clear Health Benefits of Organic Milk and Meat

Most recently, research^13,14,15 published in the British Journal of Nutrition found clear differences between organic versus conventional milk¹⁶ and meat.¹⁷ Said to be the largest study of its kind, the researchers analyzed 196 and 67 studies on milk and meat respectively.

Echoing previous studies, the largest difference in nutritional content was its fatty acid composition, certain essential minerals, and antioxidants. According to Chris Seal, Ph.D. professor of Food and Human Nutrition at Newcastle University:¹⁸

“Omega-3s are linked to reductions in cardiovascular disease, improved neurological development and function, and better immune function.

Western European diets are recognized as being too low in these fatty acids and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends we should double our intake.

But getting enough in our diet is difficult. Our study suggests that switching to organic would go some way towards improving intakes of these important nutrients.” [Emphasis mine]

Grass-Fed Versus Conventional Meat and Milk

According to the review on milk, half a liter (16.9 ounces) of organic full fat milk will provide you with an estimated 39 milligrams (mg) or 16 percent of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of very long-chain (VLC) omega-3 (EPA, DPA, and DHA), compared to 25 mg (11 percent) from conventional milk.

As noted in the study,¹⁹ VLC omega-3s have been linked to a number of health benefits, including “improved fetal brain development and function, delayed decline in cognitive function in elderly men and reduced risk of dementia (especially Alzheimer’s disease).”

Organic milk also contains lower levels of omega-6, providing a healthier ratio between the two fatty acids. Compared to conventional milk, organic milk was also found to contain:

• Higher levels of vitamin E
• Higher concentrations of iron
• Higher levels of antioxidant carotenoids
• 40 percent more conjugated linoleic acid  (CLA), which has been found to have a wide array of important health benefits, from fighting cancer to decreasing insulin resistance and improving body composition

Other Factors to Consider With Drinking Milk

While these differences in omega-3 content are indeed significant, the absolute value of mg is relatively low considering there are only about 10 mg long-chain VLC omega 3 per glass of milk. 

It is unwise for most to drink much more milk than that due to the non-fiber carbs, like galactose, that it is in milk. Each cup of milk has 12 grams of non-fiber carbs. While one or two glasses would be fine, drinking four would exceed the recommended amount of non-fiber carbs for most people.

Conventional milk was also found to contain 74 percent more iodine than organic milk, which may be detrimental or beneficial depending on how much iodine you get from other sources.

One-half liter, or just over two cups, of conventional milk provides as much as 88 percent of the RDI of iodine, compared to 53 percent from organic milk. As noted by co-author Gillian Butler:²⁰

“There is a relatively narrow margin between dietary Iodine deficiency (<140 µg/day) and excessive intakes (> 500 µg/day) from our diet which can lead to thyrotoxicoxis … Optimising iodine intake is therefore challenging, since globally there seems to be as much concern about excessive rather than inadequate intake.”

How Your Food Is Grown Matters

Studies such as these drive home the point that HOW food is raised does make a difference. You simply cannot cut corners during production without impacting the quality of the food — and by extension, human health. As noted by co-author Professor Carlo Leifert, who participated in both the 2014 analysis of food crops and the current review of milk and meats:

 “People choose organic milk and meat for three main reasons: improved animal welfare, the positive impacts of organic farming on the environment, and the perceived health benefits ...

Several of these differences stem from organic livestock production and are brought about by differences in production intensity, with outdoor-reared, grass-fed animals producing milk and meat that is consistently higher in desirable fatty acids such as the omega-3s, and lower in fatty acids that can promote heart disease and other chronic diseases ....

We have shown without doubt there are composition differences between organic and conventional food. Taken together, the three studies on crops, meat and milk suggest that a switch to organic fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products would provide significantly higher amounts of dietary antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids ...

[T]he fact that there are now several mother and child cohort studies linking organic food consumption to positive health impacts shows why it is important to further investigate the impact of the way we produce our food on human health.”

Research Gives Thumbs Up to Organic Farming

A related study²¹ published in Nature Plants looked at the benefits of organics versus conventional in terms of four key sustainability metrics. As noted by Time Magazine,²² they found that “organic offers a lot of good that outweighs its sticker shock.”

Co-author John Reganold, Ph.D. a professor of Soil Science and Agroecology at Washington State University, notes that in the 1980s when organic farming first began, very little research existed and many claimed it was too inefficient to feed a growing population.

Today, at least 1,000 studies have looked at the benefits and differences between organic and conventional farming, and the current study analyzed data that have emerged in the past 40 years, with a focus on how organic farming impacts sustainability in terms of:

• Productivity
• Environmental impact
• Economic viability
• Social well-being

Overall, the study found that organic farms are more profitable,^23,24 earning farmers anywhere from 22 to 35 percent more than their conventional counterparts, and more environmentally friendly. They also produce equally or more nutritious foods with fewer or no pesticide residues. Organic agriculture also provides unique benefits to the ecosystem, as well as social benefits.

According to Reganold:

“If I had to put it in one sentence, organic agriculture has been able to provide jobs, be profitable, benefit the soil and environment and support social interactions between farmers and consumers. In some ways, there are practices in organic agriculture that really are ideal blueprints for us to look at feeding the world in the future. Organic may even be our best bet to help feed the world in an increasingly volatile climate.”

Organic Farms Fare Better During Droughts, and Use Less Energy

Results vary when it comes to yield. Some farmers report dramatic yield increases after switching to an organic biodynamic system that builds the soil, but in this particular study, they found organic yields tend to be on average 10 to 20 percent lower than conventional. However, organic farms were found to be at a distinct advantage during droughts. As reported by Time:

“Reganold found one scenario where the research shows that organic yields are consistently greater than conventional: during periods of drought. Organic soil is built up with organic material, which can hold onto water, he says. That means that by the time a farmer plants and grows a crop, the plant has access to more water, so yields increase.

For every inch of rainwater soaked up by soil, a plant can produce another 7 to 8 bushels of wheat, Reganold says.

Organic farming typically uses less energy, too. ‘When you look at ecosystem services, organic agriculture really shines,’ he says. ‘The value they bring in areas like biodiversity, pollination, soil quality — if you were to put an economic value on those, and some researchers have, then it more than makes up for the higher price or price premium of organic food.”

Conventional Farming Has Led to Dramatic Decline in Nutrient Content

It’s important to remember that the nutrient content of foods has dramatically declined across the board since the introduction of mechanized farming in 1925. For example, as explained by August Dunning, chief science officer and co-owner of Eco Organics, in order to receive the same amount of iron you used to get from one apple in 1950, by 1998 you had to eat 26 apples.

Other data²⁵ reveal that between 1950 and 1999, levels of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C levels in 43 different vegetables and fruits significantly declined. Another analysis of nutrient data from 1975 to 1997 found that, on average:

• Calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent
• Iron levels dropped 37 percent
• Vitamin A levels dropped 21 percent
• Vitamin C levels declined by 30 percent

Taste has also diminished, although you’d have to be middle-aged to recall that foods used to taste differently. One of the primary reasons food doesn’t taste as good as it used to is related to the deterioration of mineral content. The minerals actually form the compounds that give the fruit or vegetable its flavor. All of these issues go back to the health of the soil in which the food is grown.²⁶

Healthy soils contain a large diversity of microorganisms, and it is these organisms that are responsible for the plant’s nutrient uptake, health, and the stability of the entire ecosystem. The wide-scale adoption of industrial farming practices has decimated soil microbes responsible for transferring these minerals to the plants.

In 2009, the American Association for the Advancement of Science featured a presentation on soil health and its impact on food quality,^27,28 concluding that healthy soil indeed leads to higher levels of nutrients in crops. Agricultural chemicals destroy the soil by killing off its microbial inhabitants, and this destructive trend is perhaps one of the most important factors when considering the value and necessity of organic farming.

If we do not change, we will eventually reach a point of no return, where soils will be too depleted to grow food. And then what will we do? Conventional may be more efficient, and may provide somewhat greater yields in some cases, but in the long term it’s unsustainable. Estimates suggest we have only about 55 to 60 years’ worth of productive topsoil left!²⁹

Other Benefits of Organic Pastured Meat and Eggs

Your best bet for finding healthy food is to grow your own. If that is not possible then connect with a local farmer that raises crops and animals according to organic standards. In the case of eggs, what you’re looking for is eggs from pastured, free-range hens. The Cornucopia Institute’s egg report and organic egg scorecard ranks 136 egg producers according to 28 organic criteria.

Regarding meat, keep in mind that organic grass-fed and grass-finished meats have other nutritional benefits beyond being higher in healthy fats; they’re also free of antibiotics and other drugs used in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). With antibiotic-resistant disease being a major public health hazard, buying organic meats is an important consideration in more ways than one.

Unless labeled as grass-fed, virtually all the meat you buy in the grocery store is CAFO beef, and tests have revealed that nearly half of the meat sold in U.S. stores is contaminated with pathogenic bacteria — including antibiotic-resistant strains. Grass-fed beef is not associated with this high frequency of contamination, and their living conditions have everything to do with this improved safety.

Sustainable Food Sources

In the U.S., the following organizations can help you locate farm-fresh foods, including grass-fed meat, dairy, free-range eggs, and fresh organic produce:

Weston A. Price Foundation	Weston A. Price has local chapters in most states, and many of them are connected with buying clubs in which you can easily purchase organic foods, including grass fed raw dairy products like milk and butter.
Grassfed Exchange	The Grassfed Exchange has a listing of producers selling organic and grass-fed meats across the U.S.
Local Harvest	This website will help you find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
Farmers' Markets	A national listing of farmers' markets.
Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals	The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)	CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.
FoodRoutes	The FoodRoutes "Find Good Food" map can help you connect with local farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSAs, and markets near you.
The Cornucopia Institute	The Cornucopia Institute maintains web-based tools rating all certified organic brands of eggs, dairy products, and other commodities, based on their ethical sourcing and authentic farming practices separating CAFO "organic" production from authentic organic practices.

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How to Make the Most of Leap Year

By Dr. Mercola

Every four years, a little-understood but interesting phenomenon takes place: we get an extra day. It’s called Leap Year, and it falls on February 29.

It’s a reprieve, of sorts. Because every year grants us about 365 plus one-quarter days, you could think of it as a six-hour surplus each year for four years. On the fourth year when those hours total 24, it essentially adds an extra day.

Although it may be more accurately referred to as Leap Day, Leap Year has to do with the time it takes the Earth to orbit around the sun, which we now know takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds.

There’s a bit of slip time, so scientists figured out that some changes would have to be made to the calendar to make up the slack.

How Leap Year Came to Be

It’s an interesting factoid that 260 years ago, Britain and its American colonies opted to wipe 11 days off their calendar between Sept. 2 and Sept. 14 to catch up with the calendars used by the rest of Western Europe.

Since 46 B.C., the known world had been flipping calendars implemented since Julius Caesar, called the Julian calendar. But its solar year was literally off kilter by 11 minutes (kudos to whoever figured that out).

Because Pope Gregory XIII’s biggest concern was that Easter was shifting ever so slightly away from the spring equinox each year, he introduced his own calendar, which we still use today. According to History.com:

“The Julian calendar included an extra day in February every four years. But Aloysius Lilius, the Italian scientist who developed the system Pope Gregory would unveil in 1582, realized that the addition of so many days made the calendar slightly too long.

He devised a variation that adds leap days in years divisible by four, unless the year is also divisible by 100. If the year is also divisible by 400, a leap day is added regardless. While this formula may sound confusing, it did resolve the lag created by Caesar’s earlier scheme — almost.”¹

That keeps everything on an even keel, so to speak, even though there’s still a slight discrepancy of 26 seconds.

Make Your ‘Leap Day’ Count

At any rate, we have an extra day, but here’s the beauty of it: For all the days you didn’t do all the healthy things for yourself that you know you should do — and really want to do — Leap Year gives you that chance.

Although you likely won’t be able to do anything you’d like, you might think of it as your golden opportunity to spend at least part of Feb. 29 living intentionally and positively, for yourself and the people in your life. Here are some fun ways to do that, inspired by the number 29.

Try doing just one or two, and this will be a day not wasted!

1. On the 28th, go to bed 29 minutes early.
2. On the 29th, get up 29 minutes early.
3. Drink 29 ounces of water.
4. Take 29 slow breaths through your nose.
5. Spread your feet, stretch upward slowly and touch your toes. Do this 29 times.
6. Send a funny email to 29 people you know would appreciate it as much as you.
7. Meditate, daydream or pray for 29 minutes.
8. Exercise for 29 minutes.
9. Make a list of 29 people who’ve helped, inspired or encouraged you. Resolve to tell them. Soon.
10. Ride your bike for 29 minutes.
11. Check your kitchen and pitch 29 unhealthy items.
12. Spend 29 minutes more with the people you love than you normally do.
13. Smile 29 minutes every hour of the day — or for at least 29 minutes
14. Call a friend and talk about them as much as they want to for 29 minutes.
15. If the weather is nice, spend 29 minutes outside.
16. Drink another 29 ounces of water.
17. Make a list of 29 to-die-for vacation spots. (You don’t have to actually go.)
18. List 29 things you’re grateful for.
19. Go through your closets and pick out 29 items to donate or give away.
20. Pop 29 grapes into the freezer and share them later.
21. Take a 29-minute nap or just spend that time relaxing with your eyes closed.
22. Create a playlist of 29 of your favorite songs.
23. Leave work 29 minutes early so you can “smell the roses” on the way home.
24. List 29 positive things you’ve learned throughout your life.
25. Take 29 calm, controlled breaths through your nose — again.
26. Straighten or put away 29 items to neaten your space.
27. Spend 29 minutes in a warm, sudsy bath, complete with candles and soft music.
28. Go to bed 29 minutes earlier than usual — again.
29. In your head, list 29 positive things about your day.

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Hearty Vegetable and Red Lentil Soup

Submitted by Marina Korsakova-Kreyn

 

On some days, a bowl of warm soup can soothe your senses and bring comfort. This Vegetable Lentil Soup recipe from Mercola.com reader Marina Korsakova-Kreyn does just that by providing a harmonious blend of different vegetables and spices for a mouthwatering experience.

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups of red lentils

1 large onion

5 medium carrots

5 medium potatoes

1 large sweet potato

Fresh ginger root, 1 inch long

4 medium cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

Salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

Optional: 1 tablespoon of dry seaweed mix

 

Procedure:

 

1. Boil 3 quarts of filtered water in an 8-quart pot.
2. Add lentils.
3. Add all vegetables (washed, uncut, and unpeeled) to the boiling water.
4. Add ginger (peeled but uncut) and 3 cloves of garlic.
5. Add turmeric, curry powder, and salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
6. Cook vegetables, ginger, and garlic until ready for about 30 minutes. Use a ladle to take them out on a big plate, and let them cool for about 20 minutes (while lentils continue simmering).
7. Blend cooled vegetables, ginger, and garlic in batches with generous amount of filtered water.
8. Return to pot and reheat.
9. Add finely minced clove of garlic (add salt if needed).

 

Note: If using seaweed, reconstitute them in 2 cups of boiling water, let them cool, and then blend along with vegetables.

 

Prep and cook time: 2 hours

This recipe makes 20 servings.

 

Satisfy Your Taste Buds With This Vegetable Lentil Soup

 

To help maintain your 20/20 vision, look no further than the vibrant carrot, which contains both vitamin A and beta-carotene, an antioxidant. These two not only promote good eyesight, but also help protect your body from ultraviolet rays, prevent heart disease and strokes, act as a poultice to prevent infections, and retain youthful skin.

 

One of the most popular ingredients in Asian cuisine, ginger is known for its distinct flavor and  many health benefits. This yellow root helps soothe your intestinal tract and treat stomach pain, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea discomfort. What’s more, ginger is said to be effective in preventing nausea, and relieving motion and morning sickness.

 

Just like carrots, sweet potatoes contain vitamin A and beta-carotene. This combination can also support your immune system, fight cell-damaging free radicals, and even lessen your risk for heart disease and cancer.

 

Spices have been used to add flavor to foods and for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. In this recipe, we use one with immense benefits: turmeric powder. This spice’s primary pharmacological agent, curcumin, has been proven to provide relief for joint pain and inflammation, lower cholesterol, prevent Alzheimer’s disease and various cancers, and enhance liver function.  

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Wellness Chiropractic — Benefits Beyond Pain

By Dr. Mercola

Many are confused about the benefits and value of chiropractic treatment. According to Dr. Billy DeMoss, a chiropractor with a practice in Newport Beach, who believes chiropractic is vastly underutilized.

He’s also the founder Cal Jam, one of the largest chiropractic teaching events in the world. I will have the privilege of speaking there later this year. Many will only consider chiropractic when they have back or neck pain, but its scope actually goes far beyond that.

“I try to get people to understand that your nervous system and your brain control every function of your body,” he says.

“When we have a condition in chiropractic we call subluxation, which is misalignment or dysfunction in the spine as far as mobility is concerned, it can cause nerve interference, which will interfere with the expression of intelligence that flows over the spinal cord and nerves.

It can contribute not only causing pain that most people perceive as a chiropractic problem but also can cause organs not to function 100 percent.”

Chiropractic as Preventive Medicine

Research by Dr. Dean Harrison and others suggests chiropractic treatments can help prevent progressive spinal degeneration, i.e. osteoarthritis or disc disease. Just like regular dental care will prolong the useful life of your teeth, getting regular chiropractic treatments can do the same for your spine.

Your spinal column, the vertebrae, and the discs, also protect your most delicate and important system — your nervous system — and impingements can contribute to a number of health problems and ailments.

According to DeMoss, anything you do to protect and nurture our spine will promote “greater expression of nerve intelligence” and “a higher vibrancy in health.”

“Healthcare is really about doing everything you can to get the body back in alignment, not only chemically but also spiritually and mentally.

Where I think chiropractic shines is that we address the cause of the problem. Somebody might have high blood pressure. Their high blood pressure is not due to the fact that they [lack] high blood pressure medication.

Your child might have asthma, but it’s not because he’s got a shortage of albuterol; an ear infection is not a shortage of amoxicillin. Those things have their place in a crisis situation. But [chiropractors] don’t look at the symptoms; we look at what caused the symptoms.

Many times if there’s nerve interference lowering the expression and function of organs, it can contribute to the body not functioning at 100 percent, which leaves it more susceptible to, as we in chiropractic say, ‘Dis-Ease’ and then the body becomes sick or symptomatic.

What we like to do is look at the individual holistically and see what’s going on with their nervous system. “

A Brief History of Chiropractic

Osteopathic medicine was founded by Andrew Taylor about 140 years ago. As many of you know I’m a doctor of osteopathy (DO). DOs, like chiropractors, receive extensive additional training in spinal adjustments.

However, in my experience, only a small percentage of DOs are really skilled in this area as they have chosen a more conventional allopathic model, which includes more of an emphasis on drugs and surgery rather than diet and lifestyle changes.

Daniel David “D.D.” Palmer is considered the father of chiropractic. He opened the first chiropractic school in 1897. In 1910, the Flexner Report, which was funded by the Carnegie and the Rockefeller Foundations, set a new tone for medicine and led to the systematic undermining of natural medicine.

In the ‘60s, there was a persistent tendency to suppress physicians from referring patients to chiropractors — so much so that Dr. Chester Wilk ended up filing an antitrust suit against the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1976.

The lawsuit dragged on for more than a decade, but Wilk was ultimately successful. In 1987, the court ruled that the AMA had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession.

How Children Can Benefit From Chiropractic

A large portion of DeMoss’ patients are children. They don’t come in for pain issues, but rather your typical childhood problems such as earaches, allergies, and asthma, for example.

“Children are healing machines. As long as you get things properly lined up, their metabolism and capacity to heal is in there,” he says. “Sometimes you need to do more than cleaning up the diet and adjusting it.

Sometimes they need to be detoxified, whether it was from some type of possible toxic vaccine or from eating toxic foods. You’ve got glyphosate from GMOs .... preservatives ... food colorings and additives ... bromines.

You’ve got all these different things that can contribute to lowering the vibration of that patient’s healing potential, i.e. children ...

It’s sad because I’ll see kids that come to me and it’s the same story over and over. It’s like, ‘He’s on his 12th round of antibiotics,’ and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why would you continue to do something if it didn’t work the first, second, third, or even fourth time? Why do you keep doing it?’

I’ve never taken an antibiotic. I’m fortunate. I wouldn’t take it unless I was on my death bed. The microbiome has become a hot topic lately. I’ve always known about that ... When you just indiscriminately use an antibiotic ... you’re destroying part of your ... immune function.

The more antibiotics these kids take, the weaker their immune systems and the worse the symptoms get. That’s what I do as a chiropractor. I’m really good about adjusting. But I’m really an articulate teacher. I make it so that people can understand it.”

Not All Chiropractors Have the Same Philosophy

According to DeMoss, “chiropractic is like brushing your teeth;” it’s something you need to do on a regular basis to maintain the life of your spine, because regular activities, such as chronic sitting, can contribute to its functioning less than optimally. Granted, some chiropractors focus primarily on pain and injuries, and do not have the full skill set required to address issues like allergies or disease. So it’s important to make sure the chiropractor you choose has the appropriate vitalistic philosophy.

Most of DeMoss’ patients come to him via word of mouth, and this is perhaps one of the best ways to find a good wellness chiropractor. You may also want to find out if he or she is trained in any other treatment modalities, such as muscle testing, applied kinesiology, or neuroemotional technique (NET). There are literally dozens of different techniques that can have a profound impact on addressing the bioenergetic component of disease, not just the structural.

Tips for Choosing a Wellness Chiropractor

• Ask your friends for a recommendation. A friend who knows both you and the chiropractor may be able to judge whether your health philosophies and personalities are compatible.
• Meet the doctor. Many chiropractors will agree to a no-cost consultation to determine whether you are a good match. To make this visit as productive as possible, here are a few things to consider:

1. Does the practice focus on vertebral subluxation and wellness? Physical, biochemical, and psychological stress may result in spinal subluxations that disrupt nerve function and compromise your health. If you’re looking for a wellness chiropractor, it’s essential that this be the focus.

   Some chiropractors confine their practice to the mechanical treatment of back and neck pain, and this is something you need to be aware of beforehand.

2. Does the doctor “walk the talk”? If he or she is overweight, looks unhealthy, or does not live a healthy lifestyle, this speaks volumes regarding their commitment to wellness.
3. Do the two of you "click"? Do you like each other? Do you communicate well? Avoid a doctor who seems rushed, talks down to you, or seems disinterested in listening to your concerns.
4. Does the doctor use objective assessments of nerve function? Since your care is not based just on addressing pain, your chiropractor should be using some form of objective assessment of your nerve function, as spinal subluxations can sometimes be asymptomatic.

   Non-invasive instruments that measure the electrical activity in your muscles, and/or a thermal scanner that evaluates the function of your autonomic nervous system can be used, for example.

5. What treatment techniques are used? Chiropractic techniques include low-force adjustments by hand, and more forceful adjustments using instruments. Ask which technique would be used on you, and if you have a preference, make sure the doctor is willing to use it.

   As mentioned earlier, many chiropractors are also trained in other complementary techniques, so ask what else your doctor may have in his or her tool bag.

Cal Jam

To share and spread his philosophical principles of health, DeMoss brings together natural health practitioners and chiropractors from all across the country for an annual event called Cal Jam. I first learned about it through one of my best friends, a Dr. Patrick Gentempo, who is also a chiropractor and has spoken many times at this event.

This year, they’re expecting close to 3,000 attendees, so it’s one of the largest chiropractic conventions. As one of the speakers at this year’s event, I’ll be sharing some information about my new passion, metabolic medicine, which focuses on the health of your mitochondria. This is also the topic of my next book.

The original vision for Cal Jam was inspired by the film “The Dead Poets Society,” where people would get together and read poetry in a cave, and California Jam, a 1970s music event.

“I used to run a little group here in my office called the ‘Dead Chiropractics Society.’ We would read old chiropractic literature from D.D. and B.J. Palmer. We would discuss it, and then people really got into it. It grew to where we would have a hundred people in my office every month.

From that, I was doing some relicensure stuff with a gentleman named Dr. Brian Porteus, who’s a chiropractor, and he goes, ‘Why don’t we do a big philosophy event in California? We can do it for relicensure …’

In the ‘70s, there was an event called California Jam. It was a huge music event ... these seas of people. I said to myself, ‘If we could get these big leaders in healthcare in front of masses of people, we could really change the consciousness of the planet,’” he says.

“As [the original] California Jam, we have live music to help raise the level [of energy]. The vibration at Cal Jam is higher than any other event you’ll ever go to because of the music. But the music also pushes the same theme. We pick songs that have messages to it.”

Mark Your Calendar, Cal Jam Starts March 18

His vision now is to start attracting the general public to the event, so if you’re interested in attending this live music and information-packed event, check out the Cal Jam website for more information. It’s being held March 18 through 20 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA.

To buy tickets, see the “Store” tab. To appeal to the widest general audience, speakers will present a wide range of health-related topics, not just chiropractic. DeMoss’ dream is to grow this event from 3,000 to 25,000 or more.

“My vision is to attract bigger sponsors,” he says. “I would love to have Red Hot Chili Peppers play at it, to make it a fun festival where people can come and have a great time, but at the same time learn a lot of important concepts that they’re not going to hear on TV, and things that are going to improve and push the human population to greater health.”

Chiropractic Is Good for More Than Just Pain

According to DeMoss, if you’re not healthy, chiropractic can often address the epigenetic and bioenergetic underpinnings. Naturally, diet and lifestyle play major roles, and DeMoss addresses all of those areas with his patients as well. To give you an example of what he’s talking about, a patient DeMoss has treated for 20 years told him about his daughter-in-law’s infertility problem.

She’d been trying to get pregnant for two and a half years, and they’d spent about $75,000 on infertility treatments, without any success.

“I said, ‘Gary, why didn’t you refer them here?’ It doesn’t make sense to put the bun in the oven if the oven is not working. He didn’t think there was any correlation between her back and her capacity to become pregnant. I said, ‘I’m so confident, you don’t have to pay me until she becomes pregnant.’ So he sent her in.

She was in her 10th week of care here when she became pregnant. He came in the other day and said, ‘OK. I owe you now.’ He wrote me a nice check.

I want people to understand that when something’s not working in your body, there are things that we can do to make it work, other than drugs and surgery. It’s so sad that people have this limited belief set on what chiropractic is about. It’s more than just you coming in and seeing us as a Band-Aid to get rid of your pain.

In reality, I want people to come and utilize chiropractic to maximize their expression of life and maximize not only the quality but the quantity of the life that God have intended for them.”

More Information

To make an appointment with DeMoss, contact DeMoss Chiropractic. His website also has a newsletter and a blog, where you can learn more about his natural health philosophy. Aside from the Cal Jam event, which is being held March 18 through 20 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA, DeMoss also holds workshops on nutrition, women’s health, immunizations, and more, throughout the year. For a schedule, see his workshops page.

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Bondi Wash Lemon Tea Tree & Mandarin Body Wash Review

My favourite body washes have sweet subtle fragrances and foam up well with minimal product. I can safely say that Bondi Wash Lemon Tea Tree & Mandarin Body Wash meets all of this criteria. Continue Reading →

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Physicists Are Freaking Out About Gravitational Waves and You Should Too

By Dr. Mercola

In 1916, Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his general theory of relativity.

Gravitational waves are "ripples in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe," according to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).¹

LIGO is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory, with detectors in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington. In September 2015, nearly 100 years after Einstein's prediction, the discovery of a lifetime was made: both of LIGO's detectors observed gravitational waves, a historical first.

The source of the waves was a collision between two black holes that took place 1.3 billion light years ago. The "violent astrophysical event" was virtually beyond comprehension in scale, as each black hole is said to have had a mass that was more than 25 times greater than that of the sun.²

The discovery was kept largely quiet for five months, while physicists worked tirelessly to confirm their astounding finding. In February 2016, the announcement was made public and published in the journal Physical Review Letters:³

"A century after the fundamental predictions of Einstein and Schwarzschild [who published work that further the discovery of black holes], we report the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first direct observation of a binary black hole system merging to form a single black hole."

Advanced LIGO Gets the Job Done

The first-generation LIGO experiment operated for nearly a decade with no results. Detecting gravitational waves is no easy feat, and the original technology just wasn't sensitive enough. As reported by Gizmodo:⁴

"Gravitational waves are minuscule — the atomic jitters that pass through our world when two black holes bash together in a distant galaxy are on the order of a billionth of a billionth the diameter of an atom.

LIGO detects them by proxy, using high powered lasers to measure tiny changes in the distance between two objects positioned thousands of miles apart.

A million things can screw this up, including a rumbling freight train, a tremor in the Earth, and the inconvenient reality that all objects with a temperature above absolute zero are vibrating all the time."

Upgrades over the last five years led to an advanced LIGO system that began operating in September 2015, just days before the first waves were detected.

It has new-and-improved lasers and is better able to separate potential gravitational waves from background "noise." It also allows a larger volume of the universe to be probed.

When the first waves were detected, researchers could hardly believe their luck and quickly set to work confirming that the signal was real (and it was!). Gizmodo continued:⁵

"According to Einstein's theory of relativity, when a pair of black holes orbit on another, they lose energy slowly, causing them to creep gradually closer.

In the final minutes of their merger, they speed up considerably, until finally, moving at about half the speed of light, they bash together, forming a larger black hole. A tremendous burst of energy is released, propagating through space as gravitational waves.

The two black holes behind the all the hubbub are 29 and 36 times the mass of the Sun, respectively. During the peak of their cosmic collision, LIGO researchers estimate that their power output was 50 times that of the entire visible universe.

'The description of this observation is beautifully described in the Einstein theory of general relativity formulated 100 years ago and comprises the first test of the theory in strong gravitation,' said Rainer Weiss, who first proposed LIGO as a means of detecting gravitational waves in the 1980s.

'It would have been wonderful to watch Einstein's face had we been able to tell him.'"

Why Detect Gravitational Waves?

The physics world is abuzz with this new discovery. Scott Hughes, Ph.D., an astrophysicist at MIT, told Gizmodo:⁶

"Seeing the data that the public just saw hit me like at ton of bricks … Imagine twenty three years of your career suddenly coming to fruition. It's hard to express the way everything seemed to just fall into place."

The finding is expected to set the course for a "new era of observational astrophysics," so it's easy to understand why physicists are excited.⁷ But there's reason for everyone to share in on this excitement. The detection of gravitational waves is only the beginning.

Electromagnetic radiation has historically been the only tool to observe and understand the goings-on of the universe. Gravitational waves offer an entirely new method for observation, as they carry "information about cosmic objects and events that is not carried by electromagnetic radiation," LIGO noted.⁸

Writing in the journal Physics, Emanuele Berti, Ph.D. of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Mississippi, explained it this way:⁹

"With Advanced LIGO's result, we are entering the dawn of the age of gravitational wave astronomy: with this new tool, it is as though we are able to hear, when before we could only see.

It is very significant that the first 'sound' picked up by Advanced LIGO came from the merger of two black holes.

These are objects we can't see with electromagnetic radiation. The implications of gravitational-wave astronomy for astrophysics in the near future are dazzling."

Part of what makes gravitational waves such a perfect "window" into the universe is the fact that they don't interact with matter, so they travel through the universe unimpeded. LIGO explained:¹⁰

"They will carry information about their origins that is free of the distortion or alteration suffered by electromagnetic radiation as it travels through millions of light years of intergalactic space. With this completely new way of examining astrophysical objects and phenomena, gravitational waves will truly open a new window on the Universe …

… [P]roviding astronomers and other scientists with their first glimpses of previously unseen and unseeable wonders, and greatly adding to our understanding of the nature of space and time itself."

Third LIGO Interferometer to Be Built in India

Following the momentous announcement, the Indian Cabinet approved funding to build a third LIGO detector in India. The addition of a third detector is expected to help scientists better pinpoint gravitational waves. It may be activated by the end of 2023.

While researchers are anticipating several sources and types of gravitational waves to appear, they're also anticipating new discoveries that have yet to be anticipated. LIGO Laboratory Executive Director David Reitze, Ph.D. said in a press release:¹¹

"Any time you turn on some new type of telescope or microscope, you discover things you couldn't anticipate. So while there will be certain sources of gravitational waves that we expect to see, the really exciting part is what we did not predict and what we did not expect to see."

 In case you were wondering how gravitational waves are detected by LIGO, it involves the use of laser interferometers. As the press release explained it:¹²

"At each observatory, the two-and-a-half-mile (4-km) long L-shaped interferometer uses laser light split into two beams that travel back and forth down the arms (four-foot diameter tubes kept under a near-perfect vacuum). The beams are used to monitor the distance between mirrors precisely positioned at the ends of the arms.

According to Einstein's theory, the distance between the mirrors will change by an infinitesimal amount when a gravitational wave passes by the detector. A change in the lengths of the arms smaller than one-ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton (10-19 meter) can be detected.

According to David Reitze, executive director of LIGO and a Caltech research professor, the degree of precision achieved by Advanced LIGO is analogous to being able to measure the distance between our solar system and the sun's nearest neighbor Alpha Centauri — about 4.4 light-years away — accurately to within a few microns, a tiny fraction of the diameter of a human hair."

Discoveries About the Nature of Gravity Could Be Around the Corner

The gravitational waves from black holes are expected to shed new light on the universe as we know it, including, perhaps, telling us about the nature of gravity itself. "Does gravity really behave as predicted by Einstein in the vicinity of black holes, where the fields are very strong? Can dark energy and the acceleration of the Universe be explained if we modify Einstein's gravity? We are only just beginning to answer these questions," Berti pondered.¹³

One thing’s for certain – if you’re a physics buff, things are really going to get interesting in the next few decades. You can also check out my own foray into zero gravity in the video at the top of this article.

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“Open Sesame” Shows the Importance of Seed Saving

By Dr. Mercola

The seed saving movement is growing. Communities are banding together to save and share heirloom and open pollination seeds that are in danger of disappearing off the face of the Earth as a result of industrialized agriculture and multinational corporations that control the majority of our seed supply.

The documentary "Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds" by M. Sean Kaminsky seeks to inspire people about the importance of seed saving—and its urgency.¹

When you save seeds, you're joining a chain of farmers, gardeners, and seed enthusiasts that dates back to the Stone Age—our civilization literally arose due to seed saving.

Early humans selected the best wild plants with which to feed themselves, and passed those varieties along to others by saving and sharing seeds.

Seeds are the foundation of life, from fruits and vegetables to grain and livestock feed—without them, we have no food. It's estimated that upwards of 90 percent of our caloric intake directly or indirectly comes from seeds.

Age-old heirloom varieties are disappearing at an alarming rate—90 percent of the crop varieties grown 100 years ago are already gone. The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership estimates that 60,000 to 100,000 plant species are in danger of extinction.²

Why Seed Saving Is So Important

Four of the most important reasons to save seeds are the following:³

1. Seed Security: By saving your seeds, you control your seed and therefore your food supply—you aren't depending on seed stores or catalogs for difficult to find seed.

   Hundreds of excellent plant varieties have been discontinued as big corporations have consolidated the seed industry and focused on more profitable varieties. Half of the vegetables grown today have no commercial sources—you have to get them through seed trades.⁴

2. Regional Adaptation: Most commercially available seed has been selected because it performs fairly well across the entire country if given synthetic fertilizers.

   But when you save seed from your own best performing plants, on your land and in your own ecosystem, you gradually develop varieties better adapted to your own soil, climate, and growing conditions.

3. Consistent Quality: Large seed suppliers rarely "rogue" the fields to pull out inferior or off-type plants, so the open-pollinated (OP) seeds they sell have inferior specimens in the mix.

   You can select your own seed for uniformity and quality. You can control the gene pool for optimal germination, ripening time, flavor, storage, disease resistance, color, etc. After a few seasons, more and more of your plants will have all of your personally selected traits.

4. Preserving Your Heritage and Biodiversity: Today multinational corporations select seed varieties according to their own financial interests; they control 82 percent of the world's seed market, which includes 75 percent of the vegetable seed market.

   It's up to small farmers and home gardeners to preserve thousands of years of biodiversity.

Understanding Open-Pollinated, Heirloom, and Hybrid Seeds

As a gardener, one of your more important decisions is whether to choose open-pollinated, hybrid, or heirloom seed varieties—but which are best?

According to Seed Savers,⁵ for seed saving purposes, the most significant distinction among these types is saving true-to-type seed from open-pollinated and heirloom varieties, and avoiding hybrids. Open-pollination seeds are pollinated by insects, birds, humans, wind or other natural mechanisms.

According to Seed Savers:⁶

"Because there are no restrictions on the flow of pollen between individuals, open-pollinated plants are more genetically diverse. This can cause a greater amount of variation within plant populations, which allows plants to slowly adapt to local growing conditions and climate year-to-year.

As long as pollen is not shared between different varieties within the same species, then the seed produced will remain true-to-type, year after year."

An heirloom variety is a plant that has a history of being passed down multiple generations within a family or a community. An heirloom variety is by definition open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated plants are heirlooms.

Hybridization is a controlled method of pollination in which the pollen of two different species or varieties is crossed (usually by human intervention, although it can happen in nature), usually from a desire to breed in a particular trait.

Hybrids are typically unstable and less vigorous, producing fewer of those desirable traits with each passing year. However, hybrid seeds can be stabilized by open-pollination—by growing, selecting and saving the seeds over many seasons.

Choosing open-pollinated and heirloom seeds helps conserve genetic diversity and prevents the loss of unique varieties, including the ones that contribute to our long-term survival because of special hardiness and disease resistance traits.

Biodiversity is our only insurance in times of vulnerability, such as when facing climate change.

Our Loss of Seed Diversity Is Shocking

In 80 years (between 1903 and 1983), we lost 93 percent of the variety in our food seeds. According to Rural Advancement Foundation International:⁷

• We went from 497 varieties of lettuce to 36
• We went from 288 varieties of beets to 17
• We went from 307 varieties of sweet corn to 12

Even the popular heirloom tomato has taken an enormous hit, having lost at least 80 percent of its diversity over the last century. Even more tragic is the fact that a lot of these precious plants are being replaced by patented genetically engineered (GE) varieties.

The National Geographic infographic below shows how many varieties of fruits and vegetables appear to be nearing extinction.⁸ This data is already more than 30 years old, so the statistics may be even more grim today.

The Disastrous Consequences of Patenting Life

Traditionally, seeds have been saved and shared between farmers from one season to the next. Farmers rarely ever had to buy new seed. Nature, when left alone, provides you with the means to propagate the next harvest in a never-ending cycle. Valuable heirlooms have been replaced by massive expanses of genetically engineered (GE) crops. According to the USDA, 94 percent of U.S. soy and 88 percent of U.S. corn are now genetically engineered (GE).

It's estimated that, since 1970, 20,000 seed companies have been swallowed up by mega-corporations. In 2005, Monsanto bought the world's largest fruit and vegetable seed company, Seminis, for $1.4 billion. Just four agrichemical companies now own 43 percent of the world's commercial seed supply, and 10 multinational corporations hold 65 percent of global commercial seed for major crops.⁹

Many farmers are now dependent on patented GE seeds and must buy them every year from companies like Monsanto. Saving such seeds is illegal because it's considered patent infringement.

Farmers don't buy seed anymore—they essentially buy a license to use the seed for a short period of time—typically one season. It's more of a lease, or a "technology use agreement." For 200 years, the patenting of life was prohibited, especially with respect to foods. But all of that changed in 1978 with the first patent of a living organism, an oil-eating microbe, which opened the proverbial floodgates.

According to the film, one of Monsanto's proxies has a patent claiming 463,173 separate plant genes! Patenting of life forms was never approved by Congress or the American public, but as far as the GMO industry is concerned, they own a gene wherever it ends up and however it gets there. The trail of destruction left by GE seeds isn't limited to the West—Indian farmers have been coerced into using them, with completely disastrous consequences.

GE Seeds Responsible for 250,000 Farmer Suicides

More than a quarter of a million Indian farmers have committed suicide over the past 16 years, since the introduction of GE seed. These crops have failed (especially Bt cotton), leaving them financially ruined. Bt cotton is much more expensive than traditional cotton seed, requires more water and pesticides, and has failed to produce the increased crop yields promised by Monsanto.

India's government has largely abandoned small farmers, discontinuing support programs and failing to address factors such as lack of rural credit and access to irrigation, among others, and new government programs have barely scratched the surface of this crisis, which results in one farmer committing suicide every 30 minutes, typically by ingesting pesticides like Roundup.

On a side note, concerns over glyphosate's toxicity are finally starting to be taken seriously. The U.S. EPA recently announced¹⁰ U.S. regulators may start testing for glyphosate residues on food in the near future. While thousands of foods are tested for about 400 different pesticides each year, glyphosate is not on that list simply because it's been thought to be safe.

While that's good news, it's worth noting that the EPA raised the allowable limits for glyphosate in food in 2013, and the allowable levels may be too high to protect human health, based on mounting research. Root and tuber vegetables (with the exception of sugar) got one of the largest boosts, with allowable residue limits being raised from 0.2 ppm to 6.0 ppm.

Meanwhile, malformations in frog and chicken embryos have been documented at 2.03 ppm of glyphosate.¹¹ And, as reported by the Institute for Science in Society:¹²

"The amount of allowable glyphosate in oilseed crops (except for canola and soy) went up from 20 ppm to 40 ppm, 100,000 times the amount needed to induce breast cancer cells."

The Twisted Truth About GMOs

Click HERE to watch the full interview!

Download Interview Transcript

Click HERE to watch the full interview!

Download Interview Transcript

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a serious threat to our environment and our health. Although the U.S. has the strictest food safety laws in the world governing new additives, the FDA has allowed GMOs to evade those laws, as Steven Druker explains in this recent interview.

The sole purported legal basis for the marketing of GE foods in the U.S. is the FDA's claim that they're "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS)—a claim that is actually fraudulent. Documents released as a result of a lawsuit against the FDA reveal that the agency's scientists warned superiors about the extraordinary risks of GE foods—but their warnings were spurned and covered up.

According to the law, no GE food can qualify as GRAS unless there is overwhelming consensus about its safety within the scientific community, and that consensus cannot be based on hypotheses or speculation—it must be based on solid evidence. In the case of GE foods, there is no such evidence. FDA's own files contain the admission that they didn't have any technical evidence upon which to base their presumption that GE foods are GRAS.

On January 24, 2015 a statement signed by 300 scientists was published in a peer-reviewed journal,¹³ asserting that there is no scientific consensus about the safety of GE foods, which confirms that they are on the U.S. market illegally.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine wrote, "There is more than a casual association between GE foods and adverse health effects." They go on to cite specific scientific evidence pointing to potential organ damage from GE foods (liver, kidney, spleen, and GI system), accelerated aging, immune dysregulation, infertility... and the list goes on and on.¹⁴

Support Seed Diversity by Ditching GE Food

As you often hear me say, one of your greatest powers is your pocketbook. You can take back control over our food supply with the choices you make about the foods you eat, the seeds you plant, and the products you use. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Stop buying non-organic processed foods. Instead, build your diet around whole, unprocessed foods, especially raw fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats from coconut oil, avocados, organic pastured meat, dairy, and eggs, and raw nuts
2. Buy most of your foods from your local farmer's market and organic farms
3. Cook most or all your meals at home using whole, organic ingredients
4. Frequent restaurants that serve organic, cooked-from-scratch local food. Many restaurants, especially chain restaurants, use processed foods for their meals (Chipotlé is a rare exception)
5. Buy only organic, open-pollinated, and heirloom seeds for your garden, which applies to both decorative plants and edibles; they're obtainable from seed swaps, seed libraries, and exchanges (see next section for sources)
6. Boycott all lawn and garden chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) unless they are "OMRI Approved," which means they're allowed in organic production. If you use a lawn service, make sure they're using OMRI Approved products as well
7. Join the Organic Consumers Association's new campaign, "Buy Organic Brands that Support Your Right to Know"

Seed Saving Resources

If you want to begin saving your own seeds, there are four basic steps: Choosing the right plants, collecting their seeds, cleaning the seeds and storing them appropriately.¹⁵ Below are some excellent seed saving resources, as well as suggestions for where to purchase open-pollinated and heirloom seeds.

• Seed to Seed: Seed Saving Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth (March 2002) is an excellent and widely cited book about seed saving
• Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA): National non-profit organization committed to protecting, promoting, and developing the organic seed trade and its growers
• Seed Savers Exchange: Organization whose mission is to promote saving and sharing of heirloom seeds and plants
• SeedSave.org: Online seed school with free downloadable book about the basics of seed saving
• Hudson Valley Seed Library: Featured in the movie, Hudson is much more than a library—it's also a place where you can order heirloom seed
• Mother Earth News article¹⁶ about their picks for top 15 vegetable seed companies

Why Independent Films Are So Important

Cinema plays an important role in how we think, how our opinions are formed, and how we view our ever changing world. Independent film makers take huge risks and are often the main financial support behind bringing you cutting edge and riveting news through the eyes of experts and real life survivors.

They are not swayed by cinema or popular opinion, but are instead influenced by their dynamic surroundings and the evolution of change to bring you the facts at their own cost. We need independent film makers to continue to bring us the news that no one else is willing to face. Please show your support to these amazing artists for their hard work and efforts to bring us the facts by visiting their sites, sharing their information, and purchasing their films.

I believe in brining quality to my readers, which is why I wanted to share some information about the producer, Sean Kaminsky, of Open Sesame. Through his hard work and dedication we are able to shine a light on the dangers and poisons that are hiding in our food and damaging our health. Thank you to Mr. Kaminsky for sharing with us.

What was your inspiration for making this film?

I received many blank looks when I told friends I planned to make a documentary about seeds back in 2009. They thought I was some kind of closet obsessive gardener but I didn’t even have a garden then. That only came after the film! ‘Open Sesame’ began as a short that grew into a feature film once I started to interview people and learned what was at stake.

I’d already worked on several environmentally themed films including an HBO documentary on climate change and numerous shorts for Sundance Channel. I felt like I had a decent grasp of the primary environmental issues we faced.

So I was stunned to learn about the seed crisis--but when I started the film few people were talking about the importance of seeds or how industrial farming, patents and GMOs threaten 12,000 years of our agricultural heritage. All those blank looks told me I was on the right track in telling a story that needed to get told.

What was your favorite part of making this film?

Making this film was an incredible adventure and it’s hard to choose one favorite. One favorite part was meeting amazing individuals who have tremendous passion for seeds and want to help change our food system. Many of the people that I filmed with have since become friends. I feel grateful to have been able to share their stories. Visiting Navdanya in India was an incredible experience and witnessing the love and care they gave seeds was something I worked hard to convey in the film.

Seed School was also a highlight since I learned a ton while shooting and still use many of the tips I learned in my own small garden when I plant. The editing process was also rewarding because that's when I started to discover the threads that unite folks in a growing community seed movement. Amidst all the challenges, there are reasons for hope and optimism.

Where do the proceeds to your film go?

This film has been a passion project from start to finish without support from big media companies or distributors. Everyone who supports the film also supports sustainable indie filmmaking. A significant percentage of proceeds go toward outreach and helping to make the film affordable for small community screenings.

We’re starting to share this film’s message overseas including the developing world but we need funding to achieve that goal for everything from translations to distribution help. Finally, I also have another food-related film in development and hope to be able to put some funding aside to support its early stages. There are many challenges facing our food supply and more stories that need to be told!

I ask that you show your support for this film by purchasing a copy. There is also a longer version available with more vitally important information you can order by clicking here. Together with your help we can continue to spread the word about GMOs and their devastating effects on our health and the health of our children.

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Beauty Trends 2016

What's Hot On The Beauty Scene for 2016

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New year, new trends! How we feel about that? Excited to experiment and to give all new beauty trends a try! After seeing the end of the ultra-heavy-contouring era (which made us incredibly happy), we are ready to strobe and rock the bob hairstyle, like never before! Are you with us?

Strobing

Strobing started getting popular in 2015 but is now in its apogee. While initially, strobing was something only makeup artists and beauty gurus talked about, now everyone is trying (and loving) it.

“Strobing is another word for highlighting, but with a slightly different technique. The way I see strobing is more from a skincare perspective; instead of layering up the face, the idea behind strobing is to give the skin an iridescence, or luminous feel, that’s almost coming from within rather than from products that have been added to the skin.” - Hayley Dutton, makeup artist

Image via  alinaalamode.blogspot.com

The key to perfect strobing is not in expensive highlighter or luxurious makeup brushes – the key is to have skin care regimen that will  enhance you natural glow and will allow the highlighter to blend beautifully, without looking as if you’ve been layering it for hours. From then on, it’s just sticking with the basic technique for applying highlighter. For more natural finish, opt for liquid/creamy highlighters.

What To Try: Vitamin C Nightly Repair Nectar

Get It Here

Subtle Contouring

Good news - Kimmy’s heavy contouring is slowly, but surely, stepping away from the makeup scene. Yay for that (and huge “Thanks!” to whoever made it happen)!

Because of the immense popularity of contouring, though, the trend is not going to disappear completely. Instead, in 2016, it will be replaced with a more naturally-looking, subtle version of itself. The new contouring technique includes accentuating one area of your face at a time (cheekbones, jawline or nose) rather than all three at once. After all, the idea of makeup (and contouring) is not to change entirely the way you look, but to make your beautiful features stand out.

Freckles

Forget about spray tan - heavily tanned skin is not hot anymore. All you need to look fresh and youthful is a bit of bronzer and some freckles. Yes, freckles.

If you do not have real freckles, it’s super easy to dot them on with the help of light brown eye pencil or eyeliner. They will give sun-kissed, soft touch to your complexion and will make you feel at least 5 years younger, trust me.

Image via  Pinterest

You have real freckles? Even better! Pair them up with some bronzer and you are ready to cast a spell on everyone you want to! (that’s how charming you are!)

PS: Okay, I am bias, but… I LOVE freckles! And I am secretly jealous of you, if you were blessed with having natural ones. Freckles are gorgeous!

What To Try: Sunkissed Bronzer

Get It Here

Shorter Bobs

The bob haircut has become a huge thing in 2015. Many celebrities have chopped their locks to follow the trend and the results were stunning. What’s even better – in 2016, the long bobs are being replaced by shorter ones. The shorter the bob the more classy and chic you’ll look. Hair stylists confirm: “Long, mermaid hair is so last season.”

So why not go with the flow and chop some hair off? Pinterest is full of ideas on how to style and color your bob – trust me, the options are countless. Bobs are anything but boring (in case you were worried about that).
Bonus: Shorter hair makes you look younger. 

If you liked this post, let us know by sharing it! Share and get $5 off for youre next order with La Mav!

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What’s Your Dream Friday Deal?

We love treating you to our special Friday Deals. How do you feel about them? We’d love your feedback… Collaborating with our favorite clean beauty brands and retailers to bring you exclusive discounts and promotions gives  you the chance to try new products and restock on favorites, and it gives us a chance to gush about the things we love. (What can we say—when you love something you want to share it!) We do our best to stay on top of the new new and to share products that are making a true difference in our lives, but we know you have your […]

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EcocentricMom.com Mom Box UN-boxing!

You may recall that I have reviewed these EcocentricMom boxes in the past, or you may have seen my face on a card on the inside of the box if you were a subscriber.  A few years have gone by and I have now gotten the chance to reintroduce you to this great company.  There... Read More »

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