I try not to let anything ruin my fun. And I’ll be damned if the plastic toxin known as BPA is going to stop me from drinking soda. But it almost did.
BPA is used in the food and drink packaging industry for its durability and versatility. The risks to health and longevity are enormous though, and have been known since the early 1900’s. Primarily, it throws hormone harmony out of whack, which means it’s a toxic gender bender that can cause women to grow a fuzzy upper lip and men tits. Later, cancer can manifest and claw-out your insides. It’s horrid for babies too.
If You Want to Live Longer, Stop Consuming BPA
“Trace BPA exposure has been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and trigger a wide variety of disorders, including chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer, cardiovascular system damage, adult-onset diabetes, early puberty, obesity and resistance to chemotherapy.” – Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org)
BPA is Rampant
Despite the risks, BPA is rampant, even among the organic food industry. And sometimes, it’s used heavily as a lining for aluminum cans. Under certain processing methods, BPA can leach into your refreshing, nostalgic drink. In addition to drinking myself into The Fat Cow Hall of Fame, that’s one of many reasons I quit conventional soda for good. Then I found Zevia brand soda – the first all-natural, diet soda company.
Does Zevia Contain BPA?
Zevia kicks ass. Their flavors model our favorite drinks growing up, and actually taste better and won’t grant you with the usual stomach ache, belly fat, heart disease or cancer that can follow years of use.
But, before I made the Zevia recommendation to tens of thousands via my PC Reality TV Clip titled, 9 Year Old Skips School to Drink Soda, I wanted to make sure it didn’t have BPA. Therefore, just like I did in Over-The-Counter Natural Cures, I paid for third party lab tests to verify purity. And because BPA behaves differently at various temperatures, I tested at room temp. and after 24-hours of refrigeration.
Without seeing the tests for themselves, some people – like my 9 year old daughter – questioned my assertion that BPA was not present in Zevia. Therefore, I wanted to provide the results so they could see them with their own eyes.
What about other Toxins?
As I read the results, I was stoked to see that there was no BPA. I immediately cracked a can of Mountain Zevia and chugged it. Instantly, I was taken way back to hot summer days of chewing Copenhagen and chugging Moutain Dew while swinging from ropes into the Animas River, and nursing hangovers. Then my alter ego stepped in, The People’s Chemist. Dick.
BPA free doesn’t mean safe. Just as there are an endless supply of dorky, natural cure gurus, so too is an endless supply of toxins – you have to know what you’re looking for. In addition to bisphenol-A (BPA), the can industry uses a molecular cousin known as Bisphenol A diglycide (BADGE) 75% of the time! So I tested for that too. My guzzling didn’t skip a bit. Zevia is BADGE free!
Where to Buy Zevia
Being healthy doesn’t require sacrifice, just smarts. Think before you drink. Or simply sign up for my Natural Cures Watchdog (above, right) and let me do all the hard work, while you have all the fun plunging into cold rivers and masking hangovers with Mountain Zevia! Prolly want to skip the Copenhagen.
Drink up. Find Zevia at http://www.amazon.com.
To win the war on cancer, you need to avoid those things that cause it. Start with commonly used household cleaning items.
Problem: If you brush your teeth with common toothpaste, you absorb the toxins sodium lauryl sulfate and fluoride.
Solution: Use toothpaste that doesn’t contain either, like Trader Joe’s All Natural, No Fluoride, Antiplaque Toothpaste.
Problem: Eat a non-organic apple or any other fruit and you can potentially poison yourself with the chemical atrazine (an herbicide).
Solution: Eat organic
“Approximately 75 percent of stream water and about 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas tested in an extensive U.S. Geological Survey study contained atrazine.” – Natural Resources Defense Council
“New research on birth defects at extremely low concentrations and documentation of widespread ground- and drinking-water contamination has strengthened the case for banning the toxic compound atrazine, the most commonly used herbicide in the United States. Atrazine is a widely used weed killer that chemically castrates male frogs at extremely low concentrations and is linked to significant human and wildlife health concerns, including endocrine disruption, birth defects, fertility problems, and certain cancers.” – Center for Biological Diversity
Problem: Slather on sunscreen and you expose yourself to cancer causing chemicals known as benzophenones. Benzophenones are chemical building blocks, added to compounds, primarily used by the printing industry, in inks and clear coatings. It is also used to prevent ultraviolet light from causing damage to scents and colors in perfumes and soaps. You don’t need it or want it in anything you put on your body and you especially don’t want to cover the largest organ of your body – your skin – with it.
Solution: Don’t use sunscreens. If you’re going to be in the sun longer than an hour, wear light clothing to cover up or wear UV Skinz (www.uvskinz.com), an active-clothing product that will protect you from harmful sun rays.
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Problem: Tap water contains dozens of prescription drug and pesticide residues.
Solution: Find a good carbon filter or reverse osmosis system for your house.
This image shows before and after 6 months of filtering tap water! An important note is that
this is filtered drinking water from Shane’s house, which means that this is exactly what would have been consumed
by the family! |
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Problem: Bleach, Windex, Comet and Pinesol contain volatile organic compounds that when inhaled are proven to cause asthma and cancer.
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Nasty things like Benzene, a solvent and contaminant linked to cancer and male reproductive system toxicity float in your house.
Chloroform, a gas that causes cancer and developmental toxicity will invace the lungs of precious children.
Dibutyl phthalate, an emulsifier known to damage developing male and female reproductive systems will harm mom and dad.
Formaldehyde can slowly poison the whole family.
Solution: Use Seventh Generation cleaning supplies. And for aggressive bathroom cleaning, make your own! Here is The People’s Chemist Safe Cleaning Formula:
You need:
Baking soda
All-natural good liquid soap
Glass jar
Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough liquid soap to make a texture like frosting, add a dash of water as needed. Start scrubbing the bathroom, wash away with water.
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Problem: Antibacterial soap in home and schools contain triclosan, a drug that penetrates skin and disrupts hormone function, leading to CANCER! |
Solution: Use the all-natural Zum Bar! Google it. Or find it at Whole Foods.
The chemical threat is growing!
All of these replacements sound simple enough. And The People’s Chemist picks the best ones for you and your family in Secret Health Files!
Toxins are tasteless and many times odorless. Most people have no idea how the family is being poisoned. Put these solutions to work, and you are SAFE!
Sucralose
Agent Orange
If there were a contest for the best example of total disregard for human life the victor would be McNeil Nutritionals – makers of Splenda (sucralose). Manufacturers of Vioxx and Lipitor would tie for a very distant second.
McNeil Nutritionals is the undisputed drug-pushing champion for disguising their drug Splenda as a sweetener. Regardless of its drug qualities and potential for side-effects, McNeil is dead set on putting it on every kitchen table in America. Apparently, Vioxx and Lipitor makers can’t stoop so low as to deceptively masquerade their drug as a candy of sort. There is no question that their products are drugs and by definition come with negative side-effects. Rather than sell directly to the consumer, these losers have to go through the painful process of using doctors to prescribe their dangerous goods. But not McNeil…
A keen student in corporate drug dealing, McNeil learned from aspartame and saccharine pushers that if a drug tastes sweet then let the masses eat it in their cake. First though, you have to create a facade of natural health. They did this using a cute trade name that kind of sounds like splendid and packaged it in pretty colors. Hypnotized, the masses were duped instantly. As unquestionably as a dog humps your leg, millions of diabetics (and non-diabetics) blindly eat sucralose under the trade name Splenda in place of real sugar (sucrose).
Splenda was strategically released on April fools day in 1998. This day is reserved worldwide for hoaxes and practical jokes on friends and family, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. McNeil certainly succeeded.
The splendid Splenda hoax is costing gullible Americans $187 million annually. While many people “wonder” about the safety of Splenda they rarely question it. Despite its many “unknowns” and inherent dangers, Splenda demand has grown faster than its supply. No longer do I have to question my faith in fellow Man. He is not a total idiot, just a gullible one. McNeil jokesters are laughing all the way to the bank.
Splenda is not as harmless as McNeil wants you to believe. A mixture of sucralose, maltodextrine and dextrose (a detrimental simple sugar), each of the not-so-splendid Splenda ingredients has downfalls. Aside from the fact that it really isn’t “sugar and calorie free,” here is one big reason to avoid the deceitful mix…Think April fools day:
Splenda contains a potential poison
Splenda contains the drug sucralose. This chemical is 600 times sweeter than sugar. To make sucralose, chlorine is used. Chlorine has a split personality. It can be harmless or it can be life threatening.
In combo with sodium, chlorine forms a harmless “ionic bond” to yield table salt. Sucralose makers often highlight this worthless fact to defend its’ safety. Apparently, they missed the second day of Chemistry 101 – the day they teach “covalent” bonds.
When used with carbon, the chlorine atom in sucralose forms a “covalent” bond. The end result is the historically deadly “organochlorine” or simply: a Really-Nasty Form of Chlorine (RNFOC).
Unlike ionic bonds, covalently bound chlorine atoms are a big no-no for the human body. They yield insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides – not something you want in the lunch box of your precious child. It’s therefore no surprise that the originators of sucralose, chemists Hough and Phadnis, were attempting to design new insecticides when they discovered it! It wasn’t until the young Phadnis accidentally tasted his new “insecticide” that he learned it was sweet. And because sugars are more profitable than insecticides, the whole insecticide idea got canned and a new sweetener called Splenda got packaged.
To hide its dirty origin, Splenda pushers assert that sucralose is “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar.” Sucralose is as close to sugar as Windex is to ocean water.
The RNFOC poses a real and present danger to all Splenda users. It’s risky because the RNFOC confers a molecule with a set of super powers that wreak havoc on the human body. For example, Agent Orange, used in the U.S Army’s herbicidal warfare program, is a RNFOC. Exposure can lead to Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkins lymphoma as well as diabetes and various forms of cancer! Other shocking examples are the war gas phosgene, chlordane and lindane. The RNFOC is lethal because it allows poisons to be fat soluble while rendering the natural defense mechanisms of the body helpless.
A poison that is fat soluble is akin to a bomb exploding internally. It invades every nook and cranny of the body. Cell walls and DNA – the genetic map of human life – become nothing more than potential casualties of war when exposed. Sucralose is only 25% water soluble. Which means a vast majority of it may explode internally. In general, this results in weakened immune function, irregular heart beat, agitation, shortness of breath, skin rashes, headaches, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, cancer, cancer and more cancer – for generations!
McNeil asserts that their studies prove it to be safe for everyone, even children. That’s little assurance. Learning from the Vioxx debacle which killed tens of thousands, we know that studies can be bought and results fabricated.
Some things are worth dying for. Splenda is not one of them. What people think of as a food is a drug or slow poison – little distinction there. It wouldn’t be wise to bet your health on it. If safe, sucralose would be the first molecule in human history that contained a RNFOC fit for human consumption. This fact alone makes sucralose questionable for use as a sweetener, if not instantly detrimental to our health. Only time will tell. Until then, Ill stick to the safe and naturally occurring stevia plant to satisfy my occasional sweet tooth in 2007.
Be forewarned though, as long as drugs can be legally disguised as sweeteners, watch out for drugs being disguised as vitamins…Oh wait, they are already doing that – think Lipitor.
I may be a perfect candidate for psychiatry.
I ask questions with period marks to shorten conversations. I avoid eye contact with strangers in fear (maybe it’s anxiety) that I might learn too much about them. I secretly think that Metallica would be making better music if they went back to bludgeoning themselves with party drugs and alcohol, instead of “therapy.” I’m trying to master the Law of Un-attraction to shield myself from a “real job,” small homes and junky cars. And, I’m constantly giving my children advice, only to give it to myself.
Psychiatry, can your drugs help me?
Perhaps these questions are what motivated me to pursue a career as a drug design chemist, winning multiple awards for my work. Nothing gets me more excited than drugs and how they affect the body (except my wife’s abs). I’ve studied their molecular anatomy, risked life and limb to mix and match explosive chemicals in a round bottom flask, and even sold my soul to Big Pharma in exchange for a lab bench and chemical hood.
During this time, I’ve made some surprising discoveries about psychiatric meds, which include antidepressants, antipsychotics, stimulants, and anti-anxiety drugs. Understanding what I’ve learned will protect you from the flood of side effects that are now being discovered at breakneck speeds, courtesy of the myriad of patients being prescribed psychiatric drugs in the name of mental health.
Your Own Personal Hell
Antidepressants strive to increase the levels of a “coping” molecule known as serotonin in the brain. It supposedly helps us find happiness when it’s covered in an avalanche of nastiness. But, it’s never been proven. Still, the drugs attempt to boost serotonin by “selectively” stopping the “reuptake” among brain cells. This is where the whole SSRI acronym came from—“selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.” It’s a slick name, but a stupid idea. Nothing is selective in the body.
While trying to block the reuptake of serotonin, antidepressants can also prevent its release and that of another brain compound known as dopamine. The areas of the brain responsible for release and reuptake of these neurotransmitters are so damn similar (after all, they work on the same molecule) that an antidepressant drug isn’t smart enough to understand which one it is supposed to work on. So it does what any dumb drug would do, it blocks both. That’s why users usually carry a glassy stare in their eye. Fully under the psychiatric spell, they’ve tuned out.
Deep sadness, fear, anger and aggression can set in over time. By removing serotonin and dopamine from the brain, long-term antidepressant users can’t find or feel happiness. Instead, they may become buried in the avalanche of nastiness. And if you can’t find or feel happiness in life, what’s the point? What’s going to stop you from snapping your own neck or spraying bullets on your classmates? Not much when you live in your own personal antidepressant hell.
Think this is all opinion?
According to the FDA, antidepressants can cause suicidal thoughts and behavior, worsening depression, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, aggression, psychotic episodes and violence. Some even cause homicidal ideation according to the manufacturers. Many long-term antidepressant users will tell you they no longer feel normal emotions—they’re numb, like zombies.
But the side effects of these drugs aren’t limited to hijacking your feelings and emotional state, causing violent and psychotic states. Physical side effects occur too and include abnormal bleeding, birth defects, heart attack, seizures and sudden death. Over one hundred and seventy drug regulatory warnings and studies have been issued on antidepressants, to sound the alarm on these side effects.
For Elephant Use Only
Psychiatrists prescribe antipsychotic meds such as Zyprexa and Seroquel, for anything from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, delusional disorder, psychotic depression, autism or anything else they can think of, even “pervasive developmental disorder,” which is perfect for boosting sales because it targets children who suffer from irritability, aggression, and agitation. It’s a shame ‘cause these drugs are good for nothing but sedating irate elephants, not curing psychiatric disease.
According to a study published in Psychological Medicine, antipsychotic drugs cause brains to shrink – they lessen brain matter and volume. Originally designed for those deemed “schizophrenic,” the drug companies came up with a brilliant marketing campaign to sell these drugs to a much wider market—unsatisfied antidepressant users. You’ve probably seen the ads—if your “depression medication” isn’t working, then don’t blame the drug; you may just have bipolar disorder!
Once swallowed, antipsychotics sail through the blood stream where they’re carried to the brain. Like a giant oil spill, antipsychotics cover the brain in a medicinal slick, where brain wave transmission is blocked. Users become devoid of normal brain activity. Motivation, drive and feelings of reward are shunted. If psychiatry considers this a “treatment,” they’re the crazy ones.
If you’ve ever seen someone who has suffered from the “spill” courtesy of following doctors orders, you can’t mistake one of the most common side effects, it’s called Akathisia. Involuntary movements, tics, jerks in the face and the entire body can become permanent side effects for antipsychotic users.
Antipsychotics also cause obesity, diabetes, stroke, cardiac events, respiratory problems, delusional thinking and psychosis. Drug regulators from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa warn that they can also lead to death. I wouldn’t be surprised if psychiatrists considered this a cure…
Use This to Jump The Grand Canyon
If you’re going to attempt to jump your scooter over the Grand Canyon, or ride your snowboard off Kilimanjaro, stimulants are great. They flood the brain with dopamine and trigger an inhuman surge of adrenaline, responsible for making you believe life is grand, despite eminent death. Outside of that, you’re either a speed freak, a college student trying to learn an entire semester of Biology 101 in 4 hours, or a fifth grader “following doctor’s orders.”
Top stimulants being prescribed today are nothing more than a mix of amphetamines packaged into trade names like Adderall, Dexedrine and Ritalin. Street thugs sell it as meth, poor man’s cocaine, crystal, ice, glass and speed. It’s no wonder kids are now abusing Ritalin, Adderall and these drugs more than street drugs, they’re cheaper to get and they’re “legal,” hence the term kiddie cocaine.
Even the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) categorizes Ritalin in the Schedule ll category, meaning a high potential for abuse—just like cocaine and morphine. All of them have the same effects regardless of how they’re named: Central nervous system overload leading to heart attack and/or heart failure. And kids are dropping faster than Meth Heads at Raves…
I’m not exaggerating.
Eleven international drug regulatory agencies and our own FDA has issued warnings that stimulants like Ritalin cause addiction, depression, insomnia, drug dependence, mania, psychosis, heart problems, stroke and sudden death.
Bash Your Head in with Anti-Anxiety Drugs
If you’re not man enough for a drug that could sedate an elephant like antipsychotics, then psychiatrists will prescribe anti-anxiety meds, particularly benzodiazepines. Choosing between the two is akin to deciding whether or not you should be hit in the head with an aluminum bat or a wooden one; anti-anxiety meds being the latter.
Discovered in the stinky chemistry labs of Hoffman La Roche in 1955, anti-anxiety meds aim to trigger sleep receptors in the brain, just slightly. So, rather than being riddled with anxiety, you are put to sleep, halfway. It’s “treatment,” and psychiatrists have been “practicing it for decades.” But, it has yet to work, because drugging your problems away is more dangerous than anxiety. The use of anti-anxiety meds is coupled with a host of nasty side effects such as seizures, aggression and violence once the drug wears off. Hallucinations, delusional thinking, confusion, abnormal behavior, hostility, agitation, irritability, depression and suicidal thinking are all possible outcomes according to Big Pharma’s heavily guarded research papers.
Getting off the drugs could be harder than abandoning a heroin addiction. Some have described withdrawal from “benzos” being akin to pulling hundreds of fish hooks out of their skin, without anesthesia. If you doubt their addictive nature, go to Google search and type in a few of the leading anti-anxiety drugs like Klonopin or Xanax and here is what you’ll find:
“Klonopin withdrawal” 1,860,000 results
“Xanax withdrawal” 1,980,000 results
Exposing Psychiatry: How to Get The Truth
In total, the side effects of psychiatric meds spread far and wide. And most are hidden from patients and doctors alike. Fortunately, Citizens Commission on Human Rights has solved this problem with a state-of-the-art database that allows people to search through the adverse reaction reports sent to the FDA on psychiatric drugs. It also provides international drug regulatory agency warnings and studies published on the side effects of the drugs.
So, can psychiatry help me? No. And that’s surprising because psychiatric meds are some of the biggest selling drugs, poised to seal the hopes and dreams of millions. Regardless of what mental state I might be in (or anyone else for that matter), there is not a single drug that cures, treats or solves the perceived problems of mental health.
While people can suffer miserably from emotional or mental duress that can hinder their lifestyle, the pseudo-science of psychiatry has yet to solve any of these problems, and in fact only contributes to poor health as seen by the wide array of side effects. Marketing campaigns and ghostwritten medical journals are designed to obscure these facts. But the psychiatric drug side effect database courtesy of CCHR ensures that all patients have access to the truth, to the documented facts, which could save their life or that of a loved one.
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