Current Issue

October 2011

Dear Readers,

As we head toward the holidays and dietary challenges abound and stressors, please keep in mind that I’m now doing online and face-to-face coaching for stress management, weight management and other life issues. Learn more

Whatever challenges you face right now, remember to take a step back, breathe and re-balance yourself. Even balancing in the physical sense — standing on one foot for, say, 30 seconds at a time — can be very helpful.

Happy autumn!
Kathleen

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A different kind of breast cancer awareness

It’s breast cancer awareness month again and pink ribbons adorn packaging everywhere from dog food to t-shirts, jeans, tennis balls, toasters, frozen dinners DVDs, M&Ms, perfumes, cocktails. You name it, everybody wants to get on the breast cancer awareness bandwagon and get the resultant PR benefits of appearing to support breast cancer research, hypocritical or not.

While it’s important to be aware of breast cancer, the roles of Big Pharma and Big Business in the current campaign leave a great deal to be desired.

There are two problems here:

1. A process called “pinkwashing” defined by Breast Cancer Action as “a term in which the activities of companies and groups are criticized for positioning themselves as leaders in the struggle against breast cancer while engaging in practices that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease.
Cosmetics that contain carcinogenic substances including phthlates and bisphenol A (BPA) are frequently the subject of pinkwashing” criticism.
BMW, for example, gives $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure each time you test-drive one of their cars and Ford is touting a special edition Mustang with pink accents, even though pollutants found in car exhaust are linked to breast cancer.

2. Public relations campaign pressing women to have annual mammograms over the age of 40, despite a large body of research that shows mammograms deliver high levels of cancer-causing radiation (1,000 times the quantity in a chest X-ray) to sensitive breast tissue potentially aggravating small hidden cancerous growths.

For women who have had annual mammograms for more than ten years, more than half will get the dread phone call –in error — that they may in fact have breast cancer (called a false positive). Follow-ups will most often find them cancer-free at the cost of great emotional distress and, for many of them, disfiguring biopsies.

In addition, there is no proof that mammograms save lives when compared to breast cancer survival rates among women who perform monthly breast self-exams.

Safe alternative

Fortunately, there’s a safe alternative to mammograms.

Thermograms show patterns of heat and blood flow. They are a safe alternative to mammograms for a variety of reasons:

1. They are non–invasive. Nothing touches your body. There is no compression that may actually rupture growths, seeding the cancer.

2. There is no radiation.

3. A heat-sensing camera detects early formation of blood vessels that feed cancerous tumors and inflammation that may indicate breast cancer long before it approaches a dangerous size.

4. They can show signs of hormonal effects on the breasts that increase the risk of breast cancer before it actually occurs. We know that lifetime exposure to estrogen is the single greatest risk for breast cancer, so this is an important element of thermography.

5. They can be predictive, giving you as much as ten years head start to make lifestyle changes and be vigilant in monitoring your breast health to stop the growth of cancer cells.

Sisters, please don’t fall for the hype about mammograms. They could cost you your health or even your life. Instead, do your monthly breast self-exams and give serious consideration to including thermograms in your annual health regimen.

Find a thermography center near you.

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Vitamins and women’s mortality–silly study!

I was chewing over the recent study that suggests that older women who take certain supplements have a higher risk of death than those who do not use supplements. This information contradicts literally thousands of other studies that show the benefits of supplements for nearly everyone.

I guess I was trying to find a polite way to say this is a bunch of bunk. Then this statement from Dr. Susan Lark, a physician I’ve long admired, crossed my desk. It says it all:

“Yesterday, you may have seen some media reports about a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine that concluded that the use of multivitamins and some dietary supplements (vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc, and copper) increased the risk of death in older women.

“I was extremely disappointed to hear about this study and find it to be another unwarranted attack on the supplement industry. The fact of the matter is, our diets, no matter how good and well-balanced, simply do not meet our bodies’ nutritional needs. Conventional farming practices leave our fruits and vegetables lacking in nutrients, and thanks to our on-the-go lifestyles, processed and fast foods dominate many American women’s diets.

Dr. Lark explains that this lone study “contradicts literally THOUSANDS of earlier studies” that show the benefits of a variety of supplements to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other women’s health problems.

She notes that the study comes at a times when the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. government are engaged in increasingly aggressive attempts to control and regulate the use of supplements.

“The timing of this study’s release is very suspicious!” she adds.

I couldn’t agree more.

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Dry brushing answers 500 problems or more

If you’ve never dry brushed your body, you’re missing out on a sensual delight as well as an opportunity to do your body a big favor.

Skin tightening

As most of you know, I recently got rid of 100 unwanted pounds of fat with a modified version of the HCG diet. (For more info on that, go to my website, http://www.supersimplehcgdiet.com). If any of you now anyone who has lost a great deal of weight, you’ll know that most of them have very baggy skin and sometimes “batwings” on the back s of their arms and other loose skin that can be most distressing.

Thanks to the recommendation of my friend Sabra, I started dry brushing my skin religiously every day after my shower, at the same time I began the diet. Now nearly a year later, I have very little loose skin and what slight looseness I have in the skin of my legs is fast tightening up. I confess: I’m addicted to dry brushing!

Break up cellulite

Dry brushing also help stimulate the connective tissue around those dimply fat cells, usually found on the thighs and buttocks, that we call cellulite. Vigorous dry brushing and the movement of lymph can help reduce cellulite.

Toxin flushing

In addition, dry brushing addresses the entire lymphatic system, including the 500 or more lymph nodes in the body, helping usher out toxins and excess fluid. Forgive the hyperbole, but those 500 or more individual lymph nodes just love to be stimulated by my vigorous brushing, so dry brushing helps take care of 500 problem, lazy unstimulated lymph nodes.

Oil production

Dry brushing also stimulate natural oil production in the skin, so, even on an extremely low fat diet, I had no dry skin.

Now, I’m no spring chicken. I’ll confess to 63 years and counting, so wrinkles are also an issue for me. I’m not wrinkly. My skin is firm and I think it looks better than that of most women my age, thanks at least in part to dry brushing.

First, get yourself a good brush

Look for a good quality fairly stiff brush at your local beauty supply, cosmetics or bath supply store. I think it’s good to choose your brush in person rather than ordering online because you should be able to feel the bristles. Natural bristles are best and it should feel fairly stiff. When brushing, your brush should stimulate your skin, and make it pink, but it shouldn’t hurt.

How to dry brush

I dry off carefully after my shower before dry brushing. If your sin is very sensitive, you might try brushing while your skin is still wet. Your brush won’t last as long if you use it on wet skin.

Arms

Start on the palms of your hands to stimulate the lymph nodes. Using the longest possible strokes, stroke from palm to shoulder on each arm, eight strokes in each location up the sides of your arms, the backs and in the armpit. Then stroke across the upper chest and make curved strokes around and under the breast (for women). Always stroke toward your heart.

Neck and throat

Next, I pay special attention to the neck and throat. This is the one exception to stroking toward the heart. I stroke upward because the ravages of time and gravity tend to pull neck skin downward.

Legs

Next, move to the soles of the feet and repeat with long strokes upward being careful to brush all sides of the legs. You can use circular strokes for an extra “oomph” on problem areas like inner and outer thighs and buttocks. Just be sure to finish of with long strokes toward the heart to keep that lymph moving.

Belly

Finally, make vigorous circular strokes on your belly, finishing up with long strokes again from the groin area toward the heart.

Face

Use a different and softer brush for your face. You want to exfoliate and stimulate but the body brush is too harsh for delicate facial skin. Use a complexion brush and go over your entire face with small circular strokes. I do this separately when I wash my face.

That’s it! It’s simple and it will make you feel energized.

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Archives

October 2007

What is natural living?
De-mystifying Multi-vitamins
Garlic: As Important as a Multi
Precocious Puberty: Growing up too fast from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom by Dr. Ben Johnson and Kathleen Barnes (Morgan James 2008)

November 2007

Healthy Holiday Food
Prevent Colds and Flu This Winter
Re-Think Your Bra from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom by Dr. Ben Johnson and Kathleen Barnes (Morgan James 2008)

December 2007

Fit and Fat
10 Ways to Green Your Winter

January 2008

Beat Winter Blues with Vitamin D
Sweet News for Chocolate Lovers–and Lovers!
Your Mind Does Matter to Your Health from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom by Dr. Ben Johnson and Kathleen Barnes (Morgan James, 2008)

March 2008

Natural Remedies for Allergies
Spicy Foods for Fat Burning
The Difficult Road to Diagnosis of Hypothyroidism from Basic Health User’s Guide to Thyroid Disorders by Kathleen Barnes (Basic Health, 2005)

April 2008

Safe and Natural Hormone Replacement is In Jeopardy
The Best Multi-Vitamin Formula
Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement from User’s Guide to Natural Hormone Replacement by Kathleen Barnes (Basic Health 2006)

December 2008

The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You (inTruth Press, 2008): My new book written with Dr. Robert Thompson.

8 Weeks to Vibrant Health: A Take Charge Plan for Women (Take Charge Books, 2008): second edition and much more user-friendly version of the book originally published in 2005.

10 ways to address the stresses of the times

January 2009

If You’re Fat, You May Be Starving
Quit Smoking: This Time You Really Can!
Quit Smoking: Start Counting Health Benefits from Day 1
Teens Need More Sleep

February 2009

Sugar is Killing Us–And Our Kids, Too
Fund Your Retirement Before Paying For Kids’ College
Olive Leaf Extract Fights Colds, Flu, Infections
Scary Stuff in Your Tap Water

March 2009

Credit Cards: The Next Banking Crisis
Fight Wrinkles Naturally
Getting a Tax Refund? That’s Bad News!
Sneaky Sugars by Dr. Scott Olson

April 2009

Taming the Stress Monster
Antidepressants Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death
Spring House Cleaning: Safe, Natural, Effective and Cheap!

May 2009

Better Health: The UPside of recession
Most Pesticide Laden Fruits and Vegetables
Solve the Energy Crisis: Sex Hormone Imbalances: PMS, Menopause, Adrenal fatigue and Hypothyroidism

June 2009

Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods
Your Cotton T-shirt Could be Poisoning You
The Myth of Organic Food

July 2009

Do Plastics Cause Early Puberty?
Fountain of Youth: Acetyl L-Carnitine and Alpha Lipoic Acid
Dangers of Fish Farms

August 2009

Smoking Killed My Dad
Obesity Increase May Not Be Entirely Due to Couch Potato Society
Vitamin D Benefits Old, Young, Everyone

September 2009

Natural Thyroid Medication Shortage
Vitamin Supplements and Longevity
Chocolate Prevents Heart Disease

October 2009

An Apple a Day Does Keep the Doctor Away
Credit Card Companies’ Newest Draconian Tricks

November 2009

Steps to a Strong Immune System
Update on New Credit Card Laws

December 2009

Mammograms Are Dangerous; Avoid them at All Costs
Thermograms: Safe Alternative to Mammograms
What To Expect When You Have A Thermogram

February 2010

McCain Seeks to Curtail Consumer Access to Supplements
New Credit Card Law Takes Effect Feb. 22

March 2010

Throw away your Teflon cookware!
McCain backs away from his own supplement bill
Getting a tax refund? That’s bad news!

August 2010

Let the Sun Shine In: The Miracle of Vitamin D
High fructose corn syrup causes high blood pressure
Measure Up bowls: Simply brilliant weight control aid

February 2011

The HCG Diet Works–in Spades!
Five Supplements You Need Every Day
Vitamin K–Hand in Hand with Vitamin D
Excerpt from Rx from the Garden

March 2011

Sleep in the dark for good health
Excerpt from RX from the garden: Hypertension
Ease back pain naturally

August 2011

Chocolate reduces risk of heart attack, stroke
Vitamin D benefits old, young, everyone
Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss, dementia: an excerpt from Rx from the Garden by Kathleen Barnes

Contents of these pages are copyrighted, and may be used freely, if unedited and with attribution as follows:
Source: Kathleen Barnes, www.kathleenbarnes.com

The content provided by this site is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This site is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.