It turns out, that old adage is true – money does not buy everything. For some, money does not buy a clear conscience. Despite earning high incomes, these former pharmaceutical employees left their jobs and are now sharing the truth of what goes on behind the curtain.  Many of them have written books, participated in documentaries, and shared their stories through online videos. Here are a few.

Dr. Peter Rost, Former Vice President of Pfizer

Dr. Rost, a former anesthesiologist and pharmaceutical VP, is the author of The Whistleblower, Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman. Dr. Rost is an expert witness on Big Pharma in the areas of patent infringement, pharmaceutical marketing, drug product liability, drug marketing and promotion, and drug sales.

Universities, health organizations, everybody that I’ve encountered in my former career as a pharmaceutical executive, are out there with their hands out. You know everybody’s begging for money, nobody has any money. The government doesn’t have any money. The universities don’t have money. Nobody has money. The only ones that have money are these big multinational corporations, and they have lots of money. And they use that money to basically buy influence. And the way it’s done is – number one, you give these organizations and institutions grants, grants for various kinds of research. You develop research together with them. You establish friends. You make sure that they become beholden to you. And you also pay individual professors and doctors – researchers – directly. You may pay them as speakers to travel around the country, a thousand, two thousand dollars per day, sometimes more.  

You give them money for programs, the educational programs, where they can make a profit and then they put on these programs, as they’re supposed to be third-party independent from the company. Which is all fine, but as you and I can both imagine, if you have a promotional budget, at a corporation you’re probably going to give that money to the universities that do the programs that most support your drug, and the ones that don’t, or are critical in any shape, way, or form, they are not going to get anything. And everybody obviously knows that this is how things work.

And that means even if you can officially claim “… this is arms-length we didn’t have anything to do with it. We just gave them a grant. They can do whatever they want with it.” Reality is they’re not going to continue to get money unless they’re saying what you want them to say. They know it. You know it. It’s only maybe the public that doesn’t know it. And that’s how you influence the medical establishment – simply with money.

Dr. John Rengen Virapen

(The following has been edited for clarity)

Dr. John Virapen is plagued by a guilty conscience. After completing his medical training, Dr. Virapen started in the pharmaceutical industry as a salesman. Eventually, he rose to the top ranks and became the general manager of Eli Lilly and Company in Sweden. He admits he participated in bribery, giving false information and deception to launch and market several popular drugs. After becoming a father at age 62, he grew a conscience. He has vowed to dedicate his remaining years to speaking out against the very industry that made him a wealthy man. Here are some quotes from his videos.

I have spent 35 years of my life working in an industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and they do nothing but annihilate the population of this world. Why do they do that? Because they want to make money, money, money, money, money…They don’t care about your lives. They only care about their wallets.

Now, whatever I tell you here today, is not something that I dreamed about, or observed somewhere. It’s something that I have done myself. I have been just as criminal as they are. My hands are just as dirty as these people.

 Now all of you sitting here, answer me a question. When you go to the doctor, he looks at you, stethoscope, laboratory tests, machine tests. Those tests by the way, are to make money. Then he tells you you’re sick here is a prescription. “Go to the pharmacy and take this medicine, one tablet three times a day.” What do you do?…You go to the pharmacy and you get your medicine, and you take it like a good citizen.

But when you go to the car company to buy a car, you ask the salesman questions. If you don’t get what you want, you don’t buy the car. So tell me, why don’t you ask that doctor? What is it that he is giving you? The reason I’m telling you this is because only all of you have the power to stop these criminals with what they’re doing in the pharma industry. Because you are not sick people. You are consumers. You are consumers and the pharma industry makes money because they tell everybody that you are sick.

…The almighty power blessed me and my wife with a child. I was 62 years old. This child is now 4 ½. When this child was born he went to the pediatrician after six months for a checkup. That doctor checked the boy and said, yeah he’s healthy, he’s fine. Now we need to give him his mandatory vaccine cocktail. Now, I have told my wife, nobody, not a doctor, not a professor, nobody gives my child any kind of medication unless they discuss it with me and I approve it. Now this this doctor well apart from being lucky that I wasn’t there, she threw my wife and child out at the clinic and said, “We only treat vaccinated children.”

…How dare she refuse, to have my child come to this clinic, and she’s practicing as a doctor. What happened to Hippocrates, the oath of Hippocrates when you become a doctor you swear the oath! “Primum Non Nocere”-Above All Do no Harm. The patient comes first.

…So I researched this lady and I found that she was sitting in a committee, or on a committee with a politician and members of the pharmaceutical company that made the IMP, the vaccine. And they’re advocating to the government in Germany to introduce mandatory vaccination. So I started to do some research on what’s going on in Germany.

 …I found out also that general practitioners, just like this woman and other doctors, were prescribing psychotropic drugs to children. Shortly after that, I read in an article that was posted from the European Medical Association that they were going to approve the drug Prozac to give to children.

Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, Pharmaceutical Sales Rep for 10 Years

Kathleen is the writer and director of the film Side Effects starring Katherine Heigl. She helps to explain the difference between cutting edge marketing, and scientific progress.

(The following has been edited for clarity)

The psychiatric market is huge and every company out there wants a little piece of that pie because it is so lucrative. We did a lot of lunches and dinners and we brought in speakers and those speakers were obviously paid by us and we would we wave, you know, renowned studies at them from renowned journals but of course we would never say that these studies were paid for by our company and that it was written by a ghost writer who is paid by our company or that our company tends to do a ton of advertising within that particular medical journal.

 We would never say that it’s the psychiatric meds that are so easy to expand into all of the problems of our life. So right now we see the industry… over the past several years we’ve seen the industry medicalizing, you know, so many different things throughout our life. If you’re shy, here, take a pill. If you’re a little anxious, you know, take a pill. If you have road rage, we’ve got a pill for that, too!

 … through direct to consumer advertising and the beautiful drug ads that are on television they have been able to play off of our deepest insecurities as human beings, and it’s so effective. It’s marketing. This is marketing. This is not science. This is incredibly effective marketing. It has nothing to do with science.

 We’re being bombarded left and right with these beautiful ads on the screen, painting this lovely Norman Rockwell life on the screen of beautiful, smiling, happy, sexy people and we all want a little piece of that.

 …to produce the ad would be somewhere probably in the million dollar range. And then to air these ads, to buy the air time slots, again depending on what time of day they’re airing or what type of show their airing on, can cost anywhere from tens of thousands per 30-second ad up to close to a million dollars. In the most recent campaigns, over last year or so, you’re hearing so much “Ask your doctor, or talk to your doctor about…” and when you hear that on the screen it sounds so nice.

 It sounds like they really care and want you to discuss this with your doctor. But what the studies have shown is that if you actually bring up a brand-name drug with your doctor by name, you’re significantly more likely to walk out the door with that drug. So they do that for a reason. The industry is responsible to Wall Street, and Wall Street first. They have to please Wall Street because they are private industry. And so when you have that scenario, you have to make profits your number one goal.

 We have billions of dollars being spent right now in terms of marketing, in terms of PR.

Gwen Olson, a 15-Year Sales Rep Who Worked For Johnson & Johnson, Syntex Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott Laboratories and Forest Laboratories

Over time, Gwen had what she describes as a spiritual awakening as she observed the harm that pharmaceuticals caused people. This led her to come forward and to speak out against the pharmaceutical companies. She explains what their priorities really are.

What the pharmaceutical industry is in the business of doing is disease maintenance and symptoms management. They are not in the business to cure cancer, to cure Alzheimer’s, to cure heart disease, because if they were, they would be in the business of putting themselves out of business. And that in fact doesn’t make sense.

 …It’s really important to understand the motivation behind all the current maintenance drugs that are on the market. Even, for example, drugs such as cholesterol-lowering drugs. And what we are in fact finding now is that cholesterol drugs are lowering cholesterol excessively and causing other disease states as a consequence.

 …what was found was the information that activists and other researchers have known for decades was that antidepressants are no more effective than a placebo. No more effective than sugar pills but yet, they’re over 44 million people that have been taking these anti-depressants.

 …Another recent study that was released showed that exercise was in fact more effective than either placebo or the anti-depressant drug.

 …The clinical data has been contrived or that their patient populations have been cherry-picked or that the side effects have been minimized and reported in such a manner that it doesn’t present the information correctly.

 …I’m here to tell you that the industry has run amok. That we are at a severe crossroads in this nation and that we have got to take our power back and we have got to start making the pharmaceutical industry accountable for their actions and for the defective products that they’re putting on the market. It won’t be long before every American is affected by this disaster.

 …You need to get yourself educated and understand that there are options, and those options are much more effective than drugs. You need to look into the nutritional aspects of your diet and your lifestyle.

Scott Cooper, Award Winning Salesman For Merck

Like so many other well-informed parents, Scott didn’t struggle with whether or not to vaccinate his child. His experience in the pharmaceutical industry convinced him not to vaccinate. His challenge was convincing his wife and doctor that vaccines are not safe or effective.

My child was born in ’91. He’s now going to be 24 this year. He was never vaccinated. He grew up very, very healthy. Rarely if ever sick and always much healthier than his peers. When they were all running around all the kids had runny noses, drank a lot of milk, were all vaccinated. My child was always healthy, runny nose free, always very, very healthy and smart.

If I can digress a little bit this was 1990 so the Internet wasn’t really available. I had read numerous books on vaccines, and like most people I grew up believing in vaccines from what I was told in school. And it became a real shock to me when I started reading and learning that vaccines were not only ineffective, but also there are major risks involved with vaccination.

When I found out my wife was pregnant, I had a discussion with her about not vaccinating and, of course, she was pro-vaccine, and so I made her a deal. At the time, I worked for a very large pharmaceutical company as a sales rep, and so I made her a promise. I said I’ll go to the library I’ll bring home everything I can find pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine. You can read for yourself, and then you can make a decision. That’s what I did. I went and scoured the periodicals in the libraries.

…I just gave them to her and let her make up her own mind. I would come home from work and she would be reading the stuff and crying from what she was reading. By the time our child was born we were both on the same page about vaccination.

And it was interesting because I had my OBGYN or my wife’s OBGYN sit me down in his office and say, “Look, you work for a large pharmaceutical company, what do you mean you’re not vaccinating?”

My company actually made a lot of the vaccines and we had a vaccine division and everything else, and I told them, I told them flat out, why we went, had a huge discussion about it. He didn’t agree. We still went to the course that I wanted.

… do your own research, all right? If you’re on the fence about vaccines or wondering at all, whether to vaccinate your child. Please, please do your own research. There are a ton of resources available out there. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, she has a site that is full of resources.

Thousands of pages are published, medical studies showing the inherent risks that are involved with vaccines. There are a ton of books out there showing this over and over again – the vaccine damage that has been done by these vaccinations. If you believe what you’re told by the AMA and the CDC and your doctor, you’re not doing enough research.

Brandy Vaughan, Former Sales Rep for Merck & Co.

Now a mother, Brandy refuses to vaccinate her own child. She explains how the pharmaceutical companies prioritize profit over public health, in a big way.

My first involvement with the pharmaceutical industry was as a pharmaceutical sales rep for Merck back when Vioxx was on the market. I used to rep Vioxx for Merck. When it came out that Merck had falsified safety data and Vioxx actually had twice the increase in heart attacks and strokes… it really made me realize that that there was a lot of corruption behind the scenes and that just because something is on the market, a drug is on the market, doesn’t mean it’s safe.

 After working for Merck, I was pretty disillusioned over the whole scandal. I lived in Europe for 8 years and I had my son over there. I brought him back vaccine-free at 6 months to San Francisco. When I went to a well visit, they pushed for vaccines. At that point I hadn’t done a lot of research in it, but I knew enough not to trust pharmaceutical drugs.

I asked to see a vaccine insert and the doctor got very upset at me and claimed I didn’t trust him. He stormed out of the room and the nurse let me know that I wasn’t really welcome back in that clinic anymore. That was a huge red flag for me, knowing what I knew from being a pharmaceutical sales rep before. I started to do my research into vaccines and the ingredients, and the flawed safety data.

What came to light was many things, but one of them was that aluminum is the main adjuvant in vaccines, in childhood vaccines. I had experience with that, with researching that, and the toxicity of aluminum, because my grandmother had breast cancer.

The doctor biopsied her tissues and there were high levels of aluminum. He told us that she needed to get off traditional deodorant and that the aluminum in there was linked to breast cancer. It was carcinogenic. That was a big red flag for me when I realized those were in childhood vaccines. I couldn’t believe it, actually. Then I started to do more and more research and I realized that the U.S. gives twice as many vaccines on the childhood schedule than most developed countries, and the real health crisis is the fact that our kids are sicker than any other country in the developed world. This is despite spending more per capita on healthcare. We have highest rates of SIDS, asthma, food allergies, ADHD, childhood leukemia, diabetes type one. This to me was the true health crisis.

The more I dug into this, what I realized was vaccines are not for public health. It’s really about profit, pharmaceutical company profit.

 The thing about vaccines is that you don’t have to do the same rigorous safety studies as you do for other pharmaceutical drugs because they’re classified as a public health measure vs. a pharma drug. For vaccines, they have a totally different type of safety study. It’s very short in duration. It’s not double-blind placebo-based, which is the gold standard for pharmaceutical drugs, and vaccines aren’t held to the same rigorous safety studies.

If you look into them, it’s very easy to manipulate the data and present that as something that’s safe. If you really look into the studies and look into the toxicity of the adjuvants and the additives, you realize that the safety studies are not proving safety at all. In fact, there are a lot of studies on the other side showing that a lot of the additives in vaccines are very toxic, especially to children who have very immature immune systems.

As I dug more into the safety studies and saw how flawed they were, it really raised a red flag for me. My son is now four and a half and he’s vaccine-free. I really got motivated to get more into this fight when I realized the mandatory vaccination bills that were sweeping the country, over 100 in 38 states.

 …pharmaceutical companies don’t have any liability for vaccines, in fact [one of] the only products in the U.S. that has no liability so you cannot sue them if there’s injury or death. So you put those two things together and what you have is vaccines as a pharmaceutical drug with the highest profit margin available. If you make those mandatory and you keep increasing the schedule, it’s basically using our children to profit off of.

The pharmaceutical company is using vaccines as a new driver for profit. This is really what’s behind the mandatory vaccination bills. One of the things that I’m often asked is why do we not hear about this if this is true? One of the things that I’ve found out in my research is that the U.S. is one of only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers.

I’m sure we’ve all seen the media and advertisements for the pharmaceutical drugs. That happens there is that it allows pharmaceutical companies to basically dictate what is shown to the media. Because when you give the media 30 to 40% [Author’s note: presently the number is closer to 70%] of their advertising dollars, you basically control what they say.

There have been a lot of journalists and stories that have been censored, including the CDC whistleblower that came out in the end of 2014 basically saying that the CDC has covered up data showing that the MMR vaccine does in fact cause neurological damage, AKA autism.

Recently there have been a lot of stories of different countries suing vaccine makers for injury and death, and even pulling vaccines off of the schedule like Gardasil in Japan and Prevnar in China, rotovirus vaccine in France, and Spain has a lawsuit against Merck for Gardasil as well.

…We have a very broken system. Our vaccine system in the U.S. is broken. We cannot mandate something when there are so many unanswered questions and so many things that are going on behind the scenes that people aren’t aware of, including vaccines ingredients, like when the pediatrician didn’t want to show me the vaccine insert. There’s good reason for that.

There’s aluminum, formaldehyde, fetal cells, animal cells. There are a lot of things in there that other countries A, ban from being ingested and therefore have vaccines that don’t include these ingredients, and B, have unknown consequences that we have no data on right now. It’s basically playing Russian roulette with our children.

Pharma is saying it’s all about public help and public safety, and I’m saying why don’t we have more data on what this really will do, long-term studies on what this is doing inside of our bodies and to our children. Because right now we have the sickest children in the developed world. Something is going on here.

It’s probably not just vaccines. It’s a chemical cocktail of pesticides and pollutants in our water and air, but vaccines are often a trigger because genetically we need a trigger to express these kind of diseases and issues that we have. Vaccines are often what does that because the chemicals are injected into our bloodstream, so they don’t go through a lot of the bodies natural detox process. They go straight to the brain past the blood-brain barrier.

We need to ask these difficult questions. Until that, until we have more information, we absolutely cannot mandate vaccines. There has to be a choice. If there’s a risk, there has to be a choice.

Further Reading:

• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• How to Detoxify From Chemotherapy and Repair the Body
• How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials
• Scientists Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research

Sources:

• Peter Rost: Influencing The Medical Establishment – One More Girl Excerpts -You Tube
• Peter Rost – Blog
• John Rengen Virapen (1/4) Big Pharma Whistleblower Speaks Out at the AZK in Germany – You Tube
• Ex-Pharmaceutical Rep: Billions Spent on Drug Ads – You Tube
• Pharma Not in Business of Health, Healing, Cures, Wellness – You Tube
• Former Salesman For Vaccine Maker Merck & Co. Wouldn’t Vaccinate His Son –You Tube
• Former Merck Rep Says Mandatory Vaccination Is For Profit and Not Public Health – You Tube

In every case I’ve ever seen where unhealthy people with disease-riddled bodies later became vibrantly healthy, they all had to do four things:

1. They all had to completely get off of all drugs, including marijuana, caffeine, alcohol, any and all prescription drugs, and over the counter medications.
2. They had to fix their gut.
3. They had to totally change their diet, eliminating processed foods and eating lots of produce for the rest of their lives.
4. They had to give up coffee, sweet smoothies, and fruit juices, at least for a while.

Eliminate Drugs

You cannot be healthy while you put toxins into your body. It just doesn’t work. This includes vaccines. Injecting, inhaling, or ingesting chemicals and toxins into the body does not bring about health.

Every time you damage your body’s DNA, you age. Chemicals made in laboratories damage the body’s DNA. To a point, you can detoxify and undo most of the damage done by these substances. You can even reverse damage done to DNA. But at some level, every time you damage your body with chemicals, there is some permanency.

Don’t smoke anything. Smoking introduces too many carcinogens. Smoking always adds toxins to the blood, making the blood thick and putting stress on the liver, kidneys, thyroid, adrenals, eyes, and reproductive organs.

Stimulants cause a reaction similar to an allergic reaction. This puts unneeded stress on the thyroid, the adrenals, and kidneys.

Alcohol acidifies the body, stresses the liver, and promotes Candida growth.

I’m not telling everyone that they should get off of all drugs. I am saying that you cannot ever truly be healthy while regularly using drugs.

Fix Your Gut

Every single person  I have known who was sick  had too much Candida overtaking their sick gut and wrecking havoc on their whole body. Gut health is the source of most and often all of people’s health issues.

Most people can repair their gut with proper diet and time, but detoxification protocol and supplements can speed up the process and are required for some people with severely damaged intestines. Look for a strong probiotic and a parasite killer.

Eat Right

If your gut is in poor health, you have to give up wheat and other sources of gluten to get well. Anyone with Candida overgrowth cannot properly digest wheat. Wheat and soy are almost always produced in ways that cause health problems when they are consumed. Soy and corn in packaged products are almost always GMOs. Genetically Modified Organisms destroy gut health.

You also have to give up refined sugars and processed packaged almost everything. Replace them with salads, lots of produce, and home-cooked, whole foods. Eat raw organic crushed garlic, turmeric, and black pepper with your food.

Eat lots of vegetables. Eat a wide variety of raw organic vegetables. Here are some of the benefits of raw organic vegetables:

• More enzymes
• Feeding the right ecosystem and keeping it clean
• Better digestion and assimilation of all nutrition
• Strong, clean, light, and vibrant blood
• Strong, very efficient immune system

Many of these benefits also come with eating fruit, but for anyone who is sick, fruit should be limited as the sugars do feed infection including Candida, bacteria, parasites, and yeast. Certain fruits are great for certain health issues, and fruits should not at all be avoided. They should just be limited until the gut flora is working for you and not against you.

Cooked foods have some benefits as well, but the importance of enzymes is often overlooked, so eat raw every day.

Drink Right

Sugary smoothies, sweet fruit juices (even when freshly made at home), coffee, most commercial teas, sodas, and almost everything else people drink needs to be completely eliminated for a time until health is restored, and then some of them can be consumed in moderation. Drink water. Lots of it. Here’s a recipe for  cranberry lemonade sweetened with stevia. Also, check out What’s the Best Water for Detoxifying and For Drinking?

Conclusion

Some people need supplements and a very strict diet to get results, but a fair majority can heal the body and be entirely ailment free with proper dietary habits and giving up toxic junk. Check out Balance Your Ecosystem for more on gut health, and this 80% Raw Food Diet has an awesome salad recipe to get you going.

Recommended Supplements:

• Floramind-Prime by Thorne
• Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse
• Formula SF722
• MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations
• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula

Further Reading:

• Kill Candida and Balance Your Inner Ecosystem
• 80% Raw Food Diet
• Inexpensive, Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge
• What’s the Best Water for Detoxifying and For Drinking?
• Top 5 foods that detox heavy metals and toxins

I thought I was healthy; I was forty-one years old and in the prime of my life. I worked out regularly, often with my new husband and at times with a trainer. On the weekend, my husband and I would ride 30-40 miles through the vineyards of Germany on our bicycles. I would have classified myself as healthy, maybe even very healthy.

I ate relatively well most of the time, at least compared to other people. I was always conscious of what I ate and usually chose the low sugar, low-fat option if there was one. I didn’t drink regular soda and only drank diet soda when water wasn’t available. As I said, I thought I was healthy.

The first sign that something was wrong came when my husband and I were on vacation in Greece on Valentines Day, 2014. As we walked back to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing, I noticed a slight limp on my right side. I also kept tripping on the sidewalk, and it was hard for me to keep up with my husband. The fourth time I tripped, my husband looked at me and said, “What is wrong with you?” I shrugged my shoulders and laughed. I chalked it up to the uneven sidewalks in Athens and maybe the wine.

That next week I noticed that with each day my limp got noticeably worse. I thought it must be the long-standing hip problem I’d had since my high school cheerleading days. I saw two different orthopedic doctors and got an MRI of my hip. They told me that eventually I would need a right hip replacement, but I needed to wait longer because I was too young. One orthopedic surgeon even watched as I walked down the hall and commented, “You do have a limp, don’t you?” but he didn’t offer any suggestions or advice.

About a week after the last orthopedic appointment, I realized that my worsening limp was not due to my bad hips. I was getting up an hour earlier than usual because I had become so slow at getting ready for work. I tried to dry my hair, something I’ve done a million times before, but the brush was so heavy in my right hand, I literally couldn’t keep it above my head. When I held the brush up, it would drop onto my head.

That same day, I was trying to sign documents at work. Again, it was something I’ve done a million times, but when my brain told my hand to sign, my hand wasn’t responding. I watched my hand move in slow motion.

During that same week, I started bumping into walls. I lost all sense of where my body was in space. I lost my balance while walking around a corner or while walking down the sidewalk. I would have to reach out and grab something to stabilize myself or use my forearms against the wall to prevent myself from falling. I also had to hold onto a dresser or nightstand to brace myself when I got out of bed and when I put my clothes on, or I would fall. By the end of the week, I had bruises up and down my forearms. I worked as a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate, and I was covered with bruises. I kept getting strange looks, and a few people even questioned me about the bruises.

Once I realized that my hand was involved, I immediately suspected MS. Ten years earlier, I was diagnosed with optic neuritis, inflammation of the optic nerve, which is often a precursor to MS. One morning, ten years ago, I noticed the lower left quadrant of my left eye was completely black. I saw a couple doctors and was diagnosed with optic neuritis. After three days of IV steroids, it went away. I followed up with a neurologist who gave me an MRI and told me that I did have brain lesions, but they were small and were not in the right location of the brain to justify an MS diagnosis. He didn’t seem to be worried about it. He told me to watch it. I followed up with him for a few years, and then I stopped. I had actually forgotten about it, until now.

I am right handed but, because of my progressively worsening paralysis, I found myself compensating with my left. This was only three weeks after the first symptoms. I would try to pick up something with my right hand; it would fall. Soon I was brushing my teeth, maneuvering the mouse, and even signing my name with my left hand. My handwriting looked like a third grader’s, no matter which hand I used.

It took me twice as long to do anything: to shower, get dressed, walk to the bathroom, walk to the car. Every time I would lie down, my legs would go into action. Relentless leg spasticity disturbed my sleep all night long. About every 30 seconds my right leg, and sometimes my left as well, would contract intensely, then release. I was exhausted before I even got out of bed in the morning. I didn’t want to go on. I didn’t know who I was anymore. My body had betrayed me.

Immediately after I suspected MS, I went to see my doctor and begged for a neurology consult. I knew that what I was experiencing was neurological, and I was pretty confident it was MS due to my history. I asked for IV steroids immediately. My doctor laughed at me. She didn’t believe me. She said no one was going to give me IV steroids. She called me hysterical and gave me a prescription for Valium, which I willingly took at the time. I responded to this by doing what I had started doing so often; I burst into tears. Finally, I was referred to a neurologist: my appointment was scheduled two weeks from that day.

During the fifth week, I continued to research conventional treatment for MS.  I felt scared and hopeless as I became more and more disabled. I couldn’t walk up or down stairs without using a cane and holding onto the rail. I had already fallen three times. I couldn’t raise my toes on my right foot. This made driving difficult and frankly dangerous. I had to lift my whole foot and put it on the pedals. I was rapidly losing control over my body.

I couldn’t wait two weeks for the appointment. I walked into the neurologist’s office a week before my scheduled appointment, and surprisingly, the doctor agreed to see me. I just couldn’t take it anymore –not knowing what my body was doing, getting worse each day. I was a mess. Through my tears, I explained my history to doctor number four. I pressed for IV steroids because I knew in my heart that this was MS. He scheduled me for two MRI’s for the following week, one of the brain and one of the spine, both with contrast.

During this first appointment with the neurologist, I mentioned that I had been researching MS on the Internet and that I kept seeing stories of women who’s MS symptoms had improved simply by making dietary changes. I asked him what he thought about cutting out meat, processed food, sugar, dairy, and gluten. My doctor told me that there was no evidence that diet had any impact on the course of the disease or the severity of symptoms.

During the next week, I got the two MRI’s and kept the initial appointment with my neurologist, which was now our followup appointment. I was officially diagnosed with MS on March 20, 2014. This was six weeks after the onset of symptoms. MS had hit me fast and hard. I was still working, but I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t write. It was hard to type. I could barely walk. Some co-workers were questioning whether I should continue to work. My future was bleak.

I had training for work that had been pre-planned six months previously, and I was scheduled to go to the States in two days. My neurologist told me that we would talk about preventative medication when I returned from my trip in two weeks. I received 1000 mg of IV prednisone that day, 2000 mg the next morning, and oral prednisone to take with me on my trip.

My head was spinning. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through a 12-hour flight let alone concentrate on spouse abuse training. During my trip, an airline escort had to meet me at the gate with a wheelchair and wheel me to the connecting flight. All I could think of was how I was going to continue to deteriorate, and I wondered what my future would look like. I spent the majority of the next two weeks reading about MS.

I returned to Germany two weeks later and started taking Tecfidera, a preventative MS medication, twice daily. I was also taking a muscle relaxer, an anti-anxiety medication, and a pain killer for the severe leg cramps. In addition, I had been taking a twice-daily steroid inhalant for asthma for more than ten years, and I kept a rescue inhaler with me at all times to use as needed. I also suffered from severe migraines since childhood, and I took Imitrex for this as needed.

In my research of conventional treatment for MS, all I read about was how the disease was “incurable” and about how I would need to set up a plan for “progressive disability” and “wheelchairs, home health aides, and Social Security Disability.” For about three days, I was consumed with dark thoughts. I didn’t want my new husband to have to care for me like that. For those three days, I wanted to die. Then I continued my research.

When I read about natural remedies for MS, I started to regain hope. I realized that the conventional medical community didn’t know what caused MS and didn’t believe there was a cure. I kept finding examples of how diet changes not only improved MS symptoms, but also cured it. As I read, I started to believe that I could get healthy, truly healthy. I also started to take action. I maintained the diet changes I had started and learned more about real health every day. I chose to continue to improve my diet; because it was the one thing I had control over in this whole situation.

I then remembered my old friend, Michael Edwards, had a real interest in alternative health care. He asked me to read several articles in his magazine, Organic Lifestyle Magazine. I began to learn more and more about health, real health, and how it is intimately connected to what we put in our mouth. Together Michael and I developed a nutritional and detoxification plan for me.

I noticed improvements right away. Just as I had declined a little bit every day, I noticed that I got a little bit stronger and more stable every day. I soon noticed that my other health ailments were improving, too. I no longer wheezed or suffered from migraines. I learned how to heal my gut from 20 years of Tylenol and Advil abuse. I learned how to feed my body nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods that would aid in my healing. Many people looked at my salads and smoothies and said “You are so disciplined!” I typically replied, “My mobility is a good motivator.”

I stayed on Tecfidera from April until November 2014 and then made the decision to stop it. At first I was scared to make this decision. I had to get past the brainwashing; the belief that I had to take what the doctor prescribed. I had been able to wean myself off all of the other pharmaceuticals I had been taking, including the asthma medicine and migraine pills, which I had taken for more than 30 years. I was able to do this simply by adding organic, raw produce-more vegetables than fruit- to my diet.

I got confirmation that this was what was helping me whenever I would veer off the diet in any way. Once, about 45 days into eating only raw produce (organic when possible) I went to a going away luncheon for a close friend. The menu was abbreviated, so there wasn’t anything on it I could eat. I chose to eat a cheese pizza with whatever raw veggies they could put on top. Even though I only ate the top of the pizza (cheese, onion, and mushrooms), before I left the restaurant my forehead was pounding. I had an immediate, physical reaction to either the  dairy or the gluten.

More recently, I ate couscous for several days, not knowing that it was wheat. This time I didn’t get a headache; I had a full relapse of my MS symptoms. I noticed that my right foot had dropped, and I was tripping. I also had to stabilize myself when I rounded corners like before. I noticed a significant decrease in my energy and decreased ability to go up or down stairs. When I mentioned this to Michael, the first thing he said was, “Tell me exactly what you’ve eaten for the last four days.” When I stopped and thought about it, I realized couscous had been the only change in my diet.

There was another time, right after I finished the first two phases of my detox program (about 30 days of eating raw, organic produce) that I went out to eat with some girlfriends. I did this every Friday, so I knew how to stick to my program at a restaurant. On that day, however, we got to talking about how well I was doing. I shared with them how I was able to get off all of the medications simply by changing what I ate. I told them I was better – walking better, feeling better, and having more energy. I thought, “I’ve been good. I’ve stuck to my program so well I deserve some baklava.” It was delicious, but I couldn’t sleep that night because my stomach was turning in knots, and my legs, which had been peaceful for three weeks,started to spasm again. I told myself, “Baklava doesn’t taste this good. Nothing does.”

Four months after being diagnosed, it was time for a repeat MRI. My neurologist had said that the most I could hope for was no new lesions on my brain. Not only were there no new lesions, it showed no evidence of inflammation and the lesions I had previously were significantly reduced. The radiologist looked at me and said, “You’re better!”

Recently, I had a blood test that confirmed that the two indicators that show inflammation in the body were completely normal. These indicators were extremely elevated in March but normal in November. I have no doubt that it is due to the lifestyle changes I’ve made that have contributed to my healing.

It’s now been ten months since my initial diagnosis, and for the first time in my life, I am no longer an asthmatic. I don’t take asthma or migraine medicine or any pharmaceuticals for that matter. I only take natural supplements when needed to supplement my diet.

I use a good, whole food, nutrition supplement (Total Nutrition Formula) in my smoothie every morning and munch on a big salad all throughout the day and into the evening. My salad is full of 10 or more different organic vegetables and 3-4 different types of leafy greens with lots of garlic, onions, and turmeric. After all of that, if I am still hungry (and often I’m not) I’ll have some cooked quinoa mixed with raw garlic and any other raw vegetables. I drink a gallon of pure, living water every day (I also make this cranberry lemonade). To my water, I add either organic apple cider vinegar and organic strap molasses or organic lemon and cranberry juice sweetened with stevia and spiced with cayenne pepper.

As I continue on this healing journey, I continue to learn and make improved health choices. I learned that couscous is wheat, and it will imitate an MS flare up. I learned that nothing is as good as true health, not even baklava.

Note: I owe so much of my success in healing to the following article in Organic Lifestyle Magazine and the following supplements from Green Lifestyle Market. Much love to Michael Edwards, Chief Editor. Thank you!

Further Reading:

• 80% Raw Food Diet
• Inexpensive Easy Detox the One Gallon Challenge
• How to Kill Candida and Balance Your Inner Ecosystem
• Doc Shillington’s Total Body Cleanse
• Budwig Cancer Cure
• Cure Cancer Naturally
• Garlic, the Most Amazing Herb on the Planet
• Turmeric – Learn More about This Ayurvedic Herb

Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Tea
• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• HM Complex – Pure Encapsulations
• Shillington’s Liver & Gallbladder Formula
• Shillington’s Liver and Gallbladder Tea
• Shillington’s Echinacea Plus
• Formula SF722 – Thorne Research
• Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse Formula
• FloraMend Prime Probiotic – Thorne Research
• MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations
• Liquid Light – Sunwarrior

In other parts of the world, and increasingly in the states, the medicinal benefits of cayenne are well known. In fact, there are over three thousand studies on the health benefits of capsaicin (cayenne’s active ingredient) and cayenne pepper, according to Dr. Patrick Quillin.

It regulates blood pressure, strengthens the pulse, feeds the heart, lowers cholesterol, thins the blood, cleans the circulatory system, heals ulcers, slows hemorrhaging, speeds healing of wounds, rebuilds damaged tissue, eases congestion, aids digestion, regulates elimination, relieves arthritis and rheumatism, prevents the spread of infection, numbs pain, and more.

Contents:

• Recipes for Cayenne Use
• Scoville Heat Units
• Natural Remedies with Cayenne
• Recommended Supplements

If I were allowed only one emergency herbal medicine, it would be cayenne tincture because it stimulates circulation throughout the entire body. Cayenne helps the capillaries, veins, and arteries regain their elasticity of youth. Moreover, when the venous structure becomes filled with mucus, the blood “thickens” and has a harder time circulating. Cayenne moves blood like no other herb. Cayenne tincture should be in everyone’s medicine cabinet. In fact, any holistic health advisor or practicing naturopath should have cayenne as a major component in many of their healing protocols.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

While cayenne is amazing by itself, when it is combined with another herb, the results are worth more than the sum of its parts. Capsaicin helps every other herb function better because it stimulates the circulation of blood, which helps get the beneficial bio-chemicals and nutrition to the cells.

Cayenne is an extremely effective treatment for heart and blood circulation problems, palpitations, and cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). It’s a miracle for congestive heart failure and is beneficial for someone who has any type of circulatory problems, such as high or low blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, high triglycerides, and even varicose veins.

Two teaspoons of cayenne pepper, ground or dried, has 11 calories, an almost none-existent glycemic index, 8.3% of your USRDA of highly bio-available vitamin A. You also get 7.1% of the USRDA of vitamin E, 5.2% of Vitamin B-6, 3.9% of fiber, 3.6% of vitamin C, 3.5% of manganese, and 3.2% of vitamin K.

Daily Cayenne for Prevention and Maintenance

A daily maintenance dosage is 3 teaspoons of cayenne tincture (one teaspoon three times a day). The best benefits of cayenne are realized when taken straight in a liquid form or eating a whole pepper, but for obvious reasons, most people will need to build up to this over time. Other alternatives include mixing the powder into food as a seasoning and drinking cayenne teas. You can also take cayenne capsules.

Recommended: Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

Recipes for Cayenne Use

Obviously you can put cayenne into any food that calls for hot spice, but there are many other ways to realize the health benefits of cayenne.

Super Vitality Morning Juice Drink

Juice ¼ a cup of ginger, and ¼ a cup of lemon.  Add ¼ a cup of pure cranberry and ¾ a cup of spring water or distilled water. Add cayenne to taste. Drink up!

You can also sweeten it up with stevia.

Lemon, Ginger, Cayenne Tea

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add 3 tablespoons of ginger (grated, or  finely chopped, and you can also use a garlic press) and ¼ a cup of lemon juice and boil for 30 seconds. Then add the cayenne. Let it steep for five to ten minutes until the ginger is strong and aromatic.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Topical Cayenne Cream

This is amazing for pain relief such as sprains, arthritis, tendonitis, etc. It is also a very effective hair regrowth balm.

In 3 cups of olive oil, mix together 4 tablespoons of ground cayenne, 4 tablespoons of turmeric, and 4 tablespoons of ground ginger.  Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and then cook over low heat (or use a double broiler with medium heat) for approximately 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of beeswax and stir until the beeswax has melted. Remove from heat as soon as the ingredients are blended well (Optional, but highly recommended: add 4 ounces of DMSO). You may also use coconut oil instead of beeswax.  Chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and then whisk the concoction thoroughly, Finally, refrigerate for another 20 minutes. If not already in glass, transfer cream to a glass jar with a sealed lid and store in the refrigerator. The cream stays potent for about 3 weeks. Apply as needed for pain, but with this cream, rub in as much as you can and then let it dry before rinsing off. Warning: The turmeric stains badly! You can make this recipe without the turmeric and it still works very well (it’s just more powerful with turmeric).

Tincture

This recipe is one part cayenne to two parts alcohol. The stronger the alcohol is the better it is for the tincture. Vodka works, but Everclear is better. Add ingredients to a jar with a lid and place in a dark place. Shake or stir every other day. The tincture will be ready in four weeks. Once your tincture is ready, strain through cheesecloth (a coffee filter works, too) into a dark colored jar. If you do not have a dark jar, store in a dark place.

Deep Tissue Repair Oil

This formula offers pain relief and speeds up the healing process for muscles, ligaments, and tendons. It is very beneficial, too, for arthritis patients, torn ligaments, pulled muscles, headaches, sore muscles, and maladjusted vertebrae. It works better than anything I’ve ever used as a massage oil; it completely relaxes the body and has a wonderful compounding effect with a good massage. It will often get rid of, or at least reduce, a headache almost instantly if you put a drop on both of your temples and rub it in (or if the headache is near the back, rub into the upper trapezoid close to the base of your skull). Used in conjunction with the Bone, Flesh, and Cartilage Formula for serious injuries and the healing benefits are remarkable. Mix ingredients together in dark colored glass jar:

• 8 oz. Wintergreen Oil
• 4 oz. Cold Pressed Organic Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 oz. Menthol Crystals
• 2 oz. DMSO
• 1/2 cup Arnica Flowers (Dry)
• 1/2 cup Calendula (Marigold Flowers)
• 1/4 cup Ginger Root
• 4 tablespoons of Cayenne (or even better, the hottest you can find)

Leave for three weeks and then strain with a cheesecloth and store in a dark colored bottle. To use, apply directly to skin. It doesn’t typically take much; this recipe is potent.

You can also purchase our Deep Tissue Repair Oil here.

Shillington’s Herbal Snuff

For sinus infections, toothaches, gum disease, and migraines, this recipe works wonders. All ingredients should be ground and dried. Mix seven parts goldenseal root powder with seven parts bayberry bark powder, one part cayenne pepper powder, and one part garlic powder. Apply directly to infected tooth, gum infection, or sniff hard for sinus infections, deep infections within the jaw, or migraines. Now hold on for dear life.

You can also purchase Shillington’s Herbal Snuff here.

Poultice

Mix equal parts cayenne pepper (powder), mullein leaves, and slippery elm powder. Add apple cider vinegar to dampen the mixture.

Capsules, Liquid, or Powder

It depends on the application. Powdered cayenne pepper is simple to use and has a great amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Liquid cayenne can have increased potency due to the nature of tinctures, and in emergency situations liquid cayenne can be much easier to administer. Capsules are great for getting many of the benefits of cayenne without the taste, but do be careful. Too many capsules of cayenne on an empty stomach can cause nausea just like taking it in another form. The only difference is a ten minute delay.

What Type of Cayenne To Use

The spiciness of peppers is measured in Scoville Heat Units (S.H.U). While this article mentions cayenne almost every time it refers to the spicy peppers, any hot pepper with a high Scoville heat unit has the awesome health benefits we’re discussing within the article.

Most cayenne sold in stores is about 35,000 S.H.U. This is not strong enough to get the best results for injury applications, pain relief, or heart and stroke conditions. But it’s fine for daily use to help prevent health issues and promote vitality.

For amazing results using cayenne, or for emergency treatments, or injury pain relief and healing, go with 100,000 S.H.U. or more. Habanero peppers that you can find in most grocery stores are about 350,000 S.H.U. And tinctures sold on Green Lifestyle Market are over 100,000 SHU.

The more potent your cayenne tincture, the less you will need to use. This is important because it may not be possible to get a person in the middle of a stroke or a heart attack to drink a full cup of cayenne tea.

For cayenne capsules check out:

Cayenne Pepper • (500mg) 100c – Now Foods

Cayenne Extra Hot 100,000 HU • 100c – Nature’s Way

And for liquid cayenne check out:

Capsicum annuum (cayenne extract) – Wise Woman Herbals (8 & 16 ounces)

Shillington’s Cayenne Tincture (1 ounce)

Natural Remedies with Cayenne

The list of ailments cayenne can help with are staggering, but there are caveats to be aware of, aside from the burn. Be sure to check out the warnings at the end of the article.

Shingles

For relief from shingles, cayenne may be ingested and applied as a cream. Capsaicin compounds block pain signals from nerves just under the skin. Apply to blisters several times a day. We advise you first test the cream on a small area of skin to insure there is no adverse reaction.

Diabetes

Diabetes wreaks havoc on the circulatory system. Neuropathy and tissue death of the extremities may result. Current research suggests capsaicin encourages regeneration of damaged nerves and improves circulation, which helps prevent infections such as foot ulcers that may lead to complications and subsequent amputations.

Animal trials of capsaicin injections (for animals with Type 1 diabetes) show decreases in blood sugar levels, restoration of normal insulin, and when neuropeptides are added, an elimination of symptoms for several months.

Metabolism/ Weight Loss/Fat Oxidation

Cayenne pepper is an appetite suppressant that also boosts metabolism.

In a 3-month study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2003, participants who were given 135 grams of capsaicin a day burned more body fat than those participants who were given a placebo.

While it can be taken in capsule form, other research has shown that eating it with food–actually tasting it, is most beneficial for weight loss.  Tasting it also resulted in fewer food cravings.

It is important to note that long term use may decrease cayenne’s effectiveness in weight loss, as the study conducted showed that the greatest benefit was seen in those who did not regularly eat spicy foods.

Psoriasis

Capsaicin helps relieve the pain and itching of psoriasis by blocking the communication system of sensory nerves. Studies have also shown that capsaicin cream, used for a week or more, can result in healing the skin–no more psoriasis plaques. Be sure to avoid mucous membranes and the eyes.

Colds and Allergies

Cayenne pepper has anti-inflammatory properties and is rich in quercetin, a bioflavonoid that prevents the release of histamines and other inflammatory chemicals that cause allergy symptoms. It also helps break up and loosen mucous, eases the pain of a sore throat, clears sinuses, and helps kill infection including viruses.

High Cholesterol

According to an Australian research team published in the British Journal of Nutrition, cayenne pepper dilates blood vessels and can lower cholesterol. Capsaicin causes LDL to resist oxidation for a longer period, which reduces the risks of heart attacks, high blood pressure, and stroke. Capsaicin also cleans the arteries, helping to flush excess LDL cholesterol and fatty triglycerides.

Blood Pressure

Cayenne is a popular home treatment for mild high blood pressure. Due to its ability to improve circulation and dilate blood vessels, cayenne works very quickly to bring down blood pressure in people who are not using drugs (like smoking tobacco) that raise the blood pressure. For the same reason, ingesting cayenne can help those who suffer from cold hands and feet.

Arthritis

Ointments applied topically offer temporary relief and some long-term benefits for those suffering from the pain of arthritis. Taking it internally offers benefits as well and is better for long-term results, but the effects are not as noticeable or as fast.  Capsaicin triggers the release of endorphins in the brain, which has a pain relieving effect similar to that of morphine. Check out the cayenne cream recipe above for immediate arthritis relief or try the Deep Tissue Repair Oil.

Cancer

Multiple clinical studies in conducted in Japan, England, and the United States has shown capsaicin forces cancer cells to self-terminate. Ingest regularly and also, for skin cancer, apply topically. Along with a detox, a healthy diet full of fresh organic raw produce and a few other natural cancer cures, cancer is rarely something that anyone need fear. Check out our issue that we dedicated to natural cancer remedies for more information.

Ulcers and Digestive Issues

Due to the fact that cayenne pepper is spicy, many people were under the impression that it causes ulcers. This was due to the fact that most people who eat conventionally get their spicy food in the form of junk food that causes ulcerities. Avoiding junk food is imperative to anyone who wants to heal their digestive system, and capsaicin actually heals stomach and intestinal ulcers. Capsaicin improves digestion by stimulating the peristaltic movement of the intestines, helps to regulate stomach secretions, works as a pain reliever to relieve ulcer caused pains, and can reduce the amount of acid your stomach produces. Capsaicin also kills the bacteria that cause ulcers including H. pylori.  More than just a treatment for ulcers, it treats health issues such as abdominal cramps, acidity, gas and bloating. It also helps with urine elimination and bowel evacuation.

Heartburn

The spice can relieve heartburn and indigestion, but apple cider vinegar works faster and is much easier to take. For a serious case of indigestion, try 4 ounces of apple cider vinegar with a pinch of cayenne.

Headaches & Migraines

Cayenne tea in the morning (or cayenne in any food) can prevent headaches, including migraines. But if you need to get rid of an existing migraine, or you need to stop one that is just getting started, snorting cayenne, while “hardcore” and not for the faint of heart, is one of the few migraines remedies that has been shown to provide immediate relief for most people.

Hemorrhaging, and Open Wounds, Cuts

During the civil war, where shrapnel injuries were common, amputations were performed regularly. Some of the doctors would apply ground cayenne to the open wounds gushing with blood. But do not ingest cayenne when bleeding badly, as this is not the best time to utilize its blood thinning properties. But when used externally on a wound, cayenne pepper is a vasoconstrictor, which means it tightens the blood vessels.

On an open wound, slap copious amounts of cayenne pepper and hold it down with pressure for one minute. Within the first 10 seconds, the smaller veins and arteries will stop bleeding, and in about 60 seconds, larger arteries will slow or stop bleeding as well.

With cases of severe menstrual issues or post childbirth, women can develop uncontrolled bleeding. An old remedy was to mix one cup of warm water with 6 tablespoons of cayenne pepper. Use a turkey baster to inject the cayenne mixture into the vagina hold it in for as long as the person can stand it.

Capsaicin has other healing properties as well,and should be used to speed the healing. It reduces the likelihood of infection in small cuts. Again, it’s a great topical pain reliever.

Fainting

When a person is feeling faint, light headed, and about to pass out, or just need a wake-me-up, taking cayenne orally in liquid or powdered form will snap the person to attention, and can even revive one who has completely fainted and is unconscious.

Circulation – Cardiovascular

Cayenne helps arteries, veins, and capillaries regain elasticity. It also helps regulate the flow of blood in the whole body from head to feet. Cayenne strengthens the pulse and boosts the overall health of the entire cardiovascular system. For increased energy, better detoxification, reduction of cold hands and feet, and to promote overall healing, better blood circulation is a requirement.

Heart Attack & Stroke

A heaping tablespoon of cayenne tincture (or extract) in a glass of warm water, or 10 dropperfuls (half oz.)is the treatment/dosage needed for someone having a heart attack or a stroke. If drinking a glass of fluid is not possible, apply cayenne drops directly into the mouth. This is where a more powerful extract like habanero could come in handy. The higher Scoville units of around 100,000 to 400,000 are ideal.

It’s best to know if the person suffering is on blood thinning medications before using cayenne, but with a very serious stroke or a heart attack, it really is worth the risk. See below for precautions to be aware of.

For anyone with heart conditions or at risk for a stroke, we recommend you always have Shillington’s Heart Formula. Keep it with you at all times in case of an emergency, and take two dropperfuls three times a day

Hair Regrowth

The most common cause of alopecia is poor blood circulation. Cayenne pepper, when applied topically, increases blood circulation. Start with ¼ a cup of fresh onion juice, ¼ a cup of fresh ginger juice, and 1/4 a cup of olive oil or coconut oil (may need to melt at a low heat in order to mix). Add two tablespoons of cayenne powder or a liquid cayenne. Mix well, and apply directly to scalp. If hair is long, take the time to message into scalp. This remedy works amazingly well, but it takes a few months to see the results. It’s also really good for your hair! Refrigerate when not in use, but try to use it all up within a day, as the fresher the juice, the more potent the formula.

Skin Conditions

Cayenne prevents and treats acne by increasing blood flow to the skin and by killing pimple causing fungi and bacteria. Cayenne pepper is rich in vitamin C, vitamin Em and several anti-oxidants that help to heal the epidermis. Apply topically, and ingest as well, because ingesting cayenne pepper has shown to result in a considerable decrease in acne on the skin.

Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are inflammation of the veins in the anus and rectum. Cayenne pepper is a powerful anti-inflammatory. You can apply directly to the affected area for best results. This will burn. It will itch. It is not pleasant. But it works faster than ingesting cayenne. We recommend doing both if you can handle it (and if possible).

Sinus Infection

Cayenne pepper is an excellent home remedy for a sinus infection. It helps to break and flush out mucus. Take a few pinches of cayenne pepper powder and dab inside your infected nostril. It’s better if you apply this remedy at night just before going to the bed.

For a serious and/or chronic sinus infection, try Shillington’s Herbal Snuff. With goldenseal root powder, bayberry bark powder, cayenne pepper powder, and garlic powder, it’s going to burn like holy hell, but it clears the sinuses and kills the infection. You can make your own (see recipe above) or purchase Shillington’s Herbal Snuff here.

Sore Throat

A very effective remedy for sore throats is to gargle with apple cider vinegar, a pinch of unrefined sea salt, and cayenne. This will not only help kill the bacteria, fungi, or virus causing the sore throat, but it will also attract blood to the tonsils to help healing.

Toothaches

Toothaches are caused by an infection. Kill the infection and attract blood flow to the area with a remedy that is pretty tough to take, but it works amazingly well! Take a pinch of cayenne, a few drops of clove oil, a crushed clove of garlic, and some oil of oregano, and mush and mix it all together. Apply directly to the pain, and smear around it as well. Breathe through your mouth and hold it as long as you can, but no more than 5 minutes. It’s painful, but not nearly as painful as a bad toothache, and it will provide immediate relief. Do this three times a day and your toothache will be a thing of the past.

Side Effects and Warnings

You need to stop taking cayenne (and garlic, and any other foods that thin the blood) 7 days before surgery due to the blood thinning properties.

If you are allergic to latex, bananas, kiwi, chestnuts, or avocados, you may also be allergic to cayenne.

Anyone taking blood thinner medications should avoid cayenne and other peppers with high levels of capsicum due to increased the risk of blood vessels rupturing, which may lead to uncontrolled hemorrhaging.

If large amounts of cayenne are ingested after a heart attack or stroke, there is the possibility of an increased risk of an injury known as reperfusion. When blood supply is cut off from tissues long enough, tissue death can occur due to lack of oxygen. When the blood supply is then restored, this leads to inflammation and tissue destruction in part from oxidative damage from the increase of blood and oxygen back to the tissues. It has not been proven, but in theory one could increase the damage from reperfusion injuries by increasing blood flow to the dead tissues. In our opinion the risks are worth the benefits, but the theory is sound and we would be remiss if we didn’t mention it.

The Best Herbs and Spices

I have four herbs and spices I consume regularly: Garlic, turmeric, cayenne, and ground papaya seed. Cloves and cinnamon are two more spices that I plan to do a better job of incorporating. I eat papaya seeds raw, never cooked, as the benefit is the enzymes which are killed by heat. I eat many of the other seasonings raw, too. For instance, I cook rice and beans with many seasonings and then add more after the beans are done cooking and have cooled off so I can get the raw-food health benefits. Find a good, high quality source for these herbs and spices and get them into your diet as much and as often as you can, and your health will improve dramatically.

Recommended Products:

• Mother Earth Organic Root Cider – Barrier Island Organics
• Shillington’s Cayenne Tincture
• Capsicum annuu\m (cayenne extract) – Wise Woman Herbals
• Shillington’s Heart Formula
• Shillington’s Blood Detox Formula
• Shillington’s Tooth and Gum Formula
• Cayenne Pepper • (500mg) 100c – Now Foods
• Cayenne Extra Hot 100,000 HU • 100c – Nature’s Way
• Shillington’s Herbal Snuff here

Further Reading:

• Cinnamon – Ceylon Vs Cassia, Health Benefits, and Other Interesting Facts
• How To Use Turmeric To Kill Cancer
• Garlic – The Most Amazing Herb On the Planet

Sources:

• How Effective Is Capsaicin for Diabetes?
• The Dangers of Cayenne for Heart Attacks and Strokes
• Cayenne Pepper Heat Units
• Cayenne Pepper Cures ~ The Fire Of Life! Ancient Remedies, Healing Treatments &…
• PatrickQuillin.com

Foods that have an incredible array of health benefits that go well beyond just their nutrient value are considered superfoods.  These foods are typically loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients, and essential amino acids. Goji berries contain an extraordinary amount of unique nutrients and anti-oxidants , which give them amazing power as a superfood in our diets.

Goji berries are classically grown from an evergreen shrub found in China, Mongolia, and in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet.  Goji berries are also called wolfberries in many of these countries.  These berries are a member of the Solanaceae family of plants that is also called nightshade veggies.  The relatives include tomato, potato, peppers, eggplant, tomatillo, and tobacco.

Goji Berries are Loaded with Nutrition

Goji berries contain all 18 amino acids as well as mega doses of vitamin A (beta carotene), B1, B2, B6, and vitamin E.  Goji berries also contain more vitamin C by weight than any other food on Earth.  They also contain more iron than spinach as well as 21 other key trace minerals.  Goji’s are extremely rich in the unique phytonutrient anti-oxidants lutein and zeaxanthin ,which are some of the most important nutrients for healthy eyes and a healthy nervous system.

Goji berries are also rich in unique compounds known as Lycium barbarum polysaccharides.  These nutrients have been shown to enhance immunity and have a similar chemical structure to immune stimulating compounds within maitake mushrooms and Echinacea.   These polysaccharides provide immune cells with special sugars that enable them to communicate more effectively.

Key Polysaccarides Enhance Immunity

These polysaccharides are also one of the preferred fuel sources of good intestinal bacteria, bacteria which also helps to orchestrate a healthy immune response . By supporting the immune cells and probiotic cells with their preferred fuel, these polysaccharides present in goji berries modulate immunity and reduce inflammation.   Famous author and pharmacist Earl Mindell believes that these polysaccharides are master molecules because of their influence on many of the body’s biochemical defense systems.

These polysaccharides are very effective at enhancing detoxification within the body.  They aid in the removal of metabolic waste products such as lactic acid that accumulates in muscles during exertion.  They also support the liver and protect it from damage that may occur during intense periods of exercise.

In Asia, goji berries have been used as a cultural medicinal for inflammatory based disorders such as asthma, allergies, chronic pain, and cancer.  The polysaccharides also show promise in blunting auto-immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease.

Goji Berries Stimulate HGH

Goji berries are also a rich source of sesquiterpenoids which help to stimulate human growth hormone secretion by the pituitary gland.  This is the only known food source that is known to stimulate HGH.  Additionally, goji berries contain L-arginine and L-glutamine along with potassium.  These nutrients further promote growth hormone production.

These key nutrients synergize to have a very powerful effect on the key endocrine glands such as the adrenals, thymus, thyroid, and pituitary.  Goji berries can be classified as an adaptogenic aid in that they enhance the body’s ability to successfully adapt to stress.  This unique array of supernutrients make goji berries one of the world’s premier foods for optimal performance and longevity.

Sources for this article include:

• http://www.naturalnews.com/035473_blueberry_superfood_brain_function.html
• http://www.marksdailyapple.com/goji-berries/#axzz1w1FSecAf
• http://www.naturalnews.com/028098_goji_berries_antioxidants.html#ixzz1w1KR1BXN
• http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/goji-berry4.htm

Milk thistle is a flowering plant that is part of the daisy family.  It gets its name from its bristly and prickly nature and the “milky” sap that oozes out of the plant.  The leaves, fruits, and seeds of milk thistle have been used for centuries as a natural medicine.  Milk thistle is one of the world’s most powerful liver detoxifying agents.

Milk thistle was used by medical herbalists in the late nineteenth century to treat varicose veins and liver, spleen, and kidney disorders.  Today, it is primarily used to improve the function of the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal system.  Many individuals have seen dramatic improvement using milk thistle for health issues such as psoriasis, menstrual problems, jaundice, and poor circulation.

Milk Thistle and Liver Health

The active antioxidant compound within milk thistle is the flavonoid complex called Silymarin.  This anti-oxidant is one of the most powerful liver detoxifying agents.  It helps to boost glutathione and superoxide dismutase which are two the body’s master super antioxidants.  One study found that silymarin increased glutathione content in the intestines and liver by up to 50%.  Boosting glutathione helps protect the intestines from inflammatory damage that leads to ulcers and colitis.

Milk thistle guards the liver’s numerous hepatic cell membranes and slows the rate at which toxins can be absorbed into the liver.  Research has shown that silymarin enhances protein synthesis to enhance liver cell regeneration and counteract the effects of poisons on the liver.   It has been used to treat alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic fatty liver, cirrhosis-liver poisoning, and viral hepatitis.

Silymarin and Kidney Health

Silymarin concentrates in kidney cells where it helps repair and regenerate protein enzymes and DNA.  One study indicated that it increased kidney cell replication by 25-30% over control groups.  This is extremely important for individuals who have suffered mild-to-severe kidney damage from infections, kidney stone formation, or environmental toxins.

The kidneys are one of the major organs that are damaged by chemotherapy agents.  Research has shown that the major compounds in silymarin protect the kidneys from these dangerous drugs.  In particular, they protect the cell membrane of the kidney, cells allowing for healthy cell receptor activity.

Silymarin is considered to be 10 times as potent as vitamin E and increases the activity of the powerful antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) in red and white blood cells in patients suffering with liver disease.  This increases oxygenation and immunity.

Studies have shown that the major compounds of silymarin are silybin and silychristin.  These compounds have a low absorption rate at about 20-50%.  It is better to use milk thistle in a standardized extract.  Milk thistle can also be fermented in an organic acid base for optimal digestion and nutrient assimilation.

Milk Thistle as a Demulcent

Milk Thistle is a demulcent that improves the health of the body’s mucous membranes.  This reduces inflammation within the skin cells, sinus and respiratory tract, and kidney and bladder wall lining.  It also reduces inflammatory stress in the bile duct and inhibits the formation of gall stones.  This improves the functionality of the gall bladder and allows for complete bile release.

Milk Thistle also helps soften and improve the moisturization of the skin,  This is especially helpful for individuals with acne and exzema and other skin impurities.  It has also been shown to improve the overall glow and radiance of the skin quality.

Sources For This Article Include:

• http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/health-benefits-of-milk/2010/11/11/id/371339
• http://www.motherearthliving.com/plant-profile/milk-thistle-therapy.aspx
• http://silymarin.com/?p=how.works

Gout is a disease in which uric acid levels accumulate and cause massive damage and swelling to various joints of the body.  The uric acid is caused by poor dietary habits and metabolic stress.  Specific lifestyle strategies can help reduce the symptoms of gout and restore proper metabolic function to beat gout naturally.

When uric acid accumulates it forms sharp crystals called urates which penetrate and irritate the joints.  The most common areas to be effected by urates are the big toe, feet, ankles, wrists, knees, and elbows.  Gout is extremely painful and most physicians are unable to treat it effectively without dangerous medications.

For years doctors have been telling us gout is caused by a disruption in purine metabolism.  Purines are molecules that are formed by a grouping of nucleic acids that are prevalent in foods such as red meat, organ meats, seafood, and alcohol.  Organ meats such as kidney and liver contain the most purines by far.

Gout and Fructose Metabolism

Recent research has linked gout formation with elevated fructose consumption.  This second biochemical pathway indicated that fructose triggers the body’s production of uric acid from an important energy molecule, adenosine triphosphate.

In New Zealand, the Maori people rarely encountered gout.  Now, ten to fifteen percent of their population has gout symptoms in their lifetime.  Seafood seems to be the major trigger for these Pacific islanders; however, they have always eaten a lot of seafood.  These people eat fifty times more sugar and fructose (much like typical Americans) than they did 100 years ago.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that individuals who drink one fructose-rich beverage a day are 74% more likely of developing gout than those who drink the same beverage once per month.  Individuals who drank two or more fructose sweetened beverages are 97 percent more likely to develop the disease.

Fructose is a form of sugar molecule that is most often found in corn, fruit, and many plant based sweeteners such as agave nectar and honey.  It is important to reduce fructose consumption by avoiding anything with high fructose corn syrup and minimizing the consumption of fruit juices, agave nectar, and honey.  Minimize the use of all fruit other than low fructose fruits such as berries, avocados, lemons, limes and grapefruit.

Anti-Gout Nutrition Plan

The typical diet for individuals with gout should be low in sugar and grains.  Instead, focus on anti-oxidant rich vegetables and healthy fat sources.  The best fat/protein sources include coconut products, avocados, extra-virgin olive oil, and sprouted nuts and seeds.  Healthy protein sources include 100% grass-fed beef in moderation, 100% raw grass-fed cheese, organic poultry, and wild fish.

Individuals with gout do much better when they stick to an 80% raw diet.  Any cooked food should be reserved for the evening meal.  The daytime meals should be liquid in the form of shakes, cacao avocado mousse, and vegetable juices.  Salads, guacamole with veggies or raw, sprouted seed crackers are also great.  Before any cooked food is eaten, a digestive enzyme with lipase, protease, and amylase should be used to enhance digestion.  Lots of clean water should be consumed during the day and intermittent fasting for periods of 16-24 hours is encouraged to help detoxify the kidneys, liver, and colon.

Individuals with gout should use apple cider vinegar and fresh squeezed lemon on salads, grains, and meat.  This helps provide organic acids and more enzymes and anti-oxidants to help pre-digest the meal.  Fermented foods such as non-processed sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, amasai, and coconut kefir are also very helpful.

Sources For This Article Include:

• http://www.naturalnews.com/027950_gout_natural_remedies.html
• http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/65355/description/Fructose_poses_gout_risks_even_in_women
• http://www.naturalnews.com/030401_HFCS_gout.html#ixzz2BORK5yP5
• http://biochem.otago.ac.nz/staff-profiles/tony-merriman/gout/