Are YOU what you eat?

Sometimes woo sites do encourage you to do stuff that is good for you, but they encourage you in the wrong way. An example of this would be this pic from Raw for Beauty:

While in a technical sense this is true because your cells are made from what you eat, but this is done through a complex chemical process where chemical components are broken down in your digestive system and then used by your body's cells. By the time these chemical components reaches your cells they no longer resemble anything that you've eaten and whatever is left is discarded in your poop and pee.

So, does this mean you can eat whatever you want? No.

Eating fatty and greasy foods is not good for you, nor is not exercising, which is what the picture is trying to convey, but it's overshadowed by the woo above, but the what the second sentence says is correct because if all you eat is junk food then all you'll have is a junk body.

5 Things I've noticed about... Homeopathic Medicine

Homeopathic medicine is probably one of the oldest forms of alternative medicine there is. Infact it was invented in the late 1700's by German physician Samuel Hahnemann, and has been with ever since.

Now there are lots of claims about homeopathy and what it does, and after looking into them I've noticed several different things about homeopathic medicine.

So here are five things I've noticed about homeopathic medicine:

5. You can make it at home.

Homeopathic medicine is very easy to make. You don't even need a complex chemistry lab inorder to make it. You can make it right in your kitchen!

Got a headache and you want to make some homeopathic aspirin inorder to get rid of it? Well here's what you do:

Step 1: Get one tablet of aspirin and about ten bottles of water.

Step 2: Crush aspirin and put it into one of the bottles of water.

Step 3: Shake up bottle.

Step 4: Take one drop from said bottle and put it into the next bottle.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 until done doing so with all bottles.

Now if you do all of this you will have homeopathic aspirin and your headache should go away in a few hours... same as any other normal headache would if you were to take nothing at all.

Actually this might not work, and this is because...

4. You're suppose to use something that can cause the problems that you currently have inorder to cure them.

Inorder for homeopathic medicine to actually work (atleast according to people who make and deal with homeopathic medicine) you don't use heavily diluted medicine that would cure whatever it is that you have. What you actually are suppose to use is something that could cause the symptoms that you're having rather than actually cure them. Think of it as a kind of like a vaccine, minus any backing from the scientific and medical communities.

So if you want to cure that headache of yours using heavily diluted aspirin isn't going to work. What you actually want to use is something that can cause a headache if you take it in it's pure form, like beer, only it has to be heavily diluted.

So using homeopathy logic the best thing to take when you have a headache is a ball park beer, because those things are watered down all to hell.

3. A lot of it is REALLY watered down.

If you think that the homeopathic aspirin that I gave instructions above on how to make sounds really diluted (probably to the point where three to four bottles in you're not going to find any aspirin molecules) that's nothing (pun intended) compared to what some homeopathic medicine makers sell.

Some homeopathic medicine that is currently on the market is so diluted that you would have to consume the equivalent of all the water on the Earth inorder to have a chance of getting one molecule of whatever the original ingredient was...

Then there is Oscillococcinum, which is so diluted that one would have to consume it equivalent of 10³²¹ times the number atoms in the known universe inorder to have a chance of consuming even one molecule of whatever ingredient it is that the that the manufacturers used.

Now I bet many of you at this point are probably wondering how exactly is homeopathic medicine suppose to work? There is actually a explanation for that...

2. It's suppose to work off of water memory.

According to homeopathic practitioners water has memory, and that water can somehow contain the memory of whatever it is that it has come in contact with, and somehow this memory transfers over to us, and thus the more you dilute something the more memory the water retains of it...

If water memory is real then how would putting something in our water that is suppose to make us sicker make us better? Infact if water memory actually is real then drinking any water should kill any one of us instantly due to water memory retaining memory of all of the pollutants and toxins that's ever gone into it.

Fortunately we are all still here, so it leads me to think that there is nothing to this water memory stuff, and that much like the rest of homeopathic medicine...

1. It all sounds like BS.

Multiple dilutions. Using something that's suppose to make you sick inorder to cure you. Water memory. It all sounds like BS, right?

Well there's a reason why it all sounds like BS. It is.

Homeopathic medicine has never been proven to work. At best you may get a placebo effect where you think it's curing you but really you're healing no faster than you would if you took nothing at all.

Homeopathic medicine is a fraud. It always has been and it always will be.

The only reason why anyone would believe that homeopathic medicine works is either they have been tricked into believing that it works, or they are so into alternative medicine that they refuse to believe that it doesn't work.

Debunking Earthing

A few days ago I was alerted to a short video on Youtube about something called "Earthing", which is something to do about humans getting energy from the Earth (and I'm not talking about geothermic energy either).

Here is the short video that I watched:

Now the first claim in this video says this:

• So we all know the sun's energy is crucial for good health.

This is true. The sun's light is necessary for the production of Vitamin D inside of our skin, which is necessary for our bodies. Of course to much exposure can also led to the production of skin cancer too...

The video then goes on to claim this:

• But did you know that the Earth's energy is also crucial for good health? When we make direct contact with the surface of the Earth, our bodies receive a charge of energy that makes our bodies feel better, fast. This is called "Earthing."

Now this is where we get into the pseudoscience part.

Human beings do not receive energy from the Earth, and there are no studies that show this. In fact, other then from eating and drinking food, we can't receive energy by any actual means.

If you are outside and you "feel" like you are receiving energy from the Earth, what you're experiencing is not the receiving of energy from the Earth, but a placebo effect in which you only think you're receiving energy from the Earth.

The next claim in the video states that:

• Throughout history people were always "naturally" absorbing the Earth's energy, but in today's world we live most of our lives inside, and even when we do go outside, we usually wear shoes, which prevent us from connecting.

Back in the "good old days" working outside was far more common then it is today. This is because most people tended to have jobs that required working outside. It was also far more common for people back then to die in their 40's and 50's than it is today as well.

People simply didn't live as long in the past as they do today. The reason for that is because of a combination disease and the occasional lack of food. While a lack of food could be a hard thing to prevent back then, one of the things that helped prevent some diseases then (and now) however is shoes. Shoes help prevent us from cutting our feet on things like sticks and rock, and then getting infections from stepping in bacteria and parasite infested water and animal droppings.

Besides all of this, there is still no proof what so ever that we have ever been able to absorb energy from the Earth through our skin.

This claim makes it appear that we better off in the past when more of us were barefooted, when in reality the exact opposite is true.

The next claim then goes on to say:

• So of course we often feel drained and achy, because we go for days, or even years, without ever touching the Earth.

This is implying that people back in the "good old days" didn't get tired at the end of a work day. This is not true at all. In fact people tended to work themselves to death back then.

Besides that, all people have varying amounts of stamina. Some people can work from dawn to dusk and not get tired, some people can only work for a couple of hours before they feel like they need a nap. Touching the Earth has nothing to do with how we feel during the day.

The following claim made says this:

• But it doesn't have to be this way. You can start receiving the benefits of Earthing by going barefoot outside. The more time, the better! This alone can be life changing, and it's free!

Really?! Because I've gone outside barefoot many times, and it's never been life changing to me...

Standing out in your yard barefoot for a few hours is not going to change your life. That's just wishful thinking. It takes a lot more then just standing outside barefooted for a person to change their life.

The final claim made states:

• And if you love feeling great while Earthing outdoors, now you can start Earthing indoors too! Simply connect your Earthing product into the third hole of an outlet, which directly connects to the existing ground rod of your home. This connection lets you safely and conveniently receive Earth's energy from where ever you are, whether that be working, or playing, and especially while you're sleeping, because while Earthing you'll sleep deeper, feel more refreshed in the morning, and wake up looking terrific! And the best part, any one can benefit from this life changing discovery!

It figures. Ultimately they are trying to sell you something.

Feeling refreshed in the morning isn't going to result from sleeping on some special "pad" that's suppose to send energy from the Earth into you body (in fact I imagine if that was to actually happen, it might keep a person awake). It actually has allot to do with your comfort level, which can be affected by multiple factors (the mattress, room temperature, noise, how dark it is) and also much sleep you actually get.

I've checked out the website listed at the end of the video (Earthing.com), and the only things that they are selling are some (in my opinion) over priced "Earthing" pads, some over priced grounding rods (which most people won't even need in first place, as most of the time the grounding holes in the power outlets tend to be grounded), and of course a book on Earthing.

Now also on the website itself there is a lot of inform in the FAQ section about how Earthing (and the products being sold) allegedly works, along with a testimonials section. What the website does not provide is a peer reviewed, scientific study stating that Earthing itself even works, more or less that the products being sold will give you more energy.

The only thing that Earthing in itself seems to be is a bunch New Age woo and energy woo.

Anti-Vaccination & Anti-GMO: Proof that bad things do come from "Good Intentions"

Many of you probably already know about the Anti-vaccination and Anti-GMO crowds, and what they stand for. For those that do not, I'll refresh your memories:

The Anti-vaccination crowd claims that vaccines can cause debilitating in children, primarily autism, while the Anti-GMO crowds claim that food from genetically modified plants are unhealthy and possibly dangerous.

While I know that both of these groups believe very strongly that what they are saying is true, and that they are spreading whatever they think is true because they only have "good intention" and think what they're doing is right, the reality is what they are doing is very wrong.

Besides the fact that the information that both of these groups put out tends to be out right false, or is based upon outdated information, they don't seem to realize the real damage they are actually doing.

For the Anti-vaccination, the damage is very obvious.

The spreading of the anti-vaccine propaganda has caused some parents to become unnecessarily fearful of vaccines, which in turn has cause those parents to choose to not allow their children to get vaccinated, which has caused the rise of many illnesses among children that I had not even heard of anyone getting when I was in school, and that for the most part I didn't even think could kill someone because I had never heard of anyone dying from these illnesses before, more or less know someone who died from something like the measles.

As a result of this combination propaganda and paranoia, hundreds of children, if not more so, have died, and thousands of children have gotten sick unnecessarily because their parents failed to get them vaccinated, or because they were to young to get vaccinated, and they got sick from another child that was sick with something that could been prevent with a vaccine shot.

Then there is the Anti-GMO crowd, which while might not seem as harmful, could actually be worse.

While there is this popular belief that GMO foods are harmful, untested, and unregulated, all of these are false as GMO foods are heavily tested, heavily regulated, and are no more harmful than organic foods.

While organic food itself isn't actually bad, the people in the Anti-GMO crowd wants to ultimately ban GMO foods, and that is bad thing because the world population can not sustain it's current levels on organic food alone. In fact only 2/3 of that current world population would be able to sustain itself on organic food (and that's the high end).

The fact is that the world hunger problems are bad enough as they are, and would be far worse if the Anti-GMO crowd had it their way and the only food we grew was organic food.

I know that both groups have good intentions, and that both think what they are doing is for the betterment of human kind, but the fact is that they only things these two groups are doing are bringing needless suffering and death, and instead of being saviors of humanity, they are harming it.

Debunking the Anti-Monsanto/Anti-GMO claims

On May 25, a local group held a protest near where I live to protest Monsanto and GMO foods.

The protest itself, while larger than what I actually expected, wasn't as large as what it could have been, with maybe only about 50 to 60 people attending.

Now about a week before this protest occurred someone was going the area and putting up some posters on lamp post and electric post not only advertising the protest, but also making several claims against both Monsanto and GMO foods.

I've looked into these claims that were made, and this is what I have found:

1. Monsanto fights labeling laws.

This is true [read here] but only to a certain extent, and there are a lot of other companies and groups (including scientists) that oppose these laws because many of them consider them to be unfair, and/or leaves to many loop holes, and many opponents also claim that these laws are really attempts to out right ban GMO foods.

Also, when the people of California were given a chance to vote into law Proposition 37, which would have required labeling of GMO foods, the voters rejected it, so really you can't actually blame Monsanto about that, because when given the chance, the people rejected such laws.

2. Monsanto's propriety and legal actions harm small farmers.

Monsanto has, since the mid-1990's, filled 145 suits against individual US farmers for patent infringement and/or breach of contract in connection with its genetically engineered seed, and while this may sound like a lot, this is actually a very small number in comparison to thousands of individual, independent farmers in the US.

Also, only 11 of these suits actually went to trial, all of which Monsanto won.

3. Scientists' studies show severe damage to GMO-feed animals.

There was a study in 2012 by Gilles-Eric Seralini that claimed to show that rats feed GMO corn increased cancer rates in these rats compared to rats that were not feed GMO corn. This study has been highly criticized for certain unscientific methods (such as the failure to record the amounts of food the rats were feed and their growth rates) and has pretty much been debunked. [read here, here, and here]

4. Monsanto's Agent Orange and DDT contaminate food crops and villagers abroad.

Agent Orange was only used between 1965 to 1970 by the US military in Vietnam (before then they used a herbicide called Agent Blue). Even though this was true, you really can't blame Monsanto because they are not the ones who actually used it. It was various governments around the world who used it. Monsanto (along with Dow Chemical) just made the stuff.

As for DDT, most countries have been banning the stuff since the 1960's for agricultural use, and again, Monsanto is not the only company that made DDT, and it doesn't even make it anymore because of the 1972 US ban.

5. Monsanto falsely advertised it's Roundup as "biodegradable."

In 2007 Monsanto was convicted in France for false advertisement of it's product Roundup as being biodegradable. France is of course the only country that has done this, and some people might even claim that this is the result of France's environmental laws, rather than reality as Glyphosate (the technical name for Roundup) does not bioaccumulate and breaks down rapidly in the environment.

Whether Roundup should be considered biodegradable or not seems to be more of a matter of opinion then fact.

6. Monsanto blocks regulations. It's CEOs are in a revolving door from Monsanto to FDA (ex: Micheal Taylor, current Food Safety Czar).

This is completely false. Micheal Taylor (whomever he is) was never the Food Safety Czar. There has only been one Food Safety Czar, and that was Dr. David Acheson, and he only had that position from 2007 to 2008.

Monsanto can not actually block regulations, all it can do is lobby against laws and regulations that could affect it's business, and there is no "revolving door", so to speak, between Monsanto and the FDA.

7. Consumers rejected Monsanto's Bovine Growth Hormone in milk.

The rejection of BGH in milk is a matter of consumer opinion, and has nothing to do with facts.

8. 400 scientists and 58 countries conclude that organic farming trumps GMO for sustainable, environmental,  and healthy agriculture. GM crops do not offer increased yields.

While studies have shown that organic farming, if done correctly, can be sustainable and environmentally friendly. If done incorrectly however the impact on the environment will actually be negative, and organic farming still requires more land than conventional farming.

Also, a crop's yield has nothing to do with whether or not it's a GMO, and has everything to do with the farming techniques used, and studies have shown that organic farming yields are actually less than those of conventional farming yields [read here].

9. Monsanto's control of the soy market results in 90% of soy market being GMO.

If Monsanto actually had control of the soy market then 100% of all soy beans would be GMO, not 90% as being claimed. Plus if farmers did not want to use Monsanto's soy bean seeds, then they don't have to, as there are other companies that sell soy bean seeds.

10. Allergies skyrocketed as GMO soy entered the system.

While food allergies have increased, and soy allergies are one of the more common food allergies, there is no scientific evidence that links GMO crops with the increase in food allergies.

11. Massive aerial spraying of Roundup in Colombia is being used by the U.S. and the Colombian government as a counter-insurgency tactic, contaminating food crops and poisoning villagers.

There has been large aerial spraying of Roundup in Colombia by the Colombian government (although there is no evidence that the U.S. actually is doing this to, and only gives support and training), the main purpose of which is to destroy coca plants (the plant which cocaine is extracted from).

While this has come under scrutiny for damaging legal crops and adverse health effects, the main criticism about the program (called Plan Colombia) has been about the cost and effectiveness.

Despite the fact that Roundup is used in this campaign, it doesn't mean that Monsanto is to blame for any damage done, as they are not the ones' spraying Roundup on these places.

25 Reasons why Coffee is better than Beer

In honor of one of my favorite restaurants, CUPS Coffee & Tea, I present to all of you 25 reason why coffee is better then beer:

25. Coffee doesn't cause you to tell random strangers that you love them.

24. Coffee doesn't make you throw up your last few meals if you've drunk a lot of it.

23. You can have coffee before noon.

22. No one has ever "drunk texted" from drinking coffee.

21. People who drink coffee have drastically less embarrassing online photos then people who drink beer.

20. If you come home smelling like coffee, no one gives you grief over it.

19. If you're a teenager, no police officer will ever arrest you for drinking coffee on a street corner.

18. No police officer will ever ask you to step out of your car if they see a cup of coffee in your cup holder.

17. No cashier ever asks for your ID when you go to buy coffee.

16. The age of enlightenment began when coffee (along with tea) became the most common breakfast drink. Before then beer was the most common breakfast drink.

15. No one has ever ended up being naked in a jail cell after a night of drinking coffee

14. Decaffeinated coffee taste a lot better than non-alcoholic beer.

13. Coffee doesn't cause people to get into fist fights.

12. No one has ever died from drinking to much coffee.

11. Unlike with beer, if you drink coffee until 2:00 AM, you don't wake up in the morning with a spliting headache and being unable to remember what you did last night.

10. If you tell someone you're addicted to coffee, they don't annoy you by telling you to go to AA.
 
9. You don't end up dancing like an idiot at a wedding from drinking to much coffee.
 
8. You don't need hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of equipment to make homemade coffee.
 
7. You can't add flavored milk to beer.
 
6. If you drink two or three cups of coffee within an hour and then drive, you're not breaking any laws.
 
5. You're not risking getting fired by drinking coffee at work.
 
4. If you drink coffee in the morning, none of your friends or family members will ask you to go to rehab.
 
3. Beer can only be served ice cold. Coffee can be served both hot and ice cold.
 
2. You don't accidentally sleep with someone you shouldn't as a result of drinking to much coffee.
 
1. Your local barista will never tell you that you've had to much coffee to drink.