Jared's Herbal Mind

Antbacterial soap is BAD FOR YOU!!!

I have decided that because I am both long-winded and extremely busy that I will start posting short and sweet posts more often and then hitting my big ones once a week or so.  I may also start posting in parts.  I know I have several people waiting patiently for me to post about cholesterol and cancer.  I don't ever want to post half way, so I will hit those when I have done enough research to give you all the details you need. 

For tonight, I will talk about antibacterial products and why they are dangerous, and very rarely a good idea.  For those of you who listen to Vitality Radio, you have already heard my rant about this.  For the rest of you, here goes.

There are two groups that I very rarely agree with,  the AMA and FDA.  Today is a banner day because I can officially say that I agree with these guys on at least one subject.  They, along with the CDC, have determined that there is literally ZERO evidence that antibacterial soap has any health benefit.  However there is mounting evidence that they contribute to a very dangerous problem. 

Bacteria transfer genes to one another through plasmid exchanges, providing them the ability to mutate very quickly.  (This may be the only way to explain the X-Men).  The combination on the rapidly multiplying nature of bacteria (they can double every 20 minutes) and their ability to mutate allows them to evolve very quickly.

We first started seeing antibiotic resistant bacteria back in the 1940's when penicillin first  became widely used.  Today though we are seeing stronger and stronger antibiotics that cannot kill the super bugs that our obsession with antibacterial products and antibiotics are creating.  It is a vicious cycle.  But I will get back to that in a minute. 

Lets step back, like I am prone to do, and look at how we were created.  When we are born it isn't long before we have learned how to place our dirty little fingers in our noses, mouths and all kinds of other places.  Then about 6 months after that, we are mobile and we can put our hands everywhere.  As children we play in dirt, and we love it!  We poop on ourselves and sometimes, like in the case of my little nephew Max, we put that poop all over our face.  We live in germs, we get sick, we get better and then, we get sick again.  Our little immune systems our just building and building so that one day we don't have to get sick every time a germ enters our atmosphere.  At least that is how it used to be.

Now days we go to the grocery store and there are "courtesy" antibacterial wipes to use on the shopping cart.  We don't want to jump on the exercise bike at the gym without wiping the last guys sweat off of it.  We spray Lysol and and wipe our kitchen counters with a tub full of handy wipes we bought at the wholesale club.  We carry around a little bottle of Purell in our handbacgs or on our keychains. 

Come on people.  Bacteria are our friend.  And they get a little ticked off when we are constantly trying to kill them.  Remember what happened when the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor?  It didn't end well for them.  Bacteria can't help that they are everywhere and on everything.  But I remember one of my favorite quotes from World War II, Admiral Yamamoto said, "We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve."  Are we awakening a sleeping giant ourselves?  Are these little old germs that might cause a stomach ache turning into big bad germs that might KILL US?

Read this story and see what you think.

During shoulder surgery at the hospital, my father became infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Doctors prescribed vancomycin, an antibiotic so powerful they had to thread a line through a vein in his arm and into a large vein near the heart where a small dose could be injected over the course of a half-hour, dilluting it into the blood stream so as not to destroy the vein. He was on this prescription, currently the last line of defense in antibiotics, for six weeks. If he had been infected with a vancomycin-resistant Staph aureus, he would be dead now.

The answer in my mind is YES.  And if you still aren't convinced let me hit you with a few more facts:

• In a study, published in 2004, people who used antibacterial soaps and cleansers developed  cough, sore throat, runny nose, fever, vomitting, diarreah and other symptoms just as often as people who used products that did not contain antibacterial ingredients.  The researchers pointed out that most of the symptoms experienced in by the study participants are typically caused by viruses, which antibacterials don't protect against. 
• In a recent hospital study it was discovered that antibacterial wipes may actually spread bacteria if not used correctly. 
• The CDC says that 70% of the bacterial infections acquired in hospitals are resistant to at least one antibiotic commonly used to treat them.  These infections lead to 90,000 deaths a year.

So, please help me stop the over use of these bacteria killers.  We don't want these little bugs to get any bigger and nastier than they already are.  If it already takes an antibiotic toxic enough to destroy your veins, to kill MRSA, what kind of mutated bacteria is lurking around the corner?  Let the sleeping giant rest.  Wash him down the drain with natural soap and water.  It works just as well and they don't seem to get so angry and try to kill us if we just wash them away.  Can't we all just get along?

Women's hair loss ..... Is there an answer?

Bald is beautiful, right?  In a world full of armpits, I dared to be an elbow. That is all well and fine for me, but what if I was a woman?  I mean, let’s face it, I am an incredibly good-looking guy. Bald?  Hair?  Who the heck cares (wink)?  But, bald guys can get away with it.  Bald women though, it just doesn’t work.  Call it a double standard, whatever it is; it is definitely not socially acceptable to be a bald woman. 

So when RidgeCrest Herbals hired me, 4 years ago, to formulate some new products for them, the first one I suggested was Hair Revive for women.  For years, I have been helping customers, at Vitality Nutrition, with their thinning hair.  The problem was that there really wasn’t a single product out there that worked well for a large percentage of my customers.  There were several good formulas that helped certain women, but nothing out there was a universal-type product.  The RidgeCrest guys decided that I was on to something and gave me the go ahead to start formulating.  Let me interject quickly, I absolutely love formulating.  This is easily the most fun I have doing what I do.  Anyway, Hair Revive was the first formula I got to do on a national level.  Up until Hair Revive, I had only done formulas for my store.

As I began researching the problem of female hair loss, I discovered what I suspected all along.  It isn’t just one thing that makes a woman lose hair.  In fact, there are really 5 major causes and a couple of sub-categories within these causes.  The interesting thing was that I could not see a single product on the market that addressed more than two of these problems.  No wonder there wasn’t a one size fits all formula. 

I also, learned something that didn’t surprise me at all.  The medical doctors don’t have any idea how to treat this problem.  They treat all cases the same and assume that DHT build-up in the hair follicles is the single reason that a woman loses her hair.  As usual, they don’t put any stock in possible nutritional deficiencies.  And as is typical, they try to nail down the problem with one big hammer, and all that hammer usually does is cause a lot of pain.  You know what I mean, you take a big swing with a hammer and it misses the mark but pounds your thumb into oblivion.  Well, that is “modern medicine” for you.  Side effects are always a part of the cure. 

So, since the doctors don’t have an effective way to treat this condition, they resort to what sometimes works for men.  Rogaine (Minoxidil) or worse, Propecia (Finasteride).  Propecia can’t even be used without an “off-label” prescription.  In other words, it isn’t approved for use for women at all, but since
A. Women are desperate
B. Doctors don’t have any other ideas

They prescribe a product that is so toxic that pregnant women aren’t even supposed to touch the pill for fear of birth defects.  I could spend another page or two explaining that neither of these options even work 50% of the time, and that if they work at all they usually only sprout very thin, weak hair.  Instead, I will tell you that I discovered as with most things, that there is a better, more effective and SAFER way.

What are the five causes of female hair loss?

1.    Nutrition deficiencies
2.    Stress
3.    DHT build-up
4.    Hormone imbalances including female hormones and also thyroid.
5.    Drug side effects

What I discovered about the five is that it is rarely any one of these things that takes a woman’s hair.  I had suspicions that it was a combination of things, and since I have been selling Hair Revive for the last three plus years, my suspicions have been confirmed.  As I talk to woman struggling with thinning hair, I ask questions relating to the causes, and it is almost always a culmination of 3 or more of these issues.  One will say, “Well, I have always been under a lot of stress and I eat poorly, but it wasn’t until menopause that I started to lose hair.”  Another might say something like, “My diet isn’t great and I have struggled with hormonal balance and thyroid, but my hair started falling out once I started taking this new drug.”  It seems like there is always a tipping point when the body has had enough and just can’t make the hair a priority over the more vital parts of the body.
So with all of the research I did, I discovered that there isn’t a thing on this list that can’t be corrected through proper supplementation.  Hair Revive is exactly that.  The proper levels of the necessary nutrients, herbs, amino acids etc. to bring balance and fill the gaps that are often found in the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.).

Does it work?  Let me tell you how great it felt when I got my first testimonial letter on it.  This lady was so grateful; she offered to model her “beautiful red hair” in our ads.  Hair Revive has been a hit.  Not only does it sell, but also it works.  Once someone tries it for 1-2 months they are sold for life. 

So, there you have it, the solution for women who have thinning hair.  If you are interested in finding out more about this product, feel free to visit www.RidgeCrestHerbals.com.

My next blog will probably be about Cholesterol.  The further I dig into this the more sick I become….. My herbal mind is full of discontent....stay tuned.