Positive health trends accelerated by consumer education and champions of health freedom

I have a lot of optimism in 2006 in terms of health trends. I think things are actually starting to turn around out there, especially with public awareness about the dangers of prescription drugs and the dangers of specific food ingredients such as hydrogenated oils. I'm seeing major shifts in consumer demand reflected in the inventory at retailers. For example, at Price Costco warehouses, you can now buy free-range organic chicken broth, which is something that certainly wasn't there a couple of years ago. And guess what? It doesn't even have yeast extract or MSG in it. This is non-toxic chicken broth (that is, if you're willing to eat chickens).

Here's an overview of a few selected things about which I am optimistic (if not downright excited!)

Optimism #1: Food companies are removing trans fats from their products
We now find companies like Kraft reformulating most of their foods, 97.5 percent to be exact, to be free of hydrogenated oils and trans fatty acids. This is a major change that I believe can have profound health consequences on the general public, especially on newborns and infants.

This is due to the fact that hydrogenated oils are so deadly to the human body that eliminating many of them from the food supply will have far-reaching effects. On one hand, Kraft is to be applauded for making this change, but on the other hand, Kraft sure dragged its feet for a long time. Obviously, it could have made these changes years ago, but it chose to do so only as the deadline for trans fat food labeling approached, so I'm not giving Kraft the thumbs-up on ethics, although it is a step in the right direction to eliminate trans fats from most of its food products.

Virtually all food manufacturers are reformulating their products now to be free of trans fatty acids. As consumers are becoming aware of the dangers of hydrogenated oils, more and more people will choose to avoid products containing hydrogenated oils, meaning those products won't sell very well, and their manufacturers will also be forced to reformulate them.

One downside to all of this, by the way, is that the FDA has allowed companies to avoid complying with the law by taking advantage of the loophole that says they don't have to comply as long as they use labels printed before Jan. 1. Of course, a lot of the food companies printed a lot of labels toward the end of 2005, creating a huge inventory of labels so they could use them throughout 2006 as a workaround for the food labeling law. I'm not actually surprised that the FDA would allow companies to take advantage of that loophole, of course, since the FDA hardly ever asks food manufacturers to do anything that might protect public health.

Now, it would be even more positive if the FDA outlawed hydrogenated oils and trans fats. This is an ingredient that should, by any measure, be illegal. It should be completely banned from the food supply. In fact, the World Health Organization encouraged member nations to ban this ingredient decades ago, back in the late 1970s. We've gone almost 30 years in the United States, poisoning our children and the rest of our population with hydrogenated oils, even though the science was already clear that this was a harmful ingredient.

Still, it's better to see the change now than not at all, so it is a step in the right direction.

Optimism #2: The public is seeking alternatives to prescription drugs
I'm also seeing some major trends in terms of people noticing the dangerous effects of prescription drugs. A lot more people are aware of problems with prescription drugs, and they are actively seeking alternatives.

Almost every day, people I talk to at meetings or social functions are more and more concerned with their health, and they're concerned about the correlations between processed food and disease. This is a major change, because just five years ago, most people didn't care and had no clue that food was even related to health. Still today, perhaps a majority of the population fails to recognize these connections, but a growing number of people are aware of them and they are making healthful changes.

I even talked to a friend of mine who is an MD the other day, who is now a huge proponent of full-spectrum lighting. This is something that years ago, most doctors would have said was quackery. Well, it turns out that full spectrum light is a big deal. It does make you healthier.

Optimism #3: People are realizing they really do need natural sunlight
Speaking of vibrational medicine, another major trend and a big improvement in the health awareness of the Western population is the new research surrounding vitamin D.

We are now realizing in the scientific community that vitamin D is quite simply a miracle-class anticancer drug. I call it a "drug" jokingly because of course it's not really a drug. It's a hormone manufactured in your own skin from exposure to natural sunlight, but this one nutrient is, in my opinion, the super nutrient. It is the most powerful single nutrient found in the human body, because all by itself, it reduces the risk of some cancers by 50 percent. That blows away any prescription drug on the market and anything that's ever been created by any pharmaceutical company. Nothing comes close to the power of vitamin D to stop cancer.

The cancers that I'm referring to are prostate cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer. Vitamin D is extremely powerful at halting the progression of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, depression, gum disease and even neuromuscular disorders. This is a super nutrient, and the research is finally coming to light as people are waking up to its healing powers.

In fact, the more progressive, forward-thinking doctors out there are finally overturning some of the old medical methodology about sunlight being dangerous. People are realizing that we need sunlight. If we don't have sunlight, we cannot possibly be healthy individuals. Sunlight is essential for human health, and of course, the sunscreen companies are going to fight this with their last dying breath, but the fact is that we are far healthier if we eat high-antioxidant, nutrient-dense foods, and get sunlight without sunscreen.

We simply don't need to spend a lot of time and money buying sunscreen and applying it to our skin all the time. Nor do we have to absorb all the dangerous toxic chemicals that are found in sunscreen products, such as cancer-causing fragrance chemicals. So that's a positive change as well.

2006 goal: Teach people that food is medicine
There are a lot of positive health trends I see taking shape in 2006. I think this is a year during which we're going to make some additional progress in educating people about the healing potential of foods.

Suddenly people are recognizing that food should be your medicine, and they are learning about the hidden medicine found in foods. Of course, I’m one of the many passionate people out there attempting to spread the word about this, and we are winning the information race. By "we," I mean those of us in the natural health community who are educators and practitioners of natural health. We are winning the information competition. We are winning the minds and hearts of consumers. Consumer demand is shifting and food manufacturers are responding by reformulating their products.

We even see cereal companies switching to whole grains now, instead of processed grains. Things are changing out there. People are questioning the policy of water fluoridation. People are questioning the sanity of mass vaccinations. People are questioning the safety of mercury fillings, which are (shockingly) still used by dentists today. Finally, people are waking up to the reality of natural health.

All made possible by Free Speech on the Internet
The internet is making all of this possible, and it’s freedom of speech that provides the environment in which all of this can take place. So whatever you do in 2006 to improve your health, make sure you also continue to support the internet.

Support freedom of speech and citizen journalism, support the web sites that are bringing you the information that helps you improve your life, and support the companies in the nutritional industry that are providing these incredible life-saving, disease-reversing products. These are companies like New Chapter, which is doing some pioneering work, and the Amazon Herb Company, which is bringing powerful disease-reversing rainforest herbs to the United States and elsewhere.

Support the companies and the people that are making your life better by empowering you with information that can change your life. Stop spending money with companies that are harming your health like junk food manufacturers, chain restaurants, and of course, pharmaceutical companies and surgeons who promote unnecessary surgery. Spend your money wisely. Vote with your dollars, and you can participate in this change in consumer awareness and consumer demand that will ultimately lead us to a healthier, happier and more intelligent civilization in the years ahead.

That's my outlook for 2006. I think it’s a great year for our collective health, and as we continue this public education effort, we will reach more people and change more lives for the better. Together, we will positively impact millions of people. And by "together," I mean you, me, and all the other health freedom pioneers working today: Dr. Julian Whitaker, Dr. Russell Blaylock, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, Dr. Bruce West, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Dr. Gary Null, Jon Barron, Dr. James Duke, author Jean Carper, the National Health Federation, the Life Extension Foundation, Dr. Jonathan Wright, raw foodist David Wolfe and far too many to list here (my apologies to my good health freedom friends that I failed to mention...) Together, we are fighting health oppression, censorship and the overmedication of the people while championing a new era of health freedom.