Earth Changes

It is commonly known that a canary in a cage senses earthquakes before they actually happen. Touching in with the earth here at Pacific Naturopathic Retreat Center on the Big Island of Hawaii, we see life responding. The whales off the Hamakua Coast are unsettled. It's not just that their behavior is different, they are where they normally aren't.  The cardinals, too, are having a heyday, talking ceaselessly to each other and flitting about more, well, bird-like than usual. And the hawks are approaching more closely, tipping their heads, and listening in.

We humans are listening in, too. The magnitude of the earth changes in the past few days is unfathomable. Earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, fires, radiation. The island of Japan has literally been relocated by eight feet!. The axis of the earth has shifted. A disaster of this magnitude changes life on earth as we have known it.

As the astrologically inclined are aware, March 11^th  marked the beginning of what some have described as the greatest revolution in human history,  a revolution in consciousness prophesied from ancient times. The earth changes and our inner changes reflect one another.  From what standpoint do we respond when the earth moves under our feet, the waters flood our homes, the fires burn existing structure, the air becomes unsafe to breathe?

The response of the Japanese people has been stunning. Shocked, grief stricken, hungry, exhausted, homeless, they are co-operating with one another, working together to move through these changes. We are not seeing pictures of rioting crowds smashing windows and taking anything available for the taking. We are seeing lines of people hours long, waiting patiently.

How do we ourselves respond? High levels of radiation have forced evacuation of nuclear plant plant workers and residents within miles of the plants. Throughout the United States, in fear of radiation poisoning in our country, folks are stock piling potassium iodide, imagining what it might mean to be prepared for a radiologic event.  The internet abounds with contradictory instructions and misinformation. In this newsletter, we attempt to provide some sane, simple, protective pathways which our patients and friends might follow.

Iodine Now?

Questions have been pouring into the office re the use of iodine to combat radioactive fallout.

Potassium Iodide is the form of Iodine that is useful following exposure to nuclear fallout. It is only effective taken shortly before (about 30 minutes) or after exposure (up to 3 hours) to radioactive iodine in the air. It blocks the uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland, and protects only against the inhalation or ingestion of radioactive iodine, not other isotopes such as cesium. It is not generally radioprotective. The appropriate dosage, taken at the appropriate time, is protective against thyroid cancer.

Our understanding at this time is that there is extremely low probability of the amount of radiation contaminating Hawaii or California that would necessitate the use of high dose potassium iodide. Taking higher than recommended doses of potassium iodide over longer than recommended time periods has serious health consequences, and does not offer protection.

We do not recommend potassium iodide at this time. It is, however, a useful item to have in your first aid chest in the event of a nuclear emergency closer to home, or a worsening current situation. USP potassium iodide tablets are sold by drugstores. Pharmacists can give you dosage schedules per 24 hours of exposure. You can also purchase 130 mg tablets over the Internet from www.anbex.com The dose for adults and breast feeding women is 130 mg.  Children between 3 and 18 would take half that; babies over 1 month would take 32 mg; and newborns, 16 mg.

We also do not recommend molecular iodine, as it is not intended for this purpose, or potassium iodate, which can irritate the lining of the stomach and cause bleeding.

We do recommend increasing the iodine in your body to maximize metabolic functioning and replete receptor sites. Inorganic, non-radioactive iodine gives the radioactive iodine no place to bind in our bodies and has many other health benefits as well.

The Japanese diet contains 12.5 mg of iodine/iodide. We carry and prescribe 12.5 mg iodine/iodide tablets, and are looking into other iodine sources. There IS controversy regarding iodine testing and high dose supplementation, particularly with regards to patients with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. People with allergy to iodine should not take iodine, Because iodine has other contra indications as well, we do not dispense our tablets without consultation, but we do list below foods which are high in iodine.

For further information on supplementing iodine, see the book, Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can't Live Without It, 4^th Edition, available at www.drbrownstein.com.

Iodine Rich Foods

At the top of lists of iodine rich food are the sea vegetables: arame, dulse, hijiki, kelp, kombu and nori.   Iodine amounts vary according to the type of seaweed. Kelp and kombu have the highest amounts, up to 2500 micrograms per gram. Hijiki has 629 micrograms per gram. Wakame, 32. Nori, 16. The best bet may be kelp tablets. Kelp tablets, seaweed seasonings and dried seaweeds can be purchased at health food stores. Seaweeds can be incorporated into salads, used as soup stock and in soup, sprinkled on food, or wrapped around rice (as in sushi). Check macrobiotic and Japanese cookbooks for recipes and information.

Fish and fish oils also contain iodine. 100 mg of mackerel contains 170 micrograms of iodine.  Shellfish, 120 mcg. Cod, 110 mcg. Smoked fish, 71.2 mcg. Shrimp, 41.3 mcg.  Herring, 32 mcg.

Yogurt has 63.3 micrograms per 100 mg. Eggs, 52.9 mcg. Cheese, 45mcg Milk, 15.4mcg. 1/4 teaspoon of iodized salt contains 75 micrograms of iodine. Vegetables that grow on iodine rich soil are also good sources of iodine. Garlic, sesame, spinach, and onions are high in iodine.

We might mention that components in soy, flax seeds, and raw cruciferous vegetables may counteract iodine, as do all halides in our environment, whether bromides in the bread, chlorine in the hot tub, or fluorine in the drinking water.

Conventional daily requirements for iodine are 120 to 150 micrograms, whereas proponents of iodine supplementation recommend from 6.5 to 12.5 mg daily of iodine/iodide for optimal health. Up to 50 mg daily are used for brief periods of time to address iodine deficiency.

Remedies to Dispel Radiation

There are many nutrients, botanicals, and foods which are relevant to protection and healing from radioactive fallout. Generally speaking, immune system support and detoxification protocols are useful. We will be ordering more intensive bath detox salts, clays and powders as we move forward, but a simple step anyone can take is to bathe in Epsom salt/baking soda baths, using 1 cup of each per bath tub.

Two remedies currently for sale in our clinic come to mind in terms of energetically dispelling the effects of radiation from our bodies. Both of these remedies can be safely used by anyone, regardless of age or existing medical conditions or treatments the are currently undergoing. The possible exception would be allergy to the tiny amount of whole plant extract in the Yarrow Special formula. The remedies can be used simultaneously, as the effect will be synergistic, working at different levels in your physical and energetic bodies.

Radinex

is a spagyric homeopathic medicine used for radiation exposure, to drain

away the accumulation of biologically incompatible frequencies in the connective tissue. The remedy was formulated in response to events such as the Chernobyl event. Though we recommend starting this product immediately, we can not guarantee the efficacy in the current situation. We HAVE found the remedy useful for the vibratory exposure encountered in our wireless society, on airplanes, and with medical diagnostics and treatments.

Initially, the dose is 1/2 teaspoon of Radinex taken in water 2 times daily away from food, for 2 to 5 days. The dose is then reduced to 5 drops twice a day over a period of weeks, titrating up to 25 drops 2 times daily if exposure continues. Stepping up the dosage over time prevents excessive initial drainage responses.

Yarrow Special Formula

The second remedy is a flower essence, also formulated for before and after exposure to radiation in any of its forms, from nuclear fallout to medical radiation to  electromagnetic fields. Interestingly, this remedy is also useful for treating environmental allergies.  The remedy is a mixture of flower essences and plant tinctures of Yarrow, Pink Yarrow, Golden Yarrow, Arnica and Echinacea in a sea water solution. It is taken at 3 drops under the tongue 3 times daily, and as needed.  For example,  you could take it prior to and after an airplane flight or medical radiation. Or you could take it on a long term basis in the event of radiation exposure from the environment.

Miso Soup

Subsequent to the bombing of Nagasaki, it was discovered that both miso (fermented soybean paste used most commonly in making soup) and sea vegetables help protect the body from radiation by binding radioactive elements. At Saint Francis Hospital, close to the epicenter of the atomic blast, patients were fed the traditional Japanese diet of brown rice, miso and sea vegetables. Patients at nearby University Hospital were fed a Westernized diet based on white rice and other simple carbohydrates and sugars. At University Hospital, patients suffered cancers and skin burns, while neither workers nor patients at St Francis were afflicted. Later Japanese studies had test groups consuming no miso, miso several times a week, or daily miso. The incidence of cancer was 50% higher in the group not consuming miso.  Miso was also mixed with aloe, and used as a topical plaster to heal external radiation burns

Elsewhere, doctors in Chelyabinsk, Russia, introduced miso soup into the diets of patients with sicknesses associated with radiation exposure. The doctors are quoted as saying "Miso is helping some of our patients with terminal cancer survive. Their blood improved as soon as they began to use miso daily."

A California cancer doctor counsels her patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments to use 3 year old barley miso. Apparently, her patients often do not lose their hair during treatments.

One consideration as to how it is that miso works is that miso contains active micro organisms which have the property of precipitating alchemical transformation. Miso is, of course, also full of nutrients, and may be used to restore electrolyte balance. Bacteria in miso synthesize vitamin B12, and miso contains antioxidants, fatty acids, and isoflavones which protect from cancer.

We suggest you make miso soup stock with dried mushrooms and seaweeds. The mushrooms (usually shitake) support the immune system, and the seaweed contains all important iodine. (See below).

Milk:  

Another Reason to Avoid It

Although it is not yet the current situation in California, something does need to be said about drinking milk, either from goats or from cows, subsequent to signficiant radioactive fallout exposure. Studies from the National Cancer Institute, post exposure to the radioactive iodine fallout from atmospheric nuclear bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950's and 1960's, indicated that children were most at risk for thyroid cancer. Children in high fallout areas were at risk both due to the size of their immature thyroid glands, and to their increased consumption of milk. Goat's milk concentrates radioactive iodine more than does cows milk. Radioactivity of the milk diminishes over time taken to process and ship the milk. Additionally,  Iodine-131 has a radioactive half life of about eight days, meaning that the radioactivity decreases by half every eight days.