Truth Or Fiction | NonStop Natural

Top 10 Old Wives Tales Debunked

August 16, 2016 by Tammy Robinson Leave a Comment

Grandmothers everywhere have been giving us their advice regarding what is good to eat, what isn’t good, what is safe, what will stop stomach aches, headaches, and what will downright kill you.

Well, we don’t mean any disrespect, but grandma’s are not always right.

In the same way that your grandmother gave you her grandmother’s best biscuit recipe ever, (and we don’t doubt that it is excellent), but some well meaning advice also gets passed down from generation to generation with no questions asked. If grandma said it, it must be true, right?

This always reminds us of a story we once read where a woman was making her grandmother’s famous pot roast recipe. The recipe started off by saying that you needed to cut the end off of one side. The woman began to wonder why this was. Was it meant to make the piece more juicy? To allow the sauce to permeate the meat better? She calls her mother and asks why she should cut the end off the meat. Her mother doesn’t know, so the woman calls her grandmother to find out. “Oh, that,” her grandmother said, “it’s because I used MY grandmother’s roasting pan and it was very small, so we cut the end off of the roast so it would fit.”

We are going to debunk 10 of the most common old wives tales around so that you can stop cutting the end off of your roasts.

Green or Sprouted Potatoes Kill

Well, while green potatoes or sprouted potatoes may not kill, they could make you sick. Your potatoes sprout because of the warmth of your home. Exposure to light will hurry the process along and cause the potatoes to make chlorophyll, which is why they look a little green. Now, chlorophyll and solanine can make you pretty sick, so if you see some leaves starting to form or if the potatoes are green, it is best not to eat them to be safe. However, small little “eyes” just starting out should be no problem. Just pop them off and cook as usual.

An Apple a Day

Everyone knows this old saying. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? While apples are super nutritious, full of vitamin C and pectin, not to mention being a great source of fiber, we can’t go so far as to say that eating an apple each day will prevent things like diabetes, arthritis, or cancer.

Eat Carrots and You Will Never Need Glasses

There is no denying that carrots are very good for our eyes, they won’t actually fix vision problems. Carrots are loaded with antioxidants, beta-carotene, and other good things that will help maintain a healthy eye, but true vision problems will need to be corrected with glasses or contacts.

Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis

Every grandma on the planet has said this at one time or another! We know ours certainly did, but is this true? Despite the annoying sounds, studies have found that those who crack their knuckles, even on a regular basis for decades, found absolutely no difference between knuckle crackers and non-knuckle crackers when it came to arthritis. Take note, however, that this study did find that knuckle crackers had weaker grips later on.

Don’t Go Swimming for 30 Minutes after Eating

This one is actually some darn good advice from grandma, so listen up! Autopsies on drowning subjects found that a full 80 percent of swimmers still had food in their stomachs. It’s believed that blood is diverted from the legs to the stomach for digestion, causing severe cramps for some persons. Just to be on the safe side, lie back and take a snooze after eating before you hit the pool.

Reading in Low Light Damages the Eyes

While reading in poor light might give you a headache, it won’t cause long lasting damage to the eyes. To avoid eye strain and the headaches it causes, use a good reading light.

Chicken Soup Cures a Cold

Grandma’s chicken soup, no matter how good it is, may not “cure” a cold, but it certainly will help the body’s immune system fight it off. Chicken soup reduces inflammation as well, so this is one piece of advice you can take to bed with you next time you catch a cold.

Sweating Removes Toxins

Your body removes any waste or toxins via the kidneys and liver, not by sweating. We hate to break it to David Wolfe fans, but the detox craze is just that. A fad. There is no scientific evidence behind it whatsoever. Sweating is your body’s means of cooling itself, nothing more.

Sugar Makes Kids Hyper

This is another age old myth that just refuses to die. There is absolutely no evidence that kids somehow get “hyped up” on sugar. None. Sorry, grandma, give the kids their suckers, they won’t go crazy, we promise.

Don’t Sit Too Close to the TV

While this might have been true in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it certainly isn’t true today. Before 1968, televisions released some fairly high energy radiation that probably wasn’t so good for the eyes. Televisions made after 1970 are perfectly safe, however, so if your kid likes to sit close, it won’t hurt him. That being said, sitting too close to the TV can cause eye strain and headaches, so it’s better to watch it from a reasonable distance. If your child says he can’t see unless he sits close, it’s time to head to the eye doctor for a checkup.

Cupping: Crazy or Cool? We Set the Facts Straight!

August 10, 2016 by Tammy Robinson Leave a Comment

If you are like us, you are watching the Olympics and enjoying these superb athletes compete against each other. Then Michael Phelps comes on the screen and you wonder “WTH is wrong with his skin? He’s covered in purple/red splotches! Is that pepperoni or what?”

It’s called cupping and it’s been around for eons. It’s said to help relieve aches and pains, relieving those painful muscle knots.

We know what you are thinking, does this actually work? Is it safe? Is it cool or just plain crazy? We are going to tell you the facts so you can make up your own mind.

What Exactly Is Cupping and How is it Done?

There are two methods to cupping. The original, old fashioned method, developed thousands of years ago by the Chinese, is to heat the inside of a glass “cup” with the flame from a candle, then immediately put the cup on the skin. This draws the skin up inside the cup, heating it, and causing those red spots.

A newer method involves a tiny suction pump that is built into a special glass “cup”. The cup is placed on the desired spot, then the suction pump is used until the skin is drawn up into the cup. This is much more intense than the candle method and involves more intense bruising to the skin. This appears to be the method that is being used by most of the Olympic athletes.

Cupping isn’t new. It’s been around for centuries, but has recently gained the world’s attention because of the appeal that goes along with the idea that if professional athletes do it, it must be great, right?

Does it Actually Work or is This Just Woo?

This is the $64,000 question that doesn’t really have a definitive answer. While some scientific studies have found that it help with a few problems, such as herpes zoster, acne, and facial paralysis, other studies have found that it did nothing more than turn the skin red.

Ancient Chinese medicine didn’t actually use this as a means of muscle recovery, or even to relieve sore muscles, but to restore the flow of “qi”, which is something like the “life force” that flows through everything.

There have been a few studies done which found that cupping relieved pain in cancer patients and for those with lower back pain, however, these were two small trials that had limited conclusions.

More Facts

There are numerous types of cupping, with the most common method being called Dry Cupping, which is the type that the Olympic athletes appear to be using. Although repeated cupping effects over a long period of time have not yet been studied, at least in most cases, this practice appears to be safe.

The problem with testing the effects of cupping is that it is impossible to get a control group. In tests with substances, you can give people a sugar pill and they won’t know if they are receiving the real thing or not. With cupping, it’s impossible to tell someone they are getting cupping when they aren’t. So it is unknown how much of the “results” patients report are due to the placebo effect.

Athletes Love Woo

Most professional athletes are willing to try just about anything if they feel it will improve their performance. If you remember, at the London games of 2012, the rage was Kinesio tape. Most athletes wore blue or red tape over certain parts of their bodies, believing that it either helped muscles recover faster, or that it would prevent injury. After the games, the tape fell out of favor because it proved to do neither.

This will probably be the case with cupping, but if it returns to the 2020 games, it might be that cupping has some type of benefit!

There Can Be Dangers, However

While cupping, in general, appears to be safe, if not done properly, by skilled practitioners, it can be dangerous.

Cupping is designed to be a quick therapy. If left on too long, cupping has resulted in second degree burns and infections. In one case, a Chinese man, living in Australia, received third degree burns after repeated cupping treatments to cure his frozen shoulder.

While complaints are rare, they do happen. Never attempt to do this at home with friends and never allow someone who is not experienced to perform this on you.

The Bottom Line

While some studies show that cupping can work to improve some skin issues, such as acne or herpes zoster, there are no studies showing that cupping actually does anything at a deeper level. We need more studies done in this area before we can reach a definite conclusion.

If you have had cupping therapy, we would love to hear your experiences.

Baking Soda & Lemon Juice: Cancer Cure or Huge Scam?

June 10, 2016 by Tammy Robinson Leave a Comment

Have you read the latest “miracle cancer cure that Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about”? Sometimes it seems as if there is a new one every week, but this one certainly caught our eye. Several sites are claiming that simple and inexpensive baking soda, sometimes with or without lemon juice, depending on the site, is the latest cancer cure.

Is this true? Could it be that something as simple as baking soda and/or lemon juice is the cure that is in front of everyone’s nose but no one sees? Is Big Pharma trying to keep it a secret because there is no money to be made? Everyone knows cancer is big business, right? Is that why no “cure” has been found?

To find out the truth, we need to turn to science and look at the facts.

Personal Claims

You can find hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people on social media sites claiming that they were “cured” of a wide variety of cancers by all kinds of “natural” cures. Everything from cannabis oil to apricot kernel oil, raw vegan diets to sunlight therapy.

While these all sound really convincing, the truth is that it is impossible to tell whether or not these people were actually cured from their cancer by using any particular treatment. First off, did they actually have cancer? What type? What stage? What other changes did they make in their lifestyle, if any?

Many times, people go through a particular cancer treatment (surgery, radiation, and/or chemo) before they start taking cannabis oil or whatever other changes they are making, but they fail to mention it. Why? Because there is no money in saying that the colloidal silver someone is selling might have worked, but chances are that it was the chemotherapy that did the trick.

This is why clinical trials, listed with peer reviewed scientific or medical journals, are so important. Personal anecdotes or videos are next to worthless. They benefit no one because they cannot be duplicated and, therefore, used by others.

The Truth about Lemons

Sour as they are, there is no denying that lemons, like other citrus fruits, are good for you. They are a terrific source of vitamin C, which the body needs to build new skin tissue and support the immune system. They also have potassium, B6, folic acid, and fiber.

Some studies are using a photochemical from lemons, called limonene, in trials with humans, to see if it can dissolve gallstones and results look good at this time.

There have been some studies, including this one from the University of Florida in 2002, which found that lemons, like many citrus fruits, might help inhibit breast and prostate cancer in studies done with mice, but take note: the large intestine does not absorb the limonoids that might inhibit cancer. For this to be effective, an extract would have to be created.

Another study from Texas A&M, found similar results. All citrus fruits contain limonoids, not just lemons, and that while they might be able to suppress cancer cells, there are currently no studies which show this conclusively. There are no studies showing that lemon juice is “10,000 times stronger than chemo”, or any other magic claim.

One last note on lemon juice, (or any other acidic compound), it won’t magically change from being acidic to alkaline once you consume it. If you have ever had indigestion, would you consider eating or drinking lemons to make it better? Of course not. If you don’t believe us, try it sometime. Have some lemon juice in water the next time you have a case of indigestion. That lemon juice will NOT be neutralizing the acid in your stomach.

You can’t change the neutral alkalinity of your blood due to process called homeostasis. If you don’t know what this is, you can read about it here.

Back to Baking Soda

You might have heard that cancer is “always white” and, therefore, is somehow related to fungus. The most common fungus name tossed around is Candida. The solution, you are told, is simple – baking soda. It kills fungus! It also kills cancer cells on contact. “Cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment”. You’ve probably heard this hundreds of times.

And they are right….kind of. It’s true, in a Petri dish; baking soda WILL kill cancer cells. But it will also kill any other cell you put in the dish. Nothing can live once it is doused with baking soda. Nothing.

Also, all cancers are not white. One quick Google search will quickly disprove this statement. (Just don’t do that search right before or after lunch!) So while there is no proof that Candida or any other fungus is the beginning of cancer, there is plenty of proof (going way back to at least 1902) that cancer is our own bodies going a little berserk.

This is one of the problems with “one size fits all” cancer “cures”. Cancer has at least 500 known malfunctions within the cells of the body. How can we expect one thing, no matter how natural or cleverly synthetic, will cure it?

The Dangers of Baking Soda

There is one thing that almost none of these sites will tell you – baking soda can actually be fatal if you consume too much of it. The key to life is moderation. The body is not designed to deal with excessive amounts (or complete absence) of ANYTHING, no matter how “natural” it might be. Sunshine, water, vitamins, food, can all be deadly if we have too much or not enough. The same is true of baking soda. Check out this example of a patient who tried injecting baking soda directly into her breast cancer at an “alternative medicine” clinic.

While there are studies being done to see if baking soda could somehow be used in therapy to help cancer patients, there is currently NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF that baking soda can do anything more than relieve the pain of mouth sores and ease indigestion.

It has been estimated that, based on the average weight of 150 pound person, that a dose of 12 grams of baking soda would be needed to attempt to counteract the acid produced by a one cubic millimeter tumor!

The Bottom Line

While social media sites are simply drowning in videos and personal testaments about everything from bleach enemas to cannabis oil, none of these are scientific evidence that something works for everyone or anyone at all!

If you haven’t done so yet, check out Wikipedia’s excellent list of proven cancer treatments that simply do not work.

What about all the cases of people who tried something, but died anyway? You don’t hear about those cases, do you? Why? Because it doesn’t sell.

This doesn’t mean that the natural world has nothing to offer us. The truth is that we simply haven’t found it yet. A cure for cancer will probably involve different therapies to suit all the different types of cancer that there are, but until something is proven, it’s just someone’s opinion and, let’s face it, everyone has one, right?

Are Processed Foods from Pepsi and Nestle Really Made with Aborted Baby Tissue?!

May 16, 2016 by Tammy Robinson Leave a Comment

If you like to read health news, then you might have seen this story on some of the leading woo (quack) websites.

These web sites love to snag you with these “click bait” headlines, knowing that you will simply have to stop and read the article, no matter how fake the story is, no matter how twisted they might have to turn something, they really don’t care. The truth is not important to them, only in getting your attention so that you click on their website and possibly buy some “miracle” cure while you are there.

In this story, woo websites claim that big food companies, such as Nestle, Pepsi, and Kraft, are using a company called Senomyx, which is known for using aborted embryo cells to make fake flavors, which are then added to cookies, candy, and sodas.

This story has been twisted to such an extent that it is almost unrecognizable.

Before we discuss this story, we need to make a few facts clear.

Senomyx is a biotech company, based in the U.S.A., which develops and discovers new flavoring ingredients by using additives that amplify certain smells or flavors in food. This means that, via additives, Senomyx can give that sour candy an extremely sour taste because it knows their additive will stimulate the taste buds that react to sour foods.
HEK293 is short for Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cells. Before you start saying “but they are right!”, let’s look at the facts. This cell line did come from the kidney cells of an aborted embryo in 1972. The cells from this embryo have been used in biotech development, pharmaceutical development, and biology research.

Now that we know what these two items are, let’s look at the story.

Whether you believe in the moral use of fetal stem cell research doesn’t really matter. The fact is that trying to say that using reproductions of cells that are more than 40 years old is the same as using aborted baby tissue is like saying that a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy (keep going on with that about 400,000 times) of George Washington’s original signature is the exact same thing as the original. It simply isn’t true.

This cell line appears to be used by Senomyx to work in the same way that our taste buds do. By using this method, the company can test millions of compounds to see if they work as taste enhancers or not. This bypasses the time and trouble of human taste testers.

HEK 293 cells have been widely used in pharmaceutical research. They have helped scientists create vaccines, as well as numerous drugs for those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.

Another thing to consider is that no one at Senomyx or Pepsi will admit that they are actually using this cell line. Now, there are patents which suggest that this might be true, but neither company will say anything. Considering the extreme reaction from those who don’t science well, can you blame them? These are the same people who think eating nopal (cactus) will cure diabetes.

People who do not understand science, or who flat out reject science, don’t see a difference between aborted tissue and a cell line, but there truly is a difference, even if it is beyond the understanding of John and Jane Doe.

Pepsi will only state that their relationship with Senomyx is to help reduce sugar in their future products and that Senomyx does not make their products. They also refer people to read their Responsibility Statement, which claims that they do not fund or conduct research on human embryos or cell lines.

By the way, this story isn’t new, it’s been around since at least 2010, but it makes the rounds every now and then. Boycotting Pepsi or any other company is simply ridiculous. Becoming more familiar with science and how it works would be the best bet for anyone who still believes that they are eating dead baby cells.

Rat in a Soda Bottle; Is It Even Possible?

May 10, 2016 by Tammy Robinson Leave a Comment

Perhaps you have seen the recent claims of one family in Texas who say that their 3 year told was drinking Dr. Pepper from a 2-liter bottle when he found a dead rat floating in the now half filled container.

If this story about Dr. Mouse were true, it would be truly disgusting, but rest assured that it is not.

First off, in case you haven’t already heard, sodas in general are fairly acidic. They have an average pH of about 2.5. Since most sodas sit in a warehouse, then in a truck, then in a distribution point, before being loaded on a truck and then possibly sitting in the back of the store for a few more days or even weeks, before reaching consumers, the time involved here could be several weeks between the time the soda was made and it arrived in the Texas store where it was purchased.

As you can see from the photos, this is a complete rat. After floating in an acidic environment for this period of time, the only thing left should be mangled pieces; some fur, perhaps pieces of feet or teeth and bits of bone, but that’s about it. It simply isn’t possible for this intact rat to have floated in a bottle for this length of time and remain virtually untouched.

Let’s also consider that Dr. Pepper is carbonated. This means most things will float. Even if the rat was so saturated that it sank to the bottom, the minute it was opened, it would have risen to the top. Another point to this story is that when you tip a 2 liter bottle to pour out the contents, the rat would have either blocked the opening or been seen at the bottom end of the bottle.

The family declined Dr. Pepper’s requests to return the bottle and the Stuart Little look alike to them so it could be tested. We can’t help but be reminded of a similar story of a man who said he found a dead mouse in his Pepsi.

So while there is no denying that sodas in general are acidic, they aren’t, as you also might have heard, dangerous. While the extra calories won’t do your waistline any good, the acid level in sodas is only slightly more acidic than a glass of orange juice. Grape juice and cranberry juice actually have the same pH as a glass of Coke. When was the last time you heard someone complaining that grape juice (which also contains added sugar) was eating away at their intestines? The acid in your stomach is far more powerful than any soda on the market today.

A very popular, but misleading meme making the rounds on social media sites claims that Coca-Cola can be used to clean toilets and remove rust stains. While this is true, the fact remains that orange juice can do the very same things. If you want to use something naturally acidic to clean your toilet, use plain seltzer water. Coke and other sodas have a great deal of sticky syrup that you will have to remove. Plain soda water is also cheaper.

That same meme says that Coke trucks need to have Hazardous Materials placards on them. This is true, but for the same reasons as mentioned above; sodas, including Coke, have citric acid and phosphoric acid, both of which, especially in large quantities, could be corrosive to metal if, say, the truck was involved in an accident. This doesn’t mean it’s the same thing as battery acid, which could kill you if you inhaled the fumes and will burn your skin within a minute. Stick your finger in a glass of soda, folks. We guarantee you, nothing will happen.

When speaking about meme’s, it’s always good to keep in mind that many of them contain some small grains of truth, but they are blown way out of proportion. The rest of them are outright lies or they contain statements that are twisted to make the picture fit their paradigm.

No one would be interested in a meme that states “Coke and other sodas are no more dangerous to your intestines than a glass of orange juice.” There is no fun, no drama, and nothing to sell you. However, stating in bold type that “Within 45 minutes of drinking a soda your body increases your dopamine levels, stimulating your brain the same way that heroin does” , now that is something to pass on to your friends and family! (This statement, by the way, isn’t really true, again, it’s the dose that makes the poison. Drinking a Coke is not in any way similar to using heroin.)

In closing, we would like to say that:

Don’t try to dupe corporation or others by putting dead animals in anything.
Don’t be duped by those with something to sell you or an agenda to fulfill.

Moderation is the key to life, friends. Enjoy everything in moderation, including moderation.