Dr. Mark and Dr. Chip's Healthy Blogs

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation -      I hope that you had a great 4th of July  and enjoyed the fireworks. What beautiful weather for this weekend. I don't remember too many fourth of July's being this nice. Usually it's very hot but it was great this year. As it starts to get warmer, don't forget to stay hydrated and use sea salt and lemon juice to keep the electrolyte levels in your body in good shape. Especially if you notice leg cramps or being very tired, you are low on salt. I hope we will keep the nicer temperatures for a while but I'm sure it will get hot eventually.      The article that I'm including looks at problems with artificial sweeteners. We have been led to believe that they help with weight and are just as safe as regular sugar but that is just not true. We find that in the office here, folks that have used artificial sweeteners will have more problems with weight and other health issues as well. It...

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation -       Another beautiful weekend and we even got some rain. I was so glad because the grass was starting to get dry and it's a little early for that. We are now Into Summer and with that comes lots of warm weather and sunshine. Hopefully the rains will continue and keep everything green and growing. I hope that you all had a great weekend and were able to enjoy Father's Day. It's great to take a moment to remember and thank our fathers and just be able to enjoy the day. The article that I've been closed this week looks at sunscreens and how they can contain chemicals that are not good for a person. I'm lucky in that I can usually get by with just using coconut oil before and after sun exposure but some people have lighter skin and must be more careful. I still think it's a good idea for them to use coconut oil before and after to help heal the skin and help it to tan and stay moist. There just aren't that man...

  STORY AT-A-GLANCE Testing 294 sunscreen products revealed 78 had dangerous levels of benzene, a known carcinogen; 14 of the products with the highest levels came from popular brands like Neutrogena, Sun Bum, CVS Health and Fruit of the Earth Data from FDA-funded research showed ingredients from sunscreen products build up in the body at unhealthy levels, yet the FDA has made no move to remove the sunscreen products and continues to urge Americans to use sunscreen as they wait for another study to demonstrate harm Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are two sunscreen ingredients that are known to be safe; however, the safety does not extend to the nanosized versions It's important to remember that you need a balanced approach to sensible sun exposure, while being careful to avoid getting burned. Consider internal protection like astaxanthin, wearing clothing or using sunscreen with safe ingredients Beauty is big business. Cosmetics and  personal care products  benefit from s...

  Analysis by  Dr. Joseph Mercola STORY AT-A-GLANCE Endocrine-disrupting chemicals have “hijacked” human hormones, causing problems with reproduction and declining sperm counts The book “Count Down,” written by Shanna Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist, is based on her 2017 study, which found sperm counts dropped by 59.3% from 1973 to 2011 Human beings already meet three of the five criteria for what makes a species endangered, according to Swan, and endocrine-disrupting “everywhere chemicals” are a key culprit Men today have about half the number of sperm compared to their grandfathers, and a significant part of the global population may not be able to reproduce without technological assistance come 2050 EDCs interfere with endogenous hormones, and it’s been found that some effects of exposure persist in future generations, even among males that weren’t directly exposed Plastic is such a ubiquitous part of modern life that it’s hard to imagine a world without it. But in the ...