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If you can't beat them, file a patent to use against them. Multinational drug companies are now beginning to see the value in herbal and nutritional medicine. That part is good. The bad news is that they are trying to patent centuries old traditional herbal cures to prevent other companies from marketing them.

A study from 2004 shows that eating some fat with salads actually increases vitamin absorption, while eating vegetables without any fat reduces absorption rates of nutrients.I've suspected this for years from trial and error because of my diet changes. If I eat a very low fat diet, I get edgy and my fibromyalgia returns, so I thought this was because I just wasn't getting enough nutrition from

A new report from The Mental Health charity of the U.K. along with Sustain, the alliance for better farming and food, highlights the impact of nutrition poor diets on mental health. Basically, it goes back to we are what we eat, and this include the human brain. The human brain is made fromthe foods you eat. Is you brain made from carrots, asparagus, cashews and salmon, or lattes, Doritos,

I think this just proves what many people interested in alternative health have known for a long time - that exercise is good for both your body and mind. While I'm not against mental health counseling, I think all too often people are given drugs and talk therapy, when their basic problem is they may not be getting enough healthy food, sunshine and exercise in the fresh air. Anyone is going to

Are You Suffering From Hypothyroidism? By Dr. Rita Louise

When someone is experiencing hypothyroidism the thyroid gland is impaired, producing too little thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism is due primarily to a dysfunction of the thyroid gland itself. If the thyroid gland is removed, obviously, the body is unable to produce any thyroid hormone. If the thyroid is partially removed, it may be able to produce enough hormones for a while, but over time it can become overworked and burn out. But the thyroid can also become impaired for many other reasons.

The thyroid consists of 2 lobes connected together in front of the neck just below the voice box. The hormones produced by the thyroid gland control the body's metabolic rate and a dysfunction to this gland can affect every organ in the body. When the thyroid is under active it creates a general depression of many of the cellular systems and oxidative processes in the body that are needed for energy production. This can cause the metabolic activities in the cells to decrease. Metabolic wastes can then filtrate into the organs, causing them to become sluggish.

Deficiencies of thyroxin (the hormone produced by the thyroid) leave the body feeling tired and run down. As the metabolism slows down, weight gain and constipation are often experienced. Other symptoms of hypothyroidism include fatigue, lack of energy, intolerance to cold temperatures, menstrual irregularities, depression, sluggish reflexes, hair loss, dry, coarse skin, brittle nails and puffiness around the eyes. Typically symptoms present themselves slowly and often evade detection.

The most common cause of hypothyroidism is inflammation that damages the thyroid tissue. This damage causes the body's immune cells, which normally fight infection, to attack the thyroid and leave them incapable of producing enough hormones.

Hypothyroidism is often seen in post-partum women and is often mistaken for post-partum depression. Medications, such as Lithium also cause thyroid dysfunction. While rare, disorders to the pituitary or hypothalamus glands in the brain can also lead to this and other hormonal imbalances.

Recommendations For Wellness

Reduce soy consumption. Soy can depress thyroid function and has been shown to cause goiters (an enlargement of the thyroid gland) in healthy individuals.

Alkalinize the body! This may help to prevent thyroid dysfunction in the first place.

Get rid of the saturated fats from your diet. Saturated fats have been found to inhibit thyroid function.

Work to balance your estrogen levels. Estrogen slows down the thyroid gland.

Eat organically raised meats to avoid meats that are loaded with added hormones that have been introduced to increase the weight of livestock prior to sale.

Begin a hormonal balancing program using progesterone cream to help bring your body back into balance.

Vitamin B3, (niacin), which is often taken to reduce cholesterol levels, has been shown to also lower thyroid hormone levels.

Gentian is known to normalize the function of the thyroid gland.

Incorporate kelp and other sea vegetables that are high in iodine. Iodine is needed by the body to produce thyroid hormone.

Radishes have historically been used to treat thyroid problems and have been known to keep the levels of thyroid hormones balanced.

If depression due to hypothyroidism is a problem, try taking St. John's Wort to help elevate your mood.

Chronic constipation can be addressed by adding additional dietary fiber such as psyllium to your diet. Herbal laxatives, such as cascara sagrada or Nature's Sunshine's LBS II can also be used as required.

Try supplementing with zinc and selenium. Studies indicate that severe zinc or selenium deficiencies can cause decreased thyroid hormone levels.

Coconut oil stimulates the thyroid gland and is a good choice for those suffering from an under active thyroid.

One of the most effective supplements for hypothyroidism is desiccated thyroid gland that comes from pigs. It was used long before synthetic forms of thyroid medications became available and is processed by the body more naturally.

© Copyright Body, Mind & SoulHealer 2005. All rights reserved. Naturopathic Physician, Dr. Rita Louise, Ph.D. is the author of the books "Avoiding the Cosmic 2x4" and "The Power Within". It is her unique gift as a medical intuitive and clairvoyant that illuminates and enlivens her work. Let Dr. Louise help you bring health, healing and wholeness back into your life. Medical Intuition & Energy Medicine Certification training classes are now forming. Visit {http://www.soulhealer.com} or call (972) 475-3393 for more information.

Vilcabamba, Loja Province, Ecuador

Ecuadorian company Villonaco Wind Power, 80%-owned by Canadian alternative energy generator Protocol Energy, is scheduled to begin construction of a 15MW wind park this month in Ecuador's Loja province, Protocol chairman and CEO Thomas Logan told BNamericas.

Villonaco is 20%-controlled by Loja province-owned generator Enerloja.

Operations are scheduled to commence November-December 2006 on schedule.

So far all funding for the US$26mn project has been provided by Logan and a private placement of up to 1.6 million shares at CDN$0.50/share, which is 50% completed.

Several companies submitted bids to manufacture the wind turbines last May. Villonaco has narrowed the field down to two companies, Spanish wind power firm Gamesa Eólica and German wind power equipment manufacturer Nordex, and should announce its decision this month, Logan said.

The turbine tender does not only pertain to this venture but also to two additional investment phases in the country, the second of which is a 30-65MW wind farm in the feasibility stage, with construction scheduled for the first half of 2007. The third investment phase is a 25-40MW expansion of the Villanoco wind farm.

The second level of Protocol's strategy is to launch a wind project in Peru and/or Chile, with internal studies indicating that execution of a 125-150MW program would be appropriate in Chile for 2007.

"Along the Andes in Ecuador, Peru, and Region I and II in Chile you're dealing with a wind regime that blows, in the case of Ecuador, with a median speed of 12.5m/s, so about 80% better than the best wind in Canada. But more importantly, it blows at that level for 13 hours/day," Logan said, adding that the turbines will continue turning 24 hours a day.

The company aims to sell power to mining companies "simply because miners are energy hogs. The average mine has operating costs that are 20% energy-related. They all have the same requirements, which is a stable and guaranteed source of energy at a reasonable price, and wind does that," Logan said.

Within four years Protocol aims to generate 400-500MW of wind, geothermal, biomass and run-of-the-river hydro power through its global endeavors, which have an initial focus in Latin America.

Original BN Americas Article

China is to spend billions on alternative energy and many times more on oil and coal.

Tim Johnson of Knight Ridder reports that barely a dozen years ago the country didn't need deep-sea oil ports, massive tank farms and a brawny foreign policy to procure oil in far-flung spots.

Today, China is an oil-guzzling dragon with a voracious thirst, much like the United States. Supertankers stretching three football fields in length now wait to enter China's deep-sea ports.

The busiest oil terminal is at Ningbo on the East China Sea. Shipping records show that in November, supertankers arrived there from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, Yemen, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Congo to feed a craving that's helped drive up crude oil prices, rattle global politics and put China and the United States at odds in some of the world's most unstable regions.

China's thirst for oil has emboldened Iran and complicated the refugee crisis in Sudan. With its economy growing at a 9 percent annual rate, China is also courting many of America's oil suppliers, including Canada and Venezuela.

Increasingly, the United States and China are throwing elbows as global rivals for energy. The tussle could get more aggressive if the two nations can't manage to co-exist in the global energy contest.

"We've got to start those discussions before the race for oil becomes as hot and dangerous as the nuclear arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union," Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said in a Nov. 30 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. "If we let it go, this could end up in real military conflict, not just economic conflict." It is interesting to note that this "race for oil" is framed as a zero sum game in which one country wins and another loses. An alternative would be international cooperation to maximise energy efficiency, minimise pollution and radically increase renewable energy.

Compared with the United States, which consumes 25 percent of the world's annual oil output, China burns only 6 percent of the world's production. Yet its energy use is rising steeply.

China exported more oil than it imported until 1993, when imports began to surge. This year, it's importing 3.4 million barrels a day, and some estimates say that within a decade it'll need 7 million barrels a day. Within two decades, demand could reach 12 million barrels a day, which would equal U.S. imports today. China's oil thirst since 2000 has accounted for 40 percent of the global demand growth for crude oil.

Senior Chinese officials grow testy at the suggestion that China's rising needs are roiling oil markets, saying the nation is following a natural path to prosperity.

"Some people complain that China is driving up oil prices. They think the reason lies in China's high consumption of oil," said Zhang Guobao, the vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission. But Zhang said that China's per capita energy consumption is one-sixth of developed countries and deserves to rise.

"Chinese people want to live a prosperous life. So the world should respect China's right to development," Zhang said. In other words Zhang is saying the Chinese have a right to an energy rich lifestyle, sound familiar?

China still wastes energy, leaving huge potential savings from efficiency. To generate $1 million in economic output, China needs eight times more oil -- or its energy equivalent -- than Japan does. Chinese officials claim a turnabout in efficiency is under way. Last summer, China made fuel standards for cars more stringent than those in the United States, and a campaign is afoot to ramp up reliance on renewable energy. The United States and other western nations have an opportunity to help China to become as energy efficient as possible as fast as possible rather than trying to sell Chinese consumers gas guzzling SUVs.

Some experts suggest long-term projections on China's energy needs may be premature because the nation is capable of rapid adaptation and change, and of greater reliance on its vast coal reserves.

Some 68 percent of China's power comes from coal, and the nation is building electric power plants at a rate never seen before on Earth, fueling them from unsafe shafts where thousands of miners are killed each year.

China built power plants this year generating 68 gigawatts of electricity and plans 80 more gigawatts of capacity in 2006, equal to the entire capacity of Britain.

"It took the U.K. 110 years to build those 80 gigawatts," said James M. Brock, an expert who advises the Beijing office of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a U.S. consultancy.

Nonetheless, China is seeking oil security differently than other countries in East Asia. It has sent its three major state-owned oil companies to scour the globe and invest in foreign oil companies and oil fields. China, a relative newcomer to capitalism, allegedly deeply mistrusts the global oil markets, viewing them as distastefully volatile.

Some analysts believe China's strategy has led it to bid heavily -- and even to overpay -- for some assets. It's adapted a very 19th century approach to energy security, where you seek an almost mercantilist lock-up of energy sources," said John J. Hamre, the president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington public policy organization.

China has some reason to be nervous. While imported oil makes up only about 12 percent of China's total energy needs, its energy lifelines increasingly lead to the volatile Middle East. Some 60 percent of China's oil imports come from the Persian Gulf region. Supertankers carrying the oil must pass through the pirate-infested Malacca Straits off Malaysia, where China's oil is protected by the U.S. Navy. China is beefing up its own navy, but it still can't protect faraway sea-lanes. To diversify its suppliers, China has gone oil shopping in Central Asia, West Africa and even in South and North America.

Sometimes, Chinese oil companies simply bid high, as CNOOC, one of the national oil companies, did last summer when it offered $18.5 billion for the California oil company Unocal, a deal that was derailed by Capitol Hill critics who suggested that it threatened U.S. national security.

At other times, Chinese diplomats trail the state oil companies, sweetening investment bids with offers of few-strings-attached aid packages, hands-off political support and weapons.

"Everywhere the Chinese go in the developing world, they go with a lot of development money" said Gal Luft, a Washington-based analyst and the executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a non-profit organization that focuses on the relationship between energy needs and the economy and national security.

China has offered large amounts of development aid in Africa, where it gets 28 percent of its imported crude and plays an increasingly important diplomatic role.

Last year, China gave Angola, its second-largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, a $2 billion oil-backed loan to help repair its war-ravaged national infrastructure.

China has courted oil-rich nations such as Sudan, Venezuela and Iran that are officially out of favour with Washington, even dangling the possibility of using its United Nations Security Council veto to protect them against sanctions.

China last year repeatedly blocked U.N. attempts to punish Sudan for failing to stop atrocities in its Darfur region. China owns a 40 percent stake in the major oil consortium drilling in Sudan, and it buys half of Sudan's crude exports.

Eyeing Nigeria's oil fields, China has offered Lagos some $7 billion in investments and said it may sell the country fighter jets too.

Iran which won pledges from China last year for $70 billion worth of oil and natural gas deals, also enjoys vital support from Beijing. Iran now appears confident that it can resist pressure from the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program, certain that China will veto any attempt to impose U.N. sanctions.

Reuters resports that a Chinese state-owned energy firm plans to invest at least $2.48 billion over the next five years in biomass, garbage treatment and other alternative energy projects.

China Energy Conservation Investment Corp. made the plans to take advantage of a new law promoting renewable energy, which sets tariffs in favor of non-fossil energy such as wind, water and solar power and is due to take effect in January.

"We see tremendous business opportunities from the new law," the China Daily quoted Wang Yi, a senior company official, as saying. Coal provides some 70 percent of electricity in China, the world's second-largest energy consumer and producer of greenhouse gases. The state-owned company has started building two wind farms and a new facility that would harness steam generated from garbage and sewage treatment to produce power, the newspaper said.

The firm had budgeted about $1.1 billion to build the garbage-powered plant underway in eastern China and 10 others like it in other parts of the country over the next five years, Wang said.

Another $1.1 billion would go toward constructing up to 30 biomass energy projects in major agricultural provinces, which use organic or woody material such as straw to make fuel or generate power.

China has set a goal of getting 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, though it has acknowledged that coal will remain its primary source of electricity for decades to come.

Comment

Within the overall context China's $2.48 billion investment in alternative energy seems insignificant. China is spending huge sums expanding dirty coal fired electricity production. These new plants are not "clean" coal plants and are certainly not carbon neutral (at least not before 2020). Huge amounts of energy is being wasted in China and this looks set to continue. China has some of the world's worst industrial pollution. It doesn't have to be this way. There is an opportunity for international development and cooperation to help China and the rest of the world avoid some of the worst negative consequences of rapid industrialisation. It won't be cheap and it won't be easy.

Or we can seek to deny the Chinese the energy rich lifestyle that many in the west believe is their birthright.

China - An Energy Timebomb?

Watthead - Is Red China Going Green?