Healthy Living

I write this on May eve, one of my favourite days of the year, as the land is filled with greenery and as I walk in the park the birds are singing a sweet symphony. All around I see signs of the awakening of Mother Earth – dandelion, garlic mustard, wild garlic, nettles, cleavers (sticky weed), mint, hawthorn leaves and flowers – and all of these are edible. My husband has just returned from our local primary school where he is overjoyed at the success of his gardening club – children learning about nature, organic growing and caring for themselves and the earth. I now sit in my front garden with a cool drink made from some plants growing nearby and all is at peace in my world as I enjoy the sunshine now the days are getting longer. But then my phone dings and I see a notification about the recent media coverage brought about by the comments made by Matt Hancock, local MP and Health Secretary about vaccinations. He was asked what he is going to do about the continuing drop in people vaccinating their children (MMR uptake has fallen for the forth consecutive year). He has refused to rule out children being kept out of schools if they aren't vaccinated against measles. The spread of anti-vaccination 'fake news' online is contributing to the dropping rates, Mr Hancock has said. The media have had a field day with this. One tabloid has compared the action of not vaccinating to ‘child abuse.’ Vaccination, its benefits, risks and alternatives is a subject I have researched for many years. I am not anti-vax. I am pro safety. I run the Arnica group in Suffolk and Arnica are a collection of people who promote informed choice regarding this subject. We are told by the government and vaccine manufactures that vaccinations are both safe and effective. However, research by many people including environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jnr. (the nephew of JFK) tells a different story. For example, in America he recently led a legal challenge, which revealed that adequate safety testing had not been conducted by vaccine manufactures. Of course, the Internet is filled with a lot of bunkum, but the current censorship of information regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness in our so-called democracy should be of grave concern to all. This denial of opposing viewpoints is more and more starting to look like fascism and Orwell’s 1984. Matt Hancock himself has said he will be talking to social media companies to further restrict anti-vaccination information. A number of people have had their accounts closed or shadow blocked for posting information questioning the official narrative about vaccines. There are thousands of very educated and informed asking questions. For example, if vaccines are 100% safe why has the UK Vaccine Damage Fund paid out £74,130,000 from its inception in 1979 to 30 April 2017 for injury and death caused by vaccines. In the USA the Vaccine Court has paid out nearly $4 billion in damages. The ingredients in vaccines are a world away from the organic food I give my children…....aborted human fetus, aluminium, formaldehyde, monosodium glutamate and genetically modified ingredients anyone? Some readers will remember several months ago I wrote about my excitement of Matt Hancock attending our Healthy Living Festival in his constituency of Haverhill. I was looking forward to talking to him about the importance of overcoming nutritional deficiencies and my husband showing him how community yoga makes life-changing exercise accessible for everyone. Well, I haven’t wanted to broadcast this, but feel now is the time to do so – Matt Hancock didn’t turn up. Less than 48hrs before the event (after he’d agreed to attend since late last year) he pulled out of coming. The reason – he found out we don’t vaccinate our children. The idea of banning non-vacinnated children attending schools is based on flawed logic and flawed science. If other kids are vaccinated, what is the problem? Surely they will be safe? People like Mr Hancock quote herd immunity but I wonder if they understand that natural immunity is not the same as artificial immunity. There was a measles outbreak last year amongst students in America who had been vaccinated with MMR. And how many people die of measles for it to be called a ‘potentially lethal disease’? In the USA, two people have died from measles in the last 15 years, whilst there have been 127 deaths from the MMR vaccine in the same period. What is the best way to stay healthy? I pray that an open, scientific discussion continues on this issue. Democracy is based on debate – not censorship. Simple, Healthy Plant-Infused Water. Take a glass bottle or jar, fill it with clean water and add a handful of cleavers, mint and nettle – or any combination of fresh edible greens. Leave to steep for a while and enjoy the water throughout the day. If you’d like to learn more about healthy living, our Healthy Living Festival Tour continues. I hope to see you at Clare Town Hall on Sunday May 12th 11am-1pm. Free entry for all with lots of great talks, demos and healthy things to get involved in. www.juliettebryant.com