Health & WellnessS


Attention

Mounting evidence links lead's toxic effects to criminal behavior

Michael Bernstein
American Chemical Society
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 17:12 UTC
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When crime rates drop, politicians like to give themselves pats on the back for being "tough on crime." But a new theory explaining why violence has declined across the country since the 1990s is gaining credence, and it has nothing to do with the criminal justice system. An article in Chemical & Engineering News details the mounting data that suggests taking lead out of gas and paint has played a critical role.

Lauren K. Wolf, associate editor at C&EN, explains that violent crimes had reached an all-time high in the U.S. in the early '90s. But by the end of the decade, the homicide rate had plummeted by more than 40 percent. Multiple theories were batted around to explain the drop, from the mundane to the controversial. Was it due to an increase in police presence? Did the legalization of abortion lead to fewer unwanted babies who would grow into crime-prone adults? Recently, a new argument implicating lead exposure has gained prominence.
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Eggs Fried

The organic illusion

Barbara H. Peterson
Farm Wars
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:59 UTC
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Slap a 'USDA Certified Organic' label on a product, and viola! It is safe, GMO-free, and healthy, right? If you are comfortable and feel safe believing that, then this article is not for you. However, if you think that somehow trusting the USDA - an agency that has proven time and time again that its sole purpose is to hand the act of producing food over to the hands of multinational agribusiness corporations such as Monsanto - with the truthful labeling of our supposedly 'organic' food is foolhardy at best, then read on.

Recently I posted "GMOs in USDA Organic Food" on Farm Wars. It is getting very little notice. Why? Because nobody wants to hear it. It tears apart the illusion of a 'safe' haven for non-GMO food. It attacks the bubble we create for ourselves, thinking that we can simply go to the store and pick up a can of 'USDA Certified Organic' food and feel safe. It makes us uncomfortable because it demands that we take responsibility for our food choices instead of relegating those choices to a government agency whose sole purpose is to subjugate and control. And we go home with our cans and jars and boxes of government-certified phony 'organic' food and feel good about ourselves that we made the right choice and have taken a stand for food safety.
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Attention

Rising food allergies triggered by GMO ingredients in 80% of groceries?


Truthstream Media
Fri, 31 Jan 2014 16:52 UTC
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Are genetically modified foods connected to the rise of food allergies and digestive disorders?

Since genetically modified foods hit the market in the 1990s, allergies have skyrocketed. Studies compiled by Jeffrey M. Smith, head of the Institute for Responsible Technology and author of Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods show that common GM ingredients - in addition to synthetic chemical food additives - may be compromising the health of ordinary people in the United States and across the world.
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Document

New research fuels Roundup weedkiller toxicity concerns

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 14:03 UTC
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Last year, groundbreaking research was published suggesting that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup, might be "a crucially important factor in the development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions."

If you missed it, please take the time to listen to Jeff Smith's interview with one of the authors of that research, Dr. Stephanie Seneff. The lead author and researcher on this groundbreaking study was Anthony Samsel.

They spray nearly one BILLION pounds of Roundup every year for conventional crop production, but genetically engineered (GE) crops see some of the heaviest use, as so-called Roundup Ready crops are designed to withstand otherwise lethal doses of this chemical.

Tests published last year also showed that people in 18 countries across Europe have glyphosate in their bodies,1 while yet a third study revealed the chemical has estrogenic properties and drive breast cancer proliferation in the parts-per-trillion range.2

Now, research published in the International Journal of Toxicology3 in January adds even more fuel to the fire, as it reveals that glyphosate-based formulations like Roundup pose a threat to human health through cytotoxicity and oxidative effects. Such formulations were also found to be lethal to human liver cells.

You may think you are safe if you only eat organic produce but nothing could be further from the truth as most of the glyphosate contaminated crops are fed to animals. This means you also need to get organic meat and eggs. Also, beware you CANNOT wash glyphosate off your produce as it is actively integrated into every cell in the plant and impossible to wash off.
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Info

Intense world: Autistic brains create 42% more information at rest

Jeremy Dean
PsyBlog
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 12:17 UTC
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© Khalid Al-khaterDo autistic children live in a hyper-real ‘intense world’?
A new study has found that the brains of autistic children produce, on average, 42% more information than non-autistic children when in a resting state (Velázquez & Galán, 2013).

This may explain why children with autism tend to withdraw into their own inner world and become socially detached.

One of the study's authors, Roberto Fernández Galán, explained:
"Our results suggest that autistic children are not interested in social interactions because their brains generate more information at rest, which we interpret as more introspection in line with early descriptions of the disorder."
Intense World Theory

The study supports a relatively new theory of autism called the "Intense World Theory" (Markram et al., 2007).

This theory suggests that autism is not a mental deficit, but a mental overload. Autistic children deal with this by trying to shut off the outside world.

Proponents say that autism can be described by hyper-perception, hyper-attention and hyper-memory.
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Beaker

GMO 'Agent Orange crops' close to USDA approval


The voice of Russia
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 09:35 UTC
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© EPA
The US Department of Agricultural is seriously considering approving of different kinds of corn and soybean seed, which have been genetically engineered to be resistant to many herbicides - including the chemical known as 2,4-D.

This controversial proposal of the chemical's use has activists and researchers outraged. Different types of corn and soybean seeds genetically made to resist several herbicides could be approved by the government agency in the near future.

Dow Chemical created genetically engineered seed under the brand name Enlist to combat the increasing issue of "superweeds" that have started to resist Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. The product, Roundup, is used on an array of genetically engineered crops. These also go by the name of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Farmers will be able to use Enlist to fight off weeds, according to Dow. However, critics and researchers of the harsh chemical claim that 2,4-D is associated with severe health conditions. Creating a much stronger solution to combat against resistant weeds is not a viable answer to the hurdles that lay in the way of modern farming, as critics are quick to point out.
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Question

Yemeni girl cries stones instead of tears?


Emirates24/7
Sun, 02 Feb 2014 20:16 UTC

A 12-year-old Yemeni girl has baffled doctors as her eyes oozed out stones instead of tears, triggering panic in her rural area that it could be either magic or epidemic.

Doctors said they still could not give an explanation for such a phenomenon since the girl, Saadiya Saleh, is not suffering from any know disease.

A YouTube film aired by Yemen's Azal satellite TV channel showed doctors gathered a small box full of stones that dropped out of the girl's eyes in just a few hours.
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Health

More evidence that sweetened foods and beverages are killing you

George Dvorsky
io9
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:00 UTC
Sugary Drinks
© nito/Shutterstock
New research published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine shows that eating added sugar in foods such as soft drinks, cereals, and cakes does more than just make us pack on the pounds, it can also increase our risk of dying from heart disease - and by a significant margin.

In a nutshell, here's what the research says: If you get more than 25% of your daily calories from foods and drinks containing added sugar, you have triple the risk of dying from heart disease. Even moderate intake is nasty; 10 to 25% daily caloric consumption increases cardiovascular risk by 30%. This means that even one sugar-sweetened drink a day is enough to increase the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

According to the World Health Organization, we should limit added sugar to about 10% of our total daily calories. But the study, which was led by Quanhe Yang from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, revealed that 71.4% of U.S. adults get more than the recommended intake.

To reach their conclusions, the researchers examined data from the mortality-tracking National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) which was conducted in stages between 1988 and 2010. The data was pulled from more than 43,000 individual cases. The data was then matched against heart disease mortality over a typical period of about 14 years, during which a total of 831 cardiovascular-related deaths were recorded.
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Magnify

Chemical cotton

Melody Meyer
Rodale Institute
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 17:20 UTC
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Did you know that every conventional cotton product we use has an effect on what we eat and that the by-products of conventional cotton production used in our clothing, personal care, bedding, furniture etc. go back into our food supply? Here are a few facts you need to know about cotton...

Cotton is considered the world's dirtiest crop due to its heavy use of pesticides. Aldicarb, cotton's second best-selling insecticide and most acutely poisonous to humans and wildlife, is still used in 25 countries, including the U.S., where 16 states reported it in their groundwater. The dangers are recognized by the EPA and they have signaled its phase out in 2018.

Worldwide, cotton covers 2.5% of the cultivated land and cotton growers use 16% of the world's pesticides. Eight of the top 10 pesticides most commonly used on U.S. conventionally produced cotton were classified as moderately to highly hazardous by the World Health Organization. The Environmental Justice Foundation elaborates more on the world wide negative effects of pesticide use in cotton.

Cotton (83%) is one of the top four GMO crops produced in the world which includes soy (89%), canola (75%) and corn (61%). GMO cotton production ranks ninth in global crop production.

On an average, 90 percent of U.S. cotton in 2010 was genetically engineered, according to a USDA survey. However 95 to 98% of all cotton is now genetically engineered in nine of the eleven cotton producing states surveyed. (Source USDA Economic Research Service, July 1, 2011.) The Huffington Post recently posted an excellent blog with more information and commentary on the issue.
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Cupcake Pink

SOTT Focus: 'World Cancer Day 2014' - The Cancer Pandemic: Forget Sugar! Blame The Smokers!

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:26 UTC
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Earlier today I posted a comment on this BBC article. It was one of those comment boxes where you submit your name, location, ph. number and email address and it gets sent off to the BBC's department of censorship for rejection.

My comment went something like: "It's nice to finally see some official recognition that sugar is involved in cancer. Governments should redirect the funds they allocate to anti-smoking campaigns towards a campaign to inform people about the dangers of a high-carb diet and to promote a Paleo diet, as a way to prevent the spread of cancer".

The strange thing is, right now there are no comments at all under that article, and there is no longer any option to comment, so I was wondering what actually happens to them and what the point of asking for comments is.

A while ago I found out. A nice program researcher from the BBC called me and referred to my comment and asked me if I would like to take part in a BBC radio show that is to discuss the 'tidal wave' of cancer that is bearing down on us all. The researcher asked me what the Paleo diet was and how I found out about it and, after I explained the basics to her, she said would email me back and let me know if they wanted to talk to me. Well, the radio show is airing as I write this, and I haven't heard back from the nice researcher lady, so I guess they didn't like what I had to say. So I'll just say it here.

Comment: See also:

Ketogenic Diet improves insulin sensitivity and numerous aging markers

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