The more we study gluten, the more we learn how antiquated and out dated the current definitions being used to define it are. Less than a year ago, it was thought that celiac disease was the only manifestation of gluten sensitivity. Today this false misconception has been dis-proven in multiple studies, trials, and anecdotally in thousands of people around the world who have gone gluten free and experienced the great benefits to their health.

Unfortunately, many doctors and patients diagnosed with celiac disease still cling to these archaic notions.

Fortunately, the efforts to raise awareness and education on this matter are paying off.

The following excerpt was taken from a recent ABC News story on gluten sensitivity based on interviews with Dr. Fasano and Dr. Peter Green (both of these doctors are leading celiac researchers):

...recognize gluten as an invader and unleash attacks on the small intestine, producing diarrhea, abdominal pain, along with fatigue, headaches and joint inflammation. Over time, celiac disease can lead to malnourishment, osteoporosis, neurological conditions, and in rarer cases, infertility or cancer.

An estimated 3 million Americans, or 1 in 133, have celiac disease (the source of the website name for Shepard's campaign, 1in133.org). However, most of them aren't aware of it, in part because it can strike at any time. Only 200,000 to 220,000 Americans have been diagnosed, said Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, also a summit sponsor.

Gluten disruption of the nervous system can lead to nerve damage, neurological diseases, mental disorders and more.

One indicator of possible pathogenic infections is high iron levels. Host pathogens need iron for survival. There is evidence that increased levels of iron decreases certain immune cell scavenging abilities, such as neutrophils, and T cells. Simultaneously, increased levels of iron become a source of replication for certain pathogens, such as gram negative bacteria, klebsiella, aeruginosa, listeria, tuberculosis, gonorrhoae, candida albicans and others. Reduction of iron levels has demonstrated in animal studies to inhibit the promulgation of certain pathogens, such as shigella.

There is evidence that decreased serum iron may also be due to pathogens using iron for its own purposes. This may be especially true if there is a rapid and precipitous drop in iron levels.

Iron is essential for life processes. It has essential roles in the body such as red blood cell and hemoglobin formation, ATP synthesis in every cell of the body, as well as its need for the formation of the antioxidant catalase. While iron is essential for life, iron is a very toxic element that requires sufficient iron binding proteins such as transferrin, ferritin and lactoferrin. Excess iron accumulation not only can increase pathogens, but can also become a primary cause of oxidative stress and free radical activity. Iron is an extremely reactive mineral when unbound and exposed to oxygen.

There is ongoing research that demonstrates that microorganisms have developed mechanisms for stealing ferritin (the protein that stores iron and releases it) from different organs and tissues of the body. For example, listeria obtains ferritin from neurons, epithelial cells, macrophages and intestinal cells. The parasite entamoeba histolytica steals ferritin from the blood, brain, lungs and intestines. Candida Albicans can heist ferritin from the GI tract to survive.

Say so long to sloppy Joes and chicken fingers!

A Queens elementary school has become the first traditional public school in the country to serve all vegetarian all the time, replacing lunchroom legends like meatloaf with organic tofu, spinach wraps and couscous.

Education officials say PS 244 in Flushing was the natural choice to pioneer a meat- and fish-free menu because it has incorporated healthy living and eating into its academics for years.

And with much of its population hailing from East Asian countries, the diverse elementary school is home to plenty of already-committed vegetarians.

Glyphosate was first introduced in 1974 and has become the world's most dominant herbicide. It's now generic, so there are many brands and formulations. As a result, it's virtually ubiquitous, found nearly everywhere on earth.

Further driving its use are genetically modified (GM) crops, which were first developed for the purpose of creating glyphosate-tolerant plants, usually known as Roundup Ready. These have resulted in ever-more blatant and free use, especially in the wake of glyphosate-resistant superweeds. Estimates put glyphosate-tolerant GM crops at 90% of all transgene crops.

Industrialized agriculture is no stranger to organic food. Sadly, organic standards in egg production do little to produce a nutrient-dense egg from an authentically happy hen. Industrial organic egg producers take advantage of the letter of the law to violate its spirit and cheat consumers out of hard-earned dollars by asking them to pay premium prices for eggs that are essentially the same as any other.

An interview with the acclaimed writer about his new book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.

Clearly, author Michael Pollan can take the heat, because he's in the kitchen. And in the barbeque pit, the bakery and the cheese cave. After revolutionizing the way our nation thinks about agriculture in his previous bestsellers like The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan has taken on cooking in his new book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. Loyal Pollan readerswill recognize some of the memes in Cooked from previous newspaper columns by Pollan, like a 2009piece remarking on how Americans now cook less than ever, but love watching people cook on TV.

In Cooked, Pollan looks at four different processes to transform our food, corresponding to the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth. The four processes examined are, respectively, barbeque, pot cooking, bread baking, and fermentation. As he goes, he reflects on the impact spending hours cooking in the kitchen and sharing home-cooked meals has on his family, even in ways that have nothing to do with food. He also shares the science behind why certain cooking methods work the way they do, like why slowly cooking meat over wood and smoke for a long period of time at low temperatures produces the flavors it does, or what - exactly - the "fifth flavor," umami, is.

Don't over do it

George Washington's death in 1799 was attributed to a discredited practice called "blood letting", accepted in the 1700's as treatment for virtually any ailment. One day. George Washington contracted a sore throat, and his doctors removed seven pints of blood (3,750 ml over 9 hours, half of his blood volume). The result was hypovolemic shock and cardiac arrest.(7)

Measuring Hematocrit in 1799

Perhaps the outcome would have been different if Mr. Washington's doctors had measured his blood count (hemoglobin/hematocrit), serum iron and ferritin levels during the blood letting procedure so they would know when to stop, Unfortunately, modern medicine arrived too late to save Mr. Washington from his overzealous doctors.

Is there a health benefit to donating blood regularly?

Some people actually make a practice of donating blood at the blood bank on a regular basis. Afterwards, one might feel good about doing such a "good deed". You might also wonder if there is a health benefit to donating blood on a regular basis. A study from Finland says there is.

Finland- Donating blood every two months

In a study done in 1997 in Finland, people who regularly donated blood at the blood bank had an 88% decrease in myocardial infarction.(1) This study from Helsinki Finland included 2,862 males aged 42-60 followed for 9 years. Heart attack rates for blood donors was only 0.7%, compared to 12.5% for non-donors.

Another 1997 study from Kansas City showed a 50% reduction in heart attacks in non-smoking male blood donors.(2)

I was intrigued by this information which I learned from Jonathan V. Wright MD in his April newsletter and again presented during his workshop at the Orlando A4M meeting in April 2013.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, may be "the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment," say authors

The active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide may be "the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment," being responsible for a litany of health disorders and diseases including Parkinson's, cancer and autism, according to a new study.

It's "the most popular herbicide on the planet," widely used on crops like corn and soy genetically engineered to be "Roundup Ready," and sprayed on weeds in lawns across the US. But in the peer-reviewed study published last Thursday in the journal Entropy, authors Anthony Samsel, an independent scientist and consultant, and Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at MIT, crush the industry's claims that the herbicide glyphosate is non-toxic and as safe as aspirin.

An antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea - now considered a superbug - has some analysts saying that the bacteria's effects could match those of AIDS.

"This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly," said Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine.

"Getting gonorrhea from this strain might put someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days," Christianson said. "This is very dangerous."

"It's an emergency situation," said William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. "As time moves on, it's getting more and more dangerous."

A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We can't escape it in our cars. It's in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And there's a reason why you've never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: it has no name - and no antidote.

The culprit behind this silent killer is lead. And vinyl. And formaldehyde. And asbestos. And Bisphenol A. And polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised "better living through chemistry," but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.

Today, we are all unwitting subjects in the largest set of drug trials ever. Without our knowledge or consent, we are testing thousands of suspected toxic chemicals and compounds, as well as new substances whose safety is largely unproven and whose effects on human beings are all but unknown. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has begun monitoring our bodies for 151 potentially dangerous chemicals, detailing the variety of pollutants we store in our bones, muscle, blood, and fat.

None of the companies introducing these new chemicals has even bothered to tell us we're part of their experiment. None of them has asked us to sign consent forms or explained that they have little idea what the long-term side effects of the chemicals they've put in our environment - and so our bodies - could be. Nor do they have any clue as to what the synergistic effects of combining so many novel chemicals inside a human body in unknown quantities might produce.