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BPA Exposure Worse Than Previously Estimated

Paula Crossfield
Civil Eats
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:07 UTC
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© readymadeinc.wordpress.com
According to a new study, exposure to the gender-bending chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) is worse than previously estimated. The study, which appeared Monday in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to recreate the chronic daily intake of BPA in humans, which leaches into our food - our primary channel for exposure - via its packaging. Researchers showed this by feeding a steady BPA-spiked diet to mice, whereas previous studies have only used a single exposure.

BPA has been linked to fertility problems, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, attention deficit disorder and cancer. Scientists at the University of Missouri, led by Cheryl Rosenfeld, found that a constant stream of BPA into the body could result in the chemical sticking around longer than expected.

"When BPA is taken through the food, the active form may remain in the body for a longer period of time than when it is provided through a single treatment, which does not reflect the continuous exposure that occurs in animal and human populations," Rosenfeld said. "We need to study this further to determine where the ingested BPA becomes concentrated and subsequently released back into the bloodstream to be distributed throughout the body."
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Info

6 Infertile Women Get Pregnant After Weight-Loss Surgery

Rachael Rettner
Life Science
Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
pregnant mother
© n/a
Weight-loss surgery may treat infertility in some obese women, a new study says.

Six women in the study who were infertile due to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a condition that can occur with weight gain and cause infertility, became pregnant following weight-loss surgery, the researchers say.

The study was small and more research is needed to confirm the findings. But for women with PCOS, weight-loss surgery may be a cure for infertility, said study researcher Dr. Mohammad Jamal, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

"Many other studies have shown bariatric surgery can improve or resolve a multitude of diseases and conditions," including diabetes, Jamal said. "It appears that infertility now joins that list."

However, infertility experts disagree the surgery is a cure. If women with PCOS regain the weight, their infertility would likely return, said Dr. Beth Plante, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Brown University Medical School who was not involved in the study.

"We wouldn't typically recommend having the surgery just to treat infertility," Plante said.

But she said weight loss through any means has been shown to improve fertility in those with PCOS.

"If this is how a patient chooses to achieve that weight loss, then we would usually encourage that," Plante said.

The study will be presented today (June 15) at the meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Orlando.
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No Entry

Ireland Says Not In This Country: Bans Genetically Modified Crops

Andrea Donsky & Randy Boyer
Treehugger.com
Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:38 UTC
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© TheSquigglyLine.com
Agriculture is bad enough, but Big-Ag is pure evil!
Prince Charles has called it the "biggest environmental disaster of all time," while Monsanto and others maintain it's safe for humans and the environment. Genetically modified foods are a contentious issue, but Ireland is erring on the side of caution, placing a ban on growing any genetically modified crops.

Ireland will ban growing of GM crops, and a voluntary GM-free label can be placed on all animal products--such as meat, poultry, eggs, fish, crustaceans, and dairy--that are raised with GM-free feed, according to a GM-Free Ireland press release. Ireland joins Japan and Egypt as one of the few but growing number of countries that have banned the cultivation of GM crops.

Smart Move for Irish Farmers

The agreement, signed by the government's two coalition partners, declares Ireland a "GM-free Zone."

The move will help Irish farmers who can't compete with subsidized agriculture powerhouses, says GM-Free Ireland Co-ordinator, Michael O'Callaghan:
The WTO's economic globalization agenda has forced most Irish farmers to enter an unwinnable race to the bottom for low quality GM-fed meat and dairy produce, in competition with countries like the USA, Argentina and Brazil which can easily out-compete us with their highly subsidized GM crop monocultures, cheap fossil fuel, extensive use of toxic agrochemicals that are not up to EU standards, and underpaid migrant farm labor.

Comment: This is sadly a case of shutting the barn door long after the hose has bolted. Ireland's food supply has long since been tainted with GMO foods while this 'debate has raged'. Over 90% of Ireland's cattle are fed GMO soy, like everywhere else in the EU:
Most Irish beef, lamb, pork, and dairy produce is still made from livestock fed on imported genetically modified (GM) feedstuffs, especially GM soy, despite scientific evidence of its health and environmental damage, and growing rejection of such produce by leading EU food brands and retailers. Ireland's animal feed importers repeat the lie that certified Non-GMO soy and maize are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.


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Health

Most U.S. Counties Not Living as Long as Other Countries

Kim Carollo
ABC News Health
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Getty Images
Limited access to health care could be contributing to the U.S.'s lower life expectancy when compared with other countries.
A new report says people in most U.S. counties aren't living as long as people in other countries.

According to the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, over the past decade, life expectancy in the majority of U.S. counties dropped below the life expectancy of people in the 10 nations who live the longest.

"Despite the fact that the U.S. spends more per capita than any other nation on health, eight out of every 10 counties are not keeping pace in terms of health outcomes. That's a staggering statistic," said Dr. Chris Murray, the institute's director.

Comment: Perhaps the real culprits are the toxins in our food, water and environment, rampant stress, and the low-fat / high carb life style recommended by the USDA. Smoking may not have anything to do with it.

For more information on ways to stay healthy using preventive care see the following:

Power of Meditation in Response to Stress

What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?

Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You

The Devastating Effects of Agriculture: We're Getting Shorter NOT Taller and Our Brains are Shrinking, So is Farming to Blame?

Natural Ways to Remove Heavy Metals

Get Plastic Out Of Your Diet

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Alarm Clock

The Politics of Cancer

Stephen Lendman
Veteranstoday.com
Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:59 UTC
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© Unknown
University of Illinois School of Public Health and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition Professor Emeritus Samuel S. Epstein chose the above title for his award-winning 1978 book, updated 20 years later in his important work titled, The Politics of Cancer Revisited. More about both books below.

Epstein is an internationally recognized cancer expert and its avoidable causes, especially exposure to industrial carcinogens in air, water, food, consumer products, pesticides, prescription drugs, and workplace environments.

His decades of activities, public advocacy, awards, and distinctions are too numerous to mention. He also authored or co-authored a dozen books, as well as hundreds of peer reviewed articles on public health related issues, ones seldom getting enough mainstream attention if any.

The Politics of Cancer explained how exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens causes cancer. Yet they're avoidable because safe substitutes exist. Nonetheless, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and American Cancer Society (ACS) - groups Epstein calls "the cancer establishment" - ignore preventable causes, searching for non-existant magic bullet cures. In fact, they allocate minimal budget amounts to prevention while deceiving people to believe they stress it.

As a result, 40 years after Nixon signed the 1971 National Cancer Act, following through on his same year State of the Union promise "to find a cure," cancer rates have soared. In the 1950s, it affected one in four Americans. Today, it's half or more. Three-fourths of families have at least one afflicted member. In 2010, 1.4 million Americans were diagnosed with it. Every minute in the US, it kills someone, claiming about 550,000 annual victims, most of them needlessly.

Comment: For more information regarding smoking and the truth about the American Cancer Society, see these Sott links:

Health Benefits of Smoking Tobacco

American Cancer Society Trivializes Cancer Risks: Blatant Conflicts of Interest

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Handcuffs

Bad Science: Palaeolithic diet is not possible in this day and age, says book


Daily India
Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:55 UTC
Ancestral Appetites: Food in Prehistory
A new book on the evolution of eating habits among prehistoric people has said that an "all natural diet" is not possible today, as besides attaining our nutritional requirements, we need to find the best way to get them.

Kristen Gremillion, associate professor of anthropology at Ohio State University, said that while there is much we can learn from what our ancestors ate, many of our more modern foods and diets were developed for very good reasons.


Comment: Unfortunately most often those 'good reasons' have everything to do with profit and not a great deal to do with health.


Gremillion is author of the new book Ancestral Appetites: Food in Prehistory, which explores how humans have adjusted the food they eat and the way they prepare it in response to new knowledge and new environments.
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Red Flag

Poison Apples Bad for Consumers

Tom Philpott
Grist
Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:22 UTC
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© Sharon Pruitt
Environmental Working Group: Don't resist the temptation to eat apples - just buy organic when you can.
Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) sifts through USDA testing data and figures out which "Dirty Dozen" fruits and veggies deliver the largest doses and the widest variety of pesticides. This year's winner, announced Monday: apples. According to EWG, 92 percent of the apples tested by the USDA carried two or more pesticide residues. And even as supermarket shelves feature a pretty narrow range of apple varieties - Red Delicious, Granny Smith, etc. -- farmers are spraying them with a stunning diversity of poisons. Altogether, the USDA picked up no fewer than 56 distinct pesticides on the apples it tested, EWG reports.

Right after EWG shines its bright light on the USDA's pesticide-residue data, the large-scale fruit-and-veg industry typically shrieks the equivalent of "Move along - nothing to see here!" This year is no different. In a statement released early Monday, the produce trade group Alliance for Food and Farming declared that EWG's list is "misleading to consumers and should not be used when making purchasing decisions about fruits and vegetables." The Alliance has been hectoring the USDA to emphasize the "safety of products [i.e., poisons] used to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to consumers" when the agency issues its annual residue reports. Indeed, the Alliance for Food and Farming's campaign against the Dirty Dozen list was launched with a $180,000 grant from the USDA (administered through the California Department of Food and Agriculture), EWG reports.
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Info

Women Are Born to be Moody Feeling Blue? New Research Shows It's Not Your Fault - Women's Brains are Just Wired Differently

Lowri Turner
The Daily Mail, UK
Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:49 UTC
Are women born to be grumpy? This sounds like the sexist moan of a disgruntled husband, torn off a strip for failing to put the rubbish out. Again.

Except that science now seems to back the idea that women's brains may be wired for increased anxiety, depression and mood swings. And the problem could be exacerbated by those high-protein, low-calorie weight-loss programmes (such as the Dukan Diet).

It's long been known that women suffer more from depression, or at least reported depression. Around one in four women will be treated for depression at some point, compared with one in ten men.

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© Getty Images
Can't help it: Science now seems to back the idea that women's brains may be wired for increased anxiety, depression and mood swings

Comment: People who suffer from depression, both women and men would benefit greatly from daily meditation.

To discover the many benefits of meditation for yourself, visit the Éiriú Eolas breathing and meditation programme HERE.

For more information on benefits of meditation, read:

Mindfulness Meditation May Ease Fatigue & Depression in Multiple Sclerosis

Antidepressants or Meditation for Depression Relapse?

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Ambulance

Germany: 'E coli Epidemic on the Decline'


IOL News
Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:12 UTC
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German Health Minister Daniel Bahr wears a protective mask as he visits an isolation area of the University Hospital Eppendorf in Hamburg.
Germany's health minister says while he cannot give an all-clear in the deadly E.coli outbreak, an analysis of the latest numbers of new infections gives reason for hope that the epidemic is on the decline.

Daniel Bahr was talking on ARD Television before a crisis meeting with EU health chief John Dalli and other health officials in Berlin on Wednesday on the bacterial outbreak that has killed 24 people and infected 2 325 in Germany, and more than 100 in other European countries and the United States.

Bahr reiterated that the source of the infection may never be found.

The cause of the contamination crisis is still unclear, but health officials have warned against eating cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and vegetable sprouts. - Sapa-AP
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Alarm Clock

Dietitians Are Buying Coke's Line: Sugar, Fluoride, Artificial Colors are SAFE for Children!


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:56 UTC
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© indowaves.instablogs.com
We wish we could say we are surprised. Registered dietitians are now being given formal education by the Coca-Cola Company on how safe its ingredients are.

The credentialing arm of the American Dietetic Association, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), has approved a program created by the The Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness. This covers what it calls "urban myths" about the safety of food ingredients. Participating in this program will earn registered dietitians Continuing Professional Education unit credits.

"Children's Dietary Recommendations: When Urban Myths, Opinions, Parental Perceptions & Evidence Collide," tells dietitians that fluoride, sugar, artificial colors and nonnutritive sweeteners have been "carefully examined for their effects on children's health, growth, and development." The presenter, Dr. Ronald Kleinman, "explores prevalent misconceptions about these food ingredients" and suggests ways the dietitian can help quell unnecessary "concern among parents about their children's health."

Comment: 'Children's Dietary Recommendations tells dietitians that fluoride, sugar, artificial colors and nonnutritive sweeteners have been "carefully examined for their effects on children's health, growth, and development.' Are they serious?! This campaign sounds like an example of how Big Business Fights Against the Health of Children

Dr. Ronald Kleinman, "explores prevalent misconceptions about these food ingredients" and suggests ways the dietitian can help quell unnecessary "concern among parents about their children's health."

Dr. Ronald Kleinman obviously is not exploring the effects these food ingredients have on children and parents should be concerned! Read the following articles for more information on the toxic effects of fluoride, food dyes, sugar and artificial sweeteners especially in children:

Fluoride
Fluoride in Water Linked to Lower IQ in Children
Fluoride in Drinking Water may Negatively Affect Health of Fetuses and Infants
Exposure to fluoride induces early puberty
Fluoride 'Can Affect Brain'
Fluoride-Caused White Spots on Teeth Damage Kids' Self Esteem

Food Dyes
Food Dyes: The Toxic Situation
New Study! Fears over additives in children's food
Food Dyes Linked to Hyper Kids, Group Asks FDA to Ban
Is It Really Worth Using Food Dyes If They Cause Cancer?
The Rainbow Of Food Dyes In Our Grocery Aisles Has A Dark Side

Sugar and artificial sweeteners
Sweet Sabotage: The Harsh Reality of Sugar, Sugar Substitutes and "Natural Sweeteners"
A Spoon Full of Sugar.... Is Toxic?
Never mind the sugar! Are our children being poisoned by their sweets?
The Real Dangers of Soda to You and Your Children

After researching the negative effects of the toxic additives listed above it is obvious that the program created by the the Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness is an striking example of how corporations like Coca Cola want to justify unhealthy eating habits and convince parents that their 'concerns are unnecessary' and as a result of such campaigns: Kids Fed Unhealthy Foods Learn to Prefer Them

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