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Fri, 29 Oct 2021
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Doberman

Protect your pets: Grain-free kibble may put dogs at risk for heart disease

Grain free kibble heart disease dogs

Feeding grain-free/low-protein kibble to large dogs, especially predisposed breeds, increases their risk for taurine deficiency-related DCM.
Thirty years ago, researchers at the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of California, Davis discovered the link between taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a heart muscle disease in cats.1 According to Morris Animal Foundation, "The veterinary community was stunned" by this news, in part because the UC-Davis researchers were able to prove that DCM was reversible when cats received the amount of taurine they needed in their diet.2

Of course, most holistic veterinarians and others knowledgeable about veterinary nutrition and who understand the link between diet and disease weren't surprised. Taurine, which is an amino acid, is found in meat, and cats, as meat-eating obligate carnivores, haven't developed the ability to make their own taurine.

This means it's an essential amino acid for cats - they must get it from their diet, and 30 years ago when UC-Davis veterinarians made their discovery, we were well into the age of processed pet food, having made cats (and dogs) almost entirely dependent on humans for their nutrition.

Pet food formulators often guessed at the effects of extensive processing on nutrients. This is especially true for pet food (feed) that blends leftover pieces and parts from the human meat processing industry with other sources of questionable nutrients before they are rendered and cooked at high temperatures, depleting the nutrients that existed before processing, as well as altering the chemical composition of ingredients (and often creating toxic byproducts along the way).

Comment: More tips for improving your pet's health and well-being:


Cheeseburger

Ditching nature in favor of fake food

fake burger
Industrial agriculture is one of the most unsustainable practices of modern civilization. The "bigger is better" food system has reached a point where its real costs have become readily apparent. Like water running down an open drain, the earth's natural resources are disappearing quickly, as industrialized farming drives air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, rising carbon emissions and the depletion, erosion and poisoning of soils.1

The long-term answer, however, lies in the transition to sustainable, regenerative, chemical-free farming practices, not in the creation of food manufacturing techniques that replace farms with chemistry labs, which is the "environmentally friendly" alternative envisioned by biotech startups and its chemists.

Evil Rays

Is your cellphone giving you cancer? A guide to navigating the messy, frustrating research

cell phone
"Get that thing off your skull."

That's something my mom says just about every time she sees me with a cellphone pressed against my ear. She also worries about cellphones in pockets, telling my brothers that they're "frying their testicles" with their devices.

My mother is voicing something many cellphone users, or parents of cellphone users, intuitively feel: that these devices are somehow making us sick.

Though I have never been particularly concerned about cellphone radiation and cancer, my phone makes me uneasy. It commands too much of my attention. It sucks up too much of my time. And it feels unwise to have its heat so close to my brain.

But as anyone who's had suspicions can tell you, it isn't easy to find clear answers. Over the years, reports on the science of cellphone radiation and health haven't been very satisfying, especially on cancer - the ultimate cellphone health concern.

Comment: Watch the following video to learn more about research that wasn't included in the article above: Are WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G, and 5G bad for you? Hold on to your hats...


Pills

News Flash! Adderall doesn't make people smarter!

adderall


ADHD Drugs Aren't Doing What You Think, Scientists Warn 'Smart Pill' Users


About an hour before any organic chemistry final, there's usually a student desperate enough to pop some Adderall, hoping that the "smart pill" they bought on the college black market might help them finally understand what they're doing. As they sit there, waiting for the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication to take effect, that student probably thinks they're about to ride a high to test victory. But research published Thursday in Pharmacy suggests that line of thinking is a bit off.

The study authors Lisa Weyandt, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Rhode Island, and Tara White, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University, started out investigating the effects of ADHD medications in students that actually have a diagnosable attention deficit disorder. They showed that in these students, there is decreased activity in the areas of the brain controlling "executive functions," which can make it hard for them to stay organized or focus.

Comment: These kids are playing with fire. Adderall is an addictive drug that is ruining lives. To use a dangerous stimulant as a study aid is foolhardy, to say the least. Hopefully, news of this study will gain some traction and save some students from falling into the Adderall trap.

See also:


Info

'Putting conscience before career' - Dr. Bob Sears emerges with full license to practice and no admission of wrongdoing

bob sears
Bob Sears, MD faced down the Medical Board of California (MBC) and has come through with his license to practice fully intact. There was no admission of wrongdoing by Dr. Sears, the case never went to trial and hence there was no hearing.

The end result of an investigation spanning several years yielded a record-keeping issue and Dr. Sears being put on probation. In a recent Facebook post, he explains:
"A child and his mother came to me for help. The mom described how her baby had suffered a moderate to severe neurologic reaction to vaccines almost three years prior, and she was afraid a judge in her upcoming hearing was going to force her to resume vaccines now. Medical records of the reaction were not available yet, and I gave the patient a letter of opinion to show the judge that the reaction was severe enough to justify not doing any more vaccines."

Comment: Read more about California doctor Bob Sears - under review for putting 'conscience before career'


Cupcake Pink

'Sugar Coated' documentary shows how the sugar industry managed to dupe the world

sugar
Thousands of studies spanning many decades show excess sugar damages your health,1 yet the sugar industry successfully buried the evidence and misdirected the public with manipulated science. According to the sugar industry, sugar is a harmless source of energy and may even be an important part of a healthy "balanced" diet.

Dr. Cristin Kearns, a dentist and fellow at the University of California, made headlines when she published a paper2 detailing the sugar industry's historical influence on dietary recommendations. Evidence also shows how the sugar industry influenced the scientific agenda of the National Institute of Dental Research (now the National Institute of Dental and Cranial Research), which back in 1971 created a national caries program, downplaying any links between sugar consumption and dental caries.3

The documentary, "Sugar Coated" - which features Kearns, investigative journalist Gary Taubes, author of "The Case Against Sugar," and Dr. Robert Lustig, a leading expert on sugar metabolism and obesity - investigates the sugar industry's once secret PR campaign, showing how it normalized excessive consumption by deflecting evidence implicating sugar as a cause of ill health. As noted in the film's summary:4

Comment: The case against sugar is extensive and well documented. There are likely few other interventions that can improve health with the same magnitude as cutting our sugar and excess carbs.

See also:


Alarm Clock

Behind the numbers: Thousand-fold increase in Autism prevalence since the 1930s

autism
At all levels of society, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are exacting a heavy toll. On a purely economic level, the demand for special services and care for an escalating number of autistic children (and, increasingly, adults) is stretching families, schools and health care systems to the breaking point. In 2014, a comprehensive analysis of ASD costs published in JAMA Pediatrics placed autism's annual financial impact in the U.S. at $236-$262 billion-roughly seven times more than the $35 billion estimated in 2007.

Some researchers, improbably and disingenuously, still dispute whether the increase in autism prevalence is "real." However, a new study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders carefully strives to lay any lingering doubts about the ASD epidemic's alarming momentum to rest. In fact, using the best data currently available, the study shows a consistent and strong upward trend and a rate of increase that has accelerated over time and particularly since the late 1980s.

Life Preserver

Breakthrough discovery: Berberine and PQQ help power your body's mitochondrial energy factory

mitochondria
The latest science reveals exciting new roles for two less known supplements, crucial to the round-the-clock workings of your mitochondria. Who would ever suspect that a valuable metabolic master switch and a component of interstellar stardust may be one of the most important combinations ever for your mitochondria health?

As you're well aware, your body grows older with each passing day. But did you know that the 'battery' driving your body's aging is your mitochondria - those powerful energy factories within your cells?

For the first time, researchers have proven that mitochondrial function is associated with cell aging.

In a recent study, a research team successfully 'tricked' older cells into eliminating their damaged mitochondria until all were removed. They were stunned to discover that once these older cells shed their worn out, damaged mitochondria, they resembled younger cells!

These newly rejuvenated cells displayed levels of oxygen free radicals and expression of genes typical of more youthful cells.


Comment: More information on the health benefits of berberine and PQQ:


Evil Rays

FCC and States clear the way for next-generation wireless networks - despite heath concerns

wifi
© Environmental Health Trust
The wireless communications industry is rushing to blanket the nation with next-generation networks whose health effects are unknown. Despite studies linking radiation from existing networks to cancer in lab animals, the Federal Communications Commission and state legislators are bowing to industry lobbyists and clearing the way for the new networks.

The FCC recently voted to exclude base stations for new 5G wireless networks from review under federal environmental and historic preservation laws. Meanwhile, almost two dozen states have passed laws, pushed by wireless lobby groups, to override local ordinances that would regulate the siting of these new base stations, which could be installed on nearly every telephone pole in the U.S. Other states are considering similar legislation.

Comment: SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Wireless Technology: 5G is Just the Tip of the Iceberg


Marijuana

Don't fall for the fake CBD trap

fake CBD
© DMITRY TISHCHENKO
America is hungry for CBD. Consumers are already spending hundreds of millions of dollars on this pot compound-which has medical benefits but won't get you high-and the market is expected to soon surpass a billion dollars.

But not all CBD is created equal. That CBD-infused chocolate bar you just bought from your local health food store? It might not have any CBD in it at all.

That's because most CBD is sold without any government regulations or oversight, allowing dishonest companies to hawk snake oil instead of true medicine, according to Martin Lee, a journalist and founder of the advocacy group Project CBD.