Health & WellnessS


Red Flag

Why most medical research cannot be trusted

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:14 UTC
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© chrisyellowjohnny.wordpress.com
It's old news that drug companies essentially "bribe" doctors into prescribing their drugs by lavishing them with gifts - branded pens and coffee mugs, free lunches, golf outings, "educational" trips to the Caribbean ... all have been regarded as fair game in the past, although now such free goodies are heavily discouraged.

Just how much influence such gifts had on doctors has long been debated (although the research suggests it did have a significant impact ... why else would the drug companies put so much money into it?). But regardless, sound medical research published in a reputable medical journal should have much more influence ...

A pen with a drugmaker's name emblazoned on the side couldn't possibly persuade a physician to prescribe a drug more than clinical data published in a medical journal.

Yet, what many people do not understand is that much of the scientific research published in journals is bought-and-paid-for by the drug industry as well.

A far more covert - and far more influential - practice than showing up at a physician's office with a free pizza and a duffel bag full of coffee mugs, by controlling medical research itself the drug industry can make it virtually impossible for a well-meaning physician to decipher the truth about the medications he or she is prescribing to you.
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Attention

The meat industry now consumes four-fifths of all antibiotics

Tom Philpott
Mother Jones Magazine
Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:06 UTC
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© shutterstock
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a set of voluntary "guidelines" designed to nudge the meat industry to curb its antibiotics habit. Ever since, the agency has been mulling whether and how to implement the new program. Meanwhile, the meat industry has been merrily gorging away on antibiotics - and churning out meat rife with antibiotic-resistant pathogens - if the latest data from the FDA itself is any indication.

The Pew Charitable Trusts crunched the agency's numbers on antibiotic use on livestock farms and compared them to data on human use of antibiotics to treat illness, and mashed it all into an infographic, which I've excerpted below. Note that that while human antibiotic use has leveled off at below 8 billion pounds annually, livestock farms have been sucking in more and more of the drugs each year - and consumption reached a record nearly 29.9 billion pounds in 2011. To put it another way, the livestock industry is now consuming nearly four-fifths of the antibiotics used in the US, and its appetite for them is growing.
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Donut

Study finds: Food, drink industries undermine health policy

Kate Kelland
Reuters
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:35 UTC
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© thinkprogress.org
Multinational food, drink and alcohol companies are using strategies similar to those employed by the tobacco industry to undermine public health policies, health experts said on Tuesday.

In an international analysis of involvement by so-called "unhealthy commodity" companies in health policy-making, researchers from Australia, Britain, Brazil and elsewhere said self-regulation was failing and it was time the industry was regulated more stringently from outside.

The researchers said that through the aggressive marketing of ultra-processed food and drink, multinational companies were now major drivers of the world's growing epidemic of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
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Beaker

Top 9 scary food additives

Bill Phillips
ABC News
Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:20 UTC
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© Custom Medical Stock Photo/Newscom
I always tell my daughters they can make a difference in the world, even at their tender ages of 10 and 7. To them, I probably sound like the teacher from Peanuts -- they're more interested in soccer and American Girl right now -- but I hope the lesson eventually sinks in.

My latest example of a kid heroics for them: 15-year-old Sarah Kavanagh from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who gathered more than 200,000 signatures in her online petition asking Gatorade to remove a controversial flame-retardant chemical. Last week, Gatorade announced that they would be removing the ingredient, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), within the next couple of months. That's great news - especially for me personally, because I love the stuff! Actually, so do my daughters.

While Gatorade spokeswoman Molly Carter said the decision wasn't in response to Sarah's petition, the teen is claiming victory. Either way, we all win.

Truth is, chemicals that are used as weed killer, flame retardant, and sunscreen are startlingly common in your supermarket. But you won't find "carcinogens," "paint chemicals," or "beaver anal gland juice" on the back panel. They'll be hidden under names like "Butylated HydroxyAnisole" or "natural flavoring." Break through the science experiment to find out what you're really eating.
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Whistle

The GMO labeling scam

Barbara H. Peterson
Farm Wars
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:00 UTC
To Fed or not to Fed. That is the question. To leave GMO labeling to the states or attempt to pressure the Feds to do it... or both? Or just maybe... none of the above?

GMO Labeling Bills

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Some say that a federal GMO labeling bill is potentially bad because it will trump state labeling, which "has teeth." Really? Teeth? Let's just take a look at some of these "teeth:"

1. Hawaii just passed a labeling bill, but it only applies to imported GM food.
"...the amendment "only covers incoming raw agricultural products, which means that it basically covers very little, except a little crookneck squash, any Monsanto sweet corn brought fresh into the state, or if a non-browning GMO apple is approved." So maybe it is not time to get too excited."

Link

"Despite the hoopla, Carol Okada, manager for the Plant Quarantine Branch of Hawaii's Department of Agriculture, says the [biotech] business is here to stay and will still be booming in Hawaii 10 years down the road. "Even though it's controversial here," she says, "the [GM] seed industry is now the No. 1 industry for us and it is very important in terms of the economy, dealing with invasive species, and giving farmers choices."

The bottom line: Hawaii may be the GM crop test capital of the world, but the debate over biotech foods is far from over."

Link
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Book 2

Codex Alimentarius and GM food guidelines

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:34 UTC
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© Activist Post
Over the last two years, I have written extensively about the Codex Alimentarius guidelines and how they relate specifically to vitamin and mineral supplements, food irradiation, and the use of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH).

I have also detailed the history and workings of the international organization as well as many of the current day to day manifestations of Codex guidelines as they appear in domestic policy.

However, there is yet another area in which Codex guidelines will play a major role in the development of food policy - namely, the proliferation of Genetically Modified Food.

The Codex committee that serves as the main battleground for the consideration of GM food is the Codex Committee on Food Labeling. This committee is extremely relevant due to the fact that it can effectively reduce the power of the consumer to virtually nothing if it decides not to force companies or countries to label their GM food, thus removing the ability of the consumer to boycott and/or avoid those products. While it is well-known that public sentiment is unimportant to those at the top, governments and corporations tend to pay more attention when votes and sales reflect that sentiment. However, if Codex continues on its' way to allowing unlabelled GM food onto the international market, the repercussions of consumer reaction will be entirely neutralized.

A brief discussion of the history of Codex in terms of GM food is necessary here to understand the direction that the organization is moving towards in regards to it.
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Pills

Experts urge U.S. to crack down on fake or diluted medications


Raw Story
Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:25 UTC
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© AFP Photo
Health experts are urging the United States and other countries to boost their ability to identify fake or subpar medicines and close loopholes that allow products to be falsified or diluted.

In an international system in which different companies in many countries make ingredients for single treatments, no country alone can effectively enforce quality control on drugs that can be the fine line between life and death, stressed a report by the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM).

"Falsified and substandard medicines are a grave public health problem because they are ineffective, promote drug resistance, and even cause severe illness and death, particularly in developing countries where they regularly flood the market," said Lawrence Gostin, health law expert at Georgetown University Law Center who led the group of 12 experts who did the study.

"We're calling on WHO, in collaboration with regulators, companies, and civil society worldwide, to adopt a global code of practice, build national regulatory capabilities, and promote international cooperation," Gostin said.

Fake versions of the cancer drug Avastin were given to US patients in 2011 and 2012, for example, but similar problems occur even more frequently in poor countries, the committee found. Avastatin is made by Switzerland's Roche.
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Top Secret

"Big Farma" still trying to hide their dirty secrets


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:49 UTC
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© Alliance for Natural Health
Five states have introduced seven different "Ag-Gag bills" to silence people who try to expose CAFO practices.

Remember our exposé on the factory farms, and the legislation designed to keep the public in the dark about them? They're back! It's not just that these bills trample the First Amendment. It's that these bills are designed to keep the filthy, profoundly unsanitary conditions at factory farms - CAFOs, or Confined Animal Feeding Operations - from being exposed to the public. CAFOs are the antithesis of safe and nutritious food. If governments, both federal and state, were truly serious about food safety, they would address the miserable CAFO conditions.

CAFOs are responsible for foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and listeria; are notorious for their use of antibiotics for nontherapeutic uses, and for exacerbating the "superbug" problem in which organisms become increasingly resistant to antibiotics; and ruin rural economies. In addition, there is the inhumane treatment of the animals themselves.

Ag-Gag laws prevent consumers from being informed, and therefore consumers ability to fully choose what they eat.
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Popcorn

Top 11 biggest lies of mainstream nutrition

Kris Gunnars
Authority Nutrition
Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:59 UTC
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There is a lot of misinformation circling around in mainstream nutrition.

I have listed the worst examples in this article, but unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here are the top 11 biggest lies, myths and misconceptions of mainstream nutrition.

1. Eggs Are Unhealthy

There's one thing that nutrition professionals have had remarkable success with... and that is demonizing incredibly healthy foods.

The worst example of that is eggs, which happen to contain a large amount of cholesterol and were therefore considered to increase the risk of heart disease.

But recently it has been proven that the cholesterol in the diet doesn't really raise the cholesterol in blood. In fact, eggs primarily raise the "good" cholesterol and are NOT associated with increased risk of heart disease (1, 2).

What we're left with is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. They're high in all sorts of nutrients along with unique antioxidants that protect our eyes (3).

To top it all of, despite being a "high fat" food, eating eggs for breakfast is proven to cause significant weight loss compared to bagels for breakfast (4, 5).

Bottom Line: Eggs do not cause heart disease and are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Eggs for breakfast can help you lose weight.
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Bacon n Eggs

Two major studies conclude that saturated fat does NOT cause heart disease


drbriffa.com
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:48 UTC
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One of things I try and do on this blog is right what I see as nutritional wrongs. So, if there's a common perception that artificial sweeteners are better than sugar for weight loss, but there's really no evidence for that, then I'm inclined to write about it. If the evidence suggests that margarine is likely to be unhealthier than butter, I'll write about that too. Similarly, I've been keen to point out that it appears that saturated fat, widely taken as to be artery-clogging and heart disease-provoking, is nothing of the sort.

I have written more than once about this, most recently here. This review of the literature found no evidence that saturated fat causes heart disease. And it's a shame (in my opinion, anyway), that this study got no mainstream publicity.

The same, appears to be true, of a recent report published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism1. You can read a complete version of this report here. The whole edition of this journal was dedicated to reporting an 'Expert Consultation' held jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the US. The consultation took a wide, sweeping look at the relationship between fats, physiology and health, and took place in late 2008. One of the things that was inevitably a focus of the consultation was the link between saturated fat and heart disease.

The 'experts' responsible for assessing this relationship looked at two lines of evidence: epidemiological studies and intervention studies. Let's look at both in turn.
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