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Antibiotics use is widespread in the production of livestock, helping to create "superbugs," and aggravating the public health problem of antibiotic resistance. To address these issues, Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, in a new report released today, Meat on Drugs: The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals and What Supermarkets and Consumers Can Do to Stop It, calls on supermarkets to stock only meat and poultry raised without antibiotics, and urges consumers to buy these products. Consumers Union is asking Trader Joe's to lead the transition by selling only meat and poultry raised without antibiotics. Antibiotics, once called miracle drugs, may not be miraculous any more. With widespread use of antibiotics, many bugs have become immune to their effects. Doctors and scientists have cautioned that we must be much more careful in our use of these valuable medicines lest they lose even more of their effectiveness against deadly bacteria.
However, the biggest user of antibiotics in the United States today is not the medical profession, but rather the meat and poultry business. Some 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in this country are used not on people but on animals, to make them grow faster or to prevent disease in crowded and unsanitary growing facilities.
Mexico City - An outbreak of the H7N3 bird flu virus in western Mexico has infected about 2.5 million chickens and led authorities to destroy or dispose of almost a million birds.
The country's Agriculture Department says that 129 farms in the western state of Jalisco have been inspected. Flu was confirmed in birds at 24 of the sites, and tests continued on most of the rest.
The country's Agriculture Department says that 129 farms in the western state of Jalisco have been inspected. Flu was confirmed in birds at 24 of the sites, and tests continued on most of the rest.
© UnknownCuban cholera outbreak reaches Havana.
More than 50 people were infected and about 1,000 have received medical attention. The authorities say the outbreak is under control but four hospitals are prepared to isolate patients. They say people became ill after drinking water from contaminated wells. But it is not clear what the source of the cholera is.
Haiti link
Most of the cases were in Cuba's south-eastern Granma province, more than 750km (470 miles) from Havana.
Hundreds of medical professionals from that area, including nurses, have worked and continue to work with patients in Haiti, where tens of thousands of people were infected after a devastating earthquake in 2010.
But the BBC's Sarah Rainsford says that for over a week doctors in Havana have been doing the rounds of their patients, checking for symptoms of cholera. The infirm, elderly and pregnant have been prioritised.
© civileats.com
And it's not just the U.S. that is reporting these kinds of findings, a New Zealand study of preschoolers found that 82 percent did not get enough dietary fiber and 68 percent did not have enough long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found in fish and nuts. Despite these nutritional deficiencies, the researchers also found that fully one-third of preschoolers are overweight or obese.
These findings highlight an interesting contradiction - obesity correlates with malnourishment. Research indicates that lack of proper nutrition - even when people over consume calories - is at the root of obesity. Part of the reason this seems contradictory is because nutrition science has long held that all calories are created equal and that with the right amount of caloric intake, it would be difficult to also be malnourished. Coincidentally, this is also what the food industry would have us believe. In a recent interview in USA Today, Katie Bayne, president and general manager at Coca-Cola said in response to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on large size sugary drinks,
"A calorie is a calorie. What our drinks offer is hydration. That's essential to the human body. We offer great taste and benefits whether it's an uplift or carbohydrates or energy. We don't believe in empty calories. We believe in hydration."
© Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, UC San Diego.A photomicrograph of superficial keratinocytes or skin cells.
The biological mechanism of sunburn - the reddish, painful, protective immune response from ultraviolet (UV) radiation - is a consequence of RNA damage to skin cells, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere in the July 8, 2012 Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine.
The findings open the way to perhaps eventually blocking the inflammatory process, the scientists said, and have implications for a range of medical conditions and treatments.
"For example, diseases like psoriasis are treated by UV light, but a big side effect is that this treatment increases the risk of skin cancer," said principal investigator Richard L. Gallo, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. "Our discovery suggests a way to get the beneficial effects of UV therapy without actually exposing our patients to the harmful UV light. Also, some people have excess sensitivity to UV light, patients with lupus, for example. We are exploring if we can help them by blocking the pathway we discovered."
Using both human skin cells and a mouse model, Gallo, first author Jamie J. Bernard, a post-doctoral researcher, and colleagues found that UVB radiation fractures and tangles elements of non-coding micro-RNA - a special type of RNA inside the cell that does not directly make proteins. Irradiated cells release this altered RNA, provoking healthy, neighboring cells to start a process that results in an inflammatory response intended to remove sun-damaged cells.
As we have reported many times, GMO foods are not safe. Remember those rats fed GMO corn whose offspring were fine but whose grandchildren were sterile? Is this uncontrolled experiment on human beings a good idea?
The California Right to Know 2012 Ballot Initiative, if enacted in November, would require GMO food - that is, all food containing genetically engineered ingredients - to be so labeled in the state. Consumers all over the US are in favor of this by wide margins. It is very important because, with the full power of the US government behind GMO, and huge amounts of money flowing back to Washington from GMO producers, the only way to stop the GMO juggernaut is to tell consumers what they are buying.
The usual suspects are mounting a huge disinformation campaign against the initiative. A leading coalition is StopCostlyFoodLabeling.com, the funding for which comes in part from the Council for Biotechnology Information - whose members include Monsanto, Dow, and other GMO companies.
Peggy Lemaux, an extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science at UC Berkeley, was recently quoted in a National Public Radio piece as opposing the initiative. She has credentials, but keep in mind that she's a member of an agricultural science council that includes all the major biotech companies, and was recently the recipient of a financial award provided by Monsanto.
© APEXVicky Sewart used a special diet to beat cancer.
Despite excessive warnings from MD's who insisted that Vicky would surely not recover using superfoods that are commonly touted as 'woo' and 'ineffective medicine' by pharma-backed doctors, Sewart found amazing success by altering her lifestyle and taking in extra amounts of supefoods like turmeric each day.
Sewart recalls to The Telegraph how her doctor repeatedly voiced concern over switching to a healthy diet full of turmeric to fight the cancer (one of many turmeric health benefits), telling her that it would do virtually nothing:
Four years later with absolutely no mainstream treatments, she is still cancer free with no signs of it coming back. At the age off 44, Sewart is now the center of a major research project led by scientists who are downright fascinated by what she has done."The doctors absolutely will not say that the diet is going to do anything to help the cancer in any way."
I feel such joy every time I hear feedback from a reader or a patient about his or her success on the program. It's not egotistical joy necessarily, although my passion for Functional Medicine certainly fills me with happiness. Rather, it's pure gratitude for your willingness to make an effort at restoring your health by honoring the most natural and basic laws of the human body.
Remove unnecessary stressors, seek balance and strive for enjoyment on your ever-changing quest for health and vitality.
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© modernalternativemama.com
A hundred years ago all food was organic, local, seasonal, fresh or naturally preserved by ancient methods. All food was food. Now less than 3% of our agricultural land is used to grow fruits and vegetables, which should make up 80% of our diet.
Today there are not even enough fruits and vegetables in this country to allow all Americans to follow the government guidelines to eat 5 to 9 servings a day.
What most of us are left with is industrial food. And who knows what lurks in the average boxed, packaged, or canned factory made science project.
When a French fry has more than 20 ingredients and almost all of them are not potato, or when a fast food hamburger contains very little meat, or when the average teenager consumes 34 teaspoons of sugar a day, we are living in a food nightmare, a sci-fi horror show.
Comment: To learn more about antibiotic resistant 'Superbugs' read the following articles:
Superbugs: Will Millions Die Needlessly Before We Act?
New Superbugs Resist Most Powerful Antibiotics
Antibiotic Resistance Marching Across Europe
Common Infections Will Be 'Untreatable' If Antibiotic Misuse Continues
The articles listed below provide additional data regarding the growing concern of the overuse of antibiotics in factory farmed meat production:
U.S. Consumers Say 'No' to Antibiotics for Meat Production
What the USDA Doesn't Want You to Know About Antibiotics and Factory Farms
The FDA Finally Reveals How Many Antibiotics Factory Farms Use
Drugs, Poisons and Metals in Our Meat - USDA Needs A Major Overhaul