Health & WellnessS


Cow Skull

Scientists give all-clear for meat and milk from cloned cattle

David Batty
Guardain
Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:12 UTC
cows
© Chris Gardner/APThe expert panel said there was no evidence of any difference between such meat and that from conventionally-bred cattle.

Advisory committee's decision increases likelihood of authorities approving sale of foodstuffs from cloned animals

Meat and milk from cloned cattle and their offspring is safe to eat, government advisers have determined.

The conclusion by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, an independent body that assesses whether food products are safe, increases the likelihood that authorities will approve the sale of foodstuffs from cloned animals.

Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the Food Standards Agency, said: "The committee has confirmed that meat and milk from cloned cattle and offspring shows no substantial difference to conventionally produced meat and milk and therefore is unlikely to present a food safety risk."
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Ambulance

SOTT Focus: Burying The Vegetarian Hypothesis

Doug DiPasquale
Sott.net
Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00 UTC
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In 1999, Sally Fallon published the instant classic, Nourishing Traditions. It was subtitled "The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats"; a curious turn of phrase not only because the book is so much more than a cookbook, but because it promises to challenge "politically correct nutrition". What could politically correct nutrition possibly mean?

If we look at the term political correctness we see that it connotes the idea of making an effort, through language or action, not too offend anyone. Unfortunately, what it usually amounts to is trying to predict what could possibly offend others and self-censor; usually in the most ungraceful and obvious manner so as to draw attention toward the effort being made and leading to an increase in discomfort for all involved. What could be more uncomfortable than having laid bare what another person thinks would offend you, usually without any insight to who you are as an individual but rather acting on simplistic stereotypes and even then completely missing the mark?

Politically correct nutrition can be looked at in the same manner. It is eating in a way that is designed not to offend anyone, particularly those who conform to the conventional mainstream perspective of what constitutes healthy eating. It is undeniable that at least part of the answer to the vast majority of the chronic health problems currently plaguing our population is to radically change and improve our diets, but just what changes need to be made is generally a hotly debated topic. The politically correct answer is what we have been told for the last half-century or more - eat less, exercise more, lower fat consumption, avoid cholesterol and, increasingly, eat less meat.
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Bad Guys

Monsanto Says it's the "Right Time" for GMO Wheat


Popsci
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:39 UTC
wheat
© na
This year, your bread dishes are probably not genetically modified - consumer and food industry opposition has so far prevented any GM wheat from making it to your table. So your biscuits, thickened gravy and turkey stuffing are made with flour from traditionally bred wheat.

But several seed companies, including Monsanto, Syngenta, BASF and others, are working on transgenic wheat. U.S. Wheat Associates, an industry group, said in early 2010 that GM wheat is still several years away, but efforts are ongoing to improve its acceptance among international consumers.

Monsanto Co., the world's largest producer of genetically modified seed, backed off commercialization of "Roundup Ready" wheat several years ago, amid concerns it could hurt the U.S. wheat market. But earlier this month, the firm said it's the "right time" to pursue development of drought-resistant and high-yielding wheat.
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Heart

Carrots 'Help Protect Against Cancer'


Telegraph.co.uk
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:38 UTC
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© PHOTOLIBRARYVegetables, including carrots, are packed with carotenoids, which scientists say help fight off disease.
Carrots are supposed to be good for your eyesight, but now doctors say they reduce the risks of suffering from heart disease - Britain's biggest killer - and can protect against cancer.

Vegetables such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins and winter squashes - as well as carrots - are packed with carotenoids, which scientists say help fight off disease.

The anti-oxidants are also found in dark-green vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, and green peas, and may help combat lung cancer.

Researchers found these veg are packed with alpha-carotene, saying high blood levels of the antioxidant was linked with a reduced risk of dying over a 14-year period.
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Bug

This Supermarket "Health Food" Killed These Baby Rats in Three Weeks

Jeffrey Smith
Mercola
Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:26 UTC
tomato,gm
© istockphoto/Nikolay Suslov
Arpad Pusztai

Biologist Arpad Pusztai had more than 300 articles and 12 books to his credit and was the world's top expert in his field.

But when he accidentally discovered that genetically modified (GM) foods are dangerous, he became the biotech industry's bad-boy poster child, setting an example for other scientists thinking about blowing the whistle.

In the early 1990s, Dr. Pusztai was awarded a $3 million grant by the UK government to design the system for safety testing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

His team included more than 20 scientists working at three facilities, including the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, the top nutritional research lab in the UK, and his employer for the previous 35 years.

The results of Pusztai's work were supposed to become the required testing protocols for all of Europe. But when he fed supposedly harmless GM potatoes to rats, things didn't go as planned.
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Pills

New Johnson & Johnson recalls hit Benadryl, Motrin, Rolaids

Ransdell Pierson
Reuters
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:02 UTC
Johnson & Johnson, which has been beset with recalls of Tylenol and other consumer products over the past year, has recalled almost 5 million additional packages of Benadryl, Motrin and Rolaids because of manufacturing "insufficiencies."

J&J said the recalls, like many of the earlier ones, involved products made at its plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. The facility was closed earlier this year to fix quality-control lapses, including unsanitary conditions.

The latest actions involve 4 million packages of Children's Benadryl Allergy Fastmelt Tablets in cherry and grape flavors. The allergy drug was distributed in the United States and other markets, a company spokeswoman said.
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Bug

Spreadin' the glove: TSA infecting U.S.?

Bob Unruh
World Net Daily
Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:19 UTC
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© na

Latex coverings 'have been in crotches, armpits, touching people who may be ill'

Those latex gloves Transportation Security Administration agents wear while giving airline passengers those infamous full-body pat-downs apparently aren't there for the safety and security of passengers - only the TSA agents.

That's the word being discussed on dozens of online forums and postings after it was noted that the agents wear the same gloves to pat down dozens, perhaps hundreds, of passengers, not changing them even though the Centers for Disease Control in its online writings has emphasized the important of clean hands to prevent the exchange of loathsome afflictions.

"Herpes via latex glove ... ewwww," wrote one participant on the independence-minded AR15 website forum.

Responding to the question, "Does the TSA change latex gloves after each sexual assault?" another wrote on the same forum, "I seriously doubt it. Gloves are for their protection, not yours."
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Bulb

Cleaning Without Chemicals: Recipes for a Toxin-Free Home

Tara Rae Miner
Alternet
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:02 UTC
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Your Green Adobe: A Practical Guide to a Sustainable Home
The average American uses about 25 gallons of hazardous chemical products in his or her home - the majority coming from cleaning products. We can change that.

The following is an excerpt from Your Green Abode: A Practical Guide to a Sustainable Home by Tara Rae Miner (Skipstone, 2010).

It used to be that we kept our homes clean by using whatever was at hand. A little baking soda from the cupboard mixed with elbow grease took out caked-on crud. Soap was soap, and it served more than one purpose, whether that was to clean your hands or the dishes. Sugar ants were best prevented by putting the sugar away.

But then things were made easier for us. A swift spray of a sickly sweet-smelling substance would kill those ants in a flash. A thick squirt of whitish goo gave the table a lustrous shine in just minutes. Grainy antiseptic scouring powder cut through the scum in the tub with little effort. Thank goodness for chemicals. At least that's what folks were told and sold and eventually wholeheartedly believed.
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Document

Report: Half of Americans Facing Diabetes by 2020


cnbc.com
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:31 UTC
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© wales.nhs.uk
More than half of Americans will have diabetes or be prediabetic by 2020 at a cost to the U.S. health care system of $3.35 trillion if current trends go on unabated, according to analysis of a new report released on Tuesday by health insurer UnitedHealth Group.

Diabetes and prediabetes will account for an estimated 10 percent of total health care spending by the end of the decade at an annual cost of almost $500 billion - up from an estimated $194 billion this year, according to the report titled The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead.

The average annual health care costs in 2009 for a person with known diabetes were about $11,700 compared with about $4,400 for the non-diabetic public, according to new data in the report drawn from 10 million UnitedHealthcare members.
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Chess

The War for Nutrition Science Integrity


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:19 UTC
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© Alliance for Natural Health
One nutrition organization looks to be in the pocket of Big Pharma and the worst of the junk food manufacturers. Another organization has been a more independent voice for nutrition. Guess which one is attempting to swallow the other?

The American Society for Nutrition (ASN), the largest society for nutrition researchers in the US, openly receives support from pharmaceutical companies like Abbott Nutrition and Martek Biosciences, genetic engineering and pesticide giant Monstanto, food processor ConAgra, and junk food suppliers and producers Coca-Cola, Mars, Kraft, McDonald's, General Mills, and Kellogg's, not to mention the Sugar Association, Inc. (among many others).

Think about that: an organization claiming "excellence in nutrition research and practice" receives major funding from companies making drugs, pesticides, and some of the most health-damaging foods on the planet. It must be greatly influenced by those companies' worldviews.
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