Health & WellnessS


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According to Scientific Researcher Jeffrey Zindler: Misleading Report on Supplements Creates Consumer Confusion


prnewswire.com
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:52 UTC
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© methodsofhealing.com
Milwaukee - Consumer Reports, usually a trusted source, released a misleading report in their September issue titled "The 12 Most Dangerous Supplements."

Once again the nutritional supplement industry is receiving a false and misleading attack. Among the 12 supplements listed many have been proven beneficial but are also in direct competition with the pharmaceutical industry's prescription drug products and revenue.

Jeffrey Zindler, Scientific Researcher said,
"Unfortunately the news media spends time attacking supplements which are safe and beneficial to the body. They misrepresent these natural products such as germanium by saying all forms of germanium are toxic. This is a blatant lie. While germanium dioxide is toxic, germanium-132 is naturally found in many foods."
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Footprints

Why barefoot is best for children

Sam Murphy
Guardian.co.uk.
Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:39 UTC
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© corbisimages.com
Most parents would balk at the idea of toddlers in high heels, but what about sandals or trainers? Some experts now believe that all shoes are best avoided in childhood, says

While Katie Holmes was vilified by the press and public alike for stepping out with her four-year-old daughter in high heels last year, many of us wouldn't think twice about putting our kids in a dinky pair of mini-me trainers. But there's a growing belief among experts that when it comes to children's footwear, the best shoe may be no shoe at all.

Tracy Byrne, a podiatrist specializing in podopaediatrics, believes that wearing shoes at too young an age can hamper a child's walking and cerebral development. "Toddlers keep their heads up more when they are walking barefoot," she says. "The feedback they get from the ground means there is less need to look down, which is what puts them off balance and causes them to fall down." Walking barefoot, she continues, develops the muscles and ligaments of the foot, increases the strength of the foot's arch, improves proprioception (our awareness of where we are in relation to the space around us) and contributes to good posture.

"We've come to regard the way we dwell permanently in shoes as normal and natural," says John Woodward, an Alexander Technique teacher who has been barefoot for 25 years. "It's anything but. True, we are no longer hunter-gatherers. True, our urban environments are full of 'unnatural' dangers. But we can still learn from our origins - footwear was designed to protect the soles of the feet where necessary, and it was temporary."
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People

'Fused' people eager to die and kill for their group, research shows


University of Texas Austin
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:46 UTC
People with extremely strong ties to their countries or groups are not only willing, but eager, to sacrifice themselves to save their compatriots, according to new psychology research from The University of Texas at Austin.

In a study to appear in Psychological Science, Bill Swann, professor of psychology, and a team of researchers found the majority of "fused" people, those who view themselves as completely immersed in a group (be it ethnic, national or other), are willing to commit extreme acts for the good of their compatriots.

"Fused group members believe that through suicide, their lives will achieve tremendous significance," Swann said. "Their strong sense of moral agency drives them to see not only that justice is done, but to also take an active role in its implementation."
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Bizarro Earth

WHO List Reveals Flu Advisors with Industry Ties


Agence France-Presse
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:00 UTC
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© Agence France-PresseA Cambodian child (R) receives a vaccine for A-H1N1 along a street in Phnom Penh
Geneva - Five of the 15 experts that advised the World Health Organisation about swine flu pandemic alerts had received support from the drugs industry, including for flu vaccine research, the WHO revealed on Wednesday.

The agency released for the first time a list of the 15 members of the Emergency Committee headed by Australian tropical diseases professor John Mackenzie, who was the only member publicly named during the outbreak.

They came from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and North America, the list posted on the WHO's website showed.

Most were scientific researchers and epidemiologists, along with a Senegalese diplomat, public health officials from Thailand and Chile as well as two specialists on international air travel and health. The list can be seen here.
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Laptop

Facebook bug spills name and pic for all 500 million users

Dan Goodin
The Register
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:27 UTC
Just add email address

A bug in Facebook's login system allows attackers to match unknown email addresses with users' first and last names, even when they've configured their accounts to make that information private.

The information leak can be exploited by social-engineering scammers, phishers, or anyone who has ever been curious about the person behind an anonymous email message. If the address belongs to any one of the 500 million active users on Facebook, the social-networking site will return the full name and picture associated with the account.

Comment: "Backdoors" in software are so common, that it's almost a certainty that they're designed that way. Software 'glitches' provide plausable deniability to the host, while unknown third parties benefit from these designed and controlled 'breaches'.

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Star

People Power! Federal Court Victory: Almond Farmers Can Challenge USDA Pasteurization Rule


Cornucopia Institute
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:00 UTC
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© Unknown

Onerous Rule has Devastated California Raw Almond Producers

Washington, DC - A federal appeals court ruled today, overturning a lower court decision, that a group of California almond farmers have the right to challenge a USDA regulation requiring the treatment of their raw almonds with a toxic fumigant or steam heat prior to sale to consumers. For the past three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has denied American consumers the right to buy raw almonds, grown in the USA, when they shop in grocery and natural food stores.

A group of almond growers sued the government to challenge USDA's rule, but the federal district court ruled that courtroom doors were closed to the growers' claims. The controversial rule has cost individual farmers millions of dollars in lost sales since it was enacted in September 2007..

"We are delighted by the court's decision," said Will Fantle, Cornucopia's Research Director. Cornucopia has been coordinating the legal strategy for the farmers' lawsuit. "At long last the farmers who have been injured by this rule will have the opportunity to stand in court and state why this poorly thought out regulation should be thrown out," Fantle added.
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Target

The Ultimate Food Betrayal: How Big Biotech Rigged the Research on GM Foods

Jeffrey M. Smith
Dr. Mercola
Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:25 UTC
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Jeffrey Smith
In 2004, the peer-reviewed British Food Journal published a study claiming that when shoppers in a Canadian farm store were given an informed, unbiased choice between genetically modified (GM) corn and non-GM corn, most purchased the GM variety.

The research, which was funded by the biotech industry and conducted by four staunch proponents of GM foods, other findings around the world that show how people avoid genetically modified organisms (GMOs) when given a choice.

The controversial article was nonetheless given the Journal's prestigious Award for Excellence for the Most Outstanding Paper of 2004. It is often cited by biotech advocates as proof that people are embracing GM foods.

Fortunately Stuart Laidlaw, a reporter from Canada's Toronto Star, had visited the farm store several times during the study and described the scenario in his book Secret Ingredients. Far from offering unbiased choices, huge signs placed over the non-GM corn bin read, "Would you eat wormy sweet corn?" It further listed the chemicals that were sprayed during the season.
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Health

The Cholesterol Myth that is Harming Your Health

Dr Joseph Mercola
Mercola.com
Tue, 10 Aug 2010 04:51 UTC
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© Unknown
By Dr. Mercola

Cholesterol could easily be described as the smoking gun of the last two decades.

It's been responsible for demonizing entire categories of foods (like eggs and saturated fats) and blamed for just about every case of heart disease in the last 20 years.

Yet when I first opened my medical practice in the mid 80s, cholesterol, and the fear that yours was too high was rarely talked about.

Somewhere along the way however, cholesterol became a household word -- something that you must keep as low as possible, or suffer the consequences.

You are probably aware that there are many myths that portray fat and cholesterol as one of the worst foods you can consume. Please understand that these myths are actually harming your health.

Not only is cholesterol most likely not going to destroy your health (as you have been led to believe), but it is also not the cause of heart disease.

And for those of you taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, the information that follows could not have been given to you fast enough. But before I delve into this life-changing information, let's get some basics down first.
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Question

Is It Really Worth Using Food Dyes If They Cause Cancer?

Michael Jacobson
Alternet
Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:12 UTC
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Despite signs that they may cause cancer, food manufacturers continue to pour about millions of pounds of synthetic dyes into the American food supply every year.

Try pronouncing disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl) azo)-2-naphthalene-sulfonate.

It's not easy, right? That explains why this mouthful goes by its friendlier name, Red 40. It might sound innocent, but this ingredient and others like it are far from harmless. And they're in our food.

For years, we at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and food-safety officials in Europe have highlighted studies linking food dyes to hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children. The British government and the European Parliament even decided to phase out artificial dyes based on these concerns alone, but the same can't be said for the United States. So why do food manufacturers continue to pour about 15 million pounds of eight synthetic dyes into the American food supply every year?
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Alarm Clock

Female Infants Growing Breasts: Another Disaster From Hormones in Milk Production

John Robbins
Huffington Post
Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:45 UTC
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People are very upset about this, and with good reason. Female infants in China who have been fed formula have been growing breasts.

According to the official Chinese Daily newspaper, medical tests performed on the babies found levels of estrogens circulating in their bloodstreams that are as high as those found in most adult women. These babies are between four and 15 months old. And the evidence is overwhelming that the milk formula they have been fed is responsible.

Synutra, the company that makes the baby formula consumed by these babies, says it's not their fault. They insist that "no man-made hormones or any illegal substances were added during the production of the milk powder."
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