Health & WellnessS


Popcorn

Lots of food producers profited from the demonization of fat

Nina Teicholz
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 26 Sep 2016 17:42 UTC
crisco
© Tony Dejak / Associated PressConsumption of vegetable oils, which were invented in the early 1900s, exploded during the 20th century. Above, a shopper walks past an aisle featuring Crisco products in a grocery store in Cleveland, Ohio in 2007.
The recent revelation that Harvard scientists were paid off to downplay sugar's harms in the 1960s shows how the food industry shockingly manipulated nutrition science for decades. Yet the news media has given the sugar industry too much credit. The real story about how sugar got a pass — while dietary fat and cholesterol were blamed for heart disease — reveals that other industries played a role, as did, surprisingly, many of the country's leading scientists.


Comment: For more information, see Sugar industry paid Harvard researchers to bury link between sugar and heart disease and instead blame it on fat in 1960s studies


According to an article published Sept. 12 by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the sugar industry formulated a game plan in the mid-1950s to capitalize upon an idea gaining traction "among leading nutritionists" that dietary fat and cholesterol cause heart disease. There are only three macronutrients: fat, protein and carbohydrates. Sugar executives recognized that if Americans could be persuaded to adopt a low-fat diet, they would invariably eat more carbs. Think cereal instead of eggs for breakfast, or cookies rather than cheese as a snack. Predicting that some 20% of calories would shift towards carbohydrates — a windfall to all the "carbohydrate industries" — sugar executives paid Harvard scientists to water down a 1967 review of sugar's potential harms and instead pin the blame for heart disease on fat and cholesterol.

Commentators in the past two weeks have seen this as proof that "Big Sugar" is the equivalent of "Big Tobacco," undermining good science to cover up the evils of a dangerous product. Yes, sugar executives used similar tactics, but the results were hardly so clear-cut.

Comment: It is good to see the Sugar Industry exposed, but inflammatory vegetable oils are still sold in the market as "heart healthy" when the complete opposite is the truth.

See also:

Nina Teicholz: The Big Fat Surprise! (Video)

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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Connecting the Dots: Smart drugs in a dumb world


Sott.net
Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:00 UTC
smart drugs
Stressed out college students everywhere are turning to Big Pharma in hopes of making the grade and using apps that claim to make then smarter. Maybe they should go for a hike instead? On this episode of the Health and Wellness Show we'll be connecting the dots in recent health news. How important is 8 glasses a day, how can you increase your emotional agility and -- in what may be disturbing news for all the bone broth lovers out there -- what is the glycine-glyphosate connection? And for all the clown haters out there, this show may give you talking points to justify your hate.

Join us as we discuss these topics and more. And, as always, stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment where the topic will be how to treat hot spots, or moist dermatitis in dogs.

Running Time: 01:33:26

Download: MP3

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Syringe

Aussie nurses disseminating info questioning vaccine safety or efficacy may face prosecution


RT
Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:01 UTC
vaccine
© Andres Stapff / Reuters
Nurses and midwives who chose to promote anti-vaccination on social media or in person could face prosecution, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has warned, urging members of the public to report those who spread "misleading and deceptive" materials.

"With no exceptions we expect all registered nurses, enrolled nurses and midwives to use the best available evidence in making practice decisions.This includes providing information to the public about public health issues," Chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Dr. Lynette Cusack said in a statement.


Comment: The best available evidence is quite clear, vaccines are dangerous to your health:

The NMBA has called on Australians to report nurses or midwives promoting anti-vaccination - 'anti-vaxxers', as they're known colloquially.

"The board will consider whether the nurse or midwife has breached their professional obligations and will treat these matters seriously," the statement said. "Any published anti-vaccination material and/or advice which is false, misleading or deceptive which is being distributed by a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or midwife (including via social media) may also constitute a summary offence under the National Law and could result in prosecution by AHPRA [Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.]


Comment: In other words, promoting or disseminating any information that questions the safety or efficacy of forced vaccinations is going to be met with prosecution.


Comment: If vaccines were as safe and effective as governments and medical professionals say, then they wouldn't have to resort to medical fascism to force them on everyone. The fact that they've resorted to violent coercion to get people to vaccinate themselves and their children speaks volumes.

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Brain

Regular exercise may safeguard against memory loss

Hannah Nicols
Medical News Today
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 08:34 UTC
seniors jogging
© unknownRegular exercise may help ward off memory decline in people with vascular cognitive impairment.
More than 16 million people in the United States live with cognitive impairment. The underlying cause of vascular cognitive impairment, in particular, is caused by problems with blood supply to the brain. Scientists may have found a solution to prevent memory decline in people with this condition, in the form of regular exercise.

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is the second leading cause of dementia - after Alzheimer's disease - accounting for around 10 percent of cases. People with VCI experience deterioration in mental abilities, such as memory, thinking, problem-solving, and language.

VCI develops as a result of reduced blood flow to the brain that damages and eventually kills brain cells. The death of brain cells causes problems with cognition - memory, thinking, and reasoning.

Blood flow can diminish due to narrowing and blockage of small blood vessels deep in the brain, through a major stroke, or many mini strokes. In many of these cases, these difficulties are linked to underlying health conditions, including high blood pressure and diabetes, and lifestyle choices such as smoking and being overweight.

Comment: Related articles:

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Wine

Schizophrenia risk increased with alcohol, drug abuse

Tim Newman
Medical News Today
Fri, 21 Oct 2016 07:02 UTC
smoking marijuana
© unknownThe relationship between drug abuse and schizophrenia is complex.
The question of whether drug abuse increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and other mental illnesses has been a hotly debated topic for decades. New research from Denmark that includes data from more than 3 million individuals takes an in-depth look at the conundrum.

There has been a wealth of research on the impact that alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs might have on the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.

However, it is a difficult area to study, and previous research has been controversial and often contradictory.

As one example, many earlier studies could not take into account co-abuse; in other words, people who abuse a number of compounds.

Dr. Stine Mai Nielsen and Prof. Merete Nordentoft, from Copenhagen University Hospital, Mental Health Center in Denmark, recently embarked on one of the largest studies of its type.

Their findings, presented at this year's International Early Psychosis Association (IEPA) meeting in Milan, Italy, add another piece to the puzzle.

Comment: Related articles:

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Shoe

Moderate exercise improves memory in learning, gaming does opposite

Elseveir
Science Daily
Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:50 UTC
running
© unknown
Ever worried that all the information you've crammed in during a study session might not stay in your memory? The answer might be going for a run, according to a new study published in Cognitive Systems Research.

A student's choice of activity after a period of learning -- such as cramming for an exam -- has a direct effect on their ability to remember information. The researchers behind the new study, from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, say students should do moderate exercise, like running, rather than taking part in a passive activity such as playing computer games if they want to make sure they remember what they learned.

"I had kids in an age where computer games started to be of high interest," said Harald Kindermann, lead author and professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. "I wanted to find out how this -- and hence the increasing lack of exercise in fresh air -- impacts their ability to memorize facts for school."

Comment: Related articles:

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Biohazard

The largest polluter on earth, the U.S Navy, admits to having released chemicals harmful to humans and wildlife

Dahr Jamail
Truthout
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 17:15 UTC
Navy
© US Pacific FleetA Naval air crew man prepares a sonobuoy, equipment known to harbor toxic heavy metals and chemicals that cause brain damage, in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
For decades, the US Navy, by its own admission, has been conducting war game exercises in US waters using bombs, missiles, sonobuoys (sonar buoys), high explosives, bullets and other materials that contain toxic chemicals - including lead and mercury - that are harmful to both humans and wildlife.

The Navy's 2015 Northwest Training and Testing environmental impact statement(EIS) states that in the thousands of warfare "testing and training events" it conducts each year, 200,000 "stressors" from the use of missiles, torpedoes, guns and other explosive firings in US waters happen biennially.

Sonobuoys, which weigh from 36 to 936 pounds apiece and many of which can contain up to five pounds of explosives, are dropped from aircraft and never recovered; they're called "expended materials." The Navy is planning to increase its sonobuoy use from 20 to 720 annually, according to its Northwest Training and Testing 2014 document. This steep increase could have devastating impacts for humans.
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Attention

Toxic economy: Endocrine disrupting chemicals cost the US billions every year

Brian Bienkowski
Environmental Health News
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 20:00 UTC
toxic chemicals
© Rejuvena Health & Aesthetics
Researchers estimate the United States economy takes a $340 billion hit annually as endocrine-disrupting compounds lower IQs, increase behavior problems and exacerbate health woes like obesity and diabetes.

Exposure to chemicals in pesticides, toys, makeup, food packaging and detergents costs the U.S. more than $340 billion annually due to health care costs and lost wages, according to a new analysis.

The chemicals, known as endocrine disruptors, impact how human hormones function and have been linked to a variety of health problems such as impaired brain development, lower IQs, behavior problems, infertility, birth defects, obesity and diabetes.

The estimated economic toll is more than 2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

The findings, researchers say, "document the urgent public threat posed by endocrine disrupting chemicals."

Comment: Endocrine Disruptors: What are they & how you can avoid them

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Syringe

700,000 lives a year: How Big Pharma fuels the 'superbug' health crisis

Carey Wedler
Anti Media
Tue, 18 Oct 2016 00:00 UTC
superbug
Epidemic levels of opioid addiction and overdose in the United States have gained widespread attention, and Big Pharma has rightfully been implicated in the problem. But another health crisis is sweeping not just America, but the world — and drug companies' role in the latest crisis is equally significant.

Superbugs have garnered countless headlines lately — and for good reason. As Bloomberg reported this week, superbugs, bacteria that have grown resistant to antibiotics, are estimated to claim the lives of 700,000 worldwide every year data on cases in the United States and government agencies are complicit. A recent report by Rand Europe commissioned by the U.K. government found that by 2050, that number could rise to 10 million if measures are not taken to quell the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). By comparison, the World Health Organization estimates 69,000 people die every year globally from opiate overdose.

News stories consistently crop up sounding alarms about discoveries of superbugs resistant to even the most potent antibiotics — some of which are saved for use only in the most dangerous, life-threatening cases. In truth, many of these headlines are grossly sensationalized by mainstream media in apparent attempts to fearmonger their audiences and draw traffic. For example, most superbugs are confined to and contracted at hospitals, meaning the "nightmare strains" many outlets have warned about are not crawling on street corners.

Nevertheless, the underlying problem is real.
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Pills

Landmark study shows antidepressants make people 'twice as likely' to consider violence and suicide

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 19 Oct 2016 20:34 UTC
Girl with gun and pills
According to the latest research coming out of the United Kingdom, patients should think twice before taking SSRI antidepressant medications. Brand names can include Prozac, Luvox, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa and others. Researchers in the UK evaluated clinical trials of SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors) and concluded healthy adults, who had showed no signs of depression before the clinical trials began, reported double the risk of having feelings which could lead to suicide and violence.

In other words, the control group, the group of normal individuals who did not have depression but were given the antidepressant medications during the trial phase of the drug company's research, reported they had experienced suicidal thoughts and ideations, and thoughts of violence. Put bluntly, antidepressants can potentially make a normal person want to kill themselves or others.

As reported by The Express, "Experts working on the study said the analysis was undertaken because the harms of antidepressants, including the risk of suicide, are often explained away as if they are disease symptoms or only a problem in children." The Free Thought Project spoke with an ER nurse to confirm these suspicions and get an opinion from someone working in the field of Emergency Medicine.


Comment: New study reveals antidepressants double the risk of suicide and violence

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