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Heavy metals have been getting plenty of attention as we learn more about how and where our food comes from. The fact is that we've been exposed to these metals for years but we're just now understanding how far-reaching their effects can be.
Yet projects such as the regeneration of the Loess Plateau in China show that when we make the right corrections, we can reestablish a thriving environment once more, and much quicker than expected.
The Loess Plateau was until recently one of the poorest regions of China where centuries of agriculture had taken its toll. Erosion turned once fertile soils in this mountainous region into a desert-like landscape, unable to support plant growth. Similar situations exist all over the world.
In fact, according to Maria-Helena Semedo, Ph.D., of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), if the current rate of land degradation continues, all of the topsoil around the world will be gone in 60 years.1 There is hope though — provided we DON'T continue the way we're currently going.
Soil scientist Liu of the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP) has followed the Loess Plateau regeneration project for the past 15 years, and today, the once barren landscape is again filled with thriving forests, and farmers are again able to produce abundant amounts of food.
The film documents this truly historic project, and how lessons learned at the Loess Plateau might help restore fertility to barren lands around the globe.
Comment: According to new research carried out by US scientists, organic farming could provide ample food for the whole human population, while causing less pollution and fewer health problems than conventional agriculture.
- Organic agriculture, capitalism and the parallel reality of the Pro-GMO evangelist - Shanthu Shantharam
- The agroecology alternative to Monsanto and militarism
- From Albrecht to Monsanto: Agriculture driven by economics fails to provide for the health of the soil or the health of people
Presumably, Google searchers for mosquitoes increase as mosquitoes ramp up their activity in any given area. Using this premise, The Washington Post found that mosquito searchers shoot up in May and increase steadily through July, then drop off throughout the coming fall and winter months.
In the U.S., mosquito season is viewed as more of an itchy nuisance than a health threat, but that has changed somewhat this year, at least perceptually.
Fears of Zika virus, which some believe may be associated with suspected cases of the birth defect microcephaly, started in Brazil and have quickly spread throughout the U.S. But are such fears warranted?
Experts Admit Zika Threat Risk 'Near Zero'
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide $622 million to fight Zika virus. Yet, by White House estimates, this is "woefully inadequate." They've recommended directing $1.9 billion to fight this latest declared public health emergency
But mosquito experts are questioning the extent of emergency that actually exists. Chris Barker, Ph.D. a mosquito-borne virus researcher at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told WebMD:2
Barker expects Zika to go the way of other tropical diseases spread by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever and chikungunya, in the U.S. with perhaps small clusters of outbreaks in southern states and little activity elsewhere."I think the risk for Zika actually setting up transmission cycles that become established in the continental U.S. is near zero."
Unless you've been living in cave on a remote mountain, you know the FDA has been coming down harder on nutritional companies that publish health claims for their products. Such claims trigger investigations and harassment.
But you see, this arrangement is backwards.
© mercola.com
In it, he seriously challenges the conventional view on saturated fats, and reviews how recent studies have failed to find any significant association between saturated fat and cardiovascular risk.
Comment: Dr. Aseem Malhotra has been speaking out about the saturated fat myth for the past few years - UK cardiologist calls for change in public health advice on saturated fat
- The saturated fat myth
- Saturated fat: More surprising truths
- Latest Research Debunks The Saturated Fat Diet Myths
- 9 lies about fat that destroyed the world's health
Readers won't believe the in-person testimonials they hear! Furthermore, as mentioned in this Democracy Now 45 minute exposé Direct Order, even the Hitler regime didn't do that to its military personnel!
Comment: Read Dr. Gary Null's research into the ongoing the suffering of Gulf War veterans:
- Gulf war syndrome: United States veterans suffering from multiple debilitating symptoms
- Gulf war syndrome: The U.S. Government's conspiracy of silence
© Wikimedia CommonsA man with Parkinson’s disease displaying a flexed walking posture pictured in 1892. Photo appeared in Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpètrière, vol. 5. By Albert Londe (1858-1917) [Public domain]
James Parkinson, surgeon, geologist and palaeontologist first described what we now call Parkinson's disease in his paper on shaking palsy in 1817. He was born on April 11, 1755, which is why April 11 is World Parkinson's Day. Dr Parkinson described a condition which caused involuntary tremors when a limb is at rest, rigidity, slowness of movement and a propensity to bend forwards and slow gait when walking. There was no known cause or cure.
We now know that Parkinson's is caused by the death of cells in our pars compacta - the part of our brain which controls motor function (the Substantia nigra pars compacta if you want to get all technical). That part of the brain is a central switching room for movement, attention, learning and reward-seeking (which makes sure we keep eating and having sex).
The pars compacta exerts its control using dopamine. When everything is working well, our bodies are inhibited from moving by the part of our brain which contains the pars compacta (the basal ganglia for Latin freaks). When we decide to move something (our eyes or limbs etc), the pars compacta squirts out dopamine to take the brakes off.
If the neurons responsible for producing the dopamine are damaged, Parkinson's disease is the result. Our brain is pretty durable, because we lose around 50% of our dopamine manufacturing neurons before there are any symptoms. But once they are gone, these neurons are gone forever. As the numbers decrease, a Parkinson's sufferer has to exert greater and greater effort to produce movement.
A predilection for tonic water or coffee, therefore, could indicated some psychopathic tendencies in a person's personality.
In contrast, people who dislike bitter tastes tend to be more agreeable, the researchers discovered.
© Laboko | Shutterstock.com
The more often women in the study gave in to such cravings, the more likely they were to gain too much weight during their pregnancy, according to the study, published May 20 in the journal Appetite.
Previous research has shown that the more weight you gain during pregnancy, the harder it is to lose that weight after giving birth. And experts agree that gaining too much weight during pregnancy is the biggest contributor to postpartum weight retention. But studies have found that between 40 to 60 percent of women gain too much during this time.
Comment: See also: 'The worst storm in retail history' is heading straight for Walmart, Kroger, and Whole Foods