Health & Wellness

Natural Flavors? Castoreum aka "beaver butt"

Food Matters
Mon, 18 Nov 2013 19:29 UTC

Millions of people across the globe are eating "beaver butt" and don't even know that they're consuming such a substance.

It's called "castoreum," and it's emitted from the castor sacs within the animal's anus. For a beaver, this slimy brown substance is used to mark its territory, but for us humans, it's used as an additive that is often labeled as "natural flavoring" in the foods we eat - vanilla, strawberry and raspberry probably being the most common.

Why is castoreum used? The most notable characteristic (after being processed) has to be the smell of castoreum. Instead of smelling horrible, like most people would expect from an anally produced secretion, it has a pleasant scent, which supposedly makes it a perfect candidate for food flavoring and other products.

Comment: What's Really Behind the Ingredients in 'Natural Flavors?'

Medical Doctor Sells Practice, Opens Up "Farmacy" Using Food as Medicine

Justin Gardner
Free Thought Project
Sun, 18 Oct 2015 18:45 UTC

Dr. Robert Weiss believes that a change is coming about in the way we approach health and medicine, or rather a reconnection with knowledge that was shunned with the onset of big pharma.

He sold his practice in New York and built the first farm-based medical practice on a 348-acre farm in Long Valley, New Jersey. It can be called a "farmacy," a place that explores and utilizes plant-based "food as medicine."

Comment: Also note that eating only vegetables and fruits is typically not a good idea for a consistent diet. In fact becoming a strict vegetarian might kill you. Consider reading The Vegetarian Myth for a detailed account written by a former vegetarian.

Boron: An essential mineral that improves absorption of calcium and magnesium

OrganicFacts.net
Mon, 23 Mar 2015 04:25 UTC

Boron is a vital trace mineral that is required for the normal growth and health of the body. Many dangerous conditions like arthritis and osteoporosis are naturally managed by Boron, and it helps to reduce menopausal symptoms as well. It is believed that boron improves the natural ability of the human body to absorb calcium and magnesium.

Important Sources of Boron

Fruits like apples, oranges, red grapes, pears, plums, kiwis, sultanas, dates, as well as certain vegetables, avocado, soybeans and nuts are rich sources of boron. Chickpeas, borlotti beans, hazel nuts, currants, peanut butter, red kidney beans, tomato, lentils, olive, onion, potato wine, and beer are also notable sources of Boron. There are so many sources that there is no reason to ever suffer from a deficiency.

Comment: There are many factors that could affect the availability of a nutrient in foods (including processing, storage, and soil depletion), so even though a nutrient should be widely available, it is still quite possible to have a nutrient deficiency.

Comment: Any of the above listed symptoms may indicate a boron deficiency, so it may be worth considering supplementing to see if symptoms improve.

Getting in shape, a critical part of preparedness

Bug Out News
Sun, 18 Oct 2015 16:46 UTC

Okay, so you've taken the time to research and assemble your bug out bag and the gear you'll want to take with you when the time comes. You've figured out your escape route, complete with two-three alternate routes. You've got enough food and water for 72 hours, the length of time you've estimated it will take to reach your bug out destination.

But less than two hours into your journey, you're feeling wiped out. The heat (or cold) is sapping your strength. You're pausing more than you're walking. You're drinking more water than you planned on drinking. The weight of your bag seems too much. You ache; your feet are already hurting.

Comment: More info:

Surviving the End of the World (as we Know it)

When disaster strikes are you prepared?

Economic Collapse: The narrowing window of crisis preparedness

First aide 101: Heal a wound naturally

Chelsea Clark
Mother Earth News
Fri, 09 Oct 2015 15:20 UTC

As a fairly active and very clumsy person, I am no stranger to bumps, bruises, and cuts. I often get scratches on my skin, whether they are from working in the garden, hiking on the trail, or cooking in the kitchen.

Fortunately for accident-prone people like me, there is a wide selection of natural products that can help heal wounds. If you want to know how to heal a cut fast, look to things like honey, zinc, chamomile, and more.

Comment: Read more about Foods and herbs that help guard against infection

Great-tasting, healthy food at school = Happier, smarter kids

Institute for Responsible Technology
Sat, 17 Oct 2015 11:59 UTC

The first-in-the-nation 100% organic, non-GMO school lunch program began in Sausalito Marin City School District in 2013. It has been a blazing success in its first two years of operation. Teachers and admininstrators report:

increased leadership qualities exhibited by students;
improved academic performance;
67% decrease in disciplinary cases;
increased attendance.

Teachers have also observed students treating one another with respect, improved manners, and more open communication.

Steve Van Zant, Superintendent of Sausalito Marin City School District, is clearly pleased with the result. "Food service is one of those things as a superintendent, you say, 'I can't lose money on this.'" But after talking to Conscious Kitchen founder, Judi Shils, Van Zant was convinced he had an opportunity to do something special. As it turned out, the results were not only positive for the budget, it created a whole new school culture.

Comment: Given the results of the program, why a school district do anything else? But then, squeezing education budgets, making sweetheart deals with purveyors of cheap, factory-farmed pseudo-food producing an ignorant, compliant workforce, it makes a kind of horrible sense. Kudos to this school district for bucking the trend.

Nuclear power kills! Nuclear Regulatory Commission cancelled its nuclear site cancer study

Chris Busby
The Ecologist
Sat, 19 Sep 2015 23:25 UTC

The US's Nuclear Regulatory Commission just cancelled its study into cancer near nuclear plants citing the 'excessive cost' of $8 million, writes Chris Busby. Of course that's rubbish - similar studies in the UK have been carried out for as little as £600 per site, and in any case $8 million is small change for the NRC. The real reason is to suppress the unavoidable conclusion: nuclear power kills.

After spending some $1.5 million and more than five years on developing strategies to answer the question of increases of cancer near nuclear facilities, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week reported that they would not continue with the process. They would knock it on the head ^[1].

Comment: 'So despite the truly enormous amount of information that has emerged about the adverse health effects of releases of radioactivity since 1990, no official investigation will be carried out.' And if there is any official investigation the NRC will claim that radiation is good for you!

BigPharma win: College students report frequent use of prescription pain medications, sedatives and stimulants

Traci Pedersen
PsychCentral
Sat, 17 Oct 2015 00:00 UTC

Prescription drug use for non-medical reasons is a fairly common practice among college students, according to the 2015 College Prescription Drug Study (CPDS).

"Overall, one in four undergraduates reported that they used prescription pain medications, sedatives or stimulants for non-medical reasons in their lifetimes," said Anne McDaniel, Ph.D., author of the study and associate director of research and data management at Ohio State University's Center for the Study of Student Life.

Stimulant use was the most common, with seven out of 10 college students reporting that it is somewhat or very easy to obtain controlled stimulants without a prescription. About 18 percent of undergraduates reported misusing prescription stimulants such as Adderall. The great majority (83 percent) received them from friends and most said they used the drug to help them study or improve their grades.

Comment: Prescription drug use is one of the most significant health dangers facing Americans of all ages today. The number of overdose deaths from opioid painkillers alone more than tripled from 1999 to 2006, to 13,800 deaths that year. In the past, most overdoses were due to illegal narcotics, such as heroin, with most deaths in big cities. But prescription painkillers have now surpassed both heroin and cocaine as the leading cause of fatal overdoses.

New study shows hunter-gatherer tribes get less shut-eye

Russian Times
Fri, 16 Oct 2015 17:15 UTC

Hunter-gatherers in African and South American tribes appear to only clock up an average of 6.4 hours of sleep per night, a new study reveals. Scientists say the industrial world people can finally relax about sleeping less than eight hours a night.

A group of researchers have recorded sleeping habits of three hunter-gatherer societies in three different environments in Africa and South America: the Hazda tribe in Tanzania, the San in Namibia and the Tsimane in Bolivia. Their findings have been published in Current Biology magazine this Thursday reveals.

Comment: Seven hours of sleep is the optimum - and more than eight is 'hazardous' to health'

Coca-Cola is poison & food companies lie

Jake Anderson
The Anti Media
Thu, 15 Oct 2015 16:17 UTC

In an unexpected move, celebrity football star Tom Brady recently joined the ranks of countless health experts and activists by denouncing the popular soft drink Coca-Cola, calling it "poison."

In an interview with Boston sports radio station WEEI, Brady said,

"You'll probably go out and drink Coca-Cola and think, 'oh yeah, that's no problem.' Why? Because they pay lots of money for advertisements to think that you should drink Coca-Cola for a living? No, I totally disagree with that."

Comment: Study finds: Food, drink industries undermine health policy

Writing in The Lancet medical journal, the researchers cited industry documents they said revealed how companies seek to shape health legislation and avoid regulation.

This is done by "building financial and institutional relations" with health professionals, non-governmental organizations and health agencies, distorting research findings, and lobbying politicians to oppose health reforms, they said.

They cited analysis of published research which found systematic bias from industry funding: articles sponsored exclusively by food and drinks companies were between four and eight times more likely to have conclusions that favored the companies than those not sponsored by them.

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Robert F. Kennedy talks about what is in his book about Fauci: [Link]

parzival

Health & Wellness

Natural Flavors? Castoreum aka "beaver butt"

Medical Doctor Sells Practice, Opens Up "Farmacy" Using Food as Medicine

Boron: An essential mineral that improves absorption of calcium and magnesium

Getting in shape, a critical part of preparedness

First aide 101: Heal a wound naturally

Great-tasting, healthy food at school = Happier, smarter kids

Nuclear power kills! Nuclear Regulatory Commission cancelled its nuclear site cancer study

BigPharma win: College students report frequent use of prescription pain medications, sedatives and stimulants

New study shows hunter-gatherer tribes get less shut-eye

Coca-Cola is poison & food companies lie

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