Health & WellnessS


Cupcake Pink

US food companies use ingredients that are banned in other countries

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© 100daysofrealfood.com

Yahoo News recently carried an article about the list of ingredients that are banned across the globe but still allowed for use the USA. The people at 100daysofrealfood.com took a deeper look at the topic of banned foodstuffs in the context of failing American health rate.

For example:
  • More than two thirds of United States citizens are overweight - 33% being obese.
  • 32% of children are either obese or overweight.
  • 43% of Americans are projected to be obese in 10 years.
  • Obesity is America's biggest cause of premature death and is linked to 70% of heart disease and 80% of diabetes cases.
  • And 41% of Americans are projected to get cancer in their lifetime!

Attention

Bolivia president calls fast food 'a threat to humanity'

Bolivia's President Evo Morales on Wednesday slammed western fast food as "a threat to humanity" as he accused multinational firms of seeking to block the development of his country's staple food. Morales said US companies had led a campaign to stop the United Nations declaring 2013 as the international year of quinoa, which the Bolivian leader and UN chief Ban Ki-moon launched at the UN headquarters.

The grain-like quinoa is packed with vitamins and proteins and has been grown in the Andes for 7,000 years. But its cultivation was long banned by European colonizers. Now Morales and many experts are pushing quinoa as a potential answer to global food shortages.

The left-wing Bolivian leader slammed capitalist "fast food" for causing cancer and other diseases, in a speech to the UN General Assembly to launch the commemorative year.

"The fast food of the west is a great harm to humanity," the left-wing leader stormed in a speech in which he said capitalism had been a prime cause of climate change.

"International companies opposed with great force the announcing of the international year of quinoa. They were led by the United States," he said.

"These companies are trying to make sure that the year of quinoa will be a failure" because it will drive up the price and make the product less available.

Attention

Study: Insulin doubles death rate in Type 2 Diabetics

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© Jeff FillmoreEnough with Insulin!
A new study clearly documents that the standard treatment for type 2 diabetes is a killer, resulting in more than double the deaths. The treatment justification has always been based on irrelevant criteria - just as it is with most pharmaceutical treatments.

It seems so intuitive: People with diabetes should inject insulin. In the case of people with type 1 diabetes, in which the pancreas doesn't produce insulin, that's probably true. However, modern doctors routinely give insulin to people with type 2 diabetes simply because it reduces blood sugar levels.

The reality, though, is that type 2 diabetics who take insulin injections die at more than double the rate of those given non-insulin treatment!

Alarm Clock

USDA approved Monsanto alfalfa despite warnings of new pathogen discovered in genetically engineered crops

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© seattleorganicrestaurants.com
Just two weeks before the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) fully deregulated Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa, a senior soil scientist alerted the department about a newly discovered, microscopic pathogen found in high concentrations of Roundup Ready corn and soy that researchers believe could be causing infertility in livestock and diseases in crops that could threaten the entire domestic food supply.

Dr. Don Huber, a plant pathologist and retired Purdue University professor, wrote in a letter to the USDA that the pathogen is new to science and appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals and probably humans.

"For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks," Huber wrote in his January 16 letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
"Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status. In layman's terms, it should be treated as an emergency."

Comment: Watch the following interviews with Dr. Huber for more information about the negative effects of glyphosate and GM crops:

The Hidden Epidemic Destroying Your Gut Flora
Dr. Huber's research, which spans over 55 years, has been devoted to looking at how the agricultural system can be managed for more effective crop production, better disease control, improved nutrition, and safety. The introduction of genetically engineered crops has dramatically affected and changed all agricultural components:
  • The plants
  • The physical environment
  • The dynamics of the biological environment, and
  • Pests and diseases (plant-, animal-, and human diseases)
In this interview, Dr. Huber reveals a number of shocking facts that need to become common knowledge in order to stop this catastrophic alteration and destruction of our environment, our food supply, and ultimately, our own biology.
Worse than DDT: When you eat this, it ends up lingering in your gut


Books

Landmark study exposes the impact of hormone-disrupting chemicals on you, your family and the environment

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Many synthetic chemicals, untested for their disrupting effects on the hormone system, could have significant health implications according to the State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organization (WHO).

The joint study calls for more research to understand fully the associations between endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) - found in many household and industrial products - and specific diseases and disorders. The report notes that with more comprehensive assessments and better testing methods, potential disease risks could be reduced, with substantial savings to public health.

Human health depends on a well-functioning endocrine system to regulate the release of certain hormones that are essential for functions such as metabolism, growth and development, sleep and mood. Some substances known as endocrine disruptors can change the function(s) of this hormonal system increasing the risk of adverse health effects. Some EDCs occur naturally, while synthetic varieties can be found in pesticides, electronics, personal care products and cosmetics. They can also be found as additives or contaminants in food.

Comment: Further research on exposure and effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals:


Video

Horsemeat? GMOs and food toxins are the real scandal

While the UK media becomes hysterical over the discovery of horsemeat in the food chain, RINF Alternative News takes a look at the real dangers of a handful of chemicals that are added to our food, which we consume everyday.


Sherlock

Quinoa: Good, evil, or just really complicated?

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© Emily Barney/Flickr
"Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa?," thunders the headline of a recent Guardian piece. Hard to say, but reality check: It isn't just vegans who enjoy quinoa. Like many occasional meat eaters I know, I've been eating it for years. Quinoa is also big among gluten-intolerant omnivores. So quinoa's truth - unpalatable or not - isn't just for its vegan fans to bear.

So what is going on with this long-time staple of the Andes and newly emerged favorite of health-minded US eaters?

First, the good. Quinoa is the grain-like seed of a plant in the goosefoot family (other members include spinach, chard, and the wonderful edible weed lambs quarters), and its appeal is immense. Twenty years ago, NASA researchers sung its praises as potential astronaut chow, mainly for its superior nutrient density. No less an authority than the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization hails it as "the only plant food that contains all the essential amino acids, trace elements and vitamins and contains no gluten." The FAO is almost breathlessly enthusiastic about quinoa - it has declared 2013 the International Year of Quinoa and even runs a Facebook fan page for it.

TV

Large study links excessive TV in childhood to criminal behavior in adults

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© Shutterstock.com
Time spent in front of the television during childhood and early adolescence is linked to criminal behavior in adulthood, according to research published online in Pediatrics.

"Antisocial behaviour is a major problem for society. While we're not saying that television causes all antisocial behaviour, our findings do suggest that reducing TV viewing could go some way towards reducing rates of antisocial behaviour in society," explained Bob Hancox of the University of Otago in New Zealand.

The study found that those who watched more television during childhood were at a significantly higher risk of having a criminal conviction and a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. The link between television and antisocial behavior held even after factors such as sex, IQ score, antisocial behavior in early childhood, socioeconomic status and parenting were accounted for.

Comment: Comment: Read the following article to learn more about the Debilitating Effects of TV on Children:

T.V. Exposure may be Associated with Aggressive Behavior in Young Children
Study links attention problems to early TV viewing
Kids Under 2 Should Play, Not Watch TV, Doctors Say
Brain Development: How Much TV Should Children Watch?
We now live in a society where these types of experiences, so critical for appropriate brain development, have been usurped by television and other electronic media. In the United States, the average time television is on in the home each day approaches seven hours. We live in a society where the number of downloads or DVDs rented each day is six million, while only three million books are checked out of libraries. The average U.S. household has 2.24 televisions, with 66 percent of U.S. homes having three or more televisions. The typical American child spends 1680 minutes watching television each week, while more than 70 percent of day care centers also have the television playing during a typical day. The average American youth spends 900 hours in school each year, but watches 1500 hours of television.

By the time the typical American child finishes elementary school, he will have witnessed 8000 murders on television, while 79 percent of Americans feel that TV violence helps precipitate real-life violent behavior. The average American child witnesses 20,000 30-second television commercials each year.



Health

Stress, magnesium and disease

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that about 60% of adults in the United States do not consume the estimated average requirement for magnesium. What they don't tell us is that this 60% is based on minimum daily estimates set by the Department of Agriculture are set terribly low, so actually the number is much higher. In the best of times magnesium intake from white processed foods is on the level of starvation of this precious and very necessary mineral. Most Americans are actually malnourished and diseased because of it and because of the toxic loads they carry in their cells and blood.

The normal accepted recommended daily dietary amount of magnesium is only 300-400 mg. Many professionals feel this to be a bare minimum. Some would say that 1,000 mg is probably more in the range of what most people need due to stress (measured by cortisol levels) causing magnesium to be dumped into the sweat in increasing quantities. Actually there are all kinds of cellular stresses that drive down magnesium levels including chemical stress.

Radiation, chemicals and heavy metals put enormous stress on organs, tissues and cells. Magnesium mediates a good part of our body's ability to deal with and remove such toxic insults. Toxicities actually increase as magnesium levels fall. In plain language that means we have more allergic reactions, come down with the flu more often (never listen or trust anything the World Health Organizations says about the flu for most cases are actually not caused by a virus but by chemical stress), suffer from diabetes (diabetes is largely a result of these toxic stresses combined with overall malnutrition especially magnesium deficiency). Magnesium is the Ultimate Heart Medicine for you will always see deficient cellular magnesium in each and every case of heart disease, stroke, cancer and neurological decline.

Cookie

Beyond Celiac disease: The universal toxicity of wheat, Part I

Sayer Ji, the author of "The Dark Side of Wheat," discusses the emerging viewpoint that wheat represents a human species-specific intolerance that should be universally avoided.