Archive for May, 2011

Genetically Engineered organisms actually become part of the bacteria in our digestive tracts and reproduce continuously inside us. But the USDA now wants to remove all controls from GE corn and cotton!

There are no human clinical trials of genetically engineered foods. The only published human feeding experiment revealed that genetic material inserted into GE soy transfers into the DNA of bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function. Even after we stop eating GE foods, we may still have the GE proteins produced continuously inside us.

As the Institute for Responsible Technology has noted, the genetic engineering process creates massive collateral damage, causing mutations in hundreds or thousands of locations throughout the plant’s DNA. Natural genes can be deleted or permanently turned on or off, and hundreds may change their behavior. Even the inserted gene can be damaged or rearranged, and may create proteins that can trigger allergies or promote disease.

The idea of having genetically engineered genes permanently living inside our guts has staggering implications:

*If the antibiotic gene inserted into most GM crops were to transfer, it could create antibiotic-resistant diseases.

*Bt toxins (Bacillus thuringiensis) inserted into GM food crops to kill pests are reaching the bloodstreams of 93% of women and 80% of unborn babies because of the consumption of meat, milk, and eggs from livestock fed GE corn. This could turn bacteria in our intestines into pesticide factories.

*Animal studies show that DNA in food can travel into organs throughout the body, even into the fetus.

Taken from: Alliance for Health, http://www.anh-usa.org/genetically-engineered-food-alters-our-digestive-systems/

The food industry spends $1.6 billion a year to advertise to our children on junk food. Sugary cereals, soda and drinks loaded with sugar and corn syrup, fast food and snacks.

Is it any wonder that one out of three children today are overweight or obese.

If this is a concern to you write your congress person and ask them to stop killing our children with sweets.

Spicing up your meals may also spice up your life.

Just look at tumeric. Tumeric is an Indian spice which gives curries its yellow color.

It may actually help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. In Alzheimer’s disease, plaques are deposited in the brain, which causes the brain to work poorly. Researchers at UCLA found that curcumin, one of most active substances found in turmeric, reduced the number of these plaques by 50 percent.

Dean Ornish, M.D. The Spectrum, p. 62

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in cold-water fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines, and albacore tuna. It is also found in canola, soybean, flaxseed, and walnut oils.

Dr. Alexander Leaf, past Chief of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, did some pioneering work documenting the health benefits of these fatty acids. His studies supported with others showed that taking omega-3 fatty acids on a regular basis may reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death by 42 to 90 percent.

Other studies also showed that taking omega-3 may reduce the risk of prostate cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer.

Dean Ornish, M.D. The Spectrum, p.42

Probiotic bacteria are good for your gut. But most of the time we just hear about anti-biotic. Whenever antibiotics are taken it kills all bacteria in the system. This means the probiotics, the good bacteria along with the bad bacteria.

There are literally trillions of bacteria in your body that are good for you. They live in your gut, mouth and vagina. These bacteria live in a complex equilibrium with other bacteria and help keep the harmful ones from growing. They may also aid your digestion and improve your absorption of nutrients. They can improve your immune function.

But there are forces that throw off this delicate balance. Some of these are aging, alcohol, poor diet, stress, chronic illness and particularly antibiotics. Antibiotics kill the good as well as the bad bacteria Adding probiotics to your diet either in food or supplementation can restore your normal balance.

Remember when you do have to take an antibiotic but sure to take a probiotic afterwards to help restore your body to its proper functioning.

The American Heart Association claims that the costs of treating heart disease are expected to triple in the next 20 years.

Dr. Paul Heidenreich, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford Medical School and chair of the American Heart Association says: “The burden of heart disease and stroke on the US health care system will be substantial and will limit our ability to care for the US population unless we can take steps now to prevent cardiovascular disease.”

ANSWER: Eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, cut out red meat almost entirely and stay away from most processed foods and large animal farms which fill out beef, pork, chicken, and turkeys with all kinds of drugs.

The answer is SIMPLE. But most people are not willing to give up their red meat and junk food. We already knew this from World Two when meat and milk were rationed and diseases plummeted.

Legislators say we have to cut out health care because it’s too expensive. If we gave a “flowering” diabetic a couple hundred dollars and the motivation to eat properly and exercise we could save the $30,000 cost of amputating a diabetic leg. But insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies could not rake in the billions of dollars they do now.

Another simple solution is universal health care which would save billions of dollars. Anyone complaining about the high cost of drugs without taking diet and exercise into consideration is just blowing smoke.

Organic produce has no synthetic additives that are linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s.

It also has no residue from the more than 500 chemicals they use in pesticides. And crops are not made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

And don’t forget about high fructose corn syrup. Sugar is sugar from cane and corn – but the process for making high fructose corn sugar is the poison in the pill.

A review published in a recent issue of the journal Nutrients concludes that calcium and vitamin D supplements should be tried before resorting to bone building drugs to help maintain normal bone density.

For their review, Karen Plawecki and Karen Chapman-Novakofski of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign selected 62 human studies conducted over the past decade that evaluated the impact on bone health of calcium and vitamin D from food, calcium and vitamin D from supplements, other bone health-related nutrients (including protein, sodium, soy and vitamin K), and portfolio diets, such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Mediterranean diets, which provide a number of nutrients. The researchers confirmed a benefit for supplements, food-based interventions and educational strategies on bone health. The findings suggest nutrition therapies as first-line treatments for postmenopausal women and others at risk of osteoporosis, particularly in light of the side effects associated with pharmaceutical agents used to treat the condition.

“For many people, prescription bone-building medicines should be a last resort,” stated Dr Chapman-Novakofski, who is a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois. “Bisphosphonates, for instance, disrupt normal bone remodeling by shutting down the osteoclasts—the cells that break down old bone to make new bone. When that happens, new bone is built on top of old bone. Yes, your bone density is higher, but the bone’s not always structurally sound . . . Although the test reports that you’re fine or doing better, you may still be at risk for a fracture.”

“I suspect that many doctors reach for their prescription pads because they believe it’s unlikely that people will change their diets,” she remarked.

Concerning the effect of nutrients other than calcium and vitamin D were examined in this review, Dr Plawecki observed that “Following a low-sodium diet does seem to have a positive effect on bone density.”

“Some people have the habit of adding a generous sprinkle of salt to most foods before eating, but there’s more involved here than learning not to do that,” she noted. “You have to choose different foods.”

Dr Plawecki, who is the director of the University of Illinois’ dietetics program, recommends adopting a portfolio diet that provides numerous beneficial nutrients, including high amounts of magnesium and potassium in addition to calcium. Additionally, Drs Plawecki and Chapman-Novakofski stress that increased physical activity is needed to help maintain bone and muscle strength, as well as balance and flexibility.

From the Journal Life Extension www.lef.org

The single most important cause of diabetes is excessive body weight. Physical activity helps prevent diabetes at any body weight by improving the sensitivity of our tissues to the hormone insulin.

Dr. David Ludwig, ENDING THE FOOD FIGHT, p. 90

Children can “grow into” their weight simply by slowing down their weight gain. In general one inch of growth in a child equals 4 or 5 pounds.

Dr. David Ludwig