GM Salmon

This week, the FDA will likely decide that AquaBounty is safe for you to buy and eat. Aquawhat? AquaBounty is a salmon—a genetically engineered anti-freeze powered Hulk salmon that will change the future of what you eatGenetically modified food is not new in the US. The odds are pretty good that you’ve eaten it recently, if not today—almost all of the soybeans and corn grown in the US sprout from seeds modified to resist pesticides. Genetically modified food is in your cereal, your soda, and your stomach—but only if it’s growing from the ground. The FDA’s decision is set to change all that, ushering in a new era of food science. Harder, better, faster, and stronger creatures of all kinds could be heading to your supermarket (and plate) soon.

But back to the salmon. The AquaBounty is modified by introducing two foreign genes from two other fish. Genetically modified food works by finding desirable traits in one animal, and sticking them in the other for a hybridized genetic sequence—a process known as “recombinant DNA.” With AquaBounty, the first of two genes its designers had their eyes on is a powerful growth hormone from the Chinook salmon, boosted by pairing it with a gene from the obscure ocean pout, which triggers an always-on biological antifreeze that keeps the salmon growing during the winter. The result is a superfish that never stops growing—reaching full, bulky maturity in 18 months instead of three years. Larger fish that grow faster means more money for farmers, and more food for fish fans. RIght? Well, it’s not that simple.

On the other end of a debate are an irate league of scientists and food safety advocates who aren’t sold on the entire concept of GM food—to the extent of calling out the FDA on sloppy, biased science. These skeptics worry about a whole host of potential problems—will GM salmon cause new, unseen allergies and sickness in humans? Will they evolutionarily outcompete and snuff out their non-modified cousins? And will we even know what we’re exposing ourselves to?—the FDA has already ruled that GM salmon won’t need to be labeled as such. The FDA has further concluded, they claim, that we have nothing to worry about health-wise, though critics characterize their testing methodology as laughable, using only a dozen or so sample fish to test check for potential medical complications in humans. Compare this to the EU, where opposition to GM food is so intense that only a dozen or so have been approved in the past decade—a process requiring multinational consensus, not a small panel of experts.

Whether the FDA or its critics are correct, the precedent here will be a significant one. The first step onto our plates will be the most difficult to achieve, and once superfish are taken as a given, the rest of the zoo won’t be far behind. When fish that are named by trademarks instead of taxonomy are commonplace, it will have changed a fundamental part of eating. Companies and R&D labs, rather than oceans, may someday be the source of our food—a shift that companies like AquaBounty have fought hard for, spending $60 million and a decade to develop the salmon. On paper, the benefits of GM animals are clear. But, like anything else that ends up in our bodies, rigorous deliberation is necessary—maybe enough until both sides are quiet and content.

For original article click here.

Minerals from Molasses and Bi-Polar

Dangers of Gasric bypass

Research is showing that people who under gastric bypass surgery — a barbaric procedure if there ever was one — experience a decrease in the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin. This, according to the researchers, helps patients lose weight and also proves the surgical procedure is a success.But wait a minute. If the decrease in the hormone is responsible for the weight loss, then aren’t there other strategies that help control this appetite hormone without the use of scalpels, scar tissue, loss of blood and sky-high medical bills? Of course there are! The surgeons just don’t know about them.

It all comes down to brain chemistry: modify your brain chemistry and your appetite comes back into balance. You don’t need surgery to have a healthy appetite, either. All you really need is the following:

1. Avoid all processed foods. Don’t eat any refined sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, refined carbohydrates, refined white flour, white rice, soft drinks, chips, breads or other carbs. Basically follow the Atkins diet, but make it healthier by reading Low-Carb Diet Warning in the mean time.
2. Start feeding yourself superfoods: chlorella, spirulina, wheat grass, organic vitamins, broccoli sprouts, garlic, ginger, quinoa, and so on. This will give you outstanding nutrition.
3. Take coral calcium, sea vegetable supplements, or some other source of macro minerals and trace minerals.
4. Get a daily dose of sunshine. I don’t have the space to explain it here, but sunshine alters your brain chemistry and suppresses out of control carbohydrate cravings. Everybody needs natural sunlight on their skin.
5. Get a daily dose of physical exercise, even if it means nothing more than pumping your arms up and down for ten minutes while you sit in a chair. Better yet, get into a walking habit if you can walk. This radically alters your brain chemistry and frequently drops cravings within a matter of weeks, if not sooner.
6. Take appetite suppressing nutritional supplements like hoodia gordonii, jojoba extract (also called Simmondsin), psyllium fiber or other supplements shown to block hunger signals.

Do all this and you can save yourself from the surgeon’s scalpel. Surgery should always be the VERY LAST option after all other options are exhausted. And I’ve never met or even heard of a single person undergoing gastric bypass surgery who exhausted the other options first. Too often, people opt for surgery as a lazy shortcut. That’s right: LAZY shortcut. It’s lazy, irresponsible, and it scars your body for life. Oh, and by the way, it kills something like 1.5% of all patients undergoing the surgery. How’s that for your health?

Look: there are only about 20 – 30 people on the entire planet who have a freakish genetic fluke that causes them to eat uncontrollably. Everybody else who’s obese just suffers from poor brain chemistry, poor nutritional habits and lack of education about what really works to lose weight and regain health. It sounds simple, but if you do the six things I’ve named above, there’s nearly a 100% chance that you’ll lose unwanted pounds and find yourself at a healthy weight in a matter of months. The question is: are you willing to give up all that junk food, television watching, and binge eating in order to be thin and healthy? Only you can answer that question.

By the way, I know what I’m talking about here. I used to be overweight, unhealthy, depressed and borderline diabetic. Using the strategies listed above, I lost fifty pounds of body fat and regained my health and youth. It wasn’t easy, but it works. And I have my entire stomach, thank you.

For original article click here.

This could be the last week of business for hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries across Los Angeles, as the city cracks down on where people can sell Calfornia’s biggest cash crop.

Shops along Venice beach hawk all kinds of funky things, from big sunglasses and dreamcatchers — to marijuana.

“We basically have the best deals on the beach,” says a young woman chatting up potential customers outside a store called Dr. Kush. Buff guys wave signs behind her that say “420 Evaluation” and “The Doctor Is In”, implying that doctor will write you a prescription for pot.

California legalized marijuana for medical use 14 years ago. In the past few years, Los Angeles City Council member Ed Reyes says the number of stores that sell it exploded. “We had as many of these establishments as we had Starbucks.”

Actually, more than that. The LA Weekly counted 545 medical marijuana stores last year. The city aims to weed out 80 percent of them with a new ordinance. Dispensaries that opened after a certain date will have to close by June 7.

California Alternative Caregivers sells medical marijuana from a tan stucco office building about a mile from Venice Beach. Owner Carl Clines says patients have to get buzzed into the building, show ID, then go through winding hallways.

“And it’s kind of a maze in here,” he says. “I had a couple of retired DEA agents help me select a facility.”

In a back room, volunteers sell different strains of pot in sealed plastic bottles. “This is an eighth, and this is a gram,” notes one volunteer. “All it is is just buds.”

Clines says he was the first in the city to get “medical marijuana” printed on his business license. His shop will stay open. Under the new ordinance, though, he did have notify every residence within 1,000 feet about his business. “We sent out 941 letters. We gotta a whole lotta new patients came in and said, ‘We didn’t even know you were there!’”

The crackdown on medical marijuana has already prompted some businesses to close. Hundreds more pot store owners are seeing their investment go up in smoke. Those that make it through the hazy regulations will be busier than ever.

Childhood Obesity, a growing Epidemic

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the U.S. It accounts for 17 percent of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years, based on the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).However, obesity is a preventable condition. More importantly, it’s something you can help your children avoid by taking simple measures.

A new national study published on EurekAlert! reveals what you can do to decrease the risk of obesity in children. It points out some routines you can practice in your own home:

• Eat dinner together as a family
• Ensure that your child is getting enough sleep
• Reduce your child’s television viewing time

Aside from these 3 household routines, Dr. Joseph Mercola, a natural health expert, suggests these tips for maintaining your kids’ healthy weight:

• Keep fructose intake under 25 grams per day.Dr. Mercola points out that “fructose is the number one source of calories in America and it is very clear that it is a primary cause of the obesity epidemic.” As such, he recommends eliminating soda and dramatically reducing fruit juices and foods that are high in fructose from your children’s diet.
• Modify your child’s diet according to his/her Nutritional Type.Choose foods that are “right for your biochemistry, so they will naturally push your body toward its ideal weight,” says Dr. Mercola.

  It is important to include high-quality, organic meats and veggies in your child’s diet in order to provide him/her with vital nutrients. Also supplement with krill oil, which is rich in Omega-3 fats that are critical to your child’s brain function, IQ, and overall optimal health.

• Encourage your kids to get regular exercise.Incorporating various types of physical activity into your child’s routine, which can be as simple as walking, bike-riding, or playing tennis, can be helpful in weight management.

To instill these healthy habits, Dr. Mercola believes parents need to model these behaviors in order to serve as good role models for their children.

For original article click here.

FDA says you have no right to real food without permission

The FDA has finally made its food-rights policy crystal clear. Here’s the agency’s position, made evident in their response to a lawsuit filed by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund:

• They believe you have no absolute right to any raw unprocessed food, unless the FDA says it’s okay
• They believe you have no right to good health, except as approved by the FDA
• They believe that there is no right for citizens to contract privately for their food

The Complete Patient reports:

“More Americans appear to be getting the message … Over the past six months, we’ve had the popular push in Wisconsin, a state where the regulators have gone bonkers to eliminate raw milk, to pressure legislators to approve making it available from the farm … [and] a firestorm building in Massachusetts over a … decision by a regulator to restrict consumer access to milk.”

 

  Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

If you try to purchase a gallon of raw milk in the majority of U.S. states, you could be taken away in handcuffs … literally. With the exception of 10 states that allow retail raw milk sales, and 15 that allow farm sales, purchasing raw milk in the United States is a crime, according to the FDA.

Their decision to ban the interstate shipment of raw milk back in 1987 has been declared unconstitutional by many Americans interested in securing their right to choose fresh, unprocessed and unpasteurized food for their families, but the FDA has been fighting back, even going so far as to harass and legally prosecute small dairy farmers and consumers seeking to distribute the milk.

The issue reached new heights earlier this year when the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) filed a lawsuit against the FDA over their raw milk ban … and you won’t believe how the FDA responded.

You Have “No Absolute Right to Consume … Any Particular Food”

Last month, the FDA responded to FTCLDF’s suit that banning raw milk in interstate commerce is unconstitutional. Their rebuttal contained the following extremely concerning and outrageous statements:

• “There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food.”
• “There is no ‘deeply rooted’ historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds.”
• “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”
• FDA’s brief goes on to state that “even if such a right did exist, it would not render FDA’s regulations unconstitutional because prohibiting the interstate sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk promotes bodily and physical health.”
• “There is no fundamental right to freedom of contract.”

Since when did the FDA have authority to tell you what you can and cannot eat and feed your children? Apparently they believe they’ve had it all along.

If you go by these assertions, it means the FDA has the authority to prohibit any food of their choosing and make it a crime for you to seek it out. If, one day, the FDA deems tomatoes, broccoli or cashews capable of causing you harm (which is just as ludicrous as their assertions that raw milk is harmful), they could therefore enact such a ban and legally enforce it.

What this means is that freedom of food choice is a myth if you live in the United States, and this simply is not acceptable. As FTCLDF states:

“Growing numbers of people in this country are obtaining the foods of their choice through private contractual arrangements such as buyers’ club agreements and herdshare contracts. 

FDA’s position is that the agency can interfere with these agreements because, in FDA’s view, there is no fundamental right to enter into a private contract to obtain the foods of choice from the source of choice. 

As for the agency’s contention that there is no fundamental right to obtain any food, including raw milk, here is what the ‘substantive due process’ clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:  no person shall “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” 

Obtaining the foods of your choice is so basic to life, liberty and property that it is inconceivable that the ‘right of food choice’ would not be protected under the Constitution but FDA is saying “No.””

Whether you’re currently a raw milk drinker or not, the FDA’s arrogant attitude that they have authority over your choice of food is atrocious.

First Raw Milk, What’s Next?

As regular readers know, I am an avid supporter of raw milk.

Organically-raised, grass-fed milk naturally contains healthy “good” bacteria, including lactobacillus and acidophilus. There are also several coliform families of bacteria.

Raw milk also contains nutrients, which are virtually eliminated by the pasteurization process of commercial milk. The presence of beneficial bacteria is what makes raw milk such an outstanding food source to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in your intestine, which in turn has a significant, beneficial impact on your overall immune function and health.

However, my purpose today is not to extol the virtues of raw milk. If you’d like to learn more about that, just listen to this video with health and business journalist David E. Gumpert, author of Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights.

What I want to share is that if this unconstitutional ban has happened with raw milk, it’s only a matter of time before another health-promoting, life-giving food is targeted.

The FDA never had any grounds for making the sale of raw milk illegal in the first place. Even a quick review of the data shows that this food, which the FDA claims is so harmful to human health, is less harmless than countless food products that have earned the FDA’s seal of approval!

In their lawsuit, FTCLDF pointed out that CDC statistics from 2007 showed over 7,000 outbreaks of food-borne illness related to bacteria, which resulted in 678 hospitalizations and 11 deaths.

In that same year, and using CDC data, raw milk was responsible for only 32 of those cases, which amounts to only 0.5 percent of all food-borne bacteria-related illness. Further, there were only two hospitalizations related to raw milk, and no deaths, whereas three people died from drinking pasteurized milk!

They also pointed out, and rightly so, that the FDA is taking an unfairly harsh approach with raw milk. For instance, unpasteurized juices are sold with just a warning label letting consumers know the juice has not been pasteurized, while raw milk has been outright banned in many states.

Is it a coincidence that some of the states where raw milk sales are illegal are also among the largest dairy producers in the United States (namely Wisconsin and Iowa)?

Hardly.

The conventional dairy industry has a very powerful lobbying force. What would happen to the majority of the dairy industry if raw milk really caught on? They’d be forced to clean up their acts, raise healthier cows, and give them access to pasture, as only healthy cows are the ones that you would buy raw milk from.

And this would cost them money … lots of money, if it were even possible at all.

Join the Raw Milk Revolution and Stand Up for Your Food Freedom!

By joining the fight to make access to healthy raw milk a right for all Americans, you are not only standing up for raw milk; you’re taking a stand to protect your freedom of food choice.

No one, and certainly not any government agency, should be able to restrict your access to pure, unadulterated food. Organizations like the Weston A. Price Foundation and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund are working toward true freedom of choice for American consumers, and I urge you to get involved in their causes.

For original article click here.

President Calderón witnesses signing of National Agreement on Nutritional Health, urges media to publicize importance of healthy lifestyle.

Mexico City – Because the solution to problems is to cope with them, rather than avoiding them, President Felipe Calderón urged all sectors of society to build a common front against overweight and obesity, one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st century.

“This is a situation we can no longer ignore,” declared the President as he witnessed the Signing of the National Agreement for Nutritional Health: Strategy against overweight and obesity.

“The point is that through this agreement we are taking a key step towards attracting attention and I am fully aware of the scope of the problem and the fact that the problem requires an immediate response and everyone’s participation,” he said.

Accompanied by his wife, Margarita Zavala, cabinet members, governors and entrepreneurs, the President reported that this Agreement has led to the creation of the National Council for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases, which will serve as an instrument for the evaluation and follow-up of commitments established and the results that emerge from the forums that will also be organized.

“The constant struggle against overweight and obesity must be a determined, everyday fight. It is essential for Mexicans to have a balanced diet and to promote and engage in far more physical activity,” he said.

At the Explanada Francisco I. Madero, of the official Los Pinos residence, President Felipe Calderón said that the goals are: to reverse overweight and obesity in children ages two to five, in the population ages five to 19 and adults.

“And we are going to act by using this instrument. Through it, all the actors involved are concentrating our determination to build a common front against the problem. By signing this document, we pledge to combine efforts, report on what we are doing and continue working for Mexicans’ health,” he said.

He also instructed the Federal and State Health Secretariat as well as the governors to focus on these problems in children and youth through the corresponding legal instruments to promote better nutrition at the country’s schools.

He urged businessmen to become aware of the severity of the problem and to make the agreement’s goals a priority in decision-making.

He urged the media to disseminate messages on the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle and engaging in everyday physical activity.

“The success of this strategy lies largely in people’s hands. So I invite you to work together on this. It is a serious problem. We are going to throw our weight against this Nutritional Health Agreement and this strategy against obesity and overweight,” he said.

He said that it is important to deal with this problem because nowadays, 70% of adults in Mexico are overweight, together with four and a half million children between the ages of 5 and 11.

These figures, he said, mean that Mexico is currently the country with the greatest number of overweight adults and unfortunately, with the greatest problem of child obesity worldwide.

For original article click here.