Natural Communities Magazine A magazine devoted to the local natural wellness culture.

Commonly used fragranced products emit a wide variety of chemicals into the air, some of which are federally regulated as toxic or hazardous substances, according to a study conducted by researcher Anne C. Steinemann of the University of Washington-Seattle and published in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review.

“I didn’t find a brand that didn’t emit at least one toxic chemical,” Steinemann said.

Steinemann became concerned about the contents of fragranced products after receiving more than 200 complaints from consumers about side effects.

“I actually witnessed someone having a seizure when exposed to an air freshener,” she said.

Steinemann put six different fragranced products - dryer sheets, a fabric softener, a laundry detergent, and three different air fresheners (one solid, one spray and one oil) - into an isolated, room-temperature enclosure and used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify any volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that they emitted. She found that together, the products emitted almost 100 different VOCs, every one at levels higher than 300 micrograms per cubic meter.

This concentration is considered high enough to pose a risk in the case of toxic substances.

Ten of the detected chemicals are federally regulated as toxic or hazardous, including three considered hazardous air pollutants (acetaldehyde, chloromethane, and 1,4 dioxane).

Steinemann noted that one of the air fresheners is used in commercial airline bathrooms and another is regularly used in schools and medical facilities. Yet federal law does not require manufacturers disclose any of the ingredients used to make fragrances, let alone other chemicals that might be emitted during use.

“If an ingredient is hazardous, they still don’t need to list it,” she said. “They can just put on a warning label [such as ‘don’t inhale’].”

Steinemann recommended that consumers use unscented laundry products and avoid synthetic air fresheners.

“Use baking soda, open a window, cut open an orange, or use spearmint leaves,” she advised.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025008.html

Melamine continues to make headlines worldwide. The latest news has discovered the chemical in baby formula in the U.S., and more reports of melamine tainted eggs in Hong Kong. Even more startling is a report from a Chinese Veterinarian reporting melamine is just the tip of the iceberg of chemicals routinely added to animal feed ingredients exported to a world of pet food and animal feed manufacturers.

Epoch Times reports that Ms. Wang Haizhen, a veterinarian from a Chinese Animal Pharmaceutical company has gone public exposing corruption in China’s food industry. Her claims are startling. She reports that as early as 2005 “several toxic substances including melamine were detected in some animal feed, resulting in contaminated milk power, eggs, and pork having entered the food market and harming consumers.” She also reports that despite the contaminated Chinese baby formula incident, many companies continue to use risky chemicals.

According to Dr. Haizhen, some of those risky chemicals Chinese manufacturers commonly use in animal feed ingredients are melamine, Rh proteins, Lipiodol, Clenbuterol, attractant agents, “just to name a few”. “But the chemicals and toxic materials they are adding can easily have carcinogenic effects. Some of these additives are more dangerous than melamine.” http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/china…

In a separate article on Boxun News by ChinaFreePress.org, Dr. Haizhen reported the most dangerous chemical added to animal feed ingredients in China is rhodium iodide. “This chemical speeds up the birth process in animals, but when processed into food is a dangerous carcinogen, much more dangerous than melamine.” http://www.boxun.us/news/publish/chinan…

The U.S. is currently holding all Chinese imports of milk products until testing for melamine is completed. If we consider Dr. Haizhen’s report, what isn’t being tested for will cause as much harm, if not more, than melamine in Chinese imports? We’ve learned the hard way to test for melamine, what is our next lesson from Chinese imports? Furthermore, will we have to learn it the hard way too?

It is mind boggling to consider the worldwide effects of tainted animal feed ingredients. The Canadian Press reports a French farm co-op imported 270 tons of Chinese soybean meal found to be contaminated with melamine at 30 times the maximum level allowed. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadi…
A spokesman for the French co-op said the soybean meal was used to produce feed for organic poultry. Although this group reports the poultry tested free of melamine contamination, very little is known about the long term effects on humans or pets consuming meat producing animals fed melamine laced foods. Experience has proven that chickens fed melamine laced feed produce melamine tainted eggs.

With the information provided by Dr. Haizhen, at great risk (her husband is in prison for similar whistle blowing, she is currently in hiding), any Chinese imported animal feed and/or human food ingredients, are of certain risk to a world of consumers. Sadly, it could take years to discover a connection of a cancer or kidney disease in people and pets from tainted feed ingredients; either directly into the food or indirectly into a meat producing animal feed. Even worse, more than likely many connections will never be known. The most contentious consumer, searching high and low for organic meat and vegetables to feed their two or four legged family, would have no idea if the beef or chicken was fed risky chemical laced animal feed or if the soil organic vegetables grow in was fertilized with manure contained melamine or worse.

It is crystal clear China has a tremendous quality control problem. Furthermore, China’s problem is putting the world at long term health risks. The FDA must begin to grasp the severity of this. People and pet food manufacturers must act immediately and stop using Chinese imported ingredients. Livestock producers must avoid protein enhanced feeds with Chinese ingredients. Consumers and petsumers must stop using any product that contains the slightest bit of Chinese imported ingredients. The risk is more than likely, far more serious than any of us realize.

Wishing you and your pet the best,

About the author
Susan Thixton has an international pet people following providing dog and cat lovers a trusted source for pet food and pet food ingredient information. She’s been called courageous, perseverant, even “the Caped Crusader for Pets” for her 16 year study of pet food. Susan Thixton is the author of hundreds of pet industry articles and the 2006 released book Truth About Pet Food (currently being updated for a second edition). She developed and publishes the pet product consumer magazine Petsumer Report and is a frequent speaker and radio guest all over the U.S. and Canada with more than 70 appearances in the last 2 years.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025017.html

Many people who eat organic food and use natural products are trying to avoid pesticides that are linked to cancer and other diseases. Now Japanese researchers say there is another advantage to “going green” and avoiding toxins and chemical additives in the environment. A common pollutant has been found to have a potent effect on gene activity and could be contributing to the obesity epidemic.

According to an article published in the December issue of the journal Bioscience, the chemical tributyltin affects sensitive receptors in the cells of a host of animals, ranging from water fleas to people. What’s more, tributyltin has an impact at extremely low levels — a thousand times lower than pollutants that are known to interfere with the sexual development of wildlife species, for example. The chemical is known to be damaging to the liver as well as the nervous and immune systems in mammals . But what has just been recognized is that tributyltin also has powerful effects on the cellular components known as retinoid X receptors (RXRs) in a range of species. That’s important because RXRs can move into the nuclei of cells and turn on genes that cause the growth of fat storage cells and regulate whole body metabolism. This raises a disturbing possibility: The pollutant could be harming humans by causing slowed metabolism and weight gain.

Scientists Taisen Iguchi and Yoshinao Katsu of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan, who wrote the BioScience article, point out that effects of tributyltin on RXR-like nuclear receptors could be widespread throughout the animal kingdom, including the human species. And they note that the enormous rise in obesity over the past four decades coincides with the increased use of industrial chemicals over the same period.

Several other ubiquitous pollutants with strong biological effects, including environmental estrogens such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol, also have been found to stimulate the growth of fat storage cells in mice. In a statement to the mediam Iguchi and Katsu said it is “plausible and provocative” to associate the obesity epidemic to chemical triggers found in our modern, polluted environment.

Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to avoid tributyltin — it is frequently used as a preservative in paints for boats, wood and textiles and it is also used as a pesticide on high-value food crops. And if you are expecting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make sure you are protected from this potentially dangerous chemical , think again.

A new report just released by the National Research Council warns the EPA’s process of generating risk assessments of the adverse effects posed by harmful chemicals found in the environment is bogged down. The EPA is rarely able to connect available scientific data with the information officials need for an accurate risk assessment. The reports states the EPA is struggling to keep up with demands for hazard and dose-response information and doesn’t have enough resources to adequately cope.

The risk assessment for trichloroethylene is an example cited by the report. A chemical used to remove grease from metal parts and an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers, trichloroethylene has been associated with cancer, heart problems and liver and lung damage for decades. However, although a risk assessment for trichloroethylene has been under development since the 1980s, official EPA risk management decisions about the chemical is not expected until 2010.

About the author
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA’s “Healthy Years” newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s “Focus on Health Aging” newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic’s “Men’s Health Advisor” newsletter and many others.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025022.html

Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it.

Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics. But scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

After Tyson began labeling its chicken antibiotic-free, the USDA warned the company that such labels were not truthful, because Tyson regularly treats its birds’ feed with bacteria-killing ionophores. Tyson argued that ionophores are antimicrobials rather than antibiotics, and are not used on human patients. Tyson suggested a compromise which was eventually accepted by the USDA — they would use a label reading “raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans.”

Tyson’s competitors: Perdue Farms Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Foster Farms sued, and in May 2008, a federal judge ruled in their favor and told Tyson to stop using the label. Not long after, USDA inspectors discovered that in addition to using ionophores, Tyson was regularly injecting its chicken eggs with gentamicin, an antibiotic that has been used for more than 30 years.

The agency told Tyson that based on the new discovery, it would no longer consider the antibiotic-free label “truthful and accurate.” Tyson objected again, claiming that because the antibiotics are injected before the chickens hatched, the birds can truthfully be said to be “raised without antibiotics.” Tyson has filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of “raised without antibiotics” to include the treatment of eggs.
Sources: Natural News November 9, 2008

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Tyson’s claim may be technically true — which makes it just about the worst kind of deceptive advertising there is without outright lying. It’s this kind of semantics that can drive even the sanest person wild.

When they say that their chickens are “raised without antibiotics”, they are clearly trying to give the impression that their chickens do not contain any kind of antibiotics.

However, the chicken on your plate is anything but antibiotic-free since they’ve injected the eggs with antibiotics, and raised the hatchlings on feed that contains antibiotics.

Sad to say, this is typical behavior when it comes to big business.  Whenever a packaged food or a large retailer makes a health claim, your first reaction should be suspicion, not trust.

Other glaring examples of this kind of deceptive marketing tactics include:

• Splenda — They would dearly like you to believe that this artificial sweetener is natural because it is “made from sugar”. But it’s nothing but another half-truth meant to convince you of a falsehood, and the Sugar Association has sued them over this marketing strategy.
• 7-Up — Cadbury Schwepps ran an ad campaign that promoted the soda as “100 percent natural” with pictures of cans of 7-Up being picked from fruit trees.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue Cadbury Schwepps, calling their ad a “misleading untruth.”
• Omega-3 Eggs — Eggs that advertise their omega-3 content may be defrauding the public by claiming they can reduce your risk of heart disease. The deception here is that these eggs are typically low in the animal-based omega-3 fat DHA, which is far more beneficial to you than the plant-based ALA that most omega-3 eggs contain.
• Farm-raised fish carrying the organic label – Applying the organic label to animal food products raised in food factories is a simple bastardization of the term. It is impossible to obtain all the benefits that were naturally included in these fish once artificial manipulation is introduced into the system.

Breeding Antibiotic-Resistant Disease

Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics to prevent the development of intestinal infections that might reduce the weight (and profitability) of the birds.

Yet scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could lead to a pandemic or other human health crisis.

For example, gentamicin, the antibiotic that Tyson injects into its eggs, has been used for more than 30 years in the United States to treat many types of bacterial infections in humans, including urinary tract and blood infections. The drug is also stockpiled as a treatment for biological agents such as plague.

Does the practice of using gentamicin in poultry pose a real hazard to your health?

Yes. The practice is likely contributing to and speeding up the emergence of antibiotic-resistant enterococci, which are the leading causes of surgical wound infections and urinary tract infections. Enterococci have developed high-level resistance not only gentamicin, but also other antibiotics over the last two to three decades.

Another antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria that can wreak havoc on your health is campylobacter, a pathogen common to chicken products, which is responsible for inducing food poisoning in more than 1 million Americans every year, and is considered a growing health threat.

Chickens that are truly raised without antibiotics, however, are far less likely to carry antibiotic-resistant strains of campylobacters, according to a study by Johns Hopkins.

Researchers have also found that conventionally-grown chicken products are up to 460 times more likely to carry antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli than antibiotic-free chicken products.

But That’s Not the Only Problem With Conventional Poultry Products!

However, my concerns with conventionally-raised poultry (and other livestock) do not end there. Because in addition to the antibiotics typically added to conventional livestock feed, this feed is also laced with the pesticides used in growing the foods it’s made of.

Unlike conventional fruits and vegetables, where peeling and washing can greatly reduce the amounts of these toxins, the pesticides and drugs that these animals get exposed to during their lives can become incorporated into their very tissues, especially their fat.

While you can cut off some of it, you may still be ingesting high amounts of toxins if you consume such foods regularly.

Additionally, feed additives like Roxarsone, the most common arsenic-based additive used in chicken feed to promote growth, kill parasites and improve the color of the meat, have been raised as having potential health risks.

Although Roxarsone is normally benign, under certain conditions that can occur within live chickens or on farm land, the compound converts into more toxic forms of inorganic arsenic, which has been linked to:

• Bladder cancer
• Lung cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Skin cancer
• Partial paralysis
• Diabetes

A number of food suppliers have stopped using Roxarsone, including Tyson Foods. But even so, 70 percent of the chickens produced annually in the United States are fed Roxarsone.

Yet another problem with conventional livestock feed is that it is typically made of foods that are not natural to the animal’s diet. Whether it’s corn for cows or soybeans for chickens, these animals rarely have access to the foods they are naturally adapted to eat. This situation is not only problematic for the animals — when you eat their meat, it can become a problem for you.

One of the main reasons for this is that the fatty acid profiles of chicken fed its natural diet have a much better balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fats than those of a conventionally-raised chicken. An imbalanced intake of these fats is a contributing factor to many of the chronic diseases modern society is faced with today.

Last but not least, conventionally-raised chickens are typically given little, if any, access to the outdoors. The benefits from frequent sunlight exposure can certainly be extrapolated to cows and chickens as well as humans. At the very least, the vitamin D levels in an animal that has regular access to sunlight are likely to be much higher than those of an animal kept indoors all day.

More vitamin D for them means more vitamin D for you when you eat their meat.

What’s the Answer to This Problem?

If you really want to be sure your food is healthy and safe, you might want to try avoiding grocery stores altogether, as conventionally-raised livestock, including chickens, are not your best choice.

And, adding insult to injury, about 30 percent of all fresh chickens sold in your supermarket have been pumped and plumped with as much as fifteen percent salt water, potential cancer-producing carrageenan, and other additives. This equates to cash strapped consumers paying about $2 billion a year for salt water! These chickens also contain about 800 percent more sodium per serving than expected.

More and more people are buying food fresh off the farm from producers they personally know and trust, through CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), farmers’ markets, or other local food movements. When you can actually go visit the farm itself, you can see that it’s natural, fresh, and exactly as advertised.

If you want to get started on this, there are plenty of organizations around to help you out. If you live in an area with severely restricted access to any of these outlets, then, for your convenience, I also have organic, free-range, antibiotic-free chicken available in my online store.

And if you are concerned that organic, free-range poultry and other natural foods are too expensive, please be sure to read Colleen Huber’s excellent article on finding organic foods for the same price as processed, conventional foods.

Source www.mercola.com

The current mainstream model of human health tells us that we are predestined to encounter certain illnesses, and that our weight is largely down to genes. Yet scientists in New Zealand are dispelling the common myth that obesity is caused by “bad genes.” Scientists from Auckland University’s Liggins Institute have discovered that genetic pre-disposition to obesity can be reversed through good nutrition in early childhood.

Their research shows that when a mother is undernourished, her child’s body is pre-set to cope with a life of scarcity. And remember, undernourished does not necessarily mean not eating enough food. Many overeaters in the western world are severely undernourished due to an appalling diet of junk food. Not only are their children likely to become fat because they eat the same foods as there parents, but also because they are biologically storing for not enough nutrients….a double whammy.

In laboratory tests, newborn offspring from both well-fed and undernourished rats were given leptin, a hormone that signals to the body when it has eaten enough. When they became adults, the long-term effects were measured by looking at genes that regulate metabolism in the liver. Rats from well-fed mothers reacted to leptin in the opposite way to those from undernourished mothers.

The researchers urge mothers to eat a more balanced diet (with the right amounts of protein and vitamins) during pregnancy. However, if the fetus is under-nourished in the womb, the long-term effects can still be corrected through good nutrition in early childhood.

Some Healthy Eating Tips for Pregnant Women and Children

1.Cut down on simple carbohydrates. Humans require food that is alive and nutritious. The majority of our foods need to offer us something valuable, and there is no time that this is more important than in the womb and during early childhood, and children generally enjoy them. Simple carbs like bread, pasta and cake are filler foods that offer no nourishment whatsoever, and are in fact harmful.

2.Eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. The more the better. Fruit smoothies and fresh green vegetable juices are good ways to increase your fruit and vegetable intake. Ensure that every mealtime includes at least some raw, organic where possible fruit or vegetable.

3.Include plenty of seeds. Pumpkin, sunflower, chia and sesame seeds add essential fats, nutrients and flavor to meals. They also make wonderful snacks.

4.Cut out sugar and discover the amazing world of sugar free desserts. There are incredible recipes out there that are packed with super foods that will absolutely blow your taste buds away! Raw chocolate, for example is revolutionizing the chocolate world. It is healthy and incredibly delicious. Children love it, and so do it adults. And that is just one example of healthy sweet eating. With so many natural sugar alternatives, refined sugar is slowly but surely becoming and outdated and completely unnecessary food…even for those with the biggest sweet teeth!

Imagine our world if babies were never exposed to sugar or in the womb and grew up virtually sugar free. Where children ate primarily live, foods packed with nutrients. Imagine how many diseases and illnesses, including obesity and diabetes would begin to disappear.

About the author
Sheryl is a kinesiologist, nutritionist and holistic practitioner.
Her website www.younglivingguide.com provides the latest research on preventing disease, looking naturally gorgeous, and feeling emotionally and physically fabulous.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/024999.html

Consumers and Farmers Join Together to Promote Organic Integrity

Many media outlets, from the New York Times to the blogosphere, have tracked what has been dubbed the “corporate takeover” of organic farming.  One of the hottest controversies in this rapidly growing $20 billion industry has been giant factory farms milking thousands of cows each in feedlots and masquerading as organic.  Some of these industrial dairies are controlled by the nation’s largest agribusinesses.

Since the organic community first appealed to the USDA for better clarification and enforcement of regulations requiring organic dairy producers to graze their cattle, nearly 9 years ago, the number of giant industrial dairy operations, with as many as 10,000 cows, has grown from two to approximately 15.  After years of delay, the USDA has finally responded with a new proposed rule that they said would crack down on abuses.

“The birds have come home to roost,” said Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for The Cornucopia Institute.  The Wisconsin-based farm policy research group estimates there are 35,000 to 45,000 cows on giant CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) operating in the United States producing as much as 40% of the nation’s organic milk supply.

“These CAFOs are producing so much milk that they have depressed pricing and profit margins for organic family farmers, and now some are being forced out of business by this distressing situation,” Kastel said.  “Organics was supposed to be the antidote to family farmers being forced off the land.”

The Cornucopia Institute has filed formal legal complaints with the USDA aimed at compelling the agency to enforce organic livestock and management rules.  These actions have led to the shut down or penalizing of some of what they call “organic scofflaws.”  But many in the industry criticized the agency for failing to fully investigate many other alleged violations on giant farms, including several that supply milk to the nation’s largest dairy processor, Dallas-based Dean Foods.

The new USDA rule proposal and its analysis total 26 pages, as published in the Federal Register.  The draft rule complies with organic community requests to close specific loopholes being exploited by factory farms confining their cattle.  But it also represents the broadest rewrite of federal organic regulations in the $20 billion industry’s relatively short history.

Some farm advocates believe that the new rules, if enacted, would put out of business the majority of organic livestock farmers—including hundreds who are operating ethically.

“At first we were delighted that the USDA had stopped their delaying tactics and finally published a rule cracking down on the large factory farms that have been ‘scamming’ organic consumers and placing ethical family farmers at a competitive disadvantage,” stated Bill Welch, former member of the National Organic Standards Board and an Iowa livestock producer.  “Many in the industry have spent the past weeks carefully examining this dense document, and it has become painfully clear that it would not only crack down on certain factory farm abuses, but it’s also so restrictive that it would likely put the majority of family farmers producing organic milk and meat out of business.”

“It’s inexcusable,” noted Ronnie Cummins, Director of the Organic Consumers Association, “that the USDA would allow, as part of this rule, that conventional cattle can be brought onto organic farms, and milked, on a continuous basis.”

In response to the USDA’s sweeping livestock/pasture proposal, a consortium of organizations representing organic family farmers has crafted an “alternative” rule proposal.  Led by FOOD Farmers, with support from The Cornucopia Institute, organic certifiers, and other policy experts, the revisions they have drafted would carry out what is said to be the will of the organic community, farmers and consumers.

“You don’t have to take the word of The Cornucopia Institute alone that the Department has ‘Katrina-ed’ the organic industry,” Kastel stated.  “The USDA rule proposal is just the latest salvo in this fight,” added Kastel.  He noted that audits by the American National standard Institute (ANSI) and the Inspector General’s office were both highly critical of the USDA’s execution of its Congressional mandate to oversee the organic industry.

The community’s alternative proposal, which is now being circulated among organic farmers and consumer groups, would require that all organic dairy, sheep, goat, and beef producers graze their animals for the entire grazing season and sets a minimum percentage of feed from pasture.

A growing body of scientific literature illustrates the nutritional superiority of milk and meat from organic animals that are grazed on fresh grass, including higher levels of antioxidants and beneficial fats, like omega-3 fatty acids, that protect against cancer and heart disease.

“The good news continues to be that the vast majority of all organic dairy brands available in the marketplace use milk produced by family farmers,” observed Cummins.  “These farmers truly uphold the high expectations that their customers have,” Cummins said.

The Cornucopia Institute just updated their path-breaking research study of the organic dairy sector.  The group’s scorecard (found at www.cornucopia.org), reveals that 85% of the nation’s 110 organic dairy brands are meeting the letter and spirit of current organic federal law.  “Out of 1800 organic dairy farms in this country, the very few factory farms are a bad aberration, although they are producing huge quantities of milk,” explained Cornucopia’s Kastel.

Because of the broad scope of the USDA’s proposed rule making, Cornucopia, the Organic Consumers Association, and some the largest organic certifiers and other groups representing farmers and consumers are formally asking the USDA to extend the public comment period for an additional 30 days to January 23, 2009.

Source: http://www.cornucopia.org/

What if you could find a magic potion that would sweeten your tea, create mind blowing delicious cakes and dramatically improve your health? You may be surprised to find that bees create this amazing elixir in the form of honey. That’s right, raw, unadulterated honey is nature’s oldest sweetener and it also promotes true, radiant health. Thousands of years before the invention of white sugar, people used honey to enhance their food and support their bodies.

But don’t be fooled by the sticky jar that is sitting in your cupboard. Most honey is highly processed, over heated and chemically refined, leaving it lifeless and free of any benefits. Excessive heating destroys the valuable enzymes, vitamins, and minerals, as well as the unique phytonutrients that make honey the super food that it is.

Raw Honey is Filled with Health Promoting Goodness

Raw honey is loaded with vitamins and is particularly high in minerals which are vital for maintaining health including calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, chromium, manganese and selenium. Amino acids are contained in honey, which are nature’s building blocks. Incredible plant compounds are found in honey that gives the immune system a giant boost. This magic potion is also highly alkalizing and helps the body maintain a balanced PH.

Raw honey is full of enzymes. Enzymes are essential for absorbing food, rebuilding the body, cellular health, and nearly all other biological processes.Once a food is heated, there are absolutely no enzymes left.

Honey is packed with Antioxidants

You may be surprised to discover that raw honey contains many of the same antioxidants as green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and broccoli. This isn’t to say that it is a replacement for veggies, but it is certainly worth adding to your diet as a way to fight aging and disease causing free radicals and live vibrantly.

Some of these antioxidant powers of raw honey are:

•Flavonoids which are powerful antioxidants that increase energy and boost overall wellbeing.
•Pinocembrin is a unique flavonoid that is unique to honey and has been shown to improve cognitive function among other benefits.
•Pinostrobin is another flavonoid that the enzyme activity in the body, which is essential for absorbing food and enjoying good health, especially as we age.

Raw Honey May Fights Cancer!

A study was conducted in order to find out if raw honey could health stop the growth of tumors. They injected mice with cancer cells and discovered that those mice who took honey orally before the injections were less likely to form the tumors and tumors appeared to shrink after being injected with bee venom and propolis. Researchers suggest they bee products may cause cell suicide, which helps the immune system fight the development of tumors.

Anti Bacterial
Honey has been shown to have an antimicrobial effect against bacteria and other unwanted invaders. Raw honey is being used by doctors in the UK to treat mouth and throat cancer patients to reduce their chances of contracting bacterial infections. It has also been used to speed up the healing of wounds caused by Caesarean sections as well as other types of wounds.

Other Incredible Benefits of Raw Honey Include:

A bounty of medical studies have found that honey can help heal ulcers, as well as offering relief from diarrhea, insomnia, sunburn, and sore throats. It also boosts energy levels and keeps you from getting colds, the flu and other illnesses. It promotes the growth of “good” bacteria in your intestinal tract.

It is food for the heart since it reduces homocysteine levels and promotes circulation. It can also help calm soothe, and promote a good night’s sleep, not to mention it sweetens your tea and transforms your cakes!

About the author
Sheryl is a kinesiologist, nutritionist and holistic practitioner.
Her website www.younglivingguide.com provides the latest research on preventing disease, looking naturally gorgeous, and feeling emotionally and physically fabulous.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/024981.html

One of the greatest challenges and controversial issues of the 21st century is the practice of genetically altering meat or animal products through hormones, gene or drug injections. It is already a widely accepted practice today. Biotechnologists take genetic material and insert it into the permanent genetic code of another - creating traits not seen or known before in those species.

You don’t have to imagine genetically engineered super salmon that grows twice as fast as farm raised salmon or goats spliced with spider genes to produce silk in their milk, or pigs with genes that make their manure less environmentally damaging, because it’s happening right now and may be headed to your supermarket soon. No animal products are currently on the market, but when they do arrive we are to believe that by adding the DNA of animals with the DNA or genes from other animals we will have an improved, more nutritious specimen.

If the specter of this isn’t frightening enough, when these altered specimens hit the marketplace, these products will be sold to you without your knowledge and we will have no idea what the actual product is. The FDA wants to regulate gene-altered animals under new provisions that are similar to the provisions in place for the approval of new drugs. However, the drug approval process in this country is extremely secretive and would be outside the law to reveal even an application for a new gene-altered animal until after approval for supermarket shelves.

Your right to know will be taken from you because after seven years of debate, the FDA refuses to require labeling and has decided it’s not important for the consumer to be informed that his purchase from the meat counter has been genetically engineered.

Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Union, along with many other advocacy and consumer organizations, disagrees with the FDA’s decision and says these altered animal products should be labeled as such.

Inscrutably, the FDA also has no specific rules for putting labels on functional foods either, nor is there a specific office for evaluating them. They define functional foods as foods that have been modified to make them more nutritious. If you look closely enough you might recognize peanut butter, but not realize it could be infused with beet powder, carrots and bananas. Then there is the specially bred tomato that appears in some products, pulped and encapsulated in beadlets which can be partly plastic and designed to deliver foods to certain parts of the digestive tract.

Fortified food has been a public-health policy for decades. Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick, professor of endocrinology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, says things have changed because years ago there were rigorous public health studies, but now the FDA’s current labeling standards are inadequate and the science isn’t there for these new products.

There are legitimate concerns for human health along with environmental issues, disruption of trade with countries not prepared for altered foods or the welfare of genetically engineered animals, or even possible destruction of the food chain.

We deserve to know all the information about the food we’re eating so health conscious consumers can choose unadulterated, unaltered, unprocessed, food that supports vibrant health.
Source: www.naturalnews.com

Eating too much means excessive caloric intake. Sitting too much, on the other hand, reduces caloric usage. It is thus simple common sense that both of these dietary and lifestyle habits can cause weight gain. However, two recent studies have separately shown us different aspects of how sitting and eating can be linked to weight gain. One of them adds another reason why sitting for too long can cause weight gain, while the other suggests that besides the amount we consume, eating too fast can also contribute to weight increase.

Sitting Too Long

In a study which was published in the journal Diabetes, researchers suggested that when we remain seated for too long, chemicals in the body which play a part in burning fat actually stop functioning. And, the problem is, even if we exercise later in the day, there may be no guarantee that the harm done by being seated for too long can be fully reversed.

As it is, lack of exercise and an overly sedentary lifestyle are already having an enormous impact on the health of the population as a whole. Worse still, technological advancement and availability – more elevators and escalators, power steering and electronically operated windows in cars, remote controls and what not, as well as modern day comforts and luxuries, such as computers and cable TV with a thousand channels, have greatly reduced the amount of non-exercise physical activity for most people, too. These factors are leading to massive spikes in obesity, heart disease and other lifestyle and diet related conditions.

The fortunate thing is that just getting off our seats and onto our feet, even for brief but frequent moments, can once again trigger the fat-burning mechanism.

A possible solution? If your job or whatever reasons require you to be seated for long hours at a stretch, try using computer software which reminds to you get up, stretch or just walk around a little bit, every 30 to 45 minutes or so. This may not seem like much, but in the very long run, this simple measure is probably going to have a profound impact on your health.

Further, try creative ways to walk a little more and climb a little more stairs each day. Again, every little bit done every day helps a lot in the long run.

Eating Too Fast

Then, there is a Japanese study, published in the British Medical Journal, which has found that people who eat quickly are more likely to put on weight. Thus, it is not just about how much one eats, but also the manner in which one devours his or her food.

Having looked at the eating habits of more than 3,000 volunteers, who were aged from 30 to 69 years, the research team found that those who ate until full as well as ate quickly had three times the likelihood of becoming overweight, as compared to those who neither ate until full nor ate quickly.

Once again, the current state of society and life today plays a big part. Many of us no longer sit at the dining table at home and have a slow and deliberate meal. Life is often rush-rush and meals are often seen as something to ‘get out of the way’. We thus often gorge down our fast food.

A possible solution? As part of their conclusion, the study team said that parents should encourage their children to eat slowly, as well as eat in calm surroundings. That, for sure, is something which can be extended to apply to us all.

Mindful eating is a habit, and a health-promoting one at that. Further, it helps us to savor and be thankful for every mouthful of our food. Once again, this is a little habit which will have a great impact on our health in the long run.

Main Sources

Role of Low Energy Expenditure and Sitting in Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease (http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cg…)

Study links eating fast & weight gain (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/…)

About the author
Reuben Chow has a keen interest in the area of natural health and healing and carries out regular research on the topic. His website, All 4 Natural Health, offers a basic guide on natural health information. It details simple, effective and natural ways, such as the use of nutrition, various herbs, herb remedies, supplements and other natural remedies, to deal with various health conditions as well as to attain good health.

Source: www.naturalnews.com