Nutrition and Health Factors

Mineralized Organic Superfoods update

2008-10-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

A video demonstrating the construction of a planter box for growing mineralized organic superfoods will be posted in a few days with relevent links. Please stay tuned!

New Blog: Bioenergetic Spectrum Science Circle

2008-02-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

My postings will now be at Bioenergetic Spectrum Science Circle. This is a WordPress Blog provided very graciously by my webhost, 1 and 1. At this blog, anyone and everyone will be able to comment on different arenas of bioenergetics, electrokinetics, essential nutrients, health factors and all the related subject matters including esoteric science.

This blogger has been great, but I want to give you the flexibility to shine according to your expertise. Please visit Bioenergetic Spectrum Science Circle and give everyone a piece of your mind.

Thanks in advance!

Randolph Directo

Fluoride News for January 2008

2008-01-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

FAN Monthly | January 2008
http://www.FluorideAlert.Org

January 28, 2008

Included below is the first issue of Fluoride Action Network's (FAN) new monthly email newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter will be to summarize the key developments that occur each month, and provide links for further information on the web.

1) "Second Thoughts About Fluoride" Reports Scientific American

The January issue of Scientific American magazine contains an excellent review of the fluoride controversy. According to the article, "scientific attitudes toward fluoridation may be starting to shift." According to an accompanying note from the editors: "Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland."

Of particular interest in the Scientific American review are comments made by Dr. John Doull, the Chairman of the recent National Research Council review of fluoride in drinking water. According to Doull, he was surprised to see the amount of evidence linking fluoride to altered thyroid function. "The thyroid changes do worry me," Doull told author Dan Fagin.

Doull added: "What the committee found is that we've gone with the status quo regarding fluoride for many years—for too long, really—and now we need to take a fresh look."

To read more excerpts of the Scientific American article, click here. To read a press release discussing the article, click here.

2) Major Conference on Fluoride Toxicity Announced for August 2008

It's official. Dr Hardy Limeback, from the University of Toronto, has recently announced that Toronto will be the site of the International Society for Fluoride Research's (ISFR) upcoming conference on fluoride toxicity. Titled "Fluoride: Bone & Brain Effects", the conference will feature presentations from research scientists around the world, and will take place in Toronto from August 7th-10th. On the last day of the conference, FAN will be organizing networking and organizing workshops, which should prove of great value to activists working in the trenches. To sign up, and read more about the conference, click here.

3) FAN Launches New Online Video Series of "Professional Perspectives"

On January 16th, FAN launched the first in a series of online video vignettes which will be produced throughout 2008. The series, titled "Professional Perspectives", will feature some of the 1,350+ medical, scientific, and environmental experts who have signed FAN's "Professionals' Statement to End Water Fluoridation."

The first installment of the series features Dr. Bill Osmunson, a practicing dentist who promoted fluoridation for the first 25 years of his professional career. In the short 5-minute video, Dr. Osmunson discusses some of the reasons that led him to reconsider, and ultimately oppose, fluoridation. To watch the video, click here.

So far, the video has already been watched by over 4,500 people, and Carole Clinch from Waterloo, Ontario reports that it was put to use with "great effect" at a recent meeting where a council voted against a proposed extension of water fluoridation in Ontario's Niagara district. (To read more about the Niagara decision, click here.)

(To further increase the impact of this video, please consider forwarding it to your friends, add it to your blog, or send it to your dentist or doctor.)

4) FAN Releases Review of "Top 10 Scientific Developments of 2007"

To help members keep abreast of the latest scientific research, FAN recently posted a review of the "top 10 scientific developments" in 2007. The developments include: new evidence on the damage fluoride may cause to the brain; new evidence on the risk of fluoride poisoning from drinking too much tea; new evidence linking fluoridation chemicals to increased uptake of lead; and new evidence questioning fluoride's purported benefits. To view FAN's "Top 10", click here.

5) FAN's Campaign for Congressional Hearings Gets a Big Boost

January has proven to be a very busy month on the campaign for Congressional hearings! Last week, over 2,000 people — representing virtually every state in the nation -- emailed their Congressional reps calling for an end to water fluoridation pending further hearings.

If you haven't yet sent a letter, you can send (or modify) our form letter online at: http://www.fluoridealert.org/congress. It only takes a few seconds to send this letter, and it will help your Congressional reps know that their constituents care about the safety of their drinking water, and don't want unnecessary toxins like fluoride added to it.

6) More Health Professionals Call for End to End Water Fluoridation

In January, over 150 health professionals — including the former Federal Health Minister of Belgium and many dentists, doctors, PhD scientists, nurses, naturopaths, and chiropractors — came forward and added their name to FAN's Statement to End Water Fluoridation. If you know of other health professionals who may like to sign the statement, please refer them to our online sign-up form.

To read about other events from January, please check out FAN's online newstracker for a chronological listing of news.

Here's to a fluoride-free future! Together we can make it happen.

Sincerely,

Paul Connett, PhD
Executive Director
Fluoride Action Network
paul@fluoridealert.org

Are Your Holiday Drinks Healthy & Sustainable?

2007-12-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

A Toast to Green Beer and Wine
December 2007
Read this issue of Greentips online

You may have already considered serving locally produced, organic foods to your holiday guests, but what about the beer and wine? Significant amounts of water and fossil fuels are used to grow conventional grapes, barley, and hops, and to transport the finished products to market, but a growing number of beer and wine makers have made a commitment to produce beverages with the same (or better) quality as conventional products and with less environmental impact.

Organic
Organic beer and wine is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For a product to be labeled “organic,” 95 percent of the ingredients (other than water and yeast) must be grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides and must not be genetically engineered. In addition, wines labeled “organic” cannot contain any added sulfites (a preservative that can aggravate asthma). Products labeled “made with organic ingredients” must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients and may contain a small amount of added sulfites.

Biodynamic
A small but growing number of wine makers are growing grapes using methods inspired by the philosophy of biodynamics, which holds that plants, animals, soil, air, and celestial influences work in harmony to create self-sustaining farms. Many of these sustainable farming practices (such as avoidance of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides) are required for organic certification, but also include crop rotation and composting. Wines labeled “biodynamic” have met certification standards set by the nonprofit Demeter Association, which has trademarked the term.

Locally Produced
Purchasing beer and wine made by local producers minimizes fossil fuel use associated with shipping. And some breweries offer local customers the option of buying beer in refillable 64-ounce glass bottles called growlers, which reduces the environmental impact associated with packaging.

Local wine options might be limited depending on where you live, so when buying a wine made outside your region of the country, consider the distance it has had to travel in order to reach you. The American Association of Wine Economists (see the related links) provides a comparison of the global warming emissions associated with transporting wines from various countries to several major U.S. cities.

Related Links:

Food & Wine—Defining Wine’s Eco-lingo

Organic Consumers Association—Clearing Up the Confusion about Organic Wine

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association—What is Biodynamics?

The Cost of Carbon in the Global Wine Trade (pdf)

New grass-fed label for beef approved

2007-11-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a new voluntary "grass-fed" label that will allow consumers to identify meat from cows and other animals raised on a natural diet of grass. Cows raised on grass, the natural diet that they evolved to eat, are healthier than cows in feedlots that are fed corn, which they have trouble digesting. To qualify for the label, animals must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season. Beef from cows raised in these smart pasture operations also has health benefits for consumers and is easier on the environment according to a UCS study. Read the announcement of the new label

This is good news for meat eaters since most commercial beef on the market is grain fed, therefore, lacking all the proper nutrients in their diets to remain healthy. In turn, this means a healthy array of Omega-3 fats in your diet. Are you a Restauranteur? Next time you stop at Black Angus, OutBack or similar, now you can ask your waiter if the beef is grass fed. The USDA has made it so.

Bon Appetit!

UK Obesity Study is an understatement

2007-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

A study by government think-tank Foresight has found that obesity is set to reach epidemic proportions in Britain, which could cost the country over $100 billion. Researchers called for greater help to counter the "'obesogenic' environment" by designing towns and cities to promote walking and cycling and encouraging people to buy healthier food. Obesity rates have more than doubled in Britain in the last 25 years – in 2004, nearly a quarter of men and women in England were obese. "There is compelling evidence that humans are predisposed to put on weight by their biology," the report said. "Although personal responsibility plays a crucial part in weight gain, human biology is being overwhelmed by the effects of today's 'obesogenic' environment, with its abundance of energy-dense food, motorised transport and sedentary lifestyles.

AFP, SBS World News

Mountaintop Removal Mining is Destructive and Wrong - Help Stop it!

2007-10-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

What is more important than the safety of our drinking water and the quality of our natural environment?

Certainly NOT the profits of coal companies.

Mountaintop removal mining is the nation's most destructive form of coal mining, and it has to stop.
We are just 2000 signatures away from our goal!

Mountaintop removal is exactly what it sounds like: Mining companies clearcut native forests and blow off mountaintops with explosives to uncover thin seams of coal, then dump millions of tons of the waste rock into the valleys below, permanently burying streams.

This devastating practice poisons drinking water, lays waste to wildlife habitat, increases risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities.

Little by little, mountaintop removal mining is destroying the mountains, streams, communities and the heritage of Appalachia.

You can help: Please urge your member of Congress to protect Appalachia's streams by co-sponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 2169)!

Thank you for caring and taking action,

Emily L
Care2 and ThePetitionSite team

Oppose Destructive Mountaintop Removal Mining!

We are just 2000 signatures away from our goal - please help!
Sign the petition»

Dangerous 1872 Mining Law, still in place today

2007-10-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Lay the Reckless 1872 Mining Law to Rest!

The 1872 Mining Law was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant – before women could vote, before the invention of the light bulb, before environmental protection was even a consideration.

It’s past time the 19th century mining law caught up with 21st Century. >>

The 1872 Mining Law, still in place today:

Pollutes clean water.
It contains no environmental protection provisions. Because of the reckless law, mining has polluted 40 percent of the headwaters of western watersheds.
Puts special places at risk.
A U.S. Forest Supervisor claims that because of the 1872 Mining Law, he can't deny a mine proposed directly beneath a declared wilderness area.
Rips off taxpayers.
Since 1872, the mining law has forced taxpayers to give away more than $245 billion in publicly owned minerals.

It's time to lay the 135-year-old law to rest and replace it with a law that meets the needs of today!

The time for the 1872 Mining Law has come and gone. It was passed to encourage the settlement and development of the western United States. The west is settled. Now we need to protect the people who settled there.

House Natural Resources Committee Chair Nick Rahall and Jim Costa, Energy and Minerals Subcommittee Chair, introduced a mining reform bill that would fix these problems and more.

Urge your Representative to cosponsor HR2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 >>

Thank you for helping protect residents and the environment from the effects of an outdated law.

Sincerely,
Breeana L.
Care2 Campaign Team

MERCURY PROPAGANDA: 90% True, 10% BS

2007-10-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

According to the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies coalition, women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant or breast-feeding should eat at least 12 ounces of fatty fish such
as tuna every week to help themselves and their babies.

Fish including mackerel, sardines, light tuna and salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids -- components of fat known to help brain development. Walnuts, flaxseed oil and leafy green vegetables also contain the compounds.

Women need the nutrients to prevent postpartum depression and babies need them for brain and motor skill development, the coalition says. The group, which includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says "90 percent of women are consuming less than the recommended amount of fish."

But these fish can also carry high levels of mercury, which is a brain and nerve toxin. Because of this, the US Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency issued consumer advisories in 2001 and 2004 advising women who were pregnant, breast-feeding or trying to become pregnant, as well as young children, to eat no more than 12 ounces weekly of certain types of fish.

Estimates on the dangers posed by mercury come from people exposed in chemical spills.

(Here's the 10% BS => ) No major studies have shown evidence mercury from food or vaccines has caused brain damage to mothers or children.


China Daily

CODE RED alert -

U.S. Senate Bill Broadly Eliminates Liability For Vaccines And Drugs

.."The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is calling the "Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005" (S. 1873), which passed out of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee one day after it was introduced "a drug company stockholder's dream and a consumer's worst nightmare." The proposed legislation will strip Americans of the right to a trial by jury if harmed by an experimental or licensed drug or vaccine that they are forced by government to take whenever federal health officials declare a public health emergency...

Recognized by ADA It is well known that mercury will store 1^st in the kidney, 2^nd in the liver, 3^rd in the neurological tissue, 4^th in the GI tract, and then in the rest of the tissues. Symptoms related to mercury are vast; however, even the American Dental Association (ADA) admits to the following symptoms:
Tremor observed in fine voluntary muscle movement, such as handwriting, eventually progressing to convulsions.
Depression, fatigue, increased irritability, moodiness, nervous excitability - especially when criticized
Inability to concentrate, loss of memory
Insomnia or drowsiness
Nausea and diarrhea
Loss of appetite
Birth defects in offspring
Nephritis or symptoms of kidney disease
Pneumonitis
Swollen glands and tongue
Ulceration of oral mucosa
Dark pigmentation of marginal gingiva and loosening of teeth

Other documented symptoms that affect various body systems include the following:

Psychological & Behavioral
Anxiety	Emotional Instability
Apathy	Inability to concentrate
Confusion	Psychological disturbances
Depression	Lowered intelligence
Fits of anger	Manic Depression
Forgetfulness	Lack of self-control
Irritability	Short attention span
Hallucinations	Short-term memory loss
Nervousness	Sleep disturbances
Nightmares	Difficulty making decisions
Tension	Unexplained suicidal ideas
Your Dr. said, “It’s your nerves”

Cardiovascular System

Anemia

Agina

Heart attack

Heart murmur

Tachycardia

Pressure in chest

Arteriosclerosis

Irregular heartbeat

Unexplained chest pains

Digestive System

Colitis

Constipation

Ulcers

Diarrhea

Diverticulitis

Stomach cramps

Loss of appetite

Digestive problems

Frequent bloating

Frequent heartburn

Immune System

Cancer

Candia Albicans

Asthma

Mononucleosis

Allergies

Leukemia

Rhinitis

Swollen glands

Sinusitis

Chronic Fatigue

Epstein-Barr virus

Environmental illness

Hodgkins disease

Immune deficiency disease

Susceptible to flu, colds, etc.

Oral Cavity

Bad breath

Bleeding gums

Mouth ulcers

Leukoplakia

Stomatitis

Swollen tongue

Loosening of teeth

Loss of teeth

Bone loss around teeth

Increased flow of saliva

Enlarged salivary glands

Burning sensation in mouth

Metallic taste in mouth

Periodontal (gum) disease

Sore throat – persistent cough

Central Nervous System Dizziness Convulsions Dim vision Epilepsy Facial twitches Insomnia Voices in head Hearing difficulty Mental disability Muscle paralysis Muscle twitches Multiple sclerosis Ringing in ears Speech disorders Difficulty walking Chronic headaches Unexplained leg jerks Failure of muscle coordination Noises or sounds in head Narrowing of field of vision Numbness of arms and legs Tremors of hands, feet, lips Tingling of fingers, toes, lips, or nose Loss of ability to perform hand movement Endocrine system Arthritis Increased sweating Diabetes Diabetic tendency Edema Thyroid dysfunction Osteoporosis Slow healing Leg cramps Weight loss Kidney stones Pain in joints Cold hands and feet Decreased sexual activity Chronic low body temperature Frequent urination – especially at night
Skin
Acne	Excessive itching
Dermatitis	Rough skin
Skin flushes	Rashes
Energy Symptoms
Lethargy	Chronic fatigue
Drowsiness	Oversleeping
Tiredness	Lack of energy

Consumers for Dental Choice, (202) 822-6307

Improper Sleep = Improper Health

2007-10-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a large British study released Monday. A 17-year analysis of 10,000 government workers showed those who cut their sleep from seven hours a night to five or less faced a 1.7-fold increased risk of death from all causes and more than double the risk of cardiovascular death.

The findings highlight a danger in busy modern lifestyles, Francesco Cappuccio, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Warwick's medical school, told the annual conference of the British Sleep Society in Cambridge. "A third of the population of the UK and over 40 percent in the US regularly sleep less than five hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem," he told reporters. "The current pressures in society to cut out sleep, in order to squeeze in more, may not be a good idea - particularly if you go below five hours."


China Daily

Anti-viral Therapy for Extreme Viral Infections

2007-10-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

NEWS RELEASE

National CFIDS Foundation Medical Committee ©2007

In an unexpected turn of events, the Homeland Security Initiative Office of Military and Security Programs at Penn State has issued an important statement about Parainfluenza Virus-5 (PIV-5). In their release, researchers at Penn State have identified a new strategy to control viral infection. According to the information on the Homeland Security Initiative website, the field of
invention is Anti-viral Therapy, Homeland Security and Biodefense.

Quoting the website "Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5), formerly known as simian virus 5 (SV5) is a prototypical member of the Rubulavirus genus of the family Paramyxoviridae. The Penn State researchers have identified a host protein that is critical to PIV5 replication. Furthermore, the Penn State researchers have identified several lead compounds that block PIV5 replication at low concentration without causing cytopathic effect (CPE). They have further demonstrated that these compounds inhibit the replication of other negative stranded RNA viruses including but not limited to hRSV, MeV and VSV (the best compound can inhibit at least 99.9% viral replication in tissue culture cells, i.e., about 1,000-fold reduction of viral replication).

Further testing of these compounds in tissue culture cells has demonstrated that they are effective against replication of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV), a major bovine pathogen as well as a model system for human hepatitis C virus (HCV)." According to the website, this technology is available for licensing.

According to the NCF, this techology could change the nature of this disease overnight if the right types of drugs or compounds are currently available. If not, there may be drugs on the horizon that would greatly help patients fight this infection. This discovery could be critically important to millions of CFIDS/ME, Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy patients in accordance with previous research findings. There is a great deal at stake here and the NCF hopes that information regarding the host protein as well as identified compounds are made openly available.

We wonder however if this will truly be the case due to the heading of Homeland Security? The NCF has taken the initiative to contact the Homeland Security office for additional information. Furthermore, the NCF had previously contacted the principal investigators involved here regarding the CFIDS/ME connection to PIV-5 to discuss additional information as well as to
express our interest in funding future scientific research.

[Ed. Note: This information can be found online at homelandsecurity.psu.edu/ and, in case it "disappears" from the Penn State website, it is available in the pdf file below.]

Penn State is one of the leading research universities in the U.S. This information was brought to our attention by a member of the NCF from Ireland who contacted them for further information which was not given. Members of our board noted that when CFIDS/ME was first found in this country and identified as Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus (CEBV), it was put under the Department of Defense (DOD). Although advocates questioned why, there was never a response.

Finding an actual therapy has been discovered but not allowed to help the millions suffering worldwide just leads to more conspiracy theories. How many on our Memorial List have died needlessly too young after suffering for far too long? Do your Congressional Representatives know about this? A Senate investigation may be in order. While this was going on, the CDC Media Relations issued a press release saying "People who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS) have a genetic make up that affects the body's ability to adapt to change...CDC is promoting CFS awareness through a national media and education campaign."]

This pdf file displays the content of the Homeland Security Initiative website as it appeared on 9/20/07.

[Note: If you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader software, clicking this link will open Acrobat displaying the article. If nothing happens when you click on the link or if you do not have Acrobat Reader installed, click on the bottom icon to download the free Acrobat Reader software.]

This pdf file and more..... can be found on the website mentioned above:

http://www.ncf-net.org/

Oppose Mountain Top Removal Mining

2007-10-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

Oppose Destructive Mountaintop Removal Mining!

Sign the petition»

Mountaintop removal mining is the nation's most destructive form of coal mining, and it has to stop.

Mountaintop removal is exactly what it sounds like: Mining companies clearcut native forests and blow off mountaintops with explosives to uncover thin seams of coal, then dump millions of tons of the waste rock into the valleys below, permanently burying streams.

This devastating practice poisons drinking water, lays waste to wildlife habitat, increases risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities.

Little by little, mountaintop removal mining is destroying the mountains, streams, communities, and heritage of Appalachia.

You can help: Please urge your member of Congress to protect Appalachia's streams by co-sponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 2169)!

Thank you for caring and taking action,

Rebecca Young,
Care2 and ThePetitionSite team

Deaths from Drug Reactions Up

2007-09-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Did you see this week's news story about prescription drugs? A new report found that deaths and side effects from prescription drugs have nearly tripled.

As we've been talking about in the past two weeks, a big part of the problem is that drug companies simply haven't told our doctors or us the whole truth when it comes to the side effects of drugs. But together we can make them come clean. Please write a short letter to your local newspaper, urging drug companies to tell the whole truth.

http://static.calpirg.org/cap.asp?id=2461&id4=ES

Background

Here is a short excerpt from this week's story. to read the complete story go to http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jmQAzlPOONNMP_7Xdv6iZl4putsw

ANALYSIS: DEATHS FROM DRUG REACTIONS UP
By Lindsey Tanner

CHICAGO (AP) - Reports of dangerous side effects and deaths from widely used medicines almost tripled between 1998 and 2005, an analysis of U.S. drug data found.

The number of deaths and serious injuries from prescription and over-the-counter drugs climbed from 34,966 to 89,842 during the study of reports to the Food and Drug Administration.

Potent narcotic painkillers including Oxycontin, sold generically as oxycodone, were among 15 drugs most often linked with deaths in the study. Drugs frequently linked with serious nonfatal complications included insulin, the arthritis drugs Vioxx and Remicade, and the antidepressant Paxil.

The report adds to recent criticism of FDA oversight on drug safety, including its handling of serious problems connected with Vioxx, which was removed from the market in 2004.

"This growing toll of serious injury shows that the existing system is not adequately protecting patients and underscores the importance of recent reports urging far-reaching legislative, policy and institutional changes," the authors said.

The analysis appears in this week's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Its authors are Thomas Moore and Michael Cohen of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit educational group that analyzes drug safety issues; and Dr. Curt Furberg of Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

They analyzed excerpts of reports on serious side effects received by the FDA between January 1998 and December 2005. A total of 467,809 serious complications were found. Reported deaths nearly tripled, rising from 5,519 to 15,107.

---end excerpt---

Please submit a short letter to your local paper, urging drug makers to tell you, your doctor and your family the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about a prescription drug. You can do so by clicking here:

http://static.calpirg.org/cap.asp?id=2461&id4=ES

Sincerely,

Steve Blackledge
CALPIRG Legislative Director
SteveB@calpirg.org
http://www.calpirg.org

Love Seafood? Hate the Mercury in Your Seafood?

2007-09-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

ASK YOUR SENATORS TO CO-SPONSOR!

Urge your senators to co-sponsor Senator Obama's Mercury Bill.

Take Action

THE MERCURY CYCLE

Mercury released to the air from chlorine factories and other sources is deposited on land and water as reactive mercury. This form of mercury can be converted to the more toxic form, methylmercury, by naturally occurring bacteria. Methylmercury then bioaccumulates in aquatic food chains and contaminates the fish we eat.

Learn More >>

As summer "unofficially" comes to a close, things are heating up in Washington, DC with Congress rolling back into town and Oceana kicking the mercury campaign into gear.

First order of business - stop the use of mercury in outdated chlorine factories. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) recently introduced the Missing Mercury in Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act (S.1818). The bill would stop outdated chlorine manufacturing plants from using and releasing tons of mercury each year - mercury that once released into the environment can build up in our seafood and end up on our dinner plates. Due to the many pressing issues facing our nation, this bill needs wide support to make it through Congress.

>> Take Action: Ask your Senators to co-sponsor

Having your Senators co-sponsor this legislation will put their stamp of approval on eliminating thousands of pounds of mercury pollution every year. A small number of outdated chlorine manufacturing plants have managed to stay out of the spotlight and get away with releasing a large amount of mercury pollution. On average, each of these plants releases four times the amount of mercury that the average power plant does.

Oceana has shined a spotlight on these plants with numerous reports about the tons of mercury pollution they release and the numerous benefits to the environment and business of mercury-free technology. Help us get them to switch to mercury-free technology once and for all by asking your Senators to co-sponsor this bill.

For the oceans,
Beth Kemler
Seafood Campaign Organizer
Oceana

ASK YOUR SENATORS TO CO-SPONSOR!

Urge your senators to co-sponsor Senator Obama's Mercury Bill.

Take Action

Benefits of Prenatal Strength Training

2007-08-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

Being a mom is an athletic feat. It’s a dynamic, activity, requiring constant changes in energy, direction and intensity. While new moms prepare for the challenge of lifting a child whose weight increases weekly, expectant moms adapt to changes in their center of gravity and postural alignment. Pregnancy hormones may cause too much mobility, making balance and stability a challenge. A fitness plan that integrates strength training with postural alignment and stability will prepare you for the first “Main Event,” childbirth, and the subsequent events involved in “bringing up baby.”

An article in "The Physician and Sports Medicine" journal describes the benefits of strength training for women.

New Chapter Organic Perfect Prenatal -- 180 Tablets
Made with Organic Ingredients. Nourishing fulfillment for you and your baby. America's favorite whole food prenatal. Nature's organic probiotic whole-food prenatal vitamin. Promotes physical stamina and emotional well-being while nurturing mother and baby.

Enhanced bone modeling to increase bone strength and reduce the risk of osteoporosis
Stronger connective tissues to increase joint stability and help prevent injury
Increased functional strength for sports and daily activity
Increased lean body mass and decreased nonfunctional body fat
Higher metabolic rate because of an increase in muscle and a decrease in fat
Improved self-esteem and confidence

For expectant moms:

*Reducing the risk of osteoporosis means that you will be active with your child reaches adolescence. Increasing joint stability is an important component of prenatal fitness programs. The hormone relaxin increases with pregnancy. While its purpose is to relax the pelvis for labor, its systemic effect might cause instability. Strengthening the muscles around the joint prevents injuries, and enhances stability.

*Functional strength training that uses different muscle groups simultaneously prepares you for the multi tasking involved in motherhood.

*A toned muscle has an elevated metabolic rate. While weight loss during pregnancy is not an issue, strength training may prevent excessive weight gain.

James F Clapp MD. Discusses prenatal strength-training benefits in his book, Exercising through Your Pregnancy

Regular, sustained, weight bearing exercise is the best type of exercise for pregnant women because it clearly complements the adaptations to pregnancy. However, the proper frequency, duration and intensity will vary from woman to woman.

Many factors influence your frequency, duration and intensity. Participation in a strength- training routine prior to pregnancy may enable you to maintain that program, with some modifications, for most of your pregnancy. Inactive women should seek their doctor’s advice...

This info is obviously for women intending to get pregnant. What is not so obvious is that their husbands need to know these things too; it is the husband's responsibility to keep his woman happy and healthy.

This means that once you, as a man, commit to having a baby, you have to commit to every nuance of being a good husband and a good father. Every non-family oriented expenditure of your time and energy, every habit and nuance that once identified you as a single person has to be dropped.

Every habit and characteristic of being a good husband and a good father has to be completely integrated into your life if you want a happy, healthy family - OR - they will be nothing but fodder for every kind of human pain and suffering that decadent society has to offer.

Be that good husband. Be that good father. IF you don't know how to do this, then find out how. Your True Love, and Your True Happiness is at stake.

For more information of this nature, please visit sexual.healingmindn.com

Thanks for your time.

Randolph

Professionals’ Statement Calling For End To Fluoridation

2007-07-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2007

Over the last few days we have started something which should provide great ammunition to both local efforts and the effort to bring more pressure on DC. We have started to collect names on a "professionals' statement calling for end to to fluoridation."

This summarizes 7 major developments since 2000 which makes the end of fluoridation critical (see below for the statement and a list of those who have already signed).

It is aimed to puncture once and for all the false claim that the only people who are opposed to fluoridation are crazy people practicing junk science. We need to get as many professionals (medical, dental, scientific and environmental as well as water
department officials) to sign this as we possibly can. This list will grow and grow over the coming months. I am confident that as the list grows it will make it easier and easier for those opposed to it (quietly, off the record) to come out and state their opposition in public.

This is how you can help.

Please check the list of people who have helped in your campaign. Does this include any doctor, dentist, nurse, hygienist, academic, water department person, anyone holding an executive position in an environmental group? If so please ask them to sign the statement and send it back to me at paul @ fluoridealert.org.

Please check out the list of people who have already signed. You notice that we already have two members of the NRC (2006) signed, as well as many doctors and dentists, and some very distinguished people from the environmental movement: Ken Cook (EWG), Peter Montague, Pat Costner, Craig Williams, Dan Knapp, Jeffrey Morris, Ralph Ryder (UK) and Mageswari Sangaralingam (Malaysia) as well as a great international representation.

The importance of the "environmental" names is twofold:

1) they bring a more objective perspective to this debate than those who have been trapped by their medical/dental school training/brainwashing and

2) as our support grows among the environmental movement it will generate far more numbers to put pressure on DC.

Where does this fit in to our larger efforts?

Our ultimate goal - to get a congressional hearing and have those who promote fluoridation to testify and be cross-examined under oath.

* First we mobilize as many professionals to support the call for an end to fluoridation as outlined above.

* Then we organize a new online petition which supports these professionals call for an end to fluoridation and calls for among other things, a congressional hearing. As we have already discussed we will be using a system which will automatically send each
signature to their reps in DC. This flow of emails to DC will be our bread and butter background effort for the next few years. It will ebb and flow as other fluoride events take place ? but it will always be there as a backdrop.

* We will further increase efforts on DC with individual lobbying efforts by myself (Chris Gupta), Bill Hirzy, Bill Osmunson and others.

* On the horizon is also the possibility of a lobby day, where we will have a coordinated effort to get more people to DC to lobby as a group as well as those (who cannot make it to DC) lobbying their reps at their local offices.

Please let me know if you think you can get 1, 2 or more professionals in your town or state to sign onto this statement.

Thanks again for your patience and for everything else you are trying to do to end this silly practice.

Paul Connett

Signers of Professionals' statement "End Water Fluoridation Now":

Robert Anderson, PhD, New Zealand

Ernesto Burgio, Pediatrician, Vice President, Scientific Committee

ISDE (International Society of Doctors for Environment), Palermo, Italy

Albert W. Burgstahler, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Co-author with George L. Waldbott, MD, and H. Lewis McKinney, PhD, of "Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma" (Coronado Press, 1978) and editor since 1998 of the international quarterly journal Fluoride, published by the International Society for Fluoride Research (www.fluorideresearch.org).

Noel Campbell, BDSc, LDS, FACNEM, FASID, Visiting Professor, Hope Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Neil J. Carman, PhD, Clean air program director, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, Austin, TX

Robert J. Carton, PhD, former Chief of Environmental Compliance, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD and former president of EPA professionals' union.

Paul Connett, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY and Executive Director of the Fluoride Action Network.

Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC

Pat Costner, Science Advisor, GAIA, Science Advisor, IPEN, retired Senior Scientist, Greenpeace International

Mark Diesendorf, PhD, Director, Sustainability Centre, Sydney, Australia

Lynn Howard Ehrle, MEd, Chair, International Science Oversight Board (a project of the Organic Consumers Association), Plymouth, MI

Michael F. Dolan, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Geosciences, UMASS, Amherst, MA USA
Mike Godfrey, MBBS, Tauranga, New Zealand

Dorothy Goldin-Rosenberg, MES, PhD, Toronto, Canada

Robert L. Isaacson, Distinguished Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. Member of the 2006 National Research Council panel which reviewed the toxicology of fluoride.

Antone G. Jacobson, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

David Kennedy, DDS, Past President of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, San Diego, CA

Pam Killeen, co-author of the NY Times bestselling book, The Great Bird Flu Hoax.

Dan Knapp, PhD, (Sociology) CEO of Urban Ore, Incorporated, a reuse and recycling business in Berkeley, CA

Stephen M. Koral, DMD, Vice President International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, Boulder, CO

Hardy Limeback, PhD, DDS, Assoc. Professor and Head of Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto, past president of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, and Member of the 2006 National Research Council panel which reviewed the toxicology of fluoride.

Mariann Lloyd-Smith, PhD, (Law) Senior Advisor, National Toxics Network Inc., East Ballina, NSW Australia

Don Mac Auley, BDS, Dental Surgeon and Chairman of Irish Dentists Opposing Fluoridation, Ireland

Peter Montague, PhD, Environmental Research Foundation, New Brunswick, N.J.

Jeffrey Morris, PhD (Economics), Sound Resource Management, Olympia, WA

Alan Muller, Executive Director, Green Delaware, Port Penn, DE

Tohru Murakami DDS, PhD, former President of Japanese Society for Fluoride Research, former Vice President of Gunma prefectural Dental Association, Japan.

Bill Osmunson, DDS, MPH,

Robert Pocock, fluoride spokesperson for VOICE for the Irish Environment, Dublin, Ireland.

Paul G. Rubin, DDS, MIAOMT, Seattle, WA

Ralph Anthony Ryder, Director, Communities Against Toxics UK, Editor; TOXCAT, Ellesmere Port, UK

Mageswari Sangaralingam (Masters in Environmental Management), Research Officer, Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia.

Bruce Spittle MB ChB DPM FRANZCP, Assistant Editor of the international quarterly journal Fluoride, published by the International Society for Fluoride Research, New Zealand

Daniel G. Stockin, MPH, Senior Operations Officer, The Lillie Center, Inc.

Craig E. Williams, Director: Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Director: Chemical Weapons Working Group, Recipient: 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize, KY

Mae W. Woo, DDS, Billings, MT

Mag. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Rudolf Ziegelbecker, Graz, Austria

Quotes:

Noel Campbell: "The risk/benefit ratio based on peer reviewed research is now too high to allow fluoridation of water." Bob Isaacson: "The Health of the entire country is at risk as long as fluoridation of the drinking water remains uncurbed." Mageswari Sangaralingam: "Fluoridation is mass medication with an uncontrolled dose, and violates the individual's right to informed consent. We need to end the harmful practice of water fluoridation in the US and all other countries which still add fluoride in public drinking water."

Health, Scientific and Environmental Professionals call for an End to Water Fluoridation

Introduction:

Water fluoridation involves adding various fluoride chemicals to the public water supply at a concentration of 1 ppm (1 part per million or 1 milligram per liter), ostensibly to fight tooth decay. 1 ppm may seem small, but it is actually 250 times greater than the level of fluoride in mother's milk, 0.004 ppm.

Once fluoride is put into the public water supply, the dose cannot be controlled and it goes to "patients" without their consent, thus violating both medical ethics and the individual's human rights. It also goes to subsets of the population that we now know are particularly vulnerable to fluoride's toxic effects - including the very young, the very old, the infirm, people with poor kidney function and others with poor nutrition.

While strongly supported by the US public health establishment, most countries have rejected this practice, including the vast majority of European nations. They are not willing to force medication on those who do not want it, and they feel that many health concerns have not been resolved (see a list of official statements from various countries on this is here). According to WHO data available online, dental health for 12 year olds in non-fluoridated countries is as good, if not better, than those countries which fluoridate.

These observations in countries are duplicated in studies comparing communities within a country. Since the 1980s there has been an ever growing number of research articles and reviews which indicate that there is little difference in tooth decay between communities which are fluoridated and those which are not (Leverett, 1982; Colquhoun,
1984; 1985 and 1987; Diesendorf, 1986; Gray, 1987; Brunelle and Carlos, 1990; Spencer et al. 1996; deLiefde, 1998; Locker, 1999; Armfield and Spencer, 2004 and Prizzo et al., 2007). Any minor difference due to fluoride status is usually dwarfed by the
difference in income levels. Poverty is the major factor related to tooth decay, not lack of fluoride.

Government officials endlessly promote fluoridation while steadfastly refusing to publicly debate the issue, or provide the scientific evidence to support their claims.

Professionals' statement:

We the undersigned call for an end to water fluoridation.

SEVEN recent events make action to end this practice urgent.

1. The publication in 2006 of a 500 page review of all relevant health effects and exposure information on fluoride by a distinguished panel appointed by the National Research Council. EPA requested this review to determine if a new drinking water standard is required. Contrary to almost all media reports, the NRC report went far beyond concluding that the current EPA standard (4 ppm) is unsafe and should be lowered. The report identified numerous systemic health effects which may be occurring as a result of adding fluoride chemicals to drinking water, including decreased thyroid function, impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes), brain cell damage, kidney damage, arthritis (joint inflammation), Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

2. The publication in 2004 of the book "The Fluoride Deception" by award-winning investigative reporter Christopher Bryson. This meticulously researched book documents that industrial interests, concerned about liabilities from fluoride pollution and fluoride's heath effects on workers, played a significant role in the early promotion of fluoridation in the 1950?s. Bryson also details the brutal suppression of scientists who have challenged the establishment on the safety of this practice. A videotaped interview with Bryson can be accessed on Google video here.

3. The evidence provided by the CDC
in 2005 that 32% of American children have a condition called dental fluorosis - a discoloration and mottling of the enamel - caused by fluoride exposure. Clearly, our children are now being overdosed with fluoride - from water, swallowed toothpaste and many other sources. Fluoridated water is the easiest source to eliminate.

4. The American Dental Association's distribution, on November 9, 2006, of an Advisory to its membership recommending that fluoridated water not be used in the preparation of infant formula due to the elevated risk of dental fluorosis. This admission by the ADA that fluoridated water is not appropriate for infants is reason alone for fluoridation to be immediately halted (see previous post in this blog).

5. The concession by the CDC in 1999, and again in 2001, that the predominant benefit of fluoride in reducing tooth decay is TOPICAL and not SYSTEMIC. In other words, to the extent fluoride works to reduce or prevent tooth decay, it works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside the body. Thus, it doesn't make sense to drink it and expose the rest of the body to the long term risks of fluoride ingestion when fluoridated toothpaste is so readily available.

6. The publication in May 2006 of a peer-reviewed, case-controlled study from Harvard University which showed a 5-7 fold increase in osteosarcoma (a frequently fatal bone cancer) in young men associated with exposure to fluoridated water during their 6th, 7th and 8th years (Bassin et al., Cancer Causes and Control, 2006). This study was surrounded by scandal as Elise Bassin?s PhD thesis adviser, Professor Chester Douglass, was accused by the watchdog Environmental Working Group of attempting to suppress these findings for several years. See video at http://FluorideAction.net

7. The admission by federal agencies, in response to questions from a Congressional subcommittee in 1999-2000, that the industrial grade waste products used to fluoridate over 90% of America's drinking water supplies (fluorosilicate compounds) have never been subjected to toxicological testing or FDA approved for human ingestion. See:
http://keepersofthewell.org/

To bring an end to fluoridation:

We call upon Members of Congress to sponsor and/or support a new Congressional Hearing on Water Fluoridation so that those in government agencies who continue to support the procedure, particularly the Oral Health Division of the
CDC, will be compelled to provide the scientific basis for their ongoing, aggressive promotion of fluoridation with millions of taxpayer dollars. They must be cross-examined under oath if the public is ever to fully learn the truth about this unnecessary and harmful practice.

We call upon local elected officials in fluoridated communities to exercise due diligence in this matter and read the basic scientific literature themselves. It is not enough to blindly accept assurances from biased agencies whose reputations depend on maintaining the status quo and whose employees are required to promote fluoridation.
If you are not confident about claims that fluoridation is safe and effective, you should not be forcing this practice on those who don't want it and may be harmed by it.

We call upon members of the media to do a professional job investigating this issue. Do not assume that the opposition's arguments are invalid because of the reams of endorsements that promoters use to put your intelligence on hold. It is irresponsible
to just quote the Dr. Strangelove film and a few sentences from each side. If author Christopher Bryson can spend 10 years researching this issue, surely other investigative journalists can spend more than 10 minutes sorting out fact from fiction in this matter.

We call upon State health agencies, at the very least, to use their health networks to thoroughly publicize, at all levels, the ADA recommendation that fluoridated water not be used in the preparation of infant formula.

We call upon medical and dental professionals to get up-to-date on this issue. Professionals should use their own high level education to look beyond the outdated blanket endorsements from promoting agencies. Specifically, we call upon them to review the NRC (2006) report and the other literature cited in the introduction.
(An alphabetical listing of the full citations can be found here).

We call upon members of environmental and other activist groups to get involved. In addition to health concerns, fluoridation is "pollution by dilution" of the ecosystems with tons of industrial waste products each year. This problem is one that's easy to end -- once we have the political will -- by just turning off the taps. Getting that political will can be greatly accelerated by your organization educating its membership as to the newer developments identified above and by joining in the growing movement to end fluoridation.

Despite 60 years of fluoridation, tooth decay remains rampant in many long-fluoridated areas of the US. The untold millions of dollars that are now spent on equipment, chemicals, monitoring, and promotion of fluoridation could be much better invested on nutrition education and targeted dental care for children from low income families who are known to suffer the greatest amount of tooth decay. The vast majority of other countries have done this. It is time for the US to recognize that the fluoridation program has failed to deliver its promise, poses unnecessary risks, and violates medical ethics and freedom of choice. Fluoridation should be ended now.

Fluoride, a longtime blessing, now a curse?

2007-06-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

A debate follows a warning by the ADA about giving babies fluoridated water.

By WILL VAN SANT
Published June 4, 2007

[Joseph Garnett, Jr. Times]

Eldridge/Wilde Wellfield nazi operations specialist Jamey Hulsey records the level of Fluorisilic acid that has been added to the County's water for Friday May 19th 2007. Only a small portion is needed to keep the fluoride level in balance and the people at concentration camp levels of compliance.

Few noticed in November when the American Dental Association alerted its members via e-mail of a possible problem with giving babies fluoridated water:

The ADA, long among fluoride's biggest advocates, wrote that parents of infants younger than a year old "should consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride" when mixing baby formula.

Public health agencies in some states, like Vermont and New Hampshire, responded by issuing warnings through the media based on the ADA e-mail.

But it would be four months before Florida's Department of Health would relay the ADA's message on its Web site along with its own seemingly contradictory footnote: "Mixing formula with fluoridated water poses no known health risks."

Neither Hillsborough nor Pinellas counties' water utilities - both of which use fluoride additive - passed along the warning.

So is fluoridated water safe for infants? (or anyone?) It depends on whom you ask.

The article continues at TampaBay.com

FDA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO ELIMINATE VITAMIN COMPANIES

2007-06-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Update - July 10, 2007

HR.2900 is now scheduled to be voted on in the House on Wednesday, July 11. It is imperative to keep up the pressure with action steps so that the bill can be amended to prevent the FDA from obtaining unprecedented regulatory power to remove dietary supplements from the market based on FDA opinion.

Note - Email correction for Nancy Pelosi's office: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov is correct.

Emergency Alert (July 9, 2007) - House democrats are seeking to ramrod HR.2900 (the companion to S.1082 which has already passed the Senate) through without allowing any debate or amendments. Immediate consumer action must be taken to stop this bill from moving forward with its attack on your right to have access to a wide variety of dietary supplements.

More at http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_freedom.php

By Byron J. Richards, CCN

June 27, 2007

NewsWithViews.com

The FDA, emboldened by its transformation into a drug company, has embarked upon an anti-American plan of interfering with business and intentionally eliminating various dietary supplement companies from the market. The FDA announcement came on Friday, June 22, 2007 under the guise of a final rule for dietary supplement good manufacturing practices (CGMPs). Within this 800 page rule the FDA states, “We find that this final rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.... Establishments with above average costs, and even establishments with average costs, could be hard pressed to continue to operate. Some of these may decide it is too costly and either change product lines or go out of business.... 140 very small [less than 20 employees] and 32 small dietary supplement manufacturers [less than 500 employees] will be at risk of going out of business.... costs per establishment are proportionally higher for very small than for large establishments....The regulatory costs of this final rule will also discourage new small businesses from entering the industry.”

This FDA rule will directly raise the price of dietary supplements for all consumers. The FDA acknowledges this and says “We expect that the majority of these costs will be borne by consumers of dietary supplements, who will likely respond to the increase in prices by reducing consumption.” Thus, the FDA is intentionally seeking to shrink the size of the dietary supplement industry and reduce the influence of safe and effective options to improve the dreadful trend in the health of Americans. The goal is to leave toxic drugs as the primary health option.

Independent analysis of this FDA rule has placed cost of compliance at 10 fold what the FDA estimates with as many as 50% of small companies unable to comply.

The gutless cowards of Congress, a majority of whom are on the Big Pharma payroll or will be on it once they leave Congress, have delegated their lawmaking powers granted by the U.S. Constitution to a bunch of Big Pharma-friendly unelected bureaucrats at the FDA, who are in turn using this power to undermine free commerce and help Big Pharma eliminate competition from the market. This is the behavior of a government in tyranny, inviting a revolution by the people. It is noteworthy that fascist governments of the past have eliminated health freedom and health options as a necessary condition to enslave and brainwash a population. Congress has delegated its responsibility to the people to such an extent that over half the laws in this country are now concocted by unelected bureaucrats with vested interests...

Article continues at News with Views...

There is an org by the name of "Consumer's Union, Non-Profit Publisher of Consumer Reports" emailing for people to support S.1082, headed by one Minerva Novoa, internet advocacy coordinator. They want people to contact their reps to support S.1082 as they carelessly leave out the draconian details of what is paper clipped to their premise.

Here's my new and improved letter to send from the "Consumer Reports" from hell website at http://tinyurl.com/ywjjap:

"Right now, millions of Americans, possibly even yourself, take prescription medications without knowing all of the facts about those drugs.

You have a chance when the drug safety bill comes to the House floor to understand critical legislation that will improve transparency on our drug safety laws and ensure patient safety.

This legislation by Congressman Pallone which passed recently 43-0 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, builds and expands on drug safety legislation approved, 93-1, in the Senate (S. 1082). Unfortunately, this means that drug companies in tandem with the FDA are having greater influence as opposed to your logical and rational decisions.

I appreciate what S.1082 is attempting to do concerning pharmaceutical drugs, but the rest of the bill is completely Draconian and anti-American; it threatens our health and our economy.

The House version of this bill now contains the “food and food ingredients” language that the FDA can use to apply drug-related risk/benefit analysis to dietary supplements and have them removed from the market at their whim. I'm telling you this because I voted for YOU, a rational, altruistic human being - while The American People have NO decision concerning FDA officials.

The FDA is doing this under the pretense of improved consumer safety. Consumer safety could readily be guaranteed by simply having all companies test their final products for purity and potency. Instead of this simple approach the FDA has gone to the extreme of burdening the dietary supplement industry with regulations in excess of the drug industry! Supplements are foods, not drugs. The food industry couldn’t begin to comply with these FDA rules, even though food contamination is far more dangerous to health than dietary supplements.

The Natural Products Association (NPA) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) have been instrumental in forcing these drug-like rules on dietary supplements. These globalist organizations are selling out America, destroying American jobs, undermining the U.S. Constitution, and working in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies to usher in Codex Alimentarius.

CRN and NPA have posted on their websites information stating that S.1082 is not a threat to dietary supplements. Both organizations are flat out wrong.

Numerous dietary supplement companies are anti-American and actively selling out our country and our constitution, working hand-in-glove with the FDA and Big Pharma. The majority of such companies can be found as members of CRN and NPA. It will be up to the American consumer to save the dietary industry from itself and preserve their own access to safe and effective natural health remedies.

Only the Drug companies should be required to register and report the results of all clinical studies, those with good results and bad, so that doctors and patients will have the opportunity to weigh risks and benefits of medications. I urge that you ensure the provision requiring the public registration of clinical trials and their results remain strong, and not be weakened.

Please take this opportunity to show the public that Congress takes seriously its commitment to public patient safety. Please DENY S. 1082 by Rep. Pallone and the transparent efforts to undermine American Health and Economy as part of the FDA drug-safety process.

Sincerely,"

Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?

2007-06-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

By Susan Casey, Photographs by Gregg Segal
Feb 20, 2007 - 12:03:05 PM

A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse.

Fate can take strange forms, and so perhaps it does not seem unusual that Captain Charles Moore found his life’s purpose in a nightmare. Unfortunately, he was awake at the time, and 800 miles north of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

It happened on August 3, 1997, a lovely day, at least in the beginning: Sunny. Little wind. Water the color of sapphires. Moore and the crew of Alguita, his 50-foot aluminum-hulled catamaran, sliced through the sea.

Returning to Southern California from Hawaii after a sailing race, Moore had altered Alguita’s course, veering slightly north. He had the time and the curiosity to try a new route, one that would lead the vessel through the eastern corner of a 10-million-square-mile oval known as the North Pacific subtropical gyre. This was an odd stretch of ocean, a place most boats purposely avoided. For one thing, it was becalmed. “The doldrums,” sailors called it, and they steered clear. So did the ocean’s top predators: the tuna, sharks, and other large fish that required livelier waters, flush with prey. The gyre was more like a desert—a slow, deep, clockwise-swirling vortex of air and water caused by a mountain of high-pressure air that lingered above it.

The area’s reputation didn’t deter Moore. He had grown up in Long Beach, 40 miles south of L.A., with the Pacific literally in his front yard, and he possessed an impressive aquatic résumé: deckhand, able seaman, sailor, scuba diver, surfer, and finally captain. Moore had spent countless hours in the ocean, fascinated by its vast trove of secrets and terrors. He’d seen a lot of things out there, things that were glorious and grand; things that were ferocious and humbling. But he had never seen anything nearly as chilling as what lay ahead of him in the gyre.

It began with a line of plastic bags ghosting the surface, followed by an ugly tangle of junk: nets and ropes and bottles, motor-oil jugs and cracked bath toys, a mangled tarp. Tires. A traffic cone. Moore could not believe his eyes. Out here in this desolate place, the water was a stew of plastic crap. It was as though someone had taken the pristine seascape of his youth and swapped it for a landfill...

Article Continues at Best Life Magazine...

Help Save the oceans for free

Giant microwave turns plastic back to oil

17:44 26 June 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic

A US company is taking plastics recycling to another level – turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas.

All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and – hey presto! – a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).

Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas.

GRC's machine is called the Hawk-10. Its smaller incarnations look just like an industrial microwave with bits of machinery attached to it. Larger versions resemble a concrete mixer.

"Anything that has a hydrocarbon base will be affected by our process," says Jerry Meddick, director of business development at GRC, based in New Jersey. "We release those hydrocarbon molecules from the material and it then becomes gas and oil."

Whatever does not have a hydrocarbon base is left behind, minus any water it contained as this gets evaporated in the microwave.

Simplified recycling

"Take a piece of copper wiring," says Meddick. "It is encased in plastic – a kind of hydrocarbon material. We release all the hydrocarbons, which strips the casing off the wire." Not only does the process produce fuel in the form of oil and gas, it also makes it easier to extract the copper wire for recycling.

Similarly, running 9.1 kilograms of ground-up tyres through the Hawk-10 produces 4.54 litres of diesel oil, 1.42 cubic metres of combustible gas, 1 kg of steel and 3.40 kg of carbon black, Meddick says.

Watch a video of tyre powder being reduced by the Hawk-10.

Randolph's Note: Microwaves are also good for sterilising smelly sponges that have succumbed to mold and microbes. Microwaves are also good for killing and distorting the essential nutrients in your food - BAD!

Animal Feed: Gross Things You Prefer Not to Know

2007-06-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Reality of Feed at Animal Factories
Source: Union of Concerned Scientists

When many Americans think of farm animals, they picture cattle munching grass on rolling pastures, chickens pecking on the ground outside of picturesque red barns, and pigs gobbling down food at the trough.

Over the last 50 years, the way food animals are raised and fed has changed dramatically—to the detriment of both animals and humans. Many people are surprised to find that most of the food animals in the United States are no longer raised on farms at all. Instead they come from crowded animal factories, also known as large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Just like other factories, animal factories are constantly searching for ways to shave their costs. To save money, they've redefined what constitutes animal feed, with little consideration of what is best for the animals or for human health. As a result, many of the ingredients used in feed these days are not the kind of food the animals are designed by nature to eat.

Just take a look at what's being fed to the animals you eat.

Are these ingredients legal? Unfortunately, yes. Nevertheless, some raise human health concerns. Others just indicate the low standards for animal feeds. But all are symptoms of a system that has lost sight of the appropriate way to raise food animals.

Same Species Meat, Diseased Animals, and Feathers, Hair, Skin, and Blood

The advent of "mad cow" disease (also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE) raised international concern about the safety of feeding rendered[1] cattle to cattle. Since the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States, the federal government has taken some action to restrict the parts of cattle that can be fed back to cattle.

However, most animals are still allowed to eat meat from their own species. Pig carcasses can be rendered and fed back to pigs, chicken carcasses can be rendered and fed back to chickens, and turkey carcasses can be rendered and fed back to turkeys. Even cattle can still be fed cow blood and some other cow parts.

Under current law, pigs, chickens, and turkeys that have been fed rendered cattle can be rendered and fed back to cattle—a loophole that may allow mad cow agents to infect healthy cattle.

Animal feed legally can contain rendered road kill, dead horses, and euthanized cats and dogs.

Rendered feathers, hair, skin, hooves, blood, and intestines can also be found in feed, often under catch-all categories like "animal protein products."

Manure and Other Animal Waste

Feed for any food animal can contain cattle manure, swine waste, and poultry litter. This waste may contain drugs such as antibiotics and hormones that have passed unchanged through the animals' bodies.

The poultry litter that is fed to cattle contains rendered cattle parts in the form of digested poultry feed and spilled poultry feed. This is another loophole that may allow mad cow agents to infect healthy cattle.

Animal waste used for feed is also allowed to contain dirt, rocks, sand, wood, and other such contaminants.

Plastics

Many animals need roughage to move food through their digestive systems. But instead of using plant-based roughage, animal factories often turn to pellets made from plastics to compensate for the lack of natural fiber in the factory feed.

Drugs and Chemicals

Animals raised in humane conditions with appropriate space and food rarely require medical treatment. But animals at animal factories often receive antibiotics to promote faster growth and to compensate for crowded, stressful, and unsanitary living conditions. An estimated 13.5 million pounds of antibiotics—the same classes of antibiotics used in human medicine—are routinely added to animal feed or water. This routine, nontherapeutic use of antibiotics speeds the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can infect humans as well as animals. Antibiotic resistance is a pressing public health problem that costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year.

Some of the antimicrobials used to control parasites and promote growth in poultry contain arsenic, a known human carcinogen. Arsenic can be found in meat or can contaminate human water supplies through runoff from factory farms.

Unhealthy Amounts of Grains

One last surprise. While grain may sound like a healthful food, the excessive quantities fed to some animals are not. This is especially true for cattle, which are natural grass eaters. Their digestive systems are not designed to handle the large amounts of corn they receive at feedlots. As a result of this corn-rich diet, feedlot cattle can suffer significant health problems, including excessively acidic digestive systems and liver abscesses. Grain-induced health problems, in turn, ramp up the need for drugs.

Want to Change What Animals are Fed?

The rise in animal factories over the last 50 years has led to a system that is out of control. Mad cow disease, increased liver abscesses, and the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are just some examples of the damage that comes from unwise and often inhumane approaches to raising food animals.

As a consumer armed with information, you have the power to promote a modern approach to raising animals that is both productive and healthful. You can help to effect change by supporting systems and producers that feed animals the food they were meant to eat.

You can:

Avoid factory farmed animal products altogether by choosing plant-based foods.
Choose grass-fed and grass-finished beef and dairy products and pasture-raised pork, poultry, and egg products.
Select certified organic meats, eggs, and dairy and those clearly labeled as using only vegetarian animal feed.
Purchase meats, eggs, and dairy products from local farmers on the farm, at farmers markets, or by buying a share from a local farmer as part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

For More Information

Sapkota, A.R., L.Y. Lefferts, S. McKenzie, and P. Walker. 2007. What do we feed to food-production animals? A review of animal feed ingredients and their potential impacts on human health. Environmental Health Perspectives 115 (5):663-670.

Visit the Eat Well Guide to learn how you can locate sustainably produced meats, eggs, and dairy products.

Visit the American Grassfed Association's list of producers to locate producers of grass-fed and grass-finished animal products.

Click here for a guide to Community Supported Agriculture.

Click here to find a farmers market near you.

Click here to learn more about the Union of Concerned Scientists' work on sustainable agriculture.

[1] Rendering is an industrial process in which animal carcasses, parts, and other wastes are ground up, heated, and further processed to create a variety of products, including animal feed ingredients. Meat and bone meal, blood meal, and feather meal are some examples of rendered products. Yes, animal torture is an integral part of greedy corporate culture.

Longer Shelf Life, Shorter Human Life

2007-05-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

E211 Revealed: Evidence highlights new fear over drinks additive

The row over artificial preservatives and flavourings in our foodstuffs has raged long and hard. Now the 'IoS' discloses how one substance may cause damage similar to alcohol abuse.

Martin Hickman reports

(extract:)

The chemicals in our food and drink, and what they can do to us

E102

Tartrazine: colouring.

Can provoke asthma attacks and has links to thyroid tumours. Colours soft drinks.

E104

Quinoline yellow: colouring.

Used in a wide range of medications but can cause dermatitis. Banned in US and Norway.

E110

Sunset yellow FCR: colouring.

Side effects are hives, kidney tumours, nausea and vomiting.

E122

Carmoisine: colouring.

Derives from coal tar. Can cause bad reactions in asthmatics and people allergic to aspirin.

E124

Ponceau 4R: colouring.

Carcinogen in animals, can produce bad reaction in asthmatics.

E407

Carrageenan: thickener.

Fibre extracted from seaweed, recently linked to cancer.

E412

Guar gum: thickener.

Derived from seeds fed to cattle in the US. Can cause nausea.

E621

Monosodium glutamate (MSG): flavouring.

Flavour enhancer found in many canned foods. Not permitted in foods for young children. Adverse effects appear in some asthmatic people.

E622

Monopotassium glutamate: flavouring.

Can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps.

E635

Disodium 5-ribonucleotide: flavouring.

Associated with itchy skin rashes up to 30 hours after ingestion. Often found in instant noodles and party pies.

Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health

Expert links additive to cell damage

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Published: 27 May 2007

A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

(extract:)

A review of sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000 concluded that it was safe, but it noted that the available science supporting its safety was "limited..."

Health Defense Attorney for The People

2007-05-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Emord has done more to defend your access to dietary supplements than any attorney in the world and you can trust him when he tells you we MUST amend S.1082/HR 1561 or health freedom will be totally destroyed. You can see transcripts of his legal victories over the FDA on his website at http://www.emord.com

They discuss The FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 2007 (S.1082/HR 1561) with specific emphasis on how this "must pass" legislation WILL TORPEDO DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act), unless we can get an AMENDMENT into it to specifically protect dietary supplements.

NSF ONCE AGAIN ATTEMPTING TO HIJACK HEALTH FREEDOM MOVEMENT WITH DISINFO RE: CAM GUIDANCE DOC

With the so called "Natural Solutions Foundation" once again attempting to DISTRACT the grass roots by misdirecting people to write to the unelected bureaucrats at FDA about the CAM Guidance Document, its VERY IMPORTANT that all of you actively REACH OUT to more people to urge them to tune in this all important radio show so that they can truly UNDERSTAND whats going on, and what to do about it!! Especially urge health food stores to tune in, and to play it loud enough for customers in their stores to hear the broadcast! See specific instructions below on what to do, and get them into every health food store in your area!

NSF is a controlled opposition group operating inside the health freedom movement. IAHF and Allied groups won't give them the time of day because they're actively misleading the public by misdirecting people into dead ends. Once again: we have ZERO LEVERAGE over the unelected bureaucrats at the FDA. You can send them comments til you're blue in the face and they'll just IGNORE them all, but FDA cannot make law, only Congress can!

People who waste their time sending comments to FDA about the CAM Guidance Document are playing right into FDA's hands, because when they do that and FAIL to put ALL their energy into DEFENDING DSHEA by working to get an amendment into S.1082/HR 1561 to specifically protect dietary supplements, they create the situation where FDA can attack us the way they say they WANT TO in the CAM Guidance Document.

Hopefully this painfully obvious truth will sink into enough people's brains that more of you can help IAHF and Allied Groups to COUNTER NSF's Disinformation Campaign which is intended to DESTROY health freedom. Never forward an enemies campaign. If you know anyone who is receiving NSF's so called "alerts," do us a favor and urge that person to unsubscribe and to stop forwarding garbage which undermines our movement. So the FDA has extended their "Comments Period" on CAM Guidance Document? My response: "So WHAT???" It's IRRELEVANT!

THE REAL ISSUE IS TO DEFEND DSHEA BY GETTING AN AMENDMENT INTO S.1082/HR 1561

Keep in mind here that this bill MUST PASS congress before August recess or else the Prescription Drug User Fee Act will expire and they're not going to let that happen, so we MUST get our amendment in, and as the summer wears on, it gets HARDER and HARDER to rally the grass roots! Thats why NSF's so called "alert" is so reprehensible, and all of us must work together to overcome their efforts to destroy health freedom.

WHAT YOU MUST DO:

1. Read this alert http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron31.htm

2. At the end of it you'll find this form letter, please send it in to your Senators and Congressman: (hypertext links shown below don't work, go to the News With Views article to read them)

Changes in Proposed Bills

Proposed amendment to S 1082 and HR 1561:

The bills are hereby amended to prohibit the Foundation or Institute from evaluating the health benefit or efficacy of foods, dietary ingredients, and dietary supplements and to limit review of foods, dietary ingredients and dietary supplements to a determination of whether they are safe. In assessing whether dietary ingredients and dietary supplements are safe, the Foundation or
Institute shall not compare product risks with health benefits or efficacy.

Instead, the Foundation or Institute shall determine whether the product presents a significant risk of illness or injury under conditions of use recommended or suggested in labeling, or if no conditions of use are recommended or suggested in labeling, under ordinary conditions of use.

Health Freedom is on the Line

It is vitally important to send the following message to all members of the House and keep flooding the Senate (as there will be a conference committee). It is also important to send this message to Senators Hatch and Harkin (the original designers of DHSEA) and Kennedy and Enzi (who claim they are not trying to regulate dietary supplements with this legislation). These Senators must hear from the American public as they will determine the fate of this amendment

when it reaches the conference committee. Success will require significant support from the people. Thank you.

To get information on contacting Senators, click here.
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

To contact your House Representative, click here.
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Please send the following message.

HR 1561 (senate bill S.1082) - Please Amend to Protect Dietary Supplements

May 16, 2007

The Honorable (Representative or Senator First and Last Name)

Address
Address

Dear Representative (or Senator) Last Name;

The Senate has recently passed bill S1082, commonly known as the FDA Revitalization Act. I am concerned that the legislation, as currently written, opens the door for considerable regulatory confusion enabling the FDA to use this legislation to undermine my access to safe and effective dietary supplements.

There must be no confusing the safety of drugs and the safety of food and food ingredients – which are governed by different laws. I am sure you and other members of Congress are not intending to create such concern among the 150 million Americans who rely on dietary supplements to assist their health, and this matter is easily corrected with the following amendment, which will not in any way stop the FDA from identifying truly contaminated food that poses a risk to human health.

Changes in Existing Law

The following provides a print of the existing statute or part or section thereof to be amended or replaced (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

CHAPTER IV – FOOD

SEC. 402
(f) –

(1) If it is a dietary supplement or contains a dietary ingredient that –
(A) presents a significant [or unreasonable] risk of illness or injury under—

(i) conditions of use recommended or suggested in labeling, or
(ii) if no conditions of use are suggested or recommended in the

labeling, under ordinary conditions of use:

Changes in Proposed Bills

Proposed amendment to S 1082 and HR 1561:

The bills are hereby amended to prohibit the Foundation or Institute from evaluating the health benefit or efficacy of foods, dietary ingredients, and dietary supplements and to limit review of foods, dietary ingredients and dietary supplements to a determination of whether they are safe. In assessing whether dietary ingredients and dietary supplements are safe, the Foundation or
Institute shall not compare product risks with health benefits or efficacy.

Instead, the Foundation or Institute shall determine whether the product presents a significant risk of illness or injury under conditions of use recommended or suggested in labeling, or if no conditions of use are recommended or suggested in labeling, under ordinary conditions of use. Please help preserve my rights and support this amendment. For part 1 click below.

After Acting on this alert, please forward it to more people and please download the info to get around to health food stores in your area, let me know what you're doing. I will be going to DC to push for an amendment, but I must see a groundswell of grass roots activism because without a lot of you backing me up, I can't accomplish anything on Capital Hill by myself.

This is NOT a drill folks!
This is for ourselves and for future generations.

For Health Freedom,
John C. Hammell, President
International Advocates for Health Freedom
556 Boundary Bay Road
Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA
http://www.iahf.com
jham @ iahf.com
800-333-2553 N.America
360-945-0352 World

Does Aspartame multiply female Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?

2007-05-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Does Aspartame multiply female Multiple Sclerosis (MS)? - New Study Report at Neurology Conference...

By: Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder - Mission Possible International
Monday, May 7th, 2007

About 400,000 people in the US are victims of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a horrible autoimmune disease that devastates the central nervous system.

At the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting, Dr. Gary Cutter, professor of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama, said women are now four times as likely as men to get multiple sclerosis: “It started at two-to-one and is now four-to-one.” Researchers found the ratio of women-to-men is increasing by about 50 percent each decade.

The increase is more pronounced in younger people with young women especially contracting it at an accelerating rate.

“This rapid change suggests that it’s not just the disease behaving as usual,” Cutter said.“ It is unfortunate, but it is an opportunity and we can use this information to learn what directions we ought to pursue.” Nicholas LaRocca, a VP at the National MS Society, said: “This is an interesting phenomenon, and I’m not sure anyone knows why it’s happening.”

MS is going through the roof and nobody knows why. As a statistician Professor Cutter deals with numbers. We thank him for his fine research. But to the victims of this dread plague it’s more than “unfortunate,” more than “an opportunity” or “an interesting phenomenon.”

It’s time for everyone to see the GORILLA in the Phone Booth.

Women, especially young women, are the greatest consumers of aspartame laced diet colas. Aspartame is also sold as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Canderel, E951, etc. This toxic chemical has long been recognized by prominent medical authorities as a neurotoxin that both mimics and precipitates multiple sclerosis. But it’s not politically correct to identify such a popular, profitable and addictive product. The producers will fight like wildcats to discredit you.

It takes guts to blow the whistle. But famous MDs have done so, among which are Neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock and Dr. H. J. Roberts. Dr Louis Elsas, former Emory University Professor of Pediatrics & Genetics, testified to Congress that aspartame, a teratogen, causes birth defects and mental retardation.

The bitter story of Kim Evans, an aspartame/MS victim:

“In high school I was a big diet soda drinker. In 1983 I became pregnant with conjoined twins, then gave birth to our son and 2 daughters. I drank lots of diet coke during pregnancy with all 3 children. Thinking white sugar (why didn't you just eat fruit - dammit?!) was bad for children I pushed sugar-free drinks, Crystal Lite, ice tea with Equal, and sugar free gum to protect their teeth. By the age of about 6 my daughter was diagnosed with colitis, my son at 6 was diagnosed with severe esophogitus and my youngest daughter also developed many abdominal problems. We spent a great deal of time in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. My son had to have back surgery due to a spontaneous stress fracture and spondylolysis.

“We spent time at Mayo clinic, Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Univ of Pennsylvania Hospital trying to get answers. My son has been diagnosed with eosinophilic esophogitus (he is allergic to all food) and cyclic vomiting, but my daughters are still struggling with intermittent abdominal pain. During this entire time artificial sweeteners were given freely to the kids. Who knows how much aspartame has played a part in their health but they were each born healthy and as the years past there health continued to deteriorate. Both of my oldest children have missed years of school and had to be on home education. Of course now, none of the children use artificial sweeteners but they have been on them for a lifetime. They have not experienced the improvements that I have but we are hopeful.”

My own history, by Kim Evans:

January 02
- My right foot went numb

February
First vision loss, holes in my vision, progressed to losing right field of vision for hours

March
- Numbness increased up to waist, health quickly deteriorating unknown cause. Went to primary Doctor for Neurological exam: Abnormal, right reflexes hyper.
- MRI scheduled.

April
- 2 lesions found on the MRI.
- Memory loss became significant problem
- Numbness spread to entire right side of body.
- Told I did have MS and needed to be followed at hospital of U. of Pennsylvania
- Told my friends and family that I had MS.

“May-March 03
- MANY tests run at HUP and Presbyterian Hospital and Sheiy Eye Hospital.
- Symptoms rapidly increased, intermittent field of vision loss, burning in my head, extreme memory loss and fatigue, pain in right arm, joint pain, leg pain, depression, numbness began on left side, eye pain, red eyes, extreme thirst, chest pain, rapid heart beat, hives.

”I began looking into the possibility of disability through work. In the spring of 2003 was told I had central nervous system Sjogrens and possibly MS as well and needed to begin a 2 year chemo treatment of each immuran or cytoxin and should begin immediately. Told due to the decreased saliva production I should always drink diet sodas to protect my teeth. In May 2003 I informed doctors I wanted to delay my treatment until Sept because I direct a camp in the summers in Va and did not feel I could handle the treatment and face my responsibilities. I also informed the people at camp my health was rapidly deteriorating and that I wasn't sure I would be able to continue at the camp (that I had founded). Doctors strongly encouraged me not to wait for the treatment because the disease was progressing and the damage was irreversible.

”June 2003
- While at camp and drinking a diet coke, a dear friend, Jack Rosenquist, asked if I knew that diet coke could cause all the problems that I was having. I explained I didn't believe him but had nothing to lose so I wouldn't drink one for another year and see what happened. The only thing I had to lose was a chemo treatment I was dreading and praying to live without.

In Sept. 2003
- Returned to HUP neurology. Major improvements and asked by the Doctor if my improvements were a result of starting my treatment. I explained my only treatment was stopping Diet Coke. My memory loss had dramatically improved, the burning in my head stopped, extreme fatigue was gone, arm pain gone, eye pain gone, loss of vision completely stopped, numbness never progressed since the day I stopped drinking diet coke and many more...

”The Doctor said the only way to prove it was to reintroduce it and see if
the symptoms returned. I said NO WAY. (What kind of doctor sees their patients as lab rats? "Go ahead and put back that aspartame and let's see what happens!")

Sept 03 to spring 04
- I continued to feel good and decided that I was willing to reintroduce Diet coke for the good of others so the medical field would know the need to promote this FACT. In the spring 2004 I called the Dr and said that I was willing to reintroduce Diet coke and asked how would he like me to do it. He explained it needed to be controlled and I could only have one per day and needed to journal my reactions. After one Diet coke per day for 4 days I already had burning in my head, extreme fatigue, abdominal pain, arm pain, red eyes....the 4th day I left my daughter at school and couldn't even remember I was suppose to pick her up (that had not happened since I had stopped drinking Diet Coke). I told my Dr I cannot continue because it’s not SAFE. I never dreamed all the horrible symptoms would return so quickly.

”In Aug 2004
- took my sister Roxanne to meet Betty Martini. Sister was diagnosed with MS 9/11/01. She had tremendous pain in her hand and arm. After meeting Betty took aspartame seriously and within 3 weeks had use of her hand and was pain free. This is a very concise summary. Thank you for all your work and thanks again for taking the time to meet with both Roxanne and I. Keep up the GREAT work!!!!!

Love, Kim “

Among the many injuries aspartame visits, it’s also a neurotoxin, which destroys the nervous system.

To illustrate: Think of your nerves as the electric wiring in your body. Wires in your house are insulated to prevent short circuits. Our nerves are insulated with myelin sheaths. Aspartame dissolves this protection, and the nervous system “shorts out” as do bare wires when they touch.

CONNECTION BETWEEN MS AND ASPARTAME,

By Russell Blaylock, M.D.

Dr. Blaylock is a retired board-certified neurosurgeon with 26 years experience. Visiting Professor of Biology Belhaven College, Jackson, Mississippi. Retired Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi.Dr Blaylock is author of three books and thirty scientific papers plus other medical works. He serves on the editorial staff of The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association, and acts as a medical advisor to the American Nutraceutical Association. (www.russellblaylockmd.com) He has an excellent lecture, The Truth About Aspartame, and a DVD on Nutrition & Behavior (www.atavistik.com). He also publishes the monthly "Blaylock Report." Here is what he says:

“Controversy has surrounded a claim that aspartame may produce an MS-like syndrome. A current review of recent peer-reviewed scientific studies has disclosed a pathophysiological mechanism to explain this connection. As far back as 1996 it was shown that the lesions produced in the myelin sheath of axons in cases of multiple sclerosis were related to excitatory receptors on the primary cells involved called oligodendroglia. Recent studies have now confirmed what was suspected back then. The loss of myelin sheath on the nerve fibers characteristic of the disease are due to the death of these oligodendroglial cells at the site of the lesions (called plaques). Further, these studies have shown that the death of these important cells is as a result of excessive exposure to excitotoxins at the site of the lesions.

”Normally, most of these excitotoxins are secreted from microglial immune cells in the central nervous system. This not only destroys these myelin-producing cells it also breaks down the blood-brain barrier (BBB), allowing excitotoxins in the blood stream to enter the site of damage. Aspartame contains the excitotoxin aspartate as 40% of its molecular structure. Numerous studies have shown that consuming aspartame can significantly elevate the excitotoxin level in the blood. There is a common situation during which the excitotoxin exposure is even greater. When aspartate (as aspartame) is combined in the diet with monosodium glutamate (MSG) blood levels are several fold higher than normal. With the BBB damaged, as in MS, these excitotoxins can freely enter the site of injury, greatly magnifying the damage. So, we see that dietary excitotoxins, such as aspartame and MSG, can greatly magnify the damage produced in multiple sclerosis. Likewise, excitotoxins have been shown to breakdown the Blood Brain Barrier as well.

”Of equal concern is observation that we know that about 10% of the population (based on autopsy studies of elderly) have MS lesions without ever developing the full blown disease, a condition called benign MS. A diet high in excitotoxins, such as aspartame, can convert this benign, subclinical condition into full-blown clinical MS. The amount of excitotoxins consumed in the average American diet is considerable, as shown by several studies. In addition, the toxin methanol is also in the aspartame molecule. Methanol is an axon poison. Combined toxicity of the aspartate and the methanol adds up to considerable brain toxicity and can convert benign, subclinical MS into full-blown MS. Once the MS becomes full-blown, further consumption of excitotoxins magnifies the toxicity, increasing disability and death.

”Recent studies have also shown that even single exposures to these food-based excitotoxins can produce prolonged worsening of neurological lesions. In addition, it has been demonstrated that autoimmune reactions (as occurs with MS) greatly magnifies the toxicity of aspartate and glutamate (the excitotoxins). We also know liquid forms of excitotoxins (in "soft" drinks) are significantly more toxic because of rapid absorption and higher blood levels. In the face of this connection between excitotoxicity and the pathophysiology of MS, it would be ludicrous to allow further use of this excitotoxin containing sweetener..

“The possible mechanisms include formaldehyde-induced protein changes and increased leukotrienes, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, and other arachidonic acid metabolites after the exposure of macrophages to aspartame (Hardcastle l997)."

TREATMENT FOR MS:

“It is now known the cause for the destruction of the myelin in the lesions is over activation of the microglia in the region of the myelin. An enzyme that converts glutamine to glutamate called glutaminase increases tremendously, thereby greatly increasing excitotoxicity. Mercury also activates microglia, even in subtoxic doses. (That's what happens to people with mercury amalgam fillings among other types of exposure.)

”Any dietary excitotoxin can activate the microglia, thereby greatly aggravating the injury. This includes the aspartate in aspartame. The methanol adds to this toxicity as well. Now, the secret to treatment appears to be shutting down, or at least calming down, the microglia.

“It has been found that the antibiotic minocycline powerfully shuts down the microglia. I tried this treatment on a friend of mine who just came down with fulmanant MS. He was confined to a wheelchair. I had him placed on minocycline and now, just a few weeks later, he is walking.

”The good news is that other things also calm the microglia-the most potent are: silymarin, curcumin and ibuprophen. Phosphatidylcholine helps re-myelinate the nerve sheaths that are damaged, as does B12, B6, B1, vitamin D, folate, vitamin C, natural vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) and L-carnitine. DHA plays a major role in repairing the myelin sheath. Vitamin D may even prevent MS, but it acts as an immune modulator, preventing further damage - the dose is 2000 IU a day. Magnesium, as magnesium malate, is needed in a dose of 500 mg 2X a day. They must avoid all excitotoxins, even natural ones in foods-such as soy, red meats, nuts, mushrooms and tomatoes. Avoid all fluoride and especially all vaccinations since these either inhibit antioxidant enzymes or triggers harmful immune reactions.

References:

* Sannchez-Gomez MV, Malute C. AMPA and kainate receptors each mediate
excitotoxicity in oligodendroglial cultures. Neurobiology of Disease 6:475-485,
1999

* Yoshika A, et al. Pathophysiology of oligodendroglial excitotoxicity, J
Neuroscience Research 46: 427-437, 1996.

* Singh P, et al. Prolonged glutamate excitotoxicity: effects on mitochondrial antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes. Molecular Cell Biochemistry 243:
139-145, 2003.

* Leuchtmann EA, et al. AMPA receptors are the major mediators of excitotoxin death in mature oligodendrocytes. Neurobiology of Disease 14:336-348, 2003.

* Takahashi JL, et al. Interleukin1 beta promotes oligodendrocyte death through glutamate excitotoxicity. Annal Neurology 53: 588-595, 2003.

* Pitt D, et al Glutamate uptake by oligodendrocytes: implications for excitotoxicity in multiple sclerosis. neurology 61: 1113-1120, 2003.

* Soto A, et al. Excitotoxic insults to the optic nerve alter visual
evoked potentials. Neuroscience 123: 441-449, 2004.

* Blaylock RL. Interactions of cytokines, excitotoxins and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of American Nutraceutical Association 6: 21-35, 2003.

* Blaylock RL. Chronic microglial activation and excitotoxicity secondary to excessive immune stimulation: possible factors in Gulf War Syndrome and autism. Journal American Physicians and Surgeons, Summer, 2004.

DR H. J. ROBERTS - on aspartame...

DR H. J. ROBERTS in 1984 was recognized as “The Best Doctor in the United States” by the medical journal Practice 84. In his files are the case histories of more than 1,200 case histories of aspartame victims, having treated them in the trenches of medical practice. This compelled him to write three books on aspartame toxicity, including the monumental 1,000+ page medical text, Aspartame Disease, An Ignored Epidemic. Consider these excerpts from that medical text: www.sunsentpress.com or 1 800 827 7991.

Here is what he says:

"No patient suspected of having multiple sclerosis who consumes aspartame products should have the diagnosis finalized until being observed many months after abstaining from them. More than 50 aspartame reactors had presumed multiple sclerosis. Dozens of case reports validate the Doctor's notation of what could be called "sham MS." (The equivalent of sham diabetes.) Aspartame disease whole neurologic features are accompanied by visual symptoms. "

Roberts’ emphasis upon this issue is greatly significant in view of recent consensus statements recommending vigorous drug intervention therapy for early MS including patients with "clinically isolated syndromes” such as an attack of optic neuritis. These agents - including interferon beta 1b, interferon beta 1, and glatiramer acetate - can have serious side effects. Roberts then says:

"Several diagnostic pitfalls are emphasized. For example, the finding of minor abnormalities in a few small areas by a CT scan or MRI studies is NOT necessarily diagnostic of multiple sclerosis (see Case IV-19). The engineer-father of a young female aspartame reactor who had been misdiagnosed as having MS carefully scrutinized the available medical and biochemical literature, including the alteration of myelin after injection of synthetic peptides.

"I am identifying aspartame as a possible causal factor of central nervous system problems because of the inexplicable outbreak of MS-like symptoms across the nation. Can aspartame be initiating a chemical process in the body that could subsequently produce some of the same symptoms that would otherwise be attributed to MS?

"Can aspartame cause the body to attack its own myelin, thereby generating CNS lesions and MS-like effects in people that could be mistakenly diagnosed as MS? Perhaps the molecular mimicry premise provides the key to understanding MS."

”The selective localization of lesions in multiple sclerosis requires comment. I have attributed them in large measure to energy (glucose) deprivation and fluid retention within the central nervous system (Roberts l966b,c). Aspartame disease involves both, as well as direct neurotoxicity. Indeed, aspartame-induced dysfunction of nerve cells and their axons may have greater importance than myelin changes.

"Significant biochemical differences are known to exist in various central tracts, even though they may appear identical histologically. The concentration of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, for example, is three to four times greater in the heavily myelinated central tracts than the lightly myelinated ones, whereas the reverse applies for glutamic aspartic transaminase (McDougal l961, l964).

"This orientation is germane because fluid retention is enhanced by the hyperinsulized state (Chapter XIV) and impaired water metabolism (Chapter IX-F). The ingress of water into myelin can disrupt its intermolecular cohesion and functional integrity (Vanderheuvel l964).

"An autoimmune response may be triggered by aspartame.

“The possible mechanisms include formaldehyde-induced protein changes and increased leukotrienes, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, and other arachidonic acid metabolites after the exposure of macrophages to aspartame (Hardcastle 1997)."

Note from Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum:

Cori Brackett, co-owner of Sound and Fury Productions, an MS victim, was a heavy user of diet drinks laced with the addictive excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug, aspartame. She was in a wheelchair and could hardly talk, and then began to take responsibility for her own health by doing research. She had a huge lesion in her brain. She went through a lot, but eventually off the toxin, she walked out of her wheelchair. Eight months later her huge lesion all but disappeared. Because of what she had endured from aspartame disease she felt a moral obligation to warn others, especially with 70% of the population and 40% of our children using this deadly toxin.

Cori Brackett traveled 7000 miles and with 25 hours of footage produced the movie, "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World." (www.amazon.com ) She says it reveals one of the most pervasive, insidious forms of corporate negligence in the history of the industrial revolution. You will get to see the world famous aspartame experts, as well as hear the horror story of the victims. See Diane Fleming who is wilting in a Virginia prison because her athlete husband died of aspartame. Aspartame experts have given affidavits to this effect. She was sentenced to 30 and 20 years for the crime committed by the manufacturer who had the malice to market a poison. Don't miss this film. You can contact Cori at cori @ soundandfury.tv

Since the release of Sweet Misery Cori has released a sequel with even more MS victims including Roxanne Armes and Kim Evans.

These type of Aspartame precipitated cases have come in for years:

Joyce Wilson of Stockbridge, Georgia was also diagnosed with MS: Her husband Richard wrote: "No words can describe the agony and horror my sweet Joyce endured. The poison destroyed her brain, ravaged all her organs and blinded her. The manufacturer considered her death an acceptable cost of business (How is that?!! Are they at war with America?!!). I'm a man without a wife because the NutraSweet Co is a business without a conscience. Take dead serious the warnings you will hear. The life you save may be yours!" Today Richard Wilson is a member of the volunteer force of Mission Possible Intl, carrying the dream and mission of Joyce. It was too late and she lost her life warning the world with her last breath.

Ermelle Martinez was in her last year of medical school when she was diagnosed with MS. She was a heavy user of aspartame. Barely able to walk she was about to use a wheelchair. She was fortunately given Dr. Roberts paper on MS or Aspartame Disease? - and referred to us. She had a large lesion in her brain and was seen by neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock. Today she is fine and her lesion has disappeared. But she lost her medical career and was never able to have children. She did know that aspartame is an endocrine disrupting product that stimulates prolactin, changes the menses and causes infertility. Ermelle lives in California working as a science teacher and is Mission Possible LA.

For years physicians have written the MS Society to alert them about aspartame. Faced with the choice of warning the public or continuing to receive funding from industry, the MS Society has chosen to sacrifice the victims. And when those responsible to solve the problem ARE the problem it is a sad commentary on greed and lack of concern for humanity. How can anyone set aside professional ethics to allow an MS holocaust, when simply alerting those with MS to avoid aspartame and other excitotoxins could save the lives of thousands?

Want References?

Look at the FDA list of 92 symptoms from 4 types of seizures to coma and
death: http://www.wnho.net/92_aspartame_symptoms.pdf

Read the history of aspartame from the prestigious Ecologist:
http://www.mpwhi.com/ecologist_september_2005.doc

Two studies have been released recently showing aspartame to be a multipotential carcinogen, the last even at low doses, while the FDA now lies to the public.

Aspartame brain tumor cases are now being taken by New York attorneys for victims in New Jersey and New York.

State and countries continue to try to have aspartame banned from the planet: Current issue of Idaho Observer: The Idaho Observer, www.idaho-observer.com publishes the Artificially Sweetened Times, 24 page booklets for distribution on aspartame including MS.

Conclusion...

A complete epidemiological study on MS and aspartame should be done. After more than a quarter of a century it’s well documented, as you see above, that aspartame can precipitate multiple sclerosis (MS). Unless victims are warned they can only get worse or lose their life like in the case of Joyce Wilson. When I lectured for the World Environmental Conference, and an email made world news that discussed MS, many of these victims who read the post got off aspartame and walked out of wheelchairs. So please continue to forward this information.

Dr. Betty Martini, D. Hum, Founder -
Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway,
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770 242-2599

www.wnho.net and www.dorway.com

Aspartame Information List,

Aspartame Toxicity Center,

Copyright 2007 by Bolen Report

Drinking hormones and steroids with your Coffee?

2007-05-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

While Starbucks claims to care about environmental and health issues, the truth is in their milk.

Starbucks uses milk from cows that are injected with a growth hormone known as rBGH or rBST to speed up their milk production. Tell Starbucks this is unacceptable! >>

These growth hormones are known to harm cows and could pose health risks to humans. But factory farms continue to use them as an attempt to increase their profitability. Starbucks lets them get away with using the damaging hormones by serving this milk to millions of unknowing consumers!

Let Starbucks know it’s time to step up and serve safer milk >> http://go.care2.com/e/R0DZ/IhP3/U1cM

The use of rBGH increases the rate of udder infections in cows, and contributes to the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria. What’s more, injections of rBGH raise the levels of another hormone called IGF-1 in the cow and its milk. Too much IGF-1 in humans is linked to increased rates of colon, breast and prostate cancer.

The rBGH hormone is banned in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and all 25 countries in the European Union. But the United State’s Food and Drug Administration ignores the growing controversy, allowing the damaging growth hormone to be used.

Join the movement of consumers who won’t tolerate being served milk from cows treated with dangerous growth hormones. Take action >>

Thank you for helping to make a difference!

Truly,
Breeana L.
Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

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Starbucks uses milk from cows treated with the hormone rBGH. This is bad for cows, humans AND the environment!

Let Starbucks know it's time to step up and serve safer milk!

Stuck to Your Head, Cooking Your Brains...

2007-05-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

You may have heard mixed reviews of whether cell phones are harmful or not and I want to explain why you should expect this...

You see there is a huge multi-billion dollar industry that has been setup whose revenue depends on your confidence in wanting to use your cell phone without hesitation.

As word gets out that there may be potential health issues resulting from cell phone use there are huge press campaigns broadcast distractions of the real news!

This has happened time and time again and it crosses over into the Scientific Studies. It's fairly common knowledge that these days scientific studies about anything can be bought and sold. If a company's got enough money they can fund a study and skew the results to their desired result.

Review the scientific literature on cell phone safety and you'll see just that - a hung jury.

If these devices were truly safe I think all the studies would have verified this. The situation can be simplified:

1. Many people, yourself possibly included, find that they get headaches and discomfort when talking on a cell phone - for some folks it is only on long calls while others get reactions from even a quick call.

2. Many heavy cell phone users have openly complained that their newly formed brain tumors are (1) positioned right where their cell phone were held next to their ear (same side of the face) and (2) shaped very consistently with the antenna of a cell phone (see George Carlo's book 'Cell Phones Invisible Hazard of the Wireless Age).

3. Cell phone towers have been documented to affect bird migration. While industry execs and their scientific advisory boards seem to insist that this is a result of blinking lights on these towers this is unlikely.

Maybe you'll agree with me that you should be concerned with this issue - and that while many people are asking 'Are there health dangers from using a cell phone?' the more appropriate question to ask is 'What are the health dangers from using a cell phone?'

Learn more on this topic by reading my entire Radiation Report. You can get it for free by visiting this page.

New Form of Electronic Test Helps Show
Early Signs of Energetic Health Imbalances.
These Energetic Imbalances May Be Showing The Future of Your Health...
One thing you'll be weary of is keeping your cell phone in your pocket all the time once you see these videos about this cutting edge testing method. Click Here >> Electro-Dermal Screening and the Cell Phone Test.

Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies

2007-05-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Saturday, May 19th Two Live National Radio Appearances:
Sirius 10:49AM EST; Premiere Radio Networks 7:00-10:00 PM PST.

Tune in to hear Jeffrey Smith's conversations with two national radio hosts this Saturday, May 19th. Jeffrey will be a guest on Lime Radio on Sirius 114, "Before You Bite" w/Phil Lempert, in the ten o'clock hour EST, and later, on Premiere Radio Network's Ian Punnett: Coast to Coast Live, from 7PM to 10PM PST. Find your Ian Punnett: Coast to Coast Live station listing at Coast to Coast AM.

This Spilling the Beans issue is being released during Food Allergy Awareness Week, and is part of our special series on Food Safety and Genetically Engineered Foods.

Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies

Part 1: Genetically Engineered Soybeans

The huge jump in childhood food allergies in the US is in the news often[1], but most reports fail to consider a link to a recent radical change in America' s diet. Beginning in 1996, bacteria, virus and other genes have been artificially inserted to the DNA of soy, corn, cottonseed and canola plants. These unlabeled genetically modified (GM) foods carry a risk of triggering life-threatening allergic reactions, and evidence collected over the past decade now suggests that they are contributing to higher allergy rates.

Food safety tests are inadequate to protect public health

Scientists have long known that GM crops might cause allergies. But there are no tests to prove in advance that a GM crop is safe.[2] That's because people aren't usually allergic to a food until they have eaten it several times. The only definitive test for allergies, according to former FDA microbiologist Louis Pribyl, is human consumption by affected peoples, which can have ethical considerations.[3] And it is the ethical considerations of feeding unlabeled, high-risk GM crops to unknowing consumers that has many people up in arms.

The UK is one of the few countries that conducts a yearly evaluation of food allergies. In March 1999, researchers at the York Laboratory were alarmed to discover that reactions to soy had skyrocketed by 50% over the previous year. Genetically modified soy had recently entered the UK from US imports and the soy used in the study was largely GM. John Graham, spokesman for the York laboratory, said, We believe this raises serious new questions about the safety of GM foods.[4]

Critics of GM foods often say that the US population is being used as guinea pigs in an experiment. But experiments have the benefit of controls and measurement. In this case, there is neither. GM food safety experts point out that even if a someone tried to collect data about allergic reactions to GM foods, they would not likely be successful. The potential allergen is rarely identified. The number of allergy-related medical visits is not tabulated. Even repeated visits due to well-known allergens are not counted as part of any established surveillance system.[5] Indeed, after the Canadian government announced in 2002 that they would keep a careful eye on the health of Canadians[6] to see if GM foods had any adverse reactions, they abandoned their plans within a year, saying that such a study was too difficult.

Genetic engineering may provoke increased allergies to soy

The classical understanding of why a GM crop might create new allergies is that the imported genes produce a new protein, which has never before been present. The novel protein may trigger reactions. This was demonstrated in the mid 1990s when soybeans were outfitted with a gene from the Brazil nut. While the scientists had attempted to produce a healthier soybean, they ended up with a potentially deadly one. Blood tests from people who were allergic to Brazil nuts showed reactions to the beans.[7] It was fortunately never put on the market.

The GM variety that is planted in 89% of US soy acres gets its foreign gene from bacteria (with parts of virus and petunia DNA as well). We don't know in advance if the protein produced by bacteria, which has never been part of the human food supply, will provoke a reaction. As a precaution, scientists compare this new protein with a database of proteins known to cause allergies. The database lists the proteins' amino acid sequences that have been shown to trigger immune responses. If the new GM protein is found to contain sequences that are found in the allergen database, according to criteria recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others, the GM crop should either not be commercialised or additional testing should be done. Sections of the protein produced in GM soy are identical to known allergens, but the soybean was
introduced before the WHO criteria were established and the recommended additional
tests were not conducted (How do health hazards get grand fathered????!!!!!).

If this protein in GM soybeans is causing allergies, then the situation may be made much worse by something called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). That's when genes spontaneously transfer from one species' DNA to another. While this happens often among bacteria, it is rare in plants and mammals. But the method used to construct and insert foreign genes into GM crops eliminates many of the natural barriers that stop HGT from occurring. Indeed, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that portions of the gene inserted into GM soy ended up transferring into the DNA of human gut bacteria. Furthermore, the gene was stably integrated and it appeared to be producing its potentially allergenic protein. This means that years after people stop eating GM soy, they may still be exposed to its risky protein, which is being continuously produced within their intestines.

Genetic engineering damaged soy DNA, creating new (or more) allergens

Although biotech advocates describe the process of genetic engineering as precise, in which genes 'like Legos' cleanly snap into place, this is false. The process of creating a GM crop can produce massive changes in the natural functioning of the plant's DNA. Native genes can be mutated, deleted, permanently turned on or off, and hundreds may change their levels of protein expression. This collateral damage may result in increasing the levels of an existing allergen, or even producing a completely new, unknown allergen within the crop. Both appear to have happened in GM soy.

Levels of one known soy allergen, trypsin inhibitor, were up to 27% higher in raw GM soy. In addition, although cooking soybeans normally reduces the amount of this protein, the trypsin inhibitor in GM varieties appears to be more heat resistant. Levels in cooked GM soy were nearly as high as those found in raw soy, and up to seven times higher when compared to cooked non-GM soy.[8] This suggests that this allergen in GM soy may be more likely to provoke reactions than when consumed in natural varieties.

Another study verified that GM soybeans contain a unique, unexpected protein, not found in non-GM soy controls. Moreover, scientist tested the protein and determined that it reacted with the antibody called IgE. This antibody in human blood plays a key role in a large proportion of allergic reactions, including those that involve life-threatening anaphylactic shock. The fact that the unique protein created by GM soy interacted with IgE suggests that it might also trigger allergies.

The same researchers measured the immune response of human subjects to soybeans using a skin-prick test, an evaluation used often by allergy doctors. Eight subjects showed a reaction to GM soy; but one of these did not also react to non-GM soy. Although the sample size is small, the implication that certain people react only to GM soy is huge, and might account for the increase in soy allergies in the UK.

Increased herbicides on GM crops may cause reactions

By 2004, farmers used an estimated 86% more herbicide on GM soy fields compared to non-GM.[9] The higher levels of herbicide residue in GM soy might cause health problems. In fact, many of the symptoms identified in the UK soy allergy study are among those related to glyphosate exposure. [The allergy study identified irritable bowel syndrome, digestion problems, chronic fatigue, headaches, lethargy, and skin complaints, including acne and eczema, all related to soy consumption. Symptoms of glyphosate exposure include nausea, headaches, lethargy, skin rashes, and burning or itchy skin. It is also possible that glyphosate's breakdown product AMPA, which accumulates in GM soybeans after each spray, might contribute to allergies.]

GM soy might impede digestion, leading to allergies

If proteins survive longer in the digestive tract, they have more time to provoke an allergic reaction. Mice fed GM soy showed dramatically reduced levels of pancreatic enzymes. If protein-digesting enzymes are less available, then food proteins may last longer in the gut, allowing more time for an allergic reaction to take place. Such a reduction in protein digestion due to GM soy consumption could therefore promote allergic reactions to a wide range of proteins, not just to the soy. No human studies of protein digestion related to GM soy have been conducted. [Studies are expensive whether for profit or altruism. Until the studies are done, the logic can be denied by GM advocates.]

Soy linked to peanut allergies

There is at least one protein in natural soybeans that has cross-reactivity with peanut allergies.[10] That means that for some people who are allergic to peanuts, consuming soybeans may trigger a reaction. While it is certainly possible that the unpredicted side effects from genetic engineering soybeans might increase the incidence of this cross-reactivity, it is unlikely that any research has been conducted to investigate this. GM soy was introduced into the US food supply in late 1996. We are left only to wonder whether this had an influence on the doubling of US peanut allergies from 1997 to 2002.

Eating GM foods is gambling with our health

The introduction of genetically engineered foods into our diet was done quietly and without the mandatory labeling that is required in most other industrialised countries. Without knowing that GM foods might increase the risk of allergies, and without knowing which foods contain GM ingredients, the biotech industry is gambling with our health for their profit. This risk is not lost on everyone. In fact, millions of shoppers are now seeking foods that are free from any GM ingredients. Ohio-based allergy specialist John Boyles, MD, says, I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it unless it says organic.[11]

Organic foods are not allowed to contain GM ingredients. Buying products that are certified organic or that say non-GMO are two ways to limit your family's risk from GM foods. Another is to avoid products containing any ingredients from the seven food crops that have been genetically engineered:

soy,
corn,
cottonseed,
canola,
Hawaiian papaya
and a little bit of zucchini and crook neck squash.

This means avoiding soy lecithin in chocolate, corn syrup in candies, and cottonseed or canola oil in snack foods.

Fortunately, the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America will soon make your shopping easier. This Consumer Non-GMO Education Campaign is orchestrating the clean out of GM ingredients from foods and the natural products industry. The campaign will circulate helpful non-GMO shopping guides to organic and natural food stores nationwide. The Campaign will provide consumers with regular GM food safety updates that explain the latest discoveries about why, Healthy Eating Means No GMOs.

Safe eating.

This article is limited to the discussion of allergic reactions from GM soybeans. The evidence that GM corn is triggering allergies is far more extensive and will be covered in part 2 of this series.

Jeffrey M. Smith is the author of the new publication Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, which presents 65 risks in easy-to-read two-page spreads. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the top rated and #1 selling book on GM foods in the world. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, which is spearheading the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America. Go to www.seedsofdeception.com to learn more about how to avoid GM foods.

[1] See for example, Charles Sheehan, Scientists see spike in kids' food allergies, Chicago Tribune, 9 June 2006,

[2] See for example, Carl B. Johnson, Memo on the draft statement of policy 12/12/91, January 8, 1992. Johnson wrote: Are we asking the crop developer to prove that food from his crop is non-allergenic? This seems like an impossible task.

[3] Louis J. Pribyl, Biotechnology Draft Document, 2/27/92, March 6, 1992,
www.biointegrity.org

[4] Ibid.

[5] Traavik and Heinemann, Genetic Engineering and Omitted Health Research

[6] Genetically modified foods, who knows how safe they are? CBC News and Current Affairs, September 25, 2006.

[7] J. Ordlee, et al, Identification of a Brazil-Nut Allergen in Transgenic Soybeans, The New England Journal of Medicine, March 14, 1996.

[8] Stephen R. Padgette et al, The Composition of Glyphosate-Tolerant Soybean Seeds Is Equivalent to That of Conventional Soybeans, The Journal of Nutrition 126, no. 4, (April 1996); including data in the journal archives from the same study.

[9] Charles Benbrook, Genetically Engineered Crops and Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Nine Years; BioTech InfoNet, Technical Paper Number 7, October 2004.

[10] See for example, Scott H. Sicherer et al., Prevalence of peanut and tree nut allergy in the United States determined by means of a random digit dial telephone survey: A 5-year follow-up study, Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, March 2003, vol. 112, n 6, 1203-1207); and Ricki Helm et al., Hypoallergenic Foods, Soybeans and Peanuts, Information Systems for Biotechnology News Report, October 1, 2002.

[11] John Boyles, MD, personal communication, 2007.

Spilling the Beans is a monthly column available at ResponsibleTechnology.org.
The website also offers eater-friendly tips for avoiding GMOs at home and in
restaurants.

Support Small, Local Farms with the Farm Bill

2007-05-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Few human activities have the kind of impact on the Earth as the production and consumption of food. This is why we need to pay more attention to where farm funding is being directed with the Farm Bill.

To begin with, all farmers should have access to land conservation programs, and local small farms should be given funding and encouragement. The current Farm Bill does not provide for this and instead fosters large factory farms.

We need a Farm Bill that supports healthy, sustainable agriculture programs. The Farm Bill should:

Ensure that all farmers have access to working land conservation programs, such as the Conservation Security Program, in order to be good stewards of the land.
Foster the growth of local food systems - this will not only give consumers more nutritious options, but it will drastically cut global warming pollution from large factory farms.
Redirect "safety net" payments to those farmers who need them the most.

The Farm Bill needs to change, and you can help by telling Congress what you would like to see. Sign today>> http://go.care2.com/e/R9kf/iHt9/U1cM

Changing the Farm Bill is an opportunity to improve our health and our environment.

Tell Congress to ensure that the new Farm Bill will promote good stewardship of the land.

Suffering from Cellphone Syndrome?

2007-05-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

New Form of Electronic Test Helps Show
Early Signs of Energetic Health Imbalances.

These Energetic Imbalances May Be Showing The Future of Your Health...
One thing you'll be weary of is keeping your cell phone in your pocket all the time once you see these videos about this cutting edge testing method. Click Here: Electro-Dermal Screening and the Cell Phone Test.

You may have heard mixed reviews of whether cell phones are harmful or not and I want to explain why you should expect this...

You see there is a huge multi-billion dollar industry that has been setup whose revenue depends on your confidence in wanting to use your cell phone without hesitation.

As word gets out that there may be potential health issues resulting from cell phone use there are huge press campaigns broadcast distractions of the real news! This has happened time and time again and it crosses over into the Scientific Studies.

It's fairly common knowledge that these days scientific studies about anything can be bought and sold. If a company's got enough money they can fund a study and skew the results to their desired result.

Review the scientific literature on cell phone safety and you'll see just that - a hung jury. If these devices were truly safe I think all the studies would have verified this. The situation can be simplified:

1. Many people, yourself possibly included, find that they get headaches and discomfort when talking on a cell phone - for some folks it is only on long calls while others get reactions from even a quick call.

2. Many heavy cell phone users have openly complained that their newly formed brain tumors are (1) positioned right where their cell phone were held next to their ear (same side of the face) and (2) shaped very consistently with the antenna of a cell phone (see George Carlo's book 'Cell Phones Invisible Hazard of the Wireless Age).

3. Cell phone towers have been documented to affect bird migration. While industry execs and their scientific advisory boards seem to insist that this is a result of blinking lights on these towers this is unlikely.

Maybe you'll agree with me that you should be concerned with this issue - and that while many people are asking 'Are there health dangers from using a cell phone?' the more appropriate question to ask is 'What are the health dangers from using a cell phone?'

Learn more on this topic by reading my entire Radiation Report. You can get it for free by visiting this page FutureTech or get the FREE Radiation Report.

Reduce Your Brain's Exposure to Cell Phone Radiation:
This Simple, Inexpensive Tool May Save Your Life.

Breaking news on CAM Guidelines + Senate vote on FDA Act

2007-05-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Consumers are being attacked on two fronts at once (three if you count Codex).

The following updates are hot off the presses and contain late-breaking news you probably won't find reported anywhere in the mainstream media:

Health: FDA hoodwinks public over CAM (complimentary alternative medicine) Guidelines comment period, slams door shut on public comments one month early http://www.newstarget.com/021824.html

The FDA has slammed the door shut on accepting public comments over its contentious "CAM Guidelines" that threaten to destroy natural medicine by classifying virtually all health-enhancing foods, juices, nutritional supplements and functional foods as...

Health: FDA Revitalization Act renamed, amended and still hotly debated; floor vote is imminent
http://www.newstarget.com/021825.html

The hotly-debated S.1082 legislation sponsored by Sen. Kennedy has now been renamed the Enhancing Drug Safety and Innovation Act of 2007, reports Brenna Hill of the Health Freedom Foundation and American Association (www.HealthFreedom.net).

To your health and freedom,

- Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water

2007-04-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water:
Perchlorate Pollution Spreading Nationwide

Drinking water for more than 20 million Americans is contaminated with a toxic legacy of the Cold War: A chemical that interferes with normal thyroid function, may cause cancer and persists indefinitely in the environment, but is currently unregulated by state or federal authorities.

Perchlorate, the explosive main ingredient of rocket and missile fuel, contaminates drinking water supplies, groundwater or soil in hundreds of locations in at least 43 states, according to Environmental Working Group’s updated analysis of government data. EWG’s analysis of the latest scientific studies, which show harmful health effects from minute doses, argues that a national standard for perchlorate in drinking water should be no higher than one-tenth the level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currrently recommends as safe.

Perchlorate is a powerful thyroid toxin that can affect the thyroid’s ability to take up the essential nutrient iodide and make thyroid hormones. Small disruptions in thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy can cause lowered IQ and larger disruptions cause mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech, or deficits in motor skills for infants and children.

In California, Arizona and Nevada, where testing has been most extensive, well over 20 million people drink water from public and private sources known to be polluted with perchlorate. This estimate includes millions of customers of 81 contaminated public water systems in California and aproximately 20 million customers in the three states who get at least part of their drinking water from the perchlorate-tainted Colorado River. (Because there is some overlap between systems that are supplied by groundwater sources and those supplied by the Colorado River, a total cannot be calculated by adding the two figures.)

Link: Perchlorate-contaminated drinking water sources in California.

Link: More than 20 million people in California, Arizona and Nevada get at least part of their drinking water from the perchlorate-contaminated Colorado River.

Read the rest of Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water at ewg.org

Read about more poison at Poison Spectrum

How Healthy Economy = Healthy Diet

2007-04-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

MarketWatch: Munchie Nation
4/25/2007 4:22:40 PM

by Alan Hall

..For centuries the poor were skinny and the rich were fat, but not today. Why? Pollan describes a food system ruled not by the free market, but by the farm bill. Even with packaging, marketing and dozens of elaborately manufactured ingredients, junk food made from subsidized corn and wheat is cheaper per calorie than healthy food. "A result of these policy choices is on stark display in your supermarket, where the real price of fruits and vegetables between 1985 and 2000 increased by nearly 40 percent while the real price of soft drinks (a k a liquid corn) declined by 23 percent."

America's agricultural miracle began early in the 19th century. The surprising thing for some might be that it took 100 years for the productive social mood exemplified by the dictum, "America is the bread-basket of the world," to fully mature. The surprise for others is that it has resulted in an "epidemic of obesity."

In view of the crop subsidies that encourage the production of corn, wheat and soybeans (sugar and fat) at the expense of roots, leaves and vegetables, it is easy to see a connection between two types of social behavior -- legislation and the epidemic of obesity. But how to account for the widespread embrace of cheap, unhealthy food by so many who could afford better?

Biology is one answer. Low corn prices prompted the promotion and use of near-addictive high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) by the food industry. HFCS is super-refined sugar that has been shown to suppress natural appetite control in the human brain. Small-scale studies of HFCS's effects in rats ended in health disaster. Now, large-scale inadvertent studies are underway in the general population. Preliminary results are not encouraging...

The cheap food supply is connected to social activity in an immense feedback loop that spans decades, and cheap oil is at the source of it. Somebody light the candles. When ethanol, oil, terrorism, climate change, adult sedentary video-kids and government inertia all collide at the dinner table with the vanishing honeybees… that will be a meal to remember. (extracted from ElliottWave.com)

Protect yourselves against junk food, corporate farming

We need a Farm Bill that supports healthy, sustainable agriculture programs. The Farm Bill should:

Ensure that all farmers have access to working land conservation programs, such as the Conservation Security Program, in order to be good stewards of the land.
Foster the growth of local food systems - this will not only give consumers more nutritious options, but it will drastically cut global warming pollution from large factory farms.
Redirect "safety net" payments to those farmers who need them the most.

The Farm Bill needs to change, and you can help by telling Congress what you would like to see. Sign today>> http://go.care2.com/e/R8SF/HCUW/U1cM

Thank you,

Randolph Directo, webmaster

Changing the Farm Bill is an opportunity to improve our health and our environment.

Tell Congress to ensure that the new Farm Bill will promote good stewardship of the land.

A Strange Dichotomy in Russia

2007-04-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Randolph. I'm a follower of socioeconomic climate; that is I like to follow how social mood in a culture reflects on its economy.

I happened upon two articles by way of my in box. Here's a concatenation of one story that tells of a problem with alcoholism due to business conditions in Russia:

Russians' consumption of alcohol has tripled since the fall of the Soviet Union, with the average person drinking the equivalent of 34 liters of vodka a year, new figures show. According to the
figures for 2005, Russia has about 2,348,567 registered alcoholics. Alexsander Nemtsov, an alcohol expert at Moscow's psychiatric research institute, told the newspaper Isvestiya,
"Every third death in this country is the direct or indirect result of alcohol consumption." In Russia alcohol is being linked to 72% of murders, 42% of suicides and 52.6% of traumatic
accidents. The WHO rates the country as one of the most alcoholic in the world. Each year Russia loses 500,000 to 750,000 people through alcohol, to huge economic social and cultural cost.

Luke Harding, Guardian

Please notice when reading the article in detail, quote, 'Alexey Christyakov, a leading narcologist at Moscow's Alco-Med Centre, said: "The main cause of alcoholism is that over the last 16 years Russia has gone through a revolution ... many people have seen the foundations of their lives disappear. They haven't been able to find a new one."'

Let's assume that those foundations are economic in nature. What other reasons are there to turn to alcoholism? Because there's a lack of government support due to lack of communism? If so, this problem of alcoholism must only apply to certain classes of people, mainly lower class who depended on that support. How are the upper classes getting along then?

This is what I find slighly confusing due to the next article:

Grain prices in Russia to be stable this year

MOSCOW, April 12 (Itar-Tass) -- Grain prices in Russia will be stable this year, Alexei Gordeyev, the Russian agriculture minister, told chiefs of regional trade union organizations of the agro-industrial complex on Thursday.

“Grain prices are expected to be stable in view of the fact that the grain harvest will not be very large this year,” the minister said. He believes, “This is connected not only with the weather but also with some historic dependency.” “As a rule, we have a lean year in Russia once in seven years, and there has been no such year over eight years now,” Gordeyev said. “Late in April we are going to come up with an initial grain harvest forecast,” he added.

At the same time the agriculture minister noted, “Because of the growth of the output of livestock breeding there will be a need for extra 3 million tonnes of fodder grain.” Also, the minister believes, ”Grain prices will be growing in the years ahead with the development of bioenergetics in the world and the growth of biofuel production.” “We will have a good chance in this sense,” he said.

OK, with all this steady growth in technological developments in Russia, what exactly is the driving force behind this psycho-social plunge in mood? I'm having trouble understanding. I know that grains are used to make all kinds of liquor. I know of one slightly fermented drink that's really delicious; I think it's called Kavas. It's like a non-alcoholic beer, but it's sweet.

These drinks are imported to the U.S. as well as other delicious treats. Surely, there must be all kinds of jobs in Russia, even for the blue collars in packaging and shipping. Obviously, I need to dig a little deeper into the source of this problem, so I'm going to ask a friend of mine who happens to keep up with Russian news and events. Perhaps, he will enlighten me if noone else does.

I'll be back with more. Meanwhile, here's a link with info on how to help treat alcoholics,
Alcoholism Treatment Protocol: Orthomolecular Medicine.

Nation's honeybees dying from mysterious disorder

2007-04-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Honeybees around the country are dying off in droves. Beekeepers on both coasts have lost 60-70 percent of their bees. The mysterious phenomenon, dubbed colony collapse disorder, is the first time a honeybee ailment has reached national proportions and is being called "the AIDS of the bee industry," since the few survivors found in hives are typically suffering from multiple diseases and parasites, suggesting an immune system dysfunction. No one knows why this is happening, though theories include pesticides, viruses, fungi, poor nutrition, and stress. The economic value of commercial crop pollination by honeybees is around $14 billion. Read more from The New York Times

Could this be a disorder caused by genetically modified crops? Stay tuned for more info...

Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees

By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross

Published: 15 April 2007

It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.

They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.

The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up...

California Advocates for Safe Hospitals

2007-04-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Every year, over two million Americans develop hospital infections - and 90,000 patients die from these infections. Sign our petition to tell Governor Schwarzenegger to make stopping deadly hospital infections a priority!

No one wants to go to the hospital, but when you do, you expect to get better, not worse, right?

But the scary truth is, 90,000 patients die each year in the U.S. from hospital acquired infections. That's more people dying from hospital infections than from homicides and auto accidents combined!

And the sad truth is, these are preventable infections. But Governor Schwarzenegger has the power to reduce infection rates in California by making sure our hospitals are using proven strategies to combat these infections. Send a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger today!

Now here's the latest bad news: a virulent "super bug" now spreading in our hospitals poses a deadly risk to patients and is driving up the cost of hospital care – you may have read about this "super bug" in the paper recently. Most common antibiotics can't cure methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. People who develop them while in the hospital often suffer for years with additional hospitalizations and surgeries.

There are effective, proven strategies to curb the spread of MRSA infections – but most hospitals are not yet using these strategies! And even worse, information on hospital infection rates and infection reduction policies is often not publicly available – so we don't have the information we need to keep ourselves safe.

Please take one moment today to sign the petition and send your letter today - Governor Schwarzenegger needs to know that you want him to make stopping deadly hospital infections a priority!

Help Protect Yourselves from Polluted Water

2007-04-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Clean water is an essential ingredient of life. But many countries' rivers and streams are polluted and unsuitable for bathing or drinking. This problem not only affects families in those areas, but it is a threat to our planet's environmental health.

Show that you support bringing access to clean water to areas that need it! Sign today >>

Lack of drinking water is one of the most urgent health crises facing human kind today. Right this minute, one out of five children does not have access to clean water.

Help us reach our goal of 20,000 signers! Start by going to: http://go.care2.com/e/R7je/g22U/U1cM

We can all take action on global health and water issues by signing petition letters, finding out about the quality of our local tap water, learning about the effects of water scarcity worldwide, and more.

Thank you for showing that you support keeping the world's freshwater clean and accessible to all!

Truly,

Robyn E.
Care2 and
ThePetitionSite Team

F.D.A. Limits Role of Advisers Tied to Industry

2007-03-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

by GARDINER HARRIS

Published: March 22, 2007

WASHINGTON, March 21 — Expert advisers to the government who receive money from a drug or device maker would be barred for the first time from voting on whether to approve that company’s products under new rules announced Wednesday for the F.D.A.’s powerful advisory committees.

Indeed, such doctors who receive more than $50,000 from a company or a competitor whose product is being discussed would no longer be allowed to serve on the committees, though those who receive less than that amount in the prior year can join a committee and participate in its discussions.

A “significant number” of the agency’s present advisers would be affected by the new policy, said the F.D.A. acting deputy commissioner, Randall W. Lutter, though he would not say how many. The rules are among the first major changes made by Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach since he was confirmed as commissioner of food and drugs late last year.

Advisory boards recommend drugs for approval and, in rare cases, removal, and their votes can have enormous influence on drug company fortunes.

“The $50,000 threshold is something that we think strikes an appropriate balance between” getting smart advisers and reassuring the public that their advice is not tainted, Dr. Lutter said.

The changes are intended to respond to a growing chorus of critics who contend that drug and device makers have hijacked the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process by paying those who serve on the agency’s advisory panels.

In one famous example, 10 of the 32 advisers who voted in 2005 to allow the painkiller Bextra to remain on the market and the painkiller Vioxx to return to the market despite safety worries had taken money from the drug makers. Under the new rules, their votes would not have counted and the committee would have voted to keep both drugs off the market.

In the end, the F.D.A. removed Bextra from the market anyway, and Vioxx has never returned. But the controversy surrounding that panel’s vote, and similar ones, tarnished the process and provided new fodder for critics in Congress.

Representative Maurice D. Hinchey, Democrat of New York, said he was delighted with the change, which will not become final until the end of a 60-day comment period.

“So many lives have been lost as a result of the failure of the F.D.A. to review drugs properly,” said Mr. Hinchey, who for two years has proposed legislation to ban agency advisers from having financial conflicts of interest. “The F.D.A. is now moving back to where it was supposed to be, a principled agency that protects the people.”

But Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut and chairwoman of a subcommittee that has oversight over the F.D.A. budget, said there might be undisclosed loopholes that make the new rules toothless. “I am skeptical, given their recent track record of putting political and corporate interests above science,” Ms. DeLauro said.

With the change in the leadership of Congress, Mr. Hinchey’s legislation had better prospects of passage. Daniel E. Troy, a former F.D.A. general counsel, said the new rules were an effort to pre-empt the Hinchey bill.

“F.D.A. is trying to strike a balance here,” Mr. Troy said, “and they would rather strike it themselves than have it struck for them.”

Drug makers routinely hire doctors as consultants for marketing and research. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that records in Minnesota show that at least 20 percent of licensed physicians in the state received money from drug makers between 1997 and 2005 — an average of $10,000.*

While there were some conflicts under the old rules that led to outright exclusions, like a prohibition on advisers holding $100,000 or more in stock in the company at issue, the agency could waive almost any other financial conflict, including tens of thousands of dollars in income.

The announcement of waivers was becoming so common at the start of advisory committee meetings that they took on the feel of fast-talking car commercials, but because of confidentiality rules, the conflicts underlying the waivers were generally not disclosed. The public did not know whether the conflicted experts got $10 or $10,000.

The agency has long defended its process of selecting expert advisers, and some in the agency’s drug center opposed in internal deliberations strict rules that would have prevented them from picking the experts they wanted.

Waivers to that rule are still possible under the present system, but only the commissioner can approve them, something Mr. Lutter said would probably be rare.

Some conservatives were not happy with the new rule.

“There are going to be more good people who can’t get over the hurdles, and I don’t think that’s a good thing,” said Jack Calfee, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. But Dr. Peter Lurie of Public Citizen, an advocacy group often critical of the F.D.A., praised the new rules.

“I think it’s likely to improve the quality of the recommendations, remove the taint of the recommendations and improve the credibility of the recommendations,” Dr. Lurie said.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said it was still studying the new rules.

Advisory panels are important to the F.D.A. not so much because they provide the agency with expert advice — the F.D.A. can get that privately any time — but because they serve to increase public confidence in the agency’s decisions.

F.D.A. officials have long said that such panels help the public better understand the many factors it must weigh in its decisions. Advisory panels are a crucial means by which the agency pulls back the curtain on its decision-making, so declining confidence in the panels seriously undercuts their utility to the agency.

Although the new rules would most likely lead some of the agency’s present advisers to drop off their committees, many advisers are likely to welcome the greater clarity that the new rules bring. Under the old system, committee members rarely knew what kind of conflicts would lead to problems.

*$10,000 per subjective opinion has already bought plenty of nice vacations for drug company educated doctors. One of the toughest hurdles that the average consumer must face is that key power players in the health industry are not motivated by altruism. Therefore, we must learn to take the responsibility for health in our own hands at a certain point - that point being where your life could be better with natural nutrition and orthomolecular medicine which works with your body's vital functions rather than against them. There are plenty of REAL, holistic oriented doctors who completely realise this; it's simply a matter of finding them in your area. Try www.holisticnetwork.org