Reading Room
Here Piggy Piggy
by Tammera J. Karr, PhD, BCHN, BCIH
As I have scanned through the health headlines, once again the fears of bird flu and the role of antibiotic resistant super bugs resulting from over-use of antibiotics in swine top the list.
For openers let me say up front – yes I had vaccines growing up, so did my son – and we also had mumps and chicken pox, colds, sore throats and I can count on one hand how many times we have been on antibiotics during our lives. Today we opt-out of all the flue, pneumonia, shingles and HPV vaccines, but find it a good idea to have a tetanus shot. Everything does not have to be an “all or nothing” process. I am far more likely to get tetanus with my activities than I am HPV – I weigh the odds, as each of us should do.
A study conducted in Canada showed a marked increase in hospitalizations for pneumonia and flu following vaccination – the results were the same across the county and Health Canada stopped the administering of flu shots. Bottom line they saved money by not giving the shots and in hospital bills. There are as many of us who object to vaccines as those who insist they are a necessary to overall health.
So what is in these vaccines? A lot of stuff from heavy metals to placental tissue – if you have a problem with abortion take a look at what is in your syringe.
Now back to the piggys:
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is a particularly vicious staph infection that plagues hospitals, it may have gotten its obstinate resistance to antibiotics from the routine of giving of antibiotics to farm animals, according to a new study by researchers at Northern Arizona University. MRSA has become a major epidemic and more drug-resistant as it has spread. While most people normally have a bit of Staphylococcus bacteria on their skin, certain MRSA strains are lethal and difficult to treat when they get into the bloodstream.
According to the study, published by the American Society for Microbiology, the vicious new strains of MRSA did not develop in hospitals as previously thought; it appears the superbug started as a somewhat mild-mannered staph bacterium that jumped into the pig population. Later, when it eventually passed back to humans, it returned with a bad attitude and resistance to the major antibiotics generally used to treat staph infections. Researchers compared the genomes of humans, barnyard fowl and pigs from 19 countries to trace MRSA’s emergence, and the habit of giving livestock antibiotics as a matter of course has been credited with the development of this tenacious killer.
The big issue is that the common use of antibiotics in meat animals has killed off weaker versions of bacteria, while allowing stronger, antibiotic resistant strains to survive and reproduce additional difficult-to-kill offspring.
The CC398 strain of MRSA is in almost half of all the US food supply meat, according to the American Society for Microbiology. Most of the time the staph bacteria are killed when people cook their food well, but thoroughly washing counters and cutting boards after meat has touched them is a priority. According to the CDC, about 19,000 people died of MRSA infections in 2005. And 94,000 persons contracted their first serious MRSA infection that same year, 86 percent of which in healthcare facilities.
A 2010 CDC study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed health care facilities have been more successful in fighting MRSA since 2005. The number of invasive (life-threatening) MRSA infections declined 28 percent between 2005 and 2008, and rates of MRSA bloodstream infections fell almost 50 percent during the 10 years from 1997 to 2007.
At the same time, MRSA continues to be spread outside of health care facilities. Childcare workers and students who participate in wrestling are susceptible; locker rooms, shared yoga or workout mats have been tagged as spreading grounds for bacteria.
Re-enter Silver Nitrate (ionic silver protein)
I had the great opportunity to work with Larry Bogart, MD, several years ago; one of Dr. Bogart’s many life experiences was working in missionary hospitals in Africa. One day Dr. Bogart grumped in his quiet way about perpetual sinus issues – I suggested he use liquid silver, at first he resisted, then the light went on and he recounted how they used silver nitrate all the time in Africa for infections. It was effective, safe and affordable. Dr. Bogart left us in 2011 after beating all the odds with an incurable lung disease; he continued to use silver and Chinese herbs till almost the end.
By 1939, as penicillin and other antibiotic drugs began to replace silver colloids, the American Medical Association recognized at least 96 different proprietary silver-based products in clinical use at the time. Even today, silver sulfadiazine is considered by most medical experts to be the topical antiseptic of choice in patients undergoing radiation therapy or with extensive burns. Silver is known to inhibit the growth of nearly all pathogenic bacteria, fungi and viruses including those resistant to antibiotics.
The best source of liquid silver is NOT what you brew up in your kitchen with electrodes you buy from mail order or the internet. There are countless impurities in the rods and in your local water supply. If you are fighting MRSA, chronic sinus and lung infections, or countless other things please use products like VRP Silver Protein (vrp.com) or a compounding pharmacist as directed. Use antibiotics when necessary, wash your hands and by all means stay away from the pig pens.
There is more to good health than the Status Quo.
Winter Solstice
by Tammera J. Karr, PhD
As December 21st approaches we see the years shortest day pass, for those with SAD-seasonal affective disorder it means every day following the winter solstice will be a little longer and that spring is only weeks away. Yes I’m an optimist, ignoring the long days of fog, rain and gray. Gardeners are expecting their seed catalogs to start appearing in the mail, with the same anticipation of children waiting for the Sears Christmas catalog from a few years ago. Christmas is very much about hope, whether viewed from ancient pagan eyes or those of today. Hope that 2012 will be better than 2011, hope for our country, families and businesses.
Among the pagan traditions that have become part of Christmas is burning the yule log. This custom springs from many different cultures, but in all of them its significance seems to lie in the iul or “wheel” of the year. The Druids would bless a log and keep it burning for 12 days during the winter solstice – hence the 12 days of christmas; part of the log was kept for the following year, when it would be used to light the new yule log. For the Vikings, the yule log was an integral part of their celebration of the solstice, the julfest; on the log they would carve runes representing unwanted traits (such as ill fortune or poor honor) that they wanted the gods to take from them.
So the shortest day gained importance, and fires were lit, and light was used to encourage the year to turn, the village Elders would watch, to see if the fire had turned the tide of darkness. This would be visible by the 25th, and a huge feast would be eaten to celebrate the success. So well before Christianity, this time of year was celebrated by feasting. And the early Christian church adopted the existing Festival (in AD300s) to assist in converting people to Christianity. The original recyclers.
The ever-present threat of hunger was triumphantly overcome with a feast, all manner of food would be served at Christmas. The most popular main course was goose, but many other meats were also served. Turkey was first brought to Europe from the Americas around 1520, its earliest known consumption in England is 1541, and because it was inexpensive and quick to fatten, it rose in popularity as a Christmas feast food.
Humble pie was made from the “humbles” of a deer — the heart, liver, brains and so forth. While the lords and ladies ate the choice cuts, the servants baked the humbles into a pie, which of course made the meat go further. This appears to be the origin of the phrase, “to eat humble pie.” By the seventeenth century Humble Pie had become a trademark Christmas food, as evidenced when it was outlawed along with other Christmas traditions by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan government.
But prior to that, a favorite Christmas dish was brawn. Brawn was considered to be a tasty delicacy and made with more than just the brains of animals like sheep and pig. We aren’t used to eating offal nowadays, but it was commonplace in the past, partly because it was cheap, and also because it tasted good. So brawn is essentially the head of the animal boiled until the meat falls from the bone, than mixed with the poached brain, onions and other vegetables, preserved in jelly or aspic, or even broth. Brawn was a usual part of the Christmas feast right up until Victorian times.
The Christmas pudding of Victorian and modern times evolved from the medieval dish of frumenty — a spicy, wheat-based dessert. Many other desserts were made as welcome treats for children and adults alike.
Because Christmas became such an important feast, every luxury item was saved for it, and seasonal food used as well. Luxuries such as sugar cones, and imported dried fruits, were carefully save, and seasonal items such as nuts available during the Autumn were also harvested and stored for the feast. The finest drinks, such as wine and brandy, were kept aside for Christmas.
Many of these items were used for the pudding and the cake. The pudding was stuffed with dried fruit and the peel or citrus fruits – the latter of which was made when citrus fruits became available. Both pudding and cake traditionally include the addition of brandy, a very expensive item. To make the pudding more spectacular as it arrived at the table, brandy would be poured over it and set alight. The brandy would evaporate off fairly quickly, but it was also a way of demonstrating that no expense had been spared.
It is also traditional that there is a sprig of holly in the top of the pudding as it is served. This idea pre-dates the pudding itself. Evergreen plants were brought into the house to remind everyone of the spring to come and showed that there was still life, even in the depths of winter.
Many of these traditions hark back to the days when the whole festival was about encouraging the light to return. The flaming brandy on the cake, the tinsel, the lights in the tree. One delightful story about the origin of tinsel regards the Holy Family, who, fleeing from Herod, hid in a cave. A spider worked through the night, spinning a web across the entrance of the cave, so that Herod’s soldiers assumed that no one could be in there, and left the cave alone. That holy spider web was turned into silver, and our modern tinsel represents it.
May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your door, and happiness be guided to your home by the light of Christmas.
Yule Tide Nummies
By Tammera J. Karr, PhD, BCHN, BCIH
As with most, our family has traditional holiday foods we look forward to, on Christmas eve my mother would serve oyster stew, and on new year’s it was black-eyed peas and ham for good luck. Others in my family may have made tamales like my great aunt, using her mother’s recipes. All of us have foods that inspire warm memories or tears; it is food that invokes memories through taste, smell and color. Without a doubt we are proud of our American rights, but we also use the holidays to remember who came before us and what gifts they brought with them that flavor the season.
Gingerbread
The cake like consistency of gingerbread bears little resemblance to bread, it was originally, in the thirteenth century, gingerbras, a word borrowed from Old French which meant ‘preserved ginger’. But by the mid-fourteenth century,…-bread had begun to replace -bras, and it was only a matter of time before sense followed form. (sorry I can’t help but laugh as I know a few of you will have way to much fun with the bras …hohoho) One of the earliest known recipes comes from the early fifteenth-century cookery book Good Cookery, and directs gingerbread be made with breadcrumbs boiled in honey with ginger and other spices. [1]
“…most early American cookies were referred to as “cakes,” and gingerbread was assumed to be a form of cookie, as in Lebkuchen, a gingerbread cookie made with honey…Of all the Christmas pastries, the gingerbread cookie was the most loved by early American children. In American cookery, there are two distinct families of gingerbread cookies, the honey-based gingerbreads of Middle European origin–mostly Germany–and the molasses shortbreads that developed in England or Scotland. The other developed in the late seventeenth century, using molasses as a substitute for honey…The Germans in this country were the best honey cake bakers–they called the cookies Lebkuchen.”[2]
Mincemeat
According to food historians, mincemeat pie dates back to Medieval times. In the Middle Ages and into Renaissance times and beyond it was commonplace to spice up or eke out meat with dried fruit, and it seems likely that the earliest mincepies contained a generous measure of such raisins, and currants. The recipe did, indeed, include meat as did the mincemeat I grew up with; my mother would only use venison and suet; today I leave out the suet and dried fruit and use thickened apple juice, sliced apples, blueberries and currents. It also often contained dried fruits, sugar, and spices, as was the tradition of the day. The distinction between mincemeat and mince was drawn in the mid-nineteenth century when meat began disappearing from the recipe, leaving the fruit, nut, sugar, spice, brandy and suet product we know today.[3]
Oyster Stew
Fish (including shellfish) plays a critical role throughout the Christian calendar. “Meatless” day/periods were proscribed from ancient times forward for practical reasons: they regulated small early meat supplies and unified church members. For traditional Catholics in most countries, Christmas Eve, as with Lent, features fish. In Italy, the traditional Christmas Eve table features Seven Fishes. Baccala (salt cod). Oyster Stew is part of the Irish Christmas Eve tradition. Oyster dishes of all sorts are regularly found on French tables so it is conceivable that oyster stew is a French tradition also with Northern French cuisine features many creamy, butter soups and stews. Until recently (last half of the 20th century forwards), oysters were commonly consumed, especially by people living close to ocean shores.
On Christmas Eve, many ethnic cultures enjoy seafood to save their appetites for Christmas Day dinner, according to food historian John Mariani. But oyster stew also is uniquely Celtic because it is a holiday connection to the old country — an Irish-American adaptation of a traditional Christmas Eve stew that was made in Ireland with a chewy Atlantic fish called ling. The ling was stewed with milk (or buttermilk), parsley, salt and pepper because it was tough. It was similar in texture and flavor to the prized oysters that were an autumn delicacy of the Irish gentry.
When the Irish began flocking to North America during the Great Potato Famine, during the 1840s and 1850s, they couldn’t find ling in American fish markets. So they picked oysters to remind them of their families and Ireland on Christmas Eve. Americans, in general, were “oyster mad” in the 1800s, according to Mariani. Oysters were plentiful and were a big part of urban life, especially in East Coast cities where hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants settled.[4]
Egg nog
The name egg nog and recipes for it first appear in print in the 17th century. Food historians confirm English recipes for posset (esp. sack posset) were very similar to later egg nog a popular and accepted American term to denote an old traditional English holiday beverage. “By the mid-1760s patrons were drinking eggnog, juleps, sling and sanger in addition to the punch and toddy already available.”
In 1796, “Rich and creamy dessert drinks, such as eggnog and syllabub, reflect the English heritage in America, especially in the South. In England posset was a hot drink in which the white and yolk of eggs were whipped with ale, cider, or wine. Americans adapted English recipes to produce a variety of milk-based drinks that combined rum, brandy, or whiskey with cream. The first written reference to eggnog was an account of a February 1796 breakfast at the City Tavern in Philadelphia. Beginning in 1839 American cookbooks included recipes for cold eggnogs of cream, sugar, and eggs combined with brandy, rum, bourbon, or sherry, sprinkled with nutmeg. Southerners enjoyed a mix of peach brandy, rum, and whiskey.”
The earliest reference to eggnog cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1825. The beverage is defined as “A drink in which the white and yolk of eggs are stirred up with hot beer, wine, or spirits.”
‘Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi shonas duit.’
A prosperous and Happy Christmas to You.
[1] An A-Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 142)
[2] The Christmas Cook, William Woys Weaver [Harper Perennial:New York] 1990(p. 102-4)
A Very Merry Christmas to all and Blessings in the New Year
[3] An A-Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 214)
[4] http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsoups.html#oysterstew
Paying the Price
by Tammera J. Karr, PhD
I made the mistake of checking the news – are you ready? It all started with my receiving the October LifeExtention magazine (lef.org) and reading William Faloon’s article on “How Regulation of Medicine is Bankrupting the United States”. Next came an insightful conversation with my Aunt, we should all learn from our elders.
During this conversation we talked about how the “New Deal” put into place by FDR had its good points and bad – but no matter how we shake the tree – we are now paying for the New Deal, that is no deal. Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, Social Security and Welfare are just a few ingredients in the rotten apple dish being fed to us. And all of them are being mismanaged by congress – If you or I managed company funds the way congress does we would be in jail for miss-appropriation and fraud.
Another organization worthy of mention is Alliance for Natural Health USA (anh-usa.org), along with LifeExtention, ANH has been whistle blowing on the hypocrisies of congress and the FDA for years now.
William Faloon’s book called “Pharmocracy” (available through LifeExtention Foundation), outlines the cost of over-regulation of prescription drugs and the growing cost to the Medicare system. Here are some of the numbers that made me set-up and take notice. The most recent estimate of Medicare’s unfunded medical liability is $24.6 trillion. The total federal tax revenues taken in annually which include Medicare premiums are around $2 trillion. This means the Medicare trust fund will be bankrupt five years sooner than projected twelve months ago.
As the short sightedness of our federal government is so apt to do, it is not taking into account the skyrocketing costs for drugs approved by the FDA, they are currently costing around $100,000 per patient. Lady’s and gentlemen, while you have been distracted by the puppet show – you have been robbed. “We have all been deceived by those who confuse regulation with beneficial outcome and medical progress”, writes William Faloon in his October commentary. It is not about how a regulation will protect the public, but of how it can financially benefit a special interest.
Pharmacutical companies have spent tens of millions of dollars persuading the FDA to re-classify nutrients like B6 as prescription drugs for their economic benefit. With the re-writing of FDA guidelines and the implementation of CODEX in 2012, hang on, because you are about to be robbed at gun point, instead of your pockets picked artfully. The artificially inflated cost of prescription drugs driven by pharmaceutical companies and the FDA , could easily cost the Medicare system over $300 billion each year for one bio-Identical hormone like testosterone that benefits millions of older men in America, and available through compounding pharmacists for a fraction of the cost of the approved drug company versuion.
The ANH, reported on the FDA’s sudden ban of bio-identical hormone estriol in January 2008, “the FDA issued several warning letters to compounding pharmacists prohibiting the compounding of medications with estriol—a bio-identical estrogen produced naturally by a woman’s body—unless the pharmacist has a valid investigational new drug application on file with the FDA. This action was simultaneous to the FDA’s response to a Citizen Fair Trade Petition filed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the synthetic hormone replacement drugs Premarin and Prempro. This action was not about safety to the public but about the all-mighty dollar and who was getting it.
In March 2011, ANH again reported on the “efforts of the FDA to stop compounding pharmacists from making the bio-identical hormone progesterone, approved over fifty years ago — which doctors have been prescribing for patients with high-risk pregnancies — 17-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (progesterone) was designated by the FDA an “orphan drug.” Now KV Pharmaceutical has been given the exclusive right of production and sale (and drug trial tax breaks). They immediately raised the price from $10 per dose to $1,500—simply because they could”.
This newest FDA brain fart has doctors, US senators, and even the March of Dimes in an uproar! Besides the grave jeopardy placed on mothers and their infants, this will create an enormous financial burden for health insurance companies, private citizens, and government programs pay for care. And because of increased birth complications, these babies will need to be hospitalized for perhaps months and, for low-income mothers, all at the expense of taxpayers. Research shows these children will be at greater risk for, asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia, running the bill needlessly up for tax payers even higher.
The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) authorizes the FDA to collect fees from companies, allegedly to fund and expedite the drug approval process….Really are you sure? The law enacted in 1992, is due for renewal September 2012. According to the FDA, drug companies provide fully 60% of the FDA’s drug review costs—which means the FDA’s review and regulation of pharmaceutical drugs is largely funded by the drug companies under review.
The FDA has been negotiating a raise in the FDA “user” fees since July 2010; in fact, Big Pharma has already agreed to a 6% increase in fees for new drugs through 2017. The increase is expected to produce an additional $40.4 million in user fee revenue in fiscal 2012, bringing the fiscal 2013 total to $712.8 million. (snide remark not printable)
If any of this makes you wonder like it has me, I encourage you to join either or both of the watch dog organizations I’ve mentioned in this article. Remember none of us are entitled to anything but death – and it appears our government is more than willing to make sure it is a paupers grave waiting for us.
To your good health
Health Freedom ~Don’t Overlook It
by Tammera J. Karr, PhD, CNC, BCIH, CNW, CNH
When it comes to health freedom and the encroachment on our rights from an agency we automatically think of the FDA, but in truth they are nothing more than puppet giving a performance. It is through the workings of less visible groups funded by large multinational corporations quietly driving the movement within the private sector, state and federal governments, that are the true danger. Groups like the American Dietetic Association, Monsanto, Bayer and Cargill lobbing to change state laws eliminate the ability of licensed healthcare practitioners and nutritional counselors to provide dietary, nutrition and lifestyle counseling.
This year’s National Association for Nutritional Professionals (NANP) conference (2011) provided me with information exposing the hidden agenda of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). The ADA a national group has over 70,000 members made up primarily of white women with bachelor degrees.
Any time a national organization is primarily funded through international corporations there is an agenda, an agenda that promotes an industry, not necessarily health or health freedom. Many in the holistic nutrition field and proactive minded dietitians believe the ADA is systematically working to take away the rights of practitioners, nutraceutical companies and consumers in the area of nutritional counseling. Practitioners who are recognized and credible are receiving “cease and desist” orders in Hawaii, and N. Carolina. Current legislation is being debated in California, Nevada, New York and Minnesota, with 36 other states already having dietetic laws in place, but not fully enforced or activated.
We are not talking about individuals working out of nutrition stores or promoting for multi level marketing companies….many of which are well educated consumers. We are instead talking about individuals who are chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritional counselors, authors, educators and massage therapists with years of nutrition training, education and national credentials.
I know there are many very dedicated and excellent registered dietitians (RD) out there who appalled by this trend. Within the ADA there are two groups of forward thinking RD’s trying to bring about change from within the ADA, they are: Dietitians in Integrative & Functional Medicine and Health and Environmental Nutrition. The ADA does not currently follow or recognize CAM, integrative or functional medicine trends, laws or apparently nutrition science and research.
Who are Nutrition Professionals?
- Registered Dietitian (only one recognized by the ADA)
- Public Health Nutritionist
- Certified Clinical Nutritionist, Nutrition Specialist
- Diplomat American Clinical Board Nutrition
- Certified Nutritionist, Holistic Nutritionist, Nutrition Counselor, Health Educator
Of the ADA 70, 000 members they are 96% female, 88% white 50% BS, 46% MS, 4% PhD
These Registered Dietitians work primarily for 41% non-profit, 30% for-profit, 20% government and 8% are self-employed.
Of the eight percent that are self employed it works out that less that 2% of those are working in the field of integrative health providing information to private cliental.
Why is the ADA “in bed” with purveyors of corporate junk foods, corporate agriculture and drug companies? These companies provide huge influxes in funding for the organization – protecting their market share and interests by training nutrition scientists’ who follow the party line on nutrition through chemicals. It is as simple as follow the money.
For those of us in states with dietitian licensure laws we need to be clear on what those laws say, and work to repeal them. The “Unspoken Purpose” of Dietitian Licensure Laws: Insurance Reimbursement, Monopoly of nutrition field, Suppression of CAM, Excessive Regulation, Regulatory Laws in US. Be aware the state dietetic boards are composed of professional RD’s and public members (public members are hand-picked from the food service industry i.e. Lunchroom workers for schools and hospitals or corporate industry reps from franchise food vendors)
The Spring 2010 Michigan Dietetic Association publication printed the following message from the President Tonia Reinhard, MS, RD “The licensure committee is currently establishing the rules and regulations. MDA received some national insight on how we can best proceed to ensure that our scope of practice is not infringed upon by inadequately trained wannabes”
SOME NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADVOCATE FOR “HEALTH FREEDOM”
Alliance for Natural Health USA www.anh-usa.org
Citizens for Health www.citizens.org
National Health Freedom Action www.nationalhealthfreedom.org
Natural Solutions Foundation www.healthfreedomusa.org
Health Freedom Alliance www.healthfreedoms.org
I have invested 14 years into my education, and continue to pursue continuing education for the benefit of myself and my clientele. I know there is a lot I don’t know, however arrogant comments like those posted on many of the RD sites I reviewed make my blood boil. Every practitioner I have ever worked with or met strives to be professional, and diligent about scope of practice. Restriction in trade of this kind is far from beneficial to clients, practitioners or business. When we review the statistics it is still safer to use integrative health approaches over old fashioned allopathic models. Contrary to the ADA, Coke is not good for your health.
To Your Good Health and Health Freedom
Is Fluoride all it’s cracked up to be?
By Tammera J. Karr, Ph.D, BCIH, CNC, CNW, CNH
Back in the Stone Age when I was in sixth grade (1976) the health nurse would bring in a bottle of fluoride rinse for each of the students to use after lunch. I lasted about three applications, went home and told my mom it was making me sick. Mom loved nothing more than to wade into popular topics with unpopular ideas…. Needless to say I was excused from fluoride treatments. Today I now know I wasn’t alone in this, my body knew a poison when it saw one.
In 2005, I read Christopher Bryson’s book, “the Fluoride Deception”, and learned just how dangerous this dental cavity cure is. Every dentist should be required to read this book before they hand out what the Fluoride Action Network, Dr. Mercola and others, call government sanctioned rat poison for children. Check it out yourself at: http://www.fluoridealert.org/ and http://www.mercola.com
Fluoridation was first advanced in the U.S. at the end of the Second World War. In September of 1955, Martin vs. Reynolds made national headlines as the first class action lawsuit in America. Paul Martin a Troutdale Oregon rancher took RJ Reynolds to court over the loss of his health, his family’s and the loss of his livestock herd from fluoride poisoning. Martin’s case stunned corporate America, until then no U.S. court had ruled that industrial fluoride emissions caused harm to humans. Reynolds Metals was joined in court by six aluminum and chemical companies, including Monsanto and Alcoa.
Dr. Donald Hunter, one of England’s leading medical authorities, was presented as Martin’s medical expert. Dr Hunter told the Portland, Oregon jurors and judge; “fluorine compounds are deadly poisons to mammalian tissues, and man is a mammal just as much as a cow or sheep”, he explained. Fluoride is so dangerous, Hunter said, “because it is an enzyme poison and without enzymes you have no life”.
However, big business has deep pockets and resources to insure an industry was developed for the disposal of their toxic poison. During the decades which followed, fluoride was added to public water supplies across the country, due to advocacy that fluoride in water and toothpaste would protect teeth and prevent decay.
While the benefits of fluoridation have been held to be unquestionable, accumulating evidence points to a frightening prospect: that fluoride may have serious adverse health effects, including infant mortality, congenital defects and diminished IQ.
Advocates of fluoridated water insist that the chemical additive is good for teeth, but actual science routinely shows otherwise, including a new study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association confirming fluoride as a toxic substance that actually destroys teeth, particularly those of developing young children and babies.
Elevated levels of fluoride in the blood lower the availability of calcium to the body, which can impair cardiac function; “the elastic properties of the ascending aorta are impaired in patients with endemic fluorosis. Thus sub-acute exposures to fluoride may manifest as cardiac dysfunction, potentially increasing future risks of cardiac-related problems”. (Science of the Total Environment 408(11): 2295-2298)
- Fluoride increases serum lead concentrations
- Bone strength decreases with increasing bone fluoride level.
- Over-consumption of fluoride is an issue of concern worldwide, as fluoride has been linked to adverse health effects such as dental fluorosis, reduced thyroid function, weakened bones, skeletal fluorosis, and reduced intelligence.
- Despite repeated warnings that humans, particularly children, are currently receiving too much fluoride from their diets, fluoride pesticides continue to be added to the food supply under extremely lax regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Inverse association between urine fluoride levels and IQ: a 0.59-point decrease in IQ was observed for each 1 mg/L increase in urine fluoride. Sun D. 2010
Currently, the main fluoride pesticide used in the U.S. is cryolite (sodium aluminum fluoride). The EPA currently allows up to 7 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride on over 30 fruits and vegetables. This applies to: apricots, beets, blackberries, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, citrus fruits, collards, cranberries, cucumbers, eggplants, grapes, kale, lettuce, melons, nectarines, peaches, peppers, plums, pumpkins, radishes, raspberries, squash, strawberries, tomatoes and turnip. A standard of 2 ppm has also been established for potatoes, which are second to grapes for total cryolite usage.
In the United States, the primary source of ingested fluoride is fluoridated water, including that used in the preparation of foods and other beverages. For many infants, formula is a major source of nutrition, and this formula is often reconstituted with fluoridated tap water. The concentration of fluoride in infant formulas reconstituted with “optimally” fluoridated water is up to 200 times greater than that found in breast milk.
Researchers found fluoride in chicken products frequently eaten by children but not listed on labels, e.g. pureed chicken, chicken sticks, and luncheon meat made with mechanically-separated chicken. Fluoride-containing bone-dust invariably gets into the finished product. (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry September, 2001).(3)
Commonly-consumed infant fruit juices contain fluoride, some at levels higher than recommended for public water supplies which can damage teeth, according to research to be presented on March 17, 2011 at the International Association for Dental Research annual meeting in San Diego. “Children who consume excessive amounts of juice per day may be ingesting more fluoride than the recommended daily intake.”
“WARNING: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately.” FDA Mandated Warning on Fluoride Toothpaste Labels Sold in U.S.
“The early recommendations concerning ‘optimal levels’ of fluoride in water have not been reviewed since [water fluoridation began], despite developments which could drastically alter the underlying assumption that fluoride intake from sources other than drinking water is relatively low. Also, dehydrated and reconstituted food products, virtually unknown to consumers in the 1940s when most of the fluoride surveys were done, are today commonplace. As a result, although orange juice and potatoes are inherently poor sources of fluoride, this is no longer so if they have been concentrated and reconstituted with fluoridated water.” – Prival M, Fisher F. (1974). Adding Fluorides to the Diet. Environment 16(5): 29-33.
“ The FDA should examine the testing and labeling of [juices and sodas] with respect to fluoride concentration so that practitioners and consumers can make an informed choice. Thorough washing of grapes should occur to eliminate any insecticide contamination of the juice. Manufacturers and bottlers should identify sources of fluoride within their products, and when necessary, reduce fluoride content to age-appropriate levels, as recommended by the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists.” - Stannard JG, et al. (1991). Fluoride levels and fluoride contamination of fruit juices. Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry 16(1):38-40.
“[W]e recommend that dentists who are considering prescribing dietary fluoride supplements for those with non-fluoridated water inquire about young children’s fluoride exposure from all important sources, including dentrifice, infant formula (type, brand, and quantity), water (sources, quantities and filtration system) and beverages (including specific juices and juice-flavored drinks).” - Kiritsy MC, et al. (1996). Assessing fluoride concentrations of juices and juice-flavored drinks. Journal of the American Dental Association 127(7):895-902.
Back in the 1940’s folks were not eating at MacDonald’s, Taco Bell, or easy to heat microwavable prepackaged foods. A carrot was from the garden or local truck farm, the milk was from a dairy close by and Mom made the bread.
When we eat real foods, from locally owned growers, the inherent dangers to our health decline.
To your fluoride free good health!
Frankinfish ~ coming to a plate near you.
By Tammera J. Karr, PhD, CNC, BCIH, CNW, CNH
September in the Pacific Northwest for many means grabbing their salmon poles, spinners, herring plugs, fish eggs and washing down their boats with joy dish-soap. The crisp fall air lends itself to local mania for bright salmon, fish tales and perusing the local tackle shops. All is right in the world… or is it.
The FDA is in the process of approving a genetically modified salmon for human consumption, they say at this time they have no reason to believe it is harmful to humans… Ok what happens if these modified fish escape their hatchery nets like fish often do, and they breed with wild salmon? Fish in these farming environments already escape into the wild by the millions every year. What are the potential ramifications to the ecosystem, aqua businesses and the species as a whole? If approved, the genetically-modified (GM) salmon — known as AquAdvantage — will be the first GM animal officially authorized for human consumption in the U.S.
Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., the company responsible for the new salmon, has been seeking approval from the FDA since 1995. By programming salmon genes to continuously produce growth hormone, scientists from the company have been able to make their engineered fish grow to full size in less than 250 days, as opposed to the 400 days it takes for a natural Atlantic salmon to grow. Aqua-Bounty researchers have told the FDA the production of GM fish will improve the fish economy and reduce environmental stress.
The company claims that the fish are sterile, pose no environmental or health threats and taste like real fish, but not everyone is convinced. Previous studies have shown the opposite to be true. In 1999, researchers from Purdue University found transgenic fish are more attractive to other fish because of their abnormally large size. So they beat out real fish in attracting breeding mates, which can cause serious problems if introduced into the wild.
The same study also found the offspring of transgenic fish live very short lives. According to the university report, 60 fertile GM fish placed in a population of 60,000 native fish could destroy the entire native stock in as little as 20 years. Despite claims this could never occur because the fish are sterile, many experts say the DNA in GM fish will mutate over time and cause them to be able to breed. They could then spread their DNA to other species, altering the genetic makeup of fish everywhere.
Now let me first point out that Atlantic salmon is not a true salmon and the food quality of this sea going trout, what we call steelhead, is inferior to Alaskan, British Canadian or Pacific Northwest salmon called Coho, King, Chinook or Sockeye. These fish live in the ocean for 7 years and only return to the inland streams when it is time to breed, and die. While they are living in the ocean they are living on shrimp, krill, and smaller fish. Not the standard fish hatchery or farm food fair of soy, corn, wheat and protein bi-products. These fish are at the apex of their world, and that is not a vegetarian world.
Atlantic salmon are also exposed to large quantities of toxins from runoff water in the eastern United States. The high levels of mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, PCB’s and prescription medications, not only affects the overall health of the fish but of those who consume them…US. One more strike against Atlantic salmon that are farm raised is the balance of omega 3 to omega 6 oil. This ratio is off due to the differences in the diet of wild fish verses farmed. The foods consumed in the wild are high in omega 3 oils found to prevent heart disease, diabetes, depression and inflammation. Corn, soy and grains elevate omega 6 levels in the fish, reducing the health benefits and actually increasing inflammation because too much omega 6 converts into prostaglandin 2s, that drive degenerative illnesses.
According to a recent Reuters article, the FDA has failed to release any of the safety data about Aqua Bounty’s GM fish, so nobody can say for sure what the health effects are. But concerned groups say that, like other GM foods, AquAdvantage fish may cause allergies, digestive problems and other serious illness. “To date, there have been no studies conducted proving that any GM foods are safe for human consumption. And the studies that have been conducted show that tampering with nature at the genetic level only causes problems for people and the environment, not benefits”. Stated Dr. Michael Antoniou, a British molecular scientist.
Call me old fashioned but I think nature has done a pretty great job of making animals. I’m not convinced we can do a better job. The FDA will not be requiring the manufactures of Frankinfish to label their product as a GM food – you the consumer may have no idea what you are eating, has been genetically altered. What will our DNA think of this food? We already know our DNA looks for specific links to tie into for healthy replication, will GM foods fail to meet our DNA needs and increase cancer, genetically passed diseases or increase rapid aging? Personally I don’t know, and I’m not about to eat fish that is manmade.
To Your Good Health and Real Foods.
Everyone is an Expert – Supplements
I had the distinct privilege of meeting one of my nutritional gurus in person, Diana Shwarzbein, M.D., her warm personality made it possible to have an engaging conversation with her. During our conversation Diana made a very astute observation – “you give some people a little information and all of a sudden they become an expert”.
This statement holds true for those who are looked to for unbiased information such as the revered Consumers Reports. Now when it comes to cars, refrigerators, computers and household appliances, I like many check the report guide for intel. But when the September issue arrived and I saw the cover headline “The 12 Most Dangerous Supplements”, my curiosity was pricked, then as I read on, my ire was awakened. Diana’s words echoed in my mind…. Did the authors of this publication consult leading health experts from the Scripts institute, UC Davis, Harvard or a host of others available to them in the North East? It appears not, instead they began by compelling readers to take action and pressure congress to give more power to the FDA and institute new laws prohibiting and regulating the use of supplements. They questioned the efficacy and safety of the nutrition industry and products.
As the report points out there are over 54,000 dietary products available to consumers on the market with a reported 1,000 more entering the market every year. We are looking at an industry that has an average $26.7 million dollars in sales. That is a lot of money, and if we are to believe the Consumers reports one of the most efficient businesses around at pulling the wool over the eyes of consumers.
A few years ago I was presenting a health program for employees of a local business, these are smart consumers, so I knew I had to do my homework and be up on statistics about safety in supplement use. I went to the CDC and Scripts Institute websites as well as others and collected information on reported problems with supplement use, here is what I found.
- The Script’s Institute Reported in 2005 – the average patient admitted, had 91 chemical and metal contaminants found in their blood.
- According to the PCC – The supplements with the most exposures in 2005, were ordinary vitamins, accounting for nearly half of all the reports received that year, 62,446, including 1 death. Minerals were linked to about half as many total reports, 32,098, but that number included 13 deaths. Herbs and other specialty products accounted for still fewer total reports, 23,769, and 13 deaths. Essential oils were linked to 7,282 reports and no deaths.
- The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), reported to congress in May 2006 the following - in-hospital, adverse reactions to prescribed drugs to be 2.2 million annually. Unnecessary antibiotic prescribed for viral infections is 20 million per year. An unnecessary medical and surgical procedure performed is 7.5 million per year. Unnecessary hospitalization is 8.9 million per year. Total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is nearly 800,000 per year. An estimated 164 million people—more than half of the total US population—receive unneeded medical treatment over the course of a decade.
- The CDC found the range of children potentially exposed to lead in dust and soil is estimated at 5.9 million to 11.7 million children. Some actual exposure to lead occurs for an estimated 3.8 million children whose drinking water lead level has been estimated at greater than 20 mcg/dl.
- Savannah River Site Health Effects Subcommittee (SRSHES) Meeting – January 10, 2002. – Heavy-metal exposures are not limited to site-related activities; instead, exposures to individuals occur on a daily basis through food, soil, water and air. Of all heavy metals, lead has been in use for the longest period of time followed by mercury and arsenic.
- New York Times- May 11, 1994 – By Jane E. Brody – nutrition experts assumed that people of 70 or 80 were no different from those of 50. But now researchers seeking to correct this oversight are finding that millions of older Americans are nutritionally deprived either because they consume too little of various vitamins and minerals or because certain medical conditions or treatments prevent them from making full use of the nutrients in the foods they eat.
- 2006 – Scientists examining the use of vitamin D3 to reduce the risk of no fewer than 17 different types of cancer, ranging from colon, breast, and prostate cancers to ovarian, esophageal, renal, and bladder cancers. Researchers believe vitamin D3 may even improve treatment outcomes in people already diagnosed with cancer. A recent review article estimated that 50,000-70,000 Americans die prematurely from cancer each year due to insufficient intake of vitamin D3.
Now I could go on and on about the efficacy of nutritional programs for the prevention of chronic illness and the improvement of over-all outcomes for those with illnesses who use supplements and nutritional programs, but you already know that. What I want to point out is “personal responsibility” is a factor in all that we do – if an athlete making millions uses steroids to improve his performance, a Nutrition reporter takes outrageous dose of a nutrient thinking more is better, a college student decides to down 12 cans of energy drinks with espresso dies of a heart attack, or a desperate overweight consumer goes on a 500 calorie diet; these individuals all made the choice and had the ability to gain information on the appropriate dosage, protocol or dangers of what they were doing.
When I review the statistics the numbers are still on the side of safety and efficacy in the use of nutraceuticals, dietary programs, herbs, essential oils and nutrition verses the calculated risks of the pharmaceutical and medical industry. Don’t get me wrong – If I need a doctor or prescription I will research, interview and use their services and I will do it as an informed consumer taking responsibility for my decisions and asking congress and the FDA to mind their own business.
Potato ~ a bit of history
Potato ~ a bit of history
By Tammera J. Karr, MSHN, BCIH, CNC, CNW, CNH
| The potato is the quintessential Irish food right? Well not really. The potato has a long history that started before it was accidentally washed up on the beaches of Ireland. Potatoes have been cultivated for food for more than 2,000 years In South America. Peru’s Inca Indians, it is believed, have cultivated potatoes since 3000 B.C.
In the ancient ruins of Peru and Chile, archaeologists have found potatoes dating back to 500 B.C. The Incas had many uses for potatoes, which varied in size from a small nut to an apple and in color from red and gold to blue and black. The Incas grew and ate potatoes and worshipped them. They buried potatoes with their dead, stashed potatoes in concealed bins in case of war or famine, they dried them, and carried them on long journeys to eat on the way (dried or soaked in stew). They placed raw potato slices on broken bones, carried them to prevent rheumatism and ate them with other foods to prevent indigestion. The Incas also used potatoes to measure time by correlating how long it took potatoes to grow. Spanish explorer and conqueror, Gonzalo Jiminez de Quesada (1499-1579), took the potato to Spain in lieu of the gold. The Spanish thought the potato was a kind of truffle and called them “tartuffo.” Potatoes were soon a standard supply item on the Spanish ships; they noticed that the sailors who ate papas (potatoes) did not suffer from scurvy. This is due to the high vitamin C content of potatoes. The potato was carried on to Italy and England about 1585, to Belgium and Germany by 1587, to Austria about 1588, and to France around 1600. Wherever the potato was introduced, it was considered weird, poisonous, and downright evil. In France and elsewhere, the potato was accused of causing not only leprosy, but also syphilis, narcosis, scronfula, early death, sterility, and rampant sexuality, and of destroying the soil where it grew. An Irish legend says ships of the Spanish Armada, wrecked off the Irish coast in 1588, were carrying potatoes and that some of them washed ashore. Sir Walter Raleigh, first brought the potato to Ireland and planted them at his Irish estate at Myrtle Grove, Youghal, near Cork, Ireland. Legend has it that he made a gift of the potato plant to Queen Elizabeth I. The local gentry were invited to a banquet featuring the potato in every course. Unfortunately, the cooks had no clue what to do with the potatoes and tossed out the lumpy-looking tubers and brought to the royal table a dish of boiled stems and leaves (which are poisonous), and promptly made everyone deathly ill. The potatoes were then banned from court. Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French military chemist and botanist, won a contest sponsored by the Academy of Besancon to find a food “capable of reducing the calamities of famine” with his study of the potato. Many French potato dishes now bear his name today. In 1785, Parmentier persuaded the King of France, to encourage cultivation of potatoes. The King let him plant 100 useless acres outside Paris, France in potatoes with troops keeping the field heavily guarded. This aroused public curiosity and the people decided that anything so carefully guarded must be valuable. One night the guards were allowed to go off duty, the local farmers, as hoped, went into the field, stole the potatoes and planted them on their own farms. From this small start, the habit of growing and eating potatoes spread. The “Great Famine” or “Great Starvation” in Ireland was the result of a disease that decimated the potato crop. According to a book written in 1962 called The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-1849 by Cecil Woodham-Smith: “That cooking any food other than a potato had become a lost art. Women hardly boiled anything but potatoes. The oven had become unknown after the introduction of the potato prior to the Great Starvation.” Sound Familiar? Although potatoes are grown throughout the United States, no state is more associated with the potato than Idaho. In the 1850’s, most Americans consider the potato as food for animals rather than for humans. As late as the middle of the 19th Century, the Farmer’s Manual recommended that potatoes “be grown near the hog pens as a convenience towards feeding the hogs.” It was not until the Russet Burbank potato, developed by American horticulturist Luther Burbank in 1872 that the Idaho potato industry really took off. Today, the potato is ranked as the most consumed vegetable in America. Because of its high glycemic rating and the addition of fat used in frying this food has added in increasing America’s waist line considerably. We seem to forget that the potato has only been with us for a few hundred years and as such our DNA structure is not adapted at utilizing this starch food well. I personally love potatoes, but know I can only eat them in small quantities if I expect to dodge type two diabetes and heart disease. |
Chocolate
Chocolate
Tammera J. Karr, MSHN, CNC, CNW, CNH
With valentines behind us and Easter only days away, my mind drifted to the groceries store shelf’s loaded with chocolate. Now I have never been a huge fan of chocolate, but even I have been lured by the health claims and the selection of exotic chocolate treats. After all it’s good for me right?
| With valentines behind us and Easter only days away, my mind drifted to the groceries store shelf’s loaded with chocolate. Now I have never been a huge fan of chocolate, but even I have been lured by the health claims and the selection of exotic chocolate treats. After all it’s good for me right? The answer as with most things is yes and no. There is no denying that the Cadbury bunny is cute, but healthy he and his goodies are not. The quantities of artificial ingredients and sugars are just plain bad, the same goes for most chocolate brands, but don’t despair, there is good news for diehard lovers of this ancient Mayan food.
Those who are coinsures of the dark chocolates know there is more than taste in this “food of the gods”. In 1753 Carl von Linnaeus a Swedish scientist thought cocao was so important he named the genus and species of tree “Theobroma cacao” which literally means “cacao, the food of the gods.” Raw cacao or theobroma cacao is the seed in the fruit of the cacao tree. The food dates back to prehistoric times and was extensively cultivated in Mexico, Central and South America for years before the arrival of Europeans. The indigenous populations of these countries only ate the fruit which contains all the benefits of chocolate but none of the side effects. The seed ‘cocao’ nib was reserved for their psychedelic brew called “ahyuwasca” and as a medicine. The Mayan Indians began cultivating Cocao about 600AD. In Aztec myth, cacao awakened power and wisdom, interestingly enough, the explorer Cortes upon returning to Spain in 1528 brought cocao back with him and it was sequestered away and enjoyed only by the wealthy and nobility. Cocoa naturally has a very strong, pungent taste, which comes from the flavanols. When cocoa is processed into your favorite chocolate products, it goes through several steps to reduce this taste. The more chocolate is processed (through things like fermentation, alkalizing, roasting, etc.), the more flavanols are lost. Most commercial chocolates are highly processed. Flavonoids are naturally-occurring compounds found in plant-based foods that offer certain health benefits. They are part of the polyphenol group (chemicals found in plants). There are more than 4,000 flavonoid compounds, which are found in a wide variety of foods and beverages, such as cranberries, apples, peanuts, chocolate, onions, tea and red wine. Flavanols are a type of flavonoid specifically found in cocoa and chocolate. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body. The fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol: 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid: Benefits of dark chocolate
That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you.
Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a day to get the benefits. One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories. If you eat half a bar of chocolate a day, you must balance those 200 calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same. Chocolate is a complex food with over 300 compounds and chemicals in each bite. Look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange peel or other flavorings. To really enjoy and appreciate chocolate, take the time to taste it. So, for now, enjoy moderate portions of chocolate (e.g., one ounce) a few times per week, and don’t forget to eat other flavonoid-rich foods like apples, red wine, tea, onions and cranberries. Your best choices are dark chocolate over milk chocolate (especially milk chocolate that is loaded with other fats and sugars), and cocoa powder that has not undergone Dutch processing (cocoa that is treated with an alkali to neutralize its natural acidity). To your good Health. |
