There has been a good deal of news coverage lately about lead content in toys and other products. Listed here are some alternative, non-material, gift-giving options. as well as some information about companies that specialize in selling natural, non-toxic toys. These links should help keep your holiday gift giving season lead-free and healthy. Happy Holidays!
There are a number of organizations that offer gifts of service and support to people in need around the world. Two organizations that make this type of giving easy are Oxfam International and the Seva Foundation. Both organizations will send a card to your gift recipient telling them what service or support you have purchased in their name.
Oxfam Unwrapped is a program of Oxfam International administered by each country’s chapter. Oxfam Unwrapped offers gifts to help people in need around the world in the form of safe drinking water, training and support for women, livestock & farming, fair-trade and micro-business support, and more. The U.S. website is: www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com where you can conveniently order online.
The Seva Foundation was founded by a group of World Organization doctors in 1978. Seva means service in Sanskrit. The foundation works in 10 countries, particularly helping women and children have access to clean water and health care. Like Oxfam, Seva offers easy online ordering at www.seva.org.
No-Lead Toys: Made from wood and other natural materials
NovaNatural at www.novanatural.com
Three Sisters Toys – www.threesisterstoys.com - you can shop by category or by the country the toys were made in
Willow Tree Toys – www.willowtreetoys.com - made in U.S and Europe
Planet Happy Toys – www.planethappytoys.com
Magic Cabin – www.magiccabin.com
Our Green House – www.ourgreenhouse.com
The Organic Toy Box - www.organictoybox.com
Seasons Natural Toys - www.seasonsnaturaltoys.com
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Health News of the Week – Heat and Cancer
Cancer cells do not like heat. What form of heat and how the heat reaches cancer cells is constantly being researched. A treatment called Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) has been successful in killing cancer cells in areas of the body accessible to thin needle probes that once inserted generate heat-producing radio waves directly into the tumor. Studies in Italy have found this effective for lung cancer treatment. While this form of heat production does not cause uncomfortable side effects, it is not possible to use on deep tumors.
Last week The Los Angeles Times reported a new cancer treatment also employing radio waves for heat generation, but with a technique that allows for access to tumors deep in the body. “Sending His Cancer a Signal” spotlights John Kanzius, a cancer patient who has developed this prototypical treatment. The preliminary research about the treatment will be published in the December issue of the medical journal, Cancer. Some cancer treatment aficionados may be reminded of the Rife frequency technology, but Kanzius’s prototype is different. Radio waves are used to heat ingested minute carbon particles called nanotubes. The heated particles then kill cancer cells. The treatment is still in the development stages as the research to date has shown that some healthy tissue can be damaged in the process, as is the case with currently used radiation and chemotherapy treatments. But researchers are hopeful that they will perfect the accuracy of the ingested nanotubes to only reach cancer cells. If this is accomplished, the treatment has the potential to kill cancer cells without causing side effects and damage to the body.
Keep your eyes open for more information about this innovative treatment. For more information read the Los Angeles Times article at: www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-cancer2nov02,1,5233765.story?track=rss
Last week The Los Angeles Times reported a new cancer treatment also employing radio waves for heat generation, but with a technique that allows for access to tumors deep in the body. “Sending His Cancer a Signal” spotlights John Kanzius, a cancer patient who has developed this prototypical treatment. The preliminary research about the treatment will be published in the December issue of the medical journal, Cancer. Some cancer treatment aficionados may be reminded of the Rife frequency technology, but Kanzius’s prototype is different. Radio waves are used to heat ingested minute carbon particles called nanotubes. The heated particles then kill cancer cells. The treatment is still in the development stages as the research to date has shown that some healthy tissue can be damaged in the process, as is the case with currently used radiation and chemotherapy treatments. But researchers are hopeful that they will perfect the accuracy of the ingested nanotubes to only reach cancer cells. If this is accomplished, the treatment has the potential to kill cancer cells without causing side effects and damage to the body.
Keep your eyes open for more information about this innovative treatment. For more information read the Los Angeles Times article at: www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-cancer2nov02,1,5233765.story?track=rss
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Health News: When a Kiss is not Just a Kiss… Lead in Lipstick
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has released a study finding that 61% of the thirty-three U.S. manufactured red lipsticks tested contained lead, and one-third of these exceeded the US FDA limit for lead in candy. None of the lipsticks found to contain lead listed it in their ingredients. The report, A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipstick, complete with lipstick brand names found to contain lead, can be downloaded at: www.safecosmetics.org . The site also offers useful information about other harmful cosmetic ingredients, as well as a list of companies that have agreed to not use hazardous ingredients in their products.
A tip about red: The color red in ceramics, paints, lipsticks and other items is often derived from either lead or cadmium, both heavy metals. The paint color Vermillion was derived from cinnabar from which mercury is extracted. So you can see that red has a heavy-metal tainted history. When you see red, make sure it is not produced from heavy metals.
A tip about red: The color red in ceramics, paints, lipsticks and other items is often derived from either lead or cadmium, both heavy metals. The paint color Vermillion was derived from cinnabar from which mercury is extracted. So you can see that red has a heavy-metal tainted history. When you see red, make sure it is not produced from heavy metals.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
More Headlines: “Vaccine Preservative Poses No Health Risk, Study Says”
The preservative the headline is referring to is mercury. Wow, now that would be news if mercury was found to pose no health risk. However, there is not a government entity in the world that would claim that mercury is not a toxic element. If you go on to websites for the U.S. EPA, the Canadian Government, the European Union, the World Health Organization, and others there are pages filled with the dangers of mercury, lead and other heavy metals. The hazards of these elements have been known for centuries.
Sources of Mercury include atmospheric from coal-fired power-plants, municipal and medical waste incinerators, and crematoriums. Consumer products containing mercury can be found in certain drugs (see link to FDA list), batteries, dental fillings (dental amalgam is made up of approximately 40-50% mercury, 25% silver and 25-35% a mixture of copper, zinc and tin), fluorescent bulbs (including energy efficient), jewelry, paint, thermometers, thermostats; and is present in certain fish.
Notice the warning posters and information campaigns about not eating fish because of mercury content. Hazardous waste collection days have special events for collecting old mercury-filled thermometers because they are toxic. Mercury used as a preservative in house paints has been banned for almost twenty years – because it is hazardous to your health.
So, we are supposed to believe that it is safe to inject a child with a vaccine that uses a mercury-based preservative, but not safe to paint our houses with paint that has mercury-based preservatives in it? Explain the logic in that – not the studies – the logic. There is none.
The industry rebuttals about the different types of mercury – ethyl, methyl, organic, inorganic, elemental – do the trick – they make most people’s eyes glaze over. The fact is mercury is toxic – maybe in degrees, maybe in how it’s metabolized, but that skirts the real issue. The real issue is that the governments of Canada, the United States and the European Union (last count 27 countries) all classify Mercury (not specified by ethyl, methyl, inorganic, organic, or elemental) as “Very Toxic”, “Hazardous” and has “Danger of cumulative effects.”
The study that was supposed to exonerate thimerosal, the ethyl-mercury –based preservative, only illustrates the weak and flawed aspects of such research. The study did not address links to autism, even though other studies have shown that children receiving vaccines containing thimerosal had 27 times (2700%) greater chance to develop Autism Spectrum Diseases than those receiving vaccines without thimerosal.
The media coverage of the study left out rebutting information including the article, “Vaccine Study In New England Journal Of Medicine Wrong In Concluding Mercury Exposures Are Harmless,” written by Sallie Bernard, Executive Director of SafeMinds (www.safeminds.org), one of the study’s external consultants, and the only consumer representative. Bernard writes, “A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study on the relationship between mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines and children's brain functioning draws a misleading conclusion.” (see full article at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/83770.php ). An earlier article by the National Autism Association says, “CDC's Vaccine Committee Whitewashed Toxic Vaccine Component” (see full article at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/63777.php)
A common-sense, far-sighted, as well as hind-sighted, person is not going to be fooled by misleading research. Mercury is hazardous. If you shouldn't breathe it, eat it or touch it, you certainly shouldn't be injecting it into a body, especially a young body. Finding new uses for mercury each time it is banned from a product, or trying to futilely prove its safety, should not be a priority. Safeguarding the world’s children from toxins should be.
Links - The websites with the most comprehensive information include:
www.chem.unep.ch/mercury - United Nations Environmental Programme with useful inks and the Global Mercury Assessment report key findings
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cabs/mercury - Dept for Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
www.fda.gov/cder/fdama/mercury300.htm - drugs containing mercury - fda list
www.epa.gov/mercury - US EPA site on mercury
A word on testing mercury body burdens for consumers and future researchers: It makes a difference whether you are testing blood, urine or hair. Using blood tests as the only marker is faulty and provides inaccurate information. As the Department for Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) explains on their website appropriate testing is critical for uncovering accurate mercury loads in the body.
The particular test depends on type of mercury to which a person believes he or she has been exposed. Urine tests are good for determining exposure to elemental or inorganic mercury, NOT methylmercury. Hair analysis is considered a reliable marker for exposure to methyl and ethyl mercury. Blood tests are a good indicator of only methylmercury. Acute elemental exposures can be detected in the blood only for a few days, after 2 days, urine is a better indicator of past or cumulative elemental mercury exposure.
Sources of Mercury include atmospheric from coal-fired power-plants, municipal and medical waste incinerators, and crematoriums. Consumer products containing mercury can be found in certain drugs (see link to FDA list), batteries, dental fillings (dental amalgam is made up of approximately 40-50% mercury, 25% silver and 25-35% a mixture of copper, zinc and tin), fluorescent bulbs (including energy efficient), jewelry, paint, thermometers, thermostats; and is present in certain fish.
Notice the warning posters and information campaigns about not eating fish because of mercury content. Hazardous waste collection days have special events for collecting old mercury-filled thermometers because they are toxic. Mercury used as a preservative in house paints has been banned for almost twenty years – because it is hazardous to your health.
So, we are supposed to believe that it is safe to inject a child with a vaccine that uses a mercury-based preservative, but not safe to paint our houses with paint that has mercury-based preservatives in it? Explain the logic in that – not the studies – the logic. There is none.
The industry rebuttals about the different types of mercury – ethyl, methyl, organic, inorganic, elemental – do the trick – they make most people’s eyes glaze over. The fact is mercury is toxic – maybe in degrees, maybe in how it’s metabolized, but that skirts the real issue. The real issue is that the governments of Canada, the United States and the European Union (last count 27 countries) all classify Mercury (not specified by ethyl, methyl, inorganic, organic, or elemental) as “Very Toxic”, “Hazardous” and has “Danger of cumulative effects.”
The study that was supposed to exonerate thimerosal, the ethyl-mercury –based preservative, only illustrates the weak and flawed aspects of such research. The study did not address links to autism, even though other studies have shown that children receiving vaccines containing thimerosal had 27 times (2700%) greater chance to develop Autism Spectrum Diseases than those receiving vaccines without thimerosal.
The media coverage of the study left out rebutting information including the article, “Vaccine Study In New England Journal Of Medicine Wrong In Concluding Mercury Exposures Are Harmless,” written by Sallie Bernard, Executive Director of SafeMinds (www.safeminds.org), one of the study’s external consultants, and the only consumer representative. Bernard writes, “A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study on the relationship between mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines and children's brain functioning draws a misleading conclusion.” (see full article at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/83770.php ). An earlier article by the National Autism Association says, “CDC's Vaccine Committee Whitewashed Toxic Vaccine Component” (see full article at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/63777.php)
A common-sense, far-sighted, as well as hind-sighted, person is not going to be fooled by misleading research. Mercury is hazardous. If you shouldn't breathe it, eat it or touch it, you certainly shouldn't be injecting it into a body, especially a young body. Finding new uses for mercury each time it is banned from a product, or trying to futilely prove its safety, should not be a priority. Safeguarding the world’s children from toxins should be.
Links - The websites with the most comprehensive information include:
www.chem.unep.ch/mercury - United Nations Environmental Programme with useful inks and the Global Mercury Assessment report key findings
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cabs/mercury - Dept for Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
www.fda.gov/cder/fdama/mercury300.htm - drugs containing mercury - fda list
www.epa.gov/mercury - US EPA site on mercury
A word on testing mercury body burdens for consumers and future researchers: It makes a difference whether you are testing blood, urine or hair. Using blood tests as the only marker is faulty and provides inaccurate information. As the Department for Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) explains on their website appropriate testing is critical for uncovering accurate mercury loads in the body.
The particular test depends on type of mercury to which a person believes he or she has been exposed. Urine tests are good for determining exposure to elemental or inorganic mercury, NOT methylmercury. Hair analysis is considered a reliable marker for exposure to methyl and ethyl mercury. Blood tests are a good indicator of only methylmercury. Acute elemental exposures can be detected in the blood only for a few days, after 2 days, urine is a better indicator of past or cumulative elemental mercury exposure.
Health Headlines This Week
“The Appendix Has a Purpose After All”
Well I had to chuckle at this one. I love what tax dollars and grant money get spent on. The Duke University Medical School findings feel like a kid that runs into the house exclaiming with excitement about the epiphany they have had – and the parents and grandparents are looking at him “Well yes, that’s true Jimmy (duh!)”. The article reports, “The appendix, long thought a useless organ, actually grows and protects good germs for your gut, according to a new theory.”
The study shows general human arrogance by assuming that just because we haven’t figured out the significance or purpose of a body part means that it has no value or import.
It further illustrates the arrogance of western, allopathic medicine to presume that no other medical theory or system in the world has any relevance except theirs until they prove something. I have news for them – this study and finding is NOT news to thousands of western trained Naturopathic doctors. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for 5000-plus years. It is NOT news to millions of people who live around the globe and practice what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “Traditional Medicine” – medical practices based on ancient knowledge of the body, earth and plants.
The article says that CDC figures show that between 300-400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, and that the rate in other countries is lower. While these people did ultimately die from a ruptured appendix, our medical system should be looking at the greater causes. In this modern, industrialized and “developed” era, we have thousands of environmental toxins – chemicals, heavy metals and nutrient-poor food. We don’t spend time outdoors, we shun manual labor – in short we lead lives that our bodies were not designed for. Why don’t we shift our medical screening tests to include toxin-screens, heavy metals testing, as well as education and support about healthy nutrition and food choices. Why doesn’t the money spent on studies like these get directed instead to making truly fresh, wholesome food more readily available to more people.
This may come as a surprise, but in Europe, where Naturopathic and Biological medicine have been practiced without interruption and persecution, the importance of a healthy digestive system is seen foundational to the health of the whole body. The medical orientation of both Naturopathic and Biological medicine is to work with the body’s resources not against them, using diet, plant-based remedies, and treatments to stimulate healthy bacteria and proper assimilation to treat both minor and major illnesses.
The article concludes with the quote, “I’ll bet eventually we’ll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils.” I don’t want to burst their bubble, or make them feel left out, but let me whisper in your ear, “The others already have.”
Well I had to chuckle at this one. I love what tax dollars and grant money get spent on. The Duke University Medical School findings feel like a kid that runs into the house exclaiming with excitement about the epiphany they have had – and the parents and grandparents are looking at him “Well yes, that’s true Jimmy (duh!)”. The article reports, “The appendix, long thought a useless organ, actually grows and protects good germs for your gut, according to a new theory.”
The study shows general human arrogance by assuming that just because we haven’t figured out the significance or purpose of a body part means that it has no value or import.
It further illustrates the arrogance of western, allopathic medicine to presume that no other medical theory or system in the world has any relevance except theirs until they prove something. I have news for them – this study and finding is NOT news to thousands of western trained Naturopathic doctors. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for 5000-plus years. It is NOT news to millions of people who live around the globe and practice what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “Traditional Medicine” – medical practices based on ancient knowledge of the body, earth and plants.
The article says that CDC figures show that between 300-400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, and that the rate in other countries is lower. While these people did ultimately die from a ruptured appendix, our medical system should be looking at the greater causes. In this modern, industrialized and “developed” era, we have thousands of environmental toxins – chemicals, heavy metals and nutrient-poor food. We don’t spend time outdoors, we shun manual labor – in short we lead lives that our bodies were not designed for. Why don’t we shift our medical screening tests to include toxin-screens, heavy metals testing, as well as education and support about healthy nutrition and food choices. Why doesn’t the money spent on studies like these get directed instead to making truly fresh, wholesome food more readily available to more people.
This may come as a surprise, but in Europe, where Naturopathic and Biological medicine have been practiced without interruption and persecution, the importance of a healthy digestive system is seen foundational to the health of the whole body. The medical orientation of both Naturopathic and Biological medicine is to work with the body’s resources not against them, using diet, plant-based remedies, and treatments to stimulate healthy bacteria and proper assimilation to treat both minor and major illnesses.
The article concludes with the quote, “I’ll bet eventually we’ll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils.” I don’t want to burst their bubble, or make them feel left out, but let me whisper in your ear, “The others already have.”
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Local Rocks
Ariel Zevon, daughter of rocker Warren Zevon, has opened a year-round farmers market and cafe in Barre, Vermont where organic and locally-grown and produced Vermont products are featured.
Like many towns and small cities across the country, there are no longer supermarkets on Barre's Main Street - they have moved out to the malls with the chain stores. Zevon chose to renovate an old department store, placing her new market right on North Main Street, following her philosophy of keeping things locally focused. Zevon is hoping to create more demand for local products by drawing on the community aspects of supporting locally produced products and food, as well as working directly with farmers to maximize the market for their products.
Visit the Local Agricultural Community Exchange (LACE) at 159 N. Main St., Barre, VT 802-476-4276; www.lacevt.org. LACE is closed on Mondays.
Like many towns and small cities across the country, there are no longer supermarkets on Barre's Main Street - they have moved out to the malls with the chain stores. Zevon chose to renovate an old department store, placing her new market right on North Main Street, following her philosophy of keeping things locally focused. Zevon is hoping to create more demand for local products by drawing on the community aspects of supporting locally produced products and food, as well as working directly with farmers to maximize the market for their products.
Visit the Local Agricultural Community Exchange (LACE) at 159 N. Main St., Barre, VT 802-476-4276; www.lacevt.org. LACE is closed on Mondays.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Freshness and Health
Ten years ago Saveur Magazine (March ’97) ran a story that to me seemed to sum up the missing link in our eating habits and issues around health and nutrition - what should we eat, what shouldn't we eat, what is the current diet fad or trend. Without meaning to, the article pointed out how we suffer from "shelf-life syndrome." The following synopsis of the Saveur story illustrates this.
The author of the story, William Murray, starts off by recounting a conversation he has had with an Italian friend about fresh mozzarella cheese. Murray proudly describes the cheese he buys - freshly made the day he buys it and consumed the following day. His Italian friend replies, with a pained expression, that having grown up in Italy it is difficult for him to eat mozzarella that is more than 2 1/2 HOURS old!
As if this part of the tale weren't telling enough - Murray goes on to describe the mozzarella producing areas around a town called Fondi, and particularly one factory, known for its exceptional cheese, owned by Signor Giovanni Buonanno. By 1:30 every afternoon, a few hours after it has opened to the public, all the mozzarella made that day - about one ton - has been sold. Signor Giovanni, as he is known, is 73. He owns about 170 acres of land, and 800 plus water buffalo (whose milk is used for the mozzarella). His operation is computerized and impeccably clean. He knows each of his water buffalo by name, not number.
Here's the punch line: When someone approached Signor Giovanni about selling his mozzarella in the United States, he figured out that it wouldn't be for sale here until three days after it was made. Signor Giovanni said no to the deal. He said, "Mozzarella is not something that you eat after three or four days. No. You come to Fondi and you eat it fresh!"
We can learn a lot from Signor Giovanni.
While we all have different biochemical nutritional needs, we share some common needs - one of these being FRESH, whole foods. The focus of our food system here in the United States is not freshness, but shelf-life. I feel the quest for the ever-longer shelf-life is what has undermined basic health - creating "shelf-life syndrome."
We're so fortunate in Vermont and New Hamshire to have farm stands and markets in the warmer months where we can get hours-old harvested food. You can purchase fresh, hours-old (not days or weeks) food picked when it's ripe (not picked green and gassed to appear ripe later in the store). You get to meet the people that grew the food; you support their hard work, keeping beautiful land open and working. You consume food, which is full of natural antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and other phytonutrients. It is a complete cycle of life and support - your health benefits; your environment benefits; and, your local economy benefits.
Since the hard frost has held off this year, we can all still eat beautiful, fresh vegetables and fruits. As we enter the winter months you can still make fresh food choices - buy locally produced meats, eggs and dairy products. Frozen organic vegetables and fruits are usually frozen at the peak of their ripeness and freshness. Eat naturally fermented fresh sauerkraut and vegetables - and stock up on local produce that keeps well like root vegetables and some apples.
Next time you're purchasing food or sitting down to a meal, think less about what you are eating and more about how fresh it is. If it's truly fresh, your health will follow.
For a list of local farms and markets see Vital Communities Annual Guide to Locally Grown Food - Farms, Farm-Stands and more - www.vitalcommunities.org
For naturally fermented vegetables see the sidebar, "Naturally Fermented Foods" with links on the right of this blog
For Vermont & New Hampshire Food Coops and health food stores see the Community Resources page at: www.thealternativehealthguides.com
For those traveling to Italy you can go to Fondi and have the fresh mozzarella!
Caseificio Buonanno
Via Mola della Corte N° 7/9
04022 Fondi (Between Rome and Naples)
Lazio, Italy; Tel: +39-0771-513011
http://www.caseificiobuonanno.it
The author of the story, William Murray, starts off by recounting a conversation he has had with an Italian friend about fresh mozzarella cheese. Murray proudly describes the cheese he buys - freshly made the day he buys it and consumed the following day. His Italian friend replies, with a pained expression, that having grown up in Italy it is difficult for him to eat mozzarella that is more than 2 1/2 HOURS old!
As if this part of the tale weren't telling enough - Murray goes on to describe the mozzarella producing areas around a town called Fondi, and particularly one factory, known for its exceptional cheese, owned by Signor Giovanni Buonanno. By 1:30 every afternoon, a few hours after it has opened to the public, all the mozzarella made that day - about one ton - has been sold. Signor Giovanni, as he is known, is 73. He owns about 170 acres of land, and 800 plus water buffalo (whose milk is used for the mozzarella). His operation is computerized and impeccably clean. He knows each of his water buffalo by name, not number.
Here's the punch line: When someone approached Signor Giovanni about selling his mozzarella in the United States, he figured out that it wouldn't be for sale here until three days after it was made. Signor Giovanni said no to the deal. He said, "Mozzarella is not something that you eat after three or four days. No. You come to Fondi and you eat it fresh!"
We can learn a lot from Signor Giovanni.
While we all have different biochemical nutritional needs, we share some common needs - one of these being FRESH, whole foods. The focus of our food system here in the United States is not freshness, but shelf-life. I feel the quest for the ever-longer shelf-life is what has undermined basic health - creating "shelf-life syndrome."
We're so fortunate in Vermont and New Hamshire to have farm stands and markets in the warmer months where we can get hours-old harvested food. You can purchase fresh, hours-old (not days or weeks) food picked when it's ripe (not picked green and gassed to appear ripe later in the store). You get to meet the people that grew the food; you support their hard work, keeping beautiful land open and working. You consume food, which is full of natural antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and other phytonutrients. It is a complete cycle of life and support - your health benefits; your environment benefits; and, your local economy benefits.
Since the hard frost has held off this year, we can all still eat beautiful, fresh vegetables and fruits. As we enter the winter months you can still make fresh food choices - buy locally produced meats, eggs and dairy products. Frozen organic vegetables and fruits are usually frozen at the peak of their ripeness and freshness. Eat naturally fermented fresh sauerkraut and vegetables - and stock up on local produce that keeps well like root vegetables and some apples.
Next time you're purchasing food or sitting down to a meal, think less about what you are eating and more about how fresh it is. If it's truly fresh, your health will follow.
For a list of local farms and markets see Vital Communities Annual Guide to Locally Grown Food - Farms, Farm-Stands and more - www.vitalcommunities.org
For naturally fermented vegetables see the sidebar, "Naturally Fermented Foods" with links on the right of this blog
For Vermont & New Hampshire Food Coops and health food stores see the Community Resources page at: www.thealternativehealthguides.com
For those traveling to Italy you can go to Fondi and have the fresh mozzarella!
Caseificio Buonanno
Via Mola della Corte N° 7/9
04022 Fondi (Between Rome and Naples)
Lazio, Italy; Tel: +39-0771-513011
http://www.caseificiobuonanno.it
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Health News of the Week
ACUPUNCTURE FOR BACK PAIN
Researchers in Germany have released a study demonstrating the benefits and effectiveness of Acupuncture as a treatment for back pain. The study showed that almost fifty percent of the 1100 patients taking part in the research had sustained relief with Acupuncture as opposed to only twenty-seven percent finding relief with drugs and other Western therapies.
The BBC News web site has a more in depth article about this study as well as relative links - http://news.bbc.co.uk (As a side note, I find the BBC news to be an excellent source of world wide news not always covered by the American Press, especially with health related stories - check their Health, as well as Science/Nature pages.)
At the University of Vermont, in Burlington, Vermont, Dr. Helen Langevin a research associate professor of neurology, is conducting a six-year research project into acupuncture and its effect on connective tissue. For information about Dr. Langevin’s work, check out the UVM web pages below:
“Research to Investigate Response to Acupuncture” article at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=612
“Acupuncture Needling Gets the Picture” article at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=1151
Researchers in Germany have released a study demonstrating the benefits and effectiveness of Acupuncture as a treatment for back pain. The study showed that almost fifty percent of the 1100 patients taking part in the research had sustained relief with Acupuncture as opposed to only twenty-seven percent finding relief with drugs and other Western therapies.
The BBC News web site has a more in depth article about this study as well as relative links - http://news.bbc.co.uk (As a side note, I find the BBC news to be an excellent source of world wide news not always covered by the American Press, especially with health related stories - check their Health, as well as Science/Nature pages.)
At the University of Vermont, in Burlington, Vermont, Dr. Helen Langevin a research associate professor of neurology, is conducting a six-year research project into acupuncture and its effect on connective tissue. For information about Dr. Langevin’s work, check out the UVM web pages below:
“Research to Investigate Response to Acupuncture” article at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=612
“Acupuncture Needling Gets the Picture” article at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=1151
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Codex: Europe and Beyond
Switzerland, like much of Europe and Asia, has a long history of using natural remedies for health care. This is evident when traveling through Switzerland where drugstores and pharmacies throughout the country sell both natural and pharmaceutical products, often side by side. Switzerland is a highly developed, wealthy country complete with its own pharmaceutical giants, who would like consumers to buy their pharmaceutical products over long-standing, successful, natural remedies. But cultural heritage and attitudes run deep. In Switzerland, druggists and pharmacy owners must go through years of education and apprenticeship, including not only the study of pharmaceutical products but also of herbal and homeopathic remedies.
Natural remedies of the highest quality are made in Switzerland, Germany, France and other European countries. These natural products and medicines are displayed in pharmacy windows often with equal or greater representation than conventional products.
There is a threat to this balanced presentation of health options and to consumer choice in Europe – and soon the world. The European Union and parts of Switzerland, not withstanding their long tradition of natural remedies and health care, are implementing laws concerning supplements and herbs that are extremely restrictive in terms of availability, and allowable vitamin, mineral and herbal potencies.
CODEX – Neither a Camera, Nor from The Da Vinci Code
The European Union has accepted a devastating set of guidelines known as the Codex Alimentarius: Guidelines on Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements. The controversial Codex guidelines are connected to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in itself a controversial conglomerate of multinational interests. Under the guise of consumer best interest and free trade, the WTO is aggressively pursuing global standards of commerce favorable to large industries such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture and other products. Free trade does not equal Fair trade, nor does it guarantee the best interests of people around the world involved with small-scale, sustainable, local and Fair-trade enterprises. In the Codex, the focus is on global standards for nutritional supplements and herbal remedies.
The official line is that of public safety - a thinly veiled cover-up for market control. In countries where the Codex is being enacted or will be enacted, there are restrictions to consumer choice and availability. In brief, the Codex is limiting the allowable maximum potencies to minimum levels. Pharmaceutical companies will be allowed to sell certain high potency vitamins and minerals, requiring prescriptions. Some currently permissible vitamins and minerals will be eliminated all together. Some herbs will be restricted or no longer available. Product information, crucial to consumer empowerment and choice will be limited. Synthetic instead of natural sources for supplements will be utilized. With the broad control of supplements and herbs comes more possibilities for patented products, further limiting access and driving up costs.
Norway and Germany have already adopted these standards so Vitamin C potency is limited to 200 mg and Vitamin E at 45 IU – over these is considered illegal. As a reference point, in the United States the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has set upper tolerable dosage limits for Vitamin C at 2,000 mg for adults and the upper tolerable dosage limit for Vitamin E at 1500 IU.
Some governments are opposed to the Codex guidelines noting that traditional medicines, homeopathic remedies and other alternative medicines should continue to be available to people building on rich cultural and historical knowledge, and should not be analyzed the same way as pharmaceutical drugs.
A sustainable future includes true accessibility of nutrients and botanicals, and building on a millennia old knowledge base of traditional healing, not on the ultimate control of natural healing substances by multinational, pharmaceutical corporations whose real goals have to do with profits not individual or planetary health.
For more information about Codex:
Natural Solutions Foundation – www.healthfreedomusa.org
American Holistic Health Association – www.ahha.org
Official Codex site - www.codexalimentarius.net
Food Supplements: The EU Threat - www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/articles/foodsup.html
For more Information about the World Trade Organization (WTO):
Public Citizen Global Trade Watch at: http://www.citizen.org/trade/
Blog Beginnings
The Alternative Health Guides is venturing into the world of blogging. The tried and true print directory is exploring this fun and user friendly format of information exchange. We hope that the links and book lists will make accessing information about alternative and traditional healing easier for everyone.
Stay tuned for news updates and commentary. To your health! Dorian
Stay tuned for news updates and commentary. To your health! Dorian
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