Perils of Peanuts and Peanut Butter… Even Organic

Pretty much everyone is aware that many people are allergic to peanuts, and many schools even ban any form of peanuts because of the dangers to children who may be allergic.  Any severe allergy to a food, or something else, can be life threatening.  (It may actually be the molds/fungus or aflatoxin that people are allergic to rather than the peanuts.)

What a lot of people aren't aware of are the other dangers of peanuts.  I don't eat peanuts, in any form, mostly because of that.  Peanuts can be confusing because we hear they contain a good fat, monounsaturated, but so do avocados, nuts (which peanuts aren’t)and olive oil, which would be healthier choices.  Peanuts also contain a high amount of omega-6, but a more balanced omega-6 to omega-3 ratio would be best as in hemp seeds, fish oil or a high grade natural supplement.  We also hear peanuts are high in antioxidants and some vitamins and minerals.  The biggest claim to health lately has been that they contain resveratrol, which they do, but so do other foods, such as grapes, cranberries and blueberries, so you don't need to eat peanuts for that benefit either.

One problem with peanuts is that they are one of the most highly pesticide contaminated crops there is.  One important reason to only use organically grown peanut products if you choose to continue to eat peanuts.  Conventional peanut farmers have a disproportionately high rate of cancer, mainly because of all the pesticides they use, and because they eat a lot of peanuts.

But the most important reason not to eat peanuts or peanut butter is because they are often contaminated with aflatoxin.  Aflatoxin is a mycotoxin that is produced by many different species of a fungus called Aspergillus.  It is very dangerous, and it is a carcinogen.  It is so potent it has been known to wipe out complete tribes in Africa because of contaminated food there.  In smaller amount it can be a slow killer, as in cancer, and is believed to cause liver cancer.  (Aflatoxin can be in other products as well, corn is another likely one, which is another thing I don't eat.)

Peanuts are particularly susceptible to contamination during growth and storage. Poor storage of peanuts can lead to an infection by the mold fungus Aspergillus flavus, releasing the toxic and highly carcinogenic substance aflatoxin. The aflatoxin-producing molds exist throughout the peanut growing areas and may produce aflatoxin in peanuts when conditions are favorable to fungal growth.

Organic Peanut Butter is part of the top 5 items to buy organic.  Why should you focus on peanut butter? This is because, many peanut farms contaminate their peanut crops with a chemical to treat mold. This mold is one of the major problems that causes peanut crops to die. This chemical is classified as a fungicide.

The peanut, or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a species in the legume or "bean" family (Fabaceae).

The most common way most people get aflatoxin in their diets is through peanut butter. Peanuts have an especially high naturally-occurring concentration of aspergillus flavus mold. Furthermore, while most peanuts are roasted, the roasting process rarely kills all the mold. The longer peanuts sit around in the store or in your house, the more of the mold will grow back--and again, it generally won't be visible to the naked eye. The longer the mold grows, the more aflatoxin builds up.

Here's the most interesting thing about all this: usually your "organic" or "natural" peanut butters will have the highest aflatoxin concentration. The highest concentration of all, though, will typically be the stuff you buy in the store where they take peanuts and grind them into peanut butter for you while you wait. Because while the USDA and FDA has rules for how much aflatoxin is allowed in food before it's shipped to stores, there's no measure of it after it reaches the stores. Those peanuts could have been sitting on the shelves at the story for weeks or months at room temperature, building up mold. It's even worse if the air is mildly moist. Furthermore, if you fresh-grind those nuts into peanut butter, the mold keeps growing in the peanut butter.

This means that your safest source of peanut butter is generally your cheap, garden variety Jif or Skippy or the like (But Skippy just had a recall). The companies that make those generally get the peanuts fresh, roast and grind them immediately, put them through an effective cooking and homogenization process, then seal them in airtight jars. The mold buildup on those will be much lower than your typical "fresh" or "natural" peanut butters and they pretty quickly out of the stores.

The risks for children are the highest as their health can be even more impacted then adults because of their size and their still developing immune systems.  And often they eat more of it regularly than adults.  Pets can also have both allergies or negative affects from the molds, fungus and toxins.

Our suggestion… don’t eat peanuts, peanut butter or organic peanut butter… period!!

By the way, the aflatoxin threat is taken seriously enough that OSHA actually requires workers dealing with large quantities of peanuts to wear facial masks so they don't breath in too much of the mold. And statistically, just as a rule of thumb, two tablespoons of peanut butter a day (regular or organic) produce a higher risk of death than living next to a nuclear power plant.

The number one thing to look for in organic peanut butter is that it is made from organically ‘grown’ peanuts and that it is a brand bought at a store where the jars move quickly!

From the lists and surveys, these seem to be the top 6 Organic Peanut Butters:

1. Nature's Promise - This peanut butter is made of 100% natural ingredients. Also, Nature's Promise has been around for a while, and supplies many products. Such as, milk, butter, broth, snacks, pizza, and cookies.

2. SunLand Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter- SunLand has been around since 1988, and it is dedicated strictly peanut butter. Best of all, it is United States based; New Mexico to be exact. SunLand's peanut butter is very unique also; the company has many different flavors. The flavors range from "Regular" to "Hickory Smoke".

3. Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter - Their peanut butter comes in four flavors; Dark Roasted Creamy, Dark Roasted Crunchy, Light Roasted Creamy, Light Roasted Crunchy. Although, this brand does not only make peanut butter. They also make a variety of items from juices to chocolate syrup.

4. Adams - Adams has been around since 1922. There peanut butter is 100% all natural. They make natural, organic, and no stir peanut butter. While their natural peanut butter has four choices, their organic peanut butter has two choices of varieties.

5. Justin's Organic - This brand is awesome. They now make chocolate flavored peanut butter. Those flavors are "Chocolate Peanut Butter", "Chocolate Hazelnut Butter", and "Chocolate Almond Butter". My personal favorite is "Chocolate Hazelnut Butter", and "Chocolate Almond Butter".

6. Maranatha Nut Butters  - This company has been around since 1982 in Ashland, Oregon. The company to use the purest ingredients, and now allows for their peanut butters to be brought online. I favor two of the products by Maranatha Nut Butter. Those products are Dark Chocolate Peanut Spread and Dark Chocolate Almond Spread. Both have a dark chocolate flavor, making them both irresistible.

 

Does anyone else long for the days when rat droppings were the scariest thing about peanut butter? Anyone? Show of hands?

Let's see. The problems with peanut butter now include:

• Really scary chemicals, including neurotoxins (as if we need something else getting on our nerves).
• Deadly salmonella outbreaks.
• The mysterious rise of very serious peanut allergies.
• A peanut butter aisle so big that it makes you want to curl into a ball and rock back and forth -- right there in the store -- from stimulation overload. (Omega-3 peanut butter ... really?)
• Rat feces, still.
• The Frankenut-butter threat. Although there are no genetically modified peanuts on the market right now, according to the National Peanut Board website, money is being poured into genomic research. (Note to peanut growers: Consider inserting the genes of a Labradoodle. As far as I can tell, no one is allergic to them.) But seriously, on the upside genetically modified peanuts could save lives.

OK, peanut allergies aside, some of the contemporary problems with peanut butter can be avoided by buying organic peanut butter. Of course, this begs some questions: Do any of these organic spreads taste good? And do you have to break the bank for a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich?

And while we're at it, is the "Skippy Factor" real? A while back, when I wrote about turkey, I spoke with Cooks Illustrated senior editor Lisa McManus. She described the Skippy Factor this way: Tasters often favor foods that are comfortingly familiar, such as Skippy peanut butter, over something higher quality. (This also explains why Cooks, which I read regularly, is so shockingly successful. For these food science geeks, taste trumps all. They don't really give a rip about health-consciousness or greenness or food trends.)

So, back to the point: Do organic peanut butters taste good? ARe they worth the extra money? And if they are… choose from the six organic creamy peanut butters that were readily available at local grocery stores that move off the shelves.

 

h/t to Lou Bendrick, Jeanne Coffey, Sanoviv, Dr. Mercola

 

One Way To Mitigate The Risks Of Aflatoxin

The best way to avoid any risks from peanuts is to avoid eating them. There is something you can do, though, if you still feel the need to consume peanuts and peanut butter, even with all the risks.  One type of peanut has been fairly resistant to aflatoxin, and that is the Valencia peanut, which is grown mostly in New Mexico.  These type of peanuts, when they are grown in the southwest of the US, mainly New Mexico, grow in dry conditions not conducive to aflatoxin, a mold which likes moisture.

One problem is that not all Valencia peanuts are grown in that area, but most are.  If you use Arrowhead Mills organic peanut butter, you will avoid the pesticides and the aflatoxin, because it is made with organic Valencia peanuts, and that particular brand has never been shown to contain aflatoxin at all.

Although, that is no guarantees it will be that way forever, but it is certainly the safer way to go.

Choices:

• Stop eating peanuts and peanut products
• Eat regular peanut butter because is moves quicker and there is somewhat less chance of getting sick from the molds and fungus (aflatoxin)
• Eat organic peanut butter because you won’t get the pesticides, but you might get more of the mold and fungus
• Through care to the wind and take your chances…

 

So in the end we suggest… skip eating peanuts, peanut butter and organic peanut butter all together… period!!  And definitely don’t feed feed them to your kids or pets!

Disposable coffee cups, carryout containers filled with cancer-causing agents

(NaturalNews) Millions of people eat and drink from plastic and styrofoam cups and containers every single day, and the US government now admits that many of these consumer products contain known cancer-causing agents. The formaldehyde preservatives found in many disposable coffee cups and foam take-out containers, as well as styrene, another chemical additive used in such products, have both been added to the federal government's list of known or suspected carcinogens.

The addition of these two chemicals, as well as six others, to the carcinogen list this year was reportedly a reluctant decision made by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has been pressured by the chemical industry for years to delay coming forward with this information. Nevertheless, both formaldehyde and a chemical known as aristolochic acid have now been categorized as "known human carcinogens," while captafol, cobalt-tungsten carbide, certain glass wool fibers, o-nitrotoluene, riddelliine, and styrene have been dubbed "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens."

"Reducing exposure to cancer-causing agents is something we all want, and the Report on Carcinogens provides important information on substances that pose a cancer risk," said Dr. Linda Birnbaum, director of both the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). "The NTP is pleased to be able to compile this report."

You can read the full report, entitled12th Report on Carcinogens, here: http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc12

The chemical industry was quick to denounce the findings, of course, claiming that there is no significant danger from exposure to these chemicals. And some federal officials seem to be kowtowing to this pressure by telling the public that the main concern is the industrial use of these chemicals, rather than consumer use. Even the American Cancer Society (ACS) has urged the public not to worry about continuing to use plastic cups or foam containers, despite the fact that many are loaded with some of the chemicals in question.

Source: Natural News  - Friday, June 17, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer  -  Cross-Posted at True Health Is True Wealth

WHO: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk

By Danielle Dellorto, CNN  -  May 31, 2011 1:49 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization. The agency now lists mobile phone use in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.

Before its announcement Tuesday, WHO had assured consumers that no adverse health effects had been established.

A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, made the decision after reviewing peer-reviewed studies on cell phone safety. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

What that means is they found some evidence of increase in glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer for mobile phone users, but have not been able to draw conclusions for other types of cancers

"The biggest problem we have is that we know most environmental factors take several decades of exposure before we really see the consequences," said Dr. Keith Black, chairman of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

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The type of radiation coming out of a cell phone is called non-ionizing. It is not like an X-ray, but more like a very low-powered microwave oven.

"What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain," Black said. "So in addition to leading to a development of cancer and tumors, there could be a whole host of other effects like cognitive memory function, since the memory temporal lobes are where we hold our cell phones."

Wireless industry responded to Tuesday's announcement saying it "does not mean cell phones cause cancer." CTIA-The Wireless Association added that WHO researchers "did not conduct any new research, but rather reviewed published studies."

The European Environmental Agency has pushed for more studies, saying cell phones could be as big a public health risk as smoking, asbestos and leaded gasoline. The head of a prominent cancer-research institute at the University of Pittsburgh sent a memo to all employees urging them to limit cell phone use because of a possible risk of cancer.

"When you look at cancer development -- particularly brain cancer -- it takes a long time to develop. I think it is a good idea to give the public some sort of warning that long-term exposure to radiation from your cell phone could possibly cause cancer," said Dr. Henry Lai, research professor in bioengineering at University of Washington who has studied radiation for more than 30 years.

Results from the largest international study on cell phones and cancer was released in 2010. It showed participants in the study who used a cell phone for 10 years or more had doubled the rate of brain glioma, a type of tumor. To date, there have been no long-term studies on the effects of cell phone usage among children.

"Children's skulls and scalps are thinner. So the radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults. Their cells are at a dividing faster rate, so the impact of radiation can be much larger." said Black of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In February, a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, revealed radiation emitted after just 50 minutes on a mobile phone increases the activity in brain cells. The effects of brain activity being artificially stimulated are still unknown.

Neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta says Tuesday's announcement, "dealt a blow to those who have long said, 'There is no possible mechanism for cell phones to cause cancer.' By classifying cell phones as a possible carcinogen, they also seem to be tacitly admitting a mechanism could exist."

Manufacturers of many popular cell phones already warn consumers to keep their device away from their body and medical experts say there other ways to minimize cell phone radiation.

The Apple iPhone 4 safety manual says users' radiation exposure should not exceed FCC guidelines: "When using iPhone near your body for voice calls or for wireless data transmission over a cellular network, keep iPhone at least 15 millimeters (5/8 inch) away from the body."

BlackBerry Bold advises users to "keep the BlackBerry device at least 0.98 inch (25 millimeters) from your body when the BlackBerry device is transmitting."

The logic behind such recommendations is that the further the phone is from the body, the less radiation is absorbed. Users can also use the speakerphone function or a wired earpiece to gain some distance.

Users can text instead of talk if they want to keep the phone away from their faces.

Finally, cell phones emit the most radiation when they are attempting to connect to cellular towers. A moving phone, or a phone in an area with a weak signal, has to work harder, giving of more radiation. So users can avoid using their cell phones in elevators, buildings and rural areas if they want to reduce their exposure, experts say.

Go to CNN Health for complete report with video.

Gosh is there anyone out there other than me that just wants to scream “DUH!!!  And what scares me the most, is that we are exposing our young children to this daily.  Kids don’t need cell phones for a lot of reasons… more cons than pros and here is another big one!

(Another) 'Probable carcinogen' found in water supply

'Probable carcinogen' found in water supply It's cancer in a cup: U.S. drinking water is contaminated with a toxic chemical that your own government calls a "probable carcinogen." So what's that same government doing about it? Same thing it always does: Nothing! Drink up, everyone. The chemical is called hexavalent chromium, and if the name sounds a little familiar then you've probably seen the film "Erin Brokovich." It's the toxic compound that set off her battle with Pacific Gas & Electric after it was found in the groundwater of Hinkley, California. Now, we all may as well be living in Hinkley -- because tests by the Environmental Working Group on water in 35 cities across the country found the chemical in 31 of them. Twenty-five of those cities had hexavalent chromium levels in excess of limits being proposed by California. And if you're in Norman, Oklahoma, congratulations -- you're drinking 200 times that proposed limit. We have to go by California's proposed limit because the EPA doesn't have one -- proposed or otherwise. And that's where this gets really bizarre... because while the EPA doesn't set limits for hexavalent chromium, it does care about total chromium levels. In other words, it lumps this toxic compound into the same category as the essential mineral trivalent chromium. One is needed by the body to control blood glucose levels, the other might give you cancer, wreck your kidneys and liver, and maybe even kill you -- but it's all the same to Uncle Sam. Why sweat the details? But let's look on the bright side here: Hexavalent chromium probably isn't the worst thing in your water right now. Heck, it's positively healthy next to the rocket fuel, cocaine, aspartame, hormone drugs, and more regularly found in U.S. drinking water -- and I'm not talking about isolated incidents here. From coast to coast, our water is toast -- and if you want to know more about WHY these chemicals are turning up, read the September, 2009 issue of The Douglass Report. I've been on the front lines of the battle for safe water for years -- so when do I get my movie? If Julia Roberts played Erin Brokovich, then I want Brad Pitt playing me. Have your people call mine, Brad. By:  WC Douglass, M.D.

Soy May Reduce Damage Caused by Smoking

If you can’t quit smoking, maybe you should at least increase the amount of soy in your diet, if a new study saying soy could curb respiratory problems is any indication. The Asian superfood can reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory problems, the study says.

Soy, which is found in many Japanese foods, including tofu, natto, miso soup, soybean sprouts, and soy milk, has long been associated with a reduction in cholesterol and the symptoms of menopause. The new study, however, is the first to show a connection between soy consumption and a reduction in the risk of developing COPD, a deadly lung disease.

Researchers Dr. Fumi Hirayama and professor Andy Lee from the Curtin University of Technology, Australia, polled 300 patients with COPD and 340 age-matched control subjects about their intake of soy.

“Soy consumption was found to be positively correlated with lung function and inversely associated with the risk of COPD,” Hirayama said. “It has been suggested that flavonoids from soy foods act as an anti-inflammatory agent in the lung, and can protect against tobacco carcinogens for smokers.”

Smoking is the biggest cause of COPD, a lung disease that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Long-term smoking is associated with 90 percent of cases.

More than 12 million Americans have COPD, and another 24 million have impaired lung function, indicating that COPD may be under-diagnosed. The best preventive measure is not to smoke.

Source: Newsmax Health

Posted: True Health Is True Wealth