Blueberries Reduce Belly Fat and Diabetes Risk

Eating blueberries could help you get rid of belly fat, and a blueberry-enriched diet could stem the conditions that lead to diabetes.

New research gives tantalizing clues to the potential of blueberries in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The effect is thought to be due to the high level of naturally occurring antioxidants called phytochemicals contained in blueberries.

Researchers studied the effect blueberries had when added to the diet of rats. After 90 days, rats that received a blueberry-enriched diet had less abdominal fat, lower triglycerides, lower cholesterol, and improved fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The benefits of eating fruits and vegetables are undisputed, but modern research keeps showing us just how they help you to optimize your health.

Berries are some of the most nutritious foods on the planet. In the case of blueberries, naturally occurring phytochemicals such as anthocyanins can do wonders to normalize and improve your health. And berries, in general, are also high in fiber and relatively low in sugar, so they won’t stimulate severe insulin swings if eaten in moderation.

Berries are best eaten in their raw, natural state, as heating and freezing can damage antioxidants. However, some antioxidants will remain even after heating or freezing.

The Blue Wonder Berry

Blueberries contain vitamins A and C, zinc, potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium, and are high in fiber and low in calories. Additionally, researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Center (HNRCA) have ranked blueberries number one in antioxidant activity when compared to 40 other fresh fruits and vegetables, so there are many reasons for adding blueberries to your diet.

They are associated with numerous health benefits, including natural protection against:

• Urinary-tract infections

• Cancer

• Age-related brain conditions and disorders

• Brain damage from strokes

And, according to the latest research presented in the article above, blueberries may also offer protection against metabolic syndrome (which can lead to diabetes), the accumulation of abdominal fat, and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

These findings strengthen previous discoveries of the berry’s powerful impact on cardiovascular health.

Because in addition to anthocyanin – which gives the berry its deep blue color -- blueberries also contain an antioxidant compound called pterostilbene, which has been found to reduce cholesterol as well as prescription drugs. (It shares similar qualities to another cholesterol-reducing antioxidant, resveratrol, which is found in both grapes and red wine.)

As an interesting side note, another unusual way to benefit from blueberries is to add them to your ground beef before cooking (ideally at low temperatures) as they help prevent cancer-causing heterocyclic amines (HCA) from forming in the meat.

How Blueberries Protect Against Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome -- also sometimes referred to as pre-diabetes -- is a conglomerate of health problems that include high amounts of abdominal fat, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, and high triglycerides. When combined, these conditions increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

In this latest study, rats that consumed blueberry-enriched powder as two percent of their diet had less abdominal fat, lower triglycerides, lower cholesterol, and improved fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity after 90 days, compared to the control group.

Additionally, they found that blueberry intake affected genes related to fat-burning and storage. And when they looked at muscle tissue, they saw alterations in genes related to glucose uptake.

This is interesting as another recent study concluded that metabolic syndrome is likely not caused primarily by abdominal fat, as previously thought, but rather by insulin resistance in your skeletal muscle, which leads to changes in energy storage – which in turn leads to metabolic syndrome.

Insulin resistance is clearly a key factor in metabolic syndrome, and as I’ve stated on countless occasions, the prescription for insulin resistance is diet and exercise. 

It’s good to know that eating something as delicious as blueberries can actually help improve your insulin sensitivity.

The Two Best Prescriptions Against Belly Fat and Diabetes

Exercise is your number one ally here, both for shedding unwanted body fat and normalizing your insulin levels.

It can also help you sleep better, which turns out to be another important factor if you want to avoid excess pounds around your midsection. In my recent article 4 Ways to Shed Belly Fat, I explain the little-known connection between your sleeping habits and your body’s ability to shed abdominal fat.

Keep in mind that when you’re exercising to achieve weight loss, you’ll want to focus on weight bearing exercises, as muscle burns calories quite efficiently. In my experience, non-weight bearing exercises, like swimming and bicycling, are not as efficient or effective for weight loss. You’ll typically need to exercise four times as long in these activities to receive the same benefit of running or using an elliptical machine, or performing other aerobic activities.

And, to really maximize your weight loss efforts, make sure you include high-intensity interval exercises and strength training in your program.

When it comes to diet, you’ll clearly want to stay away from any foods that raise your insulin levels, namely grains and sugars, and of course, processed foods.

But in addition to that, perhaps the most effective way of making sure you’re eating the optimal diet for you is to determine your specific nutritional type. Because what’s healthy for others may not necessarily be healthy for you, and vice-versa.

When battling either belly fat or diabetes – or both -- remember that controlling your insulin levels is as important to optimizing your weight as it is to protecting you against diseases like diabetes.

Because as your insulin levels increase, your body starts to store carbohydrates as fat while at the same time not releasing stored fat. This makes it impossible for you to use your own stored body fat for energy. So excess refined and processed carbohydrates in your diet (such as breads and pasta) not only make you gain weight, they make sure you keep that weight on.

By cutting grains and sugars from your diet, combined with a regular exercise program, you can significantly improve your chances of successful weight loss, and effectively protect yourself against diabetes and a whole host of other diseases.

Posted:  TrueHealthIsTrueWealth

Natural Remedies for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

There are simple, basic, natural strategies you can use as an alternative to the drugs that are usually prescribed for IBS. The drugs treat only the symptoms, and do nothing to address the underlying causes.

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Can Oral Sex Cause Throat Cancer? - Part One

Be Safe, Not Sorry

I read an article over the weekend, that was originally written in July 2008, by Dr. Edward C. Geehr, M.D. about oral sex causing throat cancer

In an era of HIV and chastity rings, teenagers and young adults – roughly 75% of them – have turned to oral sex as a “less risky” option. But it’s not safe sex. And while it won’t get you pregnant, it can still get you into big trouble. For the first time ever, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have established a link between oral sex, the human papillomavirus (the same virus that causes cervical cancer) and throat cancer. That adds to a roster of risks already tied to oral sex: herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV…

This is scary news for the rising numbers of young people choosing oral sex over intercourse.

One Johns Hopkins professor notes that since 1990, the percentage of male patients at his clinic alone who have had oral sex has risen from 50% to about 75%; for women and girls, from 25% to about 75%.

That’s a huge number exposing themselves to this cancer …  And the article went on~

As I was reading... the obvious kept slapping me in the face.  All of this is pretty much a result of promiscuity, kids having unbridled sex, irresponsibility and bad living.  And the only way we are going to get this under control is to get our lives and standards under control.  It is pretty sad to think that we are living in an era that by the time our kids graduate from college and life is really supposed to begin their health and sex lives are already damaged for good.

Genetically Engineered Foods… and what they can do to your immune system

Before talking about genetically engineered foods, we first need to know a little about DNA. DNA is nature’s way of creating the individuality of a living organism; it is a complex molecular structure that acts as a code to tell our cells and bodies what to do. DNA molecules make up genes and genes are the blueprints of life, life as lived and life as passed on to future generations. Genes make an astounding variety of proteins, proteins that are central to the body’s operating systems like neurotransmitters, enzymes, antibodies, and hormones.

As part of normal living, genes mutate. A mutation is any change in the coding of the gene. These occur naturally, often as a result of accidental omission or reversal of any of the thousands of molecules that make up the complex string of molecules that we call a gene. One species evolves from another as a result of mutations, which increase adaptability to the local environment. However, through the introduction of man-made chemicals, radiation, prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and cooked foods, man has doubled the natural mutation rate with unknown consequences for the future of the human race. These changes are thought to be playing a major role in our epidemic of cancer and other chronic diseases.

Because DNA is so important to life itself, playing deliberate games with DNA requires extra careful scrutiny and caution. This is why all of us should be alarmed at what is happening in our food industry with genetically engineered foods. These foods are already on the market! They include corn, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, soybeans, and cotton. In addition, other foods like apples, rice, wheat, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, melons, and grapes are in the process of being engineered. Because the FDA does not require these foods to be marked, consumers are unaware of what they are buying. Right now, the only way to be sure you are buying natural foods is to buy organic foods.

The reason we must be concerned about these developments is because genetically engineered foods have the potential for seriously damaging us as individuals as well as the entire ecosystem of the planet. With a potential like that, we need to be careful! We are introducing changes with unknown consequences, and unlike chemical contaminations, gene contaminations cannot be contained or cleaned up. Once they have been released into the environment, if they prove to be dangerous, we can’t simply recall them. Meanwhile, they could be setting off a chain reaction throughout our entire ecosystem. Every living thing could be exposed to completely unanticipated and uncontrollable side effects.

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. Fields of genetically engineered crops are capable of cross pollinating neighboring fields and thereby creating new and potentially harmful species. Right now, the safest thing to do is eat organically grown foods, but if insects, birds, and wind carry seeds and pollen to the organic fields and cross pollinate them, we lose even that haven of safety. A genetically engineered bacterium produced toxic metabolites that rendered soil infertile. Corn crops that were planted in this soil grew only a few inches tall and fell over dead. What would happen if this bacterium got out of the lab? In 1989, 37 people died, 1500 were permanently disabled, and 5000 became extremely ill by taking a genetically engineered version of the amino acid tryptophan. The tryptophan was contaminated by a “novel amino acid” that was toxic. The problem is there was no way to test for this. Existing safety tests only test for known contaminants, not for new and “novel” ones.

Genetic engineering is no minor development. This is not crossbreeding potatoes with potatoes or corn with corn. This is inserting insect genes into potatoes, human genes into pigs, and fish genes into tomatoes. This has never been done before! This is creating species that have never existed with potential for lots of unanticipated side effects and unknown long-term consequences. Genetically engineered foods could contain allergens, toxins, and be of reduced nutritional value, and the unexpected results might not show up until years after the food is introduced, but then it’s too late. The fact is that putting those genes into a living organism is an extremely imprecise process, so you are never sure of what you are doing. All kinds of unintended things can happen.

What to do? For now, the best thing to do is eat a diet of organically grown foods. Insist on laws to label genetically engineered foods. The public has a right to know what they are eating. Safety tests should be at least as rigorous as those for new food additives. Right now we are on an honor system. The biotech companies do their own testing and are not required to inform the FDA if they suspect a problem. An organization called The American Campaign to Ban Genetically Engineered Foods has begun a nationwide campaign to collect one million signatures from people opposed to biotech foods.

Source:  Sanoviv Medical Institute Blog

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

The Great Swine Flu Scare: Here We Go Again

I was in the military during the first swine flu scare in 1976. At the time it became policy that all soldiers would be vaccinated for swine flu. As a medical officer I refused and almost faced a court martial, but the military didn’t want the bad publicity. Despite the assurance by all the experts in virology, including Dr. Sabin, the epidemic never materialized. What did materialize were 500 cases of Gullian-Barre paralysis, including 25 deaths — not due to the swine flu itself, but as a direct result of the vaccine. At the time President Gerald Ford, on advice from the CDC, called for vaccination of the entire population of the United States. Today, some 33 years later, we are hearing the same cries of alarm from a similar lineup of virology experts. The pharmaceutical companies are busy designing a vaccine for the swine flu in hope that this administration will make the vaccine mandatory before another vaccine-related disaster can ruin their party. And as before, a number of equally qualified experts are calling for calm, based on a number of carefully conducted studies. To no one’s surprise, they too are being ignored by the media and government planners. According to science reports, this current strain of flu is H1N1. It can be forcibly inoculated into pigs, but it has been shown not to spread among the pig population. This means that the danger of a swine-based epidemic is small. There are several strains of this flu virus however, including H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3. What the science has shown is that when the virus passes through the pig, it becomes less virulent — that is, it is less likely to cause serious disease in people. With each passage, it becomes even weaker. Since this is not the answer that the pseudo-scientists wanted, they next announced that it is “possible” that the pigs could be infected with both the bird flu (strain H5N1) and the swine flu (strain H1N1), resulting in a mutant, highly virulent strain that could lead to a pandemic. Note this is pure speculation and that no scientist has ever performed this trick. It is purely hypothetical — like global warming. CDC virologists claim that in the past they performed a similar virological trick, but they never published their results and thus have kept the data close to the vest. In science, especially medical science, speculation is taboo. But, politicized scientists perform this bit of smoke and mirrors all the time. So, you may ask, "What about all the people dying in Mexico?" Overcrowding, poor nutrition and overall poor immunity, all of which are indigenous to Mexico, are a certain prescription for death from almost any infection. [Note that despite 46 cases of this very same flu in the United States there have been no deaths. This is because Americans, comparatively, have better nutrition and medical care.] Like SARS and bird flu before it, this swine flu scare is a lot of nonsense. Just take your high dose vitamin D3 (5000 IU a day), eat a healthy diet and take a few immune boosting supplements (such as beta-1, 3/1, 6 glucan) and you will not have to worry about this flu. By: Russell L. Blaylock, MD - Newsmax Related Articles: Vaccine Madness: Private Profits from Health Hysteria  Don't Panic: 7 FACTS About 'Swine Flu'. . . Critical Alert: The Swine Flu Pandemic – Fact or Fiction HPV Vaccine Dangers Can My Pet Catch Swine Flu? 32 Girls Have Died

Vaccine Madness: Private Profits from Health Hysteria . . .

Discover the Real Truth Behind Your Country's Immunization Policy.

A monstrous public health menace quietly threatens millions of people — you and your family included.

What's worse . . . everyone is ignoring it — government authorities, the media, and most likely, your own doctor.

It isn't a bacteria or virus. It isn't something in the air you breathe or the water you drink.

The truth is that we're squandering our health on wasteful and dangerous policies that force children to undergo massive, indiscriminate, and poorly-tested immunizations.

And that's not all. Because we're kept in the dark about this health threat, millions of adults are also driven into the welcoming arms of profit-making vaccine manufacturers.

The routine use of vaccines to protect us from disease is so deeply entrenched that most people never question whether it's a good idea. Medical organizations and government agencies have us convinced that forced vaccination is an essential cornerstone of public health.

Surprisingly, the authorities who promote all these immunizations don't delve very deeply into the details of the scientific research. There are plenty of warning signs (for those willing to look) that vaccinations can do a lot of harm — maybe even more harm than good.

Your Natural Immunity is Best

Immunizations are supposed to help your body fight off disease. What's ironic is that by overusing vaccines, you're actually weakening your immune system — the most important defense against illness in the first place.

You might be doing damage to your brain, too. The live virus found in many vaccines takes a huge toll on your brain cells which are already fighting off the effects of pesticides, industrial chemicals, and other nerve poisons found nearly everywhere in the environment.

Children can be at even greater risk.

It's not easy surviving childhood these days. Before your child or grandchild hits her first birthday, there are no fewer than twenty-four different vaccines she's supposed to get.

That means 24 different chemical and biological attacks her not-yet-fully-developed immune system has to cope with. And twenty-four different chances for possible contaminants, preservatives, and impurities to enter her system.

Then there's a slew of additional vaccines and boosters awaiting your child before she starts school at age five or six.

Adults are targeted too. The proponents of vaccination want you to line up for a series of booster shots every few years. And when you're older, there's the flu shot you're supposed to take each winter.

But don't worry. After all, there's a government agency checking vaccines to make sure they're safe.

Isn't there?

Not really . . .. Did you know that more than 40 of the vaccines used in this country are manufactured in China? (It's anybody's guess how many it will be next year.)

Dr. Russell Blaylock
Newsmax Medical Editor

Shockingly, the FDA only checks these Chinese factories once every 13 years.

It's not only contaminants and impurities you have to worry about. Not many people are aware of the alarming truth — mutated versions of viruses used in some vaccines can hide out in your body for decades!

You Need to Decided and Research What's Right for You and Your Children?

Where can you turn for objective facts about immunization? The proponents of vaccination, blinded by the profit motive, can't be trusted. Nor can you trust the government watchdogs that are supposed to be looking out for you.

By Russell Blaylock

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Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

British HealthCare - Don't Treat The Old!! - And Senator Coburn Warns Same For USA

Don't treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors

Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from 

patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.

 Daily Telegraph (London)

Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.

 Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.  

The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors as "out rageous" and "disgraceful.

About one in 10 hospitals already deny some surgery to obese patients and smokers, with restrictions most common in hospitals battling debt.

Managers defend the policies because of the higher risk of complications on the operating table for unfit patients. But critics believe that patients are being denied care simply to save money.

The Government announced plans last week to offer fat people cash incentives to diet and exercise as part of a desperate strategy to steer Britain off a course that will otherwise see half the population dangerously overweight by 2050.

Obesity costs the British taxpayer £7 billion a year. Overweight people are more likely to contract diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and to require replacement joints or stomach-stapling operations.

Meanwhile, £1.7 billion is spent treating diseases caused by smoking, such as lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema, with a similar sum spent by the NHS on alcohol problems. Cases of cirrhosis have tripled over the past decade.

Among the survey of 870 family and hospital doctors, almost 60 per cent said the NHS could not provide full healthcare to everyone and that some individuals should pay for services.

One in three said that elderly patients should not be given free treatment if it were unlikely to do them good for long. Half thought that smokers should be denied a heart bypass, while a quarter believed that the obese should be denied hip replacements.

Tony Calland, chairman of the BMA's ethics committee, said it would be "outrageous" to limit care on age grounds. Age Concern called the doctors' views "disgraceful".

Gordon Brown promised this month that a new NHS constitution would set out people's "responsibilities" as well as their rights, a move interpreted as meaning restric tions on patients who bring health problems on themselves. The only sanction threatened so far, however, is to send patients to the bottom of the waiting list if they miss appointments.

The survey found that medical professionals wanted to go much further in denying care to patients who do not look after their bodies.

Ninety-four per cent said that an alcoholic who refused to stop drinking should not be allowed a liver transplant, while one in five said taxpayers should not pay for "social abortions" and fertility treatment.

Paul Mason, a GP in Portland, Dorset, said there were good clinical reasons for denying surgery to some patients. "The issue is: how much responsibility do people take for their health?" he said.

"If an alcoholic is going to drink themselves to death then that is really sad, but if he gets the liver transplant that is denied to someone else who could have got the chance of life then that is a tragedy." He said the case of George Best, who drank himself to death in 2005, three years after a liver transplant, had damaged the argument that drinkers deserved a second chance.

However, Roger Williams, who carried out the 2002 transplant on the former footballer, said doctors could never be sure if an alcoholic would return to drinking, although most would expect a detailed psychological assessment of patients, who would be required to abstain for six months before surgery.

Prof Williams said: "Less than five per cent of alcoholics who have a transplant return to serious drinking. George was one of them. It is actually a pretty successful rate. I think the judgment these doctors are making is nothing to do with the clinical reasons for limiting such operations and purely a moral decision.

"

Katherine Murphy, from the Patients' Association, said it would be wrong to deny treatment because of a "lifestyle" factor. "The decision taken by the doctor has to be the best clinical one, and it has to be taken individually. It is morally wrong to deny care on any other grounds," she said.

Responding to the survey's findings on the treatment of the elderly, Dr Calland, of the BMA, said: "If a patient of 90 needs a hip operation they should get one. Yes, they might peg out any time, but it's not our job to play God."

By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:02PM BST 26 Sep 2008

Video:  Sen. Coburn: 'The Disease That Infects Washington' - http://video.newsmax.com/?assetId=V3687451 Oklahoma's Tom Coburn, one of two physicians currently serving in the U.S. Senate, tells Newsmax.TV that Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democrats, just to be re-elected, is precisely what's wrong with our political system and the reason he has term-limited himself. He also explains why government-run health care as being pushed by Obama and the Democrats is not only prohibitively costly and ineffective, but results in the rationing of medical care to the elderly. Sen. Coburn also explains why he voted against Kathleen Sebelius's nomination to be Health and Human Services Secretary.

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Unconscionable Police Raid on Family's Home and Organic Food Co-Op

Video - The Stowers tell their story

Steps have been taken to start legal action against the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Lorain County Health Department for violating the constitutional rights of John and Jacqueline Stowers of LaGrange, Ohio.

The Stowers operate an organic food cooperative called Manna Storehouse. ODA and Lorain County Health Department agents forcefully raided their home and seized the family's personal food supply, cell phones and personal computers.

On the morning of December 1, 2008, law enforcement officers forcefully entered the Stowers' residence without first announcing they were police or stating the purpose of the visit. With guns drawn, they swiftly and immediately moved to the upstairs of the home, where ten children were in the middle of a home-schooling lesson. Officers then moved Jacqueline Stowers and her children to their living room, where they were held for more than six hours.

There has never been a complaint filed against Manna Storehouse or the Stowers related to the quality or healthfulness of the food distributed through the co-op.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Seems I’ve been reporting on ever increasing, and downright shocking losses of freedom in the U.S. over the past couple of years, and listening to the Stowers’ personal account in the video above shows that this is no exception.

This is simply inexcusable government intrusion on the freedom of choice of American consumers – your right to chose nutritious, organic and locally grown foods, and to save money by buying in bulk through a community co-op.

Was the Raid on Manna Storehouse Justified?

In December last year, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) joined forces with the Buckeye Institute’s 1851 Center for Constitutional Law in filing a civil lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorrain County Health Department for performing an illegal raid on the Stowers family residence in La Grange, Ohio.

The Stowers had run a community co-op called Manna Storehouse since 1999. The 60 regular members pooled their resources and bought food in bulk from organic growers across the state of Ohio, which enabled them get discounts on the healthiest foods available, such as grass-fed beef, free-range poultry, organic eggs and produce, raw milk and cheese —all produced without man-made chemicals, hormones, pesticides, dyes, or additives.

Those of you who read this newsletter on a regular basis are well aware that this type of diet is a powerful way for many to achieve and maintain optimal health and longevity, especially if you eat according to your nutritional type. It’s even more important if you suffer with any type of food allergies, intolerance to chemical additives, or chronic illness.

The problem, according to the Feds, stems from the fact that the Stowers were selling foods without a retail license. However, they were not selling to the general public, only to co-op members who pay a membership fee and agree to take full responsibility for the food they purchase, which exempts them from requiring a license, according to the FTCLDF and the Buckeye Institute who are now defending them.

Said FTCLDF President Pete Kennedy,

 “We joined in this suit because it furthers the mission of the Fund, which is to protect and defend the rights of farmers and consumers to have direct commerce with each other free from governmental interference and harassment.

We hope that the Lorrain County Court of Common Pleas recognizes that government is overreaching in this case and is basically engaged in intimidation tactics to frighten people into believing that they cannot provide food for themselves.”

FTCLDF General Counsel Gary Cox added,

“This is an example where, once again, the government is trying to deny people their inalienable, fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice. The purpose of our complaint is to correct that wrong.”

Violating Constitutional Rights in the Name of… What?

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Section 14, Article 1 of the Ohio Constitution, guarantees the right of peaceful citizens to be free from paramilitary police raids, searches and seizures. And yet these types of constitutional breaches over food, nutritional supplements, and wholesome alternative remedies are performed at an ever increasing rate.

For example, just as the consumption of raw milk is growing in America, so are heavy-handed attempts by state officials in some states to kill it. They've confiscated thousands of dollars worth of food, which is often all it takes to bankrupt a business and squelch a movement.

You’re not even safe carrying organic personal care products across state or country borders, as getting caught with certain products can lead to being thrown in jail for possession of illegal drugs, due to flawed drug testing kits.

Forceful raids and sweeping searches and seizures are not “routine,” and exceed the authority granted to Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and county health departments.

The lawsuit filed by the Buckeye Institute and FTCLDF maintains that the paramilitary style execution of a search warrant against a peaceful family whose only alleged crime was failure to obtain a permit – which is a third degree misdemeanor under state law – is clearly unconstitutional.

The armed agents from the ODA, the Loraine County Department of Health, and the local police carried the type of search warrant used to bust potentially violent and dangerous drug dealers!

How You Can Help Protect Your Rights  

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization made up of farmers and consumers joining together and pooling resources to:

• Protect the constitutional right of the nation’s family farms to provide processed and unprocessed farm foods directly to consumers through any legal means
• Protect the constitutional right of consumers to obtain unprocessed and processed farm foods directly from family farms
• Protect the nation’s family farms from harassment by federal, state, and local government interference with food production and on-farm food

If you want to help the fund carry out their mission, and help farmers and citizens like the Stowers with their legal defense costs, you can make a donation to the fund by going to this site.

Remember, today, conventional agriculture uses an arsenal of more than 600 pesticides – enough to ensure that about three pounds of it ends up on your plate every year, if you consume conventionally-grown produce. 

And the routine use of antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and genetically modified organisms to beef up yields has created a number of serious health concerns, including early puberty and an array of new allergies.

If you want to be optimally healthy, knowing what you eat and where it comes from is of prime importance, and belonging to a co-op is a great way to save money while ensuring your family eats well.  

For more information on where to find wholesome, organic and locally grown foods, please check out my Sustainable Agriculture page.

Source: Dr. Mercola - Posted 05.02.09

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

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Hydroxycut products recalled after one death: FDA

Fri May 1, 2009 3:56pm EDT

 

* Weight-loss products linked to liver damage

* Two supplements can still be sold

By Lisa Richwine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The maker of the widely sold Hydroxycut weight-loss supplements is recalling 14 products after reports of liver damage and one death, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration urged consumers to immediately stop using the recalled products, which are made by Iovate Health Sciences Inc and marketed for weight loss, boosting energy and other uses.

"The FDA urges consumers to discontinue use of Hydroxycut products in order to avoid any undue risk. Adverse events are rare, but exist," said Dr. Linda Katz, interim chief medical officer in the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The agency has received 23 reports of liver problems ranging from jaundice to damage that required a liver transplant, Katz said. One person died.

Other reports also documented seizures, cardiovascular disorders and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to kidney failure, the FDA said.

A message on the voice mail for Iovate Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada said the products were being recalled. Company officials could not be reached for further comment.

The company agreed to voluntarily pull the 14 products even though the FDA has not seen reports of serious harm with all of them, Katz said. Agency officials are investigating which doses and ingredients may be harmful, she said.

Two products with different ingredients, Hydroxycut Cleanse and Hoodia, were not included in the recall.

The recalled products contain a variety of ingredients including herbal extracts. They are sold as dietary supplements, which do not require the evidence of safety and effectiveness needed for medicines before they can be sold.

Critics say supplements need more oversight.

A 2007 law required manufacturers to turn over reports of problems with consumers, helping the FDA better monitor potential side effects, agency officials said.

"These reports are vital in helping FDA identify unsafe dietary supplements," said Vasilios Frankos, head of the FDA's Division of Dietary Supplement Programs.

People who took the recalled products should consult a doctor if they have symptoms of liver injury such as nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, excessive fatigue, weakness, stomach pain, itching or loss of appetite, the FDA said.

The recalled products include Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets, Hydroxycut Carb Control and Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets. A full list was included in the FDA announcement here

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Steve Orlofsky, Leslie Gevirtz)

Source:  Reuters

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