January 8th, 2009 cate
From kitchentablemedicine.com:
“What are the 5 Most Harmful Ingredients Commonly Found in Nutrition Bars?
1. Trans fats are listed as “partially hydrogenated” oils in a packaged food’s ingredients list. Trans fats have been shown to increase total cholesterol and contribute to heart disease. They also spur inflammation, an over-activity of the immune system that has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
The good news is that as of January 1, 2006, trans fats are required by law to be enumerated in a food’s Nutrition Facts Panel. Despite ever increasing public awareness, however, trans fats still have a place on the FDA’s “GRAS” (generally regarded as safe) list so watch out for their continued use.
2. Fractionated Palm Kernel Oils are an increasingly popular ingredient in bars today. They are commonly used to help stiffen chocolate coatings that would otherwise not be solid a room temperature. This “fractionation” process dramatically raises the saturated fat content of the oil, and confers many of the same anti-melting shelf stability aspects of trans fats.
It appears that fractionated oils may be taking the place of trans fats in certain products, stepping in as public awareness about trans fats rises. While more research is needed to determine the extent of the health risks of fractionated oils, it’s clear that they confer a higher level of saturated fat and a poorer quality fat profile overall.
3. Sorbitol, Mannitol, & Maltitol are sweeteners known as sugar alcohols. Manufacturers of candies and many sports bars use sugar alcohols as a replacement for conventional sugar or high fructose corn syrup. These sugar alcohols taste sweet, but have less of an impact on blood sugar levels compared to traditional cane sugar. Unfortunately there are several myths and popular misconceptions surrounding sugar alcohols.
Myth 1: Sugar alcohols are calorie free. This is unfortunately false. The most commonly used sugar alcohols have between 50-75% of the calories per gram of table sugar.
Myth 2: Sugar Alcohols only slightly raise blood sugar. While it’s true that most sugar alcohols have a lower glycemic index (or effect on blood sugar) than traditional table sugar, the effect is hardly negligible.
Despite fewer calories per gram, Sugar alcohols can raise blood sugar anywhere from 50-100% of the amount expected from table sugar alone. This means that some sugar alcohols may contribute to blood sugar swings & crashes normally associated with “traditional” sugary snacks & treats.
Myth 3: Sugar alcohols have no side-effects. Untrue! Sugar alcohols are not fully digested and absorbed by the body, so some of the compounds remain in the gut and are allowed to pass to the colon; an area sugars are normally never allowed to enter.
These sugars can pull extra water into the colon via osmosis, leading to diarrhea and cramping. They can also be fermented by the bacteria that normally inhabit this area of the digestive tract, leading to increased flatulence. The “threshold” or amount required to produce this effect varies from person to person.
So, not all sugar alcohols are created equally.
4. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a high glycemic sweetener, equivalent to sucrose (table sugar) in the degree of sweetness and calories per gram. While the research is unclear about whether or not HFCS is more harmful to health…” continue reading
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December 30th, 2008 cate
From beyondhealth.com:
“More than 90% of homes in the US have a microwave oven. Builders routinely install these ovens in new homes and hardly a restaurant is without one. They are fast, convenient, economical, and ideally suited to the fast pace of modern lifestyles. There is only one problem with microwave ovens—they are extremely hazardous to your health. It is hard to conceive of any reasonable person who would eat microwaved foods if they understood the hazards. Obviously, very few people truly comprehend these hazards. And no one is rushing to educate them! Let’s have a look at some of the problems with this technology:
Microwaves, very short waves of electromagnetic energy, are just part of Mother Nature’s energy spectrum. This spectrum includes visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light along with radio waves, x-rays, and so forth. Microwaves are generated by the sun along with visible light and the other invisible parts of the spectrum. However, there is a big difference between what the sun generates and what is generated in a microwave oven. This difference is the result of the alternating current used to generate the oven microwaves.
Here is how microwaves cook food: All electromagnetic waves change from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. Alternating current simply makes these cycles happen faster. Water molecules have a positive and a negative end. Because of this, when exposed to microwave energy, which is changing from positive to negative, the water molecules rotate. This is similar to making a pin rotate on a surface by using a magnet. Microwaves, generated by the alternating current in an oven, cause the water molecules in the food to rotate billions of times per second. This results in an enormous amount of friction among these molecules, thus causing the food to get hot.
It has been generally assumed that microwaved foods are safe to eat. In fact, the only concern of our regulators has been about the leakage of microwaves from the oven. Surprisingly, regulators have never questioned whether the microwaved foods themselves are safe.
In 1991, an early clue that microwaved food is not safe came to public attention in the form of a …” continue reading
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December 22nd, 2008 cate
You might have already heard about the recent story about the IT Guy being killed in a so-called plane accident. I’m not sure why people are saying it’s an accident; it so obviously was a hit, a murder, foul play, whatever you want to call it – and it should come out into the public for what it is: MURDER. If any of you think that it was an accident that Michael Connell, White House IT Guy, was killed just before having to testify against Karl Rove and the Bush administration, you are seriously naiive and in denial about the unscrupulous schemings by the current U.S. administration. Thankfully, they’ll be out the door in a few weeks.
Some info from at-Largely:
“Mike Connell set-up the alternate email and communications system for the White House. He was responsible for creating the system that hosted the infamous GWB43.com accounts that Karl Rove and others used. When asked by Congress to provide these emails, the White House said that they were destroyed. But in reality, what Connell is alleged to have done is move these files to other servers after having allegedly scrubbed the files from all “known” Karl Rove accounts.
In addition, I have reason to believe that the alternate accounts were used to communicate with US Attorneys involved in political prosecutions, like that of Don Siegelman. This is what I have been working on to prove for over a year. In fact, it was through following the Siegelman-Rove trail that I found evidence leading to Connell. That is how I became aware of him. Mike was getting ready to talk. He was frightened.”
Graham writes: “Unfortunately, he won’t get to talk. He died in a plane crash yesterday.”
[source]
So, while the evidence will not be unveiled by Mr. Connell, it does exist somewhere and others know it. Hmmmmm. Will there be more “ACCIDENTS”? What will happen next? Will anyone find thse emails? Let’s just say that evil has no limits and this will probably be swept under the rug, like many “accidents” involving the death of people JUST ABOUT TO TESTIFY. It’s sad, isn’t it? The Bush administration is a petty, deceitful, amoral, evil, murderous government, if ever I knew one.
This is murder, plain and simple – and this is truly a sad state of the world.
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December 2nd, 2008 cate
From naturalnews:
“Want to know what organic chickens are fed? If it’s soy meal from China — a cheap source of protein — it may also contain melamine.
That’s what happened with 300 tons of soy meal being fed to organic chicken in western France. Authorities discovered the soy meal contained an astonishing 50 times the maximum limit of melamine: 116mg per kg of soy meal.
This cheap Chinese soy meal was delivered to 127 “organic” chicken farms in France. Nobody yet knows how many organic chicken farms in the U.S., Canada, U.K. or Australia might also be feeding their chickens toxic levels of melamine.
This is part of the dangerous widening of the melamine scandal I predicted earlier today: Melamine contamination is now reaching into the meat supply, and it could even include organic meats such as beef, pork and chicken.
The truth is, nobody knows if meats sold in the U.S. are……..
Continue reading
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November 4th, 2008 cate
Pick an ailment–any ailment–and chances are, Bill Gottlieb can succinctly crystallize the problem, propose its root cause, and describe a handful of nonmedical remedies for treatment. Creator and supervising editor of the bestselling Doctors Book of Home Remedies, this 25-year veteran of the health field draws from more than 300 alternative care practitioners (including holistic nutritionists, licensed acupuncturists, massage therapists, and the occasional swami) to present a thick textbook worthy of gracing the reference shelf of any family or health provider. Serious physical ailments like asthma, HIV and AIDS, stroke, and cancer receive equal attention with pesky afflictions like oily hair, acne, nightmares, and wrinkles. Mental health ailments, such as guilt, anxiety, grief, and shyness, also get their due. Gottlieb’s stance is not that individuals should shun their primary care physicians to rely solely on herbs, better nutrition, and other alternative paths. Rather, he seeks to educate readers on the biological effects of such practices and tinctures, to share their documented benefits in helpful detail. Each ailment receives a sidebar titled “Guide to Professional Care,” in which Gottlieb outlines symptoms that warrant immediate medical attention. Other sidebars highlight especially helpful treatment–from aromatherapy to meditation–for various troubles. Gottlieb provides an section on alternative healing where he elaborates on the process, benefits, and safety of each general treatment referred to in the book (from acupuncture to yoga therapy). Complete information, an engaging writing style, and visually appealing graphics make this encyclopedia-style book very easy to digest. Click the link below to get Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems now.
Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems
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