October 2007 Health in the News Archive

[ Monthly Index of New Briefs ]

This will put a big dent in the massive amount of PR spin we've heard over the years from big agri-business that factory farmed food isn't really all that different.

Commercial farming tends to emphasize the simple fertilizer equation N-P-K, meaning nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. NPK fertilizer makes plants shoot up for a time and look good, but then they begin to suffer from nutritional depletion. This is pretty much what has happened, as well, to the human population that relies on plants and animals fed with NPK. Selenium for example is an important mineral to have in the soil; without it, the rates of cancer increase. Soil quality matters. Given the growth in consumer demand for organic food, people increasingly understand that nutrition matters.

By some estimates, women inadvertently eat about 4 lbs of lipstick in a lifetime.

Mr. Bailey might not mind a little more lead in cosmetics, but every woman should mind a great deal. Lead is a neurotoxin that can lower your IQ. Lead does not break down in the body and accumulates over time. We already get lead from other sources including mascara, hair dyes, toys, insecticides, lead crystal dishes and glassware, lead water pipes, metal candle wicks, milk, evaporated milk, porcelain glazed sinks and bathtubs, toothpaste, and breathing leaded gasoline. Detoxing lead from the body is not something you can do overnight.

To read the full report and find out how to make your voice heard on the subject, go to http://www.safecosmetics.org/

Phthalates are a family of chemicals most often used as a softener of plastic. Open up a new, soft vinyl shower curtain and smell that "plastic" smell – that's phthalates. Some critics say the chemicals can make up as much as half of the material used to make plastic toys and are also used to make baby teethers.

Some hospitals in the United States are removing IV bags that contain phthalates.

Gretchen Lee, spokeswoman for the Breast Cancer Fund, said there is growing evidence linking phthalates to diseases including breast cancer.

Although industry spokesmen proclaim the safety of these chemicals, public opinion has definitely shifted toward "better safe than sorry." Too often industry waits for science to document – and lawyers to litigate – before dangerous chemicals are removed from the environment.

Raw foodists and the nutritionally savvy are up in arms about this one, and rightly so. Some 80-90 percent of the almonds grown in the world come from California. And they will be labeled "raw" even though they are not.

Pasteurization can be achieved by blanching (steam heat), dry roasting, or fumigating with propylene oxide. The FDA is recommending the use of propylene oxide.

The Material Safety Data Sheet for propylene oxide says: "Probable human carcinogen. May alter genetic material. May cause impaired fertility. Human mutagenic data. Harmful by ingestion, inhalation and through skin contact. Serious irritant. Very destructive of mucous membranes."

A pollution information site called "Scorecard" says that propylene oxide is in the top 10 percent of compounds that are hazardous to human health and to the ecosystem.

Propylene oxide has been banned in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. One argument says that after fumigation, nothing is left to harm consumers. Yet the same argument has been made for pesticides and time and testing have proven that very wrong.

Nuts are not necessarily a good thing to eat raw, by the way. Nuts, like grains, legumes, and seeds, are rich in enzymes, but Nature also included enzyme inhibitors. Nature doesn't want the seed to germinate prematurely and lose its life. It wants to make sure that the seed is present in soil with sufficient moisture to grow and continue the species.

So when you eat raw seeds or raw nuts, you are swallowing enzyme inhibitors which will neutralize some of the enzymes your body produces. According to Dr. Edward Howell, an expert on enzyme therapy, eating foods with enzyme inhibitors causes a swelling of the pancreas. There are two ways to destroy enzyme inhibitors. The first is cooking; however, this also destroys the enzymes, and in the case of almonds, destroys a rich source of vitamin E. The more preferable way is soaking for 4 hours or more until the outer skin comes loose. This destroys the enzyme inhibitors and increases the enzyme content from a factor as much as six-fold. But you must soak truly raw nuts, not pasteurized nuts.

Despite industry and government claims, pasteurized food differs greatly from raw food. Here we see chemical carcinogens substituted for cleaner farming methods, and a disturbing blurring of the meaning of "raw" food.