Category: Natural Health

You read that right… lighter fluid!

So What Really Is In A McDonald’s Chicken McNugget?

“Most folks assume that a chicken nugget is just a piece of fried chicken, right? Wrong! Did you know, for example, that a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget is 56% corn? What else is in a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget? Besides corn, and to a lesser extent, chicken, The Omnivore’s Dilemma describes all of the thirty-eight ingredients that make up a McNugget – one of which I’ll bet you’ll never guess… McNuggets also contain several completely synthetic ingredients, quasi-edible substances that ultimately come not from a corn or soybean field but form a petroleum refinery or chemical plant. These chemicals are what make modern processed food possible, by keeping the organic materials in them from going bad or looking strange after months in the freezer or on the road. Listed first are the ‘leavening agents’: sodium aluminum phosphate, mono-calcium phosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and calcium lactate. These are antioxidants added to keep the various animal and vegetable fats involved in a nugget from turning rancid. Then there are ‘anti-foaming agents’ like dimethylpolysiloxene, added to the cooking oil to keep the starches from binding to air molecules, so as to produce foam during the fry. The problem is evidently grave enough to warrant adding a toxic chemical to the food: According to the Handbook of Food Additives, dimethylpolysiloxene is a suspected carcinogen and an established mutagen, tumorigen, and reproductive effector; it’s also flammable. But perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to ‘help preserve freshness.’ According to A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause ‘nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse.’ Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill.”

And people buy these for their kids?

Again, this sounds like an old SciFi movie… scientists breed a new form of mosquito for “good reasons” and release it into the wild, only to have it take over! Well, that sounds like this true news story from the BBC:

GM mosquito ‘could fight malaria’

“GM” here is “Genetically Modified.” The picture with the article says: “The GM mosquitoes could be identified by their green fluorescent eyes.” Wow!

“A genetically modified (GM) strain of malaria-resistant mosquito has been created that is better able to survive than disease-carrying insects. It gives new impetus to one strategy for controlling the disease: introduce the GM insects into wild populations in the hope that they will take over. The insect carries a gene that prevents infection by the malaria parasite. Details of the work by a US team appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. The researchers caution that their studies are still at an early stage, and that it could be 10 years or more before engineered insects are released into the environment.”

Ten years for people to come to their senses and not try to “improve on nature” by modifying the genes of species. Whether it is animals, food, insects, or people… can we really say that we are smart enough to know ALL the implications of something like this?

“U.S. doctors may be over-prescribing antibiotics for sinus infections, which are often caused by viruses and not bacteria, according to a study released Monday. A review of two national surveys of visits to doctors and recommended treatments found antibiotics prescribed for about 82 percent of acute sinus infections and nearly 70 percent of chronic sinus infections, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha said. That ‘far outweighs the predicted incidence of bacterial causes. The literature repeatedly shows that viruses are by far the most frequent cause of acute rhinosinusitis,’ the study, published in this week’s Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, said.”

Antibiotics Over-prescribed for Sinus Infections

Again, YOU are the person most responsible for YOUR health… if your Allopathic practitioner prescribes an antibiotic, ask why, and mention this study! Remember that “anti” means “against” and “bio” means “life.” These drugs are designed to kill living bacteria. The problem arises when they kill the good bacteria in the gut. (As well as your body building resistance to the effects of the antibiotic… or the “bad” bugs building resistance to them… so that if you ever were to really need them… they wouldn’t be as effective.) Ask questions! Become the leader of your own healthcare, not a blind follower!

No… I bet not!

New warnings for sleeping pills

“The most widely prescribed sleeping pills can cause strange behavior like driving and eating while asleep, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which announced Wednesday that strong new warnings would be placed on the labels of 13 drugs. The agency also ordered the makers of the well-known drugs, Ambien and Lunesta, and the producers of 11 other commonly used sleeping pills to create patient fliers explaining how to safely use them. The fliers, which the agency says it requires when it sees a significant public health concern, will be handed out at pharmacies when consumers fill their prescriptions. Although the agency says that problems with the drugs are rare, reports of the unusual side effects have grown as use of the sleeping pills have increased. U.S. sales of Ambien and Lunesta alone last year exceeded $3 billion. Use of those medications and other similar drugs has soared by more than 60 percent in the United States since 2000, fueled by television, print and other advertising. Last year, makers of sleeping pills spent more than $600 million on consumer advertising.” (Emphasis mine!)

$600 Million to tell you how GREAT the drugs are… but simple fliers that tell you, oh yeah, by the way… they may turn you into a loon!

“Omega-3 Fatty Acids, found in flaxseed, fish and other foods, may reduce the risk of getting colorectal cancer by two-thirds in men, a new study suggests. There is one caveat, though: the effect is seen in men who do not take aspirin.”

Omega-3 fatty acids slash colorectal cancer risk in men by 66 percent

I have no connection to, nor do I profit from this link at all, but here is one of the best sources I know of for excellent quality Omega-3 Fatty Acids… Krill Oil!

Antarctic Pure Krill Oil

The above link goes to Dr. Mercola’s site… and, as I say, I am not connected with him at all, except that I do take these myself, and find them to be VERY beneficial. I debated mentioning them specifically, but it is the only place I know of to get this particular product, at this quality.

Krill Oil supports a healthy heart, is beneficial for blood sugar health, supports the health of joints, the brain and nervous system, cells, skin, and many other areas that “Baby Boomers” (such as myself) are interested in supporting!

Imagine… a group of renegade scientists conspire to create a new food crop by inbreeding a human gene into the plant! The crop is released to the public… strange, and unforeseen effects begin to be seen in the populace’s health! What to do!?!

Guess what? THIS IS NOT A BAD MOVIE SCRIPT! This is actually happening now! We need to push for labeling of “Frankenfoods” so that we will know what to avoid in the stores!

USDA approves mass planting of GM rice made with human genes

“For the first time, the USDA has given preliminary approval for large-scale planting of a genetically engineered food crop containing human genes. The rice grains, produced by California-based Ventria Bioscience, synthesize a human immune protein. The public comment period for this decision lasts until March 30, after which the decision will be finalized.”

Quote: “This is not a product that everyone would want to consume. It is unwise to produce drugs in plants outdoors.” – Jane Rissler, Union of Concerned Scientists

Health advocate Mike Adams says, “These experiments with genetically modified crops are, in my view, extremely dangerous and may ultimately lead to a genetic Chernobyl that could devastate the U.S. food supply. Such crops should never be allowed to be planted in the open. In giving this preliminary approval, the USDA seems to be once again leaning towards protecting corporate profits rather than public health. The motives of a regulatory agency that would allow such crops to be planted in open fields are highly questionable.”

This is, to my mind, insane, and unconscionable! At the VERY LEAST we should be informed of GMO foods (Genetically Modified Foods) so that we can avoid them… my concern is that we will not be told what is GMO and what is natural, and we will be unable to be assured of our own personal food supply!

This is exciting information about a little known herb that normalizes blood sugar! Why haven’t we heard about this plant before? I’ll give you some guesses.

Nopal plant normalizes blood sugar, treats diabetes, boosts insulin sensitivity

The ability for the prickly pear cactus (nopal) to lower blood sugar has been well documented by many studies. In traditional Mexican medicine, nopal is used for treating type-2 Diabetes. Mexican researchers found that people with non-insulin-dependent diabetes given broiled nopal stems experienced a large drop in blood sugar levels. It has been shown that daily consumption of 250 grams of this plant will lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels, according to a recent study. HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not affected.”

Ready with those guesses? Here’s what natural health advocate, Mike Adams says about it: “Conventional medicine, including drug companies and the FDA, do not want the public to learn about nopal because it would cost Big Pharma hundreds of millions of dollars in annual profits from diabetes drug sales. The public is intentionally kept ignorant about natural treatments for diabetes as a way to maximize corporate profits.”

I always say, “YOU are the person most responsible for your personal health!” Well, you need to pay attention to what you are eating when these news stories come out!

Dirty jars suspected in peanut butter contamination

“Government scientists struggled Thursday to pinpoint the source of the first U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter. Nearly 300 people in 39 states including Missouri have fallen ill since August, and federal health investigators said they strongly suspect Peter Pan peanut butter and certain batches of Wal-Mart’s Great Value house brand — both manufactured by ConAgra Foods Inc. Shoppers across the country were warned to throw out jars with a product code on the lid beginning with ‘2111,’ which denotes the plant where it was made. Both Gerbes and Schnucks in Columbia have taken the suspect jars off their shelves.”

“An herb called danshen — traditionally used in China as a medicine for high blood pressure — has been shown to reduce hypertension in hamsters, according to a study published in the American Journal of Physiology. Researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey administered danshen’s active ingredient — the chemical tanshinone IIA — to hamsters with hypertension. The hamsters’ blood vessels dilated in response, and their blood pressure decreased as a result. Researchers hypothesize that danshen causes this effect by increasing the body’s production of nitric oxide. Danshen, known by the scientific name Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a variety of sage. David Kim, author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, is a licensed acupuncturist who prescribes danshen to his own high-blood-pressure patients. ‘Traditionally, we knew this was working for high blood pressure,’ he said, ‘but we didn’t know what the mechanism was.’ Kim says he wants to further study how long danshen’s effects last after it is administered. ‘In Western medicine, [a treatment] works fast but doesn’t last long,’ he said. ‘In Oriental medicine, it works slowly, but it lasts.'”

Chinese herb lowers blood pressure, reduces hypertension

As it is with most Naturopathic and Natural Health remedies… it takes a while to see a difference, but the effects are long lasting, and have fewer, or no, side effects! So, patience, good, natural approaches… lead to better health!