Conservation

January 21, 2010 at 12:56 am (Food and drink)

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 21 2010 | 1,143 views

A recent study of food waste in the U.S. estimated that 1,400 calories of food per person is wasted every day. These wasted calories represent 39 percent of the available U.S. food supply. Wasted food means wasted resources.

Buying the proper amount of food and eating food before it spoils will save you money and reduce energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions. Wasting less requires small shifts in the way you plan your meals and store your food.

Here are things you can do to shift towards less waste:

  • Buy proper portions. A website from the UK called Love Food Hate Waste will help calculate portions.

  • Learn to store your food so that it stays fresh.

  • Learn recipes for tasty leftover meals.

  • Plan ahead. If you plan your meals in advance, you can buy only what you need at the store.

  • Be careful at restaurants. Portions at restaurants are sometimes too big for one person to eat. To avoid waste, share a main dish or bring a container for your leftovers.

  • Compost. Rather than toss your peels and wilted leaves, compost your vegetable scraps in a backyard compost pile or worm bin.

  • Sources:

  •   Living Green 365 January 2010

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Environ

January 19, 2010 at 9:30 pm (Food and drink)

Why Haven’t Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload?
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 16 2010 | 142,212 views

The U.S. government is encouraging farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilize soil.

The material is produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions. 

The substance is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, and it also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.

The Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health.

Sources:

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HappyTot-HappyBaby Recall

January 18, 2010 at 4:38 pm (Health and wellness)

Product Recall: Certain HappyTot and HappyBaby
Pouch Meals

by Lisa
Freedman (Subscribe to Lisa
Freedman’s posts) Jan 14th 2010 10:40AM

Categories: Mealtime, Alerts & Recalls

Credit: Nurture, Inc. / FDA

You may need to change the dinner menu
tonight. Nurture Inc’s HAPPYTOT Stage 4 and HAPPYBABY Stage 1 and Stage 2 pouch
meals have been voluntarily recalled due to a packaging defect. The pouches in
question may swell or leak, causing a possible bacterial
contamination.

No illnesses have been reported. To determine if the
pouches on your shelves are part of the recall, look for the expiration date
code: If the date is between November 2010 and January 2011, you should not
serve the product. You can return them to their place of purchase for a full
refund or contact the company at 212-374-2779 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on
weekdays.

Related: The Biggest Threat: Contamination

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Child Safety

January 14, 2010 at 3:25 pm (Health and wellness)

EPA Moves on “Chemicals of Concern”

 

 

It’s good to see the issue of reforming toxic chemicals regulation
getting widespread coverage in a variety of media. Just this week (Jan.
11), Scientific American magazine published on its website a good account by
author Lizzie Grossman of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
year-end decision to create a list of “chemicals of concern” that could
result in new controls over four classes of substances that turn up in
a wide variety of consumer products.

Grossman, author of Chasing Molecules,
an engrossing exploration of the risks posed by many synthetic
chemicals and the potential of “green chemistry” to find safer
alternatives, writes that EPA’s action marks “the first time … the EPA
has made such a move” since the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed
in 1976.

EWG certainly applauds the decisive action by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson — even as we continue to press for Congressional action to rewrite TSCA, The 1976 act, Grossman points out, “has proved a cumbersome instrument for regulating hazardous chemicals.”

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Fruit

January 12, 2010 at 4:49 pm (Health and wellness)

Mangoes may protect against breast, colon cancer
Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Tue, 01/12/2010 – 05:04

Washington,
Jan 12 : Mango lovers have a new reason to savour their favourite fruit
- it has been found to protect against colon and breast cancer.

Though mango is an ancient fruit heavily consumed in many parts of the world, little has been known about its health aspects.

"If you look at what people currently perceive as a superfood,
people think of high antioxidant capacity, and mango is not quite
there," said Dr. Susanne Talcott, who with her husband, Dr. Steve
Talcott, conducted the study on cancer cells.

"In comparison with antioxidants in blueberry, acai and pomegranate, it”s not even close," she added.

The new study from Texas AgriLife Research food scientists found it
to prevent or stop cancer growth in certain breast and colon cell lines.

"It has about four to five times less antioxidant capacity than an
average wine grape, and it still holds up fairly well in anticancer
activity," said Susanne.

"If you look at it from the physiological and nutritional
standpoint, taking everything together, it would be a high-ranking
super food. It would be good to include mangoes as part of the regular
diet," she added.

The researchers tested mango polyphenol extracts in vitro on colon, breast, lung, leukemia and prostate cancers.

Polyphenols are natural substances in plants and are associated with a variety of compounds known to promote good health.

Mango showed some impact on lung, leukemia and prostate cancers but was most effective on the most common breast and colon cancers.

"What we found is that not all cell lines are sensitive to the same extent to an anticancer agent," she said.

"But the breast and colon cancer lines underwent apotosis, or programmed cell death.

"Additionally, we found that when we tested normal colon cells side by side with the colon cancer cells, that the mango polyphenolics did not harm the normal cells," she added.

Further tests on the colon cancer lines showed that normal cells weren”t killed, so mango is not expected to be damaging in the body, Susanne said.

"For cells that may be on the verge of mutating or being damaged,
mango polyphenolics prevent this kind of damage," she added. (ANI)

»

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Economy

January 11, 2010 at 12:32 am (News and politics)

Coping With The Financial Meltdown
By Toby H. Brener
InteliHealth Staff Writer

Maybe you’ve seen the new stock market terms making the e-mail rounds and on some Internet sites intended as comic relief:
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Alert

January 11, 2010 at 12:17 am (Health and wellness)

MSNBC.com
Popular kids’ trinkets loaded with toxic metal
Barred from using lead, Chinese makers using more dangerous cadmium
By JUSTIN PRITCHARD
The Associated Press
updated 12:08 p.m. PT, Sun., Jan. 10, 2010


LOS ANGELES – Barred from using lead in children’s jewelry because of its toxicity, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the more dangerous heavy metal cadmium in sparkling charm bracelets and shiny pendants being sold throughout the United States, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The most contaminated piece analyzed in lab testing performed for the AP contained a startling 91 percent cadmium by weight. The cadmium content of other contaminated trinkets, all purchased at national and regional chains or franchises, tested at 89 percent, 86 percent and 84 percent by weight. The testing also showed that some items easily shed the heavy metal, raising additional concerns about the levels of exposure to children.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen. Like lead, it can hinder brain development in the very young, according to recent research.
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Click Link To Read Full Article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34793600/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

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Notice

January 8, 2010 at 2:20 am (Health and wellness)

Wake-Up Call for Sleeping Pill Users?
January 4, 2010
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (The New York Times News Service) — Sure, Ambien helps you sleep. But sometimes waking up can be a tough pill to swallow.
 
That goes double for golfer Tiger Woods and Florida Gators football coach Urban Meyer, two sports A-listers whose recent headlines involving difficulty waking have been tangentially linked to the popular sleeping pill.
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CLICK ON LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE

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Environs

January 8, 2010 at 1:07 am (Health and wellness)

Six Risky Chemicals You’re Carrying in Your Body
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 07 2010 | 45,296 views

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released its latest assessment of the chemicals people are carrying around in their bodies.

The biomonitoring study is the most comprehensive in the world, measuring 212 chemicals in the blood and urine of 8,000 Americans.

The CDC highlighted a few chemicals because they are both widespread — found in all or most people tested — and potentially harmful.

Here’s a look at what they are and how you can try to avoid them:

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

Better known as "flame retardants", PBDEs are used widely in all sorts of goods to reduce fire risk. They also accumulate in human fat, and some studies suggest they may harm your liver and kidneys as well as your neurological system. Some states have restricted the use of certain PBDEs, but short of such bans, avoiding them is difficult because the chemicals are integrated into so many products.

Bisphenol A

BPA, which is found in many plastics, in the lining of cans, and even coating many sales receipts, was found in more than 90 percent of Americans tested. The health concerns about BPA are many and growing. While BPA-free products are available, it can be difficult to find them unless you do research ahead of time.

PFOA

PFOA and other perfluorinated chemicals are used to create heat-resistant and non-stick coatings on cookware, as well as grease-resistant food packaging and stain-resistant clothing. Studies have linked these chemicals to a range of health problems, including infertility in women, and to developmental and reproductive problems in lab animals. Avoiding products that contain them is a first step towards avoiding them.

Acrylamide

Formed when carbohydrates are cooked at high temperatures, acrylamide and its metabolites are extremely common in Americans. High-level exposure has caused cancer and neurological problems in lab animals and workers, respectively. Avoiding it in food comes down to food choice, storage and preparation.

Mercury

The main source of mercury — a potent neurotoxin that can lead to permanent brain damage if young children or fetuses are exposed — continues to be contaminated fish. I do not recommend eating most fish for this reason.

MTBE

This gasoline additive has been phased out of use in the U.S. in favor of ethanol, but it still can be detected widely in American’s bodies; it has contaminated many drinking water supplies. Studies have linked it to a variety of potential problems, including neurological and reproductive damage.

Sources:

 
 

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Modified Foods

January 4, 2010 at 1:21 pm (Health and wellness)

NaturalNews.com printable article
Originally published December 30 2009
GM Seeds Threaten World Food Supply
by David Gutierrez, staff writer
 
(NaturalNews) The agribusiness strategy of aggressively promoting genetically modified (GM) and highly hybridized seeds are placing world food security at risk, according to studies conducted by researchers from the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) and presented at the World Seed Conference in Rome.
 
Researchers are increasingly warning that global warming and the ensuing worldwide ecological disruption may render many popular seed varieties unsuitable. A recent study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that temperature rises from global warming are likely to lead to shortages in corn and soy, two of the world’s most important food crops.
 
"Where farming communities have been able to maintain their traditional varieties, they are already using them to cope with the impacts of climate change," said IIED project leader Krystyna Swiderska. "But more commonly, these varieties are being replaced by a smaller range of ‘modern’ seeds that are heavily promoted by corporations and subsidized by governments. These seeds have less genetic diversity yet need more inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers and more natural resources such as land and water."
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