Study review shows vitamin D, cod liver oil very effective at preventing and treating tuberculosis

Sometimes the old fashioned ways of treating disease are still the safest and most effective. A recent review of an 1848 study conducted at the former Hospital for Consumption in Chelsea, UK, now known as the Royal Brompton Hospital (RBH), has found that cod liver oil…

Infant allergies found to be influenced by diet of mother

(NaturalNews) A study conducted by scientists at INRA research institute in Rennes, France, and recently published in the Journal of Physiology, has revealed a possible connection between the mother’s diet and her baby’s immune development. The scientists looked at a specific group of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which can be obtained from raw, vegan sources, such as flaxseed, chia seed and walnut oil, and how it models the baby’s gut. If the mother’s diet is high in such fats, the gut of the baby will develop significantly different from that of a baby whose mother did not consume sufficient amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids. PUFAs are responsible for training the immune system to adequately respond to the presence of bacteria and other pathogens, successfully reducing the incidence of allergies in infants. Dr Gaelle Boudry, who led the research team for this study, pointed out: “There is intense research interest in maternal diet during pregnancy. In the western diet, the group of polyunsaturated fatty acids that we have shown to help gut function are actually disappearing — our dietary intake of fish and nut oils is being replaced by corn oils which contain a different kind of fatty acid.” Until recently, scientific studies had been able to identify a clear connection between oil consumption in mothers and a reduced risk of allergy in infants, but how these two elements link together was not yet known. Past studies have also revealed that an increased consumption of polyunsaturated fats can, in fact, increase the length of the gestational period, as well as improve the development of the central nervous system of a baby – with effects on performance and intelligence becoming noticeable during childhood. The group of targeted polyunsaturated fats is known as n-3PUFA, and it is responsible for making the baby’s gut lining more permeable to foreign agents, which, upon reaching the bloodstream, trigger an immune response coupled with the production of antibodies to repel the pathogens. These types of acids, also called omega-3 essential fats, have been linked to a multitude of biological functions, ranging from brain development to cellular growth and cardiovascular health. Dr. Boudry further explained that “the end result is that the baby’s immune system may develop and mature faster, leading to better immune function and a reduced likelihood of suffering allergies”. Recent medical statistics have shown that the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids in the general population has decreased steadily over the years and that this correlates to an increased risk of allergies and hypersensitization in children. Although this specific study was conducted on piglets, the French science team plans on furthering their research to see how their findings translate to humans. Piglets were especially selected for this study, as their intestinal tracts are fairly similar to the human gut, and data obtained from them is likely relevant to humans as well. Moreover, Dr. Boudry has expressed interest for the future in studying how an increased omega-3 intake can help fight allergies during adulthood. [Editor's Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and wellbeing of all living creatures.] Sources for this article include: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110908161444.htm http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/09/11/Mothers-diet-may-affect-babys-allergies/UPI-24341315714096/?spt=hs&or=hn http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-mother-diet-baby-allergies-.html

Sucralose found in drinking water supply of more than 28 million Americans

(NaturalNews) If you’ve been diligently avoiding the consumption of chemical sweeteners like sucralose, you may be alarmed to learn that researchers have found sucralose lurking in the drinking water supply of more than 28 million Americans. A recent study tested water samples from 19 water treatment plants in the United States serving more than 28 million people. Researchers analyzed the samples for the artificial sweetener sucralose. Samples tested positive for sucralose in the source water of 15 out of 19 plants. Furthermore, treatment failed to remove the sucralose from the drinking water: sucralose was also found in the finished drinking water from 13 out of 19 plants. Researchers determined that current water treatment methods fail to effectively remove sucralose from our water supply, leaving millions of Americans to unknowingly consume this artificial sweetener every single day. Why is Sucralose in Our Drinking Water? When a person ingests sucralose, a large percentage of it is not broken down and is instead excreted as waste. This waste goes through the water treatment plant, where the sucralose remains intact and goes on to become part of our drinking water supply. Because sucralose has become one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners in commercial soft drinks and snack foods, it is no wonder that it is making an appearance in our drinking water. If sucralose consumption continues to rise, it stands to reason that everyone drinking public water will be ingesting more of this chemical sweetener as well – whether they want to or not. Sucralose is Not Safe for Consumption The public should be aware that the majority of the studies on the safety of sucralose are funded by the creators of the most popular sucralose product on the market. The conflict of interest is obvious and the results of these studies are clearly biased in favor of sucralose. Independent studies aren’t nearly so positive. Questions about the negative impact sucralose has on male fertility, red blood cell count, kidney health, gut flora balance and body weight are serious concerns generated from the results of these studies. Many researchers and health experts are convinced that sucralose should never have been deemed safe for human consumption. Common sense dictates that any chemically-processed food is unfit for human consumption. The fact that these substances are now running rampant through our water supply is an atrocity that violates our right to choose what we put into our own bodies. Sources for this article include: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/20/why-are-millions-of-americans-getting-this-synthetic-sweetener-in-their-drinking-water.aspx http://naturalsociety.com/sucralose-contaminating-nations-drinking-water/ http://www.greenmedinfo.com/article/sucralose-found-drinking-water-tested-low-rate-removal-11-and-serving-28-million-people

Research links diet during pregnancy to breast cancer risk reduction in female offspring

Research being presented at the Era of Hope conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP), reveals findings suggesting that if an expectant mother increases her consumption of foods high in certain fatty acids or nutrients during her pregnancy, she can potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer in her female offspring.

True fact: A common ingredient in commercial breads is derived from human hair harvested in China

(NaturalNews) If you read the ingredients label on a loaf of bread, you will usually find an ingredient listed there as L-cysteine . This is a non-essential amino acid added to many baked goods as a dough conditioner in order to speed industrial processing. It’s usually not added directly to flour intended for home use, but you’ll find it throughout commercial breads such as pizza dough, bread rolls and pastries. While some L-cysteine is directly synthesized in laboratories, most of it is extracted from a cheap and abundant natural protein source: human hair . The hair is dissolved in acid and L-cysteine is isolated through a chemical process, then packaged and shipped off to commercial bread producers. Besides human hair, other sources of L-cysteine include chicken feathers, duck feathers, cow horns and petroleum byproducts. Most of the hair used to make L-cysteine is gathered from the floors of barbershops and hair salons in China, by the way. While the thought of eating dissolved hair might make some people uneasy, most Western consumers ultimately have no principled objections doing so. For Jews and Muslims, however, hair-derived L-cysteine poses significant problems. Muslims are forbidden from eating anything derived from a human body , and many rabbis forbid hair consumption for similar reasons. Even rabbis who permit the consumption of hair would forbid it if it came from corpses — and since much L-cysteine comes from China, where sourcing and manufacturing practices are notoriously questionable, this is a real concern. In one case, a rabbi forbade the consumption of L-cysteine because the hair had been harvested during a ritual at a temple in India. Source: 25 Amazing Facts About Food , authored by Mike Adams and David Guiterrez. This report reveals surprising things about where your food comes from and what’s really in it! Download the full report (FREE) by clicking here . Inside, you’ll learn 24 more amazing but true facts about foods, beverages and food ingredients. Instant download of the complete PDF. All 25 facts are documented and true.

Cancer causing chemicals found in cola coloring ingredient

(NaturalNews) The “caramel coloring” used to color all the top cola brands isn’t natural caramel coloring at all. Instead, it’s made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites at high temperatures. This reaction results in the formation of 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole , both of which are chemicals documented by the U.S. government to cause cancer in mammals. This is all coming to light thanks to an effort by the CSPI, which has now filed a regulatory petition to ban these chemicals from colas (http://www.cspinet.org/new/201102161.html). The National Toxicology Program has conducted animal studies on these toxic chemicals found in colas, concluding there is “clear evidence” that 2-MI and 4-MI are animal carcinogens. The call to ban these chemicals from use in foods was joined by five carcinogenesis experts who said, “The American public should not be exposed to any cancer risk whatsoever as a result of consuming such chemicals, especially when they serve a non-essential, cosmetic purpose.” (http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/experts-letter-caramel-coloring.pdf) That letter explains: 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) causes lung tumors in male and female mice and mononuclear cell leukemia in female rats. Other NTP studies found that 2-methylimidazole caused liver tumors in male and female mice, thyroid tumors in male mice, and precancerous thyroid changes in female mice. In rats, 4-MI caused an increased rate of tumors in thyroid follicular cells in females and an increased rate of hyperplasia in thyroid follicular cells in males. Even the term “caramel coloring” is extremely misleading to consumers, because most people think it’s related to caramel candy, which is made by browning sugar under heat. But the “caramel coloring” used in colas is made by exposing sugars to industrial chemicals (ammonia and sulfites), resulting in a cocktail of cancer-causing chemicals. Coke and Pepsi products may soon bear cancer warnings in California California’s Proposition 65 law limits the consumption of 4-MI to no more than 16 micrograms per day from a single product. Yet colas contain roughly 200 micrograms of 4-MI in a 20-ounce bottle. That’s over 12 times the allowable limit under Proposition 65, and that’s in every bottle! Many people drink several bottles a day, further multiplying their exposure to this potential carcinogen. If cola companies are going to continue to sell their products in California, then, they must now carry cancer warning labels in order to be in compliance with Prop 65. You can bet that a desperate effort is now under way by the cola industry to lobby California regulators and make sure 4-MI gets removed from any enforcement of Prop 65. The cola industry wants everybody to think its products are wholesome and natural while forgetting about the health effects of phosphoric acid, aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup. Now, with 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole in the picture, there’s yet another potentially cancer-causing chemical to worry about in colas. Obviously, 2-MI and 4-MI can be avoided by drinking non-colored soft drinks, but those still contain phosphoric acid, high-fructose corn syrup, caffeine and even aspartame in diet sodas. It turns out, there’s no such thing as a perfectly safe soda . All sodas and soft drinks carry health risks related to their ingredients. I have no doubt that this era of diabetes, obesity and cancer we’re living through right now is due in large part to the widespread consumption of sodas and soft drinks.

One in ten women regularly consumes organic food during pregnancy

(NaturalNews) The growth of the organic food and personal care product sectors over the past decade-or-so has been truly astounding, with reports indicating, for instance, that organic fruit and vegetable sales increased by almost 375 percent between 2000 and 2010 (http://www.naturalnews.com/028721_organics_food.html). And now, a new report out of Norway has found that one in ten pregnant Norwegian women has gone organic. Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health evaluated roughly 65,000 pregnant women from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, assessing their organic buying habits in six categories: milk and dairy products, bread and cereals, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and meat. “We know little about the consumption of organic food during pregnancy, and the goal of this study was to find out what is consumed and the characteristics of women who choose organic food,” said Hanne Torjusen, a Ph.D. student who worked on the study. They found that women who chose organic during their pregnancies had varying nutritional habits and lifestyle preferences. Some of the women were low income, others were students, and some even smoked or drank during their pregnancies, which are considered to be generally unhealthy behaviors. In other words, it was not simply the well-to-do, health-guru women that recognized the value of consuming organic food. “We see that although there are several elements that are consistent with health recommendations, organic food consumption in pregnancy is not unambiguously associated with what is perceived as a healthy lifestyle — those with the highest education and income,” said Torjusen. “This shows that it is important to take into account other factors besides education and income in the further research of possible health effects of organic foods in the diet.” Research has indicated that organic food generally contains denser nutrient profiles and more vitamins and minerals than conventional food. This idea is supported by a study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition that found that the nutritional value of food depends on how and in what conditions it is grown (http://www.naturalnews.com/026266_organic_foods_food.html). Sources for this story include: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/niop-ofi012711.php

Professor who lost weight on Twinkies only proves that even nutrition educators can be Ding Dongs

(NaturalNews) Over the last month or so, the mainstream media has been making a huge deal about Kansas State nutrition professor Mark Haub who lost 27 pounds eating mostly Doritos, Twinkies and other junk food while drinking Diet Mountain Dew. But as usual, they’re misrepresenting the story. You can lose weight on chemotherapy, too . And most chemotherapy patients lose all kinds of weight due to the mass poisoning of their bodies with synthetic chemicals. Does that mean chemotherapy is weight loss medicine, too? (Don’t laugh, I’ve seen similar conclusions written up in the mainstream media…) Virtually anything can be promoted as a “weight loss miracle” in the following way: The cashew diet? Consider this: You can lose weight by starving yourself (by eating nothing). That promotes rapid weight loss as long as you stick to it — which is, of course, nearly impossible to do for very long. If you’re fasting and living on nothing but water, suppose you gulp down one cashew once a day. You’re still going to lose all kinds of weight because you’re severely restricting your calories. Does that mean you’ve made some great discovery about a “cashew diet?” Of course not. It just means you’re burning a lot more calories than you’re consuming. What if you pop a Tic-Tac once a day while you’re fasting? Have you now discovered some amazing “Tic-Tac weight loss diet?” Nope. You’re just fasting with a Tic-Tac. It’s the same story with Slim-Fast. Can you lose weight on Slim-Fast even though it’s made primarily with processed table sugar? Sure you can! Just go a severe calorie-restriction diet, and drink some Slim-Fast from time to time. Heck, you can lose weight eating Halloween candy if you restrict your calories! The nutrition professor who lost 27 pounds was simply on a calorie restriction diet (a partial fast, if you will) that included a slew of processed junk food. Did he discover some miracle junk food diet? Nope. He just controlled his calories while poisoning himself with junk food chemicals and artificially modified food ingredients. Weight loss alone is no measure of good health The really important part of this story, of however, is realizing that weight loss alone is no measure of good health. When you see people withering away from the effects of chemotherapy and radiation for cancer treatments, you don’t think to yourself, “Gosh, I wish I could be that healthy! Look how amazingly healthy they are!” No, you think to yourself, “That person is dying!” And then there’s the whole nutritional side of this story . Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Oreos are called “junk food” precisely because they represent the nutritional equivalent of garbage. They lack virtually all naturally-occurring plant-based phytonutrients and deliver almost no natural minerals or vitamins. Instead, they’re made of processed, modified, factory-fabricated food ingredients that are linked to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And that’s not to even mention the aspartame in the Diet Mountain Dew this guy was chugging. Perhaps that’s why even this nutrition professor, while living on a “junk food” diet, was smart enough to take a multivitamin, eat a serving of vegetables and drink a protein shake each day. So even he wasn’t “living on junk food” as the headlines claim. He was supplementing his diet with at least some source of nutrition because he knew junk foods were going to leave him nutritionally deficient. It would be a totally different story if he lived on junk foods alone . In that scenario, he would very quickly become deficient in key vitamins, and he’d find himself in a hospital being treated for serious diseases as a result. The mainstream media, of course, completely fails to understand the real story here, and they’ve been reporting this as some sort of “junk food diet breakthrough” that suggests people can live on Twinkies and Ding Dongs while somehow losing weight and getting healthy. But we’ve already done that experiment in America , and the results are clear: Two-thirds of the population is overweight, and diabetes rates are soaring. Cancer is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and Big Pharma can’t wait for the coming wave of Alzheimer’s patients either. All that disease is promoted in part by the consumption of processed junk foods. If processed junk food caused healthy weight loss, America would be the healthiest nation in the world. Clearly that’s not the case, which means the real Ding Dong in this story is the nutrition professor himself who has set a terrible example for the nation to follow and has only offered wrongheaded encouragement to the junk food industry. Why not just cut off his own leg and announce that “amputation promotes weight loss” too? It reminds me of the old joke. An overweight woman says to her friends, “I just lost a hundred and ninety pounds of useless fat.” “How’d you do that?” her friends ask. “I got a divorce.”

High levels of natural plant antioxidant alpha-carotene are associated with fewer deaths from all causes

(NaturalNews) Picture this: a chemical is discovered that has amazing health-protecting powers. In fact, if a person consumes enough of the potent life guarding compound, his or her chances of dying from heart disease, cancer or any other reason will plummet for many, many years into the future. Sound like a futuristic drug out of a sci fi story? It’s not. Instead, it’s a natural compound available right here and right now — the antioxidant alpha-carotene, produced by plants. In a large study of over 15,000 adults, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientists found that high blood levels of alpha-carotene were associated with a significantly reduced risk of dying over a 14 year period. The research was just published in the on-line edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine . There are several forms of carotenoids, including beta-carotene and lycopene as well as alpha-carotene. Alpha-carotene is very similar to beta-carotene but research has shown it may be more effective at preventing or blocking the growth of cancer cells in the brain, liver and skin, according to the CDC scientists. “Moreover, results from a population-based case-control study of the association between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and risk of lung cancer suggest that consumption of yellow-orange (carrots, sweet potatoes or pumpkin and winter squash) and dark-green (broccoli, green beans, green peas, spinach, turnips greens, collards and leaf lettuce) vegetables, which have a high alpha-carotene content, was more strongly associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer than was consumption of all other types of vegetables,” the authors of the study noted in their paper. Chaoyang Li, M.D., Ph.D., of the CDC and colleagues investigated the relationship between alpha-carotene and the risk of death among 15,318 adults, all age 20 or older. The research subjects were participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Follow-up Study and all had medical exams and gave blood samples between 1988 and 1994. Then researchers followed the study volunteers through 2006 to find out which of them died and how. By the end of the study, 3,810 participants were no longer alive — but the risk for dying was far lower in the people who had the highest levels of alpha-carotene in their blood. In fact, as the level of alpha-carotene went up, the risk of dying went down dramatically. For example, compared to people with blood alpha-carotene levels between 0 and 1 micrograms per deciliter, those with concentrations of alpha-carotene between 4 and 5 micrograms per deciliter had a 27 percent lower risk of dying. And when blood levels of the antioxidant reached 9 micrograms or higher, there was stunning, almost 40 percent lowered chance of death. What’s more, higher alpha-carotene concentrations were linked with a lower risk of dying not only from cardiovascular disease or cancer, and from all other causes. The researchers noted in their paper that these data support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a way of preventing premature death and suggest a need for more clinical research into the health benefits of alpha-carotene. For more information: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/archinternmed.2010.440 http://www.naturalnews.com/antioxidants.html

Microwave popcorn contains dangerous chemical

(NaturalNews) Would you like salt, butter — and a helping of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) with your popcorn? You may say “yes” to the first two ingredients and “certainly not!” to the last one. But the problem is, if you are eating microwaved popcorn or packaged snack foods, you are most likely getting dosed with these potentially toxic chemicals without any choice. PFCAs, the best known of which is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), have been found to accumulate in the blood of people, as well as in wildlife, worldwide. PFOAs are the breakdown products of chemicals used to make non-stick and water-resistant and stain-repellant products that coat kitchen pans, some clothing and food packaging. In research just reported in Environmental Health Perspectives , University of Toronto (U of T) scientists have concluded PFCAs, which are found in virtually all junk food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags, migrate into food and are then ingested by people. No one knows exactly what the long-term health risks are from exposure to these chemicals. But earlier this year, Japanese scientists at Osaka University published an animal study in the journal Prostaglandins, Leucotrines and Essential Fatty Acids showing that PPCAs impact the function of platelets — components of blood that are important for regulating bleeding and clotting in the body. “We suspected that a major source of human PFCA exposure may be the consumption and metabolism of polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters or PAPs,” Jessica D’eon, a graduate student in the U of T Department of Chemistry, said in a statement to the media. “PAPs are applied as grease proofing agents to paper food contact packaging such as fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags.” For their U of T study, D’eon and Scott Mabury, the lead researcher and a professor in the U of T Department of Chemistry, exposed rats to PAPs either orally or by injection. Then the animals were monitored for a period of three weeks to document the concentrations of the PAPs and PFCA metabolites, including PFOA, in their blood. Because human exposure to PAPs was calculated by the scientists in an earlier study, the research team used the PAP concentrations observed in human blood together with the PAP and PFCA concentrations observed in the rats to come up with figures on human PFOA exposure from PAP metabolism. “We found the concentrations of PFOA from PAP metabolism to be significant and concluded that the metabolism of PAPs could be a major source of human exposure to PFOA, as well as other PFCAs,” Mabury said in the press statement. “This discovery is important because we would like to control human chemical exposure, but this is only possible if we understand the source of this exposure.” Mabury pointed out that some people claim the contamination of humans with PFCAs is simply the result of exposure to past chemical exposure, instead of chemicals currently found in food wrappers and home products. But the U of T research shows that’s a false assumption. “In this study we clearly demonstrate that the current use of PAPs in food contact applications does result in human exposure to PFCAs, including PFOA. We cannot tell whether PAPs are the sole source of human PFOA exposure or even the most important, but we can say un equivocally that PAPs are a source and the evidence from this study suggests this could be significant,”Mabury concluded. Editor’s note: NaturalNews is opposed to the use of animals in medical experiments that expose them to harm. We present these findings in protest of the way in which they were acquired. For more information: http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.1002409#abstract0 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20678909

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