British women the most obese in Europe

British women are the fattest in Europe, an EU report States. In Britain, 24% of women are classified as obese, compared to just 9.3% in Italy, 12.7% in France and 15.6% in Germany. This is a fact backed up by Britain’s own NHS (National Health Service) statistics released…

NaturalNews suggestion for your Netflix queue: The Vanishing of the Bees

(NaturalNews) “Vanishing of the Bees” provides a fascinating perspective on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). The film looks at the mysterious affliction which has destroyed honeybee populations at many bee farms in the US, leaving hives deserted, yet with few bee bodies remaining to help unravel the riddle. Bee Informed This 2009 documentary is an excellent introduction to this environmental problem which also provides some information that may be new even to those who have read about the issue. If you are not sure why you should care about that a few buzzing insects are disappearing, the film does an excellent job of explaining the importance of this issue. As one of the beekeepers interviewed in the film points out “bees are an indicator of environmental quality. When the bees are dying, something’s wrong that’s going to affect all of us.” The film, narrated by actress Ellen Page, provides a wealth of information on web of influences, including consequences of monoculture farming, EPA policies and commercial beekeeping practices. This documentary incorporates brief animated segments, interviews with a broad spectrum of people including author Michael Pollan (Food Fight); scientists; both commercial and holistic beekeepers; and environmental activists; film clips of European beekeepers staging protests while wearing full bee-tending costume and archival footage of WWI chemical warfare. Global and Historical Bees Anyone with an interest in environmental issues, organic foods and the politics which affect our food system will find this film interesting. The movie offers a few intriguing historical and cultural facts about bees and beekeeping — such as how the ancient Egyptians managed beekeeping, wild honey collection in Malaysian rainforests and how bees are connected both to the concept of goddess worship and to Napoleon. The film also provides important information rarely mentioned in US media articles about CCD — the fact that a similar disease occurred in France, where it was dubbed Mad Bee Disease. The film discusses how the French choose a different means of handling the problem than has been taken in the US. Early evidence indicates the French approach has been at least partially successful and the bees are bouncing back there. Filmmakers George Langworthy and Maryam Henein manage to cover a great deal of ground in this short (89 minutes) and enjoyable documentary. They not only provide a more global perspective on the problem than many issue-oriented films, but also go beyond defining the issue to offer at least some notions for how to solve this concern. While the film may not cover the science of the issue well enough to satisfy experts, it does an excellent job at the balancing act all documentaries must perform — educating viewers on a topic without becoming boring. Further Information The documentary is currently available on Netflix for instant viewing. If you do not have a Netflix membership, you can visit the film’s website (http://www.vanishingbees.com/) to watch it on a pay-per-view basis. The website also provides information on hosting a screening of the film for a group, as well as classroom educational resources and suggestions for actions you can take. As the film points out, one of the silver linings of the publicity about the vanishing bees has been a growth of interest in small beekeeping, including changing laws in many major cities which make urban beekeeping legal. The “Vanishing of the Bees” website also includes links for people who want to help bring bees back by starting a backyard hive or two.

Occupy GMOs: Protesters block access to manufacturing plant filled with animal ‘Frankenfeed’

(NaturalNews) Tired of the quiet import and use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in the animal food supply throughout Europe, a group of protesters in France has decided to make a statement by blockading the entrances of the Glon Sanders animal feed plant in Saint-Gerard, Morbihan, France. The company’s more than 200 employees have been unable to come to work for some time now, which means that production has stopped at the plant, and its offices remain empty. Most of Europe is staunchly opposed to GMOs in general, which is why they are hardly ever sold there, and why they must be properly labeled if they are. But GMOs have been furtively making their way into the European food supply via animal feed, which is often laced with GM soy, corn, and other contaminated ingredients thanks to labeling loopholes that permit “non-GMO” livestock to consume GM feed. So to push authorities in France to take a stand against this deceitful practice, a group of concerned individuals decided to storm the Glon Sanders factory, which they reportedly felt was the perfect place to make their voices heard. “Sanders, a subsidiary of Sofiproteol chaired by Xavier Beulin (also president of the FNSEA), is a strategic location to make an act of denial of the use of GMOs in agriculture, particularly in animal feed,” said the group in a translated quote from Maville.com, a French paper. Both the cultivation and consumption of GM soy are linked to a host of environmental and human health problems. The cultivation of GM soy involves dousing plants in millions of tons of toxic Roundup, also known a glyphosate, which causes various diseases in plants, as well as serious health problems in humans (http://www.naturalnews.com/Roundup.html). And consumption of GM soy itself is linked to causing gastrointestinal problems, heart disease, chronic fatigue, thyroid disorders, and reproductive problems (http://www.naturalnews.com/GM_soy.html). A documentary produced in Germany explains how GM soy is covertly making its way into Europe via animal feed, and why this loophole is a significant threat to the European food supply. It also explains how the cultivation of GM soy around the world is destroying both the environment and human health. You can watch a clip from that documentary here: http://www.naturalnews.com/031382_GM_soy_GMOs.html Sources for this article include: http://www.toxicsoy.org/toxicsoy/news/Artikelen/2011/11/17_Animal_feed_factory_in_Britany_France_blocked.html

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

Thomas Jefferson was America’s most famous anti-government revolutionary

(NaturalNews) “A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.” One of the most influential of our nation’s founding fathers was Thomas Jefferson, to whom the above quote is attributed and the man who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps more than any other American founding father, Jefferson was a bona fide proponent of liberty who was inherently suspicious of a powerful central government and who once wrote in a private letter he had “sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1746 to Peter Jefferson, a successful planter and surveyor, and Jane Randolph, who belonged to one of Virginia’s most prestigious families, the former U.S. president grew up well taken care of. He first studied at the College of William and Mary before reading law. In his mid-20s he inherited quite a bit of land from his father, on which he began building his famed estate, Monticello, and in 1772, just six years before he would take part in the birth of the United States, Jefferson married a widow, Martha Wayles Skelton. No public speaker, Jefferson was nonetheless a fluent writer, using his composition skills first as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and then as a member of the Continental Congress. He was 33 when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, ” regarded ever since as a charter of American and universal liberties .” Early on it was apparent that Jefferson was a champion of liberty and freedom. The dust and gunpowder smoke had barely cleared from the Revolutionary War when Jefferson, still based in Virginia, wrote a bill establishing religious freedom that was enacted in 1786. As the new nation formed its governmental institutions, Jefferson split early from the Federalists, America’s first national political party formed by Alexander Hamilton, because he believed its principles too strongly favored a strong national government while he supported giving state governments more power. As such, Jefferson drifted towards the Democratic Republican party, which was sympathetic to the revolutionary cause in France. In 1796 he came within three votes of being elected president, but he was named vice president though he was not an ally of President John Adams. Later, when he assumed the presidency in 1801, his leadership style reflected his small-government philosophy. He cut the size of the Army and Navy, got rid of an unpopular tax on whiskey (the source of the Whiskey Rebellion, which began in 1791), and managed to reduce the national debt by one-third. He also acted to protect the fledging nation’s interests. Jefferson dispatched a naval squadron to battle Barbary pirates who were attacking American shipping commerce in the Mediterranean Sea, and he increased the size of the United States by acquiring more land from France’s despotic leader, Napoleon, though the Constitution contained no specific language regarding expansion of the nation’s borders. Jefferson even managed to get a good deal on the purchase; Jefferson negotiated for about 500 million acres of land that wound up becoming part of 15 new states eventually, and all for about 3 cents per acre. After the purchase was finalized Jefferson commissioned Meriweather Lewis and William Clark to lead a military expedition to explore the new land. During Jefferson’s second term (1804-1808), he was faced with what to do about the Napoleonic Wars raging in Europe. England and France attempted to provoke the United States into conflict, as both interfered with American shipping and commerce. But Jefferson was determined to keep the young nation out of foreign conflicts. Although his solution – placing an embargo on American shipping – did not work out well and was unpopular, the nation did not involve itself in another conflict so soon after solidifying a functional government. When he finished his second term and peacefully relinquished power to his friend, James Madison, Jefferson retired to Montecello, where he continued his tradition of fostering liberty and public service. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them,” he once said. He went on to found the University of Virginia, and continued to reflect upon the grace of the new American republic, which he fully realized was as much a political experiment in its make-up as it was a miracle for its formation and functionality. Ironically, perhaps, even in death Jefferson’s life reflected his unending patriotism. He died on July 4, 1826 – 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence he authored – and just hours before his close friend, John Adams, passed away. Cognizant of the gift of American existence bestowed by him and his fellow revolutionaries on future generations of Americans, Jefferson was also fully aware of the responsibility those generations would assume in keeping the republic intact when he wrote in a letter to William Stephens Smith in Paris in 1878, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” At his request, his tombstone reflected on his contributions and gifts to the new nation, not what he had received. It read: “HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.”

Lance Armstrong used illegal doping substances, says a second ex-teammate

(NaturalNews) Tyler Hamilton, who is no stranger to doping, alleges Lance Armstrong and other U.S. Postal team members used EPO, testosterone and other banned substances. These accusations come one year after Floyd Landis, another U.S. Postal rider with a history of doping, released emails detailing the alleged use of banned substances by Armstrong and other teammates. Hamilton made the accusation during a “60 Minutes” interview, part of which aired May 19 on the “CBS Evening News”. Hamilton and Armstrong were teammates on the U.S. Postal Service team in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Hamilton said in the interview that Armstrong used EPO, which is used to boost the number of oxygen-carrying blood cells thereby improving stamina, during the first of his seven Tour de France victories in 1999, and again to prepare for the 2000 and 2001 races. (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/cyclist-tyler-hamilton-hands-in-2004-olympic-gold-medal-to-doping-agency.html) “[Armstrong] took what we all took … the majority of the peloton,” Hamilton told CBS reporter Scott Pelley. “There was EPO … testosterone … a blood transfusion … I saw [EPO] in his refrigerator. I saw him inject it more than one time like we all did, like I did many, many times.” Armstrong spokesman Mark Fabiani responded with a statement that said: “Hamilton is actively seeking to make money by writing a book, and now he has completely changed the story he has always told before so he could get himself on ’60 Minutes’ and increase his chances with publishers.” Armstrong response came in a post on Twitter that said: “20+ year career. 500 drug controls worldwide, in and out of competition. Never a failed test. I rest my case.” Armstrong defenders say that Hamilton’s own history with doping puts his credibility in question. Hamilton, like Landis, had been suspended for doping in the past. He tested positive for blood doping twice in 2004. In 2006 he was accused of using EPO, growth hormone, testosterone and cortisone in the Operation Puerto blood doping inquiry. After a two year ban, he returned to cycling but retired after another failed test in 2009. (http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2011/05/20/another-day-another-doping-charge/) Hamilton also returned his gold medal May 20 for the 2004 Olympic time-trial. The medal was already marred by a positive blood doping test that was later overruled on a technicality. The United States Anti-Doping Agency said that Hamilton returned it, after the International Olympic Committee said it could strip him of the medal. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/may/20/floyd-landis-tyler-hamilton-lance-armstrong) Hamilton’s allegations are different from previous accuser Landis’ in that they are part of a federal investigation into blood doping led by the Food and Drug Administration that began last spring and add up to a little more than their dismissal as “just another disgraced rider looking to make a quick buck”. (http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2011/05/20/another-day-another-doping-charge/) Armstrong is the focus of the investigation, which aims to prove that Armstrong and his associates committed fraud against the government, among other crimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/sports/hamilton-surrendering-his-gold-medal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss). Investigators subpoenaed several former U.S. Postal riders. Until that moment I walked into the courtroom, “I hadn’t told a soul,” Hamilton said in an email to family and friends. “My testimony went on for six hours. For me it was like the Hoover dam breaking. I opened up; I told the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And I felt a sense of relief I’d never felt before – all the secrets, all the weight I’d been carrying around for years suddenly lifted. I saw that, for me personally, this was the way forward.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/may/20/floyd-landis-tyler-hamilton-lance-armstrong The U.S. criminal investigation is not aimed at prosecuting rank-and-file riders who used performance-enhancing drugs during their careers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rather, it is designed to bring charges against any team leaders and team directors who may have facilitated or encouraged doping by their riders. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604576334021352733148.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Allegations against Armstrong The FDA investigation of Armstrong should finally provide a definitive legal answer. (http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/you-jury) The following list of allegations from bicycling.com, allegations which have all been rebuffed by Armstrong, are some of the allegations under investigation in the federal inquiry: In a July 2010 Wall Street Journal article, Floyd Landis said Johan Bruyneel told him that Armstrong’s team sold some sponsor equipment to finance doping. In accounts published in two books, Motorola racer Stephen Swart says Armstrong was the central agitator pushing riders to dope. In arbitration between Armstrong and SCA Promotions (over the payment of a bonus he was due for winning the Tour), former teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy, said under oath that in ’96 Armstrong admitted to medical staff that he had doped with EPO , growth hormone, testosterone and other drugs. In a Sports Illustrated story in January, Armstrong is said to have returned at least three tests in the 1990s that indicated testosterone doping. When requested by the USOC to confirm the results by testing the B samples, Don Catlin, the anti-doping scientist whose laboratory performed the procedure, was allegedly unable to confirm two. The result of the third was not addressed by Catlin in the materials the SI reporters discovered. Former Armstrong soigneur Emma O’Reilly told journalist David Walsh that, in ’99, the team forged a backdated prescription to explain a positive test in Stage 1 of the Tour. In the e-mails to cycling officials obtained by the Wall Street Journal and other publications, Landis alleged that Armstrong told him that Bruyneel and Armstrong flew to UCI headquarters in Switzerland to make a financial agreement with UCI president Hein Verbruggen to suppress a positive test result Armstrong generated at the Tour of Switzerland. SI reported in January that Armstrong obtained the blood substitute HemAssist, which had been pulled from clinical trials. Sources for this article include: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/cyclist-tyler-hamilton-hands-in-2004-olympic-gold-medal-to-doping-agency.html http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lance-armstrong-20110520,0,2130490.story http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/sports/hamilton-surrendering-his-gold-medal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/may/20/floyd-landis-tyler-hamilton-lance-armstrong http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2011/05/20/another-day-another-doping-charge/ http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/you-jury

Fukushima Reactor No. 3 suffers likely core breach, now leaking water at 10,000 times normal radiation levels

(NaturalNews) The Fukushima situation took a turn for the worse today as two nuclear repair workers stepped into some water at Reactor No. 3 and suffered severe radiation burns requiring immediate hospitalization. The water, it turns out, measures 10,000 times normal radiation levels , and it appears to be leaking from the core of Reactor No. 3. If confirmed, this can only mean one thing: A containment breach that now risks the spewing of enormous quantities of radiation into the environment, easily dwarfing the releases from Chernobyl in 1986. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan had some somber words for the world press, saying “The situation today at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant. We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care.” (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110325/D9M67MAG0.html) “Even if there has been encouraging news such as getting some power back to the site, the installation remains in an extremely precarious and very serious situation that has not yet been stabilized” said Thomas Houdre from France’s nuclear safety agency (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-03-22/nuclear-plant-s-fuel-rods-damaged-leaking-into-sea-tokyo-electric-says.html). Reactor No. 3, of course, is the reactor with the extremely dangerous MOX fuel that’s two million times more deadly than regular enriched uranium (http://www.naturalnews.com/031736_plutonium_enriched_uranium.html). This reactor is so dangerous all by itself that it hardly matters whether Reactors 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are brought under control if Reactor No. 3 isn’t. By itself, this facility could dwarf the radioactive fallout levels caused by the Chernobyl disaster, and now it appears a containment leak is very likely to have occurred. Radiation from the Fukushima catastrophe has already been detected on vegetables 135 miles South of Fukushima, and the Tokyo water supply has been declared unsafe to consume due to high levels of radiation. Low levels of radioactive fallout has been detected across the United States and Canada, but those levels could rise dramatically if Reactor No. 3 has a sustained containment leak and begins releasing more radiation directly into the environment. As Prime Minister Kan already stated, “We are not in a position where we can be optimistic.” That is a sobering statement from a government that has done its best to downplay the severity of the situation. What will they do now? If a containment breach has occurred, how will workers be able to even access the nuclear facility to continue making repairs and try to get the cooling pumps online? Even CNN called this “a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.” (http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/25/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html) A breach in the containment vessel is a game-changer. If this leak actually exists, it would make it extremely difficult to bring the situation back under control. Stay tuned to NaturalNews for more updates as this situation develops.

Fukushima update: Emergency evacuation of workers ordered after Reactor No. 3 emits grayish smoke

(NaturalNews) Here’s the latest on the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan: • Releases of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant are “now significant and continuing” said Andre-Claude Lacoste, said the head of France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). (http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110321-269333.html) • A “grayish smoke” cloud was observed coming from the roof of Reactor No. 3, causing an evacuation of all the workers there while Japanese authorities figure out if it’s safe to return the workers to the site. It was called an “alarming setback” and provides further evidence of a worsening problem with Reactor No. 3 (where the MOX plutonium fuel is stored). (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/21/2011-03-21_smoke_from_japanese_nuclear_plants_reactor_forces_evacuation_of_fukushima_daiich.html) • Radioactive contamination has now likely reached to a 100km radius around the Fukushima power plant. • WHO admits that the radiation leaks from Fukushima are far worse than what the public has so far been told (http://www.speroforum.com/a/50605/WHO-Contamination-From-Fukushima-Worse-Than-Thought). • Power cables have so far been physically rigged to all six reactors, but only one or two coolant pumps are working so far. • Abnormal levels of radiation continue to be found in Japanese food and milk products. • The World Bank reports that Japan will need to spend $235 billion to rebuild after the Fukushima disaster. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan_earthquake_and_tsunami_caused_up_to_235_billion_in_damages_world_bank_says/2011/03/21/ABtzwn4_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage) Note: Japan currently owns over $800 billion in U.S. debt and may start selling off some of that debt to pay for its rebuilding efforts. • Two of the six reactors are now considered placed in “cold shutdown,” meaning they pose very little risk of further escalations. Reactor No. 3, on the other hand, still poses a threat of what experts are now calling “re-criticality.” (A fuel rod meltdown.) More updates to be posted here on NaturalNews.com throughout the week.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme wants quick resolution to Alberto Contador doping case

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme wants quick resolution to Alberto Contador doping case Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Thursday he hopes a swift verdict will be reached in the case of reigning champion Alberto Contador, who failed a drugs test during the race last year. Last month the Spanish cycling federation proposed [...]

Breast cancer breakthrough: vitamin D in combination with sun exposure is key to prevention

(NaturalNews) As NaturalNews has covered for years, researchers have found a profound link between breast cancer and low levels of vitamin D (http://www.naturalnews.com/023264_Vitamin_D_cancer_brst.html). Women with the lowest blood levels have the highest breast cancer risk and those dying of metastasized disease are the most vitamin D deficient of all. Scientists have theorized vitamin D has anti-cancer properties that influence cell growth, healthy cell differentiation and programmed cell death (apoptosis). However, when researchers have looked only at levels of dietary vitamin D intake and breast cancer risk, their findings have been sometimes inconsistent. So what is going on here? Does vitamin D definitely have the potential to prevent breast malignancies or not? A large and potentially groundbreaking French study appears to have the answer: the key to breast cancer prevention may well be taking higher amounts of vitamin D through diet and supplements combined with regular, direct sunshine exposure. The new research, headed by Dr. Pierre Engel from INSERM (Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, which is France’s equivalent to the National Institutes of Health in the U.S.), investigated data combined from a large, decade long study involving 67,721 post-menopausal French women. The analysis came up with clear, startling evidence that while vitamin D plays a role in reducing the risk of breast cancer, the addition of adequate sunshine exposure is the factor that substantially drops the risk even more. The scientists found that women living in the sunniest places in the south of France, such as Provence, had only about half the risk of breast cancer of women residing in less sunny latitudes, such as Paris. Even women who had the lowest vitamin D intake but who got lots of sunshine had a 32 percent lower risk of breast cancer than their counterparts living in less sunny latitudes of France. What’s more, the women who consumed the most dietary vitamin D from foods and supplements and who had regular, generous sun exposure had the most significant protection from developing breast cancer. In their research paper, which was just published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention , the French team concluded that a minimum threshold of vitamin D obtained from both sunshine and diet “..is required to prevent breast cancer and this threshold is particularly difficult to reach in postmenopausal women at northern latitudes where quality of sunlight is too poor for adequate vitamin D production.” They also noted that the minimal intake of vitamin D to reduce the risk of breast cancer is likely to vary with an individual woman’s ability to metabolize or synthesize the vitamin from both diet and sunshine exposure. Adding that the average American and French woman has relative low levels of vitamin D and tends to get little exposure to sunshine, the scientists recommended “…an increase in overall vitamin D intake should be encouraged by food and health agencies.” For more information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21127286 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20826834

Next Page »