Steroid use among police officers a widespread problem

(NaturalNews) Professional athletes are not the only prominent members of society with major drug problems. According to a recent report by AOL News, as many as 25 percent or more of police officers are regularly take steroid drugs, which has led to a rise in the number of assaults and other cases of “roid rage” occurring against citizens by those in law enforcement. Lawrence Payne, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently told AOL News that steroid use among cops is a “big problem” and that “it’s something we shouldn’t ignore.” After all, numerous investigations have revealed an alarmingly high rate of use, including an investigation in New Jersey that pinned 248 cops and 53 firefighters with steroid use. Former South Bend police officer Tony Macik, for instance, served a 300-day jail sentence for dealing steroids and assaulting one of his wife’s co-workers, an incident likely related to steroid use (http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/65619597.html). And an 84-year-old Florida man who suffered a broken neck after being tackled by Officer Travis Lamont from the Orlando Police Department says that Lamont’s “erratic, sporadic and aggressive behavior” was indicative of steroid use (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/lawyer-wanted-orlando-officer-tested-for-steroids-after-956680.html). And there are countless other cases of both steroid use and possession among officers across the country. But because most people are unaware of it, little is being done to stop the practice. Officers are not necessarily even required to undergo drug testing, and some departments say that forcing officers to get tested for drugs after they assault citizens violates their rights. According to Larry Gaines, chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at California State University, San Bernardino, steroid use has escalated among police officers largely due to increased emphasis on strength and fitness. And because officers are not in the limelight in the same way that professional athletes are, most of society remains clueless and unconcerned about the resulting widespread negative effects. Sources for this story include: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/26/illegal-steroid-use-among-police-officers-a-big-problem/?icid=maing|main5|dl1|sec2_lnk1|33361

US military says school lunches are a threat to national security

(NaturalNews) A group of retired military officials recently expressed concern that school lunches are a threat to national security. According to them, the food being fed to children at public schools is making them “too fat to fight”, leaving a potentially considerable gap in military recruitment. “Mission: Readiness”, the non-profit group of over 130 retired military leaders that is calling for healthier federal food for children, is expressing support for new legislation that would outlaw junk food from schools so that more children will qualify to enroll in the military. The group believes that “national security” is America’s top priority, so it is doing everything it can to increase military enrollment, even if that means supporting and passing federal food restriction legislation. According to the group’s report, roughly 75 percent of all young Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 do not qualify for military service because they do not finish high school, have criminal records, or they are not physically fit enough to serve. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics, the number of states with 40 percent or more of the young adult population being overweight or obese has jumped from one to 39 in just ten years. Currently in three states, more than half of the young adult population is overweight. Mission: Readiness is calling on Congress to amend the Child Nutrition Act to include three new policies: – Permit the USDA to adopt updated nutrition standards that would eliminate high-calorie, low-nutrition junk foods from public schools. – Provide additional funding to improve the quality of food at public schools and increase the number of children who have access to it. – Administer school-based programs to teach parents how to teach their children to adopt better eating and lifestyle habits. Sadly, the motivation for such legislation does not seem to be for the actual benefit of the children themselves, but rather to fuel the endeavors of the military-industrial complex. And while there are some good proposals for switching to healthier food in public schools, threatening proposals to further increase federal control over people also seem to be present in the push. Supporting healthier food for children is always a good thing, but it’s important to lead the charge as a free and independent people, rather than simply grant increased power and control to federal bureaucrats. Remember, if they have the power to give it, they have the power to take it away. Sources for this story include: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/school-lunches-pose-national-security-threat-ret-military/story?id=10424313 http://cdn.missionreadiness.org/MR_Too_Fat_to_Fight-1.pdf

Vitamin D Promotes Weight Loss

(NaturalNews) A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota found that overweight people have better success in losing weight when their vitamin D levels are increased. Dr. Shalamar Sibley, the researcher who headed the study, placed 38 obese men and women on a diet program and discovered that those whose vitamin D levels were increased lost up to a half pound more than those who followed the diet plan only. When combined with a reduced-calorie diet, it appears that supplementation with vitamin D helps to promote increased weight loss among those whose levels are low to begin with. For each nanogram per milliliter increase in vitamin D precursor in the blood, it was observed that an extra half pound loss in weight was able to be achieved while the diet plan. A study published earlier this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 75 percent or more of American teens and adults are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to all sorts of serious illnesses including cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Researchers in the weight loss study are unsure whether vitamin D deficiency causes obesity or if obesity causes vitamin D deficiency. Nevertheless, there is a clear connection between the two. Vitamin D, in conjunction with calcium and sunlight, helps to properly assimilate food and regulate normal blood sugar levels. When there is a lack of calcium, oftentimes due to a vitamin D deficiency, the body increases production of synthase, a fatty acid enzyme that coverts calories into fat. Calcium deficiency can cause synthase production to increase by up to 500 percent, explaining the correlation between low levels of vitamin D and obesity. Mainstream research has only begun to scratch the surface about the importance of vitamin D in general health maintenance. A clinical study conducted in April of 2000 revealed that patients who were bound to wheelchairs because of chronic fatigue and body weakness became mobile after just six weeks of supplementation with 50,000 IU of vitamin D per week. Other studies are showing remarkable healing from all kinds of diseases when vitamin D is brought up to proper levels. Although current guidelines suggest daily intake somewhere between 400 and 600 IU, recent research is suggesting that this may be too low. Getting between 4,000 and 10,000 IU a day will have a much more therapeutic effect, boosting health and fending off disease. When natural sunlight is not an option, supplementation with vitamin D3 is the next best option. Sources for this story include: http://wcco.com/health/vitamin.d.weight.2.1383803.html, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=vitamin-d-deficiency-united-states, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153669.php