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Butter Consumption Rising

Americans are eating more butter—consumption has risen 25 percent in the last decade. Americans now eat 5.6 pounds of butter per person per year, up from a low of 4.1 pounds in 1997. This is a far cry from the 18 pounds per person per year Americans consumed as late as 1934, before the Great Depression, World War II and the advent of margarine changed the nation’s eating habits. A report in the Los Angeles Times (January 7, 2014) credits butter’s growing popularity with “more understanding about the health hazards of its processed counterparts” namely margarines containing trans fats. But the Times report states as fact that “it’s not a health food. In a word, butter is fat—and not the good kind. It’s loaded with saturated fat, which has been linked to heart disease.” Fortunately more and more Americans are rejecting this kind of propaganda. Food manufacturers “are working hard to take advantage of [the new] demand by labeling their cookies and frozen pies as ‘made with real butter’.” Even “healthier” margarine is struggling to stand out in a nation “increasingly captivated by foodie culture. Butter has become a symbol of America’s growing appreciation of authentic cooking. . .

Cracks in the Saturated Fat Dogma

A large, exhaustive new analysis of nearly eighty studies by a team of international scientists has found no evidence that eating saturated fat increases the incidence of heart attacks and other cardiac events. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine (2014;160(6):398-406), did not find t hat people who ate higher levers of saturated fat had more heart disease than those who ate less, nor did the study find less heart disease in those dutifully eating higher amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. “My take on this would be that it’s not saturated fat that we should worry about” in our diets, said Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury, the study’s lead author and a cardiovascular epidemiologist in the department of public health and primary care at Cambridge University. But here in the U.S., health officials will make sure we keep worrying. Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health said that the findings “should not be taken as a green light to eat more steak, butter and other foods rich in saturated fat.” Prominent food Puritan Alice H Lichtenstein, a nutritional biochemist at Tufts University chided, “. . . it would be unfortunate if these results were interpreted to suggest that people can go back to eating butter and cheese with abandon.” And the American Heart Association is sticking to its strictures against butter, cheese and cream. These folks, enchained in academia, will still be shaking their fingers at us when everyone else has gone back to delicious, healthful eating.

Tylenol and ADHD

In a disturbing study published in JAMA Pediatrics (2014;168(4):313-320), researchers at the University of Aarhus in Denmark found a strong correlation between acetaminophen (found in common pain killers like Tylenol) use among pregnant women and the rate of ADHD in their children. Overall, moms who used the pain reliever to treat headaches or to reduce fevers saw a 37 percent increased risk in their children receiving an ADHD diagnosis and a 29 percent increased risk in the chances their children received ADHD medications compared with moms who didn’t use the medication at all. Even after the team accounted for other factors, the link remained strong. The findings are especially troubling since more than sixty-four thousand women in the study reported using acetaminophen in the three months prior to the survey. Higher acetaminophen use among others was linked to higher rates of ADHD in their children. Scientists speculate that hormone disruptions in utero, triggered by acetaminophen, may cause enough imbalance in the brain to make certain children more vulnerable to autism or hyperactivity later in life.

Polio Like

When vaccines have wiped out polio and people still get polio, what happens? Medical personnel call the paralytic symptoms something else, in this case Non-Polio Acute Flaccid Paralysis (NPAFP). In India, for example, the “last” case of polio occurred in 2011; but in the same year there were an extra 47,500 new cases of “rare” NPAFP. The occurrence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio vaccine received. The symptoms of NPAFP are clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis and the illness is twice as deadly. Now we are hearing about “polio-like” illness in California, with a cluster of five children with paralysis in one year—and this is just the reported cases. Other countries are also seeing increases in the new “non-polio” illness. The truth is, polio was on a steep decline when the vaccine was introduced (some say due to banning of neurotoxic DDT), and now it’s back. The most logical conclusion is that NPAFP is caused by the polio vaccine.

Unvaccinated Children Healthier

A study from the 1990s has come to light, proving that compared to unvaccinated children, vaccinated children are more likely to suffer from asthma, eczema, ear infections, hyperactivity and many other chronic conditions. Vaccinated children had a tenfold increase in tonsillitis while not one unvaccinated child had a tonsillectomy. The Immunization Awareness Society (IAS) conducted the survey in 1992 to examine the health of New Zealand’s children. Out of a total of 495 children surveyed, 226 were vaccinated and 269 were unvaccinated. A survey that included eight thousand unvaccinated children in Germany found that vaccinated children were up to five times more likely to suffer from a variety of diseases and disorders than unvaccinated children. The unvaccinated children had very low rates of autism, dyslexia, speech delay, anxiety, depression, bedwetting, celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and GERD (http://vactruth.com/2014/02/26/unvaccinated-children-healthier/).

Vegetarians not Healthier

While American health officials trumpet the putative benefits of a plant-based diet, researchers in Austria have concluded that people consuming a vegetarian diet have poorer health generally, poorer quality of life and a higher need for health care than their meat-eating counterparts. The study was carried out at the Medical University of Graz in Austria, where scientists found that vegetarians were indeed more physically active, drank less alcohol and smoked less tobacco than those who consume meat in their diets. Vegetarians also have a higher socioeconomic status and a lower body mass index. They consumed low levels of saturated fat and cholesterol and high levels of fruits, vegetables and whole grain products. But in spite of all these factors said to be correlated with better health, the vegetarians had more cancer, allergies and mental health problems, especially chronic anxiety and depression. Vegetarians had more visits to doctors and put more burden on the public health care system. This is important information for young Americans to know, since one in two hundred children, or about 367,000 American youngsters, are vegetarians (www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088278&representation=PDF).

New Flavors

DairiConcepts flavoring company has introduced seventeen new “topical” seasoning blends. These include organic tomato chipotle cheddar salsa seasoning, beefy nacho, tikka masala, spiced caramel yogurt, garlic butter and various cheese flavors including cheddar, blue and Parmesan (www.dairiconcepts.com). These come in the form of artificially colored powders, formulated by mad scientists in laboratories, not chefs in kitchens. Also coming soon is a synthetic vanilla created by inserting coded DNA into yeast. This new method of genetic engineering is called “natural” by Evolva, the company that makes it (http://www.infowars.com/new-form-of-gmosneaking-into-food-supply-this-year/).

GMO Updates

Russia was expected to allow GM food production and distribution after entering the World Trade Organization. However, in March, Russia’s President Putin said the country would stay GM-free without violating its obligations to the WTO. A draft bill banning GMOs submitted to the Russian parliament likens GMO production and distribution to terrorism (www.globalresearch.ca, May 20, 2014). Geopolitical analyst William Engdahl predicted the move would increase productivity in Russia while that in Europe would decline. Sri Lanka has partially banned glyphosate (the herbicide Roundup) following a deadly kidney disease epidemic (www.i-sis.org.uk, April 9 2014).

World’s Oldest Person

The world’s oldest person is Peruvian Filomena Taipe Mendoza, who has led a secluded life in the heart of the Andes mountains. Her government identity card puts her date of birth as December 20, 1897, making her one hundred sixteen years old. What does she eat? Definitely not a “Paleo” diet. “My secret to longevity is a natural diet—potatoes, goat meat and beans,” she says. She also has never drunk canned drinks, and she cooks everything she eats from her garden (news.yahoo.com/peruvian-116-stakes-claimoldest-woman-crown-214858246.html). The region also boasts eight other individuals who are one hundred ten years old or older, all presumably eating a mixed diet of natural foods.

Collateral Damage

The war on germs, which uses antibiotics indiscriminately and keeps babies and children from exposure to the real world of germs, has created a generation of children with poor immune systems. The latest evidence comes from a study by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where researchers found that when pregnant women take antibiotics, this can depress the immune system of their offspring. By contrast, moms can help strengthen a child’s ability to avoid illness by passing on certain germs. The study showed that bacteria in the gut play a crucial role in fostering the rapid production of infection-fighting white blood cells. The researchers found that mice have a surge of white blood cells around birth, but this response is reduced when their mothers are exposed to antibiotics. The offspring of mothers given antibiotics were more vulnerable to deadly E. coli infections, especially when they were born prematurely. Unfortunately, not only are moms routinely given antibiotics—if they test positive for Strep, for example, or have a Cesarean section—critically ill babies are often treated with antibiotics as a precaution without proof of infection (Nature Medicine 20, 469–470 (2014).

McDonald’s Nutrition

Dietitians go to professional conferences to get continuing education credits. At the recent conference of the California Dietetic Association (CDA), attendees had only one choice for food—McDonald’s, the only Gold Sponsor. McDonald’s served salad with additive-laden ranch dressing, a strawberry pink yogurt parfait, chocolate chip cookies and other paradigms of processed food. Vendors in the exhibit hall included Davidson’s “Safest Choice” pasteurized eggs, Butter Buds (fake butter flavor), Carmi Flavors, Monsanto, Nestlé, Smart Balance, and Sysco (which supplies foods to restaurants and hospitals.) The sessions had food industry sponsors as well. The Wheat Council hosted a presentation about how gluten intolerance was just a fad, not a real medical problem. The International Food Information Council—whose supporters include Coca-Cola, Hershey, Yum Brands, Kraft, and McDonald’s—presented a discussion in which the panelists assured audience members that genetically modified foods were safe and environmentally sustainable. A session entitled “Sweeteners in Schools: Keeping Science First in a Controversial Discussion,” sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association, whose members produce and sell high-fructose corn syrup, hosted a panel composed of three of the trade group’s representatives. The panelists bemoaned some schools’ decision to remove chocolate milk from their cafeteria menus. Later, one panelist said that she’d been dismayed to learn that some schools had banned sugary treats from classroom Valentine’s Day parties, which “could be a teachable moment for kids about moderation.” The moderator nodded in agreement, and insisted that all sugars contain the same calories, so you can’t say that there is one ingredient causing the obesity crisis” (motherjones.com, May 12, 2014).

Causes of Violence

The malaria drug Lariam (mefloquine) is linked to grisly crimes like that of Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who murdered sixteen Afghan civilians in 2012; and the murder of four wives of Fort Bragg soldiers in 2002. The FDA has beefed up warnings about the drug’s neurotoxic effects and users are now given a medication guide and wallet card, but the drug and its generic versions are still the third most prescribed malaria medication in the U.S., with over two hundred thousand prescriptions annually. A recent paper admitted that Lariam may be behind “seemingly spectacular and impulsive suicides.” It produces “derealization and depersonalization, compulsions toward dangerous objects, and morbid curiosity about death” (OpEdNews.com, April 8, 2014). Drugs like these coupled with the recommended lowfat, high-carbohydrate diet make a recipe for violent behavior. A recent study from Denmark found that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet limited fear and aggression in test animals (PLos ONE 9(4), April 16, 2014).

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