That soda will kill ya!

Sodas will kill you, it seems. Sugar, hfcs, or artificial sweerners, all will shorten your life.!
This massive study in Europe followed almost a half million people for an average of 16 years, analyzing death rates. Drinking two or more sodas was correlated to many types of fatal illnesses.

Other studies have shown links to cancers and other ails.

Doctors recommend water instead.

Meanwhile, drinking a glass of beer or wine increases your life and (generally) improves your heath.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20190903/once-again-soda-tied-to-higher-risk-of-early-death

Landmark lawsuit claims Monsanto hid cancer danger of weedkiller, plus Glyphosate fate

Landmark lawsuit claims Monsanto hid cancer danger of weedkiller for decades | Business | The Guardian:

There is lots of mounting evidence against Roundup, and/or the use of genetically modified crops. The research seems to be evenly split between the research paid for by Monsanto ( directly or indirectly ) and the more independent research that points to issues.

The evidence is pretty clear, however, of the negative impact of prolonged glyphosate use on the soil.

Want to know more about Glyphosate on the soil, go to the Soil Association  (www.soilassociation.org). They summarized available research related to the impact of glyphosate on soil health as of mid 2016. They found mixed results but strong evidence to support serious concerns about glyphosate and its impact on these specific areas of soil health:
1) leaching into the water, especially with prolonged glyphosate exposure
2) impact on soil micro-organisms, especially when regular use of herbicide(s)
3) impact on fungi (that live near plant roots that provide nutrients as well as protect against drought and disease
4) severity and occurrence of crop diseases
5) impact on earthworms.

For example, two studies found no impact of glyphosate on earthworms, 4 studies did (related to reproduction, movement or activity of different species of earthworms).

Although the World Health Organization has a report that suggests that glyphosate can "probably" cause cancer, other international organizations have not gone so far. See the article in Wikipedia on glyphosate.

Note that glyphosate was first patented in 1950 as a chelator. "Stauffer Chemical patented the agent as a chemical chelator in 1964 as it binds and removes minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc." (View patent here.)

It wasn't until 1970s that Monsanto came out with its patented herbicide under the brand name RoundUp.

Note that a chelator can be used to deliver certain minerals as a fertilizer to the soil in ways that would not otherwise be readily absorbable to plants. But in the case of glyphosate, it ties up critical minerals (calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc), depriving the plant (weed) to the point of killing it.

Glyphosate is a registered pesticide (EPA) since 1970s. The most recent draft of the risk assessment by the EPA is here. The draft is open for discussion, so those people/organizations who think that glyphosate is more of a health (and nutrition) risk than Monsanto would want us to believe have an  opportunity to weigh in on the issue.

RoundUp is applied to the entire field, both the genetically modified crop (corn or soy) and the weeds within. The weeds die, the crop does not. But you have to wonder about the health and nutritional value of the crop?

It is unlikely that Monsanto has been fully truthful and completely forward on the health impacts of phosphate. It seems even more unlikely that Monsanto has been totally forthright on the nutritional values of organics vs. industrial farming with GMO crops that are heavily doused with glyphosate.

If Monsanto has been untruthful, these court cases could go against the company. If the company has been covering up damning evidence, it could become really, really ugly for the company.

No matter what happens, the merger of Monsanto with Bayer is eminent. (Bayer's $66B buyout offer is from September of 2016, but still facing regulator approval.) Monsanto has enough negative image issues, that the name should be discontinues within a year or so. It will be interesting to see how much liability from RoundUp, Bayer will bear!???

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Okay. Coconut oil really is good for you, no BS

I was surprised to see what seemed like a reputable source questioning the good health values of coconut oil. See our blog post here.

But I like this discussion much better by Dr Hyman. He discusses how coconut oil always has been good for you. The "battle against cholesterol" is generally a bogus war being won by billions of dollars in Staten drug pharma. Hyman discusses island countries that have no cancer and no heart disease, but eat tonnes of coconuts off the trees!

In short, coconut oil increases your good cholesterol (HDL) and improves your cholesterol ratio. What it might do to total cholesterol is in no way relevant. It leads to heather outcomes and lower risk of heard disease.

Dr Hyman complains that the FDA shows a bias toward the existing huge organizations, avoiding the most basic foundations of health and science. Hyman observes how they caution against cholesterol, without scientific foundation, yet allow sugary cereal and soft-drinks.  After watching them tap-dancing around the labeling for GMO, you gotta believe it. (GMO labeling is required, but it does not have to be on the purchase label, just off in space on a web site somewhere.)

Doc H argues that coconut (oil) is still one of the most healthy and wholesome super foods in existence. He presents the evidence. He wrote the book. It looks like he's got it right.

World Soil Day the down-and-dirty on Ag

When you eat, and as you eat today, give thanks to the soil that made it all possible.
USDA on Soil Day. December 5th.

Today is World Soil Day, and the the truth is in the soil. Neglect the soil long enough and all you have is depleted crops. AND no, it does not come in the usual 6-6-6 fertilizers that concentrate on only 3 components in the fertilizer while neglecting how the soil got depleted in the first place.

It has to do with cycles. Farms were never meant to have all the crops hauled away to the cities, with no mechanism to return the nutrients. We experienced this during dust bowl of the great depression, where top soil had been depleted and the ag practices tilled the land so the remaining topsoil was readily blown away.

We all need to think more about closed-loop ag systems. All crops begin with the nutrients and the soil. We neglect and deplete them at our own demise.

Eat well today, and think about fertile soil and healthy food systems.

Bon Appetite.

FDA miss, more or less!

Uncle Sam Just Told Us To Drink Water, Not Soda. You Might've Missed It http://n.pr/1TI2QUx

The guidelines, and the pictures, should be, and could be, very simple.
More... fresh fruits and vegetables. More water. More exercise.
Less... Processed foods, red meat, and sugary soft drinks.
Simple. And fits nicely into almost any diagram you want to make.

Organic. Foods to buy Organic -- The dirty dozen foods

There's a lot of discussion about foods that are really and issue to eat that are not organic.

The idea is that you can eat the cheaper stuff in many cases but definitely spend the money on some of the foods that are really likely to be very unhealthy if you don't go for the organically grown.

Look here for the annual list of the dirty and also the green foods by Environmental Working Group's annual list.

7 Best Foods to Buy Organic

Here's the Dirty 7: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/builtlean/best-food-to-buy-organic_b_3779168.html

• Potatoes
• Beef
• Milk
• Apples
• Strawberries
• Kale / Spinach
• Peaches

The Dirty Dozen

The Dirty Dozen: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods#slide-1

"But organic food can cost more, meaning many families are loathe to shell out the extra cash for organic produce on every shopping trip. That's what makes the Environmental Working Group's annual list of the dirty dozen foods so useful. The group analyzes Department of Agriculture data about pesticide residue and ranks foods based on how much or little pesticide residue they have. The group has estimated that individuals can reduce their exposure by 80% if they switch to organic when buying these 12 foods."

The Dirty Dozen PLUS (14 foods to strongly consider organics)

Eating Well will tell you that there's a couple more you should keep your eye on that are dirty(er).

http://www.eatingwell.com/food_news_origins/organic_natural/dirty_dozen_plus_14_foods_you_should_buy_organic

Note that the USDA has not yet offered a Minimum daily recommendation for pesticides. So, if you want to reduce that wild-card in your diet, avoiding these foods unless they are organic is probably a good idea!.

But, it's your body and your diet, so you decide where and how you spend your money and gain your calories/nutrition.  

Healthy eats to you.

Chia... The super healthy alternative to ... The Costco Connection - July 2013 - Page 47

The Costco Connection - July 2013 - Page 47:

Really cool about Chia.

We knew about the tea and the drinks, but who knew about all the other uses of Chia.

Substitute for eggs.

Even tells a little history. Short article is jam-packed as is the little Chia seed.

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Earth Day Number 1 (of 4) Wellness... Gleaning feeds the needy | Highlands Today

Gleaning feeds the needy | Highlands Today: "Gleaning feeds the needy"

Earth Day... Basic four things to do. Right now.

Number 1. Health and wellness. People can’t be healthy, and they certainly can’t be productive, if they don’t have the basics of health and living conditions. Just drinkable water and basic sanitation is a critical issue. This combined with the lack of basic nutrition results in major health and wellness issues for approximately 2 billion of the world’s population.

ToDo: One of the things that can be done here is to go on missions to developing countries to help them learn and develop the sanitary and development skills. You will want to develop your own survival skills first in a programs such as the HEART program at Warner University.

ToDo: Consider helping with composting, urban gardens and gleaning projects. Gleaning, as mentioned in the bible, is where volunteers are allowed to go through the fields after they have been harvested to pick the edible -- but not necessarily pretty -- fruit and vegetables. (See Gleaning For The World (www.GFTW.org), End Hunger (www.EndHunger.org), gleaning in Florida (this article). 

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