Nutrition
A good diet is your best friend. A new study by Almudena Sanchez-Villegas et al found that those eating a Mediterranean-style diet were 30 per cent less likely to suffer from depression, compared to those who had the lowest Mediterranean diet scores. That seems to be a substantial benefit. The so-called Mediterranean diet is rich […]
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A CDC official report last month said what almost everyone must surely know: "Obesity rates in the U.S. have increased dramatically over the last 30 years, and obesity is now epidemic in the United States." This is a serious matter. Indeed, according to the CDC:
Approximately two thirds of U.S. adults and one fifth of U.S. children are obese or overweight. Being either obese or overweight increases the risk for many chronic diseases (e.g., heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and stroke). Reversing the U.S. obesity epidemic requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach that uses policy and environmental change to transform communities into places that support and promote healthy lifestyle choices for all U.S. residents. Environmental factors (including lack of access to full-service grocery stores, increasing costs of healthy foods and the lower cost of unhealthy foods, and lack of access to safe places to play and exercise) all contribute to the increase in obesity rates by inhibiting or preventing healthy eating and active living behaviors. Recommended strategies and appropriate measurements are needed to assess the effectiveness of community initiatives to create environments that promote good nutrition and physical activity. (MMWR Vol. 58 / No. RR-7)
Once again the authors of a research report have revealed more about their own shortcomings than about the intended focus of the study. One has to wonder how they can be so ignorant. To be fair, part of the problem is the style, tone and structure — the very literacy — of such reports, which encourages or expects (at least subconsciously) the kind of statements made in the report that I find so revealing about the authors.
Still, this doesn’t excuse them. Unless they live totally within their ivory towers (the University of California Davis School of Medicine and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry to be specific) or are exceedingly dull and uninformed there is simply no excuse for their ignorance.
The Organic Concumers Association is participating in a campaign to educate consumers and put pressure on manufacturers of synthetic supplements. They aim to challenge the natural products industry to stop lacing nutritional supplements with innefective and hazardous synthetic chemicals and to instead use genuinely organic, naturally occuring ingredients.
To coincide with the Natural Products Expo West convention, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has launched a new public health and truth-in-labeling campaign called Nutri-Con: The Truth About Vitamins & Supplements. Through public education, marketplace pressure, and litigation, OCA’s Nutri-Con campaign will expose the hazards and limited effectiveness of synthetic vitamins and supplements, and strive to create mass consumer awareness and marketplace demand for truly organic, "naturally occurring" vitamins, botanicals, and supplements.
As reported last September, food fortification with folate does pose some risks. Indeed I don’t support fortification programs generally and I consider the folate programs to be a very bad idea. Why is this?
Essentially, folate food fortification involves the enrichment of denatured, highly refined, frequently poor quality and high risk (triggering allergies and sensitivities) grains. These flours are dangerous enough and should be completely avoided. This is an extremely unpopular position to take because grains marketing through Departments of Agriculture and ‘scientific’ associations has assumed a health-righteousness that supports an erroneous orthodox view that grains are essential sources of nutrient needs. Unpopular to be sure, but a position I stand by nevertheless.
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