Covenant Natural Health Care

Health News Roundup

• With your help - Free speech in health science may become a reality: The Free Speech about Science (FSAS) Act, HR 1364, would change FDA regulations so that legitimate, peer-reviewed scientific studies can be referenced without changing the food's regulatory category to an unapproved drug. This will protect access to scientific information, and will protect your right to know about the healthy benefits of food and food supplements. The bill amends the appropriate sections of current law to allow the flow of legitimate scientific and educational information while still giving FDA and FTC the right to take action against misleading information and against false and unsubstantiated claims.

• Obesity Surgery Even Worse than Previously Thought: "Researchers concluded that the adjustable gastric band surgery, which is growing in popularity in the United States, 'appears to result in relatively poor long-term outcomes.' The results 'are worse than we expected,' said Dr. Jacques Himpens ... lead author of the new study."

• Oakland officials threaten to shut down urban gardener growing food on her own land: The city of Oakland, Calif., which is marked largely by blight and crime, has decided to go after a backyard gardener for growing and occasionally selling the fruits of her labor. According to a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle (SFC), Oakland city officials are summoning Novella Carpenter to either pay a costly permit fee and penalties for providing locals with backyard produce items like Swiss chard without government approval, or face city sanctions.

• Want to Burn Away Those Excess Pounds? Heed This Lesson From the Afghans... : The organs of the Canadians, Americans, and Europeans he treated were encased in fat.  Afghan civilians and soldiers had little or no fat or adipose tissue underneath the skin. Patterson has become convinced that the effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

•  The Surprising Benefits of Drinking This 'Unhealthy' Everyday Beverage...:


• Are New 'Healthier' Potato Chips Really Any Better For You?: "Making snacks with natural ingredients doesn't necessarily make them healthy, nutritionists and industry critics caution, even if they are potentially less bad. That includes potato chips."

• Do You Practice These 4 Habits of Some of the World's Healthiest People?:  Eating a "Mediterranean diet" could prevent or even reverse metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. Scientists believe that a Mediterranean-style diet has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on your body.

• Last-minute budget deal narrowly avoids the Big Government shutdown America desperately needs to balance its budget: The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats want to spend us into oblivion while the Republicans only want to spend us into purgatory. The idea of actually running a balanced budget has never seriously occurred to either party. Government, after all, increases its popularity by confiscating money from some people and redistributing it to other people while keeping at least half of all that money for itself.

• What's Lurking in Your Meat and Poultry? Probably Staph: Researchers were surprised to find that nearly half of samples of beef, pork and poultry tested from popular grocery stores were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) doesn't even monitor in the food source, because it's not known as a common food-borne pathogen.

Health News Roundup

There are lots of articles in the news about the new health care bill and pharmaceuticals. Here's a sampling of them in this week's health news roundup:

• Seasonal flu death estimates grossly overestimated: Every year as flu season approaches, health authorities begin their chorus of warnings about the dangers of getting the flu. As part of their campaign to drum up support for the annual flu vaccine, it is common to hear about the 36,000 people who die every year from flu-related illness. But is this statistic even accurate? According to a recent announcement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no.

• British prawns getting high on Prozac in the water: In recent years, scientists have become increasingly aware that pharmaceutical products and byproducts are contaminating the world's fresh- and saltwater. These come from products washed off human bodies and clothing, partially metabolized drugs given to humans and animals, and unmetabolized drugs  discarded from hospitals and pharmaceutical plants.

• Diabetes drug researcher admits drug trials are unethical and dangerous: A drug researcher who presided over the trial that first raised concerns over the diabetes blockbuster Avandia has warned that further tests of the drug's safety would be unethical.

• Prescription-drug use an issue for employers: Dura Automotive Systems had changed the policy at its plant to test for certain prescription drugs as well as illicit ones. The medication that Bates was taking for back pain — hydrocodone, a narcotic prescribed by her doctor — was among many the auto-parts company suddenly had deemed unsafe.

• The price problem that health-care reform failed to cure: The health-care law of 2010 is, as Vice President Biden put it, a "big [expletive] deal." It sets us on the road to universal health insurance. It is a favorite target for Republicans gunning to take over Congress. Lawmakers who supported it could lose their jobs. And it will remain a central focus after the midterms, as Democrats defend it against legal and political challenges through 2014, when it takes full effect.

• 3 Lies Big Food Wants You to Believe and the Truth Behind Factory-'Farmed' Meat: Most of the meat Americans consume is from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, which are horrific for animals and terrible for our health and our communities.

• Americans Spend More for Health Care to Live Shorter Lives: Virtually every measurable index indicates that despite the ever-increasing amounts of money invested, if you live in the US, your chances of achieving optimal health through the medical system is only getting worse.

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Health News Roundup

Check out this weeks health news roundup (as always, click on the link for the full article):

FDA refuses to require labeling of genetically modified salmon: the FDA has already gone on the record stating it will not require any special labeling of genetically modified salmon.

Processed meat causes heart disease, diabetes: For the purposes of the current study, processed meats  were defined as meat products preserved by means of curing, smoking, salting or chemicals. They found that every 1.8 ounces of processed meat  consumed per day raised the risk of diabetes by 19 percent and the risk of heart disease by 42 percent. This increased risk  was not seen in people who ate unprocessed red meat products.

Breast cancer cases fell as HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) use dropped: Breast cancer rates fell as women turned away from hormone replacement therapy, a study has shown, boosting understanding of how the two are linked.

Why 80% of U.S. Dentists are 150 Years BEHIND the Times…

The Cure-All Properties of Ginger: Aside from curbing nausea and reducing inflammation, thus lessening muscle pain, ginger has also been used to prevent ulcers, treat heartburn and aid digestion. Some research even suggests it might reduce cholesterol levels, though so far only in mice.

Obama health care reform imposes 3.8% tax on all income from home sales and home rental income: the new health care bill imposes a 3.8% tax on “unearned income” above a certain threshold (see below), which includes income from any source that you aren’t directly working for. This includes interest you receive on a savings account, dividends from stocks, rental income from a property you own, social security income, unemployment checks, child support and of course income from home sales.

Ditch this Daily Kitchen Product Now to Protect Yourself from Cancer and High Cholesterol: Children and teens who have high blood levels of chemicals used in the production of non-stick cookware may be more likely to have elevated LDL cholesterol levels, according to a report.