Everyday Killers

8 American Foods Banned In Other Countries

You have heard, "innocent until proven guilty," right? It is an approach that works well for our justice system, but it is not a good approach for our diets.

Thinking that things are safe just because they are on a store shelf, allows dangerous chemicals to permeate our food supply. Because most people expect organizations like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect us, it is surprising to learn how many everyday foods contain additives that have been banned in other parts of the world. 

While the human body is resilient, the fewer known carcinogens and toxins you can expose your family to the better - especially when there are so many healthy and affordable alternatives readily available. My company has been a Godsend to us because we learn about these things before the mainstream public. I am passionate about getting the word out. People have a right to know!

Here are 8 products you should eliminate from your home and diet.. 

Finding substitutions

Giving up products your family loves might be easier with a few recommendations. Here are some substitutions on which you can rely.

1. Wild Salmon

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines offer several sustainably harvested choices for salmon lovers including wild-caught Alaskan Salmon, Washington Salmon, and Oregon Salmon. 

2. Soda

Try a natural soda like Zevia or make your own seltzer and add fresh organic lemon or organic lime juice! 

3. Bread

Many commercial bakers, including Best Foods, Inc. (maker of Arnold, Entenmann’s, and Orowheat brand breads and rolls), Pepperidge Farm, and Pillsbury, have switched to bromate-free processes. In addition, some supermarket chains, like Giant, do not use bromate. Bromate is listed as a carcinogen in California, and Proposition 65 requires baked goods sold in California to bear a store-level cancer warnings if they contain dangerous levels of bromate. As a result, most California bakers have switched to bromate-free processes. Many breads throughout the United States are now being labeled bromate-free. If you do not see a label that makes it clear a product does or does not contain bromate, try to avoid products that contain “enhanced flour" to be safe. 

4. Jello 

Love Jello but don't want the artificial dyes? Mama Natural offers her DIY organic jello recipe using juice. 

5. Chips

Go to any natural food aisle and you'll find a host of olestra-free and artificial dye-free chips. Some of our favorites include Terra Chips (made with vegetables and dyed with juice), Stacy's Pita Chips, and Good Health Avocado Oil Kettle Chips.

6. Cereal

Cereals are another product category with dozens of delicious toxin-free options - including "junk food" cereals that kids love like Cinnamon Harvest Kashi and Gorilla Munch. Make your own corn tortilla chips!  They taste better and they have no preservatives.

7. Milk

When it comes to milk, look for milk that specifically states it is rBGH-free or buy organic (which has to be rBGH-free by law). It is more expensive, but worth the extra cost if you can afford it. Try almond or coconut milk -- you might just love it!

8. Chicken 

As with milk, the most "natural" (a.k.a. containing the fewest chemical additives) version of chicken is organic. For ethical reasons, you should also consider buying humanely raised meat and poultry when possible. 

By keeping an eye out for some of the most dangerous chemicals, and making a few substitutions next time you shop, you can reduce your family's exposure to dangerous chemicals and help support companies that are working to provide safer and more sustainable food. 

Thank you to Green Mom and her guide for the succinct organization of the basic info!

Do You Need A Detox?

Our bodies naturally detoxify everyday as part of a normal body process. Detoxification is one of the body’s most basic automatic functions of eliminating and neutralizing toxins through the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, lymph and skin. Unfortunately in this day and age, with the pollution found in the air, water and food we eat, our bodies have a hard time keeping up. Our chemicalized diet with too much processed foods, vegetable oils and trans fats, non-organic foods, caffeine and alcohol radically changes our internal ecosystem.

Body systems and organs that were once capable of cleaning out unwanted substances are now completely over-loaded to the point where toxic material remains inside our tissues. Our bodies try to protect us from dangerous substances by setting it aside, surrounding it with mucous and fat so that it will not cause an imbalance or trigger an immune response (some people carry up to 15 extra pounds of mucous that harbors this waste).

Detoxification through special cleansing processes is the best way to assist your body’s natural self-cleaning system. It is especially important for immune-compromised diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes and chronic fatigue. However, even if your diet is good, a spring cleanse can revitalize your system and rid your body of harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites. Here are some simple detox tips to get you started...

source: Hungry for a Change

4 Simple Detox Tips

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1. Drink More Water

Too often we misinterpret thirst for hunger. Our signal for thirst may cause us to eat as we mistake it for hunger pains. Reach for water first and make sure you are well hydrated before eating any meal throughout the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

Where possible make sure to drink your water at least 30 minutes before eating as this will allow time for the water to properly penetrate the cells of your body and hydrate your stomach lining in preparation for proper digestion. I like to add lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to my water or green it up with barley grass powder, wheatgrass powder, spirulina or chlorella.

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2. Add A Green Juice To Your Day

Green juices are an amazing way to add life giving and detoxifying plant chlorophyll to your bloodstream. As Jason Vale says in 'Hungry For Change', "juicing is the ultimate fast food, it is a 15 minute nutrient express to health". Some of my favorite and simple green juice recipes include:

Green Juice Recipe Ideas:

- Celery, lemon and pear (or apple)
- Celery, cucumber, lemon (leave the skin on) and pear (or apple)
- Celery, cucumber, kale, lemon and pear (or apple)
- Celery, cucumber, lemon, parsley and pear (or apple)

I also like to stir whatever green powders I have laying around the house into my juices to green them up even more! Again try barley grass, wheatgrass, spirulina or chlorella powders.

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3. Add More Parsley and Cilantro (Coriander) To Your Diet 

Parsley and cilantro (coriander) are very powerful natural green plant foods for detoxing heavy metals out of your body. Add these amazing herbs to juices, salads, soups and meals.


 Heavy Metal Detox Pesto Recipe:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium source) or macadamia nuts
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine source)
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium sources)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (corriander)
• 1 cup parsley
• 2/3 cup cold pressed olive oil
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (Vitamin C source)
• Big pinch of sea salt and or dulse flakes to flavor

Soak the seeds and nuts over night to release the enzyme exhibitors. Process the parsley, cilantro (corriander) and olive oil in a blender until chopped. Add the garlic, nuts, and seeds, salt / dulse and lemon juice and mix until the mixture is finely blended into a paste. Store in dark glass jars if possible. It freezes well also if needs be. Enjoy!

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4. Breathe Deep Into Your Abdomen 

Deep breathing, where you fill your belly and expand your diaphragm downwards, is one of the most powerful exercise you can do to activate your lymph system which helps to detoxify your body. Think of your lymph system as your own personal garbage removal system (which most of us will need in full steam after the holiday season). Practise 10 deep slow breaths counting 4 seconds in, 8 seconds hold and 8 seconds out. You can do this exercize watching the TV, walking the dog, during meditation or whilst practising yoga.

According to the 'Tao of Breathing' up to 70% of our body’s waste products are eliminated via our lungs and the rest through the urine, skin and feces. When the efficiency of our lungs is reduced due to poor breathing less oxygen is available to our cells, it slows down the flow of blood which carries wastes from the kidneys and lungs. Our lymphatic system which fights off viral and bacterial invaders is weakened along with a slower digestive process.

Breathe long slow and deep in a mindful state as often as possible.

source: Hungry for a Change

What Do Deet & Deadly Nerve Gas Have In Common?

New research shows that the insect-repelling chemical deet actually functions in the same way as deadly nerve gases and dangerous pesticides, by attacking the nervous systems of both insects and mammals.  Mammals ---- as in humans --- as in you and me!

"These findings question the safety of deet, particularly in combination with other chemicals," said researcher Vincent Corbel of Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement in Montpellier.

The chemical known as deet (for N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is found in nearly every commonly used mosquito repellent in the world, and eight billion doses have been applied since its introduction to the consumer market in 1957. The chemical was originally developed as an insect repellent by the U.S. Army in 1946, following experience with jungle warfare in World War II.

Deet's popularity comes largely from its effectiveness in repelling a variety of medically significant insects over longer periods of time than more natural repellents (such as certain vegetable-based oils), and the fact that it can be incorporated into sprays, liquids or lotions.

Yet although researchers have long insisted that the chemical is safe, they still recommend that consumers use the minimum amount of repellent necessary to cover exposed skin or clothing, and that deet repellents not be applied directly to any irritated or injured skin. While the United States allows the sale of 100 percent deet repellents, many other countries limit maximum concentrations of the chemical to 30 or 50 percent.

In spite of the chemical's long use, researchers are unsure exactly how deet functions to repel mosquitoes. It has long been believed to affect mosquito behavior without harming the insects, probably by interfering with their sense of smell and their ability to find human prey.

Yet the new study, published in the journal BioMed Central Biology, suggests that deet may function by interfering directly with insects' nervous systems.

"We've found that deet is not simply a behavior-modifying chemical but also inhibits the activity of a key central nervous system enzyme, acetylcholinesterase, in both insects and mammals," the researchers said.

In experiments performed in cockroaches and rats, the researchers found that deet blocked the action of the neurological enzyme acetylcholinesterase. This is the same mechanism that causes the toxic effects of popular carbamate and organophosphate pesticides, as well as chemical weapons such as sarin and VX nerve gas. This may mean that deet repellants are actually insecticides and could damage the human nervous system.

Organophosphates are among the pesticides most commonly implicated in pesticide poisoning worldwide, and are also a commonly used suicide method in agricultural areas. Like nerve gases, organophosphates irreversibly inactivate acetylcholinesterase, leading to excessive salivation and eye watering at low doses, and muscle spasms or death at higher doses. Although carbamates are not as toxic as organophosphates, their effects can be just as severe at high enough doses.

Strong evidence also links these pesticides to dangerous health effects caused by long-term exposure even at low doses.

Previous studies have implicated deet in causing seizures in children, but the current study is the first to uncover how the chemical acts directly on the nervous system.

The researchers also found that the effects of deet were enhanced when it was used in combination with organophosphates or carbamates, as in mixed repellent-insecticide products.

Bahie Abou-Donia of the Duke University Medical Center said that the new findings are consistent with previous research into the risks of deet.

"Deet is a good chemical for protection against insects," Abou-Donia said. "But prolonged exposure results in neurological damage, and this is enhanced by other chemicals and medications."

The researchers in the new study suggested that pregnant women and children under the age of six avoid using deet-containing mosquito repellents. Abou-Donia went farther, calling for such products to carry warning labels about deet's potential to cause neurological harm.

The Environmental Protection Agency has a review of deet's safety planned for 2012.

Sources for this story include:
Natural News
news.bbc.co.uk
www.sciencedaily.com
www.usnews.com
www.dailymail.co.uk

What's Causing Cancer in North America?

This is a Canadian article but much of the article pertains to all of North America!

Chemicals may be one of the biggest reasons for cancer's epidemic proportions.

There are more than 85,000 chemicals that are currently licensed for use in North America. Less than half have ever been tested for human health risk and even fewer for potential environmental impacts (and even fewer have been tested for environmental impact).

Cancer in Canada is now projected to afflict one in every 2.2 men and one in every 2.6 women in their lifetime. In the 1930s, those numbers were less that one in 10. What's happening? Why are we now seeing what many are calling a "cancer epidemic"?

Some would suggest we are simply an aging population and cancer is a disease of the old. Not true. Recent statistics show that the net incidence rate of cancer has increased 25% for males and 20% for females from 1974 to 2005 - after correcting for the effects of aging.

Children are increasingly the victims. Researchers in Britain have shown that certain childhood cancers such as leukemia and brain cancer have increased by more than a third since the 1950s.

In Canada and in the U.S., hundreds of millions of dollars are raised and spent for cancer research and treatment. The elephant in the room, however, is the contribution of environmental toxins and whether many of the cancers striking North Americans can be avoided rather than simply managed.

The World Health Organization estimates that fully 25% of cancers worldwide are caused by occupational and environmental factors other than smoking. You don't have to look far for some potential chemical culprits.

The U.S. Centers For Disease Control recently turned their attention toward pollution detection - not in the environment, but within the human body. Their study in 2002 found the presence of 81 different toxic chemicals, including PCBs, benzene and other carcinogens in their sampling of 2,500 people tested.

It is somewhat of a no-brainer that reducing exposure to known carcinogens will reduce the risk of developing cancer. Surprisingly, this simple logic seems to have been lost on our federal governments. Many chemicals that are scientifically demonstrated carcinogens or otherwise toxic are freely used without any legal obligation to identify them on the label. Some of these same chemicals are entirely banned elsewhere.

A trip to your local supermarket reveals a small sample of these hidden poisons:

• Mothballs contain either naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, both of which are carcinogenic. A recent U.S. study linked mothball use to an increased incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 

• Polycarbonate plastics used in food-grade plastic containers such as water bottles can leach Bisphenol A, an estrogen-mimicking chemical linked to a variety of disorders, including hormone-related birth defects, learning disabilities, prostate cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. 

• Several leading perfumes, nail polishes and other cosmetic products sold in Canada contain the endocrine-disrupting phthalates DBP and DEHP - both banned for use in cosmetic products in European Union countries. 

• Many leading brands of household laundry detergent contain trisodium nitrilotriacetate, another suspected carcinogen as well as an environmental pollutant.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs are common chemical fire retardants found in everything from foam mattresses to computer parts. They have similar properties to the now outlawed PCBs and are known neurotoxins and hormone disrupters. The most dangerous forms are now banned in the EU, though they remain legal in North America .

Chemicals that endanger human life also go down the drain and impact the environment. A gruesome example involved a dead orca that washed up south of Vancouver in 2000 that was so contaminated with persistent chemicals that Ottawa considered shipping the carcass to the Swan Hills toxic waste facility for incineration.

Like orcas, we are perched at the top of the food chain and are becoming the unwitting receptacles of many of the chemicals designed to make our lives more convenient.

Ballooning cancer rates are simply not worth whiter clothes or fewer moths. (Besides, there are natural, effective and affordable *alternatives!)

Cancer must be fought on many fronts. Research and treatment are undeniably important but so is environmental cancer prevention. It is therefore shocking that our governments are not moving faster to ban known and suspected carcinogens, and  requiring mandatory "right to know" labeling so that Canadians and Americans can better protect themselves and their families.

Anything less is quite simply putting the interests of the chemical industry ahead of human life.

SOURCE:  TorontoStar  June13th, 2005 / article by Mitchell Anderson     
Mitchell Anderson is a board member of the Labour Environmental Alliance Society, a Vancouver-based charity that educates the public on cancer prevention. 
Edited by Soutenus   
Shared Post: BCN, Best Nest 

 

Must Know Info

This is a serious, life threatening problem. Fortunately there is a simple solution to protect your family.

Could your home be healthier?
Learn how to get rid of toxins. . . it is worth it. 

This video clip is from a news program (CBC) in Canada.  The United States of America's Code of Federal Regulations is like Canada's in that; if a product is used for personal, family or household use.... the manufacturer does not have to tell us what is in it" (Section 1910.1200C, Title 29, Section 1500.82 2Q1A)

Link back to SOURCE:
http://video.aol.ca/video-detail/cbc-marketplace-report-toxic-brew/966454477/?icid=VIDLRVENT08
(you may need to scroll down)