UnSymmetrical

For years, the Food and Drug Administration has marched arm in arm with the American Dental Association and unflinchingly maintained the joint position that mercury fillings are perfectly safe, despite ever increasing evidence to the contrary. But on June 3rd, they finally broke ranks. However, before you give a big round of applause to the FDA, understand that their statement was not voluntary. It resulted from the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Mercury Policy Project, Mom's Against Mercury, Consumers for Dental Choice, et al. And although the statement itself was weak and highly qualified, it certainly represents a breaking of the ranks, and it absolutely signals the beginning of the end for amalgam fillings -- even if the ADA can't see it yet.

The Lawsuit and the FDA

On June 3rd, the FDA posted an announcement on its website warning that mercury-based amalgam fillings "may" pose a safety risk for pregnant women and young children. The FDA posted this precaution on its Website as the result of a settlement of the lawsuit I mentioned above. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the warning is not strong; it's highly qualified; and it limits itself to two groups, pregnant women and children, both of which are already urged to limit their mercury intake from seafood because of concerns that too much mercury can harm developing brains. Entertainingly, the FDA also recommends that "women and young children, in particular, should include fish or shellfish in their diets due to their many nutritional benefits." Whoever said FDA policy needs to be consistent?

Continue reading "FDA Cracks the Amalgam Filling Cabal" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 05:22 PM | Permalink

The good cholesterol that scientists have thought helped unclog arteries had no effect on heart disease in a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, casting doubt on a theory drugmakers have spent more than $1 billion pursuing, Bloomberg News writes.

Researchers studied people who have a genetic condition that causes them to produce very low levels of HDL cholesterol, expecting they’d be about twice as likely to have heart disease. Instead, they had no greater risk, throwing into question the notion that raising HDL helps reduce plaque in arteries, a theory Pfizer, Merck and Roche have all pursued at various times, the wire notes.

“There is really no evidence that this method is going to work,” Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, a study and clinical biochemistry researcher at Copenhagen University Hospital, tells Bloomberg. “This theory has been around for a long time, but this study just doesn’t support it.” The reason may be that other HDL research examined patients with high levels of triglycerides, not low HDL levels, may have caused their increased heart risk, she adds. Here is the abstract.

Continue reading "HDL Cholesterol May Not Help The Heart After All" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 10:18 PM | Permalink

The TV commercials make it look like taking Lipitor almost guarantees a romantic, long, and healthy life -- and in America, millions of people have been sold. In fact, over 13 million Americans take cholesterol-lowering meds, otherwise known as "statins," daily. The story goes that by taking these pills, you'll reduce bad cholesterol, and thus, reduce your chances of dying from heart failure.

And yes, the drugs do, in fact, lower cholesterol. Unfortunately, though, research shows that lowering cholesterol usually doesn't necessarily lower heart-attack risk. According to a January article in Business Week, a recent study sponsored by Merck and Schering-Plough found that after several years on two types of cholesterol-lowering medications, patients reduced their cholesterol level, but they reaped no significant health benefit at all unless they already had heart disease.

In fact, the claims of success touted in the ads are downright misleading. One printed advertisement reads, "Lipitor reduces the risk of heart attack by 36%...in patients with multiple risk factors for heart disease." An asterisk at the bottom includes tiny print that notes that "....in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor." This means that for every 100 people, three who don't take Lipitor will have heart attacks; while two who do take it will have heart attacks anyway. In other words, Lipitor prevents only one heart attack per 100 users.

Continue reading "Cholesterol Drugs Do More Harm than Good" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 12:29 PM | Permalink

According to a recent survey, 20 percent of scientists use prescription drugs recreationally to improve concentration or memory, with about half of those using the drugs daily or weekly.

Posted by Vitamin Z at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Spirulina just may be nature's most perfect food. These tiny blue green spiral coils harvest the energy of the sun and turn it into a treasure chest of bio-available nutrients. Designed by nature 3.6 billion years ago, these blue green algae were the generators of the oxygen found in our atmosphere which allowed all higher life forms to evolve. The single cells contained everything needed by life to evolve into the rich diversity we find on earth today.

Spirulina is a great wholefood, budget friendly alternative to isolated vitamins and minerals. It contains the most remarkable concentration of nutrients known in any food, plant, grain, or herb. It is 60% highly digestible vegetable protein, and contains the highest concentration of beta carotene, vitamin B-12, iron and trace minerals, and the rare essential fatty acid GLA so missing in people who weren't breast fed. It also contains popular glyconutrients in the form of polysaccharides. It has a balanced spectrum of amino acids, cleansing chlorophyll, and the blue pigment, phycocyanin.

Spirulina has a long history of safe usage. The Aztecs consumed spirulina in Mexico over five centuries ago. Indigenous people consume spirulina today. For the past 20 years, millions of people around the world have used spirulina as a food supplement to their diets. The United Nations and the World Health Organization recommend spirulina as safe and nutritious for children. Spirulina can be cultivated in a pure culture, away from contaminants.

Continue reading "Spirulina: A Budget Friendly Super Food" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 09:21 PM | Permalink

Bisphenol A is found in cans that contain many popular foods, including tomato paste and soup, but one company has been using BPA-free cans for almost a decade.

Eden Foods, a natural and organic food company based in Michigan, sells most of its canned food, except the highly acidic tomato products, in BPA-free cans.

For now, the company is keeping its tomato products in cans with BPA because their shelf life would be drastically reduced without the chemical. The company's juices are sold in glass bottles.

"We badgered our canned suppliers to come up with an alternative and one of them said they would accommodate us with a bisphenol A-free lining," said Eden Foods President Michael Potter.

"They ended up with all our business. I did it because I didn't want to be in the loop of providing this contaminant, this toxin, to my children."

Potter said most canned-good manufacturers should have no trouble following his company's lead, given that a 15-ounce BPA-free can costs only 2.2 cents more.

Continue reading "Eden Foods Says BPA-Free Cans Possible" »

Posted by Vitamin Z at 08:58 PM | Permalink