Anthony Gucciardi - 5 Million Farmers Sue Monsanto for $7.7 Billion

Launching a lawsuit against the very company that is responsible for a farmer suicide every 30 minutes, 5 million farmers are now suing Monsanto for as much as 6.2 billion euros (around 7.7 billion US dollars). The reason? As with many other cases, such as the ones that led certain farming regions to be known as the ‘suicide belt’, Monsanto has been reportedly taxing the farmers to financial shambles with ridiculous royalty charges. The farmers state that Monsanto has been unfairly gathering exorbitant profits each year on a global scale from “renewal” seed harvests, which are crops planted using seed from the previous year’s harvest.

The practice of using renewal seeds dates back to ancient times, but Monsanto seeks to collect massive royalties and put an end to the practice. Why? Because Monsanto owns the very patent to the genetically modified seed, and is charging the farmers not only for the original crops, but the later harvests as well. Eventually, the royalties compound and many farmers begin to struggle with even keeping their farm afloat. It is for this reason that India slammed Monsanto with groundbreaking ‘biopiracy’ charges in an effort to stop Monsanto from ‘patenting life’

Read More:

http://www.nationofchange.org/5-million-farmers-sue-monsanto-77-billion-1338912068

Jim Hightower - What's Really in Your Expensive Steak? You'd Be Surprised

Attention foodies: Let's chow down!

Forget organic, locavore, omega3, umami, artisanal and all the other signposts of the healthy, ethical and refined "good food" movement, there are important advances in CuisineWorld that are going 180 degrees in the opposite direction -- advances that literally are reshaping what we eat (while also reshaping us).

Let's start with red meat. Perhaps you're one who enjoys a steak dinner now and again. If so, let me ask this question: Do you prefer it with a nice Bernaise sauce, a side of garlicky spinach -- or maybe some transglutaminase?

Trans-what-did-he-say?

Transglutaminase is an enzyme made by the fermentation of bacteria and added to meat pieces to make them stick together. Yes, "meat glue" -- it's what's for dinner!
This is yet another dandy product from industrialized food purveyors that keep inventing new ways to mess with our dinner for their own fun and profit. Right about now, you're probably asking yourself, "Why do they need to glue meat together?"

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/155742/what%27s_really_in_your_expensive_steak_you%27d_be_surprised

Anne Gordon - A New Allergy, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

Imagine if you lived inside your microwave and could see the ubiquitous frequencies bombarding you several times per minute 24/7. You might be horrified. Some people are now claiming that they are getting sick from it. A condition referred to as  'electromagnetic hypersensitivity,’ is a new form of 'environmental allergy.’ This sort of multi-frequency barrage of radiation to living beings, is unprecedented ....and rapidly increasing. Welcome, 'smart’ grid.

The clever marketing word, 'smart’ (meaning digital) may not be smart for health… although it’s making companies very rich.  Cell towers, smart phones, smart appliances, smart cars, may soon be linked to the 'smart’ grid. And, the smart grids, will be linked to mesh networks in neighborhoods.

Smart Grids sound 'green’ promising to save energy, creating new power line corridors that run on wind and solar, etc.  But, before the glory of smart grids can be realized there are unintended health consequences. These complaints are just beginning to manifest world wide.

Read More:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/new-allergy-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-info

Healthy Habits Can Prevent Disease

Five new studies provide evidence to support simple steps we can take to prevent illness and improve our overall health. In the June issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers report on fish consumption to reduce the risk of colon cancer; the effectiveness ofhypnotherapy and acupuncture for smoking cessation; regular teeth cleaning to improve cardiovascular health; the effectiveness of primary care physicians in weight loss programs; and the use of low-dose aspirin to reduce cancer risk.

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the Western world. Research linking fish consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer has been inconclusive, although people who live in countries with high levels of fish consumption are known to develop the disease less frequently. Now, scientists from Xi'an, China, have reviewed the literature and find that eating fresh fish regularly reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 12%. They evaluated 41 studies on fish consumption and colorectal cancer risk published between 1990 and 2011 and tracked cancer diagnoses. The protective effect of fish consumption is more prominent in rectal cancer than in colon cancer. The risk reduction for rectal cancer was as much as 21%, whereas the reduction for colon cancer was 4%.

"Despite the fact that colon and rectal cancer share many features and are often referred to as colorectal cancer,' they tend to demonstrate many different characteristics," notes lead author Daiming Fan, of the Fourth Military Medical University. "One possible reason for the difference may be because colon cancers are generally more molecularly diverse, whereas rectal cancers mostly arise via a single neoplastic pathway."

Read More:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604125501.htm

Mike Adams - Aajonus Vonderplanitz PhD, key informant in prosecution of Sharon Palmer and James Stewart, found to have faked academic credentials

I am very saddened to bring you this report today. Following the publication of our investigative story about Sharon Palmer (Healthy Family Farms), James Stewart (Rawesome Foods), Aajonus Vonderplanitz (vocal critic of Sharon Palmer) and Larry Otting (title owner of the land on which the farm operates), we received what can only be called a flood of tips (and documents) from our readers. The irrefutable conclusion from these documents, shown below, is that Aajonus Vonderplanitz, PhD, has been using phony academic credentials. His "doctorate in nutrition" was acquired from a diploma mill.

This saddens me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Aajonus was, at one point, instrumental in advocating raw dairy consumption in California, and now that the truth about his academic credentials has come to light, it will be used by raw milk critics to further attack the industry. Aajonus was also a nutritional consultant who taught people to "think outside the box" when it came to food choice. Although his "Primal Diet" of consuming raw, rotten meat seems bizarre to many people, he at least taught people to question the official lies of the USDA and the CDC on issues like food safety. I don't agree with most of Aajonus' conclusions on diet and nutrition, but I do agree with his questioning of the status quo.

Read More:

http://www.naturalnews.com/036076_Aajonus_Vonderplanitz_doctorate_nutrition.html

Trudy Lieberman - The New Medical-Credit Record - Patients Are Getting Medically and Financially Shafted

Reporter Lindy Washburn, at The Record in Bergen County, New Jersey, has revealed the latest shenanigans of unscrupulous members of the medical profession out to make a buck. Washburn, who is something of an expert on the business practices of health care providers, investigated the unsavory activities of New Jersey doctors, dentists, and chiropractors who pressure patients to sign up for credit cards, recommend more expensive treatments than necessary, and sometimes do not complete the treatments once the money lands in their pockets. Combine an old-fashioned consumer story with health care enterprise reporting, and you have a tale of greedy medical practitioners preying on consumers.

Washburn highlighted pernicious practices that take advantage of patients when they are vulnerable, in need of immediate treatment. She reported on the predicament of Allison DeBlois, "who signed a credit card application while in agony at her practitioner's office." DeBlois offered words of warning: "Even though you're in pain, you just ought to walk out the door and take some more Ibuprofen."

Read More:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-New-Medical-Credit-Rec-by-Trudy-Lieberman-120604-906.html

Understanding The Links Between Inflammation And Chronic Disease

American parents may want to think again about how much they want to protect their children from everyday germs. 

A new Northwestern University study done in lowland Ecuador remarkably finds no evidence of chronic low-grade inflammation associated with diseases of aging like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia. 

In contrast, about one-third of adults in the United States have chronically elevated C-reactive protein (CRP). Acute elevations in CRP - a protein in the blood whose levels rise as part of the inflammatory response - are important for protecting us against infectious disease. But when CRP is chronically produced, it is associated with chronic diseases. 

"In other words, CRP goes up when you need it, but it is almost undetectable when you don't, after the infection resolves," said Thomas W. McDade, professor of anthropology at Northwestern and faculty fellow at the university's Institute for Policy Research. "This is a pretty remarkable finding, and very different from prior research in the U.S., where lots of people tend to have chronically elevated CRP, probably putting them at higher risk for chronic disease." 

Read More:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/246067.php

Dark Chocolate Could Prevent Heart Problems in High-Risk People

 Daily consumption of dark chocolate can reduce cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, in people with metabolic syndrome (a cluster of factors that increases the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes), finds a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Dark chocolate (containing at least 60% cocoa solids) is rich in flavonoids -- known to have heart protecting effects -- but this has only been examined in short term studies.

So a team of researchers from Melbourne, Australia used a mathematical model to predict the long-term health effects and cost effectiveness of daily dark chocolate consumption in 2,013 people already at high risk of heart disease.

All participants had high blood pressure and met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, but had no history of heart disease or diabetes and were not on blood pressure lowering therapy.

With 100% compliance (best case scenario), the researchers show that daily dark chocolate consumption could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal cardiovascular events per 10,000 people treated over 10 years.

Even when compliance levels were reduced to 80%, the number of non-fatal and fatal events potentially averted was 55 and 10 per 10,000 people treated over 10 years, and could still be considered an effective intervention strategy.

Read More:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531200822.htm

Martha Rosenberg - 8 Surprising Things That May Be Making Americans Fat

A third of the U.S. population is now overweight, making it just a matter of time before normal-size people are actually in the minority. Americans have so ballooned in size, government safety regulators worry that airline seats and belts won't restrain today's men who average 194 pounds and women who average 165 pounds, in a crash. 

Not everyone agrees that obesity is always a health problem. You can be overweight and still have normal blood pressure, blood sugar, HDL cholesterol and other metabolic markers if you exercise, say some, pointing to U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who hiked the Grand Canyon in 2010 despite her extra poundage.

But others say fitness and exercise will not reverse the health effects of obesity. The British medical journal The Lancet recently reported that rising obesity in the U.K. will cause an extra half a million cases of heart disease, 700,000 cases of diabetes and 130,000 of cancer by 2030. And the overweight and obese are 80 percent more likely to develop dementia writesKerry Trueman on AlterNet.

And there are other obesity "negatives." The obese are less likely to be employed, earn less than people of normal weight and "have more days of absence from work, a lower productivity on the job and a greater access to disability benefits," reports the Paris-based policy group Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Obesity raises Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance costs and affects national security, writes David Gratzer on KevinMD.com, "since thousands of recruits are turned away from military service because of failed physicals and poor overall health." It also shortens "the lifespan of millions of decent Americans who deserve better," he writes.

Yet eating too much and exercising too little, considered the root of obesity, are not the only probable culprits. Here are some other factors that are often overlooked.

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/155682/8_surprising_things_that_may_be_making_americans_fat

Jeffry John Aufderheide - 7 Trivia Facts About Polio

It’s called the “Gold Standard of Medicine.”

I’m referring to the current vaccine schedule. But is there an apparent hidden catch? Can justification for the aggressive vaccine schedule arguably be traced back to the polio vaccine that is trotted out as proof vaccines work?

If you don’t believe me, question any parent on vaccines. The knee-jerk question in almost every case is, “What about polio?”

Well, what about it? Here I discuss 7 trivia facts for VacTruth.com readers to investigate further about polio and question the motives of those who would profit from vaccines and disease.

Read More:

http://vactruth.com/2012/06/03/7-trivia-facts-about-polio/