US life expectancy continues to plummet, but not because of inadequate health care

(NaturalNews) A new report published in the journal Health Affairs says the U.S. has dropped to 49th place in overall life expectancy among the nations of the world. The report blames the nation's failing health care system and lack of universal health coverage as the culprit. But the true causes of America's poor health include things like its broken food system, overuse of chemical pesticides, and dependence on pharmaceutical drugs -- all of which are poisoning the population and the environment, and lowering lifespans.

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Research from P. Riso and co-authors reveals new findings on DNA research

Data detailed in 'DNA damage and repair activity after broccoli intake in young healthy smokers' have been presented. According to a study from Milano, Italy, "Cruciferous vegetables contain compounds with antioxidant properties (e.g. carotenoids, vitamin C and folates) and can alter the activity of xenobiotic metabolism (i.e. isothiocyanates). These constituents may be particularly important for subjects who are exposed to free radicals and genotoxic compounds, including smokers."

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Who’s Trying to Scuttle the Amendment that Protected Organic and Family Farms? Big Food on the Attack!

tractorToday we reveal the thirty agribusiness front groups and industrial agriculture lobbyists that continue to fight the Tester amendment. One of the few saving graces of the Senate’s controversial FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510)—which passed the Senate last week, only to be sidelined for the moment by a constitutional error—was the amendment introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). Small-farm and organic food advocates warned that the legislation would destroy their industry under a mountain of paperwork; the Tester amendment exempted producers with less than $500,000 a year in sales who sell most of their food locally. ANH-USA and other organizations successfully fought [1] to get the amendment included in the final Senate bill.

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Vitamin Supplements Reduce Deaths Caused by Measles and Diarrhea, Study Finds

Vitamin A supplements are still an effective way to reduce childhood death and disease. A new study by Cochrane researchers strongly endorses the continuation of vitamin A supplementation programs, which reduce the incidence of measles and diarrhea and ultimately save lives.

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David Katz: How The Environment Affects Your Health

It has been a banner week for biomedical news. The Institute of Medicine released a provocative and somewhat controversial report on calcium and vitamin D intake; the American Cancer Society announced results of an enormous study reaffirming the link between body mass index and mortality; there was at least aleatory passage of a historic food safety bill in Congress; and a long awaited update to federal policy governing child nutrition was passed and awaits the President's signature.

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Racing Against Age: Health Impairment Primarily Due to Bad Lifestye Habits -- Not Aging, Researchers Argue

Impairments to health and physical performance are not primarily a result of aging but of unfavorable lifestyle habits and lack of exercise. This is the position taken by Dieter Leyk and his coauthors in the new issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.

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Low vitamin D status associated with cognitive decline: Study

Inadequate dietary intake of vitamin D is associated with higher levels of cognitive impairment; however it remains unclear if the link is causal, according to a new study.

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Reports summarize diet and nutrition research from University of Tokyo

"Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a nuclear receptor that regulates the expression of genes involved in calcium homeostasis. Activation of VDR is thought to be a promising drug target for osteoporosis," scientists in Tokyo, Japan report (see also Diet and Nutrition).

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Top 10 Food Additives to Avoid

Food additives have been used for centuries to enhance the appearance and flavor of food and prolong shelf life. But do these food additives really “add” any value to your food? Food additives find their way into our foods to help ease processing, packaging and storage. But how do we know what food additives is in that box of macaroni and cheese and why does it have such a long shelf life? A typical American household spends about 90 percent of their food budget on processed foods, and are in doing so exposed to a plethora of artificial food additives, many of which can cause dire consequences to your health.

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Congress Seeks to put Dietary Supplement Makers in Jail for Ten Years!

The Senate is debating a bill that will enable the FDA to put vitamin supplement makers in jail for ten years if they cite findings from peer-reviewed published scientific studies on the label of their dietary supplements or their Web site.

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