News regarding traditional wisdom and native diets regarding nutrition.

CDC Corruption: Scientists on the Inside Slam the Agency

Recently we’ve reported on the crony ties between top US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials and beverage giant Coca-Cola. New evidence suggests that the cronyism at the CDC goes far deeper. A group calling itself CDC Scientists Preserving Integrity, Diligence, and Ethics in Research (CDC SPIDER) recently submitted a letter to the CDC chief of staff expressing grave concerns about special interest influence being exerted on the agency’s leaders.

How First Lady’s Organic Garden Became a Junk Food Campaign

Mere months after President Obama came into office, first lady Michelle Obama launched an organic garden project at the White House, complete with a composting system and beehives. Many were opposed to the idea of an organic garden in the White House, and even more so to having a first lady focused on organic food and organic gardening as a source of health. In 2012, a number of media articles suddenly cropped up, in which they referred to organics as an "elitist lifestyle choice." A spokesman for the American Council on Science and Health (ASCH) went so far as calling the Obamas "organic limousine liberals." Clearly, it was a poorly shrouded effort to quell the rising tide of organic food enthusiasts. It was also quite clear that the White House organic garden upset some significant donors, not because it was there, but because the first lady was implying that organic foods are healthier. In a recent New York Times article, Michael Pollan expertly details the subversive influence of Big Food on Obama's presidency.

FDA To Redefine “Healthy” Once Again

As usual, the agency is using outdated science and is heavily influenced by industry. Action Alert! Following the recent update to the Nutrition Facts label and the approval of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the FDA is proposing to update the definition of “healthy” and in federal regulations. The idea is to harmonize the regulatory definition of “healthy” (as well as related terms) with the “latest nutrition science,” presumably contained in the newly approved guidelines. The FDA has no business defining what “healthy” is, given its lack of scientific expertise (noted in a congressional audit) and especially its extensive crony ties to industry.

Best Foods for Boosting Brain Power

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million Americans suffer with Alzheimer’s disease and 1 of every 3 seniors dies with some form of dementia. Families may spend over $5,000 each year caring for a loved one, and it costs the U.S. $216 billion a year for Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. However, feeding your brain the right food isn’t just about preventing a disease in the future. Giving your brain the fuel it needs to function optimally may also improve your current cognitive function and creativity, making you more productive at work and at home. Your brain needs the right fuel to nourish neurons, boost production of neurotransmitters and protect against damage and degeneration. Unfortunately, some popular nutritional fads may have placed you at greater risk for damage to your neurons, without the additional heart health benefits and proponents of these dietary changes promised. You may make a significant difference in your overall health and reduce your risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease when you purposefully include the foods your brain needs to function and detoxify.

Healthy Traditions Announces Glyphosate-Tested Traditionally Produced Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Healthy Traditions recently announced the launch of their new product, raw Apple Cider Vinegar with "mother." Starting the last part of 2014, Healthy Traditions, a division of Tropical Traditions, Inc., has started testing all of its products for the presence of the herbicide glyphosate, since many of their USDA certified organic products were tested to be contaminated with glyphosate. Finding a supplier of Apple Cider Vinegar that could be tested and traced all the way back to the producer proved difficult, as many apple cider vinegars are produced with apples from many different orchards, meaning that a single batch test may not represent all bottles used in each batch. So they began to search for a single source orchard to produce their own apple cider vinegar. The Healthy Traditions Apple Cider Vinegar is made by hand on a small family farm in Wisconsin. This high quality and great tasting vinegar starts by hand picking a mixture of apples that are suited perfectly for cider, imparting a depth of flavors to the vinegar that are unique. The apples are grown in Wisconsin on a certified organic orchard that practices sustainable agriculture by using livestock to maintain the orchard floor. By rotating different animals in the orchard the caretakers are able to reduce weeds and insects that would hinder the apple production.

GMO-Tested and Glyphosate-Tested Corn Products Unique in the U.S.?

Healthy Traditions announced earlier this year that they had added Mexican heirloom corn products to their line of GMO-tested and Glyphosate-tested products. They explained how truly GMO-free corn is almost non-existent in the U.S., as even corn that is USDA certified organic or verified to be GMO free is still contaminated with small amounts of GMO DNA, according to their own laboratory testing. The corn products, which include corn flour, corn meal, grits, and whole kernel corn, are on sale this week. They are thought to be unique to the U.S. corn market.

Coca-Cola’s Influence Over the CDC

More evidence suggests the CDC has been bought and paid for by Coca-Cola. We recently reported that a high-ranking official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had resigned after extensive ties to Coca-Cola were exposed. Dr. Barbara Bowman, director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, was helping Coca-Cola influence the World Health Organization, which had published new guidelines on sugar consumption that were unwelcome to the beverage industry. Now it appears that Coca-Cola has ties to another CDC official, Michael Pratt, senior advisor for Global Health in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Study: How Ketones as Brain Fuel can Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

In 2016, a study was published in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience looking at the effects of ketones as brain fuel and their use in treating Alzheimer's disease. The title of the study is: Can Ketones Help Rescue Brain Fuel Supply in Later Life? Implications for Cognitive Health during Aging and the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. In recent years, the effects of a ketogenic diet has been studied in relation to dementia and Alzheimer's disease in older people, as Alzheimer's disease is increasingly being seen as a "Type 3" form of diabetes. However, since a diet cannot be patented, mainstream medicine has instead focused on pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines to combat diseases like Alzheimer's, as such drugs are seen as a financial windfall for pharmaceutical companies, with so many Americans in the "Baby Boomer" age group entering into their senior years. This new study from Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience shows great promise in utilizing a dietary approach in preventing and fighting Alzheimer's disease. We have previously documented many stories of family members and caregivers seeing huge improvements in Alzheimer's disease simply by adding coconut oil to the diet, and coconut oil naturally provides a form of ketone energy to the brain.

FDA Finally Admits Raw Cheese Not Dangerous

For more than a decade, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has had an undeclared war on raw milk cheese, until [last] week, when the FDA finally beat a retreat. At the conclusion of its latest assault against raw milk cheese–a research study of more than 1,600 cheese samples to test for pathogens–the FDA made this remarkable admission: “The data collected by the FDA indicate that the prevalences of Salmonella and pathogenic Shiga toxin- producing E. coli are relatively low and similar to the contamination rates in many other foods.” I added the emphasis, just to highlight the significance of that statement. The FDA has never before gone so far as to suggest that a raw-milk product is as safe as “many other foods.” Instead, the FDA and its buddies at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have gone out of their way to foment fear about raw milk products of any kind, warning people not to consume them under any circumstances.

Healthy Traditions Adds Traditionally Produced and Glyphosate-Tested Rolled Oats to Product Line

Healthy Traditions' new Traditionally Produced Rolled Oats are grown on a small family farm in Wisconsin using sustainable methods without any pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. As an added assurance they are also tested for the presence of glyphosate and no trace was found. We have tested many batches of oats nationwide, including those certified organic, and it has been extremely difficult to find sources with no trace of the herbicide glyphosate present. These oats are processed by a small family-run mill, also in Wisconsin, and are never subjected to any heat processing and are truly raw. This mill is dedicated to milling only grains grown on nearby farms that are free from pesticides and herbicides.