News regarding traditional wisdom and native diets regarding nutrition.
CDC Executive Resigns After Being Caught Colluding With Coca-Cola to Salvage Soda Market
For many years now, health advocates have warned people about the connection between sugary drinks and obesity, and the message has slowly but surely started to take hold. U.S. soda sales have dropped 25 percent since 1998, no doubt due to successful public health advocacy, and this makes the current scandal all the more scandalous, as it's an attempt by a high-level health official to undo all the work that's already been done to protect the public health. According to USRTK: "Alex Malaspina was able to ask for and receive regular input and guidance from a top official at the ... CDC on how to address actions by the World Health Organization that were hurting the food and beverage industry. The emails ... reveal that ... Bowman ... tried to help Malaspina find inroads to influence WHO officials to back off anti-sugar talk. Bowman suggested people and groups for Malaspina to talk to, and solicited his comments on some CDC summaries of reports ..." Surprisingly, Bowman had the good sense to immediately vacate her post once her betrayal of the public trust was exposed. According to The Huffington Post, Bowman "announced her immediate departure from the agency ... two days after it came to light that she had been offering guidance to a leading Coca-Cola advocate who was seeking to influence world health authorities on sugar and beverage policy matters."
Healthy Traditions Adds Traditionally Produced and Glyphosate-Tested Raw Almond Flour to Product Line
Tropical Traditions announced this week that they have added Raw Italian Almond Flour/Meal to their Healthy Traditions product line. Unlike almonds grown in the US, that are required to be pasteurized by law, these almonds, grown in Italy, are free from that regulation. These almonds are grown by sustainable methods with no chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers used on the almond trees. It carries Healthy Traditions’ highest standards to earn the “Traditionally Produced” label. As an added security, they are tested for the presence of glyphosate for each batch.
Anti-Obesity Report Calls for High-Fat Diet Recommendations
The idea that a low-fat diet is the answer if you struggle with weight gain and/or have risk factors for heart disease is a persistent one. For the past 50 years, obesity and heart disease have steadily risen. The question is why? Are dietary fats really to blame? And if they are, which fats gave rise to these problems? It's unfortunate, but researchers have frequently failed to take into account the fact that not all fats are created equal. Some do harm, while others are vitally important for optimal health. Even more tragic, harmful and beneficial fats have been confused, leading to a situation where people are encouraged to eat the unhealthy ones and avoid the beneficial ones. In more recent years, a number of scientists have stepped forward to promote a healthier view of dietary fats. But trying to change public policy is a difficult task that often takes one or more decades.
How a High-Fat Diet Helps Starve Cancer
In 1931, Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize Physiology or Medicine for his discovery that cancer cells have a fundamentally different energy metabolism compared to healthy cells. Most experts consider him to be the greatest biochemist of the 20th century. His lab staff also included Hans Krebs, Ph.D., after whom the Krebs cycle was named. The Krebs cycle refers to the oxidative reduction pathways that occur in the mitochondria. So just how does the metabolic inflexibility of cancer cells differ from healthy cells? A cell can produce energy in two ways: aerobically, in the mitochondria, or anaerobically, in the cytoplasm, the latter of which generates lactic acid — a toxic byproduct. Warburg discovered that in the presence of oxygen, cancer cells overproduce lactic acid. This is known as The Warburg Effect. Mitochondrial energy production is far more efficient, capable of generating 18 times more energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) than anaerobic energy generation. Warburg concluded that the prime cause of cancer was the reversion of energy production from aerobic energy generation to a more primitive form of energy production, anaerobic fermentation. To reverse cancer, he believed you had to disrupt the energy production cycle that is feeding the tumor, and that by reverting back to aerobic energy metabolism you could effectively "starve" it into remission. Although he was never able to conclusively prove it, he maintained this view until his death in 1970. One of his goals in life was to discover the cure for cancer. Sadly, as so typically happens in science, his theories were never accepted by conventional science despite his academic pedigree — until now. The New York Times recently published a long, detailed article about the history of modern cancer research, including Warburg's theories on cancer, which are now becoming more widely accepted.
Healthy Traditions Offers First-ever GMO-tested and Glyphosate-tested Heirloom Corn Products from Mexico
Over the past few years we have tried to find corn in the United States that tested clean for the presence of genetically modified material and the herbicide glyphosate. We tested corn products that were USDA certified organic, and corn that also made claims to be GMO-free. We found that all of them were contaminated. We have been successful in some years growing clean corn with our farmers in Wisconsin, but often subsequent harvest years turned up positive results of GMOs in our testing, forcing us to find new sources of open pollinated heirloom corn. As a result, we did not have much corn to sell to our customers, and some years we had none. But now, we have located some rural farms in Mexico that seem to have clean corn from native varieties. Healthy Traditions is excited to bring you a new line of products made from corn grown in the region where corn is thought to have originated, Central Mexico! In order to find a consistent supply of corn that tested negative for both GMO and glyphosate contamination, we began searching in Mexico, where commercial GMO corn production is currently banned because of the rich genetic diversity and cultural significance that corn has there. This open-pollinated corn has been grown in a traditional fashion, much the same way it has been done for hundreds, if not thousands of years in this region. The family of the farmer that grew this corn has a connection to the land for over a century, and the seed he uses has been passed down from generation to generation. Healthy Traditions views the opportunity to help preserve this genetically diverse corn as a great honor and one in which we are proud to be a part of. We are also pleased to work with a grist mill that has agreed to dedicate one of their stone grinders just for grinding GMO-tested and Glyphosate-tested corn. This mill processes no other grains in this facility and our corn is ground in small batches to ensure freshness.
Full-Fat Dairy Healthier than Low-Fat Dairy: Eating High Fat Linked to Lower Risk for Diabetes
The number of people with type 2 diabetes equals 9.3 percent of the population of the U.S. or 29 million people. This is an increase from the 2010 estimate of 26 million people. Another 86 million people have pre-diabetes, where their blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes. If those with pre-diabetes do not make changes to their diet and exercise habits, between 15 percent and 30 percent will develop diabetes within the next five years. These numbers are overwhelming when you consider the complications related to diabetes have an impact on the individual, the family and the workforce. Diabetes is a serious health condition with serious complications. Without consistent blood sugar control, excess glucose in your blood causes damage to your heart, blood vessels, kidneys, eyes, gums, teeth and neurological system. The advice to eat low-fat foods and dairy products originated as far back as the late 1950s and early 1960s. A single research study performed by an economist proposed that high-fat diets were the cause of most heart disease, stroke and high cholesterol levels. Before that study, and since, other well-designed and peer-reviewed studies have refuted that evidence.
Healthy Traditions Adds Traditionally Produced and Glyphosate-Tested Raw Almonds to Product Line
Tropical Traditions announced this week that they have added Raw Italian Almonds to their Healthy Traditions product line. Unlike almonds grown in the US, that are required to be pasteurized by law, these almonds, grown in Italy, are free from that regulation. These almonds are grown by sustainable methods with no chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers used on the almond trees. It carries Healthy Traditions' highest standards to earn the "Traditionally Produced" label. As an added security, they are tested for the presence of glyphosate for each batch. The family-run farm that grows these almonds for us is a diverse farm, not an almond monoculture, and these almonds are never irradiated, so they are suitable for sprouting.
Power Up With Beets
A new study has emerged that may give hope to those who may see themselves as the proverbial “90-pound weakling.” Surprisingly, the remedy can be found in the garden. The study, recently conducted at the Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, is one of several university trials revealing that a small amount of beet juice is all it takes to beef up your exercise performance and endurance. The researchers found nine heart failure subjects who experienced the typical symptoms — loss of skeletal muscle strength, reduced ability to exercise and even evidence that quality of life was suffering. Each individual exhibited measurable improvement. The patients were given 140 milliliters — about two-thirds of a cup — of concentrated beet juice, followed by testing, which found an almost instantaneous increase in their muscle capacity by an average of 13 percent. The study was published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure in September 2015. One of the study’s coauthors, Andrew Coggan, assistant professor of radiology at the university, asserted that’s the type of boost one might get after a few hard months of resistance training. The source of this impressive difference, studies revealed, came from nitric oxide. One of the most important benefits beet juice offers the heart is that its compounds “de-stiffen” patients’ blood vessels when the individual is at rest. This prevents the heart from having to work so hard and also demonstrates potential value to diabetics. Interestingly, it’s occurred to more than a few scientists that a similar therapy might be useful for lowering blood pressure. When testing was being done on individuals with heart failure, scientists concentrated specifically on the muscles used to extend the knee, looking for improvement in power, which they specified as a combination of force and velocity. This is crucial for athletes in training, such as sprinting or gymnastics. That easy-to-take-for-granted strength is also required by people who want to climb stairs, move furniture around, or simply get up from the toilet, an action that — if they’re unable to accomplish — is what most often puts people in a nursing home.
Grass-fed Traditions Offers Bison Bone Stock for Broth to the Public
Grass-Fed Traditions, part of the Tropical Traditions and Healthy Traditions network, has announced that it is offering bison bone stock to the public. The stock is sourced from the bones of grass-fed bison that are raised on pastures that are never treated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. These magnificent animals yield bones that are perfect for making a nutrient dense stock.
Study: Saturated Fats and Coconut Oil Prevent Colon Cancer
A recent study published in the American Journal of Physiology challenged a long-held belief that high fat diets contributed to colon cancer. The authors of the study correctly stated that the lipid profile of the fats being consumed is very important to understand: "High-fat-diet (HFD) consumption is associated with colon cancer risk. However, little is known about how the lipid composition of a HFD can influence pro-oncogenic processes." This study out of the University of South Carolina looking at the effects of saturated fats on colon cancer is a very welcome study, and many more similar theories about the "dangers" of high fat diets should be challenged and looked at more carefully, studying the lipid composition of the fats being consumed. The conclusions of their experiments showed that a high fat diet rich in saturated fats, specifically coconut oil, protected against colon cancer.