By Leah Karpus on November 4th, 2009
Our society is suffering from estrogen overload. No, I’m not referring to Sex and The City reruns—estrogen overload refers to the increasing amount of estrogen in our environment, our food and our bodies.
“Good” Estrogen
Estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, is responsible for normal body processes in women such as secondary female sex characteristics, menstruation, fertility, protein synthesis, bone density, metabolism and much more. Actually, there are three kinds of estrogens in the body: estrone, estradiol, and estriol, which all have specialized roles to play at different points in a woman’s life.
Although estrogen levels are greater in women, estrogen is also needed for libido and maturation of sperm in men.
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By Leah Karpus on September 29th, 2009
It’s amazing to see just how much power some celebrities hold over the masses. They can create the latest trends and sway public opinion with just a few sentences. In the case of Oprah and her sidekick Dr. Oz, turning açaí berries from a Brazilian food into a household name was simple.
Background Information
Açaí (pronounced ah-sah-ee) berries are the small, dark purple fruit of a type of palm tree that grows primarily in the Brazilian rain forest. They are eaten by locals as part of their daily diets. In North America, açaí berry juice has been sold in health food stores long before the recent craze because of their “superfood” qualities. Açaí berries contain amino acids (the building blocks of protein), antioxidants, fibre, essential fatty acids (the “healthy fats”) and vitamins. Because of this, açaí berries are a wonderful, nutritious food and a great addition to one’s daily diet.
However, that’s all that açaí berries can truly be promoted as. Since its recent publicity on the Oprah show, companies and scams have been claiming that açaí promotes weight loss, increases energy, improves sleep, improves heart health and even increases penis size. Indirectly, some of these claims can be considered true. For example, fibre and essential fatty acids (Omega 3 in particular) have been known to support heart health. High fibre content may also reduce hunger cravings, thus enhancing weight loss. The American Diabetes Association recommends 24 grams of fibre help balance blood sugar levels. However, the serving size in Monavie and Sambazon’s açaí range from 1 to 3 grams. Açaí is not a drug, a cure for any disease or weight loss supplement. It is simply a very nutritious food, that, when used in conjunction with other strategies, supplements and foods, can contribute to a healthy lifestyle. As “Genesis Today” states in its magazine ad for açaí: “This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease”. And no, in case you were wondering, it does not increase penis size.
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By Ryel Kestano on September 28th, 2009
While certainly a topic of perennial and vehement debate, most nutritionists and studies agree that the human consumption of animal meat is part of a balanced diet. The proteins found in animal meat and fat contain all the essential amino acids the body needs to grow, and are often more easily assimilated by the body than proteins found in a vegetarian diet. Dr Weston Price, a leading researcher of traditional diets who conducted vast studies of indigenous tribes in the 1930s, found that animal meat and fat was the singular most important dietary component among the tribes he studied, inhabiting all extremes of conditions, from the coldest to the warmest regions on earth.
However, it is absolutely possible to obtain all the necessary nutritional elements the body needs from a vegetarian diet. The problem is that many people choose to become vegetarians without spending time studying how to be a healthy vegetarian. Because it is harder to obtain all the necessary vitamins, minerals and proteins the body needs from a non-meat diet, it is important that vegetarians have a strong grasp of the right foods they must eat, as well as the quantity and combination of foods, in order to maintain a healthy, balanced nutritional composition.
Healthy vegetarians make a daily effort to monitor their nutritional intake, particularly in regard to certain vitamins that are more easily found in animal meat, most notably Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Calcium, Zinc, Riboflavin, Iron and especially Vitamin B-12. The right combination of foods is required so that the vitamins are activated and ingested in the right amounts. From a Chinese medicine perspective, which highly values a nutritional balance among foods that fall across the dietary spectrum, this article is invaluable in learning to become a healthy vegetarian.
For a more Western perspective, read this article from the Mayo Clinic, or this excellent list of vegetarian nutrition resources from the Vegetarian Resource Group.
By Leah Karpus on August 31st, 2009
By now, most people have now heard of BPA (or bisphenol-A), the chemical found in polycarbonate plastics. BPA is most often founds in clear, hard plastic water bottles, food containers and baby bottles (when in doubt, BPA is found in number 7 plastics). As of April 2008, BPA has received considerable press attention for health and safety concerns. Canada is the first country to ban the import of baby bottles that contain BPA. Furthermore, in October of last year, the Canadian federal government added BPA to its list of toxic substances.
The reason? BPA mimics the hormone estrogen. Over the years, estrogens and estrogen mimickers are becoming increasingly prevalent in our society. Common causes include dairy and meat growth hormones, hormones from birth control pills being released into the water supply and polycarbonate plastics. Even certain foods, such as soy, can mimic human estrogen, causing a rise in hormone levels in the body. Harmful to both men and women, BPA exposure has been linked to insulin resistance, obesity and infertility. BPA has also been linked to abnormal growth in breast, uterine, ovarian and prostate cells, which may lead to cancer. Infants are especially sensitive to such chemicals, explaining the ban on BPA baby bottles. The plastic industry, of course, denies such claims.
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By Simon Leufstedt on August 5th, 2009
Penn Jillette and Teller, from the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! TV show, calls in the latest episode organic food for “bullshit” (see video below). Penn and Teller’s main point why organic food is “bullshit” is simply because it “might mean you’re getting your food from giant corporations or China.”
But what Penn and Teller fail to mention is that the so called “Food Policy Analyst Expert”, Alex Avery, is paid by the Hudson Institute. The Hudson Institute is an American conservative, religious and free market think tank. Simply put, they are corporate lobbyists. And the prestigious-sounding Hudson Institute is funded by giant corporations such as Monsanto, the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) food.
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By Leah Karpus on July 20th, 2009
The day has finally come for industrial hemp. Hemp products are reaching mainstream markets and becoming more and more popular. However, although hemp crops have been around for literally thousands of years, the benefits of this important crop are still being overshadowed by its controversial stigma as marijuana.
What is Hemp?
Hemp (also known as Cannabis sativa L.) is a diverse plant encompassing over 500 varieties. This article refers to industrial hemp, used for food, cloth and other commodities, as opposed to marijuana.
Contrary to popular belief, marijuana and hemp, though related, are not synonymous. The levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (the psychoactive chemical in marijuana) are less than 0.3% in hemp. Conversely, industrial hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another chemical called CBD, which actually impedes psychoactive effects of marijuana. Therefore, eating hemp, smoking hemp or using hemp products will not get you high.
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By Leah Karpus on July 6th, 2009
As early as 1998, the dangers of genetically modified food (GMOs) have been recognized by numerous scientific studies. Yet, no mainstream media included stories warning of these studies. Even today, the general North American public remains ignorant of their daily food’s dangers due to the mainstream press’s continual disregard of the topic.
The media research group Project Censored brought this issue to light by admitting it in its 2007 database. Annually, the American media research organization Project Censored records the twenty-five most underreported stories of the year, in hopes of exposing significant (and ignored) stories to the public and informing them on key issues that would not otherwise be brought to their attention. Underreported stories submitted must be reliable and of major significance to the population.
This article tracks the coverage GM food’s dangers since its induction into Project Censored’s database, searching in American mainstream press, Canadian and foreign mainstream press.
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By Leah Karpus on June 30th, 2009
“Would you like a bag with that?”, asks the girl at the grocery store check-out. You glance at the couple of items purchased, and think of the walk home. She sees you hesitating and adds “It’s okay; these plastic bags are biodegradable. In fact, they’re made of corn!”
“Perfect!”, you think. Or is it?
The Good
This specific type of plastic is called PLA, or Polylactic acid. Simply put, PLA is created by fermenting the starch of corn kernels. Plastic made from PLA look and feel exactly like regular plastic, and PLA plastic bags are just as durable and lightweight as their non-PLA counterparts.
A renewable resource, PLA or “corn plastic” is 100% compostable. Under the right conditions, PLA breaks down in about one to six months in a commercial composter.
The Bad
But wait… what about in a landfill? As we all know, unless recycled, plastic bags that are used for groceries end up in city landfills, not commercial composters. In order to biodegrade, the PLA must receive sufficient amounts of oxygen, water, light and soil, which are not usually present in a landfill. Thus, it can take corn plastic just as long as regular plastic to break down—up to one thousand years. Unfortunately, that means that using corn plastic bags to line trash cans is no better than using regular plastic.
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By Simon Leufstedt on April 7th, 2009
Kathy Freston, a “self-help author and personal growth and spirituality counselor”, has posted an interesting article over at the Huffington Post about the consequences of eating meat. Or in this case if we didn’t:
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
- 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;
- 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;
- 70 million gallons of gas–enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;
- 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;
- 33 tons of antibiotics.
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By Liz Thompson on March 13th, 2009
People seem to be jumping off the soy boat as quickly as they jumped on as more research is revealed on this once thought super food.
We all know of soy’s good attributes; contains significant amounts of essential amino acids, omega-6 fatty acids, may have a protective effect on the brain and cardiovascular system and is a good source of protein.
The flip side of this coin is that soy is also rich in isoflavones, called genistein and daidzein, which are potent phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens, sometimes called “dietary estrogens”, are naturally occurring non steroidal plant compounds which can have estrogenic effects on the body. Because of this, women with breast cancer or a history of the disease should be aware of the risks associated with the use of soy.
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