Organic Eggs: Not Created Equal | Health Goes Strong

Organic Eggs: Not Created Equal 

Organic eggs are a healthier bet than regular, because chickens fed a pesticide and hormone-free diet will produce eggs that don't contain pesticide and hormone residues. And if an egg is not only organic but comes from a "pastured" chicken, even better, because chickens allowed to roam freely and eat a diverse diet are going to produce eggs packed with more nutrients for us.

But not all eggs bearing the organic label are pastured (far from it) and the label "organic" can mean a wide variety of things. A new report from organics watchdog the Cornucopia Institute reveals that many organic eggs are produced at factory farms where chickens are crammed into cages and fed an unnatural diet of commercial feed—but because the feed is grown without pesticides the resulting eggs qualify as USDA Organic.

Even if you don't care about the chickens' quality of life, you should pay attention to this report because the conditions under which chickens are raised affects the health properties of the eggs they lay:
"Research at Pennsylvania State University reveals discernible nutritional benefits to the consumer from raising laying hens on pasture. When compared with caged hens fed only a commercial diet, pastured hens produce eggs with twice as much vitamin E and 2.5-fold more healthy omega-3 fatty acids."
To see the rankings of various brands of organic eggs, including small local ones and the cartons sold by the big grocery chains, check out the Cornucopia Institute's Organic Egg Scorecard.

Entrepreneurs feed hunger for healthy, organic, local products in metro Detroit | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Entrepreneurs feed hunger for healthy, organic, local products in metro Detroit

 

In downtown Plymouth, three sisters are making and selling raw, organic fruit and vegetable juices. In Detroit's Eastern Market area, three-year-old Corridor Sausage recently moved into its first production facility. And in Ferndale, 30-year-old Alla Dihes is trying to put together a food truck she calls Plantain Republic.

These and many other Michiganders are part of a surge in food-based businesses, a trend that took root long ago, but has been gaining momentum in recent years. Detroit, in particular, has become a magnet for food entrepreneurs.

"We don't see it slowing down," said Dan Carmody, president of Eastern Market, which early next year plans to open a commercial kitchen that local businesses can rent.

At Eastern Market and local farmers markets, food entrepreneurs are showing up in larger numbers. Last year, they formed their own networking and support group in Detroit. And this summer, the TechTown business incubator at Wayne State University has been hosting a nine-week program specifically geared toward food entrepreneurs that attracted 22 participants.

 

 

Microgreens Provide More Vitamins Than Full Grown Leafy Greens

Microgreens Provide More Vitamins Than Full Grown Leafy Greens

Baby spinach and baby lettuce are de rigeur in every grocery store, but a new study says that even younger greens might give us more nutritional benefits. Enter microgreens. These tiny leaves that are less than 14 days old can provide people with lots and lots of nutrients, possibly even more than baby or full-size varieties of leafy greens.

The study, conducted by USDA researched Gene Lester at the University of Maryland College Park, looked at 25 different varieties of very young greens, aka microgreens. The results, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, are pretty amazing.  Researchers found that microgreens generally had four to size times the amounts of vitamins as fully mature greens of the same plant. That means tiny little baby leaves, which have barely been exposed to sunlight, can potentially provide people with large amounts of vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene.

 

Lifesize, a Weight-Loss Strategy From an Unlikely Pair - NYTimes.com

Lifesize, a Weight-Loss Strategy From an Unlikely Pair 

By NICOLE LaPORTE

Published: September 1, 2012

WHEN Myles Berkowitz first met Steven Kates through a mutual friend in 2006, Mr. Berkowitz had serious doubts about him. 

 First, there were the tattoos. Mr. Kates, a personal trainer in Los Angeles, is covered in them, including one, on his neck, of a dead mouse. Mr. Berkowitz, an indie filmmaker known for the mock documentary “20 Dates,” favors khakis and button-down shirts. Second, what Mr. Kates was saying seemed too good to be true. At the time, Mr. Berkowitz was the heaviest he’d ever been, 219 pounds, and asked Mr. Kates for advice on how to lose weight. Mr. Kates told him to eat all his favorite foods — ribs, hamburgers, pizza — but to eat less of them.

Mr. Berkowitz didn’t buy it. 

“He thought I was a know-it-all pop off,” Mr. Kates, 56, said recently, sitting next to Mr. Berkowitz, 51, at a restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. 

“The jury is still out on whether I like you,” Mr. Berkowitz shot back, smiling. 

Meet the creators of Lifesize, a weight-loss company that evolved out of that encounter, and that after a long, tumultuous and costly journey is finally beginning to succeed. 

Mr. Berkowitz and Mr. Kates are an example of how complementary, if somewhat unlikely, pairings are often what it takes to get an idea off the ground. Think Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak or Coco Chanel and Pierre Wertheimer, her partner in the perfume business — even Sonny and Cher. All are instances of how two very different skill sets, and personalities, united to create something innovative.

Organic, conventional foods similar in nutrition, safety, study finds - The Checkup - The Washington Post

Organic, conventional foods similar in nutrition, safety, study finds

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

 

Organic foods offer little benefit over conventionally farmed foods, a new review of existing research finds.

Crystal Smith-Spangler of Stanford University culled the scientific literature for research into the health benefits and risk of contamination among organic and conventional produce and meats.

Her review of 17 human studies and 223 evaluations of nutrient and contaminant levels in foods ranging from milk and grains to pork, beef and chicken detected mostly minor differences between organic and conventionally farmed versions.

Overall, her research, published Monday afternoon in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found little scientific evidence to support organic food’s superiority over conventionally farmed food. Among the mixed bag of chief findings:

- Eating organic produce instead of conventional produce may reduce risk of exposure to pesticides by 30 percent. But in general, both organic and conventional produce’s pesticide levels were within limits regarded as safe.

Bagged lettuce or bulk? Experts offer food safety advice - Vitals

By JoNel Aleccia, NBC News

 

A recall this week of 8,000 cases of Fresh Express Hearts of Romaine salad marks the sixth time since April that the nation’s top producers of bagged lettuce have pulled products because of worries about food safety.

Listeria was the problem that forced Fresh Express officials to recall certain 10-ounce bags of the greens, the same potentially dangerous bug that led Dole Fresh Vegetables to withdraw bagged salads four times since spring, most recently on Aug. 22.

No illnesses have been tied to the voluntary withdrawals and company press releases describe each one as an “isolated incident” unlikely to harm human health.

Green living: Food safety risks are hard to see | The Coloradoan | coloradoan.com

There is an old aphorism that “You have to see it to believe it.” This phrase embodies the notion that if you can’t see it, perhaps it’s not true. The idea serves us well in many everyday experiences, but it does not apply well in the selection of safe foods.

There are, of course, some very visible potential food-safety hazards. You are well advised to not eat moldy foods. If you eat fresh vegetables, especially root crops, you want to wash off dirt because it’s quite likely a bird, cat or a dog has visited the garden bed even if it’s your own beautiful garden. If you are Elmer Fudd and shoot rabbits to eat, you will want to pick out the shotgun pellets, even if steel pellets only break your teeth (instead of giving you lead poisoning).


Most of the things in food that can harm us are quite invisible. There are potential chemical contaminants that include those things that are used to kill insects, rodents, molds and bacteria. Then there are potential microbe problems. These include a bewildering array of bacteria, viruses, bacterial and fungal toxins and other micro-organisms way too small to be seen.

Obesity Might Lower Teens' Thinking Skills, Study Suggests - US News and World Report

Those with cluster of symptoms did worse on tests, showed brain changes on MRI

MONDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthDay News) -- As the childhood obesity epidemic continues in the United States, more kids are developing an array of heart risk factors linked to obesity known as the "metabolic syndrome."
Now, a study suggests that these obesity-linked changes may be affecting kids' minds as well as their bodies.
The new study finds that adolescents with these conditions -- which include abdominal obesity, unhealthy cholesterol/trigylceride levels and high blood pressure -- are more likely to perform more poorly on tests of mental ability compared to their healthy peers.
MRI scans also showed certain worrisome differences in brain structure among children with the metabolic syndrome, the researchers said.
According to study lead author Dr. Antonio Convit, until recently it's been thought that "the bad things that can happen among kids with metabolic syndrome are 20 years in the future. But, this work demonstrates that these health issues are having a deleterious impact on a kid's brain now. Today."

Sleep Disorders Health Center

What is melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone made by the pineal gland , a small gland in the brain. Melatonin helps control your sleep and wake cycles. Very small amounts of it are found in foods such as meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables. You can also buy it as a supplement.

What does natural melatonin do in the body?

Your body has its own internal clock that controls your natural cycle of sleeping and waking hours. In part, your body clock controls how much melatonin your body makes. Normally, melatonin levels begin to rise in the mid- to late evening, remain high for most of the night, and then drop in the early morning hours.
Light affects how much melatonin your body produces. During the shorter days of the winter months, your body may produce melatonin either earlier or later in the day than usual. This change can lead to symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or winter depression.
Natural melatonin levels slowly drop with age. Some older adults make very small amounts of it or none at all.

Why is melatonin used as a dietary supplement?

Melatonin supplements are sometimes used to treat jet lag or sleep problems (insomnia). Scientists are also looking at other good uses for melatonin, such as:

• Treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
• Helping to control sleep patterns for people who work night shifts.
• Preventing or reducing problems with sleeping and confusion after surgery.
• Reducing chronic cluster headaches.

It may be that melatonin, when taken as a supplement, can stop or slow the spread of cancer, make the immune system stronger, or slow down the aging process. But these areas need more research.
Melatonin is also being studied to see if it can be used to treat sleep problems in people who are blind.¹ Since these people cannot see light, they may have sleep problems such as sleeping during the day and being awake at night

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Rick Clark

Reishi Mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum; Ling Zhi)

Functions: Strengthen Immune System Indication: Polysaccharides and Triterpenoids active substance Works as an anti-oxidant against free radicals Lower the risk for heart related problems Protects against the effects of radiation Used as a decoction, extract, tincture, food additive and supplement. This is the most widely used variety of the most famous Chinese medicine, Lingzhi, Ganoderma lucidum. The black or violet varnish polypore Ganoderma lucidum, var sinense, also called Ganoderma sinense, or violet Lingzhi (Zhao, Xu, and Zhang) is very closely related, but this is Red Ganoderma. Most research on the cultivation, pharmacology, and clinical use of Lingzhi has focused on Red (Ganoderma lucidum) and Violet (Ganoderma lucidum, var sinense) Lingzhi, which are considered two varieties of the same mushroom. Reishi is a traditional tonic used to nourish, tonify, and supplement the whole body as it removes toxins and disperses accumulation. It calms and nourishes the nervous system, strengthens the lungs, protects and stimulates the liver and helps the body adapt to stress. The reishi mushroom is classified botanically as a polypore, a group of hard, woody, bracket-like mushrooms that decompose wood. Because of this hard and woody nature, reishi is not eaten, but cut into pieces and made into a thick, boiled tea, a decoction. This traditional water decoction involves boiling reishi at low temperatures for 2-6 hours. The water soluble compounds are left in the decoction and the mushroom pieces are discarded. A water decoction will contain most of the polysaccharides and some, but not all of the triterpenes. An alcoholic tincture, that is, an alcohol decoction, or, more properly, an aged alcohol soak, will contain both the water-soluble and most of the water insoluble elements. Considered among the most powerful natural healing herbs in Asia, Red Reishi was very rare and expensive to obtain until recently. Reishi is rich in active organic compounds such as polysaccharides, amino acids, proteins, triterpenes, ascorbic acid, sterols, lipids, alkaloids, a glucose, a courmarine glycoside, volatile oil, riboflavin and more. These compounds are being studied for their positive effects on the immune system, including anti-tumor activity. Asian cultures have also used Reishi, rendered in jade, as a talisman worn around the neck. Sometimes, whole dried Reishi are placed in the home to ward off evil. William B. Stavinoha & Neera Satsangi University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio: http://www.kyotan.com/lectures/lectures/Lecture4.html: Prospective and retrospectively collected data on men and women suggest that use of non steroidal antiinflammatory drugs is associated with reduced risk of Alzheimers disease. This research heightens the importance of the ancient reports where Ganoderma lucidum was praised for its effect of increasing memory and preventing forgetfulness in old age reported in Shen Nong

World Bank: Droughts Pushing Food Prices Sharply Higher

Severe Droughts Drive Food Prices Higher, Threatening the Poor

The World Bank says droughts in the United States and Eastern Europe are pushing global food prices sharply higher.

The international lending agency says that prices surged 10 percent in July, with the cost of vital corn and soybean crops reaching all-time highs. Soaring summertime temperatures in the U.S. and Eastern Europe have left many farmlands scorched and plants withered.

International Food Prices Again at Record Levels, World Bank Warns | NationofChange

After decreasing somewhat in recent months, international food prices have again risen dramatically, according to figures published on Thursday by the World Bank. Statistics for July indicate a 10 percent rise over just the previous month, and a six percent increase over already high prices from the same time frame a year ago.

“Food prices rose again sharply, threatening the health and well-being of millions of people,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement on Thursday from the bank’s Washington headquarters. “Africa and the Middle East are particularly vulnerable, but so are people in other countries where the prices of grains have gone up abruptly.”

That list includes countries around the world. According to the World Bank’s new Food Price Watch, between June and July prices for both maize and wheat increased by 25 percent, while soybeans went up by 17 percent. That leaves prices one percent higher than the previous price peak in February 2011.

World Hunger Dilemma Spreads Without Solution - 24/7 Wall St.

A new report from the World Bank states what has been obvious for months: food prices have spiked so high that the costs represent a threat to the ability of many people to feed themselves. The organization also offered solutions it would like to implement, but none of them comes close to a solution to the mammoth problem. And solutions cannot come from elsewhere either. Food shortages are too great, and the nations that might offer aid have become hog-tied by moves toward austerity.


In the latest edition of its Food Price Watch report, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim commented:

Food prices rose again sharply threatening the health and well-being of millions of people. Africa and the Middle East are particularly vulnerable, but so are people in other countries where the prices of grains have gone up abruptly.

Maize prices were up 25% from June to July, as was the price of wheat. Soybean prices rose 17%. The price of internationally traded commodities moved 1% above the previous high in February 2011. The geographic areas hurt most by increases even sharper than the worldwide average included many extremely poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.