Countdown to Fitness

Please contact your senators on Mon., Nov. 15 or Tues., Nov. 16. and urge them to support the Tester Amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510). The Senate may be voting on the bill as early as Wednesday, Nov. 17.

Without the amendment, thousands of small farmers and small food producers who are producing safe, nutrient-dense foods will be at risk for going out of business. (more…)

Genetically modified dairy puts your health at risk

Do your milk and dairy products say, “rGBH free?”  If not, you are at an increased risk for developing breast, prostate, or colorectal cancers.

rGBH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) – also called rbST (recombinant bovine somatotropin) is a genetically engineered (GE) hormone created by Monsanto, and it’s injected into dairy cows to increase milk production.  Like other GE products, rGBH also has unintended consequences; it increases insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in cows. Contrary to Monsanto’s claims, IGF-1 is not destroyed in the human stomach, according to a British Medical Journal article.[1]  Instead, in humans, IGF-1 increases the risk of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, and possibly others. In fact, higher levels of IGF-1 strongly correlate to poor prognostic outcomes in a breast cancer study, as reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.[2] (more…)

Soybeans: 91% in the US are Genetically Modified (GM)

(Update – now includes a list of references at the bottom.)

Should people be concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?  Absolutely! And a growing number of critics from around the world, including doctors, molecular biologists, farmers, environmentalists, agronomists, and many others agree.  (Most processed foods are made of GMOs.)  Genetic engineering (GE) has inherent, dangerous, unpredictable consequences, and an increasing body of evidence is bearing this out.  Just as tobacco companies hid research showing the danger of cigarettes, there is proof that biotechnology companies are harboring hidden, raw data that show dangers of GMOs. As hazardous as GE is, the problems don’t stop there.  The chemicals required by GE crops are becoming ever more dangerous, too, for people, animals, and the environment.  Additionally, there are other insidious problems: new, dangerous forms of dominance created by biotechnology companies over farmers and consumers. (more…)

Because Americans are eating less high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the makers of HFCS want to change its name to “corn sugar” to improve its image and sales.  On September 14, 2010, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use the new name on food labels.

While the FDA could take a couple of years to decide whether to accept the change, the CRA is already using the name in a new, aggresive marketing campaign on its website and in TV commercials. (more…)

Ricotta Cheese - Original image by Paola Sersante

Since my family and I have stopped eating flour, I needed something special to make for my husband’s birthday.

During the summer, we went to a reunion and stayed at a Bed & Breakfast where Marin, one of the innkeepers, made a fantastic dessert in the evening — panna cotta, which I had never had before.  I came home and looked it up.

While this quick recipe, which I’ve been experimenting with, is not the real panna cotta, it is a good desert that isn’t loaded with some type of sugar (honey, table sugar, etc.), which no matter what type, is unhealthy in large amounts.  (The American Heart Association suggests no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day for women and 9 for men.)  Next time, I’ll try less honey, and spoon over top a 3/4 cup of fresh strawberries, which I will cook down first to concentrate the natural fruit sugar.  Then, I’ll cut a strawberry into 6 slices and place 3 pieces on top of each serving. (more…)