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The Grocery Store as Mine Field, Avoiding the Dangers

Is Your SuperMarket a Minefield ?

Recently, I went shopping with my 11 year old nephew, and was shocked and unprepared for the experience. Like other kids his age, he preferred diet sodas containing aspartame and brominated vegetable oil (BVO). He also preferred processed foods high in MSG.

Image: Naval Mine Field with Diver courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

Aspartame’s Dubious Honor

Since the 1981 approval as a food additive, aspartame has the dubious honor of the most complaints reported to the FDA’s Adverse Reaction Monitoring System, accounting for 75 per cent of all complaints.(9)

Diet Sodas are a Mine Field

Aspartame is a chemical sweetener in diet sodas such as diet Coke and Diet Pepsi with names such as Nutrasweet, Equal, etc. Little packets of aspartame are placed on the tables at restaurants for use as a coffee sweetener instead of sugar.

Safety Studies on Aspartame – Cancer?

The Aspartame industry has sponsored 74 aspartame safety studies, all showing Apartame consumption is safe. When studies are done privately, with no connection to the aspartame industry or the FDA, 89 of 90 aspartame safety studies identified problems with aspartame use.(1) A disturbing 2007 study by Soffritti at the Ramazzini Institute in Italy showed aspartame to be a multipotential carcinogen.(2)

I found myself protesting his choices, explaining the dangers of food additives, and removing these items from the shopping cart as fast I could. These food additives are harmful to health, and represent a minefield at the Supermarket waiting for the unsuspecting consumer.

Image: Danger Mines courtesy Wikimedia commons

Many people drink diet sodas thinking this will help lose weight. A recent study shows this is a fallacy, finding a 41% increased risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink consumed daily.(8) The sweetener aspartame activates receptors in the brain to expect sugar (glucose), when none is forthcoming, the aspartame user merely increases junk food and sugar intake.

MSG – Chinese Restaurant Syndrome

Forty years ago, my earliest experience with MSG during medical school was a headache after eating at a chinese restaurant. The MSG causes the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.(3) Since my old medical school days, MSG has been added to thousands of products at the supermarket, and virtually all forms of fast food. Much of this MSG is hidden and does not appear on the label.

MSG and the Obesity Epidemic

Image: MSG causes obesity (right rat). Normal rat on left. Courtesy wikimedia commons

MSG stands for mono sodium glutamate. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, and upregulation of the Glutamate pathway leads to neuron cell damage and cell death. MSG is associated with lesions in the hypothalamus (11), directly causes obesity (4), and a host of somatic and neurological symptoms.

Rat studies show that MSG is a direct cause of obesity. Is our obesity epidemic caused by increased MSG consumption in the population?

Hidden Sources of MSG – It’s not on the label.

Virtually All Fast Foods Contain Large Quantities of MSG

A new problem with MSG is that many of the sources are hidden. In other words, the processed food contains MSG in some form, yet the name MSG does not appear on the label. MSG is present in in all Fast Foods, including Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizzas, Wendy’s etc.

Above images courtesy of wikimedia commons.

Aspartame and MSG – Fibromyalgia Double Whammy

Both Aspartame and MSG are excitatory neurotoxins.(6) When aspartame and MSG are consumed together, as commonly found with fast food and diet sodas in the same meal, there can be a double whammy effect. A 2001 reportdescribes four patients with fibromyalgia syndrome unresponsive to medical treatment.(7) These four patients noted complete resolution of chronic pain upon removing aspartame and MSG from the diet.(7)

In addition, a lengthy list of medical and neurological symptoms are associated with MSG and aspartame. One syndrome includes slurred speech which looks like a TIA (transient ischemic attack). This usually resolves after elimination of MSG and aspartame from the diet.

MSG – an Epidemic of Thyroid Disease

A 1981 study by Dhindsa showed that MSG administered to lab rats caused marked hypothyroidism with striking histology changes in the thyroid gland.(10)

BVO- Brominated Vegetable Oil

Bromine (BVO) is a toxic substance added to sodas such as Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Powerade, Pineapple and Orange Fanta, Sun Drop, Squirt and Fresca. Bromine directly competes with Iodine in the body causing thyroid problems and Iodine deficiency states.
BVO has been banned in India.

What About the FDA ?

The FDA is an agency of our government, and like all other agencies, is infiltrated and corrupted by corporate lobbyists. Rather than an agency for the people, the FDA is an agency of the large corporations that manufacture the food additives. The safety studies are manipulated to get FDA approval. And that’s why the FDA cannot protect the American public from harmful food additives at our supermarket.

In Conclusion- Avoid the Minefield at the Supermarket

We have merely scratched the surface of harmful food additives to avoid at the Supermarket, concentrating on the excitatory neurotoxins Aspartame and MSG. Others, such as Trans Fats, and GMO foods are harmful to our health and should also be avoided.

Related Content:

Genetically Modified GMO Food, the Great Scandal by Jeffrey Dach MD

Studies Show Animals Harmed By GMO Food by Jeffrey Dach MD

Genetically Modified GMO Food, Part II by Jeffrey Dach MD

Washington, D.C. (March 27, 2012) – The Just Label It (JLI) Campaign announced today that a record-breaking one million Americans of all political persuasions have called on the FDA to label genetically engineered (GE) foods. The campaign also announced a new national survey revealing that Americans across the political spectrum stand united in support of labeling food that has been genetically engineered. This is a striking contrast to the partisan divisions plaguing our political system.

“Pink slime, deadly melons, tainted turkeys, and BPA in our soup have put us all on notice that what we eat and feed our families is critically important,” said Ken Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group, a JLI partner. “Americans overwhelmingly demand safety, transparency and labeling of genetically engineered foods. It’s time for the FDA to come clean and restore public confidence in our food system.”

Since October, JLI, (www.justlabelit.org), the national campaign to require GE-food labeling and its more than 500 partner organizations have spearheaded an historic number of public comments for a GE-foods labeling petition (Docket #FDA 2011-P-0723-001/CP). March 27 is the date when the FDA is required to respond to the petition. It took less than 180 days to accumulate the record number of comments.

“In recent years, Americans have shown a real interest in knowing more about our food and now there is a clear mandate for the labeling of genetically engineered foods. This petition asks the FDA to stand up for the rights of average Americans, and not just a handful of powerful chemical companies. It’s time for the FDA to give Americans the same rights held by citizens in forty nations, including all of our major trade partners, to know whether our foods have been genetically modified. The FDA needs to restore confidence in our food and our right to know about the food we eat and feed our families,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield, a JLI partner.

New Survey Results: Motherhood, Apple Pie and GE Food Labeling Consumer support for GE-foods labeling in the U.S. is nearly unanimous, according to the political opinion survey on GE food labeling conducted by The Mellman Group on behalf of JLI. Explained pollster Mark Mellman, “Few topics other than motherhood and apple pie can muster over 90 percent support, but labeling GE-foods is one of those few views held almost unanimously.” “The survey found nearly all Democrats (93% favor, 2% oppose), Independents (90% favor, 5% oppose) and Republicans (89% favor, 5% oppose) in favor of labeling. The study also revealed that support for labeling is robust and arguments against it have little sway. (For the survey findings, visit www.justlabelit.org)

Colorado mother and author Robyn O’Brien, who founded the AllergyKids Foundation, a JLI partner, after one of her children had an allergic reaction to breakfast, said: “Americans are responding to the call for GE foods labeling because they want more information for their families. Like allergen labeling, GE-food labels would provide essential and possibly life-saving information for anyone with a food allergy. Being responsible for the health and safety of my children, I believe it’s my right to know about the food I feed my family…from allergens, to ‘pink slime’ to GE foods.”

This is of the most interesting nutritional videos you must see….

Dandelions are rich in vitamins A,B,C,D, iron, calcium, beta carotene, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. They are said to aid healing in anemia, arthritis, cysts, cancer, liver, pancreas, bladder and kidney problems.

This short informative video includes a dandelion pesto recipe!  Bon Appetit!

http://www.nextworldtv.com/page/1475.html

More than 60 years ago, based on the science of the time (science that has stagnated for 60 years), Dr. E. Orbermer of Italy wrote the following:

“Until further experimental evidence, adequate and incontrovertible, is made available, I submit that we should play for safety. In a climate like that of England every pregnant woman should be given a supplement of vitamin D in doses of not less than 10,000 IU per day in the first 7 months, and 20,000 IU (per day) during the 8th and 9th months.”

OBERMER E. Vitamin-D requirements in pregnancy. Br Med J. 1947 Dec 6;2(4535):927.

The “adequate and incontrovertible evidence” that Dr. Orbermer wanted, to a certain extent, is finally here, 60 years later. As it has to do with developing human beings, it could not be more important. The study is the highest standard of proof, a randomized controlled trial, conducted by Professor Bruce Hollis and colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina. They took 350 pregnant women, gave 1/3 of them 600 IU/day, 1/3 of them 2,000 IU/day, and 1/3 4,000 IU/day. Then they waited to see, among many things, which group would produce infants with at least 20 ng/ml of vitamin D in their blood, the lowest limit the 2010 Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) says is needed for good fetal health.

Hollis BW, Johnson D, Hulsey TC, Ebeling M, Wagner CL. Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy: double-blind, randomized clinical trial of safety and effectiveness. J Bone Miner Res. 2011 Oct;26(10):2341-57. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.463

Surprise surprise, only the 4,000 IU/day pregnant women group even approached the minimal safety level of 20 ng/ml in their infants. Furthermore, the 2010 FNB recommendations of vitamin D in prenatal vitamins would have left 50% of the White women and 80% of the Black women with fetuses below 20 ng/ml.

However, Professor Hollis found something else, something potentially much more important. He found that the average fetus in the USA is starved for enough building blocks for his or her mother to make adequate activated vitamin D to ship to the baby; activated vitamin D that is probably used for microscopic organ development, such as in the brain.

Activated vitamin D in pregnancy is mysterious. It appears the mother makes it in her kidney (maybe some in her placenta) at levels up to 3 to 4 times normal (without maternal hypercalcemia) and ships it across to the fetus. This only happens if the mother has enough of this vital steroid hormone in her body to ship to the fetus and most mothers do not. If she can’t make it, she can’t ship it maximally, and the 38 fetal organs depending on activated vitamin D to fully develop must do the best they can do with inadequate amounts of this steroid. Of course, none of this applies to mothers who frequently sunbathe, or who take 5,000 IU/day while they are pregnant.

To quote Professor Hollis: “These findings suggest that the current vitamin D (requirements for pregnancy, currently 600 IU/day) issued in 2010 by the Food and Nutrition Board should be raised to 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day so that all women, regardless of race, can attain optimal nutritional and hormonal vitamin D status throughout pregnancy.”

The Vitamin D Council agrees and considers this an important study in support of why adults and pregnant women need at least 4,000 IU/day to elevate blood levels and improve fetal health and birth outcomes. Although there are no trials that support taking more, the Vitamin D Council believes 5,000 IU/day is equally safe and would be more effective at maintaining adequate fetal blood levels of vitamin D.

The Vitamin D Council
1241 Johnson Ave. #134
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401