Category: Health

From Eriyah Flynn of Mercy For Animals

If you see any nutritional research that comes from the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) they are the front group that is funded by Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, General Foods, Kraft, Proctor and Gamble. The World Health Organization has banned them from participating in their conferences because the ILSI is the spin machine confusing the masses about what is healthy in foods. Be informed, and be empowered.

The article she refers to.

Larry Haubner just had his 107th birthday. I initially found this article depressing. Haubner never had a family, is penniless having outlived his savings and he finds himself living in 2009 — a world that has few familiar surroundings in common with the world of his birth in 1902.

On the other hand, people who live in nursing homes rarely have their children visit them, maybe a few times a year. What is new and strange also becomes familiar.

I saw an old 70s style phone the other day and though I felt a bit of nostalgia I couldn’t imagine using such a phone anymore.

Larry Haubner lived on his own, taking care of himself until he was 102 and to this day he doesn’t take any medication. He was able to do those things because he has been a nutrition and exercise buff. Neighbors frequently saw him riding his bike down to the local river to sit by it and sing. Riding a bike at nearly one century of age and still enjoying life enough to sing. Haubner isn’t a sad man.

The staff at his assisted living facility have made successful web sites and pledge drives on his behalf to raise money for his living expenses. Haubner may not have a family, but he isn’t alone or friendless at his age.

To a younger person his situation may look grim, but Haubner is happy

The article from the Washington Post

A recent article at Mother Earth News stated that plant breeders have caused the amount of nutrition in our food to decrease:

• Wheat and barley: protein concentrations declined by 30 to 50 percent between the years 1938 and 1990.
• In 45 corn varieties developed from 1920 to 2001, concentrations of protein, oil and three amino acids have all declined in the newer varieties.
• Six minerals have declined by 22 to 39 percent in 14 widely grown wheat varieties developed over the past 100 years.
• Average calcium content of broccoli was 12.9 milligrams per gram of dry weight in 1950; 4.4 mg/g dry weight in 2003

Fertilizer and organics aside, the breeds developed for better yields are also causing problems.