There are many fallacies that guide our beliefs in human nutrition today and often prevail until long-term studies indicate otherwise. Here are just a few:

• If vegetables are healthy, anything that comes from a vegetable is nutritive.
• Fats are linked to obesity and disease; therefore all fats are bad and should be avoided.
• All calories are created equal.
• Nutritional supplements are not necessary if an individual eats a healthy balanced diet.

About Vegetable Oils

Vegetable oil is a product consumed worldwide. Production skyrocketed with advances made in agricultural farming from the industrial revolution. Soybeans, palm plant, and corn are just a few crops that have since been mass produced.

Vegetable oils are popular in modern cuisine because they can be used in different techniques in restaurants and home cooking. Oils are utilized based on smell, color, taste, and the potential stability at high cooking temperatures. Vegetable oils dominate an overwhelming amount of processed foods found in dressings, marinades, spreadable cheeses, packaged baked goods, and the list continues.

Statista collects information from over 18,000 studies worldwide. Data collected reveals that there has been a steady increase in the consumption of vegetable oils from 2005 to 2015. Currently, people are consuming 172.99 million metric tons of vegetable oil a year. Most popular in demand is palm oil followed by soybean, canola, a generalized “other” category and lastly sunflower oil. (1)

Heart Healthy Myths

Food manufacturers deserve most of the blame for such faulty thinking. Health-conscious consumers are targeted by the vegetable oil industry. For example, canola oil is advertised as a good source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and a nutritive food source for frying or other cooking purposes. Health-conscious consumers are targeted in this marketing approach because omega-3 fatty acids are typically deficient in the average American diet.

Nutritionists and dieticians recommend the consumption of plant sterols (cholesterol-like structure) daily to help regulate cholesterol levels. When healthy plant sterols are provided in vegetables and nuts, the body’s cholesterol has to compete for recognition that ultimately leads to a reduction in harmful low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Hopping on the pro-plant sterol bandwagon too quickly, food manufacturers created a new booming product in the form of margarine. (20)

False Marketing

False marketing stimulated a lure from individuals trying to eat nutritiously. “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” products were advertised as free of cholesterol. According to the product’s label, ingredients contained liquid and partially hydrogenated soybean oil amongst several other ingredients known to raise human health concerns.

“I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” products have been redesigned and relabeled today to no longer include partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats. Unfortunately, the product is still produced from health hazardous vegetable oils such as canola and palm (21).

Learning the Fat Terminology

The term “fat” has received a blemished reputation across most cultures in the world. Rising obesity and heart disease rates provoked the assumption that fats consumed equals pounds added. This belief is indeed misunderstood. Without a solid understanding of nutrition, consumers remain susceptible to manipulative food industry claims. It is as if the blind is leading the blind.

Fat is essential for brain function and overall health and well-being. Generally speaking, fats are categorized based on their chemical structure and their physical appearance at room temperature.

Saturated Fats: Naturally found in meat, dairy and coconut products. Solid at room temperature. Looks like a straight chain linked fence. Contains as many hydrogen bonds as it could possibly hold.

Monounsaturated Fats: Examples are olive oil, lard, and canola. Typically liquid at room temperature but possibly solidifies when cooled. Looks like your bicycle chain when it has a kink in one link that causes the chain to bend. Has just a slightly bit fewer hydrogen bonds structurally attached.

Polyunsaturated Fats: Found in several plant-based oils including flaxseed oil and also found in fatty fish such as salmon. Remains liquid at cold temperatures. Looks like your bent gold chain with multiple kinks after you untangled it from the jewelry box. Has the least percentage of hydrogen bonds attached to the chain compared to saturated or monounsaturated fats. (4, 20)

Vegetable Oils Are a Source of Trans Fats

As a result of their structures, straight chain linked saturated fats are readily available to link up with other biological compounds. Increased saturated fat consumption promotes a greater concentration of fat storing triglycerides harmful to the body. So what does the structure of the fat have to do with trans fats?

Trans fatty acids are artificially created when the saturated fat structure is altered to resemble the chemical composition of unsaturated fat. Even though a few hydrogen bonds are removed from the chain, hence the name “partially hydrogenated”, the problem remains because the chain remains straight. As a result, only 20% of trans fats in an individual’s diet is sourced from nature whereas 80% originates from these man designed and technology produced partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (4).

A lax standard from food regulating agencies, especially in the United States, allows food manufacturers too much wiggle room for vegetable oil use. Despite having been entirely banned in other countries, foods loaded with trans fats flood the American food supply. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) did, however, pass a regulation in 2003 requiring food labels to disclose trans fats as an ingredient that has been in effect since 2006. (4, 5)

What Are Hydrogenated Oils?

Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) are a cheap and effective tool to increase shelf life and melting temperatures of food products (20). As exemplified over and over again, food companies are intelligent, manipulative and always a step ahead of you to bulk up their wallets.

Margarine and vegetable shortening are engineered foods that have increased melting points. Remember what types of fats remain solid at room temperature because of straight linked chains? Genetically modified and mass produced soybean or safflower oil are chemically made into these solid fats and have been marketed since the 1930s (4).

The FDA considered the product Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) in 1977 due to the lack of scientific evidence correlating trans fats to human health problems (4). Isn’t it interesting how the lack of information could be used to justify rationale?

Trans Fats Found in Tissue Samples

Costa Rican studies have since shown insight on the relationship between vegetable oil consumption and trans fat accumulation in the body. Costa Rica serves as an ideal location for nutrition based experimentation because of low dairy and meat consumption which may influence saturated fat levels.

Trans fats were calculated from tissue samples taken from the Costa Rican population. Researchers concluded that the primary sources of trans fat was soybean oil. Popular in cuisine to prepare beans, rice, eggs and fried foods, soybean oil accounted for 30% of sourced trans fats followed by margarine and baked goods. (4,17)

If enough supporting evidence did not exist in the 1930s when the product was introduced or in 1977 when the FDA ruled that trans fats were safe for human consumption, there is clearly enough evidence today for the FDA to readdress the safety of vegetable oils in food.

Avoiding Vegetable Oils

In 2014, The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recognized that artificial trans fat in food has declined by approximately 75% since 2005. A few popular examples of products that remain on the market and contain trans fats are:

• Turkey Hill Party Cake ice cream
• Sara Lee Classic New York Cheesecake
• Pop-Secret Kettle Corn
• Betty Crocker Pie Crust Mix
• Popeye’s breakfast hash browns (5)

Despite this seemingly optimistic statistic, the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan are consuming more canola oil than they have in previous decades (12). For a culture with everything but time, the dinner table has become a staple for prepackaged, processed foods fortified with vegetable oils.

Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Omega-6 Fatty Acids

Dietary recommendations promote consuming a greater intake of omega-3 fatty acids found in marine life, eggs, plants as well as vegetable oils. One might assume that the benefits from the omega-3 content alone make vegetable oil worth consuming. However, the idea that vegetable oils contain healthy omega-3s is also misunderstood.

Beneficial omega-3 fatty acids contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and have heart protective properties (6). The problem with getting the recommended requirements of omega-3 fats from vegetable oils is that there is an even higher concentration of omega-6 fats available. Although omega-6 fats are an essential dietary need, the balance between the two types of fatty acids is delicate.

Problems With Omega-6 Diets

Omega-6 fats contain linolenic acid (LA). Scientific evidence reveals that the two fatty acid types biologically compete for metabolism. With the average human’s diet now deficient in omega-3s and overloaded with omega-6 fatty acid sources, the healthy ALA simply cannot compete with our rich LA diets. Resulting health consequences are glycemic problems in individuals with diabetes, cholesterol issues, inflammation and cardiovascular related degeneration and disease. (6, 11)

The average American diet now has a ratio of 10 omega-6 fatty acids for every one omega-3 fatty acid consumed and vegetables oils are certainly a major culprit (6). A better source to get ALA for health benefits is from salmon, flaxseed, chia seeds, or whole English walnuts.

Refinement Is Not Always a Good Thing

The question then remains, where did all of the heart healthy promoting factors go? Refining vegetable oil is required to remove compounds not safe for human consumption. A series of high temperatures and chemicals are used to extract, bleach, and deodorize vegetable oil. Avocados are a great source of healthy fat, and we don’t have to bathe them before consumption. (20)

The entire refinement process is responsible for destroying and depleting the oil of its beneficial omega-3 content and antioxidants. The result is a legally marketed biological poison with concentrated amounts of trans fats and an unbalanced omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid ratio.

Environmental friendly researchers don’t even suggest the use of these same vegetable oils in engineering. Due to the same reasons that contribute to inadequate chemical stability when influenced by raising temperatures, biolubricants such as vegetable oil increase corrosion and acidity when used in engine oils (15). If it isn’t recommended for engine use, how can it be recommended for human use?

Vegetable Oil: A Toxic Source of Chemicals and Pesticides

The danger of pesticides and other chemical food contaminants is becoming increasingly unavoidable and does not exclude vegetable oil. Cold-pressed is considered the “healthier” form of refined vegetable oil. With no added heat, liquid is isolated and the chemical properties of oil are not structurally altered. (14)

In 2012, researchers in Poland published their findings of known human carcinogens and common pesticides in refined and cold-pressed vegetable oils (14). Levels of the following synthetic compounds were discovered.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): Associated with hormonal defects and disease. Researchers identified 18 types.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): Known to cause skin, lung and stomach cancer. Researchers identified 15 types.

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (BPDEs): Flame retardant chemicals known to cause birth defects, cancer and neurobehavioral changes. Researchers identified 14 types (16).

As if these chemicals listed are not harmful enough, 74 classifications of pesticides were also measured. The Stockholm Convention sets guidelines for the allowance of persistent organic pollutants in food. The chemical levels measured exceeded the maximum permitted concentration under the guidelines of the Stockholm Convention. (14)

If fallacy originates from the concept that anything comes from a vegetable is nutritive, whatever happened to if you cannot pronounce what is in your food, don’t eat it?

Freshness Counts

The development of hypertension is linked to the oxidative (chemical altering) process of heating vegetable oils. Fast food chains most especially are known for their use of reheating vegetable oils simply because it is a cost effective approach in food production. With repetitive heating, the chemical structure of the oil ages and eventually depletes the antioxidants available such as vitamin E. As a consequence, free radicals increase in concentration, the toxicity of the oil increases and any possible health benefits are destroyed. (13)

Compared to fresh vegetable oil, heated vegetable oils have been indicated to raise blood pressure and promote various factors which increase the risk of hypertension. Researchers believe that part of the problem is because the networks for blood travel are altered.

Changes have been observed in the concentration of biological compounds that affect these pathways. Free radicals produced from heated vegetable oils not only causes disturbances in blood regulation but this oxidation process contributes to pathogenesis, or the development of disease. (13, 20)

Vegetable Oil Increases Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Changes in the biological concentration of lipids, nitric oxide, nitrite and acetylcholine from vegetable oil consumption require long term human testing. The following factors contribute to an increase risk of coronary heart disease (11,18).

Cholesterol: In a Nurses’ Health Study, researchers concluded that trans fatty acids increase the ratio of harmful low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and decrease beneficial high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) concentrations (9). The study analyzed results collected from over 85,000 women. Women whom consumed margarine and other food sources containing trans fats had a significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease.

Blood Pressure: A study released in 2011 brought further attention to risks for cardiovascular related illnesses. Experimental rodents that consumed heated vegetable oils exhibited a significant increase in blood pressure. After only 24 weeks of consumption, blood pressure increased by over 25%. (13)

Nitric Oxide: Nitric oxide helps blood flow by expanding blood vessels. This mechanism is especially important during exercise when the brain and heart require an increased oxygen supply. The same experimental rodents had less nitric oxide available. Instead, an altered form of nitric oxide increased by up to 23.1% (13). Nitrite poses a health hazard; it is usually found in deli meats and bacon.

Acetylcholine: Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter involved in biological functions such as stimulating nervous system activity involving arousal and learning. The reduction of acetylcholine levels were measured and correlated to the increase in heated vegetable oil consumption (13).

Vegetable Oil Elevates Risk of Cancer & Other Illnesses

In 2004, another Nurses’ Health Study performed an experiment analyzing the intake of trans fatty acids in a group of 823 women (7). A linear association was found between increased trans fatty acid intake and higher risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes.

Higher than normal biological compounds correlated to increased cancer risks, heart failure mortality, insulin resistance, lipid abnormalities, increased inflammation and immune infection.

Gut Changes Promote Inflammation

Researchers analyzed the effects of oil on metabolism in a study released in 2011 (11). They observed an altered gut environment with increased intestinal permeability as well as high concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines associated with cancer. The study concluded that vegetable oils have varying degrees of inflammatory properties on the body.

One inflammatory response includes an increase in endotoxin metabolism (11). Endotoxins are known to cause botulism. Until more human intervention studies are performed, it is too risky to assume that vegetable oils are safe for consumption because of the lack of supporting data accepted by the United States FDA.

Vegetable Oil Increases Women’s Risk for Infertility

The Department of Nutrition, Brigham Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA underwent a study that assessed the relationship between ovulatory infertility and risks factors such as fat, cholesterol, and fatty acid intake. A high BMI is often associated with infertility issues in women. Researchers in this study concluded that most fatty acid types are actually not related to ovulatory infertility but rather a significant correlation exist with trans unsaturated fats. A 73% greater risk of ovulatory infertility was recorded for every 2% increase in trans unsaturated fats compared to other fat sources. (8)

Researchers dating back to 1999 understood the risk associated with vegetable oil and disease. An article published in Plant Foods for Human Nutrition warned of dangers linked to vegetable oil, specifically palm oil. Associated risks included toxicity in the kidneys, lungs, liver, heart, and even disorders such as Tay-Sachs and Gaucher’s disease (2, 3). The FDA no longer permits the use of vegetable oil in infant formula because it has been linked to inhibiting growth and vitamin E deficiency amongst other health risks (20).

Revoke Authority from the Food Industry

Dr. Michael Jacobson, Executive Director at CSPI, petitioned the United States FDA in 2004 to revoke any authority given to the food industry to use partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. In the request, CSPI urged the FDA to encourage the use of the healthiest ingredients possible in replacement of partially hydrogenated oils from food manufacturers and restaurants. Cited research includes studies from health councils in other countries and research on the correlation of heart disease from the Institute of Medicine. An overwhelming amount of evidence from the most recent studies was also provided refuting the FDA’s previous comments from 1976 that:

“There is no evidence in the available information on hydrogenated soybean oil that demonstrates, or suggests reasonable grounds to suspect, a hazard to the public when it is used as a direct or indirect food ingredient at levels that are now current or that might reasonably be expected in the future.”(4)

Now, in a full reversal, the FDA has finally announced new regulations to prohibit trans-fats in processed foods beginning in 2016.

Recommendations & Alternatives to Vegetable Oils

By removing sources of vegetable oil in food, human health and wellbeing will improve. The following is a summary of foods containing vegetable oils that should be avoided:

1. Cooking foods with vegetable oils like canola, palm, peanut, sesame, canola or shortening.
2. Processed goods such as coffee creamers, canned frosting, pastries and frozen meals.
3. Fast food chains like McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Burger King.
4. Alternative fat sources such as margarine.
5. All products containing trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils.

If vegetable oil cannot be entirely avoided, The Heart & Vascular Team with the Cleveland Clinic does not recommend deep frying for any oil including those with a high smoke point (19). It is also best to purchase organic oils whenever possible and reduce the intake of GMOs and chemical pollutants.

A more nutritious alternative to vegetable oils is organic coconut oil. Studies currently attribute several possible benefits to consuming coconut oil such as providing protection from Alzheimer’s disease and heart-related illness.

Recommended Reading:

• Healthy Fat Recipes
• What is a Cyclic Ketogenic Diet?
• Everything You Should Know About Fat
• Budwig Cancer Cure
• Health Benefits of Coconut Oil
• Avoid These Common Mistakes To Optimize Your Health Quickly
• Scientists Against GMOs

Sources:

1. That Statistics Portal Link Here
2. Ebong PE, Owu DU, Isong EU. Influcence of palm oil (Elaesis guineensis) on health. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition. 1999 Jan;53(3):209-22. PMID: 10517280
3. Edem DO. Palm oil: biochemical, physiological, nutritional, hematological, and toxicological aspects: a review. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition. 2002 Sep;57(3-4):319-41. PMID: 12602939
4. Petition for Rulemaking to Revoke the Authority for Industry to Use Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils in Foods Link Here
5. Center for Science in the Public Interest Link Here
6. Penny M, et al. Fish Consumption, Fish Oil, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and Cardiovascular Disease. Circulation Journal of the American Heart Association. 2002 Jan;106:2747-57. DOI: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000038493.65177.94
7. Mozaffarian D, Pischon T, et al. Dietary intake of trans fatty acids and systemic inflammation in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Apr;79(4):606-612. PMID: 15051604
8. Chavarro JE, Rich-Edwards JW, et al. Dietary fatty acid intakes and the risk of ovulatory infertility. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jan;85(1):231-7. PMID: 17209201
9. Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, et al. Intake of trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease among women. Lancet. 1993 Mar;341(8845):581-5. PMID: 8094827
10. Laugerette F, et al. Oil composition of high-fat diet affects metabolic inflammation differently in connection with endotoxin receptors in mice. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Nov;302:374-386. DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00314.2011
11. Ghosh S, Novak EN, and Innis SM. Cardiac proinflammatory pathways are altered with different dietary n-6 linoleic to n-3 α-linolenic acid ratios in normal, fat-fed pigs. American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2007 Nov;293(5):2919-2927. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00324.2007
12. Ratnayake S, and Lewandowski P. Rapid bioassay-guided screening of toxic substances in vegetable oils that shorten the life of SHRSP rats. Lipids Health Dis. 2010 Feb;9:13. DOI: 10.1186/1476-511X-9-13
13. Jaarin, K, et al. The effects of heated vegetable oils on blood pressure in rats. Clinics. 2011 Dec; 66(12), 2125–2132. PMCID: 3226610
14. Roszko, M, et al. PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs and Pesticides in Cold-Pressed Vegetable Oils. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society. 2012 Mar;89(3), 389–400. DOI: 10.1007/s11746-011-1926-5
15. Salimon J,et al.Synthesis, reactivity and application studies for different biolubricants. Chemistry Central Journal. 2014 Mar;8: 16. PMCID: 3995787
16. Shao J, et al. The Role of Mitochondrial and Oxidative Injury in BDE 47 Toxicity to Human Fetal Liver Hematoietic Stem Cells. Toxicological Sciences. 2007 Oct;101(1):81-90. DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfm256
17. Baylin A, et al. Adipose tissue biomarkers of fatty acid intake. Am J Clinc Nutr. 2002 Oct; 76(4):750-7. PMID: 12324287
18. Kabagambe EK, et al. The Type of Oil Used for Cooking Is Associated with the Risk of Nonfatal Acute Myocardial Infarction in Costa Rica. J Nutr. 2005 Nov;135(11):2674-2679. PMID: 16251629
19. Cleveland Clinic Heart-Healthy cooking: Oils 101 Link Here
20. The Weston A. Price Foundation: The Great Con-ola Link Here
21. “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” Ingredients Link Here

Additional Sources Include:

Healthiest Cooking Oil Chart with Smoke Points – Baseline of Health Foundation

New Alzheimer’s Drugs Continue to Fail Where Coconut Oil Shines – Health Impact News

For most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is still in full force and kids are enjoying their summer break. Out of sight and out of mind, our immune systems never get a vacation. Minute to minute, our deepest defense mechanisms are working behind the scenes to keep us in balance.

Pharmacies are advertising flu shots with predictable scare tactics before schools reopen and families get back into more familiar routines. Many health-conscious people gear up for the flu by getting an annual shot but gasp in awe when they come down with it anyway. Whether you blame it on the fact that the vaccine does not defend the body against all strains of influenza or the shot itself is the culprit, flu inoculations do not always work. They also do not prevent or lessen the severity of the common cold, halt stomach bugs, or deter other woes associated with the colder months.

Consistent hand-washing, cutting down on or eliminating sugar entirely from the diet, supplementing with good food, and getting enough sleep are all good ways to boost immunity, but they are not always enough. Clinical aromatherapy can boost the body’s defenses where good intentions leave off. Like any other avenue to wellness, it works best before the problem arises.

Some people complain that essential oils did not work for them during the flu season, not realizing that they used the same oils habitually, did not use them regularly, or used inappropriate ones. Using essential oils correctly is key. Here are a few tips that can make all the difference this coming winter and all year long.

Steps to Correctly Use Essential Oils

1. Do not use the same oil or combination of oils for longer than 7-10 days. The body will build a tolerance to it, thereby weakening the effects of the oils. To avoid immunity to the essential oils, alternate single oils and combination formulas every other week.

2. Do not think a few applications of essential oils will boost your immune system for months to come. Maintain a step ahead and use essential oils regularly, which means daily or 3-4x a week. The best way is to apply them undiluted to the soles of the feet at bedtime.

3. Do not shower for at least seven hours after applying essential oils.

4. Do not assume that all essential oils fight viruses. All oils are antibacterial, but only a few possess true anti-viral properties.

5. Use half the recommended amount for children.

Essential Oils for Better Immunity

Since essential oil is a plant’s own defense against disease, it does the same for us when we apply it singularly or in combination. Using essential oils that work well with others of complementary nature is the heart of clinical aromatherapy, and this goal of synergy can yield profound results regarding the immune system. When applied undiluted to the soles of the feet (the soft, uncalloused part between the ball of the foot and the heel), the antiviral-like properties of certain essential oils reach the bloodstream within 20 minutes and the deepest cellular level within 7-24 hours. For the best and most reliable results, please use the highest quality essential oils (see Recommendations and Links at the end of this article).

Related: Make Your Immune System Bulletproof with These Natural Remedies

Immune-boosting essential oils can be your best ally throughout the year, but if you want to gear up for the flu season this winter, it is best to armor your body now while summer is still here. Here is a list of essential oils you will want on hand and why.

• Clove Bud: One of the most powerful and reliable essential oils in clinical aromatherapy, clove combats contagious diseases and is an excellent oil to use for any bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. Also highly recommended for Lyme disease. How to use: 4 drops undiluted on each sole of the foot. Works even better when layered with organic lemon essential oil and used in combination 2-3x a week for 7 days. After a week, use another single oil or combination. Caution: Do not use undiluted or diluted on any other part of the body besides the soles of the feet. Avoid clove essential oil if you are on blood thinners.

• Eucalyptus citriodora: There are over 700 species of eucalyptus, and Eucalyptus citriodora (also known as Lemon Eucalyptus) is one of the most valuable. It has potent anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties and is highly effective for bacterial and viral infections of the respiratory system*. How to use: 4 drops undiluted on each sole of the foot. Effective for flu pain when diluted and combined with balsam fir; apply this diluted combination to aching muscles and joints. Can also be mixed with Epsom salts or sea salt and dispersed into a hot bath or foot bath. Can be diffused into the air via nebulizer to clear the air of viruses. *Do not use Lemon Eucalyptus if you have asthma.

Related: Understanding Essential Oils: A Complete Guide For Beginners

• Eucalyptus globulus: Menthol-rich eucalyptus eases the pain of muscles and joints associated with influenza and strengthens the immune system to fight viruses and bacteria. It also combats infectious fevers. Eucalyptus breaks up chest congestion when diluted and applied to the chest and throat in non-asthmatics. How to use: A few drops added to a pot or heat-proof bowl of hot water will make wonderful steam for inflamed sinuses associated with head colds and chronic sinusitis. *Do not use Eucalyptus globulus if you have asthma. In cases of asthma, substitute with pine needle or balsam fir or pine needle.

• Lavender: Seemingly a lightweight, this essential oil is the primary oil to have on hand at home and while traveling. How to use: 4 drops undiluted on each sole of the foot. Works even better when layered with organic lemon essential oil and used in combination 2-3x a week for 7 days. After a week, use another single oil or combination.

• Organic Lemon: Organic lemon essential oil is one of the most potent oils and the first to go to when one’s immunity is compromised. Organic lemon stimulates white blood cell production and boosts immunity against serious infections including pneumonia and staph. How to use: 4 drops undiluted on each sole of the foot. Organic lemon kills viruses and bacteria when diffused into the air via nebulizer.

• Pine Needle: Pine needle is good for viral fatigue and aching, winter muscles when a cold or flu is dragging you down. How to use: 4 drops undiluted on each sole of the foot. Best used when mixed with sea salt or Epsom salt and added to hot bath water. It can also be diluted in a little vegetable oil or unscented lotion and rubbed into the body. Pine needle is also a great oil to dilute and rub onto the chest for coughs and bronchitis.

Related: How I Replaced Medications With Essential Oils

• Tea Tree: Tea tree oil is a powerful and reliable oil for the immune system that is best when combined with organic lemon, white thyme, clove, or lavender essential oil to fight infections and the flu. How to use: 4 drops undiluted on each sole of the foot.

• Lemongrass: Lemongrass essential oil is used to relieve muscle pain, ward off insects, and reduce body aches. It also has powerful antimicrobial properties.

Even those seemingly alike offer unique benefits. With a little practice and even more knowledge, clinical aromatherapy can be employed to dramatically bolster immunity and guard against winter illnesses and even greater threats. It is also a lovely, fragrant way to better health.

Sources:

• Donato, Marlaina. Multidimensional Aromatherapy. Blairstown, NJ: Ekstasis Multimedia, 2015
• Worwood, Valerie Ann. The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy. San Rafael, CA: New World Library 1991
• Young, Gary. Essential Oil Desk Reference. Essential Science Publishing, 2004

In an ongoing effort to “go green” and “save the planet,” people are looking for easy, affordable home improvement projects to make their homes greener, healthier, and sustainable.

Home Insulation

Before starting on any project to ensure energy efficiency, it’s wise to get started with an energy audit first. A professional inspection by a company or even one’s utility company will give homeowners a starting point to know where they are leaking valuable energy–and dollars. Starting prices for energy audits can free upward to $300.

Experts agree that approximately 50 percent of the homes in the United States have inadequate insulation, if at all. Why is this important? Simply put, a well-insulated home, whether in a room, an attic area, or a room above a garage, can prevent the transference of heat and help reduce a home’s energy needs.

It may help maintain some warmth during the winter and keep a room or section cooler during the summer. That being said, a thorough insulation job for ceilings, attic, and walls should be effective all year round.

Other energy-guzzling culprits are older windows and doors that have cracks in the frames. By simply filling the cracks, one’s interior temperature remains stable and is more affordable than replacing windows and having to possibly buy new frames.

Water Saving Improvements

The are various methods a homeowner can use to save on water consumption: tankless water heaters, energy-efficient toilets, water reducing filters throughout the home, and even recycling water from sinks, baths, and showers to water gardens and lawns.

While all the rage in many areas, tankless water heaters do cut water heating bills by up to 30 percent. However, this may not be the best route to go as the sudden surge in power that an energy on demand appliance generates may off-set any savings.

According to the EPA, a family of four saves roughly 20,000 gallons of water on an annual basis by simply replacing standard shower heads and faucet heads to low-flow faucets. Low-flow fixtures guarantee reduced water bills without sacrificing personal hygiene.

Much the same can be said for replacing your standard toilet with energy-saving one; however, there is an ongoing debate as to the effectiveness of said models to flush down waste with the first rush of water. Many times, a second flush is required.

Installing an HVAC System For Air Purification

There is nothing like using air conditioning for both air cooling and keeping the air pure and recycled. There are some expenses involved, such as checking air ducts for leaks that waste roughly 20 percent of the air traveling through them, making your system work harder.

Semi-annual maintenance routines will have to be scheduled; however, manufacturers and utility companies offer rebates on new installations that help make your purchase of equipment more affordable.

Programmable thermostats can save you up to 5-15 percent a year by simply setting them to a cooler temperature at night and setting a higher temperature during the day. That being said, if you set and reset a thermostat manually, there is no need to buy a digital thermostat that typically runs from $75 to $250.

Smarter Flooring

With some people subject to allergy problems and respiratory illnesses, a hard flooring such as linoleum, and not vinyl, may be the way to go. According to environmental experts, vinyl flooring is made from dioxin and phthalates that can be major causes of health issues; however, authentic linoleum is constituted from linseed oil and is a better option to vinyl covering.

Cork, bamboo, and recycled wood are other eco-friendly alternatives that are healthier choices than carpet.

Window Replacements

Besides providing your home with light, warmth and ventilation, windows have a great effect on your home’s energy efficiency. By replacing your old windows with energy efficient ones, you can significantly reduce energy consumption and lower your energy bills.

If your budget is tight, applying a reflective window film is a more affordable way to reduce energy costs. The film helps block heat gain by cutting sun glare and allowing rays to bounce off the window. Effectiveness depends on window size, orientation, climate, and insulation.

Home improvement and hardware stores carry DIY kits to help homeowners make the change without replacing the existing windows.

Conclusion

While not being totally free of expenses, by simply implementing the above-mentioned measures in one’s home, you can begin to quickly enjoy savings and a healthy, greener lifestyle. Not only this, but a possible return on investment(ROI) may be generated if you later sell your home.

Further Reading:

• Home Energy Audits – Energy.gov
• How to Remove a Toilet – Renovation Kingdom
• Understanding Automatic and Programmable Thermostats – The Natural Handyman

Recommended Reading:

• Fight Cavities and Gingivitis Naturally With Homemade DIY Oral Health
• Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula
• Homemade Vitamin C
• 5 Easy Home Improvements To Make Your Home Green And Healthy
• Natural Cleaning Solutions For Your Home

Biotechnology has long tried to paint the critics of genetic engineering as anti-science. A great effort has been made to convince the public that the majority of world’s scientists support genetic engineering. In reality, GMOs are heavily criticized in the scientific community. Here are the professional opinions of only a few of the thousands of scientists who are both critical and skeptical of GMOs.

There are three things that can’t be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.” – Buddha

Vandana Shiva, Ph.D

Vandana Shiva was educated as physicist at the University of Punjab. Afterwards she went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario Canada. Her field of study was known as “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory”. Her work later evolved into inter-disciplinary research in science, technology, and environmental policy. Dr. Shiva is a courageous and tireless activist, author, scientific advisor, and mother. Forbes Magazine named Dr. Shiva as one of the Seven Most Powerful Women in the World.

Science is derived from the word scire — “to know”. Each of us should know what we are eating, how it was produced and what impact it will have on our health.

The knowledge we need for growing food is the knowledge of biodiversity and living seed, of living soil and the soil food web, of interaction between different species in the agro-ecosystem and of different seasons. Farmers have been the experts in these fields, as have ecological scientists who study the evolution of micro-organisms, plants and animals, the ecological web and the soil food web.

In industrial agriculture, the knowledge of living systems is totally missing, since industrial agriculture was externally driven by using war chemicals as inputs. Soil was defined as an empty container for holding synthetic fertilizers and plants were defined as machines running on external inputs. This meant substituting the ecological functions and services that nature and farmers can provide through renewal of soil fertility, pest and weed control, and seed improvement. But it also implied ignorance of the destruction of the functions by the toxic chemicals applied to agriculture.

This complex knowledge of interacting, self-organizing, self-maintaining, self-renewing and self-evolving systems that farmers have had is now being confirmed through the latest in ecology. At the agricultural systems level, agro-ecology, not the mechanistic and blind paradigm of industrial agriculture is the truly scientific approach to food production.

…Because living systems are not machines, they are a self-organized complexity, knowledge of a small, fragmented part in isolation of its relationships with the rest of the system translates into not knowing.

This epistemic violence is now being combined with the violence of corporate interests to viciously attack all scientific traditions, including those that have evolved from within Western science and transcended the mechanistic worldview.

It is actually becoming anti-science.

…The rhetoric for taking over food systems and seed supply is always based on “improved seed”. But what is not mentioned is that industrial seeds are only “improved” in the context of higher dependence on chemicals, and more control by corporations.

The latest in the anti-scientific discourse of industrial agriculture is about reducing everything to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

“Intelligence” is based on the Latin word inter legere which means “to choose”. From the slime mould and bacteria, to plants and animals, including humans, intelligence is the choice we make in order to respond to changing contexts. Life is a cognitive system with communication constantly taking place in a network on non-separable patterns of relationship. Living beings innovate all the time to deal with environmental challenges that face them.

…Humans as a species are falling behind slime mold and bacteria to make an intelligent response to the environmental threats we face. And our intelligence is being thwarted by the false construction of the living Earth as dead matter, to be exploited limitlessly for human control, domination and greed.

The US Centre for Disease Control data shows that on current trends one in two children in the US will be autistic in a few decades. It is not an intelligent species that destroys its own future because of a distorted and manipulated definition of science.

As Einstein had observed, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity and I’m not sure about the universe.”

Thierry Vrain, Ph.D

Dr. Vrain was formerly the Head of Biotechnology at Agriculture Canada’s Summerland Research Station. It was his job to address concerns regarding the safety of GMOs. He did his job faithfully for many years, assuring the public and other scientists of the safety of GMOs. Now, years after his retirement, he has reversed his position.

In the last 10 years I have changed my position. I started paying attention to the flow of published studies coming from Europe, some from prestigious labs and published in prestigious scientific journals, that questioned the impact and safety of engineered food.

I refute the claims of the biotechnology companies that their engineered crops yield more, that they require less pesticide applications, that they have no impact on the environment and of course that they are safe to eat.

…The Bt corn and soya plants that are now everywhere in our environment are registered as insecticides. But are these insecticidal plants regulated and have their proteins been tested for safety? Not by the federal departments in charge of food safety, not in Canada and not in the U.S.

Genetic engineering is 40 years old. It is based on the naive understanding of the genome based on the One Gene – one protein hypothesis of 70 years ago, that each gene codes for a single protein. The Human Genome project completed in 2002 showed that this hypothesis is wrong.

Richard Strohman, Ph.D.

Dr. Richard Campbell Strohman, was a professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He was an avid critic of the idea that genes determine destiny. Dr. Strohman died July 4, 2009.

When you insert a single gene into a plant or an animal, the technology will work. You will be able to move that gene from organism A to organism B. You will be able to know that the transfer was successful. You will be able to know that the gene is being expressed, and even that the function of the gene is being expressed. So you’ll get the desired characteristic. But you will also get other effects that you couldn’t have predicted from your original assumptions. You will have also produced changes in the cell or the organism as a whole that are unpredictable. And that’s what the science is having to deal with.

…Genes exist in networks, interactive networks, which have a logic of their own. The technology point of view does not deal with these networks. It simply addresses genes in isolation. But genes do not exist in isolation.

…We’re in a crisis position where we know the weakness of the genetic concept, but we don’t know how to incorporate it into a new, more complete understanding. Monsanto knows this. DuPont knows this. Novartis knows this. They all know what I know. But they don’t want to look at it because it’s too complicated and it’s going to cost too much to figure out. The number of questions, the number of possibilities for what happens to a cell, to the whole organism when you insert a foreign gene, are almost incalculable. And the time it would take to assess the infinite possibilities that arise is beyond the capabilities of computers. But that’s what you get when you’re dealing with living systems.

Gilles-Eric Seralini, Ph.D.

Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini is a biologist at the University of Caen. He was the first scientist to do a long- term, GMO, chronic toxicity study. His study was originally published in Food and Chemical Toxicology. After the study was retracted, it was later republished in Environmental Sciences Europe.

Agricultural GMOs are loaded with pesticides. Three-quarters of all GMOs contain large amounts of Roundup, the main pesticide in the world, designed to kill weeds. These plants have been genetically modified for this, such as Roundup-tolerant soybean and corn. The GM provides in this case the possibility to apply Roundup, whenever and as much as you want, because the plant will tolerate it. If one gives such a large dose of pesticides to a normal plant, it dies. GMOs facilitate intensive farming methods.

Agricultural GMOs do not exist independently of pesticides. We do not know enough. Three-quarters of them absorb pesticides, and the last quarter, like Bt corn, produce their own insecticide. There is already a toxicity due to pesticides within these GMOs, which is new in our diet. Before GMOs, we have never eaten such high levels of Roundup residues. Same for insecticides. Yes, GMOs are especially dangerous because they contain pesticides, but not only because of that. Our team also found toxic effects of GMOs without pesticides.

Our team is the most-published in the world on the impact of GMOs and pesticides on health. We have done studies on human cells and on rats, both short- and long-term (two years). Regarding studies in rats, we were the first ones to study so many parameters (tens of thousands for blood and urine) and for so long. These rats consumed regularly GMOs with pesticides, and at the same doses, GMOs without pesticides. The aim was to find out where any toxicity came from. We were the only ones in the world to do this, as companies and health agencies had never ordered tests lasting longer than three months. But the study was retracted with great violence by the journal which published it after a former employee of Monsanto was introduced onto the editorial board of the journal. He is the former head of GMO toxicology dossiers at Monsanto.

…GMOs contain pesticides that go into the food chain and accumulate. On the other hand, they make animals seriously ill, and to eat sick animals is very harmful for health. They may be more susceptible to infections and diseases. Eating them should be banned. Pesticides accumulate in the food chain and in the animal’s fat, at higher levels than in the treated plants [themselves]. Before, the debate focused on the possible dangers of GMO DNA getting into the food chain. This is not the problem. Nobody had shown that these animals [that eat GMOs] were sick. We showed that. Due to the nature of industrial production and the short lifespan [of livestock animals], we do not see it. And they are not differentiated from others.

Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D.; Nancy Swanson, Ph.D.; Shiv Chopra, Ph.D.; John Balatinecz, Ph.D.

Dr. Seneff is a senior research scientist, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT. Dr. Swanson is a business owner, consultant (Optics), and author. Dr. Chopra was formerly with Health Canada (Senior Scientific Advisor, Microbiology) and is also an author. Dr. Balatinecz is an emeritus professor (Forestry), at the University of Toronto. The following are quotes from the collective group and quoted material from an opinion paper they wrote.

We are experiencing an autism epidemic in the US and the mainstream media won’t touch it. There is much hand-wringing over the latest numbers, but any suggestion of environmental toxins is considered off-limits.

The following opinion piece, written by four scientists (myself included), was submitted to the Toronto Star on April 9, but they refused to publish it because it is “too controversial.” It was then submitted to the New York Times on April 11, but they have not responded at all. It seems there is a media blackout on this topic.

What sort of world are we living in where our children are at risk and we refuse to even look at all possible solutions because they are “too controversial”? How did the chemical and drug industries come to wield such totalitarian power that the press won’t dare to expose them? We are a nation in grave danger. The press and the government refuse to confront the issue for fear of antagonizing the corporations whose bottom line trumps all.

…the US Centers for Disease Control released a new report stating that the prevalence of autism is now one in 68, up 30% since the reported estimate of one in 88 two years ago. (Our current rate of autism in the U.S. is 1 in 50) The rate was one in 10,000 in 1970.

…The recent dramatic increase in the rates of autism cannot be explained on the basis of genetics alone, so there must also be significant environmental contributions.

One of us (Dr. Stephanie Seneff) has considerable direct research experience concerning autism and its probable environmental causes. About seven years ago she became very alarmed by the strong evidence of an increase in autism rates in the US and, in collaboration with Mr. Anthony Samsel and Dr. Nancy Swanson, she decided to systematically investigate possible links with environmental toxins. Dr. Swanson has shown extremely strong correlations between glyphosate usage on corn and soy crops in the US and the increasing incidence of autism, along with obesity, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, senile dementia and others. Correlation does not necessarily mean causation, but when statistically significant correlation coefficients of over 0.95 are calculated for a list of diseases that can be directly linked to glyphosate, via its known biological effects, it would be foolish not to consider causation as the most plausible explanation of the correlations.

It is noteworthy that the rapid increase in autism rates coincides with the introduction of industrial agricultural practices such as the widespread use of herbicides (like glyphosate-containing Roundup), and pesticides, as well as genetically modified (GMO) crops (initially corn, soy and canola). GMO crops are engineered to resist glyphosate so that the herbicide will only kill the weeds and not the crop species. As a consequence, GMO foods are laced with glyphosate residues, a contaminant for which they are not required to be tested as products in our food chain. Sadly, the general public does not know this. What makes this even worse is that GMO foods are not required to be labeled by law in our two countries. Furthermore, it has become common practice to spray grain, dried pea & bean and sugar cane crops with glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant. What makes glyphosate especially dangerous is that it is generally viewed as being nearly harmless to humans and is therefore handled carelessly. Its effects work cumulatively and insidiously over time to erode health.

…The original approval process of glyphosate as a “safe herbicide” was based on misdirected and inadequate science & safety testing by the FDA. Corporate political lobbying was also part of the mix. The voice of an independent and diligent media has been conspicuously absent. Now, 25 years later, we are all paying the price for those misdeeds. Likely victims are the millions of innocent autistic children.

Autism symptoms also include: disrupted gut bacteria and inflammatory bowel disorder; defective aromatase (CYP) enzyme; high serum nitrate and ammonia; impaired immune function; chronic low-grade inflammation in the brain and deficiencies in sulfate, methionine, seratonin, melatonin, zinc and iron. Compare these to some negative biological effects of glyphosate. Glyphosate kills beneficial gut bacteria, thereby depleting aromatic amino acids. This leads to reduced serotonin availability. Serotonin deficiency is linked not only to autism, but also to obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and violent behavior, all of which are increasing in frequency today in step with increased glyphosate usage. Glyphosate chelates (traps) zinc, manganese, iron, cobalt, and molybdenum, which leads directly to a deficiency in these essential nutrients and widespread health consequences. Glyphosate also disrupts important enzymes in the liver leading to an inability to detoxify other toxins as well as an inability to activate vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is now widespread in North America.

… we believe that the biggest environmental factors linked to autism are the following: glyphosate (by far #1), mercury (in vaccines and dental fillings) and aluminum (in vaccines, antacids, antiperspirants, drugs and sunscreen). Mercury and aluminum act synergistically with glyphosate; e.g., the number of adverse events reported for vaccines in the US CDC VAERS database has risen over the past decade in step with the increased use of glyphosate.

David Suzuki, Ph.D.

David Suzuki, is the co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, an environmentalist, scientist and broadcaster who is most well known for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way.

Dr. Suzuki is an award winning scientist – a geneticist and a recognized world leader in sustainable ecology. He is the recipient of UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for Science, the United Nations Environment Program Medal, UNEPs Global 500, and the 2009 Right Livelihood Award. He is now a professor emeritus at UBC.

By slipping it into our food without our knowledge, without any indication that there are genetically modified organisms in our food, we are now unwittingly part of a massive experiment.

The FDA has said that genetically modified organisms are not much different from regular food, so they’ll be treated in the same way. The problem is this, geneticists follow the inheritance of genes. What biotechnology allows us to do is to take this organism and move it horizontally into a totally unrelated species. Now, David Suzuki doesn’t normally mate with a carrot and exchange genes. What biotechnology allows us to do is to switch genes from one to the other without regard to the biological constraints. It’s very, very bad science. We assume that the principals governing the inheritance of genes vertically, applies when you move genes laterally or horizontally. There’s absolutely no reason to make that conclusion.

In a different interview he said:

I believe that until the science is mature—that is, until we can take a completely specified sequence of DNA, insert it at exactly a specified sequence in a recipient and predict completely its behavior—the science is not ready to be applied. When we can do that, we won’t be able to publish, because we publish papers when we get results that we didn’t expect. Last time I looked, the papers and journals in biotech were exploding. To me, it indicates we must not know a helluva lot. In any revolutionary area, most of our current ideas are wrong. That’s how science proceeds—by invalidating, altering and discarding our current ideas. What we believed in 1961 when I graduated with a Ph.D. in genetics seems ludicrous today, and so will today’s ideas in 20 years.

Jane Goodall, Ph.D.

Before Jane Goodall’s work, our definition of mankind was “man the toolmaker.” Dr. Goodall has made many important scientific discoveries. She proved that chimpanzees use tools, that they eat meat, and that they have a complex social system. She earned her Ph.D. in ethology from Oxford University.

I well remember how horrified I felt when I learned that scientists had succeeded in reconfiguring the genetics of plants and animals.

The first genetically engineered (GE) plants were created in the 1980s, but I did not hear about them until the 1990s when they were first commercialized.

It seemed a shocking corruption of the life forms of the planet, and it was not surprising that many people were as appalled as I was – and that these altered organisms became known as ‘Frankenfoods’.

In fact, there were good science-based reasons to mistrust the new foods; yet GE crops have spread throughout North America and several other parts of the world. How has this come about?

As part of the process, they portrayed the various concerns as merely the ignorant opinions of misinformed individuals – and derided them as not only unscientific, but anti-science.

Engineering ‘concensus’ – where none exists

They then set to work to convince the public and government officials, through the dissemination of false information, that there was an overwhelming expert consensus, based on solid evidence, that the new foods were safe.

…the advocates of genetic engineering have steadfastly maintained that the crops created by this radical technology are essentially similar to those from which they have been derived, that the process is splendidly exact, and that GE foods, therefore, are if anything safer than their traditionally bred ‘parents’

In fact, there’s significant dissimilarity, the process is far from exact, and the risks are greater, especially the risk of creating unexpected toxins that are difficult to detect.

And what of the role of the media? How have the American public been so largely kept in the dark about the realities of GE foods – to the extent that until quite recently, a vast majority of the populace did not even know they were regularly consuming them?

But it seems to me that it is not those who point to the problems of the venture who are anti-science: it is quite the other way around.

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, Ph.D.

Mae-Wan Ho earned her degree in Biology in and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in the 1960s from Hong Kong University. Early in her academic career she won a competitive fellowship of the U.S. National Genetics Foundation. Afterwards, she became a senior research fellow in Queen Elizabeth College in the United Kingdom.  Dr. Mae-Wan Ho then became a lecturer in Genetics in 1976 and then a reader in Biology in 1985 in the London Open University.  Dr. Ho retired in June 2000 and remains a Visiting Reader in Biology at the Open University and is a visiting biophysics professor in Catania University, Sicily.  Today, Dr. Ho’s work includes close to 300 publications and 47 experimental works.

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho is a highly-consulted scientist, one of the most influential figures in the scientific community. She has been ardently opposed to the use of genetically modified organisms. In 1999, she founded ISIS, which stands for the Institute of Science in Society in London.

If there is one thing that distinguishes the Third World from the industrialized countries, it is that they take science a lot more seriously than we do in the GM debate.

I was researcher and university lecturer of genetics throughout the mid-1970s to the early 1980s when new discoveries on the fluid genome made headlines every week. Researchers back then were building a new paradigm, dispelling once and for all the notion that a gene is constant and independent of context. The thought that a gene could be patented as an invention probably never crossed their mind. And if it did, they would have dismissed it as a joke.

…The paradigm change that should have occurred, did not. On the contrary, the scientific establishment remained strongly wedded to genetic determinism, which has misguided genetic engineering, making even the most unethical applications appear compelling, such as ‘therapeutic’ human cloning, for one [2]. Bioethics became a contradiction in terms as rampant commercialization of science took hold.

For the past seven years, I have had to follow developments in genetic engineering science much more carefully and extensively than many of the practitioners, only to find that all my fears concerning the problems and dangers of genetic engineering are being confirmed.

…The basic tools of genetic engineering are bacteria, viruses and other genetic parasites that cause diseases and spread drug and antibiotic resistance. All that fall into the hands of genetic engineers are exploited. Genes from dangerous agents, including antibiotic resistance genes, are profusely mixed and matched, or recombined. As every geneticist should know, recombination of genetic material is one of the main routes to creating new strains of bacteria and viruses, some of which may be pathogens. (The other route is mutation.) Moreover, the predominant orientation of genetic engineering in the past two decades has been to design artificial GM constructs and vectors that cross species barriers and invade genomes, both of which will enhance horizontal gene transfer and further increase the chance for recombination.

Instead of tightening the guidelines, our regulators have relaxed them.

My colleague, Prof. Joe Cummins has summarized more up-to-date literature showing that all GM crops may be unstable.

…The US Department of Agriculture has approved field release of GM pink bollworms this summer, made with a mobile genetic element, piggyBac, already known to jump many species. The element was first discovered in cell cultures of the cabbage looper, where it caused high mutations of the baculovirus infecting the cells, by jumping into the viral genome. In experiments in silkworms, researchers already found evidence that the inserts were unstable, and had a tendency to move again from one generation to the next.

These artificial transposons are already aggressive genome invaders, and putting them into insects is to give them wings, as well as sharp mouthparts for efficient delivery to all plants and animals… The predictable result is rampant horizontal gene transfer and recombination across species barriers. The unpredictable unknown is what kinds of new deadly viruses might be generated, and how many new cases of insertion mutagenesis and carcinogenesis they may bring.

…We must abandon GM crops and all other attempts to genetic engineer plants, animals and human beings with a technology that is widely acknowledged to be unreliable, uncontrollable and unpredictable.

Even the corporations are coming around to the view that “Food biotech is dead”. One by one, Aventis, Monsanto and Syngenta have announced they will concentrate on genomics and marker assisted conventional breeding. Though meanwhile, they are still forcing the world, especially the Third World, to accept GM crops.

But the whole world is in revolt.

…Organic and sustainable agricultural practices and technologies are succeeding, documented in study after study, despite the appalling lack of research funding compared to the hundreds millions that have gone into biotech. At least 3% of the arable land, some 28.9m hectares in Africa, Asia and Latin America are already farmed sustainably, with impressive gains in crop yield as well as social, economic and health benefits. Organic farming is also working well in the United States and Europe, with yields matching and even surpassing agrochemical agriculture. Organic farms are good for wildlife, supporting many more species of plants, songbirds butterflies spiders, earthworms. We need organic farming for the world to feed itself and for the planet to regenerate and thrive.

Sustainable agriculture is also important for alleviating, if not reversing global warming. A new report shows that sustainable agriculture can contribute significantly, not only to reducing consumption of fossil fuel, but increasing sequestration of carbon in the soil.

The new genetics is radically ecological, organic and holistic. That is why genetic engineering, at least in its current form, can never succeed. It is based on misconceptions that organisms are machines, and on a denial of the complexity and flexibility of the organic whole.

The challenge for western scientists is to develop a holistic science to help revitalize all kinds of non-corporate sustainable agriculture and holistic medicine that can truly bring food security and health to the world.

David Schubert, Ph.D.

Dr. Schubert, a biochemist, is a professor and the head of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute. Much of his research has been in studying hormones and other substances that affect the survival and function of brain cells.

Given the fact that genetically modified plants are going to make proteins in different amounts and perhaps totally new proteins than their parental species, what are the potential outcomes? A worst case scenario could be that an introduced bacterial toxin is modified to make it toxic to humans. Direct toxicity may be rapidly detected once the product enters the marketplace, but carcinogenic activity or toxicity caused by interaction with other foods would take decades to detect, if ever. The same outcomes would be predicted for the production of toxins or carcinogens via indirect changes in gene expression.

Finally, if the above problems are real, what can be done to address these concerns? The issue of secondary modification could be addressed by continual monitoring of the introduced gene product by mass spectroscopy. The problem is that some secondary modifications, like phosphorylation or sulfation can be lost during purification. However, the best, and to me the only reasonable solution, is to require all genetically engineered plant products for human consumption be tested for toxicity and carcinogenicity before they are marketed. These safety criteria are required for many chemicals and all drugs, and the magnitude of harm caused by a widely consumed toxic food would be much greater than that of any single drug.

Patrick Brown, Ph.D.

Dr. Brown is a professor in The Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science at the University of California. Dr. Brown is an agronomist who earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

This issue requires immediate and thoughtful attention from plant scientists. We must recognize that our knowledge of the processes that regulate gene incorporation and expression are in their infancy and that our capacity to manipulate the plant genome is crude. Given this current lack of understanding it is certainly possible that the current regulatory safeguards are inadequate and may not be offering sufficient protection against inadvertent creation of health and ecological problems.

Since the public education and research system is based upon a foundation of public trust, it is essential that we recognize and admit the unknowns associated with molecular biology and act with caution and integrity.

Recommended Reading:

• Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods
• Doctors Against GMOs – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Scientists Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Celebrities Who Have Spoken Out Against Vaccines

Sources:

• About Dr. Vandana Shiva – Vandana Shiva.com
• Soil, papered over – The Asian Age
• Environmental toxins and autism: off limits to the press? – Examiner.com
• Former Pro-GMO Scientist Speaks Out About GMO Dangers – Natural Society
• GMOs make animals seriously ill – GM Watch
• Altered Genes, Twisted Truth – Ecologist
• Geneticist David Suzuki Says Humans “Are Part Of A Massive Experiment” – Collective Evolution
• Cell Biologist Richard Strohman has died at 82 – UC Berkeley News
• Scientists Speak – Say No To GMOs
• An interview with David Suzuki – American Scientist
• Dr. Mae Wan-Ho – Biography
• Biography – David Suzuki Foundation
• David R. Schubert – Salk Institute for Biological Studies
• Patrick Brown – UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

Ebola is back in the news with an American who traveled to West Africa hospitalized in Birmingham, Alabama due to “Ebola-like symptoms.” The firefighters who helped him were placed under observation and his family was isolated with police. Two new cases were reported in Sierra Leone in an area where the disease outbreaks had stopped, and Merck’s Ebola vaccine, tested in New Guinea, “shows promising results.”

Ebola, formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, can cause disease in humans and other primates. It is a virus of the Filoviridae family and the Ebolavirus genus. Of the five virus species, four cause disease in humans, the fifth causes disease in non-human primates. Researchers believe infection originates from bats.

The disease is spread from direct contact of body fluids from a person infected with the disease or one who has died from the disease. There is also concern that men who have recovered from Ebola may spread the virus through semen.

On average, symptoms appear 8-10 days after exposure but can appear anywhere from 2-21 days. Symptoms include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bleeding or bruising.

Birmingham Possible Ebola Case – Not Ebola

Less than 12 hours after his hospitalization, patient test results (along with family members and rescue workers) were negative for Ebola.

The unidentified patient, who was on a watch due to his travels, alerted authorities when he began running a temperature. It is reported, however, that he was considered low risk because he had no known contact with Ebola patients while in Africa, nor did he engage in any high-risk activities.

Neighbors were told to stay in their homes while firefighters responded to the patient’s residence. The patient was moved while wearing a mask. The hospital ER was temporarily shut down while the patient was being received.

Firefighters

One report says four firefighters who responded to the call were quarantined in order to go through decontamination procedures. When completed, they were isolated at a firehouse.

Another report said additional rescue workers were under quarantine or observation.

Family Exposed

The two exposed family members were isolated in their home with police remaining on the scene until test results came back negative.

Neighborhood Quarantine

What at first appeared to be a neighborhood quarantine was lifted after the patient was transported. Everyone was told to remain in their homes while rescue workers they assessed the situation and transported the patient. The entire block had been closed to traffic, but the authorities opened up the street around 11 p.m.

Response

The response to this Ebola scare was both preemptive and well orchestrated. UAB Hospital and the patient were both monitoring the patient’s temperature twice a day and watching for Ebola-like symptoms due to the fact that the patient had visited an Ebola-stricken country. This standard protocol was followed with the patient self-reporting when he developed a fever.

The hospital reports that a large number of employees had been undergoing training for more than a year, preparing for such an event. Although it is reported that no firefighters came in direct contact with the patient, authorities erred on the side of caution with decontamination and isolation protocols.

Sierra Leone

After an Ebola death last week in the Tonkolili district, an area that had been free of Ebola for months, authorities quarantined 500 people. The two new cases of Ebola are family members of the man who died.

Ebola Vaccine

Initial results of Merck’s Ebola vaccine report 100% vaccine efficacy in trials, results so promising that the vaccine trials will be changed. Initially, two randomized groups were receiving the vaccine, one that receives the vaccine immediately after exposure and the other that received it 21 days after exposure. Due to the high fatality rate and the initial trial results, researchers are now administering vaccines upon initial exposure.

Current Statistics in Africa

According to current information from the CDC (August 4^th, 2015), two countries continue to record widespread cases.

• Guinea: 3,784 total cases (suspected, probable, and confirmed), 3,327 confirmed cases, 2,522 deaths. 
• Sierra Leone: 13,406 total cases, 8,695 confirmed cases, 3,951 deaths.

The outbreak in Liberia appears to be under control with only 6 cases reported and confirmed since June 28^th. The devastation left in its wake, however, is enormous.

• Liberia reports 10, 672 total cases, 3,157 confirmed cases, 4,808 deaths.

Current Statistics in Other Countries 

• Nigeria: 20 total cases, 19 confirmed, 8 deaths
• Senegal: 1 case, confirmed, 0 deaths
• Spain: 1 case, confirmed, 0 deaths
• United States: 4 total cases, 4 confirmed, 1 death
• Mali: 8 total cases, 7 confirmed, 6 deaths
• United Kingdom: 1 case, confirmed, 0 deaths
• Italy: 1 case, confirmed, 0 deaths

This totals 36 total cases, 34 confirmed, with 15 deaths.

Conclusion

We can only hope the reality of the threat is recognized and American children are not faced with another mandated vaccine.

Hospital and emergency worker protocols in place due to the fear of Ebola have provided necessary training for professional response in the event of any type of pandemic. The response to this situation is a far cry from the fumbling efforts with America’s first Ebola patients.

Sources:

• About Ebola Virus Disease – CDC
• Ebola – Signs and Symptoms – CDC
• Two new cases of Ebola virus records in Sierra Leone – The Oslo Times
• Ebola vaccine shows promising results – Health News
• Ala. Public Health Officer: Unlikely patient with possible Ebola symptoms poses risk to public – 48 WAFF
• UPDATE: No Ebola found in Birmingham patient, family members, firefighters – AL.com
• New Ebola Virus Infections Detected In Sierra Leone as Initial Vaccine Tests Yield 100 Percent Success Rate – The Gospel Herald Life
• 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa – Case Counts – CDC

You must have heard about several claims of “super foods” for quite some time, most of which are baseless. Turmeric stands out as one of the best super foods you can find. Turmeric is the brilliant yellow or orange powder commonly used as a spice that is derived from a plant called Curcuma longa. Turmeric has been used in Asia to treat various health problems for several centuries. In traditional medicine, turmeric was used for a wide array of conditions like menstrual cramps, aches and pains, colic, and jaundice. Let’s look at what makes turmeric a paleo.

It’s Natural

Turmeric is naturally extracted from the rhizome of the Curcuma longa plant, which has been cultivated for thousands of years in India, China, and other parts of the world. If not used fresh, the rhizomes from Curcuma plant are boiled for about 40 minutes and then dried in hot ovens. They are then ground into deep-yellow-orange powder to be used as spices, curries, or dyes.

Powerful Antioxidant

Studies that have been carried out on turmeric revolve around an active antioxidant called curcumin. Antioxidants help in the elimination of free radicals in the body, which are responsible for cell damage and illnesses.

Contains No Anti-Nutrients

Turmeric doesn’t contain compounds that interfere with the normal breakdown of food. In addition, it doesn’t interfere with the absorption of minerals and nutrients along the digestive system. Its great taste can indeed make meals enjoyable, which gives you an opportunity to explore various food sources with higher nutritional values.

Has Healing Effects

Turmeric has been used in India, China, and other countries in treating illnesses like diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and arthritis. Although more evidence is still required, there are claims that low, regular doses of turmeric are beneficial in cancer prevention. Unlike most anticancer agents that impair the immune system, curcumin has restorative abilities. Curcumin regulates cell function by disrupting its growth, which is a large factor in cancer development. It’s also suggested that people in India who rely on a traditional diet containing turmeric have lower bowel cancer rates.

Improves Brain Function

Previously, it was thought that neurons couldn’t divide and multiply after early childhood, but it’s been shown that it happens. Neurons have the ability to establish new connections as well as multiply and increase in number in certain areas of the brain. Curcumin promotes the production of growth hormone that functions in the brain, which reverses mental illnesses and age-related cognitive decline. It is also thought that it can boost your memory and make you smarter.

Improves Cardiovascular Health

Heart disease is the major global killer. Studies have shown that curcumin in turmeric can improve the function of the endothelium, which is the lining of the blood vessels. In one study, curcumin effect on preventing heart disease was equated to exercise, while another one shows it works as effectively as some medications. In short, curcumin has beneficial effects on factors that play a role in heart disease. It improves the function of endothelium and is a potent anti-inflammatory agent.

Uses of Turmeric

• Spice: Turmeric is commonly used as a spice in many dishes all over the world. Its use began in traditional Asian culinary dishes. It is also used in spicing homemade soap to improve its color while instilling benefits on the skin.

• Whitening teeth: While turmeric is renowned for its staining prowess, it is commonly used in teeth whitening. This is possible as it doesn’t come into contact with enamel long enough to change its color.

• Foundation customization: Adding a touch of turmeric to your tinted moisturizer can help you get a perfect glow that matches your skin tone. Turmeric is a common recipe used by women in face creams and body scrubs for a glowing skin.

• Stomach soothing: If you have a stomach that doesn’t behave, turmeric can help. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), you should take 500mg of specific turmeric extract twice daily to alleviate digestive issues.

Conclusion

Turmeric is a paleo that is extracted from a plant called Curcuma. Turmeric is commonly used as a spice in preparation of dishes. Curcumin is the main ingredient in turmeric that comes with many health benefits. Turmeric can be effective in treating and preventing inflammatory illnesses like arthritis. Studies are still underway to find the effects of turmeric on other diseases like heart disease and cancer.

Further Reading:

• Health Benefits of Spicing the Food with Turmeric  – Consumer Health Digest
• Why is Turmeric a Great Antioxidant? – Live Lighter

Sources:

• 10 Proven Health Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin – Authority Nutrition
• Turmeric – WebMD

Aromatherapy is a word that conjures images of celebrity trends, New Age dogma, and pop-up air fresheners found on supermarket shelves. When French biochemist René-Maurice Gattefossé coined the term in the 1920s, he probably had no idea that his against-the-odds recovery from gas gangrene using lavender essential oil would prompt a global surge of followers sniffing their way toward enlightenment. Today, despite the common household word, most people are still unaware of the true capabilities of the modality, even those who keep bottles of lavender by their bedside to induce better sleep or dab tea tree oil on blemished skin.

Aromatherapy, also known as essential oil therapy and aromatic medicine, is a full-spectrum healing method that is not only capable of armoring the immune system against the common cold, it can combat drug-resistant superbugs. It can also regulate the endocrine system and re-route haphazard pathways in the nervous system. Very few mainstream medical practitioners give credence to clinical aromatherapy applications, but thousands of people who have regulated their metabolism, lost weight, or have overcome the abyss of anxiety disorders without toxic side effects know why the use of aromatics for wellbeing has been around for thousands of years –  it works.

Wonderfully aromatic, essential oils appear to be pleasantries associated with perfumes, meditative practices, and drawer sachets, but they are powerful substances. A plant’s essential oil is its life force and its innate immune system that protects it from disease. Essential oils can do the same for us when we apply them undiluted to the soles of the feet a few times a week during flu season, combine them with Epsom salt and sea salt to put into a hot bath or foot bath, or dilute them with a vegetable oil for a therapeutic massage. They can also be inhaled to balance neurotransmitters, chemical messengers in our nervous system that regulate many bodily functions and affect mood. When used with a foundation of knowledge, aromatherapy can be used on everyone of all ages, as well as our pets, and even our houseplants.

There are many courses, books, and advocates passing along the complex body of knowledge about essential oils, but one must be aware that misinformation abounds. A little knowledge is not enough when approaching aromatherapy. Albeit natural, essential oils—steam-distilled essences of fresh plants, roots, barks, leaves, grasses, berries, seeds, and fruit rinds—must be treated like medications that have contraindications and specific recommendations for use.

Anyone taking any medication, especially blood thinners, should do their homework when using essential oils dermally (on the skin), for many oils could interfere with medications and cause serious, adverse effects. Epileptics are cautioned against inhaling certain oils that may prompt seizures. Pregnant women can use some, but not all, essential oils and at different stages of gestation. Hundreds of essential oils are available which means that if certain ones are contraindicated for a specific condition or prescribed drug, there are many more to choose from that can be used safely.

There is much debate about internal use of essential oils. If you are even slightly familiar with aromatherapy, you have probably come across company representatives that praise the practice like Scripture, but any certified, seasoned aromatherapist will agree that essential oils are concentrated substances, many more times concentrated than the amount found in the actual plants from which they are derived. The wise practitioner also knows that every body is different and has different responses and needs.

Want to know more? For expert, sound information, look for guidance by authors such as Robert Tisserand, Shirley Price, Kurt Schnaubelt Ph.D., Valerie Ann Worwood, Linda L. Smith, and Jane Buckle PhD RN. The market is flooded with books on the subject, and the best advice is to judge the material by the indexes, cross references, and resources provided in any title. Consider taking a course, especially one that includes hands-on blending and class time. It is well worth the effort and money invested, most of all, the communion with others who respect this holistic art form that can change lives for the better.

Disclaimer:

The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and the material presented in this article is not intended to treat, prescribe for, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease or to replace conventional medical treatments.

Sources:

• Braverman, Eric R. The Edge Effect. NY, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., INC., 2004
• Donato, Marlaina. Multidimensional Aromatherapy. Blairstown, NJ: Ekstasis Multimedia, 2015
• Edwards, Victoria H. The Aromatherapy Companion. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 1999
• Schnaubelt, Kurt. The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils: The Science of Advanced Aromatherapy. Toronto, CA: Healing Arts Press, 2011
• Smith, Linda L. Healing Oils, Healing Hands. HTSM Press, 2003
• Tisserand, Robert. The Art of Aromatherapy. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1978
• Worwood, Valerie Ann. Aromatherapy for the Soul. Novato, CA: New World Library, 1999