BPA was banned from children’s products in 2010. Now the New York Assembly is attempting to ban the chemicals brought in to replace BPA. The newly proposed ban would expand the number of bisphenols prohibited in children’s items from one to seven, now including bisphenol AF (BPAF), bisphenol Z (BPZ), bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol AP (BPAP), and bisphenol B (BPB). Used to harden plastics, these chemicals have been shown in recent studies to exhibit the same or higher levels estrogenic risks as the already eliminated BPA. Michael Antoniou, a researcher at the Gene Expression and Therapy Group at King’s College London and senior author of a study on BPA alternatives, says,

Industry is working to replace BPA because of health concerns – but all these alternatives are also estrogenic…The plastics manufacturing industry have turned to alternative bisphenols to produce their ‘BPA-free’ products, often with little toxicology testing…”

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

BPA and Hormones

BPA and its alternatives are frequently found in receipts, the lining of canned foods, and containers for food storage like water bottles. BPA has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast and prostate cancer, and asthma, but it is most well-known for disrupting the endocrine system.

These chemicals do this by mimicking estrogen. They promote the growth of breast cancer cells. Researchers found that BFAP, BPB, and BPZ are better at mimicking estrogen than BPA. This leads to an increased activation of cancer genes in cells, especially cancers with a hormonal component to them. The people primarily affected by this proposed bill (young children) are more likely to develop breast, prostate, and testicular cancer later in life. Studies have also found higher levels of BPA to be a risk factor in early puberty and hormonal development.

Related: Microplastics In Tap Water and Beer Around the Great Lakes, and Everywhere Else

Part of You

More than ninety percent of Americans have bisphenols in our bodies. BPA and other endocrine disruptors are very stable and usually stay in the body for long periods of time. This begs the question, how do you get bisphenols out of the body?

You can’t avoid plastics in our modern world, but reducing plastic usage is a step in the right direction. Look for glass, metal, fabric, or other options whenever possible. Canned foods are another frequent source of these chemicals, so read the label on canned goods carefully, and look to see if the company mentions what the liner is made of. If it says specefically that it is BPA free that means it could be using other bisphenols. Invest in reusable, metal versions of items like razors to limit plastic exposure (better for us and the environment). Find a water filter that eliminates bisphenols from your water (we like the Berkey).

These tweaks limit your exposure to bisphenols, but if you live in the modern world you have to detoxify bisphenols from the body with a proper diet. This means eating lots of raw vegetables and having internal organs, especially the gut, in good working order. Check out How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors.

Sources:

• New York State Looks to Expand BPA Ban to Substitution Chemicals – Organic Consumers
• BPA-free? Substitutions mimic hormones in breast cancer cells. – Environmental Health News
• The role of Bisphenol A in shaping the brain, epigenome and behavior – NCBI
• Worldwide Statistics on Breast Cancer – Medical News Today
• Endocrine Disrupting Effects of BPA on Puberty and Estrogen Cycles – Environmental Factor

The factory-farming meat and dairy industries produce more greenhouse gas emissions worldwide than the transportation industry, yet we are producing far more meat and dairy than we can consume.

The US Department of Agriculture also says that our meat producers now have 2.5 billion pounds of meat in cold storage, including chicken, turkey, pork, and beef. We are apparently running out of space to store the excess meat.

The Walls Street Journal reports that newly implemented Chinese and Mexican tariffs are in part to blame, at least for the excess swine. Pork tariffs were set in retaliation for the Trump administration’s tariffs on Mexican and Chinese steel and other goods. We are also producing more beef and poultry due to a reduction in the cost of grain. Meat prices at the grocery store are likely to drop soon.

Thanks to selective breeding, and to a smaller extent, due to Mexican tariffs, the US dairy producers produce more milk than we need. Dairy producers turn excess milk into cheese, which lasts longer in cold storage. Milk and dairy demand drops in the summer. Right now, US dairy producers now have a record of 1.39 billion pounds of cheese in storage, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Vox reports that this equates to enough cheese to give each American citizen 4.6 pounds.

Related: Does Meat Cause Cancer? Yes and no…

Grazing animals could be the answer to climate change. Cows could actually help eliminate desertification. Before we humans took over earth, this planet was covered in grasslands with herds of grazing animals. These animals thinned vegetation and then moved on leaving dung behind. This promotes healthy soil, and in turn, more vegetation.

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Researchers at Baylor University in Texas looked at the effect of fluoroquinolones, a commonly prescribed family of antibiotics that includes Ciproflaxin, on aortic aneurysms and dissections in mice. One group of mice was fed a high-fat diet while the control group was given a standard diet. Mice on a high-fat diet who were then given antibiotics experienced an increased likelihood of an aortic dissection developing. They also produced less of the enzymes needed to stabilize collagen and experienced nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage. According to the study,

Although ciprofloxacin alone does not induce spontaneous AAD (aortic aneurysms and dissections), it significantly increases susceptibility to challenge-induced aortic dissection and rupture in a mouse model of sporadic AAD. As a potent DNA topoisomerase inhibitor, ciprofloxacin may exert its adverse effects in human cells by inhibiting ECM (extracellular matrix) protein biosynthesis and stability and inducing MMP (metalloproteinase) activity and even cell death.”

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Should I be Worried?

An aortic aneurysm occurs when a tear develops in the inner layers of the aorta and is typically found in men in their 60s or 70s, although they can infrequently develop in pregnant women. You are not likely to get an aortic aneurysm without a previous heart condition or any signs. Symptoms include sudden severe chest, upper back, and abdominal pain; loss of consciousness; shortness of breath; and leg paralysis, among others. High blood pressure and hardened arteries are particularly important risk factors.

Repeat Offender

Fluoroquinolones, the antibiotics at the center of this study, already have FDA warning labels. The earliest version of the label was added in 2008 for an increased risk of tendonitis or tendon rupture. The family of drugs, which consists of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, ofloxacin, and gemifloxacin, was then associated with a potential increase in nerve damage and a rare neuromuscular disease called myasthenia gravis in 2013. In 2016, the FDA strengthened their warning based on reports of long-term nerve damage and ruptured tendons. Now, these drugs are linked once again to issues with nerve and tendon damage.

Related: How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials

Science Settled…Wait For It…

We’ve been conditioned to think that antibiotics are safe and nothing to worried about, but antibiotics seriously disrupt our gut environment and have changed the way humans respond to pathogens. It hasn’t been for the better; the changes have left us dependent on stronger and stronger drugs and we are now running out of options. Scientists are beginning to analyze antibiotic use with the greater understanding we’ve acquired through years of trial and error. The lack of serious reflection has been at the expense of our health.

Sources:

• Effect of Ciprofloxacin on Susceptibility to Aortic Dissection and Rupture in Mice – JAMA Network
• Aortic dissection – Mayo Clinic
• Class of antibiotics gets stronger warning due to dangerous side effects – CBS News
• Fluoroquinolone Use in Food Animals – NCBI

In 2012, Colorado legalized cannabis and kickstarted a multibillion-dollar industry with every product imaginable — brownies, gummy bears, granola bars, even lube! But to say that we’ve “legalized cannabis” is mistaken — we’ve commercialized THC. In this fascinating talk, expert Ben Cort examines the impacts of this growing new industry on everything from policing & arrest rates to LGBTQ issues. Sober since 1996, Ben Cort has seen the devastation that substance abuse can bring first hand as well as the joy that is recovery. He spent the last 10 years inside nonprofit drug treatment and education programs like Phoenix Multisport, Stout Street Foundation, and The University of Colorado Hospital. He is the author of Weed, INC., a professional speaker, and a frequent guest in the media. Ben is a husband, father of three, and an avid sportsman. He enjoys fly fishing, hunting, mountaineering, and bike racing.

Takeaways:

• CBD is where most of the medical benefits are, but we prefer the psychoactive THC
• The cannabis we use is not “natural,” it’s far too high in THC
• Beware of the chemical being used to grow the plants
• Rich white people are controlling the market
• Denver’s pot business caters mostly to low-income, minority neighborhoods
• Marijuana-related youth arrest rates have increased among minorities
  • African Americans +58%
  • Hispanics +29%
  • Caucasian -8%

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Exposure to relatively small amounts of a glyphosate-based herbicide has been found to impair fertility in rats and cause birth defects including retardation and malformation in second generation offspring, according to a new study from Argentina.

Argentinian researchers added glyphosate to the rat’s food. They administered the herbicide in two doses. The lower dose was 2 mg per kg of body weight daily, which is supposed to be safe to ingest on a daily basis over a lifetime.

A reference dose (RfD), or estimate of daily exposure that would not cause adverse effects throughout a lifetime, of 2 mg/kg/day has been proposed for glyphosate, based on the developmental toxicity studies described above.” – EPA

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The higher dose of glyphosate was 200 mg per kg of body weight daily. Industry reports claim that up to 100mg per kg daily have no adverse effects. At the studied dosages, the rats in either category should not have come under any harm. But as GM Watch reports,

Exposure to environmentally relevant doses of a glyphosate-based herbicide during pregnancy has been found not only to impair female fertility in rats…Argentinian researchers tested the glyphosate-based herbicide – one commonly used in Argentina – in pregnant female rats at two doses, which were added to their food. The rats were mated and dosed from the 9th day after conception until their pups were weaned. This first generation of offspring and their offspring in turn (second generation) were followed and monitored for reproductive effects.”

Related: Gluten Intolerance, Wheat Allergies, and Celiac Disease – It’s More Complicated Than You Think

Glyphosate-based herbicides did seem to damage the embryo or cause abnormal maternal or nursing behaviors. It did not alter weight gain for the first generation offspring. All glyphosate-exposed first generation female rats were impregnated, but they had fewer “implantation sites of fertilized eggs,” compared with the non-glyphosate-fed control rats. The subsequent generation of offspring from both the low-dose and the higher-dose glyphosate exposed groups had delayed growth and abnormally small fetuses.

But that’s not all.

Malformations occurred within the higher-dose population in the second generation of offspring, including conjoined fetuses and abnormally developed limbs.

F2 offspring from both GBH groups showed delayed growth, evidenced by lower fetal weight and length, associated with a higher incidence of small for gestational age fetuses. In addition, higher placental weight and placental index were found in F2 offspring from GBH-HD dams. Surprisingly, structural congenital anomalies (conjoined fetuses and abnormally developed limbs) were detected in the F2 offspring from GBH-HD group. In conclusion, perinatal exposure to low doses of a GBH impaired female reproductive performance and induced fetal growth retardation and structural congenital anomalies in F2 offspring.” – Study: Perinatal exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide impairs female reproductive outcomes and induces second-generation adverse effects in Wistar rats

No one mistakes hot dogs for health food, but a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry suggests that they might be even worse for you than previously thought, linking hot dog, beef jerky, salami, and processed meats to mania. Examining 1,101 individuals, researchers at Johns Hopkins noticed that the subjects who had been hospitalized for mania were 3.5 times more likely to have consumed cured meats. The same outcome did not occur with other untreated meats or fish. Researchers then fed rats nitrates in a dose equivalent to what a human would eat in a hot dog or beef jerky. The second part of the study confirmed that nitrates negatively impact gut bacteria and the brain. Dr. Robert Yolken, the lead author of the study and professor of neurovirology in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says,

We looked at a number of different dietary exposures and cured meat really stood out. It wasn’t just that people with mania have an abnormal diet…There’s growing evidence that germs in the intestines can influence the brain…And this work on nitrates opens the door for future studies on how that may be happening.”

Related: How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment – Better Options Included

Needed Nitrates

This is not the first time nitrates have been mentioned in conjunction with serious health issues. Past studies have linked the compound with early death, an increased risk of cancer, and male infertility.

Nitrates are more complicated than that, though. Once they’re ingested, they’re turned to nitrites by your oral bacteria. From there these nitrites turn into nitric oxide or N-nitroso compounds. Nitric oxide is a free radical, protecting cell mitochondria, and relaxing blood vessels. Plants like celery, spinach, lettuce, onions, broccoli, and peas are excellent sources of naturally occurring nitrates that don’t turn into carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds, which are carcinogenic. This is because plants are excellent sources of vitamin c and polyphenols, which keep those compounds from forming.

Naughty Nitrates

Meat, on the other hand, has all the conditions needed for nitrites to turn into carcinogenic N-nitroso. There are no anti-oxidants or polyphenols. Meat also has higher quantities of protein and heme. Heme is an iron-containing compound found in hemoglobin and has been in the news recently as the ingredient responsible for the Impossible Burger’s meaty flavor.

Processed meats have nitrites added as a preservative and a coloring. They’re responsible for that pink color you see in so many lunch meats. The World Health Organization has classified processed meats as carcinogenic to humans since 2015. Cooking (especially over high heat) makes the numbers of carcinogenic chemicals worse, making hot dogs the worst (seriously, though, the worst).

Gut-Brain Connection

These researchers found a link between human mental illness and a food group. Then they manufactured the same conditions in rats to find an even deeper connection and a greater risk of long-term health conditions.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Much has been made of our increasing mental issues. Mania is most commonly associated with bipolar disorder, and diagnoses of that disorder have been on the rise for over a decade. Young people have been hit especially hard. Yet the exact cause of that is unknown.

However, not enough attention has been paid to how crucial the gut-brain connection is. The enteric nervous system controls the function of the gastrointestinal tract and has been referred to as the second brain. It follows that what you fuel the gut with profoundly affects both brains. We are losing our the diversity of our gut bacteria at an alarming rate. We are beginning to see what happens when those microbes are permanently lost.

Related: Does Meat Cause Cancer? Yes and no…

How can we take care of this world, of anything else when we’re constantly on the verge of losing control of our own sanity? We often hear about mental health coping strategies or mental health tools for dealing with situations. Why is diet not one of those tools, indeed the very foundation? The gut dictates brain function. What does your brain food look like?

Sources:

• Hot Dogs and Beef Jerky Linked to Mania in Study – Newsweek
• Nitrated meat products are associated with mania in humans and altered behavior and brain gene expression in rats – Nature.com
• Why Some Nitrates Are Healthy While Others Are Harmful – Dr. Mercola
• The Impossible Burger: Inside the Strange Science of the Fake Meat that Bleeds – Wired
• WHO report says eating processed meat is carcinogenic: Understanding the findings – Harvard School of Public Health
• Bipolar disorder cases rise sharply in U.S. children – NY Times

After a six-week trial, a jury in Missouri awarded nearly $4.7 billion in total damages to 22 women and their families on July 12th. The plaintiffs said asbestos in Johnson & Johnson talcum powder contributed to their ovarian cancer. Thousands of women have filed lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and other companies that sell talcum powder, but this is the largest verdict J&J has faced over talc-based products. It’s also the sixth largest product defect award in U.S. history.

Their lawyers alleged Johnson and Johnson was aware that the talcum-based products contained asbestos since the 1970s but chose not to warn consumers about the risks.

Johnson & Johnson said they were “deeply disappointed” and that the verdict is unfair, saying courts should not have allowed women to sue the company in Missouri when most of them do not live in the state. The company plans to appeal, as it has in previous cases.

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Lawyers said that there were asbestos fibers and talc particles found inside the ovarian tissues of many of the women. Medical experts testified that asbestos is mixed in with the talc, the primary ingredient in Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products. Mark Lanier, the lead counsel for the women, said Johnson & Johnson covered up evidence of asbestos in the talc-based products for more than 40 years.

We hope this verdict will get the attention of the J&J board and that it will lead them to better inform the medical community and the public about the connection between asbestos, talc and ovarian cancer. The company should pull talc from the market before causing further anguish, harm and death from a terrible disease.” – Mark Lanier

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Johnson & Johnson has been sued by more than 9,000 women with claims that the talcum powder products contributed to ovarian cancer.

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $4.7bn (£3.6bn) in damages to 22 women who alleged that its talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.

Six of the 22 women represented in this case had died from ovarian cancer.

Sources:

• Jury orders J&J to pay $4.7 billion in Missouri asbestos cancer case – Reuters
• Jury orders J&J to pay $4.7 billion in Missouri asbestos cancer case – NY Times