Trader Joe’s Will Remove BPA and BPS From Register Receipts

Trader Joe’s announced last week that it will change the receipt paper used to one without bisphenol A (BPA) and Bisphenol S (BPS), two well known endocrine disruptors. Both of these chemicals can be absorbed through the skin, and this decision from Trader Joe’s is in response to the publication of the results of a recent study from Michigan-based Ecology Center that found that 93% of all receipts tested contained BPA or BPS. While Trader Joe’s still sells canned goods with BPA or BPS linings, the company has committed to eliminating it from all store receipts, writing, “Some years back—when concerns related to the use of BPA were starting to build, we evaluated where and how it was being used within our operation and identified steps to take…As our understanding evolves, so too does our work. We are now pursuing receipt paper that is free of phenol chemicals (including BPA and BPS), which we will be rolling out to all stores as soon as possible.”

BPA and BPS are Bad News

BPA and BPS disrupt the endocrine system, leading to issues like diabetes, obesity and fertility problems. BPA, in particular, has been linked to an increased risk of neurological disorders in young children. In 2012, the FDA banned BPA in baby bottles, formula packaging, and children’s cups due to these issues. Other potential health issues from ingesting or absorbing BPA and BPS include breast cancer, brain disease, and heart disease.

How to Find and Avoid BPA and BPS

BPA and BPS are widely found in receipts, some reusable water bottles, luggage tags, and linings for plastic and metal cans. It’s easier to identify BPA-free items, as they are frequently labeled. BPS is less commonly labeled and is a frequent replace of BPA.

Many people suggest looking at the number of the recycling symbol to identify which plastics contain BPA. 4 and 5 seem to be generally regarded as safe for limited use, and there is a debate as to whether 1 or 2 are also safe. But that’s splitting hairs, as all plastics leach into their contents given enough time.

The best way to limit your exposure to BPA and BPS is to choose alternative materials – glass, ceramic, and cardboard. This can actually help you in other ways, as avoiding food in plastic packaging is better for you anyway. Wash your hands after handling any receipts, or ask the cashier to toss it for you.

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Why Does the Younger Generation Today Often Sport the Lopsided Grin?

Over the past couple of years, I have noticed at least three young TV presenters here on UK television who have crooked smiles – and I started to wonder why.

On doing some research, I found that I was not the only one questioning this trend.

I came across someone by the name of Forrest Maready who had also become curious.  He noticed that many babies, children, and young adults were sporting crooked smiles.  He started his search for answers by going back into archive photographs for the past one hundred years or even longer – and he could find absolutely no sign of any crooked mouths in these photographs until he reached a couple of decades ago.

Of course, one problem with much older photos is that often people’s portraits were serious-faced, making it less easy to see if a smile was crooked or not.  But then, with the more recent photos, crooked smiles started to appear in ever-increasing numbers and among many well-known faces too.   I have found such examples myself including Katie Holmes, Patrick Dempsey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling, Dax Shepard, Natalie Dormer and many more.

It is certainly not about crooked teeth. It’s all about the smile where the mouth itself turns down on the one side and up on the opposite side (usually the left side for down and the right for up) when smiling.

Recommended: Being Outdoors Improves Children’s Ability to Learn

Metal Toxicity

Forrest has been busy and says that some research has now pointed to it being a sign of metal toxicity – that is mercury, lead, or aluminum.  Our faces are controlled by the cranial nerves and it is possible for these to be damaged by metals, perhaps causing a crooked smile, a droopy frown, or even the appearance as of a mini-stroke.  Another symptom can be where the eyes fail to point in the same direction.  This has even been given a medical term – strabismus.

He tells us that high amounts of aluminum have already been blamed for Alzheimer’s while even higher traces of the metal have been found in autistic brain samples.

The problem is that aluminum is very neurotoxic and even just tiny amounts can destroy the cranial nerves.  The thinking behind the connection between aluminum and Alzheimer’s was that the former had built up over many years.  However, with these higher amounts now being found in children, researchers are looking for the source.

Forrest has his own theories on the source of such high amounts of aluminum appearing in children which he is happy to share with those who are interested.  He takes great pains to point out that at this stage, they are only theories.

In the meantime, he would like you to look carefully at your own face or those of your family members including your children.

Related: We Consume Livestock Vaccines When We Ingest Meat

What to do if You Notice a Crooked Smile on Yourself or a Family Member?

Get out the family photo album or those digital photographs stored online and take a good look at them.  Has there been any change in the appearance of the face over a short space of time particularly with the smile or the eyes?

There are 6 warning signs to look out for: a crooked smile, a droopy frown, outward eye, inward eye, partial eye blinks, and droopy face.

If you notice something, start an urgent course of aluminum detoxification.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Other Serious Damage Caused By Aluminum

  • Aluminum damages your central nervous system.
  • Aluminum can damage your brain.
  • Aluminum robs the body of magnesium, calcium, and iron.
  • Aluminum accumulates in bone tissue, which results in weakened bones.
  • Aluminum causes oxidative stress in cells throughout the body, causing aging and damage to DNA.

How to Have Less Aluminum in Your Daily Life

  1. Change to using aluminum free cookware.
  2. Check your water supply because it could be high in aluminum too.
  3. Avoid using any hygiene products (including antiperspirants) with aluminum hydroxide.
  4. Avoid vaccines and medications that contain aluminum.  If you are unsure, check out the full and official list of ingredients.
  5. Stop eating processed foods.

There are Foods that Help to Remove Heavy Metals Naturally

These include onions, blue-green algae, garlic, cilantro, burdock, bentonite (high grade), carrot juice and green tea.  Chlorella is also an excellent food that helps remove metals while assisting the body to rebuild nerve tissue.

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Record Levels of Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Found in Grocery Store Chicken

Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that supermarket chickens have a higher proportion of Campylobacter bacteria than they did ten years ago. Drug-resistant Campylobacter is a major cause of concern for health officials, with more than 300,000 infections a year in the U.S. causing symptoms like diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and temporary paralysis. The elevated levels of this pathogen in supermarket protein confirm what scientists and medical professionals have increasingly been saying – treating food animals for long periods with antibiotics intended for human use has caused a major health crisis.

Dangerous Practices

If we are unable to find an answer to antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the World Health Organization predicts that they will kill more people than cancer does by the year 2050. Even major pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer are beginning to recognize the severity of this issue, removing or adjusting sales incentives related to the sale of antibiotics. Yet British and European authorities still allow chickens to be treated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics, that have been restricted by the FDA for human use.

The Tipping Point

Pharmaceuticals have been slow to develop new antibiotics, and farmers continue to use medication intended for human use on their food animals. At some point, something will need to change. So what can you do right now?

The easiest and most obvious way to protect yourself is to avoid antibiotics, through what you consume and the medications you take. Conventionally raised meat and dairy are a key factor in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and should be avoided.  While antibiotics may be necessary in some cases, they are prescribed far too often in the modern medical system. Fortifying your immune system decreases the likelihood of catching a bug that would need antibiotic treatment.

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GM Rice From China – They Don’t Want It, So We’re Getting It?

Genetically modified rice developed in China has passed safety inspections by the U.S. FDA, the first step for the rice to be exported to the U.S. The good news is that neither China nor the U.S. has approved the genetically modified rice for mass cultivation. The FDA’s letter says that the agency has reviewed the data submitted and has no further questions at this time.

[The letter] also reminds the developer that it is responsible for ensuring the safety of any food it puts on the market – thus absolving the FDA of all responsibility if anything should go wrong!” – GM Watch

Related: The Difference Between Heirlooms, Hybrids, and GMOs

The insect-resistant rice called “Huahui 1” passed FDA safety and nutrition inspections. The rice had previously passed safety inspections by the EPA regarding pesticide residue levels.

Having passed safety inspections by the FDA and EPA, Huahui 1 and its products are able to be exported to the US for consumption. It suggests safety evaluations by Chinese testing institutes of Huahui 1 have been fully recognized by institutes in the US.” – ChinaDaily

Related:  Scientists Against GMOs, Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research

The species is said to be able to resist destruction caused by insects such as larva, and can “greatly reduce the use of pesticides during production.” Huahui 1 was successfully bred by a university in China in 1998 and was awarded with a biosafety certificate by China’s Ministry of Agriculture in 2009, following safety evaluations that lasted for almost 10 years, according to the university.

Related: Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods

GM foods including this rice breed is not likely to win approval in China for large-scale production any time soon; the Chinese population has no interest in GMO foods. Researchers in the university are looking to the US for commercial use. China Daily also states,

China has the world’s most strict safety evaluation system for GM products, and all GM products that have passed inspections by the authorities in China are safe, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Related: How to Avoid GMO Apples


Being Outdoors Improves Children’s Ability to Learn

A study recently published in the academic journal, Frontiers in Psychology, found that teaching a lesson to children outside allowed teachers to retain the attention of the kids for almost twice compared to a subsequent indoor lesson.

We wanted to see if we could put the nature effect to work in a school setting. If you took a bunch of squirmy third-graders outdoors for lessons, would they show a benefit of having a lesson in nature, or would they just be bouncing off the walls afterward?” – Ming Kuo, lead study author

Recommended: Common Bad Parenting Advice You Should Ignore

The study was conducted over a 10-week period in a Midwestern elementary school. Two third-grade classrooms participated. One of the classrooms had a teacher who was enthusiastic about the concept while the other teacher who was skeptical, thinking like many do that there would be too many distractions. Each teacher held one lesson a week outside before returning to their regular classroom setting.

The outdoor classroom was a grassy spot just outside the school, within view of a wooded area. Following the outdoor lesson, class engagement was assessed in four ways: the teacher’s perception of the students’ level of engagements; the students’ ratings of theirs and their classmates’ engagement; the number of ‘redirects’ during the lesson, when teachers had to call the kids’ attention back to the lesson; and independent photo ratings, where ratings of classroom engagement by an independent observer were based on photos of the observation period.” – TreeHugger

Recommended: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

What was the effect of lessons outside regarding classroom engagement? Does outdoor learning leave pupils too excited to focus? In this study, classroom engagement was improved after lessons in nature. The advantage of the time outside held true for “four of five measures of classroom engagement.”

We found higher levels of classroom engagement after lessons in nature than after carefully matched classroom-based counterparts; these differences could not be explained by differences in teacher, instructional approach, class (students, classroom, and class size), time of year, or time of day, nor the order of the indoor and outdoor lessons on a given topic. It would seem that lessons in nature boost subsequent classroom engagement, and boost it a great deal; after a lesson in nature, teachers were able to teach for almost twice as long without having to interrupt instruction to redirect students’ attention. This nature advantage persisted across 10 different weeks and lesson topics, and held not only for a teacher with positive expectations for nature-based lessons but also for a teacher who anticipated negative effects of such lessons. The findings here suggest that lessons in nature allow students to simultaneously learn classroom curriculum while rejuvenating their capacity for learning, or “refuel in flight.” Because providing children with more contact with nature in the course of the school day is likely to yield a whole host of additional dividends as well, including improved physical and mental health (see Chawla, 2015 for review), the findings here argue for including more lessons in nature in formal education.

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Did Trump Just Ruin Mandatory Vaccine Laws?

President Donald Trump has been ignoring his campaign promises regarding vaccine safety. He proposed creating a vaccine safety committee to be led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but it didn’t happen. There is good news for anti-vaxxers, however. President Trump has created a division within the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights called the “Conscience and Religious Freedom Division.”

Related: We Consume Livestock Vaccines When We Ingest Meat

Law protecting religious freedom and conscience rights are just empty words on paper if they aren’t enforced. No one should be forced to choose between helping sick people and living by one’s deepest moral or religious convictions, and the new division will help guarantee that victims of unlawful discrimination find justice. For too long, governments big and small have treated conscience claims with hostility instead of protection, but change is coming and it begins here and now.” – Press release

This new division is said to allow doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers to be able to “decline to participate in care that goes against their religious beliefs.” Vaxxter.com reported on the story and is hopeful that the new division could allow anyone a formal means to register complaints of infractions on basic religious freedoms and receive protection. This protection could conceivably benefit those who may be forced to vaccinate lest they are removed from school or lose their job.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Will this protection lend itself to those who are mandatorily forced to take vaccines or be removed from a public school or lose their job? It seems that President Trump has created a form for those who want to report totalitarian abuses by the system.” – Vaxxter.com

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was helped make this new division a reality,

In the past this office sent the message, now is not the time for freedom, it is time for you to conform. What a difference one year makes.”

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Vermont Just Legalized Recreational Marijuana Use

On Monday (1/22) Vermont became the ninth U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana use on Monday. Republican Governor Phil Scott signed a bill passed by the legislature earlier this month,

Today, with mixed emotions, I have signed H. 511.”

The law legalizes marijuana possession of up to 1 ounce, two mature plants, and up to four immature plants. No one under 21 may possess marijuana and the new law does not trade in the drug. Governor Scott noted that he vetoed the earlier version of the bill that would have allowed sales of the marijuana.

Eight other states have legalized marijuana use as a result of voter initiatives. What makes this law unique is that the law was passed through legislation and not by ballot initiative. Vermont is one of 23 states in the nation that don’t allow ballot initiatives.

As progressive as Vermont is, the state’s new law is one of the most restrictive in the nation. People may possess a limited amount, but are not allowed to buy or sell. The law does not set up any sort of regulation for commercial farming or for sales.

The Law Needs Work

The law contains some tricky use of the word “or” that confuses the issue.

Also: In some places the law says an adult may possess two mature plants or four immature plants. In other places the law says an adult may possess two mature and four immature plants.

Also also: The law mentions “hashish” but makes no mention of edibles, topicals, concentrates like shatter or wax (is “hashish” a catchall?), vape oil, tinctures, or any other common cannabis products. The use of “hashish” makes it seem like the legislators who wrote the law time-traveled to the 1970s to learn about cannabis.” – Leafly

Leafly went through the final language of the bill and come up with the handy guide.

What to Know Before You Go…and Consume

The new law:

  • Removes all criminal and civil penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, or more than five grams of hashish, for persons 21 years of age or older. As the law is written, it’s unclear whether this is an either/or situation—in other words, whether you can possess both an ounce of flower and five grams of hash, or whether you’re limited to an ounce or five grams and cannot possess both.
  • Does not allow for the commercial cultivation and/or sale of cannabis to persons 21 years of age or older. Vermont’s law is strictly a homegrow, personal-use law as it stands now. The law does, however, mandate that the state make plans to adopt a “comprehensive regulatory structure for legalizing and licensing the marijuana market.” The Governor’s Marijuana Advisory Commission has been directed to report on such a system by Dec. 15, 2018.
  • Legalizes the possession of paraphernalia for cannabis use for persons 21 years of age or older.
  • Legalizes the cultivation of two mature cannabis plants or four immature plants, for anyone 21 years of age or older. “Immature” means a female plant that has not flowered and does not have visible buds. Those plants must be in an enclosure screened from public view and secure so that access is limited to the cultivator. The cultivation limit applies to each dwelling, regardless of how many residents 21 or older reside in the dwelling. So: One house, two mature plants, period. The law is clear that these plants may be possessed in addition to the one ounce of cannabis flower. The law is not clear about whether a person may possess two mature plants and four immature plants—again with the “or” problem in the law’s language. In some of the law’s sections, two mature or four immature plants may be possessed. In other sections, two mature andfour immature plants may be possessed. Read the rest here.
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