Imagine for a moment that sales of luncheon meats like salami, bologna and hot dogs were prohibited in half the states beginning in 1993, because such products cause more than 6,000 illnesses each year (see page 13 of the publication, which is actually about illnesses in a different year–this is hypothetical, remember).
Now imagine, 15 years later, you are studying data from 1993 to 2006 on the number of illnesses from luncheon meats in all 50 states.
In which states would you expect to have the most cases of foodborne illness caused by luncheon meats—the ones in which sales were illegal, or the ones in which sales were permitted?
This is not supposed to be a trick question. At least I haven’t been able to determine the trick, because I’ve been thinking about it for the last six days, since that raw milk symposium outside Washington last Tuesday, sponsored by the International Association for Food Protection, and couldn’t find anything overtly tricky.
My answer is always the same: the states that prohibit luncheon meats would have fewer outbreaks of illness because, well, there’d be less bologna, salami, and hot dogs available for sale than in the states where it was legal. And then I wonder, once again, am I missing something here?
The reason I’ve been agonizing so much about this question is that there was a lengthy presentation about a recently concluded (and as-yet unpublished) study from a highly regarded scientist from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The title of the presentation was this: “Do State Raw Milk Sales Restrictions Reduce Raw Milk Outbreaks: A Policy Analysis”.
The scientist, Adam J. Langer, analyzed data on foodborne illness from states where raw milk is illegal, and compared it to states where it is legal. As you can see from his PowerPoint presentation, his slides are very colorful, and he’s got assessments of illnesses per “billion person-years” and “incident density ratios.” He did a lot of work on this baby.
And guess what? According to Langer, “If you live in a state that permits raw milk sales, you have two to three times the risk of having an outbreak” than if you live in a state where it’s prohibited. Of course, that then becomes fodder to trash raw milk, to warn of “an increased risk throughout the country” if Rep. Ron Paul’s legislative attempt to lift the federal ban on interstate sales of raw milk were to succeed.
Just another CDC scientific breakthrough, I guess. Doing the hard work and digging that needs doing to help us better understand the dangers of raw milk. Or is it a trick question?
There is an assumption here that raw milk sales restrictions do restrict raw milk consumption.What raw milk sales restrictions do is restrict the consumption of raw milk to those people who are willing to go out of their way to get it.What really restricts the consumption of raw milk is the shortage of farms willing to produce it.This seems to be a problem in states where retail sales are legal as well as in those where sales are prohibited.
USDA BETS THE FARM ON ANIMAL ID PROGRAM
By William Pentland and DAVID E GUMPERT
http://naissucks.com/index.php?con=usda_bets_farm
If you live in a state that permits raw milk sales, you have two to three times the risk of having an outbreak
It implies that you, the average joe who may or may not drink raw milk, are at risk of an outbreak simply because of where you live. A statement like that doesn’t even BEGIN to address causality.
When I moved in with my boyfriend (who is now my husband) before we were married, my mother told me that since we were living together we’d be much more likely to get divorced. It was heavily implied that the mere act of sharing quarters with one another before the marraige ritual would be enough to doom us to a life of unhappiness and eventually divorce. It does not count for individual cases like maturity, crisis coping skills, adaptability, willingness to compromise, or even basic compatibility.
Would it not be more effective to say that people who co-habitate might be more prone to quick decisions? Lacking in patience and foresight? In other words, it’s not the fact that they live together that dooms them, it’s some other factor that’s common in these people of which a ‘symptom’ is pre-marital co-habitation.
Same with Raw Milk. If you don’t drink Raw Milk then you aren’t going to get sick from it. If you don’t eat salami then you won’t fall ill. Simply saying that you’re more likely to become ill from raw milk because you live in an area that allows its production and sale is ludicrous.
Far more beneficial would be statistics that polled raw milk and pasteurized-milk drinkers separately, and separated between places that authorized raw milk sales and places where it was illegal.
I’d be interested to see the percentage of raw milk drinkers who got sick in states that allow the sale of raw milk to the percentage of raw milk drinkers who got sick in states where the sale of such is illegal. Pasteurized-milk only drinking people are your control group.
It doesn’t matter how much care he’s taken with his report, making blanket statements like that with no attempt to determine causality is just bad science.
What is the definition of an outbreak?
What is an illness?
What does it mean?
Rookies look at the statistics….Real Pros look at the underlying assumptions behind the numbers.
Does being hospitalized and really sick verses just having been to your doctor for a case of the "two step" and that doctor reporting the incident to the state ( as required when lab tests show a pathogen present ) mean anything.
In the old days when I was a paramedic we called this "waste-basket stats" it really means nothing unless the assumptions are understood and published along side the data. This data amounts to inflamatory meaningless "spin science". We used to look at ACLS and CPR survival data. Glorious paramedic work was all expensive money spent…unless it worked to actually save lives that were lived out meaningfully and productively. For a while, all CPR did was fill ICU’s with brain dead people. Those were all considered saves.
When we figuered out what we were actually doing… CPR and "real saves" were redefined and we stopped filling ICU’s with the brain dead and we started saving money and real lives.
Now… a "save" is a person with a brain and a real life that actually goes to work and functions well.
I do not think that the CDC or the FDA has gotten to that level yet. They are still at the brain dead level and do not consider the nuances of real data or analysis or real outcomes. To the FDA and the CDC is not important to know or publish real data and explain it. So it is just quotable commingled garbage.
Just blame every little two step or cramp all on raw milk…what the hell.
Can not wait to ask John Sheehan these and other questions.
By the way…..I just figuered it out…."Concerned Person" is an Eskimo. Eskimos never drank raw milk but found their raw fats, probiotic bacteria and enzymes from fermented fish and other raw fermented foods. The rest of us just drink a some raw milk every day to get the same nutrients.
CP….Weston A Price would be very proud of you.
Mark McAfee
"Garden centre water-features may harbour deadly bugs"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/4797686/Garden-centre-water-features-may-harbour-deadly-bugs.html
Jenny
I do think that herdshare members are better informed and more connected to the source of their milk. They have to take more responsibility in order to get the milk. Maybe they are more serious about their health in general and so are more likely to avoid all types of food poisoning.
That is very true, and one wonders why the government would desire so much to interfere with them.
It has been an accepted fact of microbiology for a hundred years that host state is a factor in determining illness. Certain hosts carry this or that microbe and become ill, others carry the same microbe and do not become ill. Yet we persist in classifying certain microbes as pathogens even though they do not cause disease in every host. Why? Our medical practitioners, along with government and their corporate allies, chase down pathogens as if there is no understanding whatsoever about host-carrier interplay. Why?
Just today a nurse in my hospital (who is often sick) complained to me about suffering from yet another viral infection with the words, This bug is really bad. She has been completely indoctrinated into the false idea that she is sick because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and imbibed the wrong microbe. She is, of course, doomed to be intermittently sick as long as she holds on to that notion.
Lykke says:
One thing that amazes me with all the exchanges at this blog, in particular, is how some of us can read the same thing and have such different interpretations.
We are merely accepting the reality that host state is a significant factor in determining host-microbe interactions. We are, as miguel says, serious about our health. We are fixing ourselves up so that we can live in harmony with so-called pathogens.
Those who wish to live their lives according to Koch’s postulates may do so, to their great peril. But why should I, or anyone else, be required to do that? Because, apparently, our medical establishment has not been able to escape the Koch’s chains.
(I wish that our doctors would follow Koch himself, who did abandon certain of his ideas when he saw that there was such a thing as asymptomatic carriers.)
Somewhat related to garden center water features….public water displays/recreational areas linked to outbreaks:
An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with a children’s water spray park
http://tinyurl.com/aqq4fb
This is the first known report of an outbreak linked to a children’s water spray park in Canada. Outbreaks of enteric infections related to spray parks or fountains have previously been reported in the US. Pathogens identified include Cryptosporidium, Shigella, and Norovirus. All outbreaks occurred in spray parks or fountains with recirculating water systems, and in all reports the contributing factor identified was a lack of or inadequate filtration and disinfection.
E. coli tragedy in 1998 changed water park safety
http://tinyurl.com/bqh6yv
Twenty-six children were stricken in 1998 by an E. coli outbreak in a kiddie pool at the White Water swim park in Cobb County, metro Atlanta’s best-known water park. Seven children were hospitalized and one died. The legacy of the outbreak has led to sweeping changes in how water parks monitor and treat their water. In some cases, the kiddie pools have been scrapped in favor of fountain-type areas that have no standing water.
Outbreak of cryptosporidiosis associated with a water sprinkler fountain – Minnesota, 1997. CCDR 1999;25(2):13-5.
Outbreak of gastroenteritis associated with an interactive water fountain at a beachside park – Florida, 1999. MMWR 2000;49(25):565-8.
Hoebe CJ, Vennema H, Roda Husman AM et al. Norovirus outbreak among primary schoolchildren who had played in a recreational water fountain. J Infect Dis 2004;189(4):699-705.
Fleming CA, Caron D, Gunn JE et al. An outbreak of associated with a recreational spray fountain. Am J Public Health 2000;90(10):1641-2.
Isn’t it clear yet that everything will eventually become a threat to those who have destroyed the community of bacteria that protect them from opportunistic bacteria?
"The legacy of the outbreak has led to sweeping changes in how water parks monitor and treat their water."
When will people see that the waterpark,the petting zoo, the shopping kart handle and unsterilized food are not what needs to be changed?It is impossible to make the world safe for people who do not have a functioning immune system.Being in contact with manure on the farm does not make us sick,but now we will be required to post a warning to all visitors that they enter our farm at their own risk because we cannot possibly eliminate all of the "pathogens" that will surely kill someone without a functioning immune system.
Beautifully said…..
"When will people see that the waterpark,the petting zoo, the shopping kart handle and unsterilized food are not what needs to be changed?It is impossible to make the world safe for people who do not have a functioning immune system.Being in contact with manure on the farm does not make us sick,but now we will be required to post a warning to all visitors that they enter our farm at their own risk because we cannot possibly eliminate all of the "pathogens" that will surely kill someone without a functioning immune system."
This type of statement needs to get before congress in hearings. When this type of statement was made before the Senate in CA during SB 201 hearings…people listened and there was real progress made.
It is not the food… it is the mismatching, unfamiliarity and disassociation of the external ecosystem with our suffering and weak internal immune ecosystems. Add, antibiotics super bugs and sterilization of foods and the problems exponentially multiply.
Shazaam….America 2009….
Add good raw milk, whole food nutrition, economically successfull smaller consumer connected local dairies and farms and you get the beginnings of healthy America 2020.
Please hear us Mr. President…the raw roots are the grass roots of our prevention based medical revolution and the source of national economic stability and nutrition for a future better America.
Invite us to DC and we can explain!!!
Mark McAfee
Don W,
The Kendall Komparison: Kefir, Yogurt, and Filmjolk
Kefir grains are a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) and have probiotic yeasts in addition to their many strains of lacto bacilli good if a person needs a boost in beneficial yeasts. Filmjolk & yogurt cultures have no yeasts in them.
People who are extremely lactose intolerant consume kefir that is well-fermented (48 hrs). It is very sour, but virtually all the lactose has been converted into lactic acid and CO2. I dont know if this is also true for filmjolk and yogurt.
Temperature: Kefir and filmjolk culture well through a wider range of temperatures than yogurt. Yogurt cultures are thermophilic and require a temperature range close to 110 degrees.
Procedure: Filmjolk simply dump a quarter to a half cup of starter into a clean quart jar, fill the jar with fresh milk, and shake it up. Let it sit for 24 hours at room temperature. No real cleanup. Yogurt is fussy and requires a temperature controlled setup. More cleanup. Kefir requires straining the liquid from the grains after each batch. Even more cleanup time.
Taste: When fermented within a palatable range, I think filmjolk has the most pleasing taste.
Dairy starter cultures (including filmjolk) can be purchased from GEM Cultures Lakewood WA. http://www.gemcultures.com.
cps comment, quoted from GEMs website, We do not recommend the use of Raw Milks as they can carry a heavy bacterial load that can compete with these Dairy Cultures, alter the taste and can cause illness to the user.
Our dairy ferments are made from raw milk. We use Miguels teat test: if the finished product has a funny smell or taste, we throw it out because it has likely been compromised. Share your filmjolk culture around. If yours becomes contaminated, your friends will be able to give you some from their most recent batch for your new starter.
I may have a more local source of culture starter for you. You can email me at
daveshanken@juno .com.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
This is a landmark week for transforming our health care system.
The Senate is having hearings on transforming health care and integrative and Functional medicine and the National Academy of Sciences is hosting an Institute of Medicine Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public http://www.iom.edu/integrativemedicine.
I am also honored to let you know that on Thursday, February 26th between 10 am and 12 pm, I will be testifying on how Functional medicine can help solve our health care crisis before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at the invitation of Senators Kennedy, Harkin and Mikulski.
You can view this testimony, along with that of Drs. Oz, Ornish and Weil online at:
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_02_26/2009_02_26.html
I am not clear on whether the hearing will be streamed live or available for viewing afterward, so please check back for the recorded version if it’s not streamed live.
Here is some of what I will be sharing with them.
The current medical and scientific paradigm of acute care medicine has been unable to effectively address the epidemic of chronic disease and its associated costs.
There is a new paradigm which addresses the fundamental underlying causes of chronic disease, and can form the basis for a more effective model of medical education, practice, and research that over time will generate dramatic cost savings and improved health outcomes.
There are specific initiatives and strategies based on this new paradigm that can help quickly transform our sick care system into a health care system.
Even if we get everything else right in health care reform, it won’t matter unless we address the underlying causes of illness that drive both costs and the development of chronic disease. This innovative approach to chronic disease cannot only prevent but also more effectively TREAT chronic disease.
We must change not only the WAY we do medicine, but also the medicine we DO.
We must improve not only financing and delivery of health care, but also our fundamental scientific approach to chronic disease-an epidemic that now affects 133 million Americans and accounts for 78% of health care costs.
This way of doing medicine, or Functional medicine, is a system of personalized, patient centered care based on how our environment and lifestyle choices act on our genes to create imbalances in our core biologic systems. Those imbalances show up as the signs and symptoms we call disease.
It is best solution for our health care crisis. The solution is not our current acute care model, which though extremely effective for acute disease, leads to worse outcomes and higher costs when applied to chronic disease because it doesn’t address WHY people are sick.
This new paradigm is personalized, preventive, participatory, predictive, prospective, and patient centered.
It is proactive rather than reactive.
It is based on addressing the causes of disease and optimizing biologic function in the body’s core physiologic systems, not only treating the symptoms.
It based on systems biology or medicine.
That model exists today, and is called Functional Medicine.
****Key Avenues for Change: Recommendations ****
1. Re-tooling medical education and research to match the science of systems medicine. I recommend the establishment of a sustainably funded Institute for Lifestyle and Systems Medicine/Functional Medicine.
2. Creation of Functional medicine demonstration projects in federally funded community health centers, with integrated health care teams focusing on treating chronic disease and providing education about lifestyle and wellness
3. The establishment of a White House and/or Congressional Office for Health and Wellness to coordinate all efforts in this area.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement in this critical time.
If you want to help, please contact your congressman, Senators and the White House to advocate for this type of change and share your stories of how this has impacted you.
We all can change our health care system together!
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
He practices functional medicine. It’s the belief that with the correct food, nutrients, and detoxing the body can heal itself.
http://www.drhyman.com/
cp
Somewhat OT – the following link is to a long article about the recent "Camembert War" in France, where a large industrial cheese processor (80% of the Camembert market) in the Spring of 2007 abandoned raw milk Camembert in favor of pasteurized milk cheese and finally capitulated back to raw milk. In the course of the "war," it was clear that their reason for abandoning raw milk Camembert was economic, but as the fight dragged on they resorted to fear tactics and arguments about the dangers of raw milk. The French public did not buy it (the pasteurized cheese, as well as the company’s other products) and they finally capitulated back to raw milk Camembert. This suggests, as does Dr. Ted Beals, that pasteurization is primarily an economic issue since it fosters longer shelf life and fits the industrial food management paradigm more perfectly than does raw milk: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,609046,00.html
What is a "functioning immune system?"
A diversity of people go to water parks/gardens – many are low income. They cannot afford raw milk. And, most do not have the ways and means to seek on the Internet cultures to ferment milk and vegetables, then create a breakfast for their kids of sauerkraut and swedish sour milk. Sounds great for a small number of people that want to pursue this path…
But, public health looks at a problem in a bigger way. For example with the water fountains – make the water clean since the kids are sucking it up while they play. How is this bad? What is the alternative? Signs to the public saying: improve your immune system: feed your kids more sauerkraut?
Seriously, how would you "educate" the public with this "improve your immunity message." Especially in the context that many here agree that people with bad immunity are susceptible to pathogens in raw milk, and should not just "take the leap" into drinking it – they need "strong" immune systems to start drinking raw milk to make their immune systems "strong."
The discussion is fascinating, but running my mind in circles – any clarification on the "immune system" component would be appreciated.
RE the Camembert Wars.
I enjoyed the article. Good support for the notion that high quality dairy products are made with raw milk and with the blessing and support of the national government. Also, a little insight into how the dominant corporations think and act.
Intelligently written and spiced with humor. Nice find.
Since naming water fountains and shopping cart handles as a source of infections, while true, is a little over the top, I would hope that public health will find more important things to focus on like educating the public with this improve your immunity message." How would YOU go about doing that assuming that you believe it is a worthwhile goal?
As a thoughtful, concerned person and in light of the conversation here, surely you see that *pathogens as causers of disease* is becoming *Old Think*, and that it is slowly being replaced by *immunity-building* as the best way to obtain and keep good health.
BTW, are you putting down homemade sauerkraut and Swedish sour milk made from pasteurized milk as wholesome, health- inducing foods? I hope not. They are not chi-chi foods. They are available to anyone who seeks them and they are CHEAP.
Educate the population on the effects of the added chemicals and adulterations to our food and water along with the side effects of the medications that are pushed on society, short term and long term use. Yes indeed, big $$$ with keeping people ill.
http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/27/pfizer-merck-genentech-cx_mh_0224topsellingdrugs.html
The statins drugs- educate people on what it really does, lower cholesterol….what about the thickening of the artery wall?
#3 selling drug in USA Nexium-decrease gastric acid- GERD popular disease of the last 20-25 yrs; decreased gastric acid makes you more susceptable to "pathogens" .
No, I wasn’t putting the fermented foods down – it is just hard to picture the general population that is hooked on junk food switching to a diet with these foods. People barely do any cooking these days, so there needs to be quite a bit of retraining before the population is likely to ferment foods in the home. The health education budgets for nutrition/obesity (5 a day programs, etc.) in government are much larger than food safety budgets, yet the obesity and chronic disease problems keep growing with no end in sight. I’m not sure how the message could be changed – every morning there are news blurbs about studies showing the importance of better eating/more exercise…followed by a series of fast food and drug commercials..
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_aadiarrh_crs.htm
" Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea
What is antibiotic-associated diarrhea?
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea is a side effect of taking antibiotic medicine. Symptoms usually start between 4 and 9 days after you start to take the medicine. Most often the loose bowel movements are mild and go away when you stop taking the antibiotic. Sometimes a very serious type of diarrhea called pseudomembranous colitis happens.
How does it occur?
Antibiotics can upset the natural balance of bacteria in the intestines. Each antibiotic medicine is usually given because of specific bacteria. When an antibiotic kills one type of bacteria, other bacteria in the gut are present in greater numbers. Too many harmful bacteria in the intestines can cause diarrhea. Having too many of the bacteria called Clostridium difficile causes severe diarrhea (pseudomembranous colitis).
Almost any antibiotic can cause an imbalance of bacteria in the body. "
"What can I do to help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea?
* Take antibiotics only when you and your health care provider feel they are necessary.
* Take antibiotics exactly as they are prescribed. Do not increase the dose, the time between your doses, or the number of days you take the medicine unless instructed to do so by your health care provider.
* When possible, avoid taking antibiotics that cause you to have these symptoms."
An antibiotic kills bacteria.It is the upset in the natural balance in the intestines that is the cause of the diarrhea.Lots of things kill bacteria.They all have the same potential to cause diarrhea.As our food production has become increasingly industrialized it has become necessary to sanitize all of this equiptment with antibacterial agents. The need for increasing profits demands a longer shelf life.Preservatives that kill bacteria do increase shelf life of products.Chemicals intended to kill fungi and molds and insects also wreak havoc on bacteria.
How can we avoid illness from diarrhea?We need to realize that we need to avoid not only antibiotics.We need to avoid the other things in our world that upset the" natural balance of bacteria in our intestines."
"For example with the water fountains – make the water clean since the kids are sucking it up while they play. How is this bad? What is the alternative?"
If we think we can kill the bacteria in the water(maybe with chlorine) what will the chlorine in the water do to the bacteria in our intestines?Now we really are going in circles.Now our immune system (gut bacteria) is damaged and we are even more likely to get ill from whatever bacteria is resistant to the chlorine.How can we escape from this self destructive cycle?
I think we are in agreement about what the problem is.We don’t want to see our children suffer these life threatening illnesses.I don’t have the power of the regulatory agencies so I have to start small,to educate myself.What do scientists say? We are talking about microbes,so what do microbiologists say about the causes of these illnesses?In a very small scale,grass roots way many people are searching for answers and sharing what they have found that works for them.This is the seed that the movement for local,direct from the farm,biodynamic or organic food has grown from.Raw milk is a part of this.
The regulatory agencies attack the problem from the top.What regulations will put an end to these illnesses and make our food safe?They have identified the cause of these illnesses as an ever increasing list of "pathogens".So along with the war on terrorists,drugs,poverty,etc. we have the war on bacteria(bacteria ,pathogens whats the difference?)The weapons against bacteria are of course antibiotics,sanitizers,preservatives,herbicides,chemical fertilizers,pesticides etc.
The grass roots movement towards a healthy life depends on bacteria to protect us from disease.We see them as allies indistinguishable from ourselves.Here is where we clash with the regulators.Their war on bacteria is threatening us and our children.It is also threatening them and their children.The grass roots movement will continue to grow like bacteria do ,at an exponential rate,unless the regulators,afraid of defeat,reach for ever more powerful weapons in their war.The public is getting it’s education.Pain and suffering are very educational .They are learning to fear food from industrial agriculture.The young people can see what the SAD(standard American diet) and the prescription drugs have done to their parents.
It is a myth that good food is more expensive than immitation food.For the energy and nutrients you get from it,Good food is much cheaper,especially if you have the energy to prepare it from its natural form rather than buy it in it’s processed form.Bad food and presription drugs are a package.If you live on processed foods you will need a long list of prescription drugs just to survive.
Look…if the entire world wants to eat corn based junk food, and screw up their gut, what is wrong with letting them…as long as you can choose not to follow….and this is the problem (is there any food out there in the supermarket not corn..or soy…based). Raw milk should be made available to those who want it…both the risks AND the benefits….governments shouldn’t be standing in the way….especially those who ‘really’ are concerned with the ‘well being’ of the citizens. The fact is that the authorities have been lying to the people about the dangers of raw milk (and the dangers of the standard food supply)….but it’s the big money of the multinationals that dictate their speech, and the path they are choosing for us…. SAD…..
Lykke…figured you bring up the ‘economics’ of raw milk…those poor Poor…they’re working so hard the don’t have the money or time…predictable….but as it has been refuted…with a little effort, you can eat a great diet of good food…especially if you make friends with a farmer! I suggest you try a different tact….we can see right through that one. weak….
The nation and the world are faced with a crisis in medicine that is perilously close to an emergency. The childhood immunization program, due to the vast increase in injections (containing mercury and other toxic agents) simultaneously given is threatening to be a fiasco for medical science. It is an unfolding catastrophe without any comparison. The growing chorus of criticism here and around the world from scientists and doctors is laying bare the dangers of a system of recommended injections that statistically are proving to be directly involved with a sharp increase in autism and other related learning disorders, as well as sharp increases in asthma and diabetes in the young.
The IOM, CDC, AMA, AAP, WHO, UNICEF, and the FDA are proving to be incompetent and untrustworthy in the areas of immunization, and have endangered the health of the nation and the world. In a disaster of medical ideology over reality, medical officials, true believers in pharmaceutically based medicine, show that they know everything better than everybody else, and the arrogance born of that certainty has led, step by tragic step, to the present situation where infants are bombarded with toxic chemicals injected one after another in a brutal attack on their young immune systems. This medical arrogance has locked the entire medical establishment around the world into a pre-emptive war on the health of children while slapping contempt on any physician or scientist that is courageous enough to stand in their way.
There is no quick or easy fix to the health crisis we find ourselves in. As I see it we first and foremost need to make peace with nature instead of trying to dominate it, and likewise we need to abandon our hell bent desire to dominate people and families on issues of healthcare and food.
Ken Conrad
Lykke,
What do you think would happen if, every morning, there were news blurbs about studies showing the importance of eating probiotic and prebiotic foods and connecting that with building a healthy immune system?
When people hear something often enough, especially from lots of different directions, they come to believe it.
Yes, lets start big every morning – PSAs (public service announcements) and studies emphasizing the critical connection between a well-tuned immune system and the absence of chronic and acute diseases. Show how eating phood costs government huge amounts of money. Emphasize people saving money and reducing their pain by eating unprocessed foods and reducing /avoiding antibiotic drugs.
Allocate money for building small farms and good soil, then target subsidies to them until they were truly economically viable and mainstream. If government were serious about improving overall health, it would do something along these lines in a hurry.
How about the FDA producing sexy ads (i.e. being proactive) that discourage the consumption of alcohol and tobacco – and recreational drugs (Make them legal and then regulate or tax them out of existence).
Lets see These suggestions run up against the interlocking interests of Big AG, Big Pharma, Big Med, and some lawyers. Im not holding my breath.
(Even though Obama promises change, I havent seen any indication that hell put the brakes on NAIS. This program is nightmarish in its implications for public health and all but the biggest farmers and concentrates control of lots of aspects of our lives at the federal level where it is difficult for the little people to get things changed.
The proposed farm bill even *exempts NAIS data from Freedom of Information Act coverage and imposes potential criminal penalties on those who publish NAIS data.* Thanks, David.)
* People barely do any cooking these days, so there needs to be quite a bit of retraining before the population is likely to ferment foods in the home.*
I think the issue here is NOT reTraining, but rather actively promoting access to information and resources (like raw milk) that will enable good general health decisions – and ENCOURAGING people to seek them out and use them.
Each of us here, and consumers in general ,will increasingly figure out how to home-ferment and otherwise prepare nutritious food when they believe in it enough to budget some time for it. Example: an acquaintance called this morning asking about crocks for fermenting.
THE HIDDEN LINK BETWEEN FACTORY FARMS, TOXIC CHEMICALS AND HUMAN ILLNESS by Laura Sayre Mother Earth News Feb. Mar 2009
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16964.cfm
Well, you see, the news is sponsored by drug companies. CNN and The Weather Channel are the worst. You get equal time commercials to news. The whole television/cable relationships with sponsors would have to be rearranged.
And then you have the "Corn Council" or whatever it is called putting out these rediculous commercials with tongue-tied people trying to explain why high fructose corn syrup is BAD for you…"It’s okay in moderation," as the commecial ends. Last time I went shopping, I did not buy ANYTHING with high fructose corn syrup, and my options were VERY limited. Moderation takes work. Someone needs to pay for a counter-commercial explaining this. But hey, the Corn Council must have felt threatened enough to actually pay for such a commercial, and it didn’t convince me!!
I recently discovered that inulin feeds lactobacillus in the intestines. Inulin is found in root vegetables that don’t have starch. The topic came up over dandelion roots, but it is present in leeks, burdock, garlic, chicory, onions and Jerusalem artichokes.
I’d like to see the drug companies try and eradicate burdock. They can begin in my pasture.
Dear Mr Adams:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 778. I appreciated hearing from you.
Unpasteurized milk can transmit organisms like E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter that cause serious, sometimes deadly, food-borne illness in humans. These pathogens can unfortunately cause much more than vomiting and diarrhea, especially in highly susceptible groups such as children and senior citizens.
In 1987, the Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of unpasteurized milk and milk products across state lines. However, each state regulates the sale of raw milk within the state, and some states allow it to be sold. Michigan was the first state to ban the sale of unpasteurized milk in 1948.
On January 28, 2009, Congressman Ron Paul introduced H.R. 778. This legislation would authorize the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for human consumption between states that allow the sale of unpasteurized milk.
This legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Please be assured I will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation come to the House Floor for a vote.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me again in the future with issues that concern you.
Sincerely,
BART STUPAK
Member of Congress
This is your chance to educate your representative.Learn what you can about Bart Stupak’s family.Someone he loves has suffered because he did not understand that processed foods will make us sick.Even worse,when the drug that he was prescribed was taken,he fell victim to one of the many very serious side effects that proved to be fatal.It may be that he or his wife might be willing to talk about their experience in relation to this Bill.
http://pointofreturn.com/probiotics.html
Gut Flora and Mental Health
More than 95% of the bodys Serotonin is actually in the gut, so it only serves to reason that depression issues can occur if the stomach region is out of balance. Recent studies indicate that healthy bacteria have a direct impact on mood and behavior by influencing the production of brain chemicals including Serotonin and GABA. Likewise, bad bacteria can have an adverse effect. For example, small amounts of the C.jejuni bacteria can activate parts of the brain that cause anxiety and fear.
Friendly bacteria, specifically Bifidobacteria, help prevent bad bacteria from taking over and colonizing the intestines. Of particular interest to people with mood disorders is the prevention of the bacteria Candida. Candida is often unrecognized as a cause of anxiety and depression.
Lactobacilli bacteria in sufficient numbers can help encourage a relaxed state. During fermentation, lactobacilli release Tryptophan, which produces the calming neurotransmitter Serotonin. Taking high-quality supplemental Probiotics containing lactobacilli can certainly be a positive step in easing stress
Signs of Low Flora Count (The following symptoms may result from low intestinal bacterial:)
Gas, Bloating and Indigestion Skin problems such as Acne, Eczema and Psoriasis
Diarrhea and/or Constipation Delayed development in children
Bad Breath and Body Odor High Cholesterol Levels
Candida Yeast Infections Frequent Colds and Flu
Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Cold Sores (herpes simplex)
Parasites Vaginitis
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and Colitis Headaches
Crohn’s Disease Hypoglycemia
The milk in most grocery stores is pasteurized, or ?heated to about 165 degrees F, and can be heated further by ultra-pasteurization. Unfortunately, this also kills the friendly bacteria and other nutrients and enzymes that naturally occur in milk. Raw milk straight from the cow or goat is chock full of the benefits of wonderfully healthy bacteria, vitamins, and enzymes that you simply will not get from store-bought milk. However, in 2005 the FDA stated that raw milk was not safe for the public, and as a result, pasteurization of milk was deemed the only way to protect the public.
Many commercial dairies do not feed their cows grass and hay, which are the natural food for cows. Instead, some herds are kept in small feedlots and given large amounts of grain. As a result, the cows are prone to disease and must be fed antibiotics, which in turn end up in the milk. Often bleach is added to ensure the milk is white.
As a result, we have lost ?this source of lactobacillus in our diets and therefore are not receiving the ?quantities of bacteria we used to.
Antibiotics, which are potent immunosuppressant, are prescribed for ?dozens of common ailments. But in the process of ?killing the bacteria for which they are prescribed, they also kill off ?all the friendly lactobacteria in your intestines, severely impairing ?digestion and assimilation of nutrients at a time when your body needs ?them most.
At times, antibiotics can be necessary, even life saving. When we take them to kill off infectious bacteria, we also destroy ?large amounts of the beneficial flora in our digestive tracts.
Were now finding that eliminating all the good microbes from our body results in a weaker immune system, which we believe is leading to problems such as increased incidence of chronic disease, including allergies like asthma, states Dr.Gary Huffnagle( of the University of Michigan), a renowned expert on Probiotics. Once you take antibiotics as your physician prescribed, follow it with some form of probiotic supplement to get the microflora in your gut back to where it should be. Your recovery and your health will be much greater.
Healthy "friendly" intestinal bacteria is essential not only to good ?intestinal health, but without it overall vibrant health is quite ?difficult to achieve and/or maintain."
cp
I think it was Miguel who addressed self-education? It’s still available – surfing the web is wonderful but not very focused. A few years ago, I was the moderator of a Yahoo! group called DiscussingNT (NT = Nourishing Traditions, the cookbook written by Sally Fallon & Mary Enig, PhD… Lykke – stop rolling your eyes! They are bringing forth a generation of healthy kids!).
I resigned when the group reached 350 members – the message traffic was phenomenal, and I loved it, but it was time to go. I still check in on the group every week, now up to 2318 members, and growing exponentially. My education on that forum was amazing.
Members ask and teach about the tricks of fermenting cabbage, making raw milk kefir, (and sharing free kefir grains), yogurt, finding local sources of good food (and some internet sources), analyzing ingredients and rating kitchen tools, posting articles and scientific studies, laughing and weeping over scheduling, planning and executing feeding a family while working, raising chickens, modern medicine, their frustration with pineapple vinegar, delight with natural cures that really work, weight loss and a smidgen of politics.
There are now about 100 spin-off groups that do the same thing. (I won’t address the Raw Dairy group… 🙂 except to say What a diverse crowd raw milk attracts!)
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I saw the movie "The Reader" today. The law professor had a line that hit me – went something like this:
" People like to think that moral fiber holds society together, but it’s not moral fiber, not at all. It’s our laws that hold society together. So how we craft our laws determines how well society holds together."
Hannah (Kate Winslow) explained to the court that the reason they let 300 women (on their way to Auschwitz) burn to death in a fire was "Because we were the Guards. We had to contain them. We couldn’t open the doors; it would have been chaos".) She was doing her job according to the law.
(Just in case you think this is directed at Lykke, I want to add that the movie makes you fond of Hannah, and sympathetic, or at least empathetic, toward her horrific decision. The law preceded her moral compass.)
We need to change the laws.
-Blair
I’m sorry! Shall I open my mouth to change feet now? I know you are not even close to Hannah! If you were like that you would not be here. I kick myself over that stupid remark – when I said Lykke, I meant regulators, in the generic sense of the word. But Lykke?. You are articulate, thoughtful, and brave.
But I still think that laws crafted by ignorance precede our regulators. These laws are killing people.
-Blair
David Gumpert
Some interesting quotes in an article published today in the LA Times that covers both sides of the "debate":
latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-nutrition2-2009mar02,0,4757880.story
From the Los Angeles Times
NUTRITION LAB
The raw milk debate rages on
Though proponents of unpasteurized milk tout its health benefits, including boosting immunity, scientific evidence remains shaky.
By Elena Conis
March 2, 2009
"Raw milk consumers are dedicated to building their immune systems," says Mark McAfee, founder of Organic Pastures, a raw dairy in Fresno.
Raw milk and pasteurized milk are equivalent in terms of protein, nutrient, fat and carbohydrate makeup, says Rusty Bishop, director of the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After raw milk has been pasteurized, he says, "there’s no difference in composition, other than that you’ve killed off a significant number of bacteria that were in the milk."
"Raw milk could potentially have beneficial bacteria, but there’s a higher likelihood that it has pathogenic organisms as well," says Lloyd Metzger, director of the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center at South Dakota State University in Brookings and a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists, an association of food scientists.
Sanitary conditions, attention to diet, milk testing and cattle health screening can help prevent contamination episodes, and researchers in Europe — where raw milk is widely used in cheese production — have pioneered protocols to help ensure that raw milk is pathogen-free, he [Bishop] says.
"They can have that [raw] milk coming off the farm with minimal bacteria — but it takes a lot more effort," Bishop says.
"If you want beneficial bacteria," Metzger says, "you’d be better off just eating yogurt."
There is an old and very true aphorism in medicine, that what you don’t expect, doesn’t exist. Earlier, somebody commented that the public health community takes a "bigger view" of illness than mere immune system building, presumably because they attempt to protect ALL individuals, not only those with strong immune systems. But the fact is that theirs is an abominably narrow view. They do not suspect at all the breadth of negatives that result from their "solutions." ("Make waterpark water clean–what’s wrong with that?" was, if I remember correctly, the sentiment. Miguel countered with just one "wrong" result, that being the destruction of normal gut bacteria by imbibing chlorine. There are countless others—some direct, like the effects of inhaling and drinking xenoestrogens like chlorine, and others indirect, like the "training" of a populace in the harmful notion that environmental sanitization as a general theme is a wise and healthful practice.)
Our public health officials and medical practitioners have been ignoring the vast negatives of pathology-chasing for many decades. The evidence of their mistakes is piling ever higher in the form of epidemic rates of heart disease, cancers, gut diseases, childhood developmental problems, and so on, yet there is pitifully little acknowledgment of cause and effect. How could there be? They do not suspect that they could be at fault, therefore they cannot be. Now we are told that things are so bad that we cannot afford to make change in policy. Our populace is so weak that we will cause harm by abandoning our paradigm. Well, there is no more dismally depressing line of thought than that our faults have actually closed the door to improvement. Fortunately, however, that idea is just another result of a narrow, public health/medical care viewpoint. We absolutely CAN turn this around, although, as David points out, not very easily in the face of so much narrow-minded opposition.