Natural Family News

An article I read today describes a recent ruling that will prevent raw milk from being sold in Oregon– even for pets. This is how they were able to get around selling raw milk in Whole Foods stores there.

In a seemingly unrelated, but clearly meant to be related, section of the article, a lawsuit against a farm with a cow-share program is mentioned. Apparently, several people became sick with e. coli. How many people become sick from e. coli from more “accepted” foods? Salad bars, bagged salads, restaurants?

I think the point being made in this article is that raw milk is dangerous. How do you know? The government says so. And 13 people got sick and are suing, despite the fact that I’m sure they signed a form that says that they know the risks of consuming raw milk.

For more on raw milk, I recommend visiting www.realmilk.com or www.rawmilk.org or the Weston Price Foundation.

In a recent EU draft, lawmakers are considering allowing genetically modified foods into organic food. WHAT? WHY? Whose bright idea was that, anyway?

I have often bought foods from Europe, organic or otherwise, when an organic alternative didn’t exist precisely because they shunned chemistry set (or would that be biology set) agriculture. Now, it looks like I won’t even be able to trust organic food if it comes from Europe.

The Reuters article contains the following quote:

“Genetic contamination of organic food is completely unacceptable to consumers throughout the EU,” said Helen Holder, GMO campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe.

Yeah, what she said.

ACOG NEWS RELEASE

For Release: November 30, 2005
Contact: ACOG Office of Communications
(202) 484-3321
communications@acog.org

Vaginal Birth Not Associated With Incontinence Later in Life

Washington, DC — Contrary to the belief held by some, vaginal birth does not
appear to be associated with incontinence later in life, a new study has found.
The study, published in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology,
found that incontinence was more strongly related with family history.

An estimated 30-50% of adult women suffer from urinary incontinence, and
vaginal delivery is often considered to be the major risk factor for stress
urinary incontinence. While 62% of urogynecologists previously surveyed
would support performing elective cesarean deliveries to prevent
incontinence in the long term, the benefit of this practice has not been proven.
Risk factors for incontinence include body mass index, hypertension, and
integrity of the pelvic floor, all of which tend to run in families.

Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York
studied 143 pairs of biological sisters. All of the women were at least 45 years
old and postmenopausal. All but two pairs of sisters were Caucasian.
However, one sister of each pair was nulliparous (no deliveries) and one was
parous (at least one vaginal delivery). The women answered questionnaires
and underwent clinical testing to measure incontinence.

The researchers found that the rate of incontinence was 47.6% for nulliparous
women and 49.7% for parous women, a statistically insignificant difference.
They did discover, however, that 63% of the pairs shared continence status
(i.e. either both were continent or both were incontinent). The researchers say
that their findings run contrary to the conventional wisdom that nulliparity
protects against incontinence and are similar to findings from their earlier
study of nuns who had never given birth and yet still had high rates of
postmenopausal incontinence.

While further research is needed to determine if there is a genetic component
to incontinence, the researchers say that this study indicates that family
history is more strongly associated with incontinence than a history of vaginal
delivery.

Contact: Gunhilde M. Buchsbaum, MD, University of Rochester Medical
Center, Rochester, NY, at gunhilde_buchsbaum@urmc.rochester.edu.

# # #

Illinois’ governor has asked that junk food be banned in elementary and middle schools (apparently it’s okay for high school students). The state Board of Education has responded by proposing guidelines that consider the nutritional content (i.e. percentage of fat, calories, etc.), rather than the category of food. Under this proposal, whole milk would be banned but baked chips would be allowed. Do I really even need to comment on this, or are you all thinking what I’m thinking? You can read more about this “excellent” plan here.

Kellogg’s is proposing substituting a special (read messed around with and no longer anywhere close to its natural state) soy oil in its products to eliminate trans-fats from its cereal, crackers, and other products. While in theory this sounds like a good idea, I can’t help but wonder how long it will be until we discover that low linolenic soy oil causes cancer or heart attacks or strokes or any number of conditions that can kill you. By the way, Monsanto is behind this new wonder oil, so that’s enough to give me pause. Instead of requiring food companies to eliminate trans fats, how about if the FDA requires them to make food that is actually, well, food– not some weird concoction that is more suitable to use with a chemistry set than the dinner table. You can read more about Kellogg’s plans here.

I have a family history of Type 2 diabetes, and I was really excited to read that all this time spent nursing is decreasing my risks of developing the disease. And now a math question– if nursing two children for a year each reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a third, how much is your risk reduced by nursing 3 children for at least two years each? Is there ever a point at which you could actually have 0% chance of developing the disease? You can read more about the study here.

A new study shows that placental problems during pregnancy (including pre-eclampsia, placental abruption, etc.) may be an indication that the mom will develop early cardiac problems. They suspect that being overweight is part of the cause. As a new mom who has had some elevated blood pressures during pregnancy and has a family history of heart problems, this makes me want to get really serious about losing this baby weight and getting in shape. You can read more about the study here.

This article from Arizona discusses the lengths that people are going through to get raw milk in the state, and the obstacles that are being put in their way. The quote that got me was from the chief executive of the United Dairymen of Arizona, who said that “dairy products can be guaranteed to be safe only if they are pasteurized.” Really? Because the last time I checked, there were still plenty of people getting food-borne illnesses from pasteurized dairy products. You can read the article here.

A recent study showed that women who consumed high amounts of coffee actually had lower levels of long-term blood pressure. Consuming large amounts of soda, on the other hand, showed a significant increase in long-term blood pressure. So, feel free to indulge in Starbucks. I think the study only studied black coffee, not mocha lattes, so keep that in mind when placing your order. Oh, and you might want to skip the Starbucks and find some nice organic, fair trade coffee. You can read the entire article here.

My husband has a blog where he writes about various things that amuse or annoy him. His most recent blog contains both things that amuse and annoy. There’s a long discussion on medical statistics that continue to deny that injuries are caused by vaccines. While this seems like a serious subject, there is some humor. Take for instance this fictitious exchange between a doctor being paid by the auto industry for consulting:

Patient: “Doctor my fo0t really hurts, because that car ran over it a couple of hours ago. Can you tell me what’s wrong with it?”

Doctor: “According to the X-Rays you have three broken toes and some torn ligaments. But I don’t believe it was the car’s fault. I think you must have hurt it some other way.”

Patient: “But doctor the CAR RAN OVER MY FOOT, and right after that my foot was throbbing in pain.”

Doctor: “Yes, but statistically speaking cars don’t cause f0ot injuries. I am pretty sure your fo0t hurts because someone stepped on it or maybe you stepped on an uneven surface after the car ran over your f0ot.”

Patient: “It’s got to be the car, nobody stepped on my f0ot! A CAR RAN OVER IT!”

Doctor: “There’s just no way that a car running over your fo0t could have caused those broken toes. I have never seen that happen before. I am sure it must have been something else. You probably stepped on your own f0ot without realizing it.”

Patient: “Arghhh!”

To read the entire article, visit his blog.

This was really exciting news to me. The Green Guide, which is an excellent resource for healthy living tips, eco-friendly product advice and green home news is having an open house next week from October 24-October 30. ALL their online content is FREE to browse for any 24-hour stretch during that week. I really recommend checking it out, and if you like what you see, think about subscribing. Visit the Green Guide and check out their open house here.

A recent study shows that you would be better off walking along a freeway, breathing in exhaust fumes than sitting inside your air conditioned car. Bacteria, fungus, fumes from car seats, exhaust fumes– all of these can be found in your car. You can read more about this and what to do about it here.