New research reveals an astonishingly high rate of vitamin D deficiency across U.S. children and teens. It’s all part of Big Medicine’s big plan, of course — keep the people nutritionally ignorant (and keep ‘em coming back for more medicine).

Read all about it in this  Natural News feature article:

http://www.naturalnews.com/026770_Vitamin_D_health_health_care.html

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

It Could Be that You Just Need to Energize Your Diet

Our eating habits play a powerful role in how well we function on every level.

Fatigue-Fighting Nutrition Strategies

Your Mother Was Right — Eat Your breakfast… even if you don’t feel hungry. British researchers at Cardiff University even found that eating a bowl of breakfast cereal every morning is associated with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. That is the nasty hormone that causes the belly fat that has been related to heart attacks and some types of stoke.
Studies show that people who eat breakfast feel better both mentally and physically than those who skip their morning meal. BTW, a Danish at the office does not qualify as a morning meal. I’m pretty sure an Egg McMuffin isn’t the answer either.

Eat every three to four hours. My husband calls this eating style “grazing”. He is a natural-born grazer and at 50, can still wear his high-school fencing uniform. Roberta Anding, R.D., American Dietetic Association (ADA) reported that having three smallish meals and two snacks throughout the day can keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable all day long, “Smallish, not Supersized. Big meals demand more of your energy to digest, which can leave you feeling lethargic. At each mini-meal, get a mix of carbohydrates (which the body uses for energy), protein (which helps sustain energy if needed), and healthy fats like those found in fish, nuts, and olives — these fats and protein contribute to meal satisfaction, so you don’t go hunting for sweets an hour later and wind up with a short-lived sugar high and subsequent crash.  I found the South Beach, low glycemic approach to eating easy to follow. But like exercise you have to follow the muse that moves you.

Fill up on more fiber. Fiber has a time-releasing effect on carbs, so they enter your bloodstream at a slow and steady pace, giving your energy staying power. When choosing your mini-meals, include fiber-filled options that add up to the daily recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber (the average person gets only between 10 and 15 grams). Some suggestions: a bowl of raisin bran (5 grams of fiber per cup); black beans and cheese wrapped in a multigrain tortilla (beans have 7.5 grams per 1/2 cup; one tortilla has 5 grams); air-popped popcorn (3.6 grams per 3 cups); and an apple with the skin (3.3 grams

Fuel your brain with omega-3s. Found in fatty fish (such as tuna and salmon), walnuts, and canola oil, these essential fatty acids play a role in keeping brain cells healthy and helping you feel mentally alert. Another potential bonus: Omega-3s encourage the body to store carbs as glycogen — the storage form of glucose (blood sugar) and the body’s main source of stored fuel — rather than as fat.

Stay hydrated. Studies show that most American women are running on empty. We are dehydrated and that is not a good thing. Water makes up the majority of your blood and other body fluids, and even mild dehydration can cause blood to thicken, forcing the heart to pump harder to carry blood to your cells and organs and resulting in fatigue. Also, ample fluids keep energy-fueling nutrients flowing throughout the body, says Nancy Clark, R.D., author of Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook. To gauge your hydration, Clark recommends monitoring how often you urinate. You should be going every two to four hours, and your urine should be clear or pale yellow in color. Tip: Besides drinking more, you can also consume foods that naturally contain water, such as yogurt, broccoli, carrots, and juicy fruits, like watermelons, oranges, and grapefruits.
As long as we are talking about liquid intake, think twice before drinking caffeinated drinks after noon. Typically, consuming a moderate amount of caffeine — 200 to 300 mg, the amount found in two to three cups of coffee — can make you more energetic and alert in the hours following, says Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. But when caffeine is consumed in large quantities — or anytime in the afternoon or evening — the quality of your sleep that night can take a nosedive, leaving you with heavy eyelids the next day. One caution for those who are highly sensitive to caffeine: Although switching to a decaf latte in the afternoon sounds like the answer, researchers at the University of Florida found that out of 22 decaffeinated coffee beverages tested, all but one contained some caffeine.

The AMA says is not clear how dietary changes affect PMS. Some studies show that drinking tea and increasing carbohydrates during the weeks preceding menstruation is helpful. Carbohydrates increase the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin (the low level of serotonin has been linked to PMS-related depression). Some nutritionists recommend vitamins, especially vitamin B6. Chinese medicine recommends reducing or eliminating alcohol, caffeine, refined sugar, chocolate salt, dairy products, and some animal fats.  It’s your body and the best study is one you conduct your self. Chart your periods, make incremental changes in your diet and see if you get relief from your symptoms. Eating well and carefully can’t hurt and most likely will help.  Personally, I’d rather support my local Farmers’ Market that BIG PHARMA’s income statement.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

Before Swallowing a “BIG-Pharma Cure”

I have been researching the endocrine system and its integral role in a woman’s health. Our endocrine system is composed of a network of organs and glands responsible for producing, storing, and secreting hormones that help to maintain and control vital functions such as growth, reproduction, and energy levels. There are several endocrine system diseases that result from disruptions in this complex system. In women, many of these diseases go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed during the ‘infamous HMO 6-minute diagnosis’ of unspecified female issues. Women are told they probably are suffering PMS or worse, PMDD and issued a prescription for SARAFEM® (PROZAC’s new girly name) told to set her next appointment and the office visit done.

Recently a health advocacy study reported that if a man and a woman presented with the same symptoms, HMO doctors were twice as likely to order a blood panel for the male as for the female. Currently, are active legal actions concerning HMO’s who gave bonuses to doctors who held down costs by cutting the number of diagnostic tests. Patients were denied simple blood panels that would quickly indicate common endocrine system “malfunctions” that can lead to thyroid disorders, diabetes, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) — one of the more common endocrine system diseases, affecting between 7% to 10% of women aged 15 to 45. PCOS is a condition associated with symptoms of infrequent or irregular menstruation, male hormone excess symptoms like hirsutism (increased and unwanted hair growth) and acne. Patients with PCOS can also have multiple egg-containing cysts on the ovaries. They are higher risk for metabolic complications like diabetes and hypertension.

So aside from grooming our readers to be VERY INCONVENIENT WOMEN, and INSISTING on a complete blood work-up before accepting a prescription, what other advice can we give you?

Be proactive about your own health.

If you get a PMS-type diagnosis, skip the “Don’t-Worry-Be-Happy-Pills. Relieving your symptoms can be as straight forward as adding exercise, improving your diet, and developing better sleep habits.

In our next Inconvenient Woman Blog, We’ll look at how adding just a little more exercise to your weekly routine can net big health advantages.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

There Is An Alternative Way.

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental,

food and lifestyle factors.

5.. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,

gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumour size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not

result in more tumour destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence

the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

What Cancer Cells Feed On:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to no urish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try

and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties.Water-

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic build-up.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2008

Media Inquiries:

Stephanie Kwisnek, 301-827-0955

Consumer Inquiries:

888-INFO-FDA

FDA Reports Significant Progress in Protecting the Food Supply

The One-Year Summary of Progress under the Food Protection Plan describes FDA’s efforts to build safety in the U.S. and global food systems

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today released a report on its implementation of the Food Protection Plan that was launched a year ago to protect both domestic and imported food from accidental and intentional contamination. The Plan, which outlines strategies for prevention, intervention and response, is designed to address food safety and food defense for both domestic and imported products and covers the full lifecycle of food, by encouraging the building of safety into every step of the food supply chain.

“Science and 21st century technologies help drive the FDA’s efforts to transform our food safety efforts from the Food Protection Plan into a reality,” said Commissioner of Food and Drugs Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D. “Every day, the FDA is working with foreign countries, state and local governments, regulated industry and consumer groups to ensure the safety of the food supply. We also continue to work with members of Congress to achieve new authorities requested in the Food Protection Plan.”

Listed below are the highlights of the agency’s accomplishments in implementing the Food Protection Plan’s three core strategies: The prevention of outbreaks of food-borne disease, and intervention and response if they occur:

PREVENTION

• The FDA is establishing offices in five regions that export food and other FDA-regulated products to the United States: China, India, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. The FDA has already hired staff for its offices in China and India.
• The FDA was part of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) delegation to China to address food safety issues in both countries and to share ideas to address global food safety. U.S. and Chinese government officials discussed recent outbreak of foodborne illness in the United States related to fresh produce as well as the melamine contamination of dairy products in China.
• The FDA released the CARVER self-assessment tool for industry, to minimize the risk of intentional contamination of food, and conducted training seminars for industry on how to use the tool.
• The FDA held a meeting of with more than 200 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial partners to address the challenges of protecting the nation’s food supply.
• The FDA is hiring an International Notification Coordinator to manage enhanced information exchanges between the agency and foreign counterpart regulatory authorities.
• The FDA approved the use of irradiation of iceberg lettuce and spinach for the control of pathogens, such as Escherichia. coli, in or on those foods.
• The FDA developed methods to detect melamine and cyanuric acid in feed and feed ingredients.
• The FDA is using genetic analysis to identify hundreds of Salmonella strains from seafood imports. The analysis provides information to trace outbreaks of Salmonella outbreaks and implement surveillance programs to ensure food safety.

INTERVENTION

• The FDA completed inspections of 5,930 high-risk domestic food establishments during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008.
• The FDA piloted the program for inspection and sampling of high-risk companies in Denver and Minneapolis during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
• A targeted, risk-based inspection of a canning facility in 2008 identified cans with viable Clostridium botulinum spores and a recall was initiated. The FDA initiated this inspection, along with inspections of other Low Acid Canned Food (LACF) manufacturers, following four cases of botulism in consumers in 2007. The FDA increased inspection efforts to ensure that manufacturers of all types of LACF products are adhering to applicable FDA requirements. These actions illustrate the need for companies to operate under adequate preventive control systems.
• The FDA issued “Draft Guidance for Industry on Voluntary Third-Party Certification Programs for Food and Feed.” Docket FDA-2008-D-0381 is available for viewing at www.regulations.gov.
• The FDA has developed a rapid detection method that uses flow cytometry to identify E. coli and Salmonella in food, now in use in poultry-processing facilities to detect and prevent bacterial contamination during food processing.
• The FDA is expanding its database of adverse drug events to include adverse feed events, which will allow the agency to respond faster to outbreaks of feedborne disease in animals, contamination episodes, and/or product defects.
• The FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection jointly issued a final rule on Prior Notice of Imported Food Shipments, and an accompanying Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) on Oct. 31, 2008; the rule and CPG were published in the Federal Register on Nov. 7, 2008.

RESPONSE

• The FDA is working with industry and the public to identify best practices for tracing fresh produce throughout the supply chain.
• The FDA has enhanced the agency’s ability to coordinate a comprehensive response to foodborne illness events by authoring tools used to track emergency response resources and other locations of interest.
• The FDA hired two emergency /complaint-response coordinators to improve its response to emergencies that involve animal feed, including pet food.
• Following the detection of melamine in infant formula and milk products from China, the FDA worked with its state and local counterparts to rapidly canvas over 2,100 vendors of Asian products to remove any Chinese infant formula from the market and to sample milk-derived Chinese products to check for melamine contamination. The FDA also provided regular updates on its Web site, advising consumers which products to avoid because of melamine contamination.
• The FDA held regular briefing calls for consumer organizations during the outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul in the summer of 2008, and regularly updated a Web page that provided information on the investigation into the outbreak, and advised consumers how they could protect themselves and their families.
• The FDA has signed cooperative agreements with six U.S. states to form a Rapid Response Team to develop, implement, exercise, and integrate an all-hazards response capability for food and foodborne illness responses, to react more rapidly react to potential threats to our food supply.
• After reports from China of melamine-contaminated infant formula, the FDA worked with its state and local counterparts to quickly canvas over 2,100 Asian markets to remove any infant formula from China that might be available and to sample milk-derived products to check for melamine contamination.

The entire One-Year Summary of Progress under the Food Protection Plan is posted at www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/food/progressreport1108.html, and the Food Protection Plan is available at www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/food/plan.html.

The Food Protection Plan complements the Action Plan on Import Safety the President’s Working Group On Import Safety unveiled one year ago to improve the safety of all imported products. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt heads The Working Group. For additional information on the FDA’s activities under the Action Plan for Import Safety, please visit: www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/imports/activities.html.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

We’ve done it to ourselves. As a nation we’re over-medicated and undernourished. We’re overly obsessed with how we look and undervalue how we feel. We put an overemphasis on getting an immediate remedy, while we ignore the underlying problem that got us there in the first place.”

— Dr. Mark Stengler: Naturopathic doctor

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

A friend sent me this image yesterday, with the message, “From her cute lips to God’s ear.”

I smiled and sent the e-mail on to my writing partner, Leslie. But last night, as I fell asleep, I thought about the e-mail’s real message.

I asked myself, “Why do we keep looking for “Cures” in our various “wars against (name of disease here)?”

Of course we want to heal and save our moms, grandmothers, sisters and daughters from Breast Cancer, but what are we doing as a society to PREVENT Breast Cancer in the first place?

I realize that we have learned much of what to avoid, and what to embrace to remain Cancer free from the all of the past and current Cancer research. I am grateful for that research and to those who contributed ‘time, talent and treasure’ to vanquish a disease that has taken so many of our beloveds.

Maybe I’m just ready to think about the issue differently…ready to switch the problem around 180 and look at the situation as an opportunity for change. What if we women were able to refocus our intention from being ‘at war’ with a deadly enemy, to being ‘in harmony’ with our body and our planet?

Just maybe, by living in peaceful accord with our feminine cycle, and all the other natural cycles of Mother Earth, our bodies would find the balance to heal. Perhaps living in synchronicity with nature would prevent illness? I don’t know, but living in alignment with your natural cycle can’t hurt, and being at war with Mother Nature has proven to be a failed strategy.

I vote for a peaceful, gentle approach to appreciating the wonder of the female cycle and just maybe we could reach that state of balance before our little lady “Grows Boobs”.

Think of just one thing you can do for your self to live within your feminine cycle.

Just one, it is a start.

Live gently on this earth and treat your body with love and understanding.

Be as kind to your self as you are to others.

Love yourself and appreciate the miracle of your body, mind and spirit. Laugh, feel your inner joy, if only for a moment, it is a start.

I would love to credit the creative team who developed this thought-provoking image, but the e-mail did not include a credit line. If some one knows, please let me know so I can thank them for their creativity in my Blog.

My best hope for the little girl in the photo that she grows up with healthy boobs, a vibrantly healthy body and the spirit to be an Inconvenient Woman.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

Researchers Find Mental Tasks Cause People to Eat More

As a so-called knowledge worker, who spends more time on my computer then on my mattress, I found the following article by Lee Dye, published on ABC News, Online, September 10, 2008, fascinating and frightening. The majority of women hold “Think-Work” positions. If focus and concentration stimulates our appetites as indicated in the sited study, we are going to have to find a new strategy for “desk-bound” wellness.

Angelo Tremblay noticed something odd every time he worked up a grant application for his research program in a Quebec university. He had a craving for chocolate chip cookies.

Now, thanks to research in his lab at the Universite Laval, he has a better understanding of why. It turns out that performing mental tasks, like trying to solve problems while working at a computer, stimulates the appetite so much that people tend to eat significantly more calories than they burned while performing the “knowledge-based” tasks.

In a study published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers found a physiological basis for the spike in appetite. Mental work “destabilizes” the levels of insulin and glucose, two critical components in the body’s regulatory and energy machinery, thus stimulating the appetite, said Jean-Philippe Chaput, lead author of the study.

“The brain uses only glucose for energy,” unlike the “muscles, which use fat and glucose,” Chaput said in a telephone interview. So when the level of glucose, or sugar, becomes unstable, the brain demands more.

According to the research, participants consumed far more calories after performing mental tasks than they consumed after relaxing for the same period of time.

The study is quite small, involving only 14 women, so the results are only tentative, but Chaput said he and his fellow researchers have already embarked on a larger study involving 50 men and 50 women. Only women were used in the pilot study because it has been well established that men and women react differently to stress, and the researchers did not want to cloud the results.

At this point, however, the study indicates that a rapidly changing lifestyle toward “knowledge-based work,” like time spent at the computer or trying to solve mental challenges, may be a significant factor in the current obesity epidemic, Chaput said.

“There are a lot of people doing this kind of work now, compared to physical work in the past, so we postulate that it can explain in part” why so many people in so many countries are getting fat, he said.

As the researchers put it in their paper, “knowledge-based work represents the main working modality in a context of modernity.” In other words, many are spending fewer calories, but taking more in, because of changes in the work environment.

That’s true not only in the world of employment, but in the world of entertainment as well. Many people are spending more time playing computer games, some of which can be intellectually challenging, than playing tennis, for example.

The researchers are members of the university’s department of medicine, and they specialize in kinesiology, the mechanics and anatomy of human movement. The 14 women in the study were all students, ranging in age from 20 to 30 years. All were in good health, with no eating disorders, normal weight, and free of food allergies.

During a two-month period they were each required to participate in three 45-minute exercises consisting of relaxing in a chair, reading a document and writing a summary of 350 words, and “a cognitive task consisting of a comprehensive battery of computerized tests.”

Each participant was tested separately from the others.

Each “came into the lab at 8 a.m., and we gave each participant a standardized breakfast,” Chaput said. “After that we started the exercise at 10:30 a.m., one participant at a time, and they came every two weeks. At about 11:30 a.m. we gave them a buffet type of meal, comprising a lot of food.”

The food in the buffet was weighed and analyzed before and after the lunch, so researchers knew precisely how much and which type of food each participant had eaten. Various tests during each exercise also told the researchers precisely how many calories the participants were burning at the time.

The participants burned only about three calories more during each of the two “knowledge-based” experiments than during the 45 minutes when they rested in a comfortable chair. So the caloric expenditures were relatively quite low for mental tasks compared to the period spent relaxing.

But the intake was significantly higher. Participants consumed 203 more calories after the reading experiment, and 253 more calories after the computer tests, than the resting participants. That’s an increase of 23.6 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively.

Measurements of glucose and insulin became quite erratic during the mental tests. Glucose soared almost immediately when the participants were reading and then dropped dramatically. It dropped and remained below normal during the computerized tests. Insulin rose slightly during the reading test, and then dropped, and it dropped steadily during the computer tests.

That erratic performance by both glucose and insulin caused the appetite to rise, apparently in response to a need to restore the energy balance, the researchers conclude. The results probably would have been different if men had been included in the study, as they will be in future research. That’s because mental challenges provoke stress, and it “is expected to be higher in females than in males,” according to Chaput. That is also reflected in many other studies. He said women also tend to eat more following stress than men do, although “we don’t know why yet.”

Although the first study was limited to college-aged participants, Chaput said other research in his lab suggests that the same findings will apply to children as well as to older adults.

But if mental challenges cause people to eat more food, why aren’t nearly all college professors fat?

Simple, Chaput said. Eating is only part of the weight control “package,” he added. It’s possible to spend a lot of time working out problems at the computer if that is balanced with a reasonable amount of time working out, literally.

Some college professors, of course, are fat. Maybe the skinny ones use their computers on the treadmill.

Lee Dye is a former science writer for the Los Angeles Times. He now lives in Juneau, Alaska.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

Cook with Indian spices. These aromatic seasonings do more than add flavor and clear your sinuses: Hundreds of studies suggest curcumin— the ingredient in turmeric that turns curries yellow—can kill cancer cells by inhibiting the enzymes that cause inflammation in the body. For an easy way to use turmeric, click here.

Drink plenty of green tea. An antioxidant found in green tea shields cells from premature aging and greatly decreases the advancement of breast cancer in mice. Worried about getting too much caffeine from the recommended 5 cups? Click here for a DIY decaf tip.

Eat more Mexican food. Scientists find that following a traditional Mexican diet (which is rich in beans, soups, cheeses, and tomato-based sauces—and low in processed foods) may help shield you from breast cancer. Click here for the recipe for a healthy black bean dip.

Avoid bad fats. Women with higher levels of trans-fatty acids in their systems have almost twice the risk of getting breast cancer. Common trans fat-filled foods include processed cakes, cookies, chips, and fast food. But can you trust brands that advertise “0 grams of trans fat”? Click here to find out.

Curious about your natural treatment options? Adding complementary therapies to your breast cancer treatment plan can both improve your prognosis and help you feel better. When it comes to breast cancer, conventional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation may be unavoidable, but the holistic strategies listed here offer healing benefits.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

On this page:

• Genetic Engineering
• Benefits of GE Animals
• GE Animals Regulated Under New Animal Drug Provisions

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is inviting the public to comment on draft guidance that discusses FDA’s approach to regulating genetically engineered (GE) animals.

Although the guidance, released Sept. 18, 2008, is aimed at industry, FDA believes it may also help the public gain a better understanding of this important and developing area. The guidance explains the process by which FDA is regulating GE animals.

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering is a process in which scientists use recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology to introduce desirable traits into an organism. DNA is the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms. Scientists use rDNA techniques to manipulate DNA molecules.

Genetic engineering involves producing and introducing a piece of DNA (the rDNA construct) into an organism so new or changed traits can be given to that organism. The rDNA construct can either come from another existing organism, or be synthesized in a laboratory. Although conventional breeding methods have been used for a long time to select for desirable traits in animals, genetic engineering is a much more targeted and powerful method of actually introducing specific desirable traits into animals.

Genetic engineering is not a new technology. It has been widely used in agriculture, for example, to make crops like corn and soy resistant to pests or tolerant to herbicides. In medicine, genetic engineering is used to develop microbes that can produce pharmaceuticals. And in food, genetic engineering is used to produce enzymes that aid in baking, brewing, and cheese making.

back to top

Benefits of GE Animals

GE animals hold great promise for human and animal health, the environment, and agriculture.

• Health protection of animals – Animals are under development to be more resistant to very painful and harmful diseases, such as infection of the udder (mastitis) in dairy cows and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (widely referred to as “mad cow” disease) in all cattle.
• New source of medicines – Animals can be engineered to produce particular substances, such as human antibodies, to make infection-fighting drugs for people. These “biopharm” animals can change the way we treat chronic diseases, such as bleeding disorders, by providing large quantities of safe, health-restoring proteins that previously were available only from human cadavers.
• Transplantation – Pigs are being engineered so that their cells, tissues, or organs could be transplanted into humans with a reduced risk of immune rejection.
• Less environmental impact – Food animals are being engineered to grow more quickly, require less feed, or leave behind less environmentally damaging waste.
• Healthier food – Food animals, such as pigs, are under development to contain increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids, providing a more healthful product. Livestock can also be engineered to provide leaner meat or more milk.

back to top

GE Animals Regulated Under New Animal Drug Provisions

FDA regulates GE animals under the new animal drug provisions of the law, and the agency must approve them before they are allowed on the market. Food and animal feed from GE animals will undergo FDA review before the food or feed can be marketed. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines a drug as “an article (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals.” Therefore, the rDNA construct intended to change the structure or function of the body of the GE animal is a drug.

FDA may exercise “enforcement discretion” over some GE animals, based on their potential risk and on a case-by-case basis. This means that the agency may not require premarket approval for a low-risk animal. For example, the agency is not requiring premarket approval for GE lab animals used for research, and did not require approval of a GE aquarium fish that glows in the dark. FDA does not expect to exercise enforcement discretion for animal species traditionally consumed as food.

This guidance will help industry comply with FDA’s requirements and will help the public understand FDA’s oversight of GE animals and food from such animals.

This article appears on FDA’s Consumer Health Information Web page (www.fda.gov/consumer), which features the latest updates on FDA-regulated products. Sign up for free e-mail subscriptions at www.fda.gov/consumer/consumerenews.html.

back to top

For More Information

FDA welcomes comments on its 25-page draft guidance document at www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments or www.regulations.gov. Once on this Internet site, select Docket No. FDA-2008-D-0394 and follow the directions. All written comments should be identified with Docket No. FDA-2008-D-0394. The comment period runs for 60 days and closes Nov. 18, 2008.

FDA has developed a number of publications to help inform consumers about the technology of GE animals and the agency’s regulation of these animals. Please visit www.fda.gov/cvm/GEAnimals.htm.

back to top

Date Posted: September 18, 2008Science

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.