Showing posts with label Baking Soda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking Soda. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The War on Soy and Walmart's Great Value Brand

I have recently purchased Walmart's Great Value brand of Baking soda and Sour cream (both are Labeled as All Natural)

Great Value - (All Natural) Sour Cream
Allergy Warning: contains Milk
May contain traces of Hazelnut, Wheat, Soy

Great Value - (All Natural) Baking Soda
Ingredients: SODIUM BICARBONATE
Allergy warning - May contain traces of Milk, Eggs, Walnuts, Peanuts, Wheat and Soy

So where is the Great Value in all this Deceptive Advertising?
~LisaMarie~


The War on Soy: Why the 'Miracle Food' May Be a Health Risk and Environmental Nightmare


Comment: Vegetarians aren't the only ones who should be concerned; there's soy in just about everything you eat these days -- including hamburgers, mac 'n cheese and salad dressing.

Susan J. Marks


By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted November 21, 2009

These days, you can get soy versions of just about any meat -- from hot dogs to buffalo wings. If you're lactose-intolerant you can still enjoy soy ice-cream and soy milk on your cereal. If you're out for a hike and need a quick boost of energy, you can nibble on soy candy bars.Soy is a lucrative industry. According to Soyfoods Association of North America, from 1992 to 2008, sales of soy foods have increased from $300 million to $4 billion. From sales numbers to medical endorsements, it would seem that soy has reached a kind of miracle food status.

In 2000 the American Heart Association gave soy the thumbs up and the FDA proclaimed: "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease." Over the course of the last decade medical professionals have touted its benefits in fighting not just cardiovascular disease, but cancers, osteoporosis and diabetes.

But soy's glory days may be coming to an end. New research is questioning its health benefits and even pointing out some potential risks. Although definitive evidence may be many years down the road, the American Heart Association has quietly withdrawn its support. And some groups are waging an all-out war, warning that soy can lead to certain kinds of cancers, lowered testosterone levels, and early-onset puberty in girls.

Most of the soy eaten today is also genetically modified, which may pose another set of health risks. The environmental implications of soy production, including massive deforestation, increased use of pesticides and threats to water and soil, are providing more fodder for soy's detractors.

All of this has many people wondering if they should even be eating it at all. And you are most likely eating it. Even if you're not a vegetarian or an avid tofu fan, there is a good chance you're still eating soy. Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved, explains that soy is now an ingredient in three-quarters of processed food on the market and just about everything you'd find in a fast food restaurant. It's used as filler in hamburgers, as vegetable oil and an emulsifier. It's in salad dressing, macaroni and cheese, and chicken nuggets."Even if you read every label and avoid cardboard boxes, you are likely to find soy in your supplements and vitamins (look out for vitamin E derived from soy oil), in foods such as canned tuna, soups, sauces, breads, meats (injected under poultry skin), and chocolate, and in pet food and body-care products," wrote Mary Vance for Terrain Magazine. "It hides in tofu dogs under aliases such as textured vegetable protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and lecithin--which is troubling, since the processing required to hydrolyze soy protein into vegetable protein produces excitotoxins such as glutamate (think MSG) and aspartate (a component of aspartame), which cause brain-cell death."

Health Risks or Rewards?

"I grew up in Houston on po' boys and the Wall Street Journal," said Robyn O'Brien. "I trusted our food system." But all that changed when one of her kids developed a food allergy and O'Brien began doing research to find out what's actually in our food and the companies behind it.

Her work led to the book,The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It, and she's become an incredible crusader on multiple fronts when it comes to food. She's also been educating consumers about soy's double-edged sword.

To understand why, it helps to know a little history about soy. It's been cultivated, starting in China, for 3,000 years. While Asian diets have generally included soy it has been in small amounts eaten fermented -- primarily via miso, natto and tempeh. "Fermenting soy creates health-promoting probiotics, the good bacteria our bodies need to maintain digestive and overall wellness," wrote Vance. "By contrast, in the United States, processed soy food snacks or shakes can contain over 20 grams of nonfermented soy protein in one serving."

It's not that all soy is bad; in fact, eating it in small doses can be quite healthy, if it's fermented. But when it's not, that's where the problems begin. Soy is a legume, which contains high amounts of phytic acid. Phytic acid binds to minerals (like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc), interfering with the body's ability to absorb them (which is usually a bad thing). Soy is also known to contain "antinutrients," among them enzyme inhibitors that interfere with protein digestion. The Chinese figured out about 2,000 years ago that antinutrients and phytic acid could be deactivated during fermentation, but in the processed-food laden land of the West, we've chosen cultural ignorance in favor of quick and cheap. Most of the soy we eat is unfermented.

Another issue with soy is its high amounts of isoflavones, which can be good and bad (hence the double-edged sword). Isoflavones are a powerful antioxidant, writes Robyn O'Brien in her book, that can help boost immunity. They also impact estrogen levels and have been shown to have positive effects on easing symptoms of menopause. "But that plus can also be a minus," writes O'Brien, "because isoflavones' very ability to boost estrogen production can also pose hazards to our health. For example, the FDA scientists point out, during pregnancy, isoflavones could boost estrogen levels even higher, 'which could be a risk factor for abnormal brain and reproductive tract development.'" There is also a risk of breast and other reproductive cancers for women and the potential for testicular cancer and infertility in men.

While there was much news about the American Heart Association endorsing soy in 2000, there was little attention given when the AHA changed its mind and quietly withdrew its pro-soy claims in 2006, O'Brien points out. She also learned that they were not the only ones who expressed concerned about soy. A study in the British medical journal Lancet in 1996 warned of the effects of soy in infant formula. The study found babies had levels of isoflavones that were five to 10 times higher than women taking soy supplements for menopause. The effects in girls could be early-onset puberty, obesity, breast and reproductive cancers. Boys could face testicular cancer, undescended testicles and infertility. Additionally, O'Brien says, a 2003 British study conducted by Gideon Lack of St. Mary's Hospital at Imperial College London followed 14,000 children from the womb through age 6 and found that kids who had been given soy formula as infants seemed almost three times as likely to develop a peanut allergy later on.

As if all this weren't disturbing enough, there's also another reason to be alarmed -- most of the soy we eat is genetically modified to withstand increasing doses of weed-killing herbicides, and really, we have no idea what the long-term affects of that might be. So, what's a person to do? Stay away from soy as much as possible, which also means avoiding processed foods. And, even if we choose not to eat those things, some of us may end up getting them anyway. "There are different sales channels that these companies are using to sell soy with little regard for the cost to people down the road," said O'Brien. "Soy that is not used in grocery stores, in restaurants, or consumed by livestock, is disposed of in school lunch programs, hospitals, and prisons."

One organization, the Weston A. Price Foundation, is actually engaged in a lawsuit on behalf of Illinois state prisoners who say they're eating a diet made of largely soy protein. "In their letters, the prisoners have described deliberate indifference to a myriad of serious health problems caused by the large amounts of soy in the diet," the WAP Foundation writes. "Complaints include chronic and painful constipation alternating with debilitating diarrhea, vomiting after eating, sharp pains in the digestive tract after consuming soy, passing out after soy-based meals, heart palpitations, rashes, acne, insomnia, panic attacks, depression and symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as low body temperature (feeling cold all the time), brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, frequent infections and an enlarged thyroid gland."

While the soy industry has profited from the widespread adoption of its products here in the United States, other developed countries have taken a more precautionary approach and not allowed soy to become as pervasive in their food supplies in an effort to protect the health of their citizens, says O'Brien. But it's not just people who are at risk. The deleterious effects of soy can start with the seed.

Goodbye Rainforests, Hello Roundup

Glenn Beck recently chastised Al Gore about his meat eating, telling him that if he really cared about the planet he should put down his burger and pick up some Tofurkey. But unfortunately, it's not that simple. Increasing evidence is showing that soy production is also catastrophic for the environment. Just like a beef burger, a soy-based veggie patty may also be leading to deforestation, water depletion, and pesticide pollution. But it's also important to note that the vast majority of soy produced globally isn't used for tofu and veggie sausage -- it's actually used to fatten livestock and create biofuels (so, yeah, you may still want to put down the burger).

"Soy is a really sexy crop; it's fantastic. It's nitrogen fixing, it's full of protein; it's very rich and flexible," Raj Patel said in an interview with New America Media. "The tragedy is that the way we grow it today has turned a blessing into a curse because the way that soy agriculture works is monocultural, which means it takes over large parts of land. In Brazil, that means the Cerrado and the rainforest in the Amazon, and they are draining the water that is beneath that land. There are even some soy and biofuel plantations in Brazil where the International Labor Organization says there are 40,000 slaves working today. Slaves! In Brazil, producing biofuels and soy."

Brazil is one of the leading soy producers in the world, second only to the U.S. and poised to quickly move to the top spot. And overall, the growth of the world market is huge, with global production doubling over the past 20 years and 210 million tons produced a year.

But it has also led to problems. Countries across Latin America, including Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, are experiencing environmental problems similar to Brazil's. Rainforests are cleared, carbon emissions increase, indigenous and small farmers are displaced, aquifers are sucked dry, roads are built through sensitive ecosystems, and heavy pesticide use threatens waterways, soils and the health of locals. And as with all industrial monocultural farming, the rich (Monsanto, Cargill, and Bunge) get richer and the poor get poorer.

"The soy 'gold rush' has attracted fierce competition for land, leading to violence and murder," Marianne Betterly summarized in Mariri Magazine. "Hundreds of acres of rainforest are being cleared everyday, often by slave 'debt' laborers, to make room for more soy plantations."

So, we may get our cheap burgers and a deluge of soy-infused foods, but at great cost.

Adding to all these environmental problems with soy is the fact that much of the world's soy (and 85 percent of the U.S crop) is genetically engineered. Since the early '90s farmers in the United States (and now across the world) have been using Monsanto's Roundup Ready soy that is genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup, which is liberally sprayed on the crop to kill weeds.

Much of the promise of GE crops was that they'd lead to the use of less pesticides and herbicides, which threaten both human and environmental health. But that hasn't actually panned out. "Because herbicide-tolerant crops are designed to withstand application of weed killers, farmers can apply large amounts of pesticides without fear of harming their crops. The U.S. has seen more than a 15-fold increase in the use of glyphosate, or Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, on major crops from 1994 to 2005," Co-Op America reported.

And more damning evidence has just been released. A new study that just came out this week funded by a coalition of non-governmental organizations including the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Center for Food Safety, the Cornerstone Campaign, Californians for GE-Free Agriculture, Greenpeace International and Rural Advancement Fund International USA, found that GE corn, soybean and cotton crops have increased the use of weed-killing herbicides in the U.S. by 383 million pounds from 1996 to 2008.

The study will surely be accompanied by more alarms bells set off by small farmers, environmentalists and organic supporters. And it will be one more battle in the war against soy that's being fought on both health and environmental fronts. Perhaps it will make people think twice before eating soy products, processed food and even most meat.

http://www.alternet.org/water/144074/the_war_on_soy%3A_why_the_%27miracle_food%27_may_be_a_health_risk_and_environmental_nightmare?page=entire

Thanks to: Randomlight (106049416)

Friday, December 4, 2009

Bicarbonate Treatment for Swine Flu (1924)

Caution/Comment from My Girl (Sarah Jo):
Thanks for the article. My only word of caution is that this information is from 1924. During that time they were also pushing cocaine as a cure all for illnesses. Make sure you read some more updated information about it. Some people have gotten really sick and have serious stomach problems from it. Causing the same problems that taking too many antiacids does.


Using Bicarbonate Against the Swine Flu

Over 150 years ago Dr. Austin Church formed a business to produce and distribute Baking Soda. ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda is derived from a natural occurring mineral called trona. It is 100% pure, safe, and natural. Baking Soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate) is a substance that is found naturally in all living things. Its purpose is to maintain pH balance in the bloodstream, which is necessary to sustain life. Due to its chemical and physical properties, sodium bicarbonate has unique medicinal capabilities that every healthcare practitioner, doctor and patient needs to know about.

The only problem is that Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
can replace many more expensive medicines and this
does not make the medical industrial complex happy.

In today’s modern world of medicine the FDA just will not let companies that sell products make medical claims about them unless they have been tested at great expense and approved as a drug. But this was not always the case and as we can see in the information in this chapter, which is from a 1924 booklet,[1] published by the Arm & Hammer Soda Company. On page 12 the company starts off saying, “The proven value of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda as a therapeutic agent is further evinced by the following evidence of a prominent physician named Dr. Volney S. Cheney, in a letter to the Church & Dwight Company:

“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks. I have since that time treated all cases of ‘Cold,’ Influenza and LaGripe by first giving generous doses of Bicarbonate of Soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated. Further, within my own household, before Woman’s Clubs and Parent-Teachers’ Associations, I have advocated the use of Bicarbonate of Soda as a preventive for “Colds,” with the result that now many reports are coming in stating that those who took “Soda” were not affected, while nearly every one around them had the “Flu.”

Recommended dosages from the Arm and Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:

During the first day take six doses of half teaspoonful of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at about two hour intervals.

During the second day take four doses of half teaspoonful of Arm and Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals.

During the third day take two doses of half teaspoonful of Arm and Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter half teaspoonful in glass of cool water each morning until cold is cured.

“Well the sodium bicarbonate cure for colds and sore throats.
A friend called as I was reading about it, I told her to try it.
She is rapt! Relief in a few hours, and she went to work the
following day! And she was miserable and could hardly talk,[2]
had just woken with it full on, and was planning on missing work.”

In order to secure the best results with Arm & Hammer Pure Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) when taken internally, certain simple rules must be observed. Materia Medica, pharmacology and Therapeutics (Bastedo, Page 88) clearly outlines these rules to follows:

“The effect of an alkali in the stomach will vary according to the nature of the stomach contents at the time of administration. In the resting period (after food is digested) sodium bicarbonate merely dissolves mucus and is absorbed as bicarbonate into the blood, to increase its alkalinity directly.

“In the digestive period it reduces the secretion of gastric juice, neutralizes a portion of the hydrochloric acid, liberates the carminative carbon dioxide gas, and is absorbed as sodium chloride.

“In cases of fermentation or ‘sour stomach’ it may neutralize the organic acids and so result in the opening of a spasmodically closed pylorus (the opening between the stomach and the small intestine); while at the same time it acts to overcome flatulency (accumulation of gas in the stomach and bowels).

“The time of administration must, therefore, be chosen with a definite purpose. Usually for hyperchlohydria (excess of acid) one hour or two hours after meals will be the period of harmful excess of acid.

“In continuous hyperacidity and in fermentative conditions a dose an hour before meals will tend to prepare the stomach for the next meal; or sometimes a dose will be necessary immediately after eating, because of abnormal acid or base having been present at the commencement of the meal. (For the average person one-half hour after meals is recommended).

“A dose at bedtime tends to check the early morning acidity, or a dose on arising cleans the stomach of acid and mucus before breakfast.”

Whenever taking a bicarbonate solution internally the soda should be dissolved on cold water.

This is all very valuable information coming from the horses own mouth, the Arm and Hammer Baking Soda Company, which sells aluminum free baking soda. Clearly they knew what they had in their hands one hundred years ago; and its long use in medicine sustains the companies published medical views:

“Besides doing good in respiratory affections, bicarbonate of soda is of inestimable value in the treatment of Alimentary Intoxication, Pyelitis (inflammation of the pelvis of the kidney), Hyper-Acidity of Urine, Uric Acid disturbances, Rheumatism and Burns. An occasional three-day course of Bicarbonate of Soda increases the alkalinity of the blood, assists elimination and increases the resisting power of the body to all Infectious Diseases.”

Magnesium chloride is the only form of magnesium that has been reported to increase immune system strength though all forms of magnesium need to be counted in this regard. When one adds magnesium chloride to ones baths, puts it on the skin like suntan screen, or takes it orally with sodium bicarbonate one supercharges their defensive perimeter or what is called the anti-pathogen factor in Chinese Medicine. Add Iodine, Selenium, Vitamin C and some healthy sun exposure or Vitamin D and we have the heart of army we need to array against viral invaders. Magnesium Bicarbonate – Ultimate Mitochondrial Cocktail is the name of one of my chapters that explains why both these essential mineral ions need to be present in sufficient concentrations.

Testimonials:
My father was a veterinarian and as far back as I can remember (I was born in 1938 so my memory goes back to maybe 1943) he would take sodium bicarbonate dissolved in a full glass of warm water whenever he felt a cold coming on. I don’t remember him ever coming down with a full blown cold. He would treat my cold symptoms likewise and I responded equally as well. He also treated farm animals for various illnesses with sodium bicarbonate via a gastric tube and they recovered quickly. So I’ve known about the benefits of sodium bicarbonate from early childhood on. Glad to see that its benefits are being more widely touted. Although my father was a doctor of Veterinarian medicine, he sometimes referred to himself as an MD (Mule Doctor).

Dr. David B Winter, DO

Dear Dr. Sircus,

Several weeks ago, I purchased your eBook about Sodium Bicarbonate. IT CHANGED MY LIFE. I believe that God is working through you and your staff to spread the word about the body’s natural ability to heal, given the right elements. Thank you!!!

I’ve been reading your newsletter for some time now, and happened to see your eBook about baking soda. We don’t have a lot of money, but I felt that your research might help me. Sure enough I can tell you that within the week following reading your book - and practicing what you preach – I have been practically hive/urticaria free.

I started with straight baking soda and water. Yuck! I could hardly make myself do it. But I was going for the PH balance you talked about. I read more about the different oral combinations and decided to try the Maple Syrup and Baking Soda. 3:1, it worked great and tasted great too. I couldn’t believe I could eat that much sugar!

Right now I’m smiling and feeling great. My mood is good, my energy is way up and most important the swellings and itching are gone. My hair is growing back thicker. My skin looks great. I’m not tired all the time. I can’t believe the difference in my health. Praise God for his goodness in inspiring your work.

I’ve recently added Nascent Iodine after reading some tips of yours. I was indeed deficient and that seems to be adding to the overall good effects. My children are benefiting from this research as well. I’m so happy to find alternatives to mainstream medicine.

Lane Carter,
Delaware, United States

Dear Dr. Sircus,

I have had Morgellons for over 6 years – very nasty – and I know you are aware of our plight. I am now ready to start your transdermal magnesium therapy treatments but first I have to tell you something.

I would like you to know that bicarbonate baths really help me. But, and this is a big BUT, I use it with about 3 Lb’s of sea salt per bath and when I did 5 Lb’s of bicarbonate – I put myself into an alkaline state. The high salt content somehow opened up my skin to take in the bicarbonate – it came out of my skin for a few weeks!

Thank you,
Carola Dunham

The addition of a cup of baking soda to a hot bath after a long exhausting day alleviates tension and muscle aches. It exfoliates the skin to remove dead dry skin leaving fresh bright youthful skin behind without the high cost of the commercial skin exfoliates. The addition of baking soda to foot baths help with tired, achy feet when working in jobs such as waitressing or other heavy-walking type jobs. Combining the baking soda with magnesium chloride brings dramatic changes to human physiology and the only thing making this formula even better would be the addition of some sodium thiosulfate for a full hot springs therapeutic treatment.

When salt and baking soda are combined in the
bath, the combination may reduce the negative
effects of minor exposure to the radiation from X-rays.

Sodium bicarbonate, the monosodium salt of carbonic acid, is used as a gastric and systemic antacid and to alkalize urine; also used, in solution, for washing the nose, mouth, and vagina, as a cleansing enema, and as a dressing for minor burns.

http://sodiumbicarbonate.imva.info/index.php/administration-methods/arm-hammer-soda-company/#arrive