•    Concentrated milk fats creating “boom in bad bacteria”
•    Too much vitamin D as unhealthy as too little?
•    Patients of CAM-trained GPs live longer and cost less
•    GM’s legacy: the eradication of independent food production?

Concentrated milk fats creating “boom in bad bacteria”

Posted on22 June 2012. Tags: IBS, IND, milk fats – http://www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk/industry-news/concentrated-milk-fats-creating-boom-in-bad-bacteria/

Concentrated milk fats found in confectionery and processed foods could alter gut bacteria and set up the conditions for bowel diseases.

That’s the conclusion of research carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Chicago.
In experiments using mice genetically modified mice to be prone inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), one in three mice developed colitis when fed either low-fat diets or meals high in polyunsaturated fats. This jumped to nearly two in three in those fed a diet high in saturated milk fats, which are in many processed foods.

These saturated fats are hard for the body to digest and it responds by pumping more bile into the gut. This changes the gut environment and leads to a change in the bacteria growing there, the researchers said.

The Chicago team says their research offers the first credible explanation for why the Western diet contributes to the “unusually high incidence in inflammatory bowel disease”.

Too much vitamin D as unhealthy as too little?

Posted on14 June 2012. Tags: Darshana Durup, University of Copenhagen, vitamin D -

http://www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk/industry-news/too-much-vitamin-d-as-unhealthy-as-too-little-%E2%80%93-danish-study/

A large study by Danish researchers has concluded that too much vitamin D may be as unhealthy as too little.
The study, based on blood samples from 247,574 Copenhageners,  is published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

As well as being vital to bone health, a huge body of research now shows that vitamin D is also beneficial in combating heart disease, depression and certain types of cancers – benefits confirmed by the University of Copenhagen study. But the research results also show higher mortality in people with “too high” levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream.

Lead researcher, Darshana Durup, said: “We found higher mortality in people with a low level of vitamin D in their blood, but to our surprise, we also found it in people with a high level of vitamin D. We can draw a graph showing that perhaps it is harmful with too little and too much vitamin D.”

The Danish study, the largest of its kind, showed that where blood contains less than 10 nanomol (nmol) of vitamin D per litre of serum, mortality is 2.31 times higher. But if the blood contains more than 140 nmol of vitamin per liter of serum, mortality is higher by a factor of 1.42. Both values are compared to 50 nmol of vitamin per liter of serum, where the scientists see the lowest mortality.

Patients of CAM-trained GPs live longer and cost less

Posted on 14 June 2012. Tags: CAM, Erik W. Baars man, healthcare, Peter Koore

Research by Dutch scientists suggests that patients of GPs with a CAM training live longer and cost health providers less.

A study carried out by Peter Kooreman and Erik W. Baars reviewed data from a Dutch insurance company giving information on healthcare costs, dates of birth and death of 150,000 insured individuals. In the study, data from 1,913 conventional GPs were compared with data from 79 GPs with additional CAM training, including acupuncture, homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine.

The researchers found that patients of the GPs with CAM training had 0-30% lower healthcare and mortality rates during the period 2006-2009.

Since the researchers took into account possible confounders – including ‘neighbourhood effects’ – they say the lower costs and longer lives are unlikely to be related to differences in socioeconomic status. Instead, they speculate that the “less overtreatment and more focus on preventative health promotion” could be responsible.

Commenting on the findings, Roger Barsby, managing director of Weleda, said: “The Kooreman/Baars research reinforces a number of other studies conducted in recent years, all of which indicate that CAM treatments help patients live longer, healthier lives, costing the country less and tying up fewer medical resources. In times when there is much negative press for complementary and alternative medicine it is a great encouragement to CAM practitioners, retailers and patients to know that research has shown them to be right.

• The Kooreman/Baars study was first published in May 2011 in the European Journal of Health Economics but has now become available at the open source website SpringerOpen.com.

GM’s legacy: the eradication of independent food production?

Posted on02 July 2012. Tags: Biotech, Gaia Foundation, GM, Seeds of FReedom, Zac Goldsmith -

http://www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk/featured/gm%E2%80%99s-legacy-the-eradication-of-independent-food-production/

“At its core the GM industry is about the eradication of independent food production.”
That’s the stark conclusion of Ramon Herrera, one of the activists  featured in a powerful new film co-produced by The Gaia Foundation and The African Biodiversity Foundation.

Seeds of Freedom charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolise the global food system.
Narrated by Jeremy Irons and with contributions from Dr Vandana Shiva, Zac Goldsmith, Gathuru Mburu (African Biodiversity Network) and Caroline Lucas, the film shows how a landmark legal ruling in 1999 – which opened the door for the patenting of natural life-forms – has allowed a small group of powerful corporations to take ownership of the global chemical, seed and food chain.

Seeds of Freedom warns that “at this corporate centre of power lies not just the massive profits of the GM industry but the decision making and agenda setting that will ultimately be the legacy of our global agricultural system.”
In the film the green campaigner and Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith, comments: “The often heard argument that GM is needed to feed the world is one driven by the bottom line. It is nothing to do with feeding the world, it is about controlling food systems.”

Seeds of Freedom closes on a positive note:  Small-scale, agro-ecological farming, though dismissed by agribusiness as backward and inefficient, feeds 70% of the world’s population with healthy, nutritious food whiles using less land, water and valuable resources. Given support it offers real hope for the future.

• Watch Seeds of Freedom on NPTV