LOTW - Arsenic in Chicken

Here is the link of the week: FDA Finally Admits Chicken Meat Contains Cancer-Causing Arsenic

 

Highlights of the article:

 

Arsenic has been added to chicken feed for the last sixty years and the poultry industry and FDA have said it does not end up in the meat.

 

The FDA is claiming that the levels of arsenic are too low to cause any harm, even though the chicken feed (manufactured by a subsidiary of Pfizer, of course) has now been pulled off the market in the United States. 

 

The poultry industry and FDA have known for years that chicken feces contains this arsenic.  That feces (chicken litter) is fed to cows that are factory raised, which of course contaminates the beef as well.

 

If you thought you needed yet another reason to avoid the meat sold in your supermarket, you now have it.  Buy locally-raised, pastured meat!

I Love Bacteria

As someone living with Crohn's Disease, I am obsessed with bacteria (good and bad) and the role it plays in overall health.  While professionals in the world of alternative medicine have been screaming about this topic for decades, it seems that Western medicine is finally catching on.

An amazing article on the topic came out last month in The New York Times.  Written by Michael Pollan (author of some amazing books on food), the article titled "Some of My Best Friends Are Germs" talks about everything I've been trying to tell people ever since my diagnosis in 2006.  If you haven't read it yet, grab a glass of kombucha and settle in, because it's long, but extremely informative.

Basically, what Michael Pollan is trying to say is that our Western diets and medical model are horrible for the good bacteria in our body.  Antibiotic use, antibacterial obsessions, and processed foods DO have a negative impact on our bodies beyond antibiotic resistance and obesity. 

So, start eating those fermented prebiotic foods, stop worrying about cleaning your house, breastfeed those babies as long as you can, make sure you aren't accidentally eating antibiotics in your meat and dairy, and embrace the bacteria around you.  Life is dirty and sometimes that dirt is beautiful!

Links of the Week

Here are some health-related links that I came across this week:

Another McNeil Product Recall from July 8, 2010 for Benadryl, Tylenol, and Motrin.  This is the third recall from this company for various reasons since January of this year.  We will no longer be buying these brands in our house.

Why You Don't Want to Buy Organic Eggs at the Grocery Store – Part 1 by Dr. Joseph Mercola - June 9, 2010

Why You Don't Want to Buy Organic Eggs at the Grocery Store - Part 2 by Dr. Joseph Mercola - June 10, 2010

More doctors coming out against the 2010 Dietary Guidelines - June 28, 2010

Links of the Week

I have a habit of saving interesting links I find in my favorites with the intention of sharing the information here at some point, but what ends up happening is that the links begin to pile up and then I do a mass delete before I get the chance to use them.

What I'd like to start doing is sharing any interesting health-related links that I come across once a week here for you guys.  These are from the last several months, so forgive me if you've already read a lot of these.

PARENTS OF SMALL CHILDREN - PLEASE READ THIS ONE: Lead Found in Children’s Foods and Baby Foods from the Environmental Law Foundation - June 10, 2010 and the list of tainted and safe products.

Food Cravings: What They Really Mean from Naturopathyworks

The Toxic Truth Of Sunscreen (check out the photo slide show) from the Huffington Post - May 27, 2010

What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke from the Nutrition Research Center