MedicalConspiracies- shocked at how many people don't investigate what's ,really in the products they swallow

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	[Advanced_Meditation] Health
Date:	Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:59:12 -0700 (PDT)
From:	magus_igni <magus_igni@ymail.com>

Greetings    Came across this in another group .Thought it interesting to post here       by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger  Editor of NaturalNews.com    (NaturalNews) I'm absolutely shocked at how many people don't investigate what's   really in the products they swallow.  When something is sold as an herb, vitamin, superfood or supplement, they think it's automatically safe.    And while the natural products industry has a truly remarkable safety   record -- especially in contrast to the massive number of deaths caused by pharmaceuticals -- it still suffers from a lot of hidden toxins that are routinely used throughout the industry.      I know this because I've   been an investigative journalist and activist in the natural health   industry for over a decade.  Natural News is arguably the most-read   natural health news website in the world, reaching millions of readers a month.  I've walked the floors of countless trade shows, conducted   hundreds of interviews and spent tens of thousands of dollars on   laboratory tests to determine what's in these products.  On top of that, I'm deep into organic product formulations and certified organic food   production, serving as the supervisor of a USDA-certified organic food   production and packing facility.      When I look around the   natural products industry, I see examples of super honest,   high-integrity companies like Nature's Path and Dr. Bronner's.  I also   see an alarming number of cheats, crooks and charlatans who are only   involved in the industry to profit from the explosion of interest in   health supplements.  In truth, some nutritional products are downright   dangerous to your health.  My role as a journalist and activist is to help you tell the difference between products that are GOOD for you vs. products that might actually be toxic.  Because ultimately, I want you to be healthy, vibrant, intelligent and active. I want you to enjoy life and improve the quality of your life.      Be prepared to be shocked in reading what follows.  After reviewing this list, you will probably   throw out quite a few products in your refrigerator and pantry.  Very   few people are willing to tell you the truth revealed here, so some of   this may come as a complete shock (see #1 and #2, below).          #1) Maltodextrin (from GM corn)Let's start out with the big one first: If you pick up a natural product and   the ingredients list says "maltodextrin," chances are very high that the maltodextrin in the product is derived from Monsanto's GM corn.      Virtually all the   maltodextrin used throughout the natural products industry is   genetically modified.  Products that are certified USDA organic,   however, are not using GMO maltodextrin.      The non-GMO, non-corn replacement for maltodextrin derived from GM corn is tapioca maltodextrin, and you'll find tapioca starch / maltodextrin in many certified   organic, non-GMO products.  Corn maltodextrin should be avoided unless   it's certified USDA organic.  Look for tapioca maltodextrin instead (or   no maltodextrin at all).          #2) Vitamin C / acorbic acid (from GM corn)Here's another whopper that's sure to open some eyes: Nearly all the "vitamin C" sold in vitamins across America right now is derived from GMO corn.      This means that many of the supplements sold at Whole Foods,   the vitamins sold on Amazon.com, the pills at your local pharmacy, and   especially the products at the grocery store are (nearly) all routinely   made with genetically modified vitamin C.  It's typically called   "ascorbic acid," and nearly 100% of the ascorbic acid used in the   natural products industry is derived from GMOs.      Sourcing non-GMO vitamin C requires you to go outside the United States.  There is no existing   supply chain of certified organic, non-GMO ascorbic acid available   anywhere in America (at least not to my knowledge).  You can't even run   batches of non-GMO ascorbic acid production in the USA because all the   facilities are contaminated with residues of GM corn.      Rest assured that all those cheap "vitamin C" pills sold at retail are derived from genetically modified corn.          #3) Hexane-extracted soy and rice proteinsNearly 100% of the "natural" soy proteins sold in the USA are extracted in China using a hexane extraction method.      CLARIFICATION (updated):  The primary manufacturer and distributor of brown rice   protein in the USA, which imports brown rice protein processed in China, insists that hexane has never been used in the extraction of their   product, not in the conventional brown rice protein nor their organic   brown rice protein.      Their brown rice protein is a "hexane-free, non-GMO, Prop 65   compliant, Gamma Oryzanol-rich whole grain Oryzatein powder" and the   manufacturer is Axiom.  They supply a lot of the brown rice protein to   numerous sources in the USA, and this is the best brown rice protein   product available today, partially because it is NOT hexane extracted.      There is brown rice   protein that's hexane extracted in China, however, but that's not   carried by Axiom.  So if you're buying anything with brown rice protein, make sure it's sourced from Axiom and not from another source that uses hexane.  I also encourage you to eat only certified organic brown rice protein, not conventional brown rice protein.      Anything from China, by the way, should be double checked for   metals content just to make sure it's all clean.  This is true across   the board for all food products from China, not just brown rice protein. We have consistently found nutritional products from China to be   contaminated with worrisome levels of metals, which is why I personally   won't put my brand name on anything from China other than a few   exceptions that are well-tested such as goji berries (grown in the   Himalayas).  The Axiom company says their brown rice protein tests   completely clean, but until I run those tests myself, I can't say for   sure whether I concur with the claims.      What the industry really needs right now is a U.S. manufacturer of brown rice protein, for which a multi-million dollar market already exists.  If Axiom would find a certified organic U.S. grower for its brown rice protein, the   company would receive a huge endorsement from Natural News and probably   find a whole new wave of demand from consumers who want U.S. grown   products.  Texas, by the way, produces a lot of organic brown rice.    Surely there must be a way to extract the protein in America and not   have to go all the way to China to find this.      On the issue of soy protein, no one disputes the fact that   it's routinely extracted with hexane.  Here's a list of many of the   protein bar brands currently using soy protein:    http://www.naturalnews.com/032862_soy_protein_food_bars.html    Hexane is a highly explosive chemical. It is not only   extremely hazardous to the environment, there may also be trace amounts   of hexane left remaining in the resulting protein products.  My   understanding is that hexane extraction is not allowed in certified   organic proteins, so if you have a choice, go for certified organic   instead of just "natural" (which means nothing anyway).      Hexane extraction, by the way, is also used in the manufacture of textured vegetable protein (TVP).  Read more about TVP here:    http://www.naturalnews.com/033728_TVP_textured_vegetable_protein.html          #4) High levels of Aluminum in detox productsNatural News helped expose high aluminum levels (over 1200ppm) in a popular detox liquid, causing the main U.S. distributor to issue a "recall" notice and provide over $1 million in refunds to customers.      The manufacturer of this product, Adya Clarity, intentionally and knowingly deceived consumers by mislabeling the product and not mentioning the 1200ppm of aluminum it   contained.  The FDA seized some of the products and ran its own lab   tests, confirming the high aluminum level as well as identifying multiple labeling violations.      Adya Clarity is just one of many so-called "detox" products   containing alarming levels of aluminum and other metals.  Ingesting   these in order to "detox" your body may be harmful to your health.  This experience also proves you can't always trust health products sold through online webinars, where manufacturers can ignore labeling laws and fabricate false claims.  Buyer beware when it comes to metals in detox products that claim seemingly magical results.          #5) Lead and arsenic in herbs from ChinaChina is the most polluted nation on the planet (by far), yet many fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown in China and exported to North America for use in natural products.      High levels of lead and arsenic are routinely found in various food, supplement and herbal products from China.  I'm not concerned   about 1ppm or lower, by the way, of heavy metals like lead and mercury.    Even aluminum isn't necessarily a problem when found organically grown   inside foods that test at higher levels such as 150ppm.  But when lead,   arsenic, mercury and cadmium get to high saturation levels (or are   present in inorganic forms), it makes the products potentially a source   of heavy metals poisoning for consumers.      Astonishingly, many of the small and medium-sized companies that import and retail products from China conduct no metals testing whatsoever.  I know this as a fact because I've talked to people doing this.      For the record, everything packed under my own brand name (Health Ranger Select) and sold at the Natural News Store is independently tested by us to ensure full product safety and regulatory compliance.          #6) Inorganic minerals in cheap vitaminsWould you eat   iron filings and call it nutrition?  The majority of people don't know   that most of the cheap vitamins sold today are made with iron filings.    "Scrap metal," almost.      The calcium found in cheap vitamins is often just ground-up   seashells, and magnesium is often sold as cheap magnesium oxide which   may be completely useless to your body's cells.  If you're buying   mineral supplements, you may be wasting your money unless the minerals   are in the right form: Magnesium orotate or malate, for example.      When it comes to mineral supplements, you'll often find trace   levels of scary things like barium and lead in liquid supplements, but   these are typically at such low levels (ppb) that they are no real   concern.  But the No. 1 best source for all minerals is, not   surprisingly, fresh plants.  If you really want to boost your minerals,   feed 'em to sprouts or garden plants, then eat or juice those plants.  Your body wants "organic" minerals from plants, not inorganic minerals from rocks.          #7) Carrageenan? The Cornucopia Institute, a highly-effective food activism group that we've long supported, recently published a warning about carrageenan in foods.  Cornucopia says carrageenan is linked to "gastrointestinal   inflammation, including higher rates of colon cancer, in laboratory   animals."      It goes on to report:    Given its effect on   gastrointestinal inflammation, Cornucopia urges anyone suffering from   gastrointestinal symptoms (irritable bowel syndrome/IBS, spastic colon,   inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea, etc.) to consider   completely eliminating carrageenan from the diet to determine if   carrageenan was a factor in causing the symptoms.      Personally, I have never had any problem with carrageenan, and given that it's derived from seaweed, I also didn't mind the source.  I actually consume quite a lot of carrageenan in Blue Diamond almond   milk, which I drink when I'm too busy to make my own raw almond milk.    And I've never had a problem with it whatsoever.  So from my personal   experience, I don't see carrageenan as a worrisome ingredient, but I do   understand that some people experience it differently, and it may be   troublesome for people whose digestive systems are more sensitive than   my own.      For the record, I definitely don't consider carrageenan to be anywhere near as worrisome as, say, aspartame, GMOs or MSG.          #8) Acrylamides Acrylamides   are cancer-causing chemicals produced during the cooking of   carbohydrates. Fried snack chips, for example, contain acrylamides.    They don't have to be listed on labels because they are technically not "ingredients."  They are chemicals produced during cooking or frying.    Consuming acrylamides increases kidney cancer risk by 59 percent.      The FDA has published an extensive reference guide on acrylamide levels in foods, revealing that french fries have the highest levels of all.  But they are also present in prune juice and even breakfast cereals.      A bag of organic snack chips can have just as many acrylamides as a bag of conventional snack chips.  This is why fried snack chips   should be eaten only sparingly, or never at all.  I'm guilty of eating   some of these chips myself from time to time, but I limit the quantity   and make sure I'm taking chlorella or other superfoods at the same time   to counteract the acrylamides.      Interestingly, it turns out that vitamin C blocks acrylamides from causing damage to your body.  But if your vitamin C is from a GMO   source (see above), you may want to rethink that strategy.  Natural   citrus juice, rose hips or even camu camu berry powder is a much better   choice of natural, full-spectrum vitamin C.      If you eat fried foods of any kind, make sure you ingest a lot of vitamin C, astaxanthin and chlorella before and after your meal or   snack.          #9) Hidden MSG / yeast extractHidden MSG is a huge issue across the natural products industry.  Pick up almost any   veggie burger, and you'll find it's made with yeast extract, a hidden form of MSG (monosodium glutamate).      Yeast extract is unbelievably prevalent in the food industry   because it looks nicer on the label than "MSG."  Most people are trained to avoid MSG, but yeast extract slips by, so food manufacturers put it   into canned soups, dip mixes, snack chips, microwave dinners and   especially in vegetarian products, many of which are so loaded with chemicals and additives that I won't dare touch them.    Just because a food says "vegetarian" doesn't mean it's healthy.      Hidden MSG is also labeled as "autolyzed yeast extract" or "torula yeast" or even "hydrolyzed vegetable protein."          #10) Fluoride in green teaGreen tea is famous for being contaminated with high levels of fluoride.    This is frustrating, because green tea is phenomenally good for your   health.  It has been proven to lower "bad" cholesterol levels, and it may even help prevent cancer and neurological disorders.  It's   probably one of the healthiest beverages you can ever drink.      The tea plant that produces green tea just happens to uptake a huge amount of fluoride from the soils.  So when there's fluoride   present in those soils, the green tea will have a surprisingly high   concentration, sometimes as much as 25ppm.      An interesting article on this issue is found at Toxipedia.org:    http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Fluoride+Content+in+Tea     While this fluoride in green tea might not be a health hazard   all by itself, the governments of the world seem insistent on pumping   even more synthetic, chemical fluoride into the water supplies, thereby creating a high risk for fluorosis.  Adding green tea to the fluoride consumption you might experience from tap water is a recipe for disaster: brittle bones, discoloration of   teeth and even cancer.          The final "dirty little secret" of the natural products industryFinally, there's one more secret you need to know about.  Most importers,   packers, vendors and retailers of natural products foolishly trust the   lab results provided by the manufacturers and exporters!      So a typical U.S. company that sells, for example, pomegranate powder on the internet may never   conduct their own tests for lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and   aluminum.  They will simply take the lab tests provided by the   manufacturer and consider those to be absolute fact!      This is extraordinarily foolish.  Growers and exporters routinely lie about their lab tests in order to pull the wool over the eyes of importers, formulators and   retailers.  The lab tests are easily faked or simply bought off in their home country.  Contaminated products can be easily sold and exported   because the FDA doesn't routinely check imported raw materials for heavy metals contamination.      On the good news side, I   do know for a fact that all the higher-end retailers such as Natural   News, Mercola, Gary Null, etc., all routinely test their raw materials for contaminants.  I'm pretty sure Gaia herbs (www.GaiaHerbs.com) routinely tests all their batches, and I know that VitaCost, before it   changed hands a few years ago, was running their own lab to test raw   materials on-site (for their in-house formulations).  But I also know of smaller retailers who absolutely do not test anything and are far more interested in moving boxes than knowing what's really in   them.  I also know that some operations are claiming to sell "organic"   products even though they do not have any kind of organic certification, and that's an irresponsible practice that should be rectified.  (Look   for the USDA organic logo when you buy "organic" products.  If they   don't have the logo, they aren't really organic.)    So once again, buyer beware.  You need to   be asking for lab test results on anything from China, and it's good to   ask for them on just about everything else as well.  For our part,   Natural News Store is already in the process of building a mechanism   where we can post lab results for all the batches we import, pack and   retail.  We reject anything with high levels of metals, which is why it   took us so many months to secure a really clean source of chlorella   .