Another reason to “go organic”

This isn’t the first time I’ve posted about the potentially disastrous health effects of Monsanto’s Roundup (e.g. blocking the body’s detoxification pathways). But now new evidence links Roundup - to male infertility. This effect and the many others which include male reproductive malformations such as undescended testes, have been found at levels of Roundup considered safe by US Environmental Protection Agency food safety levels!

Yet Roundup continues to be much used. Yes, I’ve even found it in friends’ tool sheds and garages, which mean they use it on their kitchen garden...Time for a rethink people. This stuff is toxic and even though organic may cost more initially, the savings you can expect to make long-term by avoiding spending on compromised health are not only beyond calculation but beyond price!

I’m on my personal soapbox here, but in my 66 years on the planet, I’ve been hospitalised for one night (shattered my patella) and in the last 12 years I’ve never used my Medicare card (until the patella incident). My sons (now 28 and 24) have visited a doctor a total number of six times in their combined 52 years (the same number of visits the average child makes to a GP in thir first year of life).

Organic, in season, whole, fresh, low food miles, healthy food from healthy soil, whatever descriptor you like, it all starts with what you put into your mouth and if you want to give the next generation a better health legacy, get started before conception. Right now, couples spend more time, energy and money on preparing for their wedding day than they spend on preparing for the conception of a baby! Give your baby something better - a lifetime of better physical and mental health!

Vitamin D ... under the microscope again!

I’ve blogged numerous times on the likelihood of vitamin D deficiency (sunscreen, sun-avoidance, indoor lifestyles etc.) and on the multiple benefits of ensuring vitamin D status before conception, during pregnancy and when breastfeeding. I’ve also posted the most recent dosing recommendations from researchers at GrassRootsHealth, whose work now spans more than 3 decades. So the latest report in the BMJ stating that “universal conclusions about its [vitamin D’s] benefits cannot be drawn” made me angry.

It made lots of other health professionals angry too - with assertions that this major meta-analysis was never going to show anything meaningful when “there were so many underpowered and poorly designed trials in the mix.”  The identified flaws included low doses, large differences in baseline plasma concentrations and contamination with private use of vitamin D. 

Here’s the word from GrassRootsHealth on the appropriate dosages (if you're supplementing) and for a continuing appropriate relationship between your skin and the sun:

Minimize UVA while allowing UVB

10-15 minutes exposure/day between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm

Expose 40 percent of skin area

Ensure it’s a clear day without pollution

If this isn’t possible, use oral supplements of D3 to achieve 40-60ng/ml (100-150nMols/L)

RULE OF THUMB: For every 100IU ingested, there is increase of 1ng/ml

ADULT DOSE: 2,000IU/day

PREGNANCY DOSE: 4,000IU/day

BREASTFEEDING DOSE: 6,000IU/day

I'm going for the appropriate sun exposure - something that feels so wonderful has to be good for you!

While I'm on the subject of cows...

Just back from a quick trip to China - launching an 8-product range of Ogni Organic Milk Powders out of New Zealand. The organic message is a powerful one and particularly welcome to a lot of Chinese consumers who are understandable wary of locally produced milk products. But seeing the increasing desire for milk products in a market that has not been a traditional consumer of dairy, makes me wonder about the long term health effects. At the same time, the massive rise in the use of infant formula is certainly linked to China’s rapid development and women in the work-force but also to the population’s mysterious desire for everything perceived as Western (and thus progressive).

I can’t but wonder how long it will take public health authorities to figure out that in their population’s helter-skelter embrace of infant formula, a much healthier, clean, green and FREE resource has been discarded. How long will it be before the tide turns ... for example, UAE has just passed legislation that requires women to breastfeed for two years, in South Africa, infant formula can only be purchased with a doctor’s prescription, in the USA women who breastfeed are given food coupons ...

Are the very recent Chinese government regulations, designed to reduce the number of IF brands on the market from thousands to a handful, a sign of something stronger to come? Time will tell...