Organic Consumers Association reports that Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association are running robocalls to drum up support for Sen. Pat Roberts's bill, which would override Vermont's GMO labeling law, including a claim that labels would add $1,000 a year to food bills.
Food Consumer
Food
Dietary protein, some amino acids increase bone mineral density
A Journal of Bone and Mineral Research study of 135 twin pairs linked higher alanine and glycine intake in women to higher spine bone mineral density, and an analysis of 3,160 women aged 18 to 79 tied protein and six amino acids to higher density at the spine and forearm.
Legal Actions
Now the Battle Really begins
A Center for Food Safety fundraising appeal reporting that the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 14-6 to send the DARK Act to the Senate floor, and arguing the bill would block state GE labeling laws and leave only voluntary labeling at the federal level.
Lifestyle
11 Things Employers & Individuals Should Ponder Before Partaking in Any 'Diet for Dollars' Program
HealthyWage experts list what employers and individuals should check before joining a pay-for-pounds weight loss contest: where the prize money comes from and how payout is guaranteed, what tools and accountability the program offers, and how weigh-ins are verified.
Disease
Common Signs of Zinc Deficiency
Benita Lee of LabDoor explains zinc's role in hundreds of enzymes, DNA synthesis, cell division, immunity and wound healing, then walks through what deficiency looks like: slowed growth, lost appetite and weight, altered nervous system development and mental slowness.
Vitamins
Vitamin D deficiency linked to poorer neuropsychological function, but not Alzheimer's
Using Framingham Heart Study blood samples and six years of follow-up, researchers found people with vitamin D deficiency had poorer executive function, processing speed and visuo-perceptual skills, and smaller hippocampal volumes, but no higher risk of dementia.
Chemical
Fluoride at high doses kills embryonic stem cells
Chinese researchers reported in PLoS One that 1 mM sodium fluoride disturbed gene expression in human embryonic stem cells, and that 2 mM or more cut viability and proliferation by promoting apoptosis. They suggest it might interfere with early human embryogenesis.
Food
The California Giant Foundation announces several exciting changes to Tour de Fresh in year three
The California Giant Foundation is moving its Tour de Fresh ride back to the West Coast, running July 26-28 from Napa Valley to Monterey, and adding a one-day 100k ride near Dallas/Fort Worth. Organizers aim to raise $175,000 for more than 55 school salad bars.
Legal Actions
Advocates Urge Senate to Reject DARK Act
Food & Water Watch director Wenonah Hauter urges senators to reject a bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee that would bar states from requiring GMO labeling, calling anything short of mandatory on-package labeling unacceptable.
Supplements
GABA fights fluoride induced hypothyroidism
Male mice given subacute sodium fluoride injections showed lower T4, T3 and thyroid hormone-binding globulin plus abnormal thyroid follicles. Mice also treated with GABA showed less metabolic toxicity and largely normalized thyroid structure, in what the authors call a first.
Food
Sugar causes dental caries, fluoride does not help
A study of nearly 1,000 children in Pelotas, Brazil found that the more sugar a child consumed, the higher the risk of dental caries, and that even low sugar intake raised that risk despite fluoride use.
Politics
Stop the Monsanto Wrecking Ball! Call Today!
The Organic Consumers Association asks readers to call the Senate Agriculture Committee as it meets on blocking state GMO labeling, and defends Vermont's law, which courts have upheld and which the group says sits alongside at least 100 other state food laws.
Politics
Stop Monsanto's Wrecking Ball!
Fourteen of the 20 members of the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to send a bill to the floor that would wipe out Vermont's GMO labeling law, the Organic Consumers Association says. It asks for $250,000 by March 15, to be matched by Mercola.com.
Food
Organic milk more nutritious than conventional milk
Pooling 170 published studies, researchers found organic milk carries 56 percent more omega-3 polyunsaturated fat, 69 percent more alpha-linolenic acid and 41 percent more conjugated linoleic acid than conventional milk, along with more alpha-tocopherol and iron.
Chemical
Silica used in foods, cosmetics and drugs harm cells, DNA
Chinese researchers built a method to gauge nanoparticle toxicity and found both sphere- and rod-shaped mesoporous silica nanoparticles were cytotoxic and genotoxic, inducing oxidative stress and chromosomal aberrations. Rod-shaped particles did more damage than spheres.
Vitamins
Vitamin D deficiency boosts pancreatic cancer risk
Cedric Garland and colleagues report that pancreatic cancer incidence in countries with low UVB irradiance ran six times that of high-UVB countries, an inverse association that held after adjusting for traditional risk factors. They read low UVB as a marker of low serum vitamin D.
Chemical
Calgary Fluoride Study Fatally Flawed; Key Data Omitted
FAN says a new Calgary study claiming that ending fluoridation caused a spike in cavities omitted data from the city's oral health surveys showing decay was already rising before fluoridation ended in May 2011 and continued at the same rate afterward.
Politics
Call Your Senators Today! Tell Them No Compromise on GMO Labeling!
An alert asking readers to call 888-897-0174 and oppose Sen. Pat Roberts' bill, which would preempt Vermont's GMO labeling law and substitute federal voluntary labeling, plus any compromise that delays Vermont's July 1 law while industry rolls out QR-code SmartLabels.
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