Sabbath 13/6/27/120
Dear Friends,
This week I think it is appropriate to deal with the issues of our health because the matter of keeping ourselves fit and as a proper receptacle for the temple of God is an important issue. Some of our people are disabled through the fact of the environment and the exposure they faced through no fault of their own. I have even heard the feeble minded in the Church, who enjoyed privileged sedentary occupations and hence remained free of disability and disease, compare their spiritual condition with those less fortunate and suffering illness.
Much of the problems of our society are a direct responsibility of the dishonesty of the industrial system of the world. The corporate structure’s limited liability in dealings is a direct contributor to this problem. The Ten Commandments seem to have very little place in the industrial system. The following articles are published here in the public interest. The international corporations are damaging the earth now significantly.
Pollutants cause huge rise in brain diseases
Scientists alarmed as number of cases triples in 20 years
Juliette Jowit, environment editor
Sunday August 15, 2004
The ObserverThe numbers of sufferers of brain diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, have soared across the West in less than 20 years, scientists have discovered.
The alarming rise, which includes figures showing rates of dementia have trebled in men, has been linked to rises in levels of pesticides, industrial effluents, domestic waste, car exhausts and other pollutants, says a report in the journal Public Health.
In the late 1970s, there were around 3,000 deaths a year from these conditions in England and Wales. By the late 1990s, there were 10,000.
'This has really scared me,' said Professor Colin Pritchard of Bournemouth University, one of the report's authors. 'These are nasty diseases: people are getting more of them and they are starting earlier. We have to look at the environment and ask ourselves what we are doing.'
The report, which Pritchard wrote with colleagues at Southampton University, covered the incidence of brain diseases in the UK, US, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain in 1979-1997. The researchers then compared death rates for the first three years of the study period with the last three, and discovered that dementias - mainly Alzheimer's, but including other forms of senility - more than trebled for men and rose nearly 90 per cent among women in England and Wales. All the other countries were also affected.
For other ailments, such as Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, the group found there had been a rise of about 50 per cent in cases for both men and women in every country except Japan. The increases in neurological deaths mirror rises in cancer rates in the West.
As to the cause of this disturbing rise, Pritchard said genetic causes could be ruled out because any changes to DNA would take hundreds of years to take effect. 'It must be the environment,' he said.
The causes were most likely to be chemicals, from car pollution to pesticides on crops and industrial chemicals used in almost every aspect of modern life, from processed food to packaging, from electrical goods to sofa covers, Pritchard said.Food is also a major concern because it provides the most obvious explanation for the exclusion of Japan from many of these trends. Only when Japanese people move to the other countries do their disease rates increase.
'There's no one single cause ... and most of the time we have no studies on all the multiple interactions of the combinations on the environment. I can only say there have been these major changes [in deaths]: it is suggested it's multiple pollution.'
Pritchard's paper has been published amid growing fears about the chemical build-up in the environment. A number of studies have pointed to serious problems. TBT is being banned from marine paints after it was blamed for masculinizing (sic) female molluscs, causing a dramatic decline in numbers. A US report linked neurological disorders to pesticides. And testing by WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund) found non-natural substances such as flame retardants in every person who took part.
WWF has named chemical pollution as one of the two great environmental threats to the world, alongside global warming, and is particularly worried about 'persistent and accumulative' industrial chemicals and endocrine - hormone distorting - substances linked to changes in gender and behaviour among animals and even children.
'We've started seeing changes in fertility rates, the immune system, neurological changes [and] impacts on behaviour,' said Matthew Wilkinson, the charity's toxics programme leader.
Pesticides and pharmaceutical chemicals must now undergo rigorous testing before they can be used. But there are an estimated 80,000 industrial chemicals and the 'vast majority' do not need safety regulation or testing, said Wilkinson.
However, the chemical industry strongly rejects what it claims are often unproven fears. Just because chemicals are present does not mean they are at dangerous levels.
But critics are not reassured. 'It is true that just because we find a chemical does not mean it is dangerous,' said Wilkinson. 'But it is equally true that for the vast majority of chemicals we have so little safety data that the regulatory authorities have no idea what a safe level is.'
The Royal Society of Chemistry also said quantities of pesticides were declining. 'Improvements in analytical chemistry mean that lower and lower levels of pesticides can be detected,' said Brian Emsley, the society's spokesman. '[But] because you can detect something doesn't necessarily mean it is dangerous.'
Part of the problem lies in the fact that we are entirely too feeble in testing and requiring ongoing tests and research into the problems of industrial chemicals. The system we have will not act to protect individuals within the system unless it is compelled to do so. The political system is hopelessly corrupt and has no will to conduct itself for the public good in the face of the lobby system and the passage of money and graft.
In fact, it is fairly well reported now that the entire intelligence apparatus in the US deliberately exposed our children and youth to drugs in order to test and then market drugs. This allegedly seems to be so that their income might be free of public scrutiny and not just for corrupt gain.
The exposure to hazardous food substances in the west has been along similar lines of corrupt practice. One example is the oil and soy lobbies that enlisted the aid of the vegetarian system to divert attention from the hazards of the nuclear and other programs they had experienced.
One such casualty was the old cooking oil system we had developed from coconut oil. In this article we will see how a perfectly good food was deliberately subjected to misinformation by public agencies at the behest of agricultural lobbies with no regard to the health of the nation that supported them. The following article explains how that process unfolded and the results that we now see.
Coconut Oil
The Healthiest Oil on Earth
By Brian Shilhavy
"Coconut oil is the healthiest oil on earth," says Dr. Bruce Fife, a naturopathic doctor and the author of the book The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil. Modern research seems to back up this bold statement. Once wrongly accused of increasing cholesterol levels, coconut oil is now actually being used by doctors in the treatment of a variety of disorders. Clinical studies have shown that coconut oil has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties, and is now even being used in treating AIDS patients. Studies conducted in the Philippines last year showed that coconut oil does indeed reduce the viral load in AIDS patients.
Lauric Acid: A Key Component to Health
Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid which is abundant in coconut oil and is considered responsible for many of its health benefits. Coconut oil is about 50 percent lauric acid. The only other abundant source found in nature is in human breast milk.
Dr. Jon J. Kabara, PhD. and Professor Emeritus of Michigan State University, says, "Never before in the history of man is it so important to emphasize the value of lauric oils. The medium-chain fats in coconut oil are similar to fats in mother's milk and have similar nutriceutical effects."
Dr. Mary Enig, a nutritionist/biochemist and one of the world's leading authorities on fats and oils, goes on to say, "Approximately 50 percent of the fatty acids in coconut fat are lauric acid. Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which has the additional beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body. Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, cytomegalovirus, influenza, various pathogenic bacteria including listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia. Some studies have also shown some antimicrobial effects of the free lauric acid."
The Politics of Tropical Oils
So why has coconut oil gotten such a bad rap in the recent past? After all, much of the research supporting coconut oil as a healthy fat has been around for some time. The answer is politics and economics. Coconut oil was heavily used in the U.S. at one time, being used for baking, pastries, frying, and theater (sic) popcorn. But starting in the 1980s, some very powerful groups in the U.S. including the American Soybean Association (ASA), the Corn Products Company (CPC International), and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) began to categorically condemn all saturated oils. Faulty science was used to convince the public that ALL saturated fats were unhealthy, when in fact saturated fats rich in the medium-chain fatty acids like lauric acid are very healthy.
These organizations were are aided by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), many of whose key personnel are recruited from and return to the vegetable oil industry. The result was that most people switched to vegetable oils, and the main source of lauric acid from tropical oils in the American diet was lost. The countries that these tropical oils came from, mainly the Philippines and Malaysia, were too poor to counter these untrue claims with advertising investments for the truth. It is only recently that the health benefits of these tropical oils are starting to become rediscovered.
Population Studies
While some clinical studies have been conducted recently, such as the study on AIDS patients in the Philippines (1999 - 2000), much of the studies have been done on tropical populations where coconut products are a main part of the diet. One such study was done in the South Pacific islands of Pukapuka and Tokelau near New Zealand. The studies were started in the 1960s before either island was exposed to Western refined food. These populations ate only natural foods, and coconut foods were the most prevalent, being consumed at each meal in one form or another. While most people in western countries get 30-40 percent of their calories from fats, the people in these islands averaged between 50 and 60 percent of their calories from fat, most of that being saturated fat from coconuts.
So what kind of health did these studies find among the populations in these two islands? Bruce Fife reports in his book: "The overall health of both groups was extremely good compared to Western standards. There were no signs of kidney disease or hypothyroidism that might influence fat levels. There was no hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol). All inhabitants were lean and healthy despite a very high saturated-fat diet. In fact, the populations as a whole had ideal weight-to-height ratios as compared to the Body Mass Index figures used by nutritionists. Digestive problems are rare. Constipation is uncommon. They average two or more bowel movements a day. Atherosclerosis, heart disease, colitis, colon cancer, hemorrhoids ulcers, diverticulosis, and appendicitis are conditions with which they are generally unfamiliar."
A fat that causes weight loss?
Another incredible fact about coconut oil is that even though it is a fat, it actually promotes weight loss! The reason is again because of the healthy medium-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids do not circulate in the bloodstream like other fats, but are sent directly to the liver where they are immediately converted into energy, just like carbohydrates. So the body uses the fat in coconut oil to produce energy, rather than be stored as body fat. Medium-chain fatty acids found in coconut oil also speed up the body's metabolism burning more calories and promoting weight loss. The weight loss effects of coconut oil have clearly been demonstrated by many researchers. (A list of references can be found in Bruce Fife's book The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil.)
Therapeutic Dosage
So how much coconut oil should one consume? A good therapeutic dosage is 3 to 4 tablespoons a day. This provides enough lauric acid to build the immune system. Also, look for unrefined coconut oil. Stay away from all hydrogenated oils, whether it is coconut oil or vegetable oils. Hydrogenated oils are oils with trans-fatty acids, which have been altered from their original chemical composition and have been shown to raise serum cholesterol levels that can lead to heart disease.
Also look for unrefined coconut oils like Virgin Coconut Oil. Most commercial coconut oils are RBD (refined, bleached, and deodorized). While these RBD oils do maintain the beneficial chemical structures of the medium chain fatty acids, they also contain chemicals used in processing.
About the Author
Brian Shilhavy is a Certified Nutritional Counselor (CNC).
The consequence of our society is that honesty in research and development is supported from a base that twists truth and research to say whatever will promote its own best interests.
If we are to continue on, we must try to maintain ourselves free from a damaged food system.
We have to try to bring our children up and maintain our own bodies in a fit state.
We must be discerning in what we do. Laziness is contributing to much of our health problems.
Buy our own unprocessed food and cook our own foods and avoid all processed substances and all non-natural oils. Use whole grains and above all eat range fed red meats to enable the brain to rebuild and restore myelin through the vitamin B12 and myelin. Do not use processed meats and do not use soy products. Above all do not feed your infants soy infant formulas.
Perhaps this might have been directly in line with health and not apparently doctrinally based but we have to be certain of what we eat and we have to be fit to do the work of God. Study the paper the Foodlaws (No. 15) and be sure of the meats we eat. Be alert and be cynical in regard to propaganda from food corporations. Avoid fast foods.
The best ways we can show we love another is to feed them healthy food and
be honest with them.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
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