CONVINCING MOTHER, FINDING A LETTER

One day, while she was looking for some plain paper to write on, my mother found a letter on my table. It was a copy of the letter I had written to Meena, who was my classmate in the old school. But my mother assumed something else and arrived at the wrong conclusion. So I had to sit and explain it to her.

Meena and I had been classmate for more than three years. And since we had done many projects together, we had become good friends, but we were always a part of a group. Ever since I changed school. I had lost touch with many friends there. So, when Meena met one our common friends recently, she asked about me. She also sent me a message, asked me to get in touch and write to her. That is why I had written to her.

The long explanation seemed to have convinced my mother that I was telling the truth. But there was one more thing that I had to say to her. That, it is perfectly all right for boys and girls to be friends and it is normal for friends to write to each other.

Anyway, Meena came over to our place a few days ago. Since I was not at home, my mother had a long chat with her. And, it seems both of them got along very well.

ONE LATE COLD NIGHT WE HEARD

One late cold winter night, we heard the cry of an old lady from the nearby house. She was alone, living with her husband who was not well, and confined to bed.. Sending their pitiable condition, the neighbors used to help them by turns,. That night, whey they were alone, some burglars had entered their house from backside, after jumping over the courtyard wall.

The burglars had overpowered both the old and tied them to cots. The lady was somehow able to free herself from the bondage, and came out into the courtyard, from where she made attempts to cry for help.

Four of us reached there in a flash. We freed her husband from the rope, which was tightly tied. It had made marks on this old and weak skin, causing bruises.

Two of us went to Police station. The culprits had taken on their heels, when the lady raised the alarm.

The police came and made a through search of the house. They found two boxes in the open adjacent park. Luckily, the burglars had not been able to open them. All the precious articles in the almirhas were also safe. Thus, the old couples were saved from their valuable being stolen by burglars.

The next day, they changed the house and shifted to their son's residence in the nearby colony. The old lady was very thankful to her neighbours, who came in time to help them in their hour of need.

HOME LIFE BETTER THAN HOSTEL LIFE

Tariq came home during Break for about a week, and met his friends whom he had not been able to meet during the last 2-3 months, as he was staying in the hostel. He was daily surrounded by them, as they were also equally keen to learn from him about his new experiences at the college as well as the playground.

One day one of his friends expressed a wish to be in a hostel, whereupon Tariq  had to remark that he was not right in wishing for the hostel life, as home life was far better than the hostel life. He had various points in support of his belief. These are some of the important arguments put forward by him.

Early in the morning, when one gets up one finds either father or mother, or some brother, sister or other near and dear one in a home, while in the hostel it is the same room-mate or a bearer carrying a tray with cups full of cold tea. You feel like greeting your parents or someone other, while in a hostel you are terribly annoyed with the servants disturbing your sleep, early in the morning.

Then for cleaning, sweeping or for your meals, you have to struggle a lot, as no one appears to be the least bothered about you, or your friends. There, every thing is so routine.

In the evening also you generally do not get your hot cup of milk, coffee or tea, or you have to remind the servant, day in and day out for your share of meals.

One misses the home life most in a hostel, especially on the eve of festivals, as it is not always possible to go home during every vacation, long or short. The friends and relatives are missed the most.

Whether it is meals or sleep, games or study, cleanliness or comfort, home life is better than hostel life

What exactly are GMOs and why should they be labeled?

GMOs (genetically modified organisms) were brought into the world by a chemical company, not an agriculture or food group. Monsanto created DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, marketed aspartame, and created bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to infect milking cows that put pus into commercial milk.

GMOs are created within the seeds of chosen parent crops in laboratories by "splicing" genes from completely unrelated species into those seeds. Normal plant hybrids are cultivated in soil over time by cross pollinating closely related plants.

So far, GMOs have invaded soy, corn, beets (for beet sugar), cotton, and alfalfa agriculture. Many GMO edibles are contained surreptitiously in a wide variety of processed foods, while GMO corn and soy are used by unnatural factory farm feed lots.

If you've been following NaturalNews for some time, you may recall several articles describing GMOs' inherent human and animal health hazards as well as crop and environmental dangers. If not, you'll find most of them here.

GMOs damage crops, the environment, and the food chain

GMOs are often genetically created artificially to tolerate herbicides, made by Monsanto and others, that kill weeds. The herbicides contain glyphosates. Monsanto's Roundup weed killer is meant for Roundup Ready GMO crop seeds. It's an extremely toxic glyphosate agent.

Glyphosates greatly harm grazing animals and pollute the wells and groundwater of farm areas where they're used. 

They create sterility and birth defects among animals and humans. Most of the honey bee die-off, or colony collapse, is attributed to glyphosates. If enough pollinating bees disappear, our food chain is endangered further.

Glophosate's chelating capabilities remove minerals from the soil where they're sprayed. So crops get increasingly worse while increasingly abundant Roundup resistant weeds, or super weeds, force farmers to add more toxic materials to Roundup.

It's a vicious cycle for farmers who, conned by greater production promises, unwittingly signed on to Monsanto Roundup Ready GMO binding seed contracts. Monsanto uses patent laws to litigate against farmers whose non-GMO fields are contaminated by GMO fields, forcing smaller farms out of business.

Most farmers fold because they cannot afford the litigation. American farmers are attempting to organize against mostly Monsanto's GMOs. European farmers have managed to resist thus far.

Why you should be concerned

Maybe the reasons summarized above are too abstract. So let's get personal. Contrary to mainstream media's (MSM) outlook, the jury is not out on GMOs. GMOs do destroy human and animal health while endangering non-GMO crops with contamination. That's been discovered by several scientists acting independently.

They jeopardize their careers and even their lives by communicating what they find while the MSM ignores them. Anti-GMO activist and author Jeffrey Smith lists the casualties and summarizes Monsanto's harassment here.
The promoter gene used ... [the] cauliflower mosaic virus, ... [was assumed to be] denatured in our digestive system, but it's not. It has been shown to promote the transfer of transgenes from GM foods to the bacteria within our digestive system, which are responsible for 80 percent of our immune system function.

Read Lotter's interview here.
This from Wessex Natural Law research papers: The cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV 35S) used for plant genetic engineering is cited as a source of viral recombination as well as a gene silencer and DNA disruptor.

Forget petitioning the government. It's so corrupted that one of Monsanto's most ruthless executives, Michael Taylor, now serves in the Obama administration as FDA chief adviser, or "Food Czar."

Common OTC acid blockers may worsen cognitive impairment in the elderly

Adverse drug reactions are ranked as the fifth leading cause of death causing more than 100,000 deaths/year, account for seven percent of all hospitalizations and costs over $100 billion annually in the United States. While within the elderly population (age 65 and above), adverse drug reactions are even more widespread with some studies showing the elderly are two to four times more likely to be hospitalized for adverse drug events than non-elderly. In addition, some estimates show up to 30 percent of all hospital admissions involving the elderly are due to some sort of drug-related problem (especially if they are in poor health and are taking multiple medications).

Age-related changes in elderly often can lead to adverse drug reactions

As we get older, our body composition changes which essentially reduces our body's size (due to less body water, less body weight, more body fat, fewer protein stores, etc.) which in effect increases the amount of drug exposure per body weight. The elderly also have less ability to clear drugs via the liver and the kidneys which may lead to drug accumulation. In addition, the elderly compared to non-elderly also have less ability to compensate and tolerate drug side effects. Thus, all these factors may contribute to causing adverse drug reactions in the elderly.

All OTC H2 acid blockers can exacerbate mental confusion in the elderly

In most cases, OTC antacids like Alka-Seltzer, Tums, Maalox, Rolaids, etc. often suffice to reduce occasional heartburn symptoms. However, for more frequent and severe heartburn symptoms, H2 Blockers (OTC Versions: Pepcid AC, Tagamet HR, Axid AR, Zantac 75) are often recommended by healthcare practitioners. However, according to the leading consensus database (known as the "Beers Criteria") that identifies "potentially inappropriate medications" for patients 65 and older, all drugs in this class can worsen mental decline in the elderly (especially in those with a pre-existing cognitive impairment). Also, a study involving a large group of elderly African Americans, showed that elderly patients had a 2.4 times higher risk of developing cognitive impairment when H2 Blockers were taken continuously.

Though the exact cause of the cognitive impairment in the elderly from H2 Acid Blockers is unknown, it may be related to added inhibition of a neurotransmitter known as acetylcholine that plays a critical role in sustaining cognitive function (which may occur due to drug accumulation). In addition, H2 Acid Blockers may reduce vitamin B12 levels which may also contribute to cognitive decline. Therefore, caution must be taken in any person over the age of 65 who contemplates taking this class of drug and safer alternatives should be recommended.

Unfortunately, these guidelines are often difficult to enforce in non-institutionalized settings involving over-the-counter (OTC) medications for self-treatment. Furthermore, some of the so-called "safer alternatives" suggested by the "Beers Criteria" like proton pump inhibitors (OTC Versions: Prilosec OTC, Zegerid OTC, Prevacid OTC, Nexium OTC etc.) have potentially devastating side effects of their own like C. Difficile diarrhea, pneumonia and increased risk for bone fractures. Hence, more emphasis should be placed on suggesting safer, natural or non-pharmacologic alternatives.

Bill Gates funds scheme to spray artificial 'planet-cooling' sulfur particles into atmosphere

Geo-engineers are finally coming out of the "chemtrail" closet, as reports are now emerging about deliberate plans in the works to dump untold tons of sulfate chemicals into the atmosphere for the purported purpose of fighting so-called "global warming."

The U.K.'s Guardian and others are reporting that a multi-million dollar research fund, which just so happens to have been started and funded by Microsoft founder and vaccine enthusiast Bill Gates, is being used to fund the project. A large balloon hovering at 80,000 feet over Fort Sumner, New Mexico, will release the sulfates into the atmosphere within the next year.

The stated purpose for this massive release of toxic sulfate particles is that doing so will allegedly reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere, and thus cool the planet. But many environmental groups and advocates of common sense are decrying the idea as dangerous, and one that could result in permanent damage to ecosystems all across the globe.

"Impacts include the potential for further damage to the ozone layer, and disruption of rainfall, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions, potentially threatening the food supplies of billions of people," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of the ETC Group, a Canadian environmental protection group.

"It will do nothing to decrease levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or halt ocean acidification. And solar geo-engineering is likely to increase the risk of climate-related international conflict, given that the modeling to date shows it poses greater risks to the global south."

But the Gates-backed cohort is persistent in its efforts to geo-graffiti the world, as its scientists insist that governments are not doing enough to fight back against the supposed environment impacts of global warming. If governments refuse to implement high enough carbon taxes to eliminate greenhouse gases, in other words, then Gates and Co. believes it has no choice but to "save the planet" by polluting it with sulfate particles.

Spraying the skies with sulfate particles will destroy the planet faster than 'global warming' ever could

Sulfate particles are toxic, though, and constitute the very same type of ambient particulate matter (PM) that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers to be a noxious air pollutant. Deliberately spraying the skies with tiny particles composed of any material, for that matter, is hazardous both to respiratory health in humans and animals, as well as to water sources, soils, and other delicate environmental resources.

"Sulfate particles from acid rain can cause harm to the health of marine life in the rivers and lakes it contaminates, and can result in mortality," says an online water pollution guide (http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/health.html). A University of Washington (UW) report also explains that sulfate particles "contribute to acid rain, cause lung irritation, and have been a main culprit in causing the haze that obscures a clear view of the Grand Canyon."

Blocking the sun with reflective particles will also deprive humans of natural sunlight exposure, which is a primary source for naturally generating health-promoting vitamin D in the body. So once again, Bill Gates is at the helms of a project that seeks to control the climate in artificial ways using toxic chemicals, an endeavor that is sure to create all sorts of potentially irreversible problems for humanity and the planet.

Studies confirm chiropractic treatment prevents heart attacks and lowers blood pressure

The popularity of chiropractic care has grown dramatically since the middle of the 20th century. Although most people seek chiropractic treatment to relieve musculoskeletal pain, certain types of pain may be indicative of the patient experiencing a heart attack just before or during treatment.

Chiropractors should expect to have at least one presentation of a myocardial infarction, or heart attack, during their careers, according to chiropractor Dr. Dwain M. Daniel. Research indicates that regular chiropractic adjustments may prevent heart attacks, lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate, relieve chest pain and support the cardiovascular system, according to the Palmer Chiropractic College.

Studies at the College investigated the effects of chiropractic treatment on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in reference to an analysis of heart rate variability. Findings indicated that chiropractic adjustments do reduce pain and lower participant's mean heart rate.

Additionally, anecdotal evidence indicates that adjustments of the atlas, or first cervical vertebra, may stop some heart attacks while they are occurring, according to chiropractor, Dr. Christopher Clarke of the Vibrance Family Chiropractic Center in Nashville. If a patient experiences a heart attack during an adjustment, gentle manipulation of the atlas may be appropriate and may alter the outcome; however, other emergency measures must be performed in an attempt to save a patient's life, including transport to the nearest medical facility. There are few studies on this fascinating aspect of chiropractic and additional research is necessary.

Reducing blood pressure

Chiropractic treatment also has a significant effect on blood pressure and anxiety levels, according to a study reported in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. The study examined systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels and patients' anxiety levels before and after an adjustment. In all cases, those subjects who received active treatment experienced a distinct drop in blood pressure and a decrease of their anxiety levels. Results of this study provide evidence that chiropractic treatment offers support to the cardiovascular system.

Recognizing signs and symptoms

Women are just as likely to have heart attacks as are men; however, women are less likely to seek medical treatment or attend rehabilitation during or after a heart attack, according to the Journal of Canadian Chiropractic Association. Because women are more than twice as likely to seek chiropractic care, according to Clarke, it's important to recognize the specific symptoms they may exhibit. Men tend to experience extreme pain and heaviness in the chest and left arm during a heart attack. Although women may also experience these effects, they may exhibit very different symptoms, making a heart attack more difficult to diagnose. Women often complain of neck and upper back pain, which is mild and annoying and often mistaken as a structural problem. They are more likely to be misdiagnosed because of the vagaries of their symptoms.

Other symptoms reported by women during a heart attack can range from chest pain brought on during exercise or other strenuous activity that then feels better during rest. There may be crushing chest pain accompanied by other wandering pains to the rest of the body, vague wandering pains extending down one or both arms, and difficulty breathing with shortness of breath, fatigue or weakness. They may also be fearful, anxious and in denial.

Chiropractic treatment can increase vitality, boost immunity, relieve a variety of musculoskeletal ailments and strengthen the heart and cardiovascular system for both men and women. Patients should always check credentials for any chiropractic doctor before undergoing treatment, especially if they have a history of heart disease or other related disorders. Look for an experienced doctor who performs a thorough exam before attempting any adjustments.

How to fix your cholesterol without prescription drugs

Though many people still do not realize this, our bodies actually need cholesterol in order to survive, as the brain and central nervous system rely on this important fat to both protect the integrity of neurons and promote proper neural communication and function. But sometimes cholesterol fails to properly assimilate where it needs to go inside the body, or the size and density of cholesterol particles get out of whack due to an underlying health condition or poor diet and lifestyle, which is what commonly gets attributed to chronic health problems such as heart disease and metabolic syndrome.

The tendency among conventional practitioners, of course, is to address this chronic cholesterol imbalance by trying to artificially lower it, as "high cholesterol" has become a popular buzz phrase for ill health, and therefore it must be reduced by whatever means possible. But like all other drug-based approaches to disease, this focused, cholesterol-lowering approach fails to address the underlying causes of high cholesterol, which include things like insulin resistance and diabetes. In fact, high cholesterol itself is actually a symptom of another underlying health condition, rather than a condition in and of itself.

"The singular focus on treating cholesterol as a means to prevent heart attacks is leading to the deaths of millions of people because the real underlying cause of the majority of heart disease is not being diagnosed or treated by most physicians," wrote practicing physician Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D., in a 2011 piece on cholesterol for The Huffington Post. "Abnormal cholesterol levels are just a downstream problem that is mostly a result of 'diabesity' or the continuum of blood sugar and insulin imbalances that range from pre-diabetes to full-blown end stage diabetes."

What this means is that simply popping the latest cholesterol drug will do little, if anything, to actually fix your cholesterol problems. In fact, Dr. Hyman explains that cholesterol drugs, even if they initially appear to bring cholesterol levels back into a healthy range, actually lead to more deaths from heart attack and heart disease in the long run because they treat the symptom rather than the disease, and create harmful side effects in the process. In the end, if dietary and lifestyle changes are not instigated, people with disease-induced high cholesterol will face the same ill outcomes of heart disease and death, regardless of whether or not they take cholesterol drugs.

"Drugs don't treat the underlying causes of chronic illness," added Dr. Hyman in his report. "It is not our genes which haven't changed much in 20,000 years, although they may predispose us to environmental and lifestyle triggers of illness. The causes of chronic disease are rooted in what we eat, how much we move, how we face stress, how connected we are to our communities and toxic chemicals and metals in our environment."

Addressing your cholesterol issues and their underlying causes naturally

So what can you do to practically address your cholesterol issues in such a way as to also address the underlying health conditions that are causing it? The first thing Dr. Hyman suggests is to 1) get properly tested for cholesterol, which includes testing for cholesterol particle size and density. Healthy circulating cholesterol should be "light and fluffy," he says, rather than small and dense. You can ask your doctor specifically for such a test, which Dr. Hyman says is available through popular testing companies like Labcorp and LipoScience.

If it is determined that your cholesterol particles are too small and dense, the next step is to 2) test for metabolic syndrome. Dr. Hyman has created a helpful list of five steps you can take to determine whether or not you have this under-diagnosed condition, and these steps can be found towards the bottom of the following article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

High cholesterol can also be indicative of a chronic inflammation problem, which means you may need to 3) make significant and potentially drastic dietary changes to correct it. Oddly enough, eating low-cholesterol and low-fat foods, including refined vegetables oils rather than saturated fats, is a common cause of chronic inflammation. Health and fitness expert Charles Poliquin explains in the following article more of the specifics as to how inflammation is actually the culprit in heart disease rather than high cholesterol: http://www.charlespoliquin.com

4) Reducing your carbohydrate intake and boosting your complex protein intake is another great way to not only quell any inflammation that might be linked to your high cholesterol, but also to feed your body the nutrients it needs to remedy metabolic syndrome and diabetic conditions. This means 5) eliminating processed flours and refined sugars, and 6) replacing them with proteins and healthy fats from grass-fed meats, nuts and other whole foods. Eating more coconut oil, grass-fed butter, raw milk, and trace mineral-rich sea and earth salt can also help address the underlying causes of high cholesterol.

Death by Medicine Revisited

The mandatory health insurance due to be implemented January 2014 has no provisions for opting out. Allopathic medicine's "standard of care" will be "legally" enforced with vaccines, medications, annual health exams, including mental health exams. It will make drug treatment for such milestones as cholesterol over 180, fasting blood sugar, over 100 compulsory. Regular mammograms will be followed up with biopsies and surgery. In this system there will be no provision for natural alternatives. A Brave New World is upon us.

My 2005 research found an annual death rate of 783,936 due to medical interventions at a cost of $282 billion. I updated that figure in the 2008 edition of my Kindle/eBook, Death by Modern Medicine: Seeking Safe Solutions and found that the number had actually risen to 895,936 with a price tag of $282.85 billion.

What's interesting is that the cost of iatrogenesis has decreased. When the iatrogenic figures came out in 2005, allopathic medicine tried to deny them but each new study they did uncovered more bodies. And when medicine set out to change the stats, it didn't aim for fewer deaths but for cost containment!

Another interesting aspect of my research for Death by Medicine was finding few if any deaths due to supplements. Yet, allopathic medicine keeps warning the public that supplements can be dangerous and we must be protected from them by restricting dosage and restricting access to prescriptions by doctors.

Promoting the allopathic medical agenda are websites like Livestrong.com. For the past year I've been gritting my teeth every time I do a health topic search on google and find Livestrong appearing in the top three results. I think Lance Armstrong proved pretty convincingly that he's pro drugs and his namesake website is definitely following his lead.

On Livestrong.com, wellness posts make sure to emphasize the so-called "dangerous" aspects of natural medicine. What caught my attention most recently was an article warning pregnant women about the "Side Effects of Magnesium in Pregnancy" Recently someone asked me if magnesium was safe in pregnancy. My concern is that people google the words "magnesium in pregnancy" and up pops Livestrong's warning article making women afraid to take it. When in actuality, pregnant women need even more magnesium than anyone else to avoid high blood pressure, constipation, fluid retention, eclampsia and problems that a newborn infant can suffer if their mother is magnesium deficient. Taking enough magnesium in pregnancy is the best way to birth a healthy child.

I then googled the words "Livestrong.com and magnesium" and found a file of over 200 articles on various magnesium topics written by many different authors, none of whom I've ever heard of. I don't know how educated these authors are about health but in all the articles I scanned there is only a superficial knowledge about magnesium.

Here's a quote from one article Can a Lack of Magnesium Cause an Irregular Heartbeat? "Although magnesium deficiency can cause an irregular heartbeat, it is not the only cause. According to MayoClinic.com, a variety of things can lead to arrhythmias."

The article then goes on to state that "Serious causes might include blocked coronary arteries, heart tissue scarring, high blood pressure, changes to the heart's structure and electrical shocks. Less severe causes might include diabetes, hyperthyroidism, smoking, excessive intake of alcohol or caffeine, stress and certain medications." The author then urges you to consult with your doctor to find the exact cause.

Unfortunately, the author and your doctor aren't going to tell you that:

1. Blocked coronary arteries are due to calcification that is caused by magnesium deficiency.

2. Heart tissue scarring can be prevented by daily intake of oral magnesium and also giving IV magnesium at the first signs of a heart attack.

3. High blood pressure is a sign of magnesium deficiency.

4. Diabetes can be caused by magnesium deficiency.

5. Excessive intake of alcohol or caffeine can drain magnesium.

6. Stress burns off magnesium like nothing else can.

7. And certain medications block magnesium for working.

Another article, "Cardiac Palpitations & Magnesium" said that "sometimes a nutritional problem, such as magnesium toxicity, may be the culprit." I suppose that one of the millions of medical errors that occur annually could be a case of too much IV magnesium being given to a patient resulting in heart palpitations but this is not made clear. The statement and others like it scare people and make them wary of incredibly safe interventions like magnesium.

The author is certainly not aware that I just received "The Arrhythmia Alliance Outstanding Medical Contribution to Cardiac Rhythm Management Services Award 2012" at The Heart Rhythm Congress organized by the Heart Rhythm Society, September 2012. This award indicates that magnesium is of major concern to the arrhythmia community.

The mandate of medicine is to diagnose disease symptoms and treat with drugs or surgery. The mandate of drug companies is to sell drugs and vaccines and keep their investors happy. The mandate of government is to force you to buy into this monopolistic health care system. The mandate of the WHO and WTO is to force the world to comply with Codex Alimentarius and its low standardized amounts of a restricted number of dietary supplements.

If any of your have read my blogs and articles, you know that I try to maintain a positive stance and give people options and choices. But if your personal mandate is to stay healthy and avoid drugs, that's going to be very hard to maintain. You will have to buy health insurance, which you probably won't use, to the tune of a few thousand dollars a month.This means that all the healthy people will be subsidizing all the sick people who just get sicker the more drugs they take.

The threat to take away guns has riled up a lot of people, why doesn't the threat to take away your health freedom? Join Citizens for Health and the National Health Freedom Association to support those fighting for your right to choice in health care.

About the author:
About the author:
Dr. Carolyn Dean is The Doctor of the Future. She is a medical doctor and naturopathic doctor in the forefront of the natural medicine revolution since 1979. 

Organic Consumers Association calls out Dr. Oz for 'flip-flopping' with high-profile attacks on organics

A few days ago, I sounded the alarm on Dr. Oz and his attack on organic consumers. In my article published here on lookamazing, I called Dr. Oz a "sellout" for his labeling of organic consumers as "elitist" and "snobs" while lying by omission in his TIME Magazine article that failed to disclose the pesticide and GMO risks of non-organic foods.

Health freedom pioneer Gary Null also penned a piece, saying Dr. Oz now appears to have been "propagandized" by corporate interests.

Now the Organic Consumers Association has published its piece on Dr. Oz, calling him a "flip-flopper" who has suddenly and mysteriously abandoned organics in favor of conventional (GMO + pesticide) foods.

This piece by the OCA is authored by Ronnie Cummins and Katherine Paul, and we reprint it here in its entirely. It originally ran on Alternet.org at:
http://www.alternet.org/food/dr-oz-flip-flop...

Dr. Oz Flip-Flops as High-Profile Attacks on Organic Food Intensify

America's most popular TV doctor seems to have forgotten his own words that organic food is "worth the investment" and is instead trashing organics. Why the flip flop?

"So you're being told organic food is no more nutritious than conventional and it's not worth your extra money. Well I'm here to say that it is worth the investment. Why do I say that? Pesticides." - - Dr. Oz, Oct. 19, 2012

Less than two months after telling millions of TV viewers that organic food is "worth the investment," America's most popular TV doctor is singing a different tune. In the December issue of Time magazine, Dr. Oz described organic foodies as "elitist" -- part of the 1% - and claimed that conventional foods are nutritionally equivalent to organic foods. According to Dr. Oz:

The rise of foodie culture over the past decade has venerated all things small-batch, local-farm and organic - all with premium price tags. But let's be clear: you don't need to eat like the 1% to eat healthily.

Suddenly, the pesticides Dr. Oz was so concerned about a couple of months ago, the ones he warned viewers were "one of the greatest threats to your kids' health," no longer matter. What's more, if you're spending extra money to avoid them, you're a food snob -- instead of a responsible, health-conscious parent.

Dr. Oz's flip-flop is just the latest in a series of highly-publicized mass media attacks on organic food and farming. It follows on the heels of a much-ballyhooed, controversial Stanford University study, released in September. The Stanford study concluded that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional -- and far less expensive -- counterparts.

Ironically, it was this same study that Dr. Oz bashed on his October 19 television show for ignoring the obvious: Conventional food is loaded with toxic pesticides, which makes it not only less healthful, but downright dangerous. Especially for children.

At a time when the health of Americans is rapidly deteriorating -- skyrocketing obesity, childhood diabetes, ever-increasing cases of asthma, allergies, autism, and cancer -- there appears to be a concerted and insidious effort to smear organics, to convince consumers that there's no connection between their poor health and the low-grade chemical food on their plates. Food routinely grown in nutrient-deficient soil, sprayed with toxic pesticides, pumped full of antibiotics and hormones, and genetically modified in Monsanto's laboratories.

Instead, anti-organic forces are pushing the message that cheaper food is better for your wallet. And just fine for your health. Both the Stanford Study and Dr. Oz's Time article focus on cost to consumers at the checkout counter. Neither addresses the long-term cost of poor health caused by toxic chemicals, or the long-term cost to the planet of chemical-intensive, climate-disruptive, unsustainable agricultural practices.

That Stanford study, which was highlighted by major media outlets including the New York Times , Associated Press, and CBS News, didn't address pesticides and their proven link to health problems, especially in children. It didn't address waterways polluted by tons of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The study was limited to fruits and vegetables, so it didn't have to address the growing public health crisis of antibiotics and hormone residues in meat and dairy, nor the millions of annual food poisoning cases attributed to filthy meat and animal products coming out of the nation's factory farm feedlots and slaughterhouses.

The Stanford study also completely ignored the horrendous damage to the environment by non-organic industrial farms and feedlots, including the devastating consequences to the planet of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions from chemical fertilizers and huge factory farm operations. Recent statistics indicate that the direct (greenhouse gas pollution) and indirect (tropical deforestation) impacts of industrial food and farms are the largest contributor to global warming.

What the Stanford study did, thanks to a huge public relations push, was spread the message that organic fruits and vegetables are expensive, and conventional fruits and vegetables are just as good but cheaper. No doubt, the authors hope that consumers will carry over that message from fruits and vegetables, to all things organic.

It's no surprise that the Stanford study would focus on cost. As it turns out, the study was produced by Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute, which gets millions in funding from agribusiness giant Cargill, the world's largest agricultural business enterprise, and foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which have deep ties to agricultural chemical and biotechnology corporations like Monsanto. These giant corporations are all part of the same cabal that contributed at least half of the $46 million spent between October 1 and November 6 to defeat Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act. Just a coincidence that the Stanford study and the mass media propaganda barrage that accompanied it was released during the election season, when voters were still weighing their options on the high-profile California GMO labeling law that was making national headlines?

The motives behind the Stanford study and the Freeman Spogli Institute are obvious. What caused Dr. Oz to flip-flop is anyone's guess -- and just might make for a good story someday. Informed sources behind the scenes have told us that Dr. Oz is under tremendous pressure from the biotech industry after airing a segment earlier this fall that supported GMO labeling. He's also getting pressure from Big Pharma and federal regulatory agencies for his previous exposures of industry malpractices.

Consumer demand for organics is rising steadily. Last year, organic foods accounted for $31.4 billion in sales, according to a recent Obama administration report. Compare that with just $3.6 billion in 1997, and it makes sense that multinational junk food companies, like Pepsi, General Mills, Coca-Cola and others, are buying up organic brands. But these companies also know that there's more money in the $50-billion "natural" foods market, an unregulated market with higher profit margins and lower barriers to entry, than there is in certified organics. That explains why these same multinational companies pitched in the other half of the $46 million to defeat Prop 37. After all, if passed, the initiative would have banned the use of the word "natural" on any product containing genetically modified foods. That would have forced companies to use more expensive, certified organic ingredients in their highly profitable "natural" products.

Estimates are that if Prop 37 had passed, it would have triggered a multi-billion dollar increase in the sales of organic and non-GMO foods, and a corresponding decrease in the sales of so-called "natural" foods. Could it be that Big Ag and Big Pharma, who supply the drugs for non-organic factory farms, are feeling threatened by the fact that the market for organics is growing ten times faster than the market for conventional foods? The bottom line is that the real 1%, America's giant food processors and supermarket chains, are alarmed by the fact that consumers are wising up -- and rising up -- in greater numbers than ever before to demand transparency in labeling, and greater access to organic, locally-sourced, humanely-produced, nutritious food.

In a struggling economy, the quickest way to grab the attention of consumers is to promise them short-term savings. Messages like the ones transmitted by the Stanford study and Dr. Oz's recent article grossly oversimplify the issue of organics versus conventional foods, while propping up an unsustainable but highly profitable factory farm and processed food industry. They miss the point, intentionally, that pesticides, drug residues, and filthy factory farms damage public health and raise U.S. medical costs, which are already the highest in the world.

But no matter how hard Big Ag and the mass media try to misinform consumers, they are fighting a losing battle. There is mounting scientific evidence that genetically engineered foods are hazardous to human and animal health, and are severely damaging the environment and the climate. This is the reason why millions of Americans are turning to certified organic food, which bans GMOs, synthetic pesticides, and animal drugs. The big lie is that cheap chemical and GMO food isn't really cheap, if you take the long view.

Shame on you Dr. Oz, and the rest of the mass media for perpetuating this big lie.

No matter how many universities pump out however many studies, no matter how many famous TV personalities -- including those wearing scrubs -- try to tell us otherwise, our current systems of food and agriculture are unsustainable. That's why the organic food and farming movement is growing by leaps and bounds. That's why organic foods and agriculture will soon become the norm, just as they once were for thousands of years, not just the alternative.

About the authors:
Katherine Paul is director of development and communications at the Organic Consumers Association.