Meat-eating 'kills 45,000 each year'

Excessive meat-eating kills 45,000 each year reports the Independent The Independent:

A Dietry Judgement Day approaches.

This time it's Oxford University who has released statistics that show it would be better for health and better for the environment if we ate less meat.

The University study reveals lowering meat consumption in the UK would prevent about 45,000 premature deaths a year.

Oxford University's heart unit analysed the health consequences of a range of diets.

It concluded that eating meat no more than three times a week would prevent 31,000 deaths from heart disease, 9,000 deaths from cancer and 5,000 deaths from strokes each year, saving the NHS £1.2bn.

Friends of the Earth, which commissioned the research for its Healthy Planet Eating report, published today, said reducing meat consumption would also help slow the rates of climate change and deforestation.

Clearly this is the sort of thing that George Osbourne needed to address in his budget to make savage cuts to save the economy.

Healthier food in schools, hospitals and government offices is long overdue, the government needs to lead by example.

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Health and Nutrition Questionnaire

London Nutritionist - Health and Nutrition 5 min Questionnaire:

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TEA TIME! A five minute tick box health and lifestyle questionnaire

Please make yourself a cup of tea and then fill in our 5 min nutrition and health questionnaire for a 10% discount voucher off a consultation with London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston and a chance to win a healthy dinner party for you and your friends. >>  Health and Nutrition 5 min Questionnaire:

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Dangers of Weight Loss Diet Pills

Diet Pills Can Cause Liver Damage!

News broke today of a new report on diet pills such as ALLI (the fat busting pill in the windows of almost every chemist and pharmacy in the UK) that suggests these miracle cure super magic bullet diet pills can increase the risk of liver damage.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is investigating reports of liver damage in patients taking diet pills containing the chemical orlistat, an ingredient in the popular over-the-counter drug Alli and its prescription version Xenical says www.newsday.com

While the FDA has not sent out a public warning about the drug, it is looking at reports that 32 cases of serious liver damage have been identified from 1999 to 2008, including six cases of liver failure. All but two of the injuries occurred outside the United States.

"We estimate that since 1999, more than 11 million prescriptions have been dispensed, and we see 32 adverse events around the world. It's a fairly unusual occurrence [for a] very popular drug," an FDA spokeswoman said.

Orlistat blocks the intestines from absorbing fat when taken up to three times a day with meals. The FDA approved Xenical in 1999 for weight management in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet. Alli, which contains half the dose of orlistat, was cleared for nonprescription use in 2007.

Both drugs are marketed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, though Xenical is manufactured by Swiss firm Roche.

The makers Glaxo Smithkline (GSK) have dismissed claims that the research proves diet pills such as Alli can cause liver damage, suggesting it's the fact that people are fat that makes them more prone to liver problems, not their miracle diet pills that they say can help fatties lose an extra 1lb a week - 3lb of weight loss per week instead of 2lb weight loss.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "We were invited to help publicise these diet pills when they were first launched but we refused. We are opposed to them - they encourage the notion that people can eat the same unhealthy food and just take a diet pill to stop fat being absorbed into the body. These diet pills also perpetuate the myth that all fat is bad. Some fats are essential. It's too much saturated animal fat and processed vegetable fat in our diets that is the problem. Meanwhile many people actually have a shortage of the essential omega 3 fats and EPA which is needed for the healthy integrity of every cell membrane in the body and especially the body's vital organs such as the brain."

"Don't take these pills - eat more healthily, eat essential nutrient dense food rather than just belly enhancing calorie dense food" is the Nutritionist's message.

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Organic Foods - TheTruth on Health

Soil Association response to the Food Standards Agency's Organic Review

I'm still at a loss at how the FSA reached their decision when you read their report carefully, despite the biased nature of the report, it still manages to identify major benefits of organic foods.

Obviously a major concern amongst consumers buying organic is to avoid xenoestrogens, toxins and other potential residue contaminants in conventional crops

The FoodStandard's Agency study on Organic Foods admits

1. This review does not address contaminant content (such as herbicide, pesticide and fungicide residues) of organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs.

It is well proven that (most probably due to modern conventional farming and harvesting methods) average nutrient levels in food have reduced in recent years. It's suspected that the McCance and Widdowson data that nutritionists use could be hopelessly out of date for use as a therapeutic tool. Despite this studies as early as 1958 have been used by the FSA in the meta study.

The FSA study on Organic Food admits

2. Based on 162 relevant articles published, in peer-reviewed journals since 1st January 1958

The FSA meta study did find differences in important nutrient values The FSA study on Organic Food admits

3. Significant differences in content between organically and conventionally produced crops were found in some minerals (nitrogen higher in conventional crops; magnesium and zinc higher in organic crops),phytochemicals (phenolic compounds and flavonoids higher in organic crops)

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "We have many clients in clinic displaying symptoms of magnesium deficiency and Zinc is very important for helping with infertility problems which are on the increase. It's been shown anti oxidants such as flavonoids have an important role to play in protecting the body. It's misleading for the FSA to suggest food with higher amounts of these nutrients is of 'no importance' for optimal health."

In adition to disqualifying a major new EU study on organic foods the FSA also admits

4. Studies were also disqualified from inclusion if they were primarily concerned with non-nutrient contaminant content (cadmium, lead and mercury)

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Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men

Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men

Research by the University of Warwick and University College London has found that levels of inflammatory markers vary significantly with sleep duration in women, but not men.

The study, published in the American journal SLEEP, found levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a marker related to coronary heart disease, were significantly lower in women who reported sleeping eight hours as compared with 7hours.

A second marker, High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), is predictive of future cardiovascular morbidity. Levels of hs-CRP were significantly higher in women who reported sleeping five hours or less.

Lead author of the study, Associate Professor of Biochemical Medicine at Warwick Medical School Michelle Miller said short-term sleep deprivation studies have shown that inflammatory markers are elevated in sleep-deprived individuals, suggesting that inflammatory mechanisms may play a role in the cardiovascular risk associated with sleep deprivation.

She said: “Our study may provide some insight into a potential mechanism for the observation in previous studies which indicates an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease in individuals who have less than five hours sleep per night.”

The study involved more than 4,600 white participants from the University College London-based Whitehall II cohort study; 73% were men. Participants between the ages of 35 and 55 years were recruited between 1985 and 1988 from 20 London-based civil service departments. Data for this study is from the phase 3 follow-up (1991-1993). Sleep duration was determined by subjective questionnaires, and general health was assessed during a screening examination.

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Food Standards Agency - Arsenic in rice research published

Food Standards Agency - Arsenic in rice research published: Nutritionist warns "the bigger problem is water"

UK Rice Milk Manufacturers Response - FSA Rice and Arsenic Statement

Further to the publication of the Food Standards Information Sheet on arsenic levels in rice products, including rice grains, rice food stuffs and drinks, we confirm that all of our rice drinks have been tested by both the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and an independent laboratory and both testing results are below the legal limits for levels of arsenic in foodstuffs.

The current UK legal limit for arsenic in non-alcoholic beverages is 100 parts per billion 0.1mg/kg). The results of the FSA and independent tests confirmed that none of our products exceeded 20 ppb for inorganic arsenic which is considerably lower than in other foodstuffs.

The European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) is reviewing its advice on arsenic levels, which may result in revised legal limits being set for all food stuff later this year. In the interest of consumer clarity, we had requested that the FSA await the final ruling from EFSA before publishing their statement. We will continue to cooperate with the FSA to ensure the highest level of food safety for our products.

Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "Quite frankly this is yet more proof that variety is the spice of life. This could potentially be a problem if your child is only drinking rice milk. The levels measured by the FSA are one 5th of the recommended limits on drinks and that limit is one 10th of the amount allowed in food. The problem is that there are many other potential sources of arsenic in our diets and the problem will ultimately be the cumulative effect.If you are worried a simple hair mineral test can look for potentially toxic minerals building up in the body."


In the UK, there is a general limit of 1 mg/kg (milligram per kilogram) 1,000 parts per billion for arsenic in food 10 times more than is allowed in drinks.


Water contamination with arsenic was flagged as a problem 2 years ago http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6968574.stm The EU has set a maximum limit of 10 micrograms per litre (10 parts per billion) for arsenic in drinking water

The main sources of arsenic poisoning include:
• Contaminated drinking water
• Some ayurvedic medicines and Chinese herbal medicines
• Pesticides
• Herbicides
• Fungicides
• Wood preservatives
• Ceramic enamels
• Paints
• Tobacco (there may be as much as 6 mcg per pack)
• Burning of fossil fuels as arsenic is a contaminant
• From the diet, as organic arsenic from fish and seafood
• In the USA, illicit whiskey ('moonshine')


Arsenic Level in Tap Water --- *Approximate Total Cancer Risk
(in parts per billion, or ppb)- *(assuming 2 liters consumed/day)

0.5 ppb - * 1 in 10,000
1 ppb - * 1 in 5,000
3 ppb - * 1 in 1,667
4 ppb - * 1 in 1,250
5 ppb - * 1 in 1,000
10 ppb - * 1 in 500
20 ppb - * 1 in 250
25 ppb - * 1 in 200
50 ppb - * 1 in 100

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Sandwiches 'full of fat, salt and sugar'

Sandwiches 'full of fat, salt and sugar'

The health risks from pre-packaged sandwiches have been featured in several newspapers, with The Times featuring the headline ‘Cheese and pickle sandwich and a heart attack’ and the Daily Mail warning that, ‘Ready-lunch can contain as much [salt] as 12 bags of crisps.’

The newspapers have highlighted the hidden levels of sugar, fat and salt in a number of popular high street sandwiches, saying that one Asda cheese sandwich was found to contain more saturated fat than a Big Mac. Other examples include a Marks and Spencer cheese and chutney sandwich containing over five teaspoons of sugar, and Subway’s six-inch meatball sandwich containing 4.7 grams of salt- more than three-quarters of the recommended daily limit for adults.

London Nutritionist Yvonne says "I was on a panel with Greggs the bakers just a few weeks ago and this subject came up. They at least are committed to reducing salt and hydrogenated fat. I am also concerned how difficult it is to buy wholemeal bread sandwiches. There are 'brown' bread sandwiches but it is often just white flour with some added brown bits. So many nutrients are lost when breadflour is refined it's almost as much of a problem to health as the sugar and salt."

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Milk Free Plant Based Calcium Study

Buddhist nuns deliver good news for vegans : thewest.com.au

Healthy Bones - Plant Based Calcium study

Further proof and scientific evidence that challenges the popular dietitian's myth that we need cow's milk for calcium to build healthy bones and maintain good bone density.

This research further strengthens the vegans argument that plant based calcium is superior to that in non human milk as plants have supporting nutrients that help with the absorbtion and retention of calcium. This study shows that even with lower intakes of calcium vegans on simple plant based diets are able to have a bone density that equals those eating meat and dairy with higher levels of calcium.

One theory by Danish scientists that explains this is that calcium may be needed to bind to and process excess saturated animal fat and thus is wasted, literally flushed away. Another theory is that calcium is also used to buffer the acidity of animal protein and is passed out in urine - once again just flushed away.

Sydney-based Professor Tuan Nguyen, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, collaborated with Dr Ho-Pham Thuc Lan from the Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University to undertake research on bone density in 105 nuns, who live in monasteries and temples in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

“We showed that although the vegans studied do indeed have lower protein and calcium intakes, their bone density is virtually identical to that of people who eat a wide variety of foods, including animal protein,” Professor Nguyen said.

The study found the nuns' calcium intake was low, only about 370mg a day, while the recommended level was 1000mg.

Their protein intake was also low - around 35g a day, compared with the non-vegetarian group, which was 65g.

Professor Nguyen said Buddhist nuns were chosen because their faith required them to observe strict vegan diets all their lives.

“We didn’t study vegetarians from the West because many are lacto-vegetarians, so could have considerable calcium in their diets,” he said.

Nutritionist in London Yvonne Bishop-Weston said today "The study shows how a diet rich in vegetables and fruit is likely to have positive effect on bone health. One point to be considered for Western vegans however is that the confounding factor in this report is the vitamin D status. I suspect that the Buddhist nuns are exposed to a healthy amount of sunshine and thus have healthy levels of vitamin D. Vitamin D is a very important synergistic nutrient to maintain good bone health and this may be something that UK vegans with more sedentiary front of computer lifestyles need to account for."

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40 per cent of Cancers Avoidable

Changing diet could cut 40 per cent of cancers | Metro.co.uk

The Metro Reports

"Almost 40 per cent of cancer cases could be prevented by changing diet from red meat and alcohol to fruit and vegetables. A major study from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) found that an estimated 39 per cent of 12 major cancers could be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle."

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London says "It's so tragic that so many people are suffering and dying horrible deaths due to insufficient nutrients and dysfunctional immune systems due to poor diets."

"There will always be those who choose to abuse their bodies with poor food choices, alcohol and smoking but for everyone elase is to insure the information is always there to make an informed choice"

"Too many lunchtime and snack options have no ingredients listings let alone nutritional information. Consumers should avoid retailers who keep tight lipped on the cheap low quality ingredients they use and the nutritional value. They obviously have something to hide.

Health and Beauty

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Food Standards Agency - nutrition research

Food Standards Agency - Agency seeks views on nutrition research



An opportunity to restore the balance between complementary preventative medicine and the present pill for an ill culture that has got us into this outrageous health mess ????

Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "We welcome this opportunity to try to highlight some of the glaringly obvious gaps in modern research. Some of the preventative measures that there's little industry and lobby led profit motivation to investigate properly perhaps..."

"The Food Standards Agency is currently carrying out a strategic review of its nutrition research portfolio and has launched a public consultation, seeking views on the future direction of this work. The consultation responses will be used by an external panel of experts, set up to undertake the review, to inform recommendations.

Professor Mike Kelly of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, is chairing the panel tasked with making recommendations to the FSA about the future content and the balance between different areas of research. This work aims to ensure that the portfolio continues to meet the policy needs of the FSA and is regarded as being value for money.

"The panel has been asked to horizon scan the Agency’s nutrition research needs, taking into account UK public health drivers, the role and remit of other funders and possible collaborations, current funding levels, value for money and key stakeholder views."

More Information.

http://www.food.gov.uk/consultations/ukwideconsults/2009/nutritionresearchreview

Questions asked in Review

* What do you consider are the key evidence gaps in nutrition for which the FSA will need research to be initiated over the next ten years to meet its short to medium term policy needs? In broad terms, what type and scale of research would be needed?
* Do you consider the FSA to have a unique role in any areas (i.e. there are no other relevant funders) and/or significant role as a funder? Which other funders are key in these areas?
* Given the rising costs of performing research and budgetary pressures, what level of impact, in terms of delivery of evidence needs, do you think the FSA can make as a funder in these areas? In that context, what do you think the priorities and balance of the future FSA portfolio should look like?
* What would be the direct and indirect consequences for the FSA (and more generally) of it not being able to fund research in the identified priorities?

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