Skeletons in the FDA's ClosetWritten by Shane Ellison
It is time that actions of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) speak for themselves and Americans began to question their own absorbent use and blind-loyalty to FDA approved drugs. If not, you too may become a FDA statistic. The FDA's financial ties to "big-pharma" have caused millions of preventable deaths over last 30 years. In 1996-97 FDA approved a drug known as Posicor (a chemical called mibefradil dihydrochloride) for treatment of high blood pressure (hypertension). Prior to approval, data from congestive heart failure trials presented at a FDA Advisory Committee meeting on Posicor showed that more patients treated with Posicor died than those taking a placebo! After its release for use by public 200 more Americans died from using Posicor as prescribed. It was finally removed from market in 1998. To treat high cholesterol, FDA has approved synthetic chemicals known as "statins". Brand names include Zocor, Lipitor, Pravachol, Mevacor, Baycol, and Lescol. Unknown to public and most doctors, statin drugs can be life threatening. In a letter to Archives of Internal Medicine, Uffe Ravnskov MD, PhD and colleagues show that in two of three clinical trials that included healthy people, chance of surviving was better without treatment of statins. Researchers from University of Denmark report that about 15% of statin users over age of 50 will suffer from nerve damage. Since cholesterol is manufactured in liver, it remains to be seen just how much liver damage consuming public will sustain when internal organ injuries are factored in. USA Today reported, "Statins have killed and injured more people than government has acknowledged". To add insult to injury, there are no studies linking high cholesterol directly to heart disease. Wrap your brain cells around that! Factors that can be linked to heart disease are high levels of homocysteine within a person's body. But that's a problem that can be cured with proper ratios of B vitamins and folic acid. Translation, no profit for doctors or drug companies. Pop Quiz: Who profits when you get sick from statins? In 1998 FDA attacked retail suppliers of Red Yeast Rice (RYR), a food that is known for lowering cholesterol. FDA squads and U.S Marshals raided numerous supplement providers and stole product from their shelves. Shortly thereafter, FDA sent letters to all providers of RYR demanding that they remove RYR from their stores. Interestingly, clinical trials demonstrated RYR to be more effective (by 17-21%) at lowering total cholesterol and inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase (the enzyme that produces cholesterol in body) than aforementioned life-threatening statins. Clinical trials also demonstrated that RYR has zero negative side effects. So if you really wanted to lower high cholesterol levels, you could do so with food that would not "kill you by accident". The Art of Corporate Drug Pushing Since their 1998 raids, FDA has continued to denounce clear winners like Red Yeast Rice and promote use of losers like patented synthetic statins for lowering cholesterol. The media and doctors continue to tell us that synthetic statins will help prevent heart attacks and strokes. More recently they have added prevention of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) to list of benefits that can be had by use of statin's. These drugs however are known to cause nerve damage in older patients and nerve damage within brain is one of causes of AD. What gives? That statins can prevent AD is a fallacy. This is typical regurgitated dogma from high paid complacent doctors and talking heads within media. It is also an excellent way to push more pills on laymen who doesn't have a strong understanding of drugs and disease.
| | Why Diets Fail and What to do about it.Written by Phil Satterfield
Why Diets Fail and What You Can Do About It. Written by Phil Satterfield If you are like most people I know, you have tried one diet after another. They decide one day that they are going on a diet and BANG they suddenly dieting. Many times when people do this they just stop eating, or eat very little. If they follow a diet plan many times it is a crash diet, which promises some large amount of weight loss in a short period of time.As many people find out neither one these approaches work well. Why don’ they work? There are several reasons. The first reason, especially if someone drastically reduces what they eat, they get hungry, and you can only drink so much ice water, until you need real food. Many diet plans leave you hungry as well. Another reason diets fail is because; many diet plans are designed to work for all of us. I feel that is a problem. We are all made differently, we have different tastes and situations, so how can we expect diet plan that worked for our friend, will work for us. A third reason, that many dieters fail is because they just jump into a diet with out really thinking about it. We need to have goal and a plan to reach our weight loss goals. Just starting a diet one day, even a great diet program, can quickly lead to burn out. If one day you are eating what you want and next day, you are eating tofu and carrots, which is too drastic of a difference for most people. As a they cannot stay on diet for long. These are three reasons diets fail. So, how can we make a diet a success?
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