Though generations of dental students have been sold on the dental benefits of fluoride, studies over the last decade in particular have suggested a correlation with cancer. Studies conducted by the National Toxicology Program and the New Jersey Department of Health, have shown higher than normal incidents of cancer in male rats exposed to fluoridated water, for example.

Such studies have helped spawn grassroots opposition to fluoridation, and, since 1999, 70 U.S. communities have rejected fluoridation schemes, according to Fluoride Action Network, a watchdog group.

But fluoridation programs flourished even in the face of questions about health impacts. Kropp says the thrust behind fluoridation “is faceless. Some of the big proponents of fluoridation and some of the original experiments done, and done in faulty ways, aren’t around anymore. But you have new generations of dentists and public health officials who were taught in school that this is fine, so there’s no reason to do to the literature. It just gets passed down that way.”

Nonetheless, more and more scientists are refusing to take fluoride’s safety for granted.

Dr. Hardy Limeback, a leading Canadian expert and head of preventive dentistry at the University of Toronto, said he could not comment for this story because he is involved in a two-year review of fluoride for the National Academy of Sciences.

But Limeback, who once supported but now opposes fluoridation, has written extensively on fluoride’s health risks, and his views are shared by many in the scientific community. He has written that global cavity rates have declined mostly as a result of fluoridated toothpaste and that topical applications rather than widespread applications through community water can prevent tooth decay. Limeback and others also point out that industrial sources of fluoride contain harmful chemicals and have not been tested properly.

“Hydrofluorosilicic acid is recovered from the smokestack scrubbers during the production of phosphate fertilizer and sold to most of the major cities in North America, which use this industrial grade source of fluoride to fluoridate drinking water, rather than the more expensive pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride salt,” he wrote in a public letter in April 2000. “Fluorosilicates have never been tested for safety in humans. Furthermore, these industrial-grade chemicals are contaminated with trace amounts of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and radium that accumulate in humans.”

Kelly Hearn | AlterNet (read more. . .)

healingarts | July 21, 2005 |

Paul Krugman | NYTimes

The obvious model for those hoping to reverse the fattening of America is the campaign against smoking. Before the surgeon general officially condemned smoking in 1964, rising cigarette consumption seemed an unstoppable trend; since then, consumption per capita has fallen more than 50 percent.

But it may be hard to match that success when it comes to obesity. I’m not talking about the inherent difficulty of the task - getting people to consume fewer calories and/or exercise more may be harder than getting people to stop smoking, but we won’t know until we try. I’m talking, instead, about how the political winds have shifted.

Public health activists were successful in taking on smoking in part because at the time corporations didn’t know how to play the public opinion game. By today’s standards, the political ineptitude of Big Tobacco was awe-inspiring. In a famous 1971 interview on “Face the Nation,” the chairman of the board of Philip Morris, confronted with evidence that smoking by mothers leads to low birth weight, replied, “Some women would prefer having smaller babies.”
(more…)

healingarts | July 8, 2005 |

Alicia Priest | Whole Health

From the perspective of the status quo, it was the kind of “news” that’s best ignored. So that’s exactly what most newspapers, radio, and TV outlets did—even though the revelation appeared in a respected, peer-reviewed science journal and the subject concerned the health of millions of children and young adults.

In March, the journal Pediatrics published an article titled “Calcium, Dairy Products, and Bone Health in Children and Young Adults: A Re-evaluation of the Evidence.” The scientists who did the review belong to the Washington, D.C.–based organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. PCRM members are often dismissively referred to as animal-rights advocates. They de-scribe themselves as “doctors and laypersons working together for compassionate and effective medical practice, research, and health promotion.”

However you view them, you can’t knock their methodology. The scientists examined 58 published studies on the relationship between calcium, dairy products, and bone health. After excluding studies that did not control for exercise, weight, puberty, or vitamin D—all things that influence bones—they concluded that there is “scant evidence” that dairy products promote bone health in children.
(more…)

healingarts | July 6, 2005 |

Paul Krugman | NYTimes

The Center for Consumer Freedom, an advocacy group financed by Coca-Cola, Wendy’s and Tyson Foods, among others, has a Fourth of July message for you: worrying about the rapid rise in American obesity is unpatriotic.

“Far too few Americans,” declares the center’s Web site, “remember that the Founding Fathers, authors of modern liberty, greatly enjoyed their food and drink. … Now it seems that food liberty - just one of the many important areas of personal choice fought for by the original American patriots - is constantly under attack.”

It sounds like a parody, but don’t laugh. These people are blocking efforts to help America’s children.
(more…)

healingarts | July 4, 2005 |

Hugh Mann | organicMD.org

Health is metabolic efficiency. Sickness is metabolic inefficiency. Nobody is totally healthy or totally sick. Each of us is a unique combination of health and sickness. And each of us has a unique combination of abilities and disabilities, both emotional and physical.

As we grow up, we learn that we are loved for our abilities but hated for our disabilities. This happens at home, at play, at school, and at work. Sometimes, this even happens with our doctors, especially if our disabilities mystify them or remind them of their own disabilities.

So, we try to hide our disabilities from people and from ourselves. This charade undermines our relationships and our self-esteem. We learn to fear society and hate ourselves.

Self-hatred is the most debilitating sickness. It interferes with our ability to seek and accept help. And everybody needs help. How do we free ourselves from self-hatred?

First, we reclaim our disabilities, whether society accepts them or not. This means that we learn to accept ourselves. Then, we cope with our disabilities. This means that we learn to take care of ourselves.
(read more. . .)

healingarts | July 3, 2005 |

You have Domino’s Pizza on speed dial, and laundry piled high on your dining table. Your kids think Veggie Booty is one of the basic food groups. You spend more time in the car than in the kitchen.

You’re not alone.

The home-cooked family meal is quickly becoming a thing of the past. A recent survey conducted by the University of Minnesota shows that the number of American families who regularly eat dinner together has dropped by more than one-third since 1970, as busy parents opt instead for the convenience of restaurant meals or takeout in front of the television. But Marialisa Calta, a food writer and working mother, is on a mission to turn back the clock. And while encouraging American women to unleash their inner Betty Crocker might not seem progressive, Calta’s serious commitment to helping parents embrace domesticity, at the dinner table at least, has landed her in the ranks of a quiet revolution taking place in small towns and cities across the country. Backed by a spate of studies showing that children who routinely eat dinner with their families not only perform better in school but are also less vulnerable to depression, drug and alcohol addiction and eating disorders, a Columbia University substance abuse counseling center (CASA) has even set aside an official holiday — Sept. 26 — devoted to getting parents and kids eating together.

Calta’s new book, “Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the Modern American Family,” takes readers into the kitchens and dining rooms of a dozen families across the country as they attempt to make a healthy, home-cooked meal every (well, almost every) night. With unpretentious advice and simple menus drawing on pantry staples such as beans, chicken stock and pasta (and featuring a special section on that Nixon-era workhorse, the slow cooker), “Barbarians” offers an antidote to the fussy, labor-intensive Martha Stewart mentality that intimidates many home cooks. “You don’t have to chain yourself to the stove,” she writes. “If you are organized enough to get your tired self dressed and to work every day you have the tools to get food on the table.” Around that table, Calta believes, parents and children share much more than food — they exchange stories, learn about each other’s lives, and hone social graces that serve them in school and beyond.

Sarah Karnasiewicz | Salon (read more. . .)

healingarts | July 1, 2005 |

Kelly Hearn | COMMON GROUND

Psssst, summer’s coming, so it’s time to study up on sunscreens.

There are debates swirling about the health impacts of sunscreens. What’s up with that? Are some safer than others? How should sunscreens be used? Or should we just stick to the shade?

The key is balance and, importantly, avoiding the wrong sunscreens.

Plans vary. But fortunately there are resources and tips to help.

Smart sunning requires finding that level of exposure that gives our body the sun-derived Vitamin D it needs while avoiding three types of skin cancer: melanoma, squamous cell and basal cell.

First off, we have to recognize that vitamin D is a key nutrient the body needs to fight a variety of diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure and some forms of cancers. And experts say a surprising number of people lack Vitamin D. So, generally speaking (and there are always exceptions) we do need some sun … sans sunscreen.
(more…)

healingarts | June 20, 2005 |

Elaina Love | CommonGround

Many of us suffer from food sensitivities and allergies and without recognizing the symptoms or the cause. Because food is so essential to our physical, mental, and emotional well being, it affects our entire way of life when these sensitivities develop. Physical reactions to food sensitivities can be as mild as hot feet and as severe as depression or anaphylactic shock. Sometimes people to deal with the symptoms with pharmaceuticals, pills, herbs, and even surgery. While these may provide a temporary “fix” for the problem, you can never be truly healthy unless you find out why your body is doing what it is doing.

Before discovering my own food allergies, I was cranky, had severe eczema, painful PMS that lasted for days, and other debilitating physical and emotional pain including arthritis, fatigue and depression. I thought it was just something I had to live with. I had no idea that I had the power to cure myself.

Ninety percent of all food allergies can be attributed to these foods: dairy products, soy, shellfish, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, egg whites.
(more…)

healingarts | May 27, 2005 |

Kelly Hearn | Conscious Choice

It’s everywhere and here’s why limiting your kids’ exposure makes good health sense.

For five decades, fluoride has been pitched as insurance against mottled teeth, a prerequisite for a healthy smile, a trophy for modern preventive medicine. But as the chemical has been added to drinking water and ingested by millions of Americans each day, scientists and activists are warning that both adults — and kids in particular — are getting far too much fluoride, translating to potentially severe health problems.

Mainstream medical associations, corporations and the U.S. government have invested money and reputation trumpeting the benefits of water fluoridation programs, saying community water fluoridation is an equitable, cost-effective way to prevent dental cavities, especially for poor children. Opponents say spiked water supplies combined with a sea of fluoride-containing products like toothpastes, gels and rinses are delivering large and harmful exposures — and kids are getting the brunt of it.
(more…)

healingarts | May 25, 2005 |

Morgan Spurlock, from Don’t Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America

Every waking moment of our lives, we swim in an ocean of advertising, all of it telling us the same thing: consume, consume. And then consume some more. The epidemic of overconsumption begins with the things we put in our mouths. The United States is the fattest nation on earth. Sixty-five per cent of American adults are overweight; 30 per cent are obese. In the decade between 1991 and 2001, obesity figures almost doubled.

But the truly shocking thing is that we’ve taught our kids how to be fat, too. Obesity rates in American children remained stable throughout the 1960s, but they began to climb in the 1970s. In the past 20 years, the rate of obesity has doubled in children and trebled in teenagers. Kids are starting to clock in as obese as early as the age of two. If we find that surprising, we shouldn’t.
(more…)

healingarts | May 23, 2005 |

Dharma Singh Khalsa, from The Pain Cure: The Proven Medical Program that Helps End Your Chronic Pain

Pain is a more terrible Lord of mankind than even death itself. —Albert Schweitzer

Torture Victims

If you are in chronic pain, you probably feel alone and frightened. You may feel helpless. You might even feel as if life’s no longer worth living. I understand. I understand completely. You have the worst medical problem a person can have.

Chronic pain is the most devastating physical malady that exists. It’s even more overwhelming than having a terminal illness, according to patients of mine who have suffered from both conditions.

Being in pain, hour after hour, day after day, rips away your strength, your hope, your personality, and even your love.

Chronic pain is a demonic force that can destroy everything it touches.

But people are strong. I’m constantly amazed by their courage. When life knocks them down, they struggle back up. They do it again and again, all their lives.

If you’re a pain patient who is reading this page right now, you must certainly be strong, because you’re still trying to find a way out of your suffering. Despite everything, you still have hope. I salute your bravery. In my eyes, you’re a hero.
(more…)

healingarts | May 2, 2005 |

Katharine Mieszkowski | Salon

Whoops. There’s a toxin in the new food pyramid.

Apparently, the United States Department of Agriculture, which released the pyramid last week, forgot that women of child-bearing age and young children aren’t ever supposed to eat swordfish and king mackerel, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommendations. (Nursing moms, would-be moms and kids are supposed to limit their diet of tuna, too.)

Those fish are among those most contaminated with mercury, a pollutant released from coal-fired power plants — which the Bush administration has failed to crack down on. According to E.P.A. research, some 600,000 U.S. newborns, each year, are at risk for learning disorders and behavioral problems because of their exposure to the neurotoxin in the womb.
(more…)

healingarts | April 26, 2005 |

Katharine Mieszkowski | Salon

Why do more and more kids in the U.S. have pudgy paunches bulging over the tops of their low-rider jeans? When it comes to the much-publicized childhood obesity epidemic, everyone has a pet theory.

With today’s super-sized fast food portions, kids pack it in by the fistful of fries and 20-ounce Coke. More meals at home consist of takeout or precooked ready-made fare, loaded with fat and calories. TV and video games have vanquished running around outside. Kids in the city have too few safe places to play. And kids in the suburbs have no sidewalks to walk on, much less places to walk to. Fewer kids walk or ride their bikes to school, either because there’s no safe route, or it’s simply too far. At school, phys ed and recess have been shortened or eliminated, through the double whammy of budget cuts and renewed emphasis on academic testing. And many schools sell junk food to kids in the cafeteria in an attempt to subsidize shrinking budgets through soft drink and candy bar revenue.

(more…)

healingarts | April 16, 2005 |

John Robbins, from Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth

You might think that your doctor would be a reliable guide to your optimum diet, and would convey to you any emerging truths of sound nutritional research that significantly affect your health. But actually, most doctors don’t know very much about nutrition. You’d think they would, but they don’t. That’s not their department. They have been trained to treat disease with drugs and surgery. They have not been trained to prevent disease through healthy life and diet-styles.

Nutritional education is not just inadequate in contemporary medical schools; in most cases it’s nonexistent. At the 69th annual meeting of the American Medical Women’s Association, one doctor drew knowing laughs when she told the audience about her lack of nutritional training. (more…)

healingarts | April 3, 2005 |

Thom Hartmann | CommonDreams

Years ago, a popular and wry sign to hang in one’s office or on one’s cubicle said, “A Clean Desk Is The Sign Of A Sick Mind.” There is a very faint grain of truth to that, which highlights an opportunity for the media to use Terry Schaivo’s tragic situation to actually save lives of girls and women (and a few men) in non-vegetative states.

For years it was believed that anorexia (not eating) and bulimia (eating and vomiting or “purging”) were signs of an exogenous “induced” (life-experience-caused) mental illness. The most common theories constituted a hodge-podge of ideas ranging from “bad parenting” and child abuse to the more Freudian “poor toilet training,” and psychotherapy to treat anorexia and/or bulimia centered around trying to remember, bring out, relive, and/or relieve these “causes.” These therapies rarely worked, and often made situations worse by focusing on the loci of the obsession. (more…)

healingarts | March 31, 2005 |