Want to find out which fruits and vegetable made the Environmental Working Group’s good list and which ones were naughty for 2013? The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce list and the results are surprising.

The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure. Use EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides to reduce your exposures as much as possible, but eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all. The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce.

This year the Dirty Dozen list has been expanded with a Plus category to highlight two crops — green beans and leafy greens, meaning, kale and collard greens – that did not meet traditional Dirty Dozen criteria but were commonly contaminated with highly toxic organophosphate insecticides. These insecticides are toxic to the nervous system and have been largely removed from agriculture over the past decade. But they are not banned and still show up on some food crops.

Without further ado, the Dirty Dozen List:

What exactly are smartphone baby monitors, and how do they work? There are several popular misconceptions and misunderstandings about smartphone monitors, and so in this article I’ll be taking a look at some of them, and making it easier for parents to know what to look out for. Continue reading “Smartphone Baby Monitors – Common Misunderstandings” »

Many of my readers are peanut butter lovers and you may be too.  That’s why I wanted you to know about the current salmonella tainted peanut products outbreak that, as of October 16, has sickened 35 people in 19 states.  If you typically buy peanut butter from Trader Joe’s or consume other peanut-containing products bought anywhere, you’ll want to check the list of products cited for recall at the manufacturer’s website (see link below).  Here’s what happened.

Salmonella Peanut Butter Outbreak 2012

At the end of September 2012, the CDC confirmed salmonella Bredeney bacteria outbreak in peanut products that came out of a specific manufacturer  – Sunland of Portales, New Mexico. According to a USA News Today [Peanut Butter Plant Tests Positive for Salmonella, October 5], many of these products included peanut butter purchased at Trader Joe stores across the country – especially the Valencia Creamy brand.  Of the 35 people who have become ill with salmonella poisoning, some have required hospitalization.  To date, no deaths have been reported.

The Sunland Company has expanded its product recall to include all of their products that had been made from March 2010 and September 24, 2012 and has stopped its nut butter production. These peanut butter products include Open Nature Crunchy Peanut Butter, Sprout’s Creamy Almond Butter, Archer Farms Creamy Cashew Butter and Sunland Natural Tahini.

According to Channel 7 KLTV [Company linked to salmonella poisoning expands peanut recall, October 16, 2012] the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) had found salmonella in raw peanuts in Sunland’s processing plant.  As a result, the company has expanded its recall list to include raw and roasted peanuts and in-shell peanuts sold in 2 oz to 50 lb sizes.

The company’s recall list now includes 76 products including candy, peanuts, ice cream, Starbuck’s bistro boxes that contain peanut butter, and Hines Dollar General peanut butter.  The manufacturer is recommending that if you have any of these products to either discard or return them for a refund or store credit.

To view the list of products recalled click here.

What Is a Salmonella Infection?

Salmonella is an infection acquired by bacteria tainted foods which can make people severely ill – even fatally.  It can affect anyone poorly, but generally children and the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems will be the most at risk for dangerous outcomes.   Its symptoms include:

• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Abdominal cramps
• Weakness

Treatment for salmonella depends on the severity of the infection/symptoms since it is generally self-limiting unless complications develop. Drinking a lot of fluids, water and/or electrolyte-fortified sports drinks, is necessary to both flush out the organism and prevent dehydration. Be sure, though, that you see your doctor and follow his/her directions for treatment.

In more severe cases, or in cases where someone’s immune system is already weakened, antibiotics like ciprofloxacin are given. Sometimes, hospitalization with IV antibiotics and antidiarrheal agents are necessary.

Even if you get salmonella infection from one of these peanut products, the outcome is good in about 80% of people if diagnosed and treated promptly. It is especially important to not become dehydrated which can lead to electrolyte abnormalities and subsequent heart rhythm disorders.

What Should I Know About Buying Peanut Products?

Typically, when we hear of salmonella outbreaks it has to do with undercooked meat, fish or egg products, eating unwashed fruit, or bottled/canned foods with salmonella contaminated product.  As peanut plants grow in the ground they are naturally exposed to all types of bacteria, viruses and fungus. The cleaning process that takes place by peanut processing manufacturers, however, usually is sufficient to kill all the contaminants and produce a safe product.

Yet, a Penn State Food Safety Division report [Trader Joe's recalls peanut butter after linkage to Salmonella outbreak], suggests that peanuts being a dry food, can be more resistant to roasting and cleaning processes which can allow salmonella to flourish. Another Scientific American study [How Does Salmonella Get Into Peanut Butter? February 2009] from a 2008-2009 salmonella peanut outbreak suggested that perhaps contaminants, like water from leaking roofs, or animal feces, may be involved as the source of the salmonella.

The current outbreak involves peanuts that have, as far as we know at this time, come out of one manufacturing plant – Sunland Products.  When you buy peanuts, peanut butter, or any product that contains peanuts, read the label carefully for the name of the manufacturer who made the product.

I want to ensure that my readers are safe in dealing with peanut products.  It is important for you to know that if you have bought, and/or eaten peanut products, even if their labels do not come from Sunland Products, and you develop the symptoms noted above, please see your doctor immediately.

Stay Well,
Mark Rosenberg, M.D.
Natural Health News

Company linked to salmonella poisoning expands peanut recall,http://www.kltv.com/story/19829861/company-linked-to-illness-expands-peanut-recall

Peanut Butter Plant Tests Positive for Salmonella,http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/05/peanut-butter-salmonella-outbreak/1615475/

Salmonella Poisoning Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention, Vaccine, Causes, History,http://www.medicinenet.com/salmonella/page7.htm#what_are_the_prognosis_outcomes_and_complications_for_salmonella_infections

How Does Salmonella Get Into Peanut Butter?http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=salmonella-poisoning-peanut-butter

Trader Joe Trader Joe’s recalls peanut butter after linkage to Salmonella outbreak,http://pennstatefoodsafety.blogspot.com/2012/09/trader-joes-is-recalling-creamy-salted.html

Water is the most familiar substance in our lives, and the most important. Every cell in our bodies is plumped full of water; every heartbeat, every thought — including thoughts about water — happens only because of the cascade of chemistry that water makes possible. Yet we know almost nothing about water, starting with such basics as: Where does our water come from? Where does it go once it disappears down the drain? In fact, even what we think we know about water is often wrong.

1. We’re running out of water.

We see it in the headlines almost every day: Drought in Texas and China. Nevada’sLake Mead in danger of going dry. The Colorado River and the Rio Grande no longer flowing to the sea.

Water seems to be getting more and more scarce. But it’s not. The amount of water on Earth isn’t changing, and as a planet we’re in no danger of running out.

One of the most misleading “facts” we learn about water, starting in the second grade or so, is that 97.5 percent of the water on Earth is unusable by humans, because it’s salty ocean water.

Actually, the oceans are Olympian springs of fresh water — every day, the sun, the sea and evaporation combine to make 45,000 gallons of rainwater for each man, woman and child on Earth. Even in the United States, where we use water with profligacy, the oceans are making more fresh water for each of us in a month than we’ll use in a decade.

And one of the most remarkable qualities of water, of course, is that we never really use it up. Water reemerges from everything we do with it, whether it’s making coffee or making steel, ready to use again.

The problem is that we’ve built our communities, our farms and our reservoirs in places we expect water to be. The scarcity we’re seeing is a result, in part, of a shifting climate — it’s still raining, but it may not be raining in the watersheds of our reservoirs. Water scarcity is also a result of population growth; more people need more water. And it is often a hidden cost of economic development. As people get wealthier, they use more water for things such as bathing and running the dishwasher, and more energy, which requires huge volumes of water.

2. Bottled water is better than tap water.

Tap water in the United Statesis among the safest in the world. And it is much more closely monitored than bottled water. Cities must test their water every few hours and report any safety issue within 48 hours. Bottled-water companies are required to test their water only once a week, and they are not required to report problems.

Occasionally, there are issues with municipal water in the United States. The presence of lead in some parts of Washington D.C.’s water system is a vivid example. But those exceptions underscore how important safe water is and how rare problems are.

Anyone who is worried about safety should use a commercial faucet or pitcher filter. And anyone who thinks tap water tastes bad compared with bottled water should remember that you usually buy bottled water from a cold case, when you’re really thirsty. That’s why it tastes so great. Keep a pitcher or bottle of tap water in your refrigerator, and it will taste just as good as bottled water. In fact, in blind taste tests, people can’t reliably pick bottled from tap.

3. This is going to be a century of water wars.

Although we hear all the time that “water is the next oil” — that it will become a source of international conflict, that its price will soar — there aren’t likely to be water wars anytime soon.

We fight over oil because it is essential. We also fight over it because it is transportable over long distances; there is an elaborate system of pipelines, ships and trucks for moving it wherever it’s needed. If you secure oil in a war, you can actually use it. And there is an economics of oil that supports moving it — and fighting over it.

When oil was cheap — it cost $30 a barrel as recently as 2003 — 10 gallons of crude cost $7. Ten gallons of tap water, meanwhile, costs 3 cents. Water is simply too cheap to fight over, and too hard to move around the world on demand.

Aaron Wolf, a professor at Oregon State University, has looked back more than 1,000 years and has found no instance of armed conflict between countries in which water was a primary issue. Indeed, Wolf’s research shows that when nations sit down to resolve water issues, they often end up resolving wider conflicts.

4. With more people and a growing economy, America is using more water all the time.

Actually, one of America’s greatest conservation stories of recent years is that, as a country, we use less water today than we did in 1980. In that span, the United States has doubled the size of its economy and added 70 million people, yet we use 10 percent less water than we did 30 years ago.

Most of that savings has come from farmers and power plants using less water, while producing dramatically more food and more electricity. Agriculture and electric power generation are the two largest consumers of water each day, accounting for 80 percent of water use.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we can take 20-minute showers or cultivate lush lawns inPhoenix. Even as total water use has fallen, water use at home has risen in the past 30 years, although modestly. The average American in 2005 used about 3.5 gallons more per day than in 1980. That’s one extra toilet flush for each of us.

But municipal water is the most expensive and complicated water to get, deliver and dispose of. The economic vitality of cities requires water pipes, pumps and treatment plants. So for cities, the cheapest water is water that residents don’t use. And conservation liberates existing water for new residents and businesses.

Even small steps add up: not flushing the toilet if you don’t need to, using all those half-empty water bottles to fill the dog bowl, paying close attention to how much water your garden or lawn actually needs.

5. You need to drink eight glasses a day.

Although this bit of health advice has stuck around like a discarded piece of gum, there is no medical basis for it.

For most healthy people, the best signal to drink — water, juice or even caffeinated beverages — is thirst. Our sense of thirst is incredibly alert. It’s triggered if our internal water balance gets just 1 percent out of kilter.

This sense does dim a bit as people age, so for elderly people, consciously drinking several glasses of water, or any other beverage, is a good daily habit.

But to puncture the eight-glasses-a-day myth, all you have to do is try to follow the advice for a couple of days. Most people would have to work hard to gulp down an eight-ounce glass of water once an hour, every hour, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. And you’d quickly be reminded what your body does with excess water.

Learn more about The Big Thirst at” www.thebigthirst.com

Charles Fishman is the author of “The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water.” He writes for Fast Company magazine and blogs about water for National Geographic. cnfish@mindspring.com

This article is reprinted from The Washington Post

A few months ago HerBusyLife published a story about the effects that Brazilian Blowout hair straighteners were having on the health of clients and employees of salons across the country because of the use of formaldehyde in their product.  Read the article here.

According to the New York Times, a class action settlement has been enforced and Brazilian Blowout will have to pay out about $4.5 million. Customers who claimed they were harmed will get $35 per hair-straightening session, a fraction of the $250 to $600 salons typically charge for the treatment. They will be compensated for up to three sessions, or a maximum of $105. Salon workers will get $75 for each bottle of the product they bought.

As a result of the settlement, Brazilian Blowout products now must display a “CAUTION” sticker. The company agreed to refrain from misleading consumers about the risks associated with its formaldehyde-releasing products and pay $600,000 in fines and litigation fees.   “While the company now acknowledges that formaldehyde is in its product, that does not mean the product is safe to use.” said David Andrews, PhD, senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

EWG is still awaiting action from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in response to a citizen petition filed last April, asking the agency to investigate and review the safety of formaldehyde-laced hair straighteners. Under current law, the FDA has no authority to order a recall of products, even when they have been shown to harm people.

Brazilian Blowout is the best known hair straightener that contains formaldehyde, but an EWG investigation found 16 companies include formaldehyde in their hair smoothing products.

At the start of a new year my patients invariably ask me what things they can do to keep themselves healthy.  One of the first basic things I tell them is to take good care of their teeth! Like many of my patients, you may wonder what the condition of your gums and teeth have to do with your overall health? Continue reading “Good Dental Care Ensures Overall Health!” »