I am excited to present my new video about my book. I hope it inspires you to really take charge of your health! Sourcing your foods from farms that follow traditional farming practices will help you to heal and build health. Real food saved my life! Watch!
Review: What About Immunizations? Exposing the Vaccine Philosophy
by Cynthia Cournoyer (Pub. 2010, Better Books Publishing)
Many people spend more time researching what color paint to put on their walls, what brand of car to buy, or what vacation package they should choose compared to studying what issues surround vaccination policy and the possible dangers vaccinations pose to the health of their child. Many are not aware that the number of children suffering vaccine damage is escalating exponentially alongside the increase in the vaccination schedule. Most also do not consider that a vaccine will inject foreign DNA and toxins into their child’s body, which can play havoc on their sensitive immune system. Yet, while other medicines and products on the market are held accountable to safety standards, because of the “vaccine philosophy,” a term coined by the author, vaccines do not receive this same scrutiny and are believed safe and effective with the benefits outweighing the risks. It is this philosophy that promotes vaccines blindly and prevents honest inquiry into the possible harmful effects of vaccine policies.
Consequently when people are told by their doctors that they must follow the vaccination schedule, open disclosure of the risks is not forthcoming. Additionally, schools have become the check point of vaccination compliance, and unless the parent knows that they can sign a religious or philosophical exemption, that child will not be allowed to attend school. Therefore it has been entirely up to parents and independent researchers to do their own inquiry into vaccines. What About Immunizations? Exposing the Vaccine Philosophy is a thorough guide to the history, efficacy, research practices, policy protocol and political issues surrounding vaccines.
Fortunately, our society is questioning the entire medical paradigm. Cournoyer points to two opposing health approaches that will lead to completely different practices of health care. When Dr. Weston A. Price studied healthy populations worldwide, he found that their immunity to all disease was due to the nutrient-density of their diets. This is completely in line with the research of French physiologist, Claude Bernard who found that germs and disease would only proliferate if the immune system was weakened—that the general condition of the body was the underlying reason for disease. In conjunction, French biologist, Antoine Bechamp discovered that microorganisms are constantly developing into bacteria. If the tissue is healthy, they will provide life support for the cells. However, if the cells are weakened, they will produce diseased microorganisms, which may evolve into a pathogenic state. Likewise, Hannah Allen, author of Don’t Get Stuck: The Case Against Vaccinations and Injections, argued that diseased microbes are a product of the level of health of the host.
To the contrary, Louis Pasteur believed that germs caused the disease. Yet, on his deathbed, he admitted that “Bernard was right. The seed is nothing, the soil is everything.” Hannah Allen comments, “But like the third automobile, which was the proximate cause of the collision but proceeded on its way with impunity, Pasteur envisioned the truth in the 1880s and abandoned the germ theory, leaving the early immature and erroneous theory to be developed, fostered, and perpetuated by others, the ultimate irony. The mischief, medical misunderstanding and error continue to this day, and the price is incalculable.”
Cournoyer shows us how vaccines were developed in support of Pasteur’s principles. She points however to the poor track record they have had in preventing disease. First, the aspect that vaccines create true immunity to a disease has never been accurately proven. Historically, epidemics have come and gone naturally, often due to societal changes in sanitation and true herd immunity—immunity created over time, by large groups of people recovering from cases of the actual disease. This was true with diseases like small pox, polio and diphtheria. These diseases declined in unvaccinated populations as fast as in highly vaccinated countries. Yet, vaccines were given the credit. In fact, many diseases made a resurgence when the vaccine was implemented.
Vaccines were embraced because of the knowledge that having a moderate form of the disease would procure life-long immunity. However, this permanent kind of immunity and that from receiving a vaccination do not yield the same result. A vaccination injects a weakened form of the disease in the body to provoke an immune response. Thus, the reason why vaccines are reported to work is that they have the ability to raise antibody levels, and this is acknowledged as an indication of protection from the disease. Cournoyer counters this and explains that research proves that this type of immune response may give a false immunity and be permanently weakening the body’s immune system, especially considering the increase in the number of recommended vaccines. This is blatantly evident when you study vaccine efficacy records, which reveal that there is a proportion of people that become ill with diseases for which they have been vaccinated. Additionally there are more children who have chronic illness of all kinds than ever before in history. Given that vaccines challenge immune function, are we creating a population of children susceptible to lifelong illness?
The book further analyzes that we are vaccinating people for diseases for which there is little danger. In countries where there are fewer vaccines, there is no higher incidence of the diseases for which they do not vaccinate against.
Not only is vaccine efficacy dubious, today, the risk for vaccine damage has significantly increased. While more vaccines are added to the mandated schedule every year, reports of vaccine side effects and injury such as fever, rash, drowsiness, fretfulness, vomiting, persistent crying, pallor, coldness, hyporesponsiveness, malaise, convulsions, heart or kidney disorders, erythema, arthralgias, encephalitis or even death are becoming more frequent.
Encephalitis is the primary cause of autism and autism is affecting one in 105 children in our country today! Yet the FDA, medical authorities and the media attempts to convince us that vaccines have not played a role in this epidemic. Cournoyer states that “The primary cause of encephalitis in the United States and other industrialized countries is the childhood vaccination program. Sometimes studies will claim that a vaccine is safe because recipients are not subject to any more encephalitis than the general population. That statement is troubling because our general population is up to 100% vaccinated upon school entry. You cannot compare a vaccinated population with a vaccinated control group and hope to find scientific data.” One must ask, can any widespread medical intervention be considered for “the greater good” when the risk for injury is ever increasing and the track record of effectiveness so poor?
The vaccination policy in other countries has become quite disturbing and makes one question the real motives behind the push for the development of more vaccines. In July, 2011, the Malawi Voice reported that a “group of families who took their children out of the country, to Mozambique, to avoid the free measles vaccine that was being distributed, were rounded up by police and vaccinated at gunpoint upon returning to the country.
“The vaccine safety/choice community has been hearing reports of this happening in Africa for more than a year now, but this is the first official story that I have heard thus far and thus been able to report. In this case the District Health Officer himself, Dr. Matchaya, freely admitted to the newspaper that this was done.
“According to Dr. Medison Matchaya District Health Officer for Nsanje, medics went to vaccinate the children in Nsanje under police escort.
“We were alerted that some children who were hiding in Mozambique were back in the country and we asked police to escort the health officials in order to vaccinate them and we have managed to vaccinate about 131 children,” said Matchaya.
Ginger Taylor, contributing author of the book Vaccine Epidemic commented on this story in her blog, Adventures in Autism, saying:
Wanna know the difference between my vaccine injured son and let’s say, a child in a small African village who suffers a vaccine encephalopathy? In our house we have doors with locks on them to keep him safe inside, and school systems that are legally obligated to serve him. Take a moment and imagine what it would be like to try to keep your neurologically impaired child alive in rural Africa for a month or two. Just watched a short documentary about a new neurological illness befalling children in one African village. Parents have to tie their children to the side of their homes with a rope to prevent them from walking away and dying. That is how they live their entire lives.
Cournoyer reports that vaccine policy is riddled with corruption and conflicts of interest. The vaccine program must therefore be brought to test by independent investigation. By all indications, protecting health is not its true guiding principle.
The author persuades each person to carefully engage in the issues regarding vaccines. Parents are the most knowledgeable advocate for the health of their own children and must trust their instincts in knowing what is best. If vaccines are not proving to be the answer to preventing disease and may in fact be causing more harm than good, can we afford the repercussions of a society of severely ill people?
Harry Truman’s statement, “A nation is only as healthy as its children,” is a chilling prediction. We as a nation must heed this wisdom and prepare to make changes in our perception of what truly will build the health of our children.
It is time to look at strategies that have a track record of building health. It is therefore appropriate for the Germ Theory that has fostered vaccination development, to take a back seat. If we heed the wisdom of Dr. Weston A. Price, Claude Bernard, Antoine Bechamp and Hannah Allen, building the immune system with excellent nutrition can provide us with the underlying principles necessary for reestablishing the health of our society.
By Kathryne Pirtle
About Cynthia Cournoyer:
Newly revised and updated seventh edition, Cynthia has been writing about the vaccine controversy for nearly 30 years. This guide to the vaccination decision was released in December of 2010. It is available on Amazon
I manned the Weston A. Price Foundation booth at the Autism One Conference 2011 from May 26-29th. Over 2500 people from all over the world attended this year as the conference offered free admission. This was a blessing to families who are trying to find real answers for reversing autism. As I spoke to moms and dads, our message, as was the message of the entire conference–was one of great hope–that autism is a medical condition and can be reversed!! Yes–these children are “canaries in the mine” and are teaching us what must change. This IS, as is the mission of Autism One–GENERATION RESCUE! The uncontrolled greed that has shaped policy from the top down–is changing from the bottom up–from the inside-out–one person at a time. The truth will prevail.
Autism is most often now understood as being caused by an inflammation of the brain from a toxic overload from factors such as heavy metal toxicity (especially mercury), from the toxicity due to the huge increase in the numbers of vaccines that children receive, from other environmental toxins and from poor digestion, candida overgrowth and a weakened immune system. When the gut is damaged and inflamed, inflammatory chemicals can break down the blood-brain barrier and cause inflammation in the brain. Inflammation of the brain–also called encephalitis–can cause many of the symptoms of autism. Additionally, when the blood-brain barrier is damaged, toxins that affect brain function can circulate more easily.
Nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods are proving to be one of the most powerful dietary partners in reversing autism. They have superior ability to heal the gut and inflammation, enable the body to detoxify, provide exceptional nutrition and therefore have the greatest ability to heal the brain. A colleague who helps to publish the Autism File Global magazine told me that she and her husband had spent $150,000 on treatments for their son, and it wasn’t until they focused on a diet of nutrient-dense foods that he recovered from autism!
However, many children with autism are very picky eaters. I heard that message over and over at the conference. In the book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome,” Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride discusses the necessity of introducing new foods very slowly and that changing a child’s eating habits IS challenging–but not impossible. Moms and dads ARE creative–“Where there is a will–there is a way!”
One of the most powerful gut and inflammation-healing foods to first incorporate is old-fashioned bone-broth. Bone broth can be made into soups, be used as a liquid for cooking vegetables, reduced as a delicious sauce over meats and can be a fantastic beverage. It was one of the primary foods I consumed in my own healing of a life-threatening digestive disorder, and have continued to eat daily for over 10 years. It is a food from which everyone can benefit.
For example, to incorporate bone broth, Ginger Taylor, a contributing author of the new book “Vaccine Epidemic,” told me that her son loved tea parties! Now–who doesn’t love tea parties? So Ginger said she introduced bone broth by having a tea party with chicken tea–what fun! Now her son loves chicken tea! Most importantly, her son will begin to have the benefit of one of the most powerful foods for healing the gut and over time, every nutrient-dense food that replaces a nutrient-poor food will aid in recovery.
Another mom told me her son loves meatballs. Well–you can hide a lot of nutrient-dense foods in meatballs. She makes them with beef from pastured cows, pastured egg yolks and spices and now plans to add little bits of pastured liver to her recipe. She also will serve them with a sauce made with reduced bone broth.
Adding raw egg yolks from pastured chickens to smoothies made with coconut milk and fruit is another delicious way to add nutrient-density to your child’s diet. Served in fancy tea cups would make it even more fun.
Here is a great recipe for chicken bone broth.
BONE BROTH—CHICKEN
Large crock pot or stock pot
2 large organic-free-range chickens, preferably from pastured chickens, cut up in small pieces
4 chicken feet (optional)
filtered water
3T. vinegar
2 large onions—chopped (optional)
6 stalks of celery, chopped (optional)
6 carrots—sliced thin (optional)
4 cloves of garlic—diced (optional)
2 T. ginger—diced (optional)
Celtic sea salt to taste
Place chickens, vinegar, optional chicken feet, onions, celery and garlic in the stock or crock pot. Let chicken and vegetables come to a boil then turn to simmer. If using crock pot, no need to change temperature. When meat is done, take meat off bones and place bones and skin back in pot. Put meat in refrigerator and use later for making soup or in other recipes (ie. chicken salad). Continue to simmer bones, vegetables and broth for 8-12 hours. Strain the broth. Add Celtic sea salt to taste. Use broth for soups, sauces or as a beverage. Broth can be refrigerated or frozen for later use. Reheat broth on stove —DO NOT MICROWAVE!!
As you find new ways to help your child heal, you will join a community that is working together to find real answers. Let nutrient-dense foods become your close ally in your path to recovery!
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our e-book on healing acid reflux.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
Edited by Louise Kuo Habakus, M.A. (Director, Center for Personal Rights) and
Mary Holland, J.D. (Research Scholar, NYU School of Law)
Skyhorse Publishing, 2011
As it is with most things—more is not always better. It has taken over 15 years of independent world-wide research by extremely concerned parents, doctors, scientists and lawyers to build an undeniable momentum commanding that the protective rubber stamp of approval on vaccine development, safety, mandates and policies be addressed. A book of acute gravity, Vaccine Epidemic, presents an urgent dialogue about the vaccine controversy. The opening dedication—To all who are asking the questions and all who are demanding the answers—summarizes widening public consciousness and mainstream concern regarding vaccine safety.
Through the voices of experts in ethics, law, science, medicine, business, and history, the book requires thoughtful attention and action. An exponential rise in children who are suffering serious vaccine damage will not be ignored, nor will the lack of appropriate medical and governmental action to thwart this trend. Vaccine Epidemic advocates an honest and thorough assessment of vaccination policy and vaccine safety.
Habakus and Holland examine these issues:
The Case for Vaccination Choice
The recognition of intrinsic human rights has been a hallmark of democratic societies. Vaccine Epidemic eloquently clarifies vaccination choice as a fundamental human right. It reveals this in relationship to a wealth of international and national standards such as the Nuremberg Code, free and informed consent, medical autonomy, due process, the human rights revolution, and public health revolutions in sanitation, hygiene and antibiotics. It scrutinizes the far-reaching, inappropriate governmental vaccination policies whereby a child’s right to a free education is at risk as a consequence of partial or full non-compliance.
Herd immunity is at the root of vaccination mandates. However, the book exposes the many flaws in this unproven theory. Habakus states, “What is most troubling about the theory of herd immunity is that the original basis for its validity has nothing to do with vaccines. People observed a protective effect in the community when a sufficiently high number of individuals contracted the wild form of a disease and secured lifelong immunity…In the 1930s and 1940s, health officials began using ‘techniques of mass persuasion’ and ‘aggressive salesmanship’ to increase the public’s compliance in receiving vaccinations.” For herd immunity to dictate vaccination policy, the government must prove that unvaccinated individuals will harm those that are vaccinated. This has never been demonstrated. Interestingly, the book brings to light the fact that a large portion of children who suffer from many childhood diseases were previously vaccinated against them!
Additionally, since the increase in the vaccination schedule and its corresponding rapid rise in children suffering vaccine damage, there has been a lack of justice, including an absence of due process and appropriate compensation for victims. A moral society would not allow a dubious public policy based on the flawed principle of “the greater good” to continue. Parents have the ultimate authority over their children’s medical interventions. Vaccination choice must prevail.
Narratives
The tragedies described in this book represent the wide-ranging effect of careless vaccine development and mandates. I attended the American Rally for Personal Rights at Grant Park in downtown Chicago in the spring of 2010, during the week of the Autism One conference. I was awestruck and absolutely grief-stricken by the many stories of vaccination damage I heard. Vaccine Epidemic is the outgrowth of that powerful rally. I knew that each incomprehensible story represented hundreds of thousands of children and thousands more yet to be harmed.
Contributing author Michael Belkin, a leading investment strategist and former director of the Hepatitis B Vaccine Project of the National Vaccine Information Center explains, “If you doubt the existence of adverse reactions to vaccines, you must first examine with your own eyes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), which is available and searchable online at www.medalerts.org As of November 17, 2010, VAERS listed 352,650 reports of vaccine adverse events. Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner David Kessler wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association, that ‘only 1% of serious adverse events are reported to the FDA.’ ” Belkin’s daughter died at five weeks of age after hepatitis B vaccination. As of March 11, 2011, the tally has risen to 361,519, acknowledged to represent only 1 to 10% of actual adverse events associated with vaccination.
The story is repeated over and over—a healthy child is born, and after receiving recommended vaccinations which start on the day of birth, that child is never the same—is stricken with autism—or maybe dead. Those who recover are very fortunate, as many cannot overcome the effects of vaccine-induced encephalitis—brain inflammation—despite a comprehensive array of holistic therapies. Most terrifying are the stories of hopeless parents who take their child’s life along with their own—those who can no longer carry the overwhelming and isolating burden of the care of their beloved.
Contributing author Amy Pingel’s haunting chronicle of her teenage daughter’s descent from perfect health to breathing through a trach and eating from a tube is a result of a severe reaction to the “Gardasil” vaccine. Her saga represents the pervasive acceleration to develop more vaccines for older children and adults—vaccines that are pressured and innocently advertised through medical practitioners and the media as a “must have.” Yet—there is little disclosure of the true risks.
Contributing author Air Force captain Richard Rovet, RN (USAF ret) implores that the enormous risks our servicemen take to defend our country should not include being used as guinea pigs for vaccine experimentation. Yet, this is what is happening to our military personnel. In the Gulf War, more servicemen and service woman were damaged from the experimental vaccines than from the war itself. Why was this allowed? This needs to be brought out to the public.
The truth about vaccines must be widely understood.
The Topics in Debate
Vaccine Epidemic exposes problematic issues about vaccine policy. A rigorous public challenge of these troubling practices must continue.
Finally, the book moves us to action as vaccination choice is at risk in our country. “The American Academy of Pediatrics and its spokespeople are suggesting the abolition of philosophical and religious exemption rights. They have a lot of influential support behind them—the pharmaceutical industry, public health, government and media. We are in crisis. You can expect more federally recommended vaccines to be added to the schedule…more vaccines of unproven safety to reach the market…more efforts to dismiss vaccine injury…Unless we change course, these projections will likely become reality.”
Things you can do now:
and at amazon as a Kindle download
. More information is available at www.vaccineepidemic.comHealth freedom is an inalienable right. Whether it is food freedom or vaccination choice—it is one and the same issue. Just as we seek higher quality in our food choices, we are demanding honesty and choice in all public policies that can affect our health. We must stand together and demand what is ours already—nothing less will do, for ourselves and our children.
Review by Kathryne Pirtle
This article will be published in the July, 2011 edition of the Wise Traditions Journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation. To receive the journal, go to www.westonaprice.org
The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine and a Man-Made Epidemic
Dan Olmstead and Mark Blaxell
(Pub.2010, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press)
The Age of Autism is perhaps the most important new book written about the roots of a catastrophic health pandemic affecting our children. Autism is screaming to be understood. We cannot fathom the repercussions of increasing percentages of autism in our children…What will happen to these children? We have no time to waste in finding real solutions.
You can continue reading my review of this critically important book by following the link below:
Age of Autism–Book Review
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see Performance without Pain and The Healing Diet for Acid Reflux Disease
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
– attributed to Edmund Burke
From Eknath Easwaran’s, Thought for the Day
Some of our most trying difficulties are caused by plain old inertia. Inertia shows itself in not wanting to move, not wanting to act – in other words, in wanting to be a stone just lying on the road. It is all right for a stone to be inert; that is its role in life. But it is not all right for you and me to just lie down and try to avoid problems, saying, “What does it matter?”
When I hear the phrase “well adjusted,” I do not always take it as a favorable comment. Mahatma Gandhi has said that to be well adjusted in a wrong situation is very bad; in a wrong situation we should keep on acting to set it right. When Gandhi, at the peak of his political activity, was asked in a British court what his profession was, he said, “Resister.” If he was put in a wrong situation, he just could not keep quiet; he had to resist, nonviolently but very effectively, until the situation was set right.
I am often deeply moved by the daily messages from Eknath Eawaren’s, Thought for the Day. What can you do today to make a difference? Every effort to help change our food supply and heal our people so that the generations to come will have something better is important. Every act that brings light to our mother earth is essential.
Many Blessings,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see www.performancewithoutpain.com
After decades of being told by the experts that a diet high in fiber and low in fat is the key to robust good health, why is it that one in every 5 Americans is being treated for Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease, (GERD)?
Studies show more than 60 million Americans are currently being treated by their physicians for acid reflux. Last year there were 470,000 hospitalizations and 1.9 million visits to the emergency room as a result of GERD, commonly known as acid reflux. What’s more, GERD is now being diagnosed in children, birth to four years.
Since 1999 the majority of Americans say they are now following the dietary guidelines recommended by the FDA, eating at least 5 servings of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains each day. We are also following the advice of the medical community and eliminating from our diets traditional fats,(like butter) and decreasing our intake of protein—especially our favorite food-to-hate—red meat.
What is it, then, that such a large percentage of our population is doing that would promote the massive increase in this ailment? Should our entire nation succumb to popular medications that merely treat the symptoms but do nothing to remedy the underlying cause?
In my e-book, Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness I pull back the curtain of misinformation to reveal the truth about why we are all chronically ill not only with GERD, but a variety of ailments including cancer, heart disease, allergies, dementia, even autism: see The Healing Diet for Acid Reflux Disease
Much of what we are told about good nutrition today is based on trends and faulty research funded by the Goliath factory farming industry. For 25 years I suffered from debilitating pain and chronic illness. Over that time I also suffered from symptoms of impaired digestion including persistent flatulence and at the age of 42, I was diagnosed with acid reflux that almost ended my career as a professional clarinetist. Even though I diligently followed popular health dictates as outlined in the traditional Food Pyramid and the resulting digestive illness and malnutrition nearly cost me my life.
If the Food Pyramid isn’t the answer, what is? In Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness I explain how our bodies actually work to digest and assimilate the food we eat.
Before the 1950s most of our foods came from small family farms. These high quality foods were from animals eating their natural diets. Cows ate grass, chickens ate bugs and worms, and all fish were caught in the wild. These are nutrient-dense foods our bodies need for optimal health and digestion, but unfortunately, this is not what we find at our grocery stores today.
Consider how many ads you see for drugs to address chronic health problems like acid reflux, gas, indigestion, constipation, and diarrhea. Pharmaceutical companies expect to earn a whopping $400,000,000 in annual sales from going over-the-counter with the ‘little purple pill. This remedy for acid reflux is nothing more than a slow death.
Current information on so-called healthy eating will not heal digestive disorders and will ultimately lead to nutrient deficiencies, illness, and even death, it behooves us to learn the difference.
The principles of a truly healthy diet are but one aspect found in this exceptional e-book. Acid Reflux: A National Epidemic and Precursor to Chronic Illness also provides information on where to find nutrient-dense foods, shares delicious recipes and menu ideas, and makes the road to true healing informative and enjoyable.
For more information on healing and building health with nutrient-dense foods and seminars on this subject, see Performance without Pain and The Healing Diet for Acid Reflux Disease
Best in Health,
Kathryne Pirtle
When you can get your vaccines at the grocery store–it should raise huge red flags for every person. These are statements made by MDs about serious problems with vaccines. Think twice.
The USDA is continuing an increased militant agenda to make sure that all institutions–hospitals, schools, universities, mainstream media etc. exclusively promote the “new” USDA Dietary Guidelines–the same draconian low-fat/high fiber diet that has fostered degenerative illness in epic proportions in the last 50 years. However, the Committee for a Healthy Nation, a new initiative of The Nutrition & Metabolism Society, nonprofit health organization providing research, information and education in the application of fundamental science to nutrition, particularly dedicated to the problems of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease is joining forces with the Weston A. Price Foundation and other like-minded organizations concerned with these trends. Their mission is to send a clear message that the USDA Guidelines are harmful to long-term health.
Last summer I testified against these guidelines alongside a record number of professional representatives from the whole health community at the USDA in Washington, DC. 95% of the representatives who testified in favor of these guidelines were industry paid professionals. Below is a report from this important hearing.
CRITICS ASSAIL USDA DIETARY GUIDELINES
High-Carb, Low-Fat Diets Cause Obesity, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Scientists Claim
The USDA Dietary Guidelines are a leading cause of the American health and obesity crisis, according to scientists, nutritionists and consumers who testified last Thursday at a USDA public hearing on the report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). Dissenters argued that the proposed 2010 revisions to the Dietary Guidelines are worse, and will not prevent obesity and will only increase degenerative disease in the U.S.
Those testifying against the Guidelines focused on the Committee’s misuse of scientific data to justify a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. Dr. Jeff Volek, scientist and academic researcher at the University of Connecticut, noted that the DGAC report ignored scientific studies showing the effectiveness of low carbohydrate diets for weight loss. “Americans deserve to have official support for the low-carb dietary option,” he said.
“I have followed the work of the DGAC all the way through this process as an academic project. I have dug into their nutrition evidence library,” said Adele Hite, a graduate student in nutrition and public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Time after time, the scientific evidence the DGAC cited to oppose low-carb diets actually says the exact opposite of the Committee’s conclusions.” Hite testified to losing sixty pounds on a low-carbohydrate diet.
Morton Satin of the Salt Institute sharply criticized the Committee’s recommendation to reduce sodium consumption to 1500 mg per day. “The Committee is suggesting that Americans consume less than 4 grams of salt per day. No modern society consumes so little salt, making this proposal nothing less than a call for an uncontrolled experiment on more than 300 million Americans.” Satin provided references showing the critical role of salt in digestion, blood pressure regulation and brain development.
Four of the dissenters presented the views of the Nutrition and Metabolism Society, a group of nutrition researchers and medical professionals who have studied the benefits of a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss, insulin regulation and protection against chronic disease. “We expected the new guidelines to recognize current research that vindicates saturated fats as a cause of heart disease and weight gain, and to acknowledge the demonstrated benefits of lower carbohydrate diets,” said Dr. Richard Feinman of Downstate University, New York.
In response to the DGAC report, the Nutrition and Metabolism Society recently launched the Committee for a Healthy Nation (CHN). “The CHN is a working coalition of professionals who oppose the low-fat, plant-based thrust of the DGAC report. We feel strongly that the scientific evidence omitted from or misrepresented by their report must be considered in the final outcome,” said Feinman.
“Five years ago, I was the lone voice testifying against the guidelines,” said Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation and member of the CHN. “This year I was happy to be joined by members of the medical and research community in opposition to USDA’s unscientific prescription.” Fallon Morell’s testimony focused on nutrient deficiencies common in those following low-fat diets.
Dr. Feinman challenged the DGAC panel to an open public debate on the scientific evidence underpinning the Guidelines. “Our nation’s citizens need a range of dietary options to choose from, not a one-size-fits-all approach. We must allow for lifestyle, activity levels and metabolism as factors in choosing an optimal diet for each individual.”
The Committee for a Healthy Nation membership is open to professionals and organizations interested in developing guidelines that will offer a range of choices to the American public.
The Committee for a Healthy Nation is a project of The Nutrition & Metabolism Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit health organization providing research, information and education in the application of fundamental science to nutrition, particularly dedicated to the problems of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Their office is located at 424 E. 73rd Street, #1RW, New York, NY, 10021. For further information or to join the CHN, contact by E-mail: info@nmsociety.org or call 908-326-6464.
Press release from Monday, July 12, 2010–WASHINGTON, D.C.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Kimberly Hartke, 703-675-5557 press@westonaprice.org
Pam Schoenfeld, 609-439-8237 Pam@MetabolismSociety.org
The “new” USDA dietary guidelines are really not new at all. They continue the 60 year experiment of moving people away from nutrient-dense foods. All indications–from the record numbers of adults and children who are chronically ill, the ever increasing percentages of children with autism, ADD, ADHD and mental health disorders–the enormous statistics of infertility–point to this dictate as a complete failure. Yet, why not keep telling people to continue to eat this way? Let’s continue to line the pockets of the the corporate giants behind these insane guidelines.
Luckily, I was able to crawl out alive from my low fat/high fiber experiment, which lead to 25 years of chronic pain and a life-threatening digestive disorder. I found the truth of what really fuels the human body–real food from animals eating their natural diets–traditional fats–bone broth soups–unprocessed dairy–cultured foods–fermented cod liver oil–the infallible work of Dr. Weston A. Price–foods from small family farms that were eaten for thousands of years–foods that are not a part of a food supply produced by an industrial farming industry.
You can’t fool Mother Nature. Yet–our government thinks it may be possible. They think maybe people won’t notice. However, people are getting a lot smarter today. They are sick and tired of being sick and tired. It’s time to remove from government those who think “business as usual” is acceptable. When “business as usual” continues to severely damage an entire population–we must remove those who practice this kind of usual business.
Take a look at the new guidelines and take action http://www.westonaprice.org/press/1951-proposed-2010-usda-dietary-guidelines-a-recipe-for-chronic-disease.html
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.
