Health Spectator

In honor of Earth Day, we thought we’d re-visit a subject that has been dear to us in the past: organic and natural foods. This time, rather that emphasize the benefits of wholesome foods, we thought we’d spend some time telling you where to get them.

If you’ve been paying attention, you are no doubt aware that not all organic foods are created equal. You may also know that Whole Foods, the largest “health food” retailer in the United States, has increasingly come under fire for being more interested in profits than principles. For about the past seven years, Whole Foods has been largely focused on taking over its remaining competitor—Wild Oats. The antics of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey in this regard have been anything but amusing.

Readers may or not be aware that Mackey’s actions made headlines in July 2007 when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission revealed that the executive had posted messages on a Yahoo! chat forum under an alias for years. In those posts, Mackey extolled the virtues of his company while trashing Wild Oats in an attempt to lower Wild Oats’s stock price. Wild Oats had turned down a buyout bid from Whole Foods in 2001.

We mention all this just to make readers aware that there is nothing sacrosanct about buying organic foods. We wholly endorse buying organic, but don’t think that just because the label says organic—or because a vendor sells a large quantity of food labeled organic—that you can close your eyes and just assume that all is well.

We ourselves shop at Whole Foods and have long been concerned at the quantity of conventional produce and products the store carries. Since not all produce is available as organic at any given time, this does make sense for a store whose main function is selling groceries: if you go to the store looking for beets, for example, you may well accept conventional beets if organic beets are not available. We have also outlined a way by which consumers can limit the expense of converting to organic foods by avoiding the most contaminated conventional varieties and purchasing their organic counterparts instead.

So, we accept that not all produce available at Whole Foods is necessarily organic. You simply have to pay attention to the signs and labeling to make sure you know what you are purchasing.

Buyer beware

Of greater concern to us is the assertion that Whole Foods may carry products that contain MSG, for example, when MSG is on the store’s list of unacceptable ingredients. The same source also points out that rBGH (genetically engineered bovine growth hormone) is not on the Whole Foods list of unacceptable ingredients. This is particularly alarming in light of the fact that “conventional ” grocers such as Kroger and even WalMart have taken a stance against stocking dairy products that contain rBGH. Safeway, Chipotle and Starbucks have also jumped on this bandwagon. For Whole Foods not to ban rBGH seems unconscionable.

Dairy cows injected with this artificial hormone are forced to produce more milk than they would normally (on average, a gallon a day per cow) with dire consequences to their health. Cows injected with rBGH are far more likely to need treatment with antibiotics and to end up as “downer” cows entering the meat supply. Not only is it inhumane to subject cows to this treatment, it shows a flagrant disregard for the health of consumers.

At any rate, you get our point. If you are at all concerned about your health, you have to be concerned about what you eat. In order to assure that you consume the highest quality foods, you should not be limited to your local supermarket, and not even to your local Whole Foods. The truth is that the supply of truly healthy food in this country is so limited that there is not enough to supply the major outlets. So you need to line up your own sources as soon as possible.

As consumers have become increasingly aware of the importance of securing sources of healthy dairy, meats and produce, the demand for such foods has increased dramatically. If the supply of these healthy foods does not increase phenomenally, the enforceable standards—particularly for organic foods—will be sacrificed. Therefore as a consumer you must be increasingly vigilant as you make your purchases.

WalMart, the world’s largest retailer, recognized at least two years ago that organic foods were the place to be. Because WalMart exerts so much pressure on suppliers, the large food manufacturers such as Kraft and Kellogg are ramping up fast to supply organic-labeled products. For the most part, this is silly. Will packaged organic macaroni and cheese be that much healthier than the non-organic varieties currently available? We suppose we should support any effort to produce food that results from sustainable agriculture, but we cannot help but question how sustainable such efforts are.

Remember, organic foods are produced without resorting to pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilizers or artificial hormones, as well as being free from irradiation and genetic modification. The idea is to produce food that is entirely natural not in some legalistic sense, but in the most wholesome way possible. Manufactured food is not healthy food. Chips made from organic ingredients are no doubt preferable to those made from conventional ingredients, but we do not believe that is enough to classify them as health food. They simply have become marginally less unhealthy. So while simply re-manufacturing current manufactured foods with more wholesome ingredients is laudable in some ways, it totally misses the point. The end result should always be greater health for us and for the environment, which is, ultimately, the same thing. We cannot remain healthy without a healthy environment.

Groups such as the Weston A. Price foundation have recognized these principles and make them the cornerstone of their practice and teachings. But before we go on to discuss such organizations, let’s review one other basic tenet of healthy living that has become of concern much more recently: consuming locally grown.

A rose is a rose is a rose…

In principle, it matters not where your food was raised if it is nutritionally dense. That is, for the immediate purposes of your health, an organic apple from, say, Nicaragua is no different from one from Oregon or from a farm ten miles from your home, assuming each was raised in healthy soil and so on. The problem arises when we consider sustainability and the very practical matter of transporting that apple to your home.

Foods that are transported long distances are less likely to be equally ripe and fresh. Fruit that is to be transported long distances will likely be picked earlier in the ripening cycle so that it will not be over-ripe when it arrives at its destination. What is more, the carbon footprint of an apple that travels thousands of miles is necessarily greater than that of an apple that you buy at the farm and then take home. The notion of a carbon footprint is normally applied to humans or groups of humans, but our point here is that transporting food necessarily contributes to environmental deterioration as well as contributing to the deterioration of the food itself.

Viewed in this way, the apple from ten miles away may look a lot better. If the farmer avoids pesticides and the soil is reasonably rich, the local apple picked when ripe will be your best bet. But what if instead of a relatively small apple orchard, the farm in question has hundreds or thousands of acres of apple trees that are maintained using mechanized techniques so that trucks or airplanes apply pesticide sprays and powders at regular intervals? Now your local apple doesn’t look so good, does it?

Research has shown that conventionally grown produce has only about 83% of the nutritional value of the organic equivalent. What’s more, rats fed an organic diet fared better than other rats fed the same foods of non-organic origin.

Farming on a smaller scale

One of the primary differences between locally grown and distantly grown food is that you yourself have the option of inspecting the farm. Or you can rely on the sticker “certified organic” to do that inspection for you. Farming in the United States has become an operation performed increasingly on a large scale. Even family farms seem more likely to be large, industrial-scale farms these days. To some degree, this is an inevitable result of consumers’s priorities. The average consumer is probably still more concerned with the price of the apple than with its pedigree or nutritional content. In the United States, we have become accustomed to our food being relatively cheap, and the food price inflation of recent years has been a scary experience for most of us.

At the same time, it is easy to see that as the scale of the operation becomes larger, the involvement of the farmer with any individual element becomes drastically reduced. A farmer with a dozen hens will likely recognize them all and might even give them names. A farmer with a thousand hens or more isn’t even going to interact with them all directly. It is easy to see why those who are concerned with the fruits of the farmer’s labors favor farming on a smaller, more personal scale.

Having said our piece (for the time being, at least) on the issues involved in the way our food is raised and distributed, let us go right to the main subject here: where you can find sources of meat, dairy, poultry and produce that inspire confidence in the nutrition you will receive.

And the winners are…

One of the organizations that emphasizes healthful local sources of food is the Weston A. Price Foundation. Weston A. Price was a dentist who spent his vacations traveling the world and studying the traditional diets of indigenous peoples. He reasoned that the best way to determine what constituted a healthy diet was to examine people who enjoyed good health and see what they ate. The foundation that bears his name was founded by Sally Fallon, a writer and nutrition researcher, and Mary G. Enig, PhD, a nutritionist and expert on fatty acids (lipid biochemistry). Enig, the Foundation’s vice president, has authored over 60 technical publications and serves as President of the Maryland Nutritionists Association.

Together, Fallon and Enig wrote two books that are recognized for their contribution to practical nutrition. The first, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats is a cookbook that challenges what you may think you know about nutrition, drawing upon the research of Weston A. Price and more recent experts such as Enig.

The second, Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats might be considered a manifesto for the nutritionally impaired. It not only informs the reader on the principles of nutrition embraced by the Weston A. Price Foundation, it contains a wealth of recipes, including how to make your own condiments and such healthful tonics as ginger beer and Kombucha. The more standard fare of the everyday diet is not neglected either, but enhanced.

We highly recommend visiting the Weston A. Price website. It is full of information and links and you can find out there how to join or start a local chapter, which will enable you to obtain organic food delivered to your area by an organic farmer. One of the primary goals of the Foundation is to make raw (unpasteurized) milk, butter and cream available to its members. If you’ve never had coffee with real (raw) cream, we highly recommend trying it. You will probably never resort to Half and Half again, except in emergencies.

We have found the organic meats available through sources we contacted via Weston A. Price chapters to be the best meats we have eaten. The commercially available product—including those we’ve purchased at Whole Foods—simply did not come close in overall quality.

To find a family farm near you or to explore the local farmer’s markets—care to start your own?—check out localharvest.org. Here you can also find a list of local farms participating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) which allows you to establish a relationship with a farm to receive or pick up weekly deliveries of groceries during the growing season. You can also find lists of farmer’s markets, restaurants and co-ops in your area and other useful information. This site belongs on your bookmark list unless you grow all your own organic food yourself. Even then, if you ever like to eat out, this site will tell you where you can go to find food that is up to your standards.

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service also maintains an online list of local farmer’s markets you can peruse. This site is not so user-friendly as the local harvest site mentioned above. However, it does provide additional information and we list it for the sake of completeness.

Beef the old-fashioned way

For those who want to sample grass-fed beef and haven’t yet found a local source, check out Tallgrass Beef, which supplies grass-fed beef by mail order. We can’t say we’ve tried it—we’ve found a local source for naturally raised beef, pork and poultry—but this looks like the real deal. We were lucky enough to grow up with grandparents who raised livestock the old-fashioned way, and we think it’s the only way to go. The quality and taste of the meats we obtain direct from the farm simply is not like anything we’ve found in a store. And since grass-fed, free-range livestock provide meats much higher in vitamins, minerals and omega-3s, they’re much healthier, too. You simply can’t beat it.

Remember that the spirit of organic farming is really more important than the USDA certification. A local farm that you can see for yourself uses de facto organic farming techniques may serve you better than a certified farm hundreds of miles off.

And what better time than the week of Earth Day to make a commitment to better health for yourself and your family through eating more wholesome, sustainable food? That is the best way to support the spirit of Earth Day year ’round.

We can’t say we’ve yet read Barbara Kingsolver’s popular book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. However, assuming the following quotes excerpted from her interview on another channel are representative of her work, we look forward to doing so:

On average, 85 cents of every food dollar goes to the processors, packagers, advertisers and oil companies who profit handsomely from our lack of regard for soil, water, climate and the future. Farmers have no choice but to respond to consumer demand. They can only grow what we will buy….

It’s not “natural” that organic and whole foods cost more than tallow-fried junk. We choose that through our tacit approval of the Farm Bill that defines food and nutrition policy in this country. We’ve elected to subsidize corporate commodity farms while leaving small, diversified fruit and vegetable farmers on their own, trying to compete. For organic farmers it’s even worse-–-we make them pay for their own inspection and oversight. If we’d like to flip this over and subsidize healthy rather than unhealthy foods, we can call our legislators and start talking. This is a good time to do it, because the Farm Bill is being renegotiated at this moment.

We think Ms. Kingsolver’s notion of contacting your legislative representatives is a good one. To make it easier, you can find contact information for all your U.S. government officials here. (In fact, this source will show you how to contact your state representatives as well.)

As for the Farm Bill, it has passed the House and is now being debated and modified by the Senate. You can find additional information and ideas about what the Farm Bill might better include at OxFam America. As a general guide, agribusiness doesn’t need help to keep going. But small farmers—who have to compete with the large farms and their economies of scale—can use all the help they can get. They are the main source of hope for healthy and sustainable—not to mention local and organic—agriculture.

Thus, while “farm subsidies” has become a near-epithet for many in recent years, we shouldn’t overlook aid to small farmers, particularly those who are bucking the current trend in conventional agriculture by producing organic farm products. As Ms. Kingsolver points out, why should organic farmers have to bear an additional economic burden in paying for inspection and oversight to make sure they are farming in a way that we should all hope they do? Perhaps the U.S. should pay more attention to subsidizing small-scale, sustainable, organic farming techniques so that we can all have healthier choices of food that don’t degrade the environment.

It’s a good idea to let your representatives know how you feel about topics such as the Farm Bill, organic farming, and genetic modification. And if you’re not sure how you feel about those topics, go to our site search or our category listings on the left sidebar and find articles we’ve provided on these subjects.

We hope to be bringing you more in the near future. Come to think of it, you might even use the Make a Donation button at left to help assure that we can.

[Editor's Note: to see Dan Rather's thought-provoking coverage of the U.S. Farm Bill, click here.]

While you should consult with a physician before undertaking radical changes to your diet or vitamin and supplement intake, we’ve listed here a few supplements that have become staples on our breakfast table.

This particular list is slanted more to the over-40 and -50 crowd. We’re assuming you probably already take vitamin C, for example, and perhaps a multivitamin or multivitamin/mineral supplement. If not, you might consider doing so, regardless of your age group. (If you’re a vegetarian and eat several servings of fresh fruit per day, you may be able to dispense with the vitamin C.)

Incidentally, we’re not recommending megadoses of anything for normal maintenance. (If you’re trying to cure cancer, you’re going to need megadose antioxidants, for example, but that’s where you part ways with the “normal maintenance” crowd.) Between 500 and 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C should be more than enough for most people, and most sources recommend that normal daily intake not exceed 2 grams (2,000 milligrams).

1) Number one on our list–at least, for those who are over 50–is DHEA. Taken only in small doses (<50 mg/day, around 25 mg/day optimum) this hormone may be far less dangerous than the medical/pharmaceutical community might have us believe, though we can only recommend it in low doses. Some observers link high doses to heart arrhythmia.

DON’T TAKE IT if you’re under 18; we suspect you should at least be cautious if you’re under 35. Since DHEA has been controversial within the medical community, chances are your doctor has heard of it. So discuss with her whether or not you should be taking it and the appropriate dose. Women with estrogen-receptor-linked breast cancer and men with prostate cancer or benign prostate disease are specifically warned against DHEA, since it might aggravate either condition. (Recent research indicates these affects may be due mostly to dihydrotestosterone production, however, which can largely be controlled by supplementation with Saw Palmetto extract.)

Interestingly, the body doesn’t begin producing much DHEA until puberty, and the quantity produced begins to decline around our late twenties. From the 30 mg or so per day produced at age 20, the body’s production steadily declines to the point where we produce around 6 mg at age 80. The reason for this decline is unknown, but it seems safe to say that DHEA’s quantity parallels the body’s sexual activity.

So why bother taking it if it’s still controversial? Well, for one thing, if you’re on statins–and nearly everyone seems to be these days–your production of cholesterol has likely been lowered. The body uses cholesterol to manufacture DHEA. So your own output of DHEA and the sex hormones may be artificially lower to begin with.

Among the benefits attributed to DHEA: reduced levels of fear and anxiety, due most likely to DHEA’s anti-glucocorticoid activity. More generally, according to Gary Null, PhD, author of Power Aging, “when DHEA levels are insufficient, levels of destructive inflammatory cytokines increase, setting the stage for a number of serious conditions [including] heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.” Null believes that mental decline is in part due to a decline in the body’s store of DHEA.

So get the all’s-clear from your doctor on prostate health if you’re a man or on breast and cervical cancer if you’re a woman. Then you can start reaping the benefits of a hormone replacement therapy that may actually help prevent these diseases.

‘Nuff said.

2) 5-HTP. Again, this supplement is not for everyone, but the older you are, the more likely you are to need its help as a sleep enabler and mood stabilizer. This serotonin precursor has become essential on our personal list. Check with your doctor if you’re on antidepressants. By increasing your body’s supply of serotonin, this supplement can enhance the effects of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Lexapro, Prozac, and others.

The good news: We’ve seen 5-HTP successfully substitute for these prescription antidepressants with fewer side effects.

Although most of us are more concerned about shortages, you can overdose on serotonin. Serotonin Syndrome was discovered in the wake of a teenager’s death from it in 1973. It is a rare but serious complication of drug interactions in which the patient can deteriorate rapidly if the physician does not recognize the symptoms. Usually, serotonin syndrome will be caused by mixing monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) with other drugs—especially SSRIs—that can increase serotonin availability.

Typical dosage, 50-100 milligrams one to three times per day. We suggest you start out taking a minimal dose (50 mg) at breakfast for a week or two, then increase the dosage slowly from there if you find yourself needing more. Increase the dosage by taking more doses per day. That is, take a second 50 milligrams at lunch, then eventually a third at dinner. Then you can start increasing the individual doses in 50-mg increments. Give each increase in dosage at least a week or two to take effect; stop increasing the dosage when your mood seems to have stabilized.

This is easily the best non-prescription supplement we’ve found for banishing the blues. Come to think of it, it beats the prescription antidepressants as well, in our experience.

Michael Murray, N.D., author of the book 5-HTP: The Natural Way to Overcome Depression, Obesity, and Insomnia, asserts that in combination with St. John’s Wort, 5-HTP successfully manages more severe depressions. For that purpose, he recommends 50-100 mg of 5-HTP and 150-300 mg of St. John’s Wort extract, each taken three times daily.

3) Co-enzyme Q10 or CoQ10 for short. CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant. It can boost your body’s production and supply of glutathione, a powerful endogenous antioxidant that keeps cancer and even the aging process at bay. Glutathione is largely responsible for mopping up free radicals in the body that can be caused by anything from a night’s excessive drinking to irradiation or chemotherapy. It has been shown to prevent cataracts in rats and is clearly at work in combating oxidative stress.

4) Alpha-lipoic acid. another antioxidant, is so powerful it keeps CoQ10 in working order. Studies have shown it to help in fighting atherosclerosis (it prevents LDL–the bad cholesterol–from oxidizing and forming arterial plaque) and the free radicals that can cause cancer, lung disease, chronic inflammation, and neurological disorders. Also known as lipoic acid, this supplement is quickly reaching superstar status among the research community. In particular, it makes the body’s supplies of vitamins C and E, glutathione, and coQ10 last longer or go farther by restoring them to their non-oxidized state. (Its action on vitamin E is indirect, but it can directly restore the other antioxidants.)