Federal Food Fiasco

The government is not qualified to give you nutritional advice. Action Alert!

Every five years, the federal government is supposed to release a set of dietary guidelines for Americans. The report contains a number of recommendations to “improve” Americans’ eating habits. While it may sound like a laudable goal, the very nature of the project dooms it to failure: the American public simply cannot trust the government when it comes to dietary advice. The process to set the guidelines, like most other government programs, is rife with cronyism, with various interest groups—from Big Food to vegetarian groups—vying to influence the guidelines and to get their slice of government cheese.

This has been true since the very first “Dietary Goals for Americans” was released in 1977. A draft of the report called for a reduction in sugar, fat, and cholesterol in the American diet to stem the tide of the growing obesity epidemic. As documented in the film “Fed Up,” the egg, sugar, dairy, and beef industries, which saw their bottom lines threatened, demanded the guidelines be re-written. They got their wish: the goals were revised to suggest that Americans, rather than reduce sugar, fat, and cholesterol intake, instead buy food with less fat, spawning the “low-fat” junk food market.

This isn’t to say that we agree with the original dietary guidelines. Even without the influence of special interests, the government is not equipped to decide what good nutrition is.

Recently, the US Department of Agriculture put out a call for public comments to get the ball rolling on the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

As we reported when the previous iteration of the dietary guidelines were released, the report had some major issues: its vitamin D recommendations were absurdly low; it failed to recognize the importance of dietary supplements to achieve optimal nutrient levels; it relied on outdated and largely disproven research to recommend a reduction in saturated fat; and it suggested eating as little cholesterol as possible, despite what the best research says about the importance of dietary cholesterol.

These missteps prove the point: the government should not be in the business of telling us what to eat.

Action Alert! Write to the USDA and tell them that 1) they have no business telling us what we should or shouldn’t eat, especially given special interest influence of the guidelines, and 2) if they are nevertheless going to continue with this process, the next dietary guidelines should correct the mistakes in the previous report. Please send your message immediately.

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Federal Food Fiasco

The government is not qualified to give you nutritional advice. Action Alert!

Every five years, the federal government is supposed to release a set of dietary guidelines for Americans. The report contains a number of recommendations to “improve” Americans’ eating habits. While it may sound like a laudable goal, the very nature of the project dooms it to failure: the American public simply cannot trust the government when it comes to dietary advice. The process to set the guidelines, like most other government programs, is rife with cronyism, with various interest groups—from Big Food to vegetarian groups—vying to influence the guidelines and to get their slice of government cheese.

This has been true since the very first “Dietary Goals for Americans” was released in 1977. A draft of the report called for a reduction in sugar, fat, and cholesterol in the American diet to stem the tide of the growing obesity epidemic. As documented in the film “Fed Up,” the egg, sugar, dairy, and beef industries, which saw their bottom lines threatened, demanded the guidelines be re-written. They got their wish: the goals were revised to suggest that Americans, rather than reduce sugar, fat, and cholesterol intake, instead buy food with less fat, spawning the “low-fat” junk food market.

This isn’t to say that we agree with the original dietary guidelines. Even without the influence of special interests, the government is not equipped to decide what good nutrition is.

Recently, the US Department of Agriculture put out a call for public comments to get the ball rolling on the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

As we reported when the previous iteration of the dietary guidelines were released, the report had some major issues: its vitamin D recommendations were absurdly low; it failed to recognize the importance of dietary supplements to achieve optimal nutrient levels; it relied on outdated and largely disproven research to recommend a reduction in saturated fat; and it suggested eating as little cholesterol as possible, despite what the best research says about the importance of dietary cholesterol.

These missteps prove the point: the government should not be in the business of telling us what to eat.

Action Alert! Write to the USDA and tell them that 1) they have no business telling us what we should or shouldn’t eat, especially given special interest influence of the guidelines, and 2) if they are nevertheless going to continue with this process, the next dietary guidelines should correct the mistakes in the previous report. Please send your message immediately.

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Banned B6 Could Make A Comeback, With Your Help

Pyridoxamine (vitamin B6) was banned as a supplement—but you can help bring it back. Action Alert!

The FDA has provided a back channel by which nutrients that the human body needs can be turned into drugs, and many natural compounds are at risk. If a drug company files an investigational new drug (IND) application on a nutrient before supplement companies have complied with the FDA’s (as yet unfinished) new supplement policies, the company can ask the FDA to have the supplement version removed from the market—even if the company never ends up producing a drug.

This is exactly what happened to pyridoxamine—and with your help we can bring it back.

Pyridoxamine is one of three bioavailable forms of vitamin B6. It has many health benefits and is essential to human life. It helps the body process carbohydrates, supports the nervous system, and prevents homocysteine, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, from building up in the blood. It was available for years as a dietary supplement…until the FDA banned it in 2009 in response to a Citizen’s Petition from BioStratum Inc., who wanted to use it in a drug. No drug was ever developed—meaning that the public lost access to this crucial vitamin entirely.

Years later, a new citizen’s petition has been filed by VanGuard Health Inc. to once again allow pyridoxamine to be sold as a supplement.

Ironically, the name on the citizen’s petition is J. Wesley Fox, who is listed as an executive board member of ViGuard Health. His LinkedIn profile lists that he was also Chief Scientific Officer of BioStratum from 1994-2005. It is a curious twist: An executive of the company that wanted pyridoxamine supplements removed from the market is now asking for the FDA to allow pyridoxamine supplements to be sold. Indeed, this seems to be the company’s sole focus.

Whatever the motivations behind ViGuard’s petition, it does point out the illogic behind the FDA’s position. The policies that allow drug companies to turn vitamins into drugs must be changed, but it is especially egregious to ban the supplement form of a nutrient even after a company is no longer investigating it as a drug. Nevertheless, this is what the FDA is proposing in their new dietary ingredient (NDI) guidance—one of the many reasons the NDI guidance must be amended.

Other natural compounds are imperiled by this policy. Medicure Pharma has petitioned the FDA to remove P5P supplements, another form of vitamin B6; l-glutamine could also be removed. Until the FDA finalized its policy on new supplements (referred to in FDA parlance as “new dietary ingredients”), there are likely dozens, if not hundreds of natural ingredients that could suffer a similar fate.

We must support ViGuard’s petition to allow pyridoxamine supplements to be sold once again. Even though this is essentially the same entity at fault for its removal from the market, allowing the sale of pyridoxamine once again would benefit the natural health community. More importantly, we must urge the FDA to change its policy that allows nutrients to become drugs in the first instance.  This is a separate policy which we are also working to change, and will keep you updated on our efforts on that front as well.

Action Alert! Write to the FDA in support of ViGuard’s pyridoxamine petition, and also urge the agency to reject Medicure Pharma’s P5P petition. Please send your message immediately.

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Health Care Swindle: What Is Your Medical Bill Concealing?

Efforts in Congress to make health care pricing more transparent for consumers need your support. Action Alert!

Lawmakers in the Senate are in the midst of creating legislation intended to make health care pricing more transparent. It is imperative that they hear from consumers—and not just industry cronies—about the importance of transparency.

It’s no mystery that American health care is a crony capitalist mess. In many ways, this is because we treat health care differently than almost every other service. When we visit a mechanic, we are told in advance what we can expect to pay. This is not the case in health care. Rather, we go to the hospital or to a doctor when we’re sick and, too often, are presented with bills full of complex codes that help conceal outrageous costs: $10 for an aspirin; $300 for a single X-ray; $8,000 for an emergency room visit.

Part of the reason consumers are so powerless in these situations is because there is very little transparency in health care pricing. We don’t know the price of a service until we see it on the hospital bill. For this reason, we recently supported legislation in the House of Representatives that would require hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, dentists, health insurers, and other entities offering healthcare services to disclose the price for their products and services at the point of purchase and list prices online. This reform would help drive down costs, since healthcare providers that gouge consumers would lose out to those charging a fair price. It’s the basic economic principle of competition.

A similar effort is taking shape in the Senate. A bipartisan group of senators including Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are spearheading an effort to increase price transparency in health care.

There is no bill as of yet; the senators are in the midst of soliciting feedback from a wide variety of professional associations on how best to achieve the goal of greater transparency. We hope the senators receive honest answers, but we won’t hold our breath. In our view, groups like the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association profit from consumer confusion.

An additional bill from Sen. Grassley seeks to introduce transparency into the 340B drug pricing program. The program requires drug makers to provide drugs at discounted prices to qualifying hospitals and other entities. As the law currently stands, however, there is no requirement for participating hospitals to report how much patients are charged for discounted drugs. Sen. Grassley’s bill requires hospitals to report to HHS the total acquisition costs for drugs collected through the 340B program, as well as revenues received from all third-party payers for those same drugs.

While it’s a good idea to see if hospitals are profiting at the expense of 340B, we think such reports should be made public and not just to HHS, which might continue to hide the information from consumers.

Transparency in health care pricing also seems to have the backing of the Trump administration. In a speech describing the administration’s proposal for value-based health care, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar highlighted the importance of price transparency as a missing feature of the US health system. One part of Azar’s speech seems to hint at an executive order: “So this administration is calling on not just doctors and hospitals, but also drug companies and pharmacies, to become more transparent about pricing and outcomes of their services and products. And if that doesn’t happen, we have plenty of levers to pull that would help drive this change.”

It’s time we apply some common sense to health care policies in this country, starting with basic economic principles.

Action Alert! Write to Congress and urge them to support transparency in health care pricing—including a message on Sen. Grassley’s bill that 340B reporting should be made public, not just to HHS. Please send your message immediately.

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Help Save Homeopathy!

The FDA wants to up-end the homeopathic industry—because it’s become too popular. Help us stop this insanity! Action Alert! 

The FDA has tossed out the guidance that previously governed homoeopathy and has proposed a new framework that threatens the entire industry.

Long-time natural health champion Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) are spearheading efforts in Congress to correct this overreach. They are preparing sign-on letters which argue that the FDA should not completely withdraw the previous regulatory framework (Compliance Policy Guide 400.400) for homeopathic products.

A few weeks ago, we told you about the FDA’s latest action against homeopathic products. The agency’s new position is technically that every homeopathic product on the market is being sold illegally because 1) no homeopathic drug has been determined to be generally recognized as safe and effective (which is required for a drug to be sold over-the-counter) and 2) no homeopathic drug has gone through the FDA’s new drug approval process.

With the FDA’s new guidance, homeopathic products will be subject to the same rules as other over-the-counter drugs—a move that could eliminate many homeopathic products from the market. New drug approval for homeopathic products is burdensome, duplicative, and inappropriate. The Homœopathic Pharmacopœia of the United States (HPUS) establishes monographs for homeopathic products to follow. An ingredient’s inclusion in HPUS means that it has been determined to be safe and effective by the Homœopathic Pharmacopœia Convention of the US. In essence, then, homeopathic products have undergone premarket reviews for safety and effectiveness; requiring further, expensive testing to confirm this fact is unnecessary and would impose tremendous regulatory costs on the homeopathic industry. Others have also pointed out that this is in fact a higher regulatory threshold than that applied to allopathic over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, since many OTC drugs can be sold as long as they comply with an FDA OTC monograph.

The FDA excluded homeopathic drugs from the new drug approval process for decades because they were viewed, appropriately, as a separate category of medicine. The reason for the FDA’s change of heart is the growth of the homeopathic industry—growth which no doubt threatens the bottom line of the drug manufacturers that work closely with the FDA.

Since 1988, Compliance Policy Guide 400.400 has served as the FDA’s blueprint for the regulation of homeopathy. It clearly defines homeopathic drugs as “any drug labeled as being homeopathic which is listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States,” and it appropriately exempts homeopathic products from certain rules and regulations that apply to pharmaceutical drugs. This policy covers labeling requirements for homeopathic products and states that the FDA will focus enforcement actions against companies who fail to comply with 400.400.

Compliance Policy Guide 400.400 worked. Homeopathic drugs manufactured in conformance with the HPUS and current good manufacturing practice do not pose a public health risk; nothing is safer than homeopathic preparations. A World Health Organization report on homeopathic products concluded that “Adverse events occurring during homeopathic treatment are rarely attributed to the homeopathic medicine itself.”

Considering the myriad public health problems facing this country, including the opioid epidemic and the overuse of antibiotics, it is ludicrous that the agency is focusing on homeopathic drugs. Could it be that, like supplements, homeopathic drugs compete with pharmaceutical drugs? Recall, too, that the FDA has announced that they are targeting alternatives to opioids in the midst of an epidemic of opioid addiction that is killing 115 Americans every day.

We must encourage our senators and representatives to sign on to the Hatch and Costello letters and send a clear message to the FDA: the previous regulatory policy was sufficient to ensure consumer access to safe homeopathic remedies, and we don’t need to fix what isn’t broken.

Action Alert! Write to your elected officials and urge them to support reigning in FDA overreach in regulating homeopathic products. Please send your message immediately.

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Action Alert: Stop Crony Nutrition Advice

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Action Alert: Save Vitamin B6

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Banned B6 Could Make A Comeback, With Your Help

Pyridoxamine (vitamin B6) was banned as a supplement—but you can help bring it back. Action Alert!

The FDA has provided a back channel by which nutrients that the human body needs can be turned into drugs, and many natural compounds are at risk. If a drug company files an investigational new drug (IND) application on a nutrient before supplement companies have complied with the FDA’s (as yet unfinished) new supplement policies, the company can ask the FDA to have the supplement version removed from the market—even if the company never ends up producing a drug.

This is exactly what happened to pyridoxamine—and with your help we can bring it back.

Pyridoxamine is one of three bioavailable forms of vitamin B6. It has many health benefits and is essential to human life. It helps the body process carbohydrates, supports the nervous system, and prevents homocysteine, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, from building up in the blood. It was available for years as a dietary supplement…until the FDA banned it in 2009 in response to a Citizen’s Petition from BioStratum Inc., who wanted to use it in a drug. No drug was ever developed—meaning that the public lost access to this crucial vitamin entirely.

Years later, a new citizen’s petition has been filed by VanGuard Health Inc. to once again allow pyridoxamine to be sold as a supplement.

Ironically, the name on the citizen’s petition is J. Wesley Fox, who is listed as an executive board member of ViGuard Health. His LinkedIn profile lists that he was also Chief Scientific Officer of BioStratum from 1994-2005. It is a curious twist: An executive of the company that wanted pyridoxamine supplements removed from the market is now asking for the FDA to allow pyridoxamine supplements to be sold. Indeed, this seems to be the company’s sole focus.

Whatever the motivations behind ViGuard’s petition, it does point out the illogic behind the FDA’s position. The policies that allow drug companies to turn vitamins into drugs must be changed, but it is especially egregious to ban the supplement form of a nutrient even after a company is no longer investigating it as a drug. Nevertheless, this is what the FDA is proposing in their new dietary ingredient (NDI) guidance—one of the many reasons the NDI guidance must be amended.

Other natural compounds are imperiled by this policy. Medicure Pharma has petitioned the FDA to remove P5P supplements, another form of vitamin B6; l-glutamine could also be removed. Until the FDA finalized its policy on new supplements (referred to in FDA parlance as “new dietary ingredients”), there are likely dozens, if not hundreds of natural ingredients that could suffer a similar fate.

We must support ViGuard’s petition to allow pyridoxamine supplements to be sold once again. Even though this is essentially the same entity at fault for its removal from the market, allowing the sale of pyridoxamine once again would benefit the natural health community. More importantly, we must urge the FDA to change its policy that allows nutrients to become drugs in the first instance.  This is a separate policy which we are also working to change, and will keep you updated on our efforts on that front as well.

Action Alert! Write to the FDA in support of ViGuard’s pyridoxamine petition, and also urge the agency to reject Medicure Pharma’s P5P petition. Please send your message immediately.

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Health Care Swindle: What Is Your Medical Bill Concealing?

Efforts in Congress to make health care pricing more transparent for consumers need your support. Action Alert!

Lawmakers in the Senate are in the midst of creating legislation intended to make health care pricing more transparent. It is imperative that they hear from consumers—and not just industry cronies—about the importance of transparency.

It’s no mystery that American health care is a crony capitalist mess. In many ways, this is because we treat health care differently than almost every other service. When we visit a mechanic, we are told in advance what we can expect to pay. This is not the case in health care. Rather, we go to the hospital or to a doctor when we’re sick and, too often, are presented with bills full of complex codes that help conceal outrageous costs: $10 for an aspirin; $300 for a single X-ray; $8,000 for an emergency room visit.

Part of the reason consumers are so powerless in these situations is because there is very little transparency in health care pricing. We don’t know the price of a service until we see it on the hospital bill. For this reason, we recently supported legislation in the House of Representatives that would require hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, dentists, health insurers, and other entities offering healthcare services to disclose the price for their products and services at the point of purchase and list prices online. This reform would help drive down costs, since healthcare providers that gouge consumers would lose out to those charging a fair price. It’s the basic economic principle of competition.

A similar effort is taking shape in the Senate. A bipartisan group of senators including Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are spearheading an effort to increase price transparency in health care.

There is no bill as of yet; the senators are in the midst of soliciting feedback from a wide variety of professional associations on how best to achieve the goal of greater transparency. We hope the senators receive honest answers, but we won’t hold our breath. In our view, groups like the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association profit from consumer confusion.

An additional bill from Sen. Grassley seeks to introduce transparency into the 340B drug pricing program. The program requires drug makers to provide drugs at discounted prices to qualifying hospitals and other entities. As the law currently stands, however, there is no requirement for participating hospitals to report how much patients are charged for discounted drugs. Sen. Grassley’s bill requires hospitals to report to HHS the total acquisition costs for drugs collected through the 340B program, as well as revenues received from all third-party payers for those same drugs.

While it’s a good idea to see if hospitals are profiting at the expense of 340B, we think such reports should be made public and not just to HHS, which might continue to hide the information from consumers.

Transparency in health care pricing also seems to have the backing of the Trump administration. In a speech describing the administration’s proposal for value-based health care, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar highlighted the importance of price transparency as a missing feature of the US health system. One part of Azar’s speech seems to hint at an executive order: “So this administration is calling on not just doctors and hospitals, but also drug companies and pharmacies, to become more transparent about pricing and outcomes of their services and products. And if that doesn’t happen, we have plenty of levers to pull that would help drive this change.”

It’s time we apply some common sense to health care policies in this country, starting with basic economic principles.

Action Alert! Write to Congress and urge them to support transparency in health care pricing—including a message on Sen. Grassley’s bill that 340B reporting should be made public, not just to HHS. Please send your message immediately.

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Help Save Homeopathy!

The FDA wants to up-end the homeopathic industry—because it’s become too popular. Help us stop this insanity! Action Alert! 

The FDA has tossed out the guidance that previously governed homoeopathy and has proposed a new framework that threatens the entire industry.

Long-time natural health champion Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) are spearheading efforts in Congress to correct this overreach. They are preparing sign-on letters which argue that the FDA should not completely withdraw the previous regulatory framework (Compliance Policy Guide 400.400) for homeopathic products.

A few weeks ago, we told you about the FDA’s latest action against homeopathic products. The agency’s new position is technically that every homeopathic product on the market is being sold illegally because 1) no homeopathic drug has been determined to be generally recognized as safe and effective (which is required for a drug to be sold over-the-counter) and 2) no homeopathic drug has gone through the FDA’s new drug approval process.

With the FDA’s new guidance, homeopathic products will be subject to the same rules as other over-the-counter drugs—a move that could eliminate many homeopathic products from the market. New drug approval for homeopathic products is burdensome, duplicative, and inappropriate. The Homœopathic Pharmacopœia of the United States (HPUS) establishes monographs for homeopathic products to follow. An ingredient’s inclusion in HPUS means that it has been determined to be safe and effective by the Homœopathic Pharmacopœia Convention of the US. In essence, then, homeopathic products have undergone premarket reviews for safety and effectiveness; requiring further, expensive testing to confirm this fact is unnecessary and would impose tremendous regulatory costs on the homeopathic industry. Others have also pointed out that this is in fact a higher regulatory threshold than that applied to allopathic over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, since many OTC drugs can be sold as long as they comply with an FDA OTC monograph.

The FDA excluded homeopathic drugs from the new drug approval process for decades because they were viewed, appropriately, as a separate category of medicine. The reason for the FDA’s change of heart is the growth of the homeopathic industry—growth which no doubt threatens the bottom line of the drug manufacturers that work closely with the FDA.

Since 1988, Compliance Policy Guide 400.400 has served as the FDA’s blueprint for the regulation of homeopathy. It clearly defines homeopathic drugs as “any drug labeled as being homeopathic which is listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States,” and it appropriately exempts homeopathic products from certain rules and regulations that apply to pharmaceutical drugs. This policy covers labeling requirements for homeopathic products and states that the FDA will focus enforcement actions against companies who fail to comply with 400.400.

Compliance Policy Guide 400.400 worked. Homeopathic drugs manufactured in conformance with the HPUS and current good manufacturing practice do not pose a public health risk; nothing is safer than homeopathic preparations. A World Health Organization report on homeopathic products concluded that “Adverse events occurring during homeopathic treatment are rarely attributed to the homeopathic medicine itself.”

Considering the myriad public health problems facing this country, including the opioid epidemic and the overuse of antibiotics, it is ludicrous that the agency is focusing on homeopathic drugs. Could it be that, like supplements, homeopathic drugs compete with pharmaceutical drugs? Recall, too, that the FDA has announced that they are targeting alternatives to opioids in the midst of an epidemic of opioid addiction that is killing 115 Americans every day.

We must encourage our senators and representatives to sign on to the Hatch and Costello letters and send a clear message to the FDA: the previous regulatory policy was sufficient to ensure consumer access to safe homeopathic remedies, and we don’t need to fix what isn’t broken.

Action Alert! Write to your elected officials and urge them to support reigning in FDA overreach in regulating homeopathic products. Please send your message immediately.

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Action Alert: Stop Crony Nutrition Advice

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Action Alert: Save Vitamin B6

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Action Alert: Support Health Care Price Transparency

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Action Alert: Help Save Homeopathy

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Action Alert: Support Health Care Price Transparency

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Action Alert: Help Save Homeopathy

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Manufactured Crisis: HPV, Hype & Horror

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Dr. Ron Hoffman: Is your Coumadin killing you? (The remarkable potential of vitamin K to stop arterial calcification)

I recently had the pleasure of attending a phenomenal lecture at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium (IHS) co-presented by Drs. Jeffrey Bland and Leon Schurgers. Dr. Bland is widely acknowledged as the “Godfather of Functional Medicine”; Dr. Schurgers is a Dutch researcher who specializes in the relationship between vitamin K and coronary artery calcification (CAC).

Measurement of CAC is an accepted way of assessing risk for heart attack. Regardless of cholesterol, some people are highly prone—or resistant—to coronary artery disease. I use the “EBT heart scan” to more reliably predict which of my patients needs aggressive prevention versus those who can be reassured that they’re at low risk.

For example, because my cholesterol is a little high (around 210), and I’m a 65 year old male with a family history of heart disease, I’m told I’m an ideal candidate for a statin. But a recent heart scan revealed I had zero plaque—a virtual guarantee of an additional 15 years of trouble-free mileage. I have a patient with a cholesterol of 345 who paradoxically has no plaque; another, with a cholesterol of 190 has a high-risk plaque score of over 800.

So clearly there are factors beyond cholesterol, HDL, and LDL that determine risk.

One of those factors might be vitamin K.

Dr. Schurgers grew up in the Netherlands, a country renowned for its high-quality aged cheeses. Among Western countries, Holland is relatively low in incidence of heart disease, despite high consumption of full-fat dairy. This has led Schurgers to speculate that something in aged dairy products might be protective.

The Japanese have long touted the benefits of natto—fermented soy beans—a decidedly acquired taste for Western palates. Natto is the richest dietary source of menaquinone (MK7), a form of vitamin K2.

For those who can’t abide the pungent taste of natto, aged cheese is the second most potent source of MK7. It’s also available in supplements, and for years has been a mainstay in my preventive protocols for cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Why does MK7 have beneficial effects in such seemingly diverse conditions as atherosclerosis and bone loss? The answer, a bit simplistically, is that it acts kind of like a crossing guard for calcium: it keeps calcium away from places it shouldn’t be, and helps deposit it where it should be. The key to vitamin K’s actions in this regard is something called Matrix Gla protein (MGP).

So where does Coumadin fit in to this picture? Read the rest of the article here.

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Manufactured Crisis: HPV, Hype & Horror

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Dr. Ron Hoffman: Is your Coumadin killing you? (The remarkable potential of vitamin K to stop arterial calcification)

I recently had the pleasure of attending a phenomenal lecture at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium (IHS) co-presented by Drs. Jeffrey Bland and Leon Schurgers. Dr. Bland is widely acknowledged as the “Godfather of Functional Medicine”; Dr. Schurgers is a Dutch researcher who specializes in the relationship between vitamin K and coronary artery calcification (CAC).

Measurement of CAC is an accepted way of assessing risk for heart attack. Regardless of cholesterol, some people are highly prone—or resistant—to coronary artery disease. I use the “EBT heart scan” to more reliably predict which of my patients needs aggressive prevention versus those who can be reassured that they’re at low risk.

For example, because my cholesterol is a little high (around 210), and I’m a 65 year old male with a family history of heart disease, I’m told I’m an ideal candidate for a statin. But a recent heart scan revealed I had zero plaque—a virtual guarantee of an additional 15 years of trouble-free mileage. I have a patient with a cholesterol of 345 who paradoxically has no plaque; another, with a cholesterol of 190 has a high-risk plaque score of over 800.

So clearly there are factors beyond cholesterol, HDL, and LDL that determine risk.

One of those factors might be vitamin K.

Dr. Schurgers grew up in the Netherlands, a country renowned for its high-quality aged cheeses. Among Western countries, Holland is relatively low in incidence of heart disease, despite high consumption of full-fat dairy. This has led Schurgers to speculate that something in aged dairy products might be protective.

The Japanese have long touted the benefits of natto—fermented soy beans—a decidedly acquired taste for Western palates. Natto is the richest dietary source of menaquinone (MK7), a form of vitamin K2.

For those who can’t abide the pungent taste of natto, aged cheese is the second most potent source of MK7. It’s also available in supplements, and for years has been a mainstay in my preventive protocols for cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Why does MK7 have beneficial effects in such seemingly diverse conditions as atherosclerosis and bone loss? The answer, a bit simplistically, is that it acts kind of like a crossing guard for calcium: it keeps calcium away from places it shouldn’t be, and helps deposit it where it should be. The key to vitamin K’s actions in this regard is something called Matrix Gla protein (MGP).

So where does Coumadin fit in to this picture? Read the rest of the article here.

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2 Minute Warning- March 1, 2018

This week’s featured stories:

• Purdue Pharmaceutical Will No Longer Market Oxycotin To Doctors
• Senator Releases Report Detailing Opioid Manufacturer Graft
• School Shootings and Psychotropic Drugs
• Short-Term Insurance- An Affordable Alternative?

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HPV Documentary Coming Soon

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Mass Shootings Likely Linked to Psychiatric Meds

Why isn’t our government investigating the connection between mind-altering drugs and violent shootings? Action Alert!

Recently, famed constitutional attorney Jonathan Emord called on the Trump administration to investigate the possible links between psychiatric drugs and violent gun attacks in the United States. The FDA is aware that these drugs can cause violent behavior, yet continues to allow powerful, mind-altering drugs to be given to millions of Americans, including children.

We’ve written previously about this very topic. We researched dozens of high-profile cases of violent crime over the last few decades, and found that in at least half of the cases, we know that the perpetrator was taking, or had recently stopped taking, some form of antidepressant or antipsychotic medication. It could well be 100% if all the information is made publicly available.

The most recent examples support this thesis. In the  Las Vegas shooting, where Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others, the autopsy showed he was using an anti-anxiety drug. Adam Lanza, the killer involved in the 2013 Sandy Hook school shooting, was suspected to have been on, or recently stopped taking, antipsychotic drugs; but as Emord details, the coroner would not release the deceased Lanza’s medical records. The killer in Parkland, Florida, Nikolas Cruz, is also suspected to have been on some kind of medication for “emotional difficulties,” according to a family member, but the specific drug has not yet been specified.

It’s well known that mind-altering drugs are linked with violent behavior. Many antidepressants carry black box warnings for increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, but the FDA was reluctant to issue even that warning. “It has been decades since former FDA Medical Reviewer Andrew Mosholder alerted the FDA to the results of his post-market surveillance of psychiatric drugs,” Emord told ANH. “He determined those drugs increased the risk of suicide and violent behavior in children.  The FDA ostracized him for those findings and suppressed his report.  Years later, under significant pressure, the agency finally admitted the association and ordered a black box warning, but only for suicide, on the drugs.  That warning has had little effect on limiting the extent of psychiatric prescriptions to kids. Indeed, at least one in five Americans use psychiatric medications.”

Not only are these mind-altering drugs dangerous, they can be ineffective for many people. Researchers analyzed the results of 34 clinical trials involving more than 5,000 children taking one of fourteen antidepressants. Only one of them worked to relieve the symptoms of depression. Whether these drugs help or not is still hotly debated, but there is no question they are also addictive, and seem to be linked to birth defects.

There are alternatives to psychiatric drugs. There is evidence to suggest that a low-carb ketogenic diet can prove as effective at treating mental disorders—without the devastating side effects of psychiatric drugs.  Magnesium, B vitamins, SAMe, and other nutrients can make all the difference. Other alternatives include cognitive behavioral therapy, herbal treatments such as St. John’s wort, and simple exercise. None of these have been linked with birth defects.

Why does the FDA seem reluctant to explore the link between psychiatric drugs and violence? A clue could be in the numbers. The global market for antidepressant drugs is worth around $14.5 billion and estimated to surge to $16.8 billion by 2020; the global antipsychotics market is $11.7 billion, much of which is prescribed for conditions that have little to do with psychosis and which have very toxic side effects. That’s almost 30 billion reasons to keep the public ignorant about any connections between mind-altering drugs and violent behavior. Remember that the FDA appears to see the drug industry, not the public, as its client because drug industry user fees provide a substantial portion of the agency’s budget.

“I am not saying psychiatric drugs are the sole catalyst for school shootings,” Emord continued, “but I am saying that, by FDA’s own admission, they increase the incidence of suicidal thoughts and violent behavior in kids.  Consequently, if we are not going to ban administration of the drugs to kids (which I think we should do), there should at least be a federal investigation into the association between the drugs and violent behavior.  There should also be immediate steps undertaken by psychiatrists, school administrators, and parents to identify each child on these medications and to closely monitor them for any sign of violence, whereupon they should be removed from school and the drugs discontinued.”

This is just common sense. Before even more innocent people die, we need an honest assessment of the role psychiatric drugs play in this epidemic of violence.

Action Alert! Write to President Trump and Congress, urging a federal investigation into the link between psychiatric drugs and violent shootings. Please send your message immediately.

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Proposed Rule Change Offers Hope for Cheaper Healthcare

Short-term health plans would give Americans more health care options, although there are flaws. Action Alert!

One of the fundamental problems with Obamacare is that it allows the government to define what “health” and “health care” are. The result has been ever-increasing prices for health insurance that covers a range of services consumers don’t want, while not offering the care that consumers do want. Through executive orders, the Trump administration is instructing federal agencies to come up with proposals that offer more health insurance options outside of the government-run health care exchanges.

Last week, a proposed rule was released to implement President Trump’s executive order on short-term health plans. The rule amends the definition of short-term health plans— lengthening the maximum period of short-term insurance from three to twelve months. Importantly, short-term health plans do not have to adhere to many Obamacare regulations, and would present a cheaper health insurance option for many Americans.

The rule asks for public comment on whether or how such plans could be renewed. Under Obamacare, short term plans are not renewable.

If short-term health insurance plans can be easily renewed, this may be a way to avoid costly Obamacare plans. Cheaper, short-term health plans that cover catastrophic incidents could be purchased and renewed indefinitely, and integrative services could be paid for out of pocket using Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

This is not the parallel, consumer-driven health care system ANH advocates for, but it is an important step in that direction.

There has been criticism of Trump’s plan to extend short-term coverage, including worries that these plans may not cover pre-existing conditions or be renewable for those who develop certain medical conditions.  But those who wish to stay with Obamacare in order to receive them can.

Much hinges on how the rule is finally written and whether or not short-term plans can be automatically renewed. We need more health care options outside of the Obamacare model. With the failure of Congress to pass health care reform, this rule, in addition to expanded access to association health plans, represents some relief from the health insurance straight jacket.

Action Alert! Send comments to the Department of Health and Human Services, Congress, and President Trump supporting this rule and urging the department to make short-term health plans renewable. Please send your message immediately.

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2 Minute Warning- March 1, 2018

This week’s featured stories:

• Purdue Pharmaceutical Will No Longer Market Oxycotin To Doctors
• Senator Releases Report Detailing Opioid Manufacturer Graft
• School Shootings and Psychotropic Drugs
• Short-Term Insurance- An Affordable Alternative?

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HPV Documentary Coming Soon

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Action Alert: Link Between Mind-Altering Drugs and Shootings

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Action Alert: Support Short-Term Health Plans

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Mass Shootings Likely Linked to Psychiatric Meds

Why isn’t our government investigating the connection between mind-altering drugs and violent shootings? Action Alert!

Recently, famed constitutional attorney Jonathan Emord called on the Trump administration to investigate the possible links between psychiatric drugs and violent gun attacks in the United States. The FDA is aware that these drugs can cause violent behavior, yet continues to allow powerful, mind-altering drugs to be given to millions of Americans, including children.

We’ve written previously about this very topic. We researched dozens of high-profile cases of violent crime over the last few decades, and found that in at least half of the cases, we know that the perpetrator was taking, or had recently stopped taking, some form of antidepressant or antipsychotic medication. It could well be 100% if all the information is made publicly available.

The most recent examples support this thesis. In the  Las Vegas shooting, where Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others, the autopsy showed he was using an anti-anxiety drug. Adam Lanza, the killer involved in the 2013 Sandy Hook school shooting, was suspected to have been on, or recently stopped taking, antipsychotic drugs; but as Emord details, the coroner would not release the deceased Lanza’s medical records. The killer in Parkland, Florida, Nikolas Cruz, is also suspected to have been on some kind of medication for “emotional difficulties,” according to a family member, but the specific drug has not yet been specified.

It’s well known that mind-altering drugs are linked with violent behavior. Many antidepressants carry black box warnings for increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, but the FDA was reluctant to issue even that warning. “It has been decades since former FDA Medical Reviewer Andrew Mosholder alerted the FDA to the results of his post-market surveillance of psychiatric drugs,” Emord told ANH. “He determined those drugs increased the risk of suicide and violent behavior in children.  The FDA ostracized him for those findings and suppressed his report.  Years later, under significant pressure, the agency finally admitted the association and ordered a black box warning, but only for suicide, on the drugs.  That warning has had little effect on limiting the extent of psychiatric prescriptions to kids. Indeed, at least one in five Americans use psychiatric medications.”

Not only are these mind-altering drugs dangerous, they can be ineffective for many people. Researchers analyzed the results of 34 clinical trials involving more than 5,000 children taking one of fourteen antidepressants. Only one of them worked to relieve the symptoms of depression. Whether these drugs help or not is still hotly debated, but there is no question they are also addictive, and seem to be linked to birth defects.

There are alternatives to psychiatric drugs. There is evidence to suggest that a low-carb ketogenic diet can prove as effective at treating mental disorders—without the devastating side effects of psychiatric drugs.  Magnesium, B vitamins, SAMe, and other nutrients can make all the difference. Other alternatives include cognitive behavioral therapy, herbal treatments such as St. John’s wort, and simple exercise. None of these have been linked with birth defects.

Why does the FDA seem reluctant to explore the link between psychiatric drugs and violence? A clue could be in the numbers. The global market for antidepressant drugs is worth around $14.5 billion and estimated to surge to $16.8 billion by 2020; the global antipsychotics market is $11.7 billion, much of which is prescribed for conditions that have little to do with psychosis and which have very toxic side effects. That’s almost 30 billion reasons to keep the public ignorant about any connections between mind-altering drugs and violent behavior. Remember that the FDA appears to see the drug industry, not the public, as its client because drug industry user fees provide a substantial portion of the agency’s budget.

“I am not saying psychiatric drugs are the sole catalyst for school shootings,” Emord continued, “but I am saying that, by FDA’s own admission, they increase the incidence of suicidal thoughts and violent behavior in kids.  Consequently, if we are not going to ban administration of the drugs to kids (which I think we should do), there should at least be a federal investigation into the association between the drugs and violent behavior.  There should also be immediate steps undertaken by psychiatrists, school administrators, and parents to identify each child on these medications and to closely monitor them for any sign of violence, whereupon they should be removed from school and the drugs discontinued.”

This is just common sense. Before even more innocent people die, we need an honest assessment of the role psychiatric drugs play in this epidemic of violence.

Action Alert! Write to President Trump and Congress, urging a federal investigation into the link between psychiatric drugs and violent shootings. Please send your message immediately.

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2t47w4T via Aloe for Health
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2FFUzRa

Proposed Rule Change Offers Hope for Cheaper Healthcare

Short-term health plans would give Americans more health care options, although there are flaws. Action Alert!

One of the fundamental problems with Obamacare is that it allows the government to define what “health” and “health care” are. The result has been ever-increasing prices for health insurance that covers a range of services consumers don’t want, while not offering the care that consumers do want. Through executive orders, the Trump administration is instructing federal agencies to come up with proposals that offer more health insurance options outside of the government-run health care exchanges.

Last week, a proposed rule was released to implement President Trump’s executive order on short-term health plans. The rule amends the definition of short-term health plans— lengthening the maximum period of short-term insurance from three to twelve months. Importantly, short-term health plans do not have to adhere to many Obamacare regulations, and would present a cheaper health insurance option for many Americans.

The rule asks for public comment on whether or how such plans could be renewed. Under Obamacare, short term plans are not renewable.

If short-term health insurance plans can be easily renewed, this may be a way to avoid costly Obamacare plans. Cheaper, short-term health plans that cover catastrophic incidents could be purchased and renewed indefinitely, and integrative services could be paid for out of pocket using Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

This is not the parallel, consumer-driven health care system ANH advocates for, but it is an important step in that direction.

There has been criticism of Trump’s plan to extend short-term coverage, including worries that these plans may not cover pre-existing conditions or be renewable for those who develop certain medical conditions.  But those who wish to stay with Obamacare in order to receive them can.

Much hinges on how the rule is finally written and whether or not short-term plans can be automatically renewed. We need more health care options outside of the Obamacare model. With the failure of Congress to pass health care reform, this rule, in addition to expanded access to association health plans, represents some relief from the health insurance straight jacket.

Action Alert! Send comments to the Department of Health and Human Services, Congress, and President Trump supporting this rule and urging the department to make short-term health plans renewable. Please send your message immediately.

from The Alliance for Natural Health http://ift.tt/2F38Zhb via Aloe for Health
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Action Alert: Link Between Mind-Altering Drugs and Shootings

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Action Alert: Support Short-Term Health Plans

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