Anita Burns -

Whether or not the law on the ballot for labeling Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) passes in California or not, you might not want to eat foods with GMOs if they can be avoided. My guess is that it will be a very long time before we really know which foods have been modified and which have not.

The scary part is that GMOs are so prevalent, it is nearly impossible to avoid them all. If you buy into Monsanto's motto that GMOs are save, then go ahead and eat them. At least you won't be stressed by trying to figure out how to not eat them.

I personally don't believe that they are safe. Too many tests from independent (read, not affiliated with Mosanto) have warned us about them. The Institute for Responsible Technology is one. http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers. Their website cites infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in our internal organs and the gastrointesitnal system as effects of eating GMO foods. There's a lot more from other organizations and even the FDA repeatedly warned that GMO foods cause dire problems. They wanted more study, but Monsanto dismissed that recommendation in a fit of hissy and went ahead with dollar signs in their eyes.

If genetically modified foods are so safe, why are they spending billions of dollars trying to keep from labeling products that contain the evil little buggers?

So what can you do? Learn which products are modified.

One of the main offenders is corn. GMO Corn is rampant. It is in so many things it's impossible to list them all. Even some vinegars are distilled from GMO corn. It is in animal feed so if you eat anything but organic, grass-fed meat, you are probably getting GMOs. According to the FDA, 73 percent of U.S. corn crops are genetically modified.

Contrary to popular diet wisdom, filling up on protein and cutting carbs can raise cholesterol — and weight — in the long-term.

By Annie Hauser, Senior Editor, Everyday Health

View the original article at: http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/0611/low-carb-diets-can-raise-heart-risk-study-finds.aspx

Bread lovers, rejoice: There's yet another reason to skip a low-carb, high-protein, high-fat diet.

Eating more fat and protein and less carbohydrates might lead to an increase in cholesterol and risk for cardiovascular disease, a 25-year study of 140,000 Swedish adults found.

How Healthy Is a Low Carbohydrate Diet

An effort to eat low-carb didn't improve study participants' body mass index (BMI), either: After adjusting for the aging study population, researchers found BMI actually continuously increased over the course of the study, even as participants tried to eat healthier foods. 

"While low carbohydrate/high fat diets may help short-term weight loss," cautioned researcher Ingegerd Johansson, PhD, in a release, "these results ... demonstrate that long-term weight loss is not maintained, and that this diet increases blood cholesterol which has a major impact on risk of cardiovascular disease." 

The study, published in Nutrition Journal, tracked the results of a regional and national efforts to reduce the fat intake and improve the heart health of adults living in Northern Sweden. The Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) — which included a push for better food labeling, nutrition information, cooking demonstrations, and health examinations and counseling — began in 1985 after Swedish health officials noticed that rates of heart disease were higher in Northern Sweden, and for men, among the highest in the world. 

Before I begin, I want to say that I have no problem with other people’s body size. If that is a life-choice, wonderful. I don’t think less of anyone because of their body shape. We all have our comfort zones.

This rant is ONLY about me. I am accustomed to looking a certain way. That image of myself ties in with a zillion neuron’s that connect to my sense of well-being.

Over the years, of course I have adjusted that comfort image a little. I weighed 98 pounds when I was first married at eighteen. I crept up to 110 and stayed there until a  hysterectomy in my late thirties, when it shot up to 120. That’s where I stayed—until recently. I definitely don’t want to go back to 98 pounds, but 125 would be good. It will be perfect, in fact.

For centuries, or so it seems, I have been preaching from the food pulpit that diets don’t work. I still believe that, but as age creeps up on my A$$ and my metabolism goes equally south, I find myself in a dilemma. My life has taught me the valuable lesson of eating Real Food instead pretenders-of-food, for health and keeping the weight off, but now I see that sometimes it isn’t enough, especially for women of a certain ripeness.

I know I've been on a political rant lately. The conservative war on women just got my hackles up. But I can take only so much intensity before I just say, F&*$k it and turn my attention to something that won't raise my blood pressure so much. Oh, I'm still doing what I can to turn the tide of destruction of all that we have fought so hard for as women, but I'm taking an anger break and will continue to fight with my vote, plus spread the word via social media. In the meantime, I am focusing on something else dear to my heart, REAL FOOD COOKING.

I have put aside my great American Novel for a bit and am concentrating on something I have wanted to write for a long time—cook books, starting with my favorite goodie of all all time, home-made Bread. Home made bread is so sublime that I hate it when I'm too busy to bake and have to buy my bread. Right now, my house smells amazing because I am testing bread recipes for the book. The only problem is it goes so fast I only get a slice or two before I am staring at a deflated, empty bread bag populated with lonely crumbs.

(NaturalNews) Kombucha tea is becoming all the rage in popular culture today, with entire refrigerator cases at health food stores now exclusively stocking the stuff, and celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, and Orlando Bloom regularly drinking it for increased longevity and improved health. But with its growing popularity has come a whole lot of scaremongering by the disease industry over its supposed dangers, which begs the question -- is kombucha tea a potentially-dangerous fad, or is it truly the health-promoting wonder elixir that many people claim it is?

First of all, kombucha tea has been around for thousands of years, and has long been used by traditional cultures to improve digestion, boost immunity, eliminate kidney stones, reduce high blood pressure, and create sustained and lasting energy.