Positive Health Online

Bircher-Benner Raw Food Pioneer

A significant link was missing from Suz Evasdaughter’s excellent article on raw food and longevity (Positive Health, February 2008): she made no mention of the great Swiss physician, Dr Max Bircher-Benner (1867-1939), who was the first to develop  a complete raw food therapy which proved highly successful in curing a wide range of diseases. He stumbled across the healing potential of raw food as a young doctor, suffering from jaundice, when the only food he could hold down were raw apples.

He went on to treat many patients with an exclusive raw food diet, reinforced with naturopathic methods, but the fate of pioneers overtook him soon enough. In 1900, when he presented his fully documented cases to the Zurich Medical Society, he was reprimanded for endangering the credibility of medicine and had his membership and usual privileges withdrawn. So he opened his own clinic, which soon became famous for its remarkable results.

Dr Bircher-Benner died in 1939. His clinic no longer exists, but his writings are still available (from Amazon). Now that more and more people are showing interest in sane nutrition and raw foods, the work of the Founding Father of it all deserves to be widely known once more.

Fruit Consumption may Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk

Apples, bananas, and oranges are the most common fruits in both Western and Asian diets, and are important sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. A new study in the Journal of Food Science explores the additional health benefits of these fruits, and reveals they also protect against neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease.[1]

Researchers at Cornell University investigated the effects of apple, banana, and orange extracts on neuron cells and found that the phenolic phytochemicals of the fruits prevented neurotoxicity on the cells.

Among the three fruits, apples contained the highest content of protective antioxidants, followed by bananas then oranges.

The authors concluded “[their] study demonstrated that antioxidants in the major fresh fruits consumed in the United States and Korea protected neuronal cells from oxidative stress… Additional consumption of fresh fruits such as apple, banana, and orange may be beneficial to improve effects in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”

References

1.    HJ Heo et al. Effects of Banana, Orange, and Apple on Oxidative Stress-Induced Neurotoxicity in PC12 Cells. Journal of Food Science. doi:10.1111/j.1750-3841.2007.00632. 2008.
    www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ j.1750-3841.2007.00632.x?prevSearch=allfield%
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BBC Health Website Deletes Complementary Medicine

Last week the controllers of BBCHealth (www.bbc.co.uk/health), the health section on one of the most accessed websites in the world, decided to remove all coverage of complementary medicine!

They used to have substantial coverage with over 40 pages on this subject covering all the major therapies, their pros and cons, evidence for their effectiveness, how to find a qualified practitioner, etc.

However the site has in recent months been sent a deluge of letters and emails claiming that complementary therapies such as homeopathy and cranial osteopathy should be removed. As a result large chunks of this part of the site were simply removed overnight and now, following recent cutbacks, it was decided that, rather than update this part of the site, it should simply be removed altogether!

It may seem incredible that a public service site this prominent can deem complementary medicine so insignificant that it no longer warrants any coverage other than the odd news story. This is despite the fact that complementary medicine is used favourably by a significant proportion of the population (recent surveys have estimated that around 1 in 5 Britons use it at some point or other) and that increasing numbers of people are now seeking to train in these therapies.

However, as the ‘quack busters’ become more organised and active, evidence of the backlash against complementary medicine is appearing all over the place – such as the removal of PCT funding for homeopathy,  the threatened closure of the homeopathic hospitals, many negative news stories in the press and so on.

Rather than taking a reasoned view and considering the evidence from good research studies on complementary medicine, some groups seem simply hell bent on trying to ‘stamp out’ complementary medicine in any way possible. The BBCi removal of complementary medicine coverage (which has been in place for almost 15 years!) is one example.

If you believe information pages on it should be returned to BBCi, please, please take just a minute to express your views using their online comment form at: www.bbc.co.uk/feedback/

Make your view known. As a public service company they have to listen to your views so your email will make a difference. Apparently for all the many letters and emails that they received that were against complementary medicine, they only received a handful in support. Therefore if you are in support please let them know so they may revise their thinking on this subject.

Please act as soon as possible and pass on these details to anyone else you know who may also be willing to write in support of complementary medicine.

Codex Alimentarius: The UN/EU Plan to Destroy Organic Farming and to Eradicate the Complementary & Natural Health Care Industry

Having spent the past twelve months investigating Codex Alimentarius, I am deeply disturbed by the almost total lack of awareness (or even interest) with regard to the implications of this pernicious global Commission, particularly amongst those most affected by the excesses of this restrictive legislation.
In the words of the National Health Federation[1], the aims and objectives of Codex Alimentarius are as follows:
•    Only low-potency, ‘me too’ supplements available that will do nothing for your health;
•    All or most foods genetically-
modified;
•    Beneficial supplements unavailable or sold by prescription only.

For many people, this agenda is so outrageous, they cannot believe such goals are achievable; yet this may well be the reality as soon as 31st December 2009, if the Codex Alimentarius Commission continues to disregard input from those who offer a counter perspective to the combined forces of Big Farmer and Big Pharma.

For the past five years the European challenge to Codex has been led by Dr Robert Verkerk, Executive Director of the Alliance for Natural Health[2] and Scientific Advisor to the National Health Federation. Yet despite the efforts of the ANH, the NHF and the Dr Rath Foundation, the Codex agenda lumbers ever closer to the EU statute books.

In April of 2005, the ANH mounted a legal challenge to the Codex Commission; Justice Leendert A Geelhoed, the European Union Advocate General, refered to the arbitrary powers of the Codex-supporting EU legislation as being “about as transparent as a black box”.

The subsequent 12th July 2005 ruling of the International Court of Justice in Luxembourg followed the July 4 Rome meeting of Codex, when the 85 countries present ratified the restrictive guidelines for dietary supplements. Six days after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and just five days after the London Bombings, there was little mention of the ICJ ruling in the British media.

Amongst the most disturbing component contained within Article 6 of the EU Directive, is that it strictly prohibits information about diseases being treatable by nutrients and calls for future supplement dosage restrictions. Such is the power and influence of Big Pharma!

NHF and ANH resistance to Codex will potentially be little more than an inconvenience to the prime movers behind this pernicious global agenda… unless and until such time as there is a wider realisation that the organic farming and natural health industries may soon be little more than a memory.

It is with this objective that I have mounted the Codex Awareness Initiative. Following on from a series of public presentations around the South west of England, I will be hosting The Alternative View in Totnes, Devon over the weekend of 25/26/27 April 2008. The primary purpose of this event is to raise awareness of the depth and breadth of the Codex agenda. Phillip Day will open the event on the Friday evening and Dr. Robert Verkerk will be the first speaker of the Saturday programme. Phillip Day will speak on ‘The New European Order & Natural Health’, and the title of Dr Verkerk’s talk will be Codex – The Conspiracy that is no longer a theory.

Dr Verkerk and Meleni Aldridge (ANH Development Manager) will be available throughout the weekend to answer questions, to discuss ways in which we can support the work on the ANH and to provide a strategy for getting the Codex threat into the wider consciousness.

Meanwhile, I close by observing that Big Pharma and Big Farmer have a very well prepared strategy to ensure the success of the Codex agenda. The fact that they have a strategy is a very positive indicator… because it demonstrates that they are well aware that it is not yet a ‘done deal’!

Our challenge is to demonstrate that no corporate strategy can be effective against the universal desire to retain the basic human right to food and health freedom.

References

1    http://www.thenhf.com/codex/codex_handout .pdf
2    www.anhcampaign.org
Ian R Crane is an ex-oilfield executive, who has lived and worked in the UK, Continental Europe, the Middle East and the USA, Ian now lectures and writes on the geo-political webs that are being spun; with particular focus on the US/UN Corporate agenda for the absolute control of global resources. For further information, please visit
www.thealternativeview.co.uk
www.foodcode.blogspot.com