Sad, but true, we’re on the way to losing the world’s orangutan population. We continue to shout from the hilltops that the health of the environment is linked to the health of each individual on earth. That means you, your family and your friends, not to mention those across the globe. So when Big Agriculture destroys the earth for non-green food production, it also destroys habitats which rocks the balance of life on the planet. The orangutan problem stems from the greedy bastards who are farming palm oil

Tanjung Puting National Park on the island of Borneo is made up of vast tracts of wetlands, forest and ancient peat swamps. Its 1,600 square miles are home to endangered species including proboscis monkeys, gibbons, clouded leopards, more than 220 species of birds, and orangutans.1 Orangutans, which live only on Borneo and Sumatra, are seriously endangered. Not only is their natural habitat being destroyed, they are captured and attacked by palm oil workers who do not want the animals to harm them or their crops. Tanjung Puting offers a rehabilitation home for 2,000 once-captive orangutans, but even these apes are threatened by the encroachment of palm oil plantations. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation predicts that if palm oil plantations continue to expand at their current rate, the orangutan will be extinct by 2012.

Gunung Palung National Park, another haven for orangutans, is being encroached upon by Cargill-owned plantations. To the east, Borneo’s largest national park – the Kayan Mentarang National Park—is being threatened by the proposed 850 kilometer Kalimantan Border Oil Palm Mega-Project. If developed, it would be the single largest palm oil plantation in the world, destroying intact tropical rainforests and the ancestral territory of up to a million Dayak people, according to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples Rights.

If you care enough to get involved with this problem, click here.

Sources:

1. Rainforest Agribusiness, The Last Haven for Orangutans Threatened by ADM’s Palm Oil Expansion, ran.org

Green Tea is a super food. It’s been around for centuries and is a staple of some Asian peoples. But more and more reports continue to emerge from studies on green tea’s benefits, from cancer fighting activity to immune boosting. As of late, scientists have shown that green tea reduces risk factors for heart disease, as it rapidly improves the function of (endothelial) cells lining the circulatory system; endothelial dysfunction is a key event in the progression of atherosclerosis. (Science Daily)

The study, performed by Dr Nikolaos Alexopoulos and colleagues at the 1st Cardiology Department, Athens Medical School in Greece, was a randomised trial involving the diameter measurement (dilatation) of the brachial artery of healthy volunteers on three separate occasions - after taking green tea, caffeine, and hot water (for a placebo effect). The measurements were taken at 30, 90 and 120 minutes after consumption. Dilatation of the brachial artery as a result of increased blood flow (following a brief period of ischaemia of the upper limb) is related to endothelial function and is known to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk.1

While black tea has been associated with improved short and long-term endothelial performance, this is the first time that green tea has been shown to have a short-term beneficial effect on the large arteries. Another study has already shown that green tea reverses endothelial dysfunction in smokers. Read the rest of this entry »

by Vic Shayne, PhD

Animal abuse is a terrible, repulsive, despicable act. Few logical, normal people would disagree. It’s so bad, in fact, that a multi-million dollar NFL football player, Michael Vick, was convicted and sent to jail for involvement in dog fighting. Is this really animal abuse? I would say so. But what few people realize is that this is absolutely nothing compared to what is done to farm animals every single day that very few people know about. So why do we say no to dog fighting and yes to the hideous, painful removing of beaks from chickens? Or the force feeding of geese or the torture of pigs on a daily basis?

Animal abuse is alarming and disturbing and is behind most cartons of eggs, steaks, chicken, turkey, ham and bacon. Can you turn your back on this article? I hope not.

Why do you eat animal products that are the end product of a series of painful, inhumane treatment? It’s animal abuse by every definition. This article is to get you to think twice about what you eat. It’s not a promotion of vegetarianism, but of humane treatment of animals — animals that you end up eating!

The Humane Society states:

Chickens, pigs, turkeys, cows, and other farm animals raised for meat, eggs, and milk make up more than 95% of the animals in the United States with whom humans interact. Yet how much do we really know about them?

Farm animals are sentient, complex, and unique. They are as capable of feeling pain and frustration, joy and excitement as those dogs and cats we welcome into our families, yet industrialized agriculture treats them merely as meat-, egg-, and milk-producing machines, instead of the living, sensitive beings they are. Read the rest of this entry »

“Our flashy beauty industr y is a key suppor ting character in a drama
that could be called “The Other Inconvenient Truth” — the messy
problem that the material economy depends on toxic petrochemicals
that are contaminating the human species and threatening our health.” ‚ Not Just a Pretty Face

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An exposé about toxic chemicals in beauty products has been chosen as one of the best independently published books of the year. “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry” (New Society Publishers 2007) by Stacy Malkan, tells the inside story of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics announced that more than 3,000 people have attended the “Not Just a Pretty Face” Book Tour and Safe Cosmetics Road Show over the past eight months. Working in conjunction with grassroots groups and universities across the country, the campaign held 44 book-reading events in 30 U.S. cities in 13 states.

Not Just a Pretty Face delves deeply into the dark side of the beauty industry, and looks to hopeful solutions for a healthier future. This scathing investigation peels away less-than-lovely layers to expose an industry in dire need of an extreme makeover.

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LOOKING FOR SAFE, CLEAN SKIN CARE products without artificial ingredients? Go to this page and read about our Pomega line.

Our Pomega5 skin products are made without artificial ingredients and contain pomegranate which has been scientifically proven to contain a host of rich, nutritional properties for the skin and body. Pomegranate skin care treatments have been around for thousands of years and boast a strong track record not only among traditional peoples of the Mediterranean region, but also among today’s scientific researchers.

by Vic Shayne, PhD

For many years in the health care industry it has been reported that using your barbecue to cook meat is a very bad idea. Sure, it’s an American pastime, but so is auto racing, fireworks and vice presidential shooting “accidents.” The American Institute of Cancer Research’s recent report said it “could find no amount of processed meat that is safe to eat,” referring to barbecuing.

On the mercola.com website, you’ll read:

After analyzing the results of 7,000 studies, the Institute concluded that grilling any meat — whether red, white or fish — produces potent carcinogens.

The high heat of grilling reacts with proteins in red meat, poultry and fish, creating heterocyclic amines, which are linked to cancer. Another form of cancer-causing agents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are created when juices from meats drip and hit the heat source. They then rise in smoke and can stick to the meat. Read the rest of this entry »