In Brief (click on the links to read more)

Natural News

  • Campaigners in the EU have won a major victory as the EU Council and Parliament agree a plan to phase out the use of mercury in dentistry. The ban will come into force across most of Europe on 1st January 2025 taking an important step towards a mercury-free future, both for the environment and humans. There has been a ban on the use of mercury in dentistry in the EU since 2018, but with a lack of proper enforcement its use has continued with around 40 tonnes of mercury used every year. Czech, Bulgaria and Slovenia have been given an extension till mid-2026 given their dental insurance schemes are heavily intertwined with the use of amalgam. All eyes are on the UK now which continues the use of amalgam in dentistry despite the wealth of evidence of harms to people and the environment.
  • New research has raised concerns about the safety of nisin, a commonly used lanthipeptide, which is a class of bacteriocins with especially potent antimicrobial properties widely used by the food industry as a preservative. Lantipeptides have become known as 'lantibiotics' and although originally naturally derived, lantibiotics are proving a problem for human health. Researchers, testing new forms of lantibiotics, found that not only do they kill pathogenic bacteria, they also damage beneficial microbes in the human gut. Speaking to the Epoch Times (paywalled), ANH founder, Rob Verkerk PhD, warned that this type of research paves the way for the development of patented products that can be “slipped” into foods under the guise of the US Food and Drug Administration’s “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) umbrella, without a care for their impact on human health. Yet another reason to avoid processed and ultra-procesed foods which are laden with preservatives
  • There's so much discussion over what type of diet is best both for human and planetary health. We're increasingly being told that animal produce is bad and we should eat mostly plants to improve the health of the environment and humans. A new perspective, published in Science of Food, explores the data being used to push such changes and questioning the standards of such data, including the lack of recognition of the bioavailability of protein and micronutrients from plant-based diets and the lack of assessment of bias and certainty.

>>> Has the EAT-Lancet Commission found a solution for people and planet? Our analysis aims to separate science from ideology.

  • Wellness influencers are leading the charge in misinformation across a range of subjects from covid to climate change according to a new hit piece published by CNN, which aims to demonise those who question mainstream narratives. The piece accuses anyone in the wellness space who are questioning issues such as climate change and covid policies, of only being in it for the clicks. It also pushes the notion of ‘pre-bunking’, a tactic which aims to ‘inoculate’ the public against believing what’s deemed as misinformation by health authorities and others.

>>> ‘Misinformation’ is being deliberately spun to weaponise it to protect vested interests. Read more

>>> The dangers of censoring those with opposing views

  • German Federal Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, has tabled plans to bring in a ‘meat tax’, which would apply to meat, meat products and edible offal as well as products that contain such items under a so-called animal welfare tax
  • A growing movement in Africa seeks to secure farmers' rights to save and share their own seed and utilise agroecological farming methods in direct contrast to the current paradigm, which promotes the use of genetically modified crops, artificial fertilisers and pesticides — and the buying of seeds from big corporations such as Bayer. A new study published in Elementa Science of the Anthropocene, explores the corruption of traditional farming methods in South Africa and Malawi, reimagining how food and agriculture might look with a return to traditional cultures and farming methods that promote local crops and agroecological farming practices
  • Recommended daily intakes for vitamin D should be raised to at least 2000 IU according to a new review published in Nutrients. The authors note the lack of safety concerns in regard to higher doses of vitamin D in the literature, which support the low doses currently recommended by many health authorities.

>>> Why is vitamin D so essential for our health and wellbeing and how much do we need?

  • The Indian government is planning to overhaul the regulatory framework for nutraceuticals as demand for dietary supplements to support immune health has rapidly increased post covid according to an article in The Print
  • Getting people to change their eating habits is complex and difficult given the multifactorial nature of our relationship to food. A new study, published in Food Quality and Preference, explores the use of nudge techniques designed to encourage increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. Taking inspiration from the study, Food Navigator, explores how nudge techniques might be deployed to help people overcome the ‘yuck’ factor, as the push to get Western consumers to accept insect proteins steps up a gear
  • When it comes to new-to-nature foods, investment in biotech businesses creating replacements for natural foods is booming in a bid to reduce emissions from agriculture and 'beat climate change’. In a new Gates Note, Bill Gates describes the creation of fats, designed to replace animal and palm fats, from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, allegedly with very limited emissions. In Canada, Remilk, producing synthetic biology (synbio) 'milk', by fermenting genetically modified yeasts, has been approved for human consumption. However, recent research by John Fagan PhD, cofounder of the Health Research Institute, found 92 unknown fungal compounds in another synbio 'milk' alternative created by ferming, none of which have been studied for safety and most likely all new to the human body.

>>>Why we should be thinking holistically if we are to rescue our planet from the cusp of environmental catastrophe

>>> Farm-free food and ferming: are these the only options for planetary health?

  • More and more Nigerians are turning to traditional healers and herbal medicine as the cost of Western drugs continue to increase exponentially and herbal medicines are found to be just as, if not more, effective.

ANH-USA Update

  • As the campaign to ban PFAS chemicals continues, local legislators in the US are picking up the reins to protect people’s health. Maine became the first state to implement a ban on intentionally added PFAS chemicals in most products in 2023. However, Maine is now seeing a major pushback from industry, which says such a ban will destroy the State’s economy. Find out more
  • ANH-USA has joined a newly formed collaborative alliance, known as ‘My Health Alliance’, which aims to improve nutrition and health in America by battling the threats posed by Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Ag and Big Biotech. The Alliance consists of the Alliance for Natural Health, the American Grassfed Association, Moms Across America, Organic Consumers Association, along with Natural Grocers and the natural products trade association, SENPA. Together we are stronger. Read more
  • So often we resolve to exercise more with the turn of each new year, but our resolutions often fall by the wayside. Dr Ron Hoffman explores a new study, which shows that, unlike a car that wears out and breaks down the more you use it, our bodies become more resilient, in effect self-repairing, with regular use. Read more

Covid News

  • A spotlight has been shone on the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). A group of MPs have raised concerns about the MHRA’s approach to patient safety, illuminating problems in their system that, in their view, put patients at serious risk. The concerns, outlined in a letter sent by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pandemic Response and Recovery, focus on the inadequacy of the Yellow Card adverse event reporting system and the MHRA’s ability to be independent due to conflicts of interest created by it's funding from the pharmaceutical industry
  • In 2016, Moderna CEO, Stéphane Bancel, stated that lipid nanoparticles can lead to dangerous side-effects causing the technology to be largely shelved leaving Moderna teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Fast forward to 2020 and those ‘dangerous’ nanoparticles became a key part of covid mRNA jabs, the adverse-effects conveniently sidelined in favour of a huge payday as Moderna profited from peoples' covid misery. Dr Byram Bridle has the full story
  • A new paper poses a question over whether deaths in the UK, attributed to covid during April 2020, were caused instead by the widespread use of Midazolam injections in care homes for a kind of "systemic euthanasia". The author also posits that excess deaths remained elevated following mass vaccination in the UK in 2021, but were statistically uncorrelated to COVID vaccination, while remaining significantly correlated to Midazolam injections. The paper published in Medical and Clinical Research assesses the evidence and reaches the conclusion that use of Midazolam was widespread and correlated to increased levels of excess deaths
  • Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded there’s no difference between N-95 respirators and clinical masks when it comes to preventing the spread of respiratory viruses. However, the CDC, unhappy with the researchers conclusions, told them they’ve got the science wrong in an online article. The Disinformation Chronicle sets out the facts
  • Igor Chudov breaks down a recent study published in JAMA, purporting to show that covid shots are safe in pregnancy, countering the authors' conclusions. He shows that there was no meaningful reduction in covid infection in mothers who received covid shots and that babies born to mothers given a covid shot in the first trimester of pregnancy experienced an approximately 50% higher rate of adverse postnatal events than those born to mothers jabbed in their third trimester. Read more
  • Covid ‘vaccine’ mRNA was found in the cord blood of two newborns of mothers who received covid shots shortly before giving birth. In one instance, vaccine-derived spike protein was found in the placenta according to a recent preprint study.

 

>>> Visit covidzone.org for our complete curated covid content of the coronavirus crisis