Codex Alimentarius (Latin for “Food Code”) is the United Nations proposed set of international guidelines for nutritional supplements, food handling, production, and trade which is now gradually being ratified in countries around the world, starting in the European Union (EU).  The official line is that some “harmonization” on safety, trade, manufacture, and distribution would help the world in so many ways, but a stormy sea of controversy lies below the surface.

April 5, 2005 – Following a landmark challenge in the European Courts of Justice (ECJ) to the controversial Food Supplements Directive, Advocate General Geelhoed, senior adviser to the ECJ, issued an opinion in opposition to the ban that would have been imposed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Its Food Supplements Directive (FSD) effectively proposed to ban 75 percent of vitamin and mineral forms.  The suit was brought by the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) and Nutri-Link Ltd.

Conditioning is one of the most important — but sometimes the least fun — aspects of working out. Generally, if you are enjoying what you are doing, you work harder, perform better, and improve faster. The best way to keep conditioning and stretching fun is to keep it varied. Variety in a conditioning program not only makes it more interesting, but also makes it significantly more effective.

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) basically have been established as recommended nutrient levels for healthy populations. Special additional requirements may be needed for problems such as premature birth, inherited metabolic disorders, infections, chronic diseases, digestive problems (especially malabsorption syndromes), and the use of medications, both prescription and nonprescription.

As toxic poisoning increases, tissues and cells stop functioning well. As these toxins are released and being eliminated, they can be taken up again through the kidneys or colon. This is the reason why cleansing systems usually include some fiber or absorbent material like clay or charcoal to hang onto the debris until it gets completely out of the body.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), the leading cause of visual disability and blindness among adults in the developed world, may affect as many as 20 million people. Early detection and treatment are keys to preventing the vision loss and blindness associated with the disease. Unfortunately, only about half of those with diabetes have proper eye examinations on a yearly basis. It is very important that diabetics have a dilated eye exam each year.

Here are some less allergic substitutes for common triggers of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).  Try using these for school lunches, snacks, etc.

Let us take a short walk through different diets that traditionally sustained human populations on different parts of the globe.  If we look at the involvement of fats and oils in these diets, and we can see how the fats in our foods impact our health.

This article describes the roles, functions, and sources of dietary phosphorus, as well as the symptoms of phosphorus deficiencies and excesses.  It also describes how to interpret the results of hair analysis relating to phosphorus levels.

What do perimenopause, premenstrual syndrome, enlarged prostate glands, and early heart attacks have in common? Estrogen. A new understanding of healthy estrogen metabolism is providing a natural treatments for these and other important conditions confronting both women and men.

The following classes of pharmaceutical medications have various effects upon the nutritional status of the user.  Over time, these effects can become very significant as to the comfort level and even the survival of the person taking them. Compare these effects with those described by your physician and inform him or her of any concerns you might have.

No clear cause-and-effect relationship has been established between EMFs and illnesses, but the mounting evidence makes EMFs appear to be extremely suspicious. And because EMFs are generated by many sources — including microwave ovens, televisions and radios, military radar systems, and, ironically, some treatments for cancerous tumors — many of us could be at risk.

Check with your physician before beginning any prenatal exercise program.  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) provides a list of conditions that require physician approval or contraindicate any exercise during pregnancy. Think safety.  Remember that with exercise, the health of the baby and the mother are the top priority.

The following chart shows the percentage of calories from fat that are found in various foods.  It can be used as a guideline for either reducing or augmenting the intake of dietary fat.

In this day and age of fat phobia and the resultant barrage of low fat and nonfat food products lining the grocery store aisles, a recommendation to supplement your daily diet with one to two tablespoons of essential fatty acid rich oil would appear to go against the grain. To the contrary, this is exactly what health conscious consumers are doing across the country, not only to attain and maintain optimal health, but in many instances, as a treatment for the over 60 health ailments the essential fatty acids have been scientifically validated to benefit.

The airborne allergies in large urban areas have become much worse in the past decade. In Phoenix, Arizona, for example, the constant building and disruption of the desert has put a great deal of dust from the ancient Sonoran soils into the atmosphere. An analysis of this dust indicates molds, fungi, mummified animal dung, and other unwelcome surprises in every breathful.

Cancer of every type is affecting more people at earlier ages than ever before, despite the war on cancer declared in the U.S. during President Nixon’s era. But many people are reversing and surviving cancer, in even advanced stages, using natural materials and methods, sometimes accompanied with appropriate and carefully applied conventional therapies.

During the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918, the effectiveness of Lomatium dissectum came to the attention of the American white man when it was observed that Native Americans in the Southwest were recovering rapidly from the virus that was killing others.  Ernest T. Krebs, Jr., noted biochemist and son of Ernest Krebs, MD, said, “This is to become one of the most important antibiotic herbs known to man.”

Chicken soup has been a time-honored remedy for colds and flu. It’s no secret why — the ingredients of a good soup serve to warm the body and strengthen the immune system. If you don’t feel up to cooking and there’s no one else around to do it, we can also recommend a traditional soup that is often available for takeout from Thai restaurants. It’s called Tam Yum Kai, and this delicious soup gets a lot of its healing properties from a root herb used in it called “Galanga,” which is a relative of ginger and turmeric.

Many Americans are worried about not being able to get a flu shot this season. Should the flu vaccine shortage add fear and uncertainty to our lives? Maybe, if the vaccines truly protected us from the flu. But despite the fear-mongering among our politicians and major media, the flu vaccine shortage hardly rates a colored alert.