Irish scientists say cows grazed on grass produce better products!

Surprise, surprise, Irish scientists tell us that cows grazed on green pasture produce healthier products than feed-lot cattle (which are largely housed and fed indoors). It’s odd that we need a study to tell us what is probably common sense to most people. It’s true for us and it’s true for animals - when we’re in a normal, non-toxic, non-stressed environment eating whole foods from healthy soil we make the healthiest babies possible. The same applies to cows! When they’re grazed in their natural environment rather than being artificially fed in confined quarters, the milk, cheese and yogurt products from the clean, green pasture-fed cows are of the highest quality.

That’s why we love recommending our IWI Dairy Products - they come to you from cows that are grazed on the cleanest, greenest pastures on the planet!

Now it's an egg a day to reduce stroke risk

Eating up to one egg a day has no association with coronary heart disease (CHD) but does reduce the risk of stroke by 12%, a meta-analysis has suggested. 

Remember when eggs were demonised as cholesterol-promoting bombs and the traditional bacon and egg breakfast was even more soundly derided? Of course you do and what a load of rubbish that was, based on seriously flawed research and incomplete understanding of the real culprits in coronary artery disease. Despite the evidence that is now overwhelmingly in favour of including plenty of eggs and healthy fats in our diet and of reducing the sugars and grains, it’s going to take a very long time to switch the ‘eggs and fat promote cholesterol and cholesterol is bad’ mentality. 

As far as eggs are concerned, this latest study, suggesting the benefits of an egg a day is hardly new. I blogged about the positive power of eggs in 2013, and have no hesitation in repeating myself…

Consumption of eggs is not associated with an increased risk of heart disease or stroke! Recent analysis by the prestigious BMJ (British Medical Journal) of eight studies and more than half a million participants, might hopefully remove the stigma from the much-maligned egg. What led us to swear off eggs was set in motion when a long-ago researcher fed cholesterol-containing eggs to rabbits (obligatory herbivores). Now almost 100 years since the original research, it’s interesting to reflect that Anitschkov never concluded from his experiments that cholesterol in the diet caused atherosclerosis in humans. But somehow his simplified work entered the pop science mainstream, setting a whole cholesterol-reduction industry in motion and spawned several generations of consumers studiously avoiding a God-given, nutrient-laden, healthy food choice! Well, let’s be more specific here ... the God-given eggs laid by wide-roaming, omnivorous hens, free to eat snails, bugs, grain and greens are what I’m referring to. The alternative eggs, yolks potentially coloured by additives in the feed, from battery hens, forced into laying non-stop, don’t cut the mustard. 

If you’re in any doubt about the need to buy organically raised and fed produce, check out the movie Samsara and while you’re out looking for good eggs from chooks that are free to roam, consider eating the shells too. Latest calcium and other mineral-enriched additive from the food industry is ... guess what? You got it, straight from organic egg shells. Chuck em into the blender with your fruit and yoghurt smoothie.

POOR PREGNANCY DIET, POORER HEALTH FOR THAT BABY'S LIFETIME

In July 2016, Science published research from Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London and University of Cambridge, where scientists ‘speculated’, following their studies on mice, that the nutritional quality of a mother’s diet during pregnancy has a huge say in determining offspring attributes such as weight and even susceptibility to chronic conditions.

It’s a fact! Excellent preconception diets (both his and hers) backed up by an excellent maternal diet during pregnancy, profoundly and positively impact the developing foetus and increase the likelihood that individual will live a life free of chronic degenerative disease. The effects carry across generations too. Conversely, poor preconception and pregnancy nutrient intake (and I include most modern diets in my ’poor’ frame of reference) contribute to poorer reproductive outcomes and increase the chance of a child who will suffer a life-time of less than robust physical and mental health. Ditto for epigenetic effects.This is fact - not supposition!

We’ve known for generations, there are multiple historical precedents, we have Dr. Weston Price’s work from the 1930s, Professor David Barker’s work in Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, admittedly the “Barker Hypothesis” for thirty years but now widely accepted as fact, then Foresight Association’s work spanning forty years and involving research institutions around the world, all supported by thousands of individual studies linking enhanced nutrient intake with better reproductive outcomes. Farmers and stock-breeders know all about it - they never breed their animals unless they are in optimally nourished, non-stressed condition.

So exactly what’s required for the healthiest reproductive outcomes? Whole food, grown on healthy soil, backed up by nutritional supplements that have been developed specifically for reproduction. Added requirements? Healthy lifestyle and environment free of toxicity. It’s a pretty simple equation. Want to know more? Contact us at sales@iwi.kiwi.nz

MANUKA HONEY FOR ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Antibiotic resistance? Blame the food industry! If you’ve ever been diagnosed with an antibiotic-resistant infection you might have pointed to doctors indiscriminately prescribing antibiotics. Sure, they must take some responsibility, but the greater part of the problem rests with the food industry. There, intensively farmed animals and birds are given routine, low doses of antibiotics, which are the surest way to allow organisms to mutate to a resistant form and then to thrive. 

Interestingly, those antibiotics aren’t used to treat infection, but are a cheap way to make livestock grow faster. To get an idea of the scale of the problem, in the US about 13.5 million kg of antibiotics are used annually in food production, that's about 80 percent of total antibiotic sales in the country. Human consumption accounts for about 2.7 million kg, but it’s the humans who are bearing the greater burden. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), is now responsible for more than 94,000 infections and 18,000 deaths in the US each year. In Australia, just as in the US the amount of antibiotics used in animals far exceeds that used in humans (500,000 kg compared to 300,000 kg). Not surprisingly, Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) and Multi Resistant Organisms (MROs) are a huge problem in Australia with an estimated 200,000 HAIs contributing to 7,000 deaths annually. 

But here’s the good news if you worry about or are affected by infection with one of these resistant organisms. Manuka Honey Kills MRSA and other ‘superbugs’. Australian researchers found that raw Manuka Honey killed every bacteria or pathogen it was tested on. The honey can be applied topically to help fight against infections of the skin, cuts and insect bites, or taken internally. This exciting finding was published in the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (June 2009 edition), and holds particular importance when antibiotic resistance is so prevalent.

Of course only genuine Manuka Honey exhibits unique properties - be sure of integrity when you choose Manuka Honey from IWI BRANDS.