The emergency contraceptive is now available over the counter at many pharmacies, regardless of age.
By Sharon Salyer, The Herald
An emergency contraception pill is now hitting drug store and pharmacy shelves, for the first time allowing women of any age to buy it without restrictions.
The pill, called Plan B One-Step, generally is effective in preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of birth control failure or unprotected sex.
The first shipments of the pill began arriving at Bartell Drugs’ 60 Western Washington pharmacies late last week, said Barry Bartlett, a spokesman for the drug store chain.
At Bartell’s, the pill costs $49.99, and is stocked in the family planning section, he said.
“They can pick that up from the counter and purchase it at the check stand,” Bartlett said. “There’s no identification required or anything like that.”
Previously, the pill was available at area pharmacies over the counter to those 17 and older, and to younger teens with a prescription.
In June, the Federal Drug Administration cleared the way for the pill to be sold over the counter, regardless of age. It follows a U.S. District Court order instructing the federal agency to allow the sale of emergency contraception over the counter without age or point-of-sale restrictions.
Changes had to be made in labeling by the manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, so shipments are just now arriving at local stores.
“We are elated this is finally on the shelves and available to anybody who needs it,” said Kristen Glundberg-Prossor, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. “We hope that every pharmacy and drug store will soon have it on the shelves and available for women.”
Making the contraceptive widely available without restrictions is an issue the organization has been working on for years, she said.
“It’s a really safe and effective medication,” she said. “Just as condoms are over the counter, Plan B should be over the counter, too.”
Planned Parenthood has the pill in its clinics where it costs $35, Glundberg-Prossor said. It’s also available on a sliding fee scale to low-income women.
Calls to Costco, Walgreens and Haggens on the availability of Plan B One-Step were not returned Monday.
Group Health will continue to make Plan B available in all of its pharmacies, said spokesman Ed Boyle.
Although Plan B One-Step is now widely available, it doesn’t mean it will be available at every pharmacy.
The pill has never been sold at the retail pharmacy at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett or at its retail pharmacies in Mill Creek and Monroe.
The Roman Catholic Church opposes artificial birth control, such as condoms and various birth control pills for women.
Last month, spokeswoman Cheri Russum said there were no plans to change the hospital’s policy. The pill is available to victims of sexual assault in the hospital’s emergency department, she said.
The Ak-Chin Indian community in Arizona has been recognized by the AZ Water Association and received the 2013 Water Project of the Year Award for its water treatment plant that uses GE’s ZeeWeed technology.
Ak-Chin Indian Community’s surface water treatment plant (Credit: AK-Chin Indian Community)
The Ak-Chin Indian Community’s surface water treatment plant, featuring GE’s ZeeWeed 500treatment technology, was recently honored with the 2013 Water Project of the Year Award from the AZ Water Association. The new plant, commissioned in 2012, has a capacity of 2.25 million gallons per day and provides drinking water to community members and Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino.
This surface water treatment plant is the first for the Ak-Chin Indian Community, located in the Santa Cruz Valley of Southern Arizona, 50 miles south of Phoenix in the northwestern part of Pinal County. GE provided the technology for the Ak-Chin Indian Community’s nearby membrane bioreactor water reclamation facility, which provides Arizona Class A+ effluent for water reuse and recharge, and won an international and multiple state awards.
The Ak-Chin Indian Community’s surface water treatment plant takes advantage of its surface water allotment of Colorado River Water supplied via the Maricopa-Stanfield canal system and the Central Arizona Project canal, which gives it a secure source of water, allowing for the population to properly plan for future growth and expansion.
“We chose GE’s ZeeWeed technology for our surface water treatment plant because it is the same technology that we have in our award-winning water reclamation facility. It was the best technology available to ensure years of reliable service and the best overall value for the Ak-Chin Indian Community,” said Jayne Long, capital project manager, Ak-Chin Indian Community.
GE ZeeWeed 500 technology is a filtration technology that separates particles, bacteria, and viruses from water or wastewater. Its ability to handle high peaks of solids and turbidity, combined with the high-efficient process and low energy and chemicals usage, makes it ideal for treating deteriorated or high-variation raw water sources and produces high and stable drinking quality water.
Even as someone with super pale skin that burns instead of tanning, I don’t use sunscreen nearly as often as I should. Or, uh…ever. My skin cancer prevention routine mostly involves hiding from the sun as much as humanly possible.
If you’re like me and hate the greasy feeling of sunscreen, there are other ways you can protect your skin by increasing your sun tolerance. Your diet actually has a lot to do with how easily you burn, so by getting enough of a few key nutrients, you can decrease your chances of burning and damaging your skin.
How Does It Work?
As Katie over on The Wellness Mama explains, “Sunburn is a type of inflammation, and diet has a tremendous impact on inflammation in the body” and “a large part of natural sun protection is eating an anti-inflammatory diet.”
First, let’s get something straight—this does not mean that it’s impossible to burn or incur any sun damage to your skin by eating the right foods. If you’re exposed to the sun for a long enough duration, you will burn. It’s still a good idea to wear protective clothing or sunscreen if you plan on being outside for a long period of time.
As Dr. Paul Talalay, a professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences says, eating your vegetables “isn’t a substitute for sunscreen, but the protection you get won’t wash off in the pool.”
What Nutrients Increase Sun Tolerance?
If you want to beef up your body’s natural defenses against sun damage, here are a few things you should be getting a lot of:
Good saturated fats
Omega-3 fatty acids
Antioxidants like lycopene, beta-carotine and vitamin E
And unfortunately, just like anything else that’s good for you, protecting yourself from those UV rays means there are also some things you should avoid as much as possible:
Processed foods
Sugar
Vegetable oils
That doesn’t mean you have to cut these things out of your diet completely, just try to eat as little of them as possible. As they say, everything in moderation. After all, where’s the fun in summer if you can’t enjoy some ice cream every once in a while?
So…What Should I Be Eating?
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is never a bad thing regardless of which ones you choose, but there are some that are much higher than others in the nutrients listed above that help prevent sun damage.
Here are ten of the best fruits, vegetables and other foods to get your daily doses.
1. Tomatoes & Other Red Fruits
Tomatoes are one of the best sources for lycopene, especially when they’re cooked. Lycopene is a carotenoid pigment found in red fruits. Plants use pigments as protection against the sun, so eating brightly colored fruits and vegetables with high concentrations of carotenoids can increase your sun tolerance.
Cooked tomatoes have higher levels of lycopene, and studies have shown that a few tablespoons of tomato paste a day provided “significant protection” from sun damage. All red fruits contain the pigment, but it’s particularly abundant in watermelon and grapefruit. Prefer spicy over sweet? Chili powder is rich in lycopene, and also has high amounts of vitamin E, so it’s a win-win.
For more examples of foods high in lycopene, check out this list.
2. Sweet Potatoes
Similar to lycopene, beta-carotene is another pigment found in fruits and vegetables that protects against sun damage and gives them their orange color. Sweet potatoes have more beta-carotene than almost any other vegetable. Purple sweet potatoes have even higher amounts of cyanidins and peonidins, antioxidant pigments that have been shown to increase UV protection in cosmetic creams (and they’re delicious).
Speaking of greens, they may not be at the top of a lot of people’s lists, but they’re great for preventing and even repairing sun damage. In addition to beta-carotene, many greens contain high levels of folic acid and vitamins A, C and E. Broccoli, in particular the sprouts, is a good source of sulforaphane, a compound that reduces the risk of skin cancer.
The easiest way to eat more greens is to sneak them into things you already eat anyway. Toss a few handfuls of spinach into your pasta sauce or morning smoothie, or swap your usual iceberg or romaine lettuce for sprouts. It’ll be better for you, and you’ll hardly notice the difference.
4. Fish
Cold-water fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, trout and even sardines are high in omega-3 fatty acids, one of the good fats that protect against sun damage.
Make sure you get enough omega-3s by eating at least two servings of fish about the size of a deck of cards each week. If you hate the taste of fish, a fish oil supplement works just as well.
Pomegranate seeds are great in salads or on top of baked desserts. The juice is delicious, but expensive. If you don’t know the first thing about how to get the seeds out, there’s a trick to make it quick and easy.
6. Tea
Black, white, and green teas are all high in polyphenols and catechins, two flavonoids that can protect your skin from UV rays. Green tea is the most effective, containing high amounts of the most powerful polyphenol there is, epigallocatechin–3–gallate (EGCG).
Matcha, a very bright, powdered green tea, is even better—a study by the University of Colorado found that the amount of EGCG in matcha was “137 times greater than the amount of EGCG available from China Green Tips green tea, and at least three times higher than the largest literature value for other green teas.”
If you eat a lot of whole grains, you’re probably already aware of the many health benefits of flaxseed. It’s a good source of omega-3s and has lots of fiber and lignans, which are antioxidants that can possibly protect against cancer.
Flaxseed makes a great addition to salads, smoothies, and breads, and it only takes half a teaspoon per day. You can even sprinkle it on your cereal in the morning. However, if you don’t care for the taste, you can always just take a flaxseed oil supplement.
8. Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate that’s over 70% cacao has 4 times the number of phenols and catechins as tea and has shown in studies to provide up to a 25 percent increase in sun tolerance. Two ounces a day is recommended, which shouldn’t be too painful to fulfill.
Unfortunately, if you hate dark chocolate you can’t just grab a Hershey bar instead. The milk in milk chocolate prevents your body from absorbing polyphenols, which means you’re just eating dessert.
9. Coconut Oil
No doubt you’ve seen coconut oil touted as the perfect skin moisturizer, hair conditioner and all-around miracle worker, but it’s also got a ton of health benefits. It’s high in medium chain fatty acids and saturated fat, which help up your sun tolerance.
Aim for about ¼ cup per day. If you don’t mind the taste, you can eat a spoonful in the morning and evening, spread it on toast, or melt it in tea. Coconut oil makes a great (and much healthier) replacement for vegetable or other cooking oils, too. It’s an ingredient in a lot of homemade sunscreens, and you can even slather it on your skin by itself to get a low-SPF sunscreen.
10. Almonds
One of the best sources for vitamin E is almonds. One study found that participants who ate only 20 almonds a day “had less sunburn when exposed to UV light than their almond-abstaining counterparts.” Almonds also contain a high level of quercetin, a flavonoid known to protect skin against UV damage.
Plain, raw almonds are the healthiest way to go, but if they’re not your cup of tea, you can eat the roasted and spiced versions instead. You can also try replacing your peanut butter with almond butter, or using almond milk in smoothies and oatmeal.
Supplements
My ex-boyfriend hated almost all vegetables, and I know he’s not the only one. If you feel the same way, or just know you won’t stick to the proper servings for long enough to reap the benefits, you can take supplements instead.
Some of the best supplements to take are vitamin C, vitamin D3, fermented cod liver oil, and astaxanthin, one of the most potent antioxidants there is.
Make Your Own Non-Toxic Sunscreen
For those days when you know you’re going to be outside in the hot sun all day, why not make your own sunscreen? Olive oil, beeswax, coconut oil, and zinc oxide powder make a great, non-toxic alternative to commercial brands. Check out Yumi’s guide to learn how to make your own.
Dr. Donald Warne, Oglala Lakota, is one of three American Indians nominated by the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. (Courtesy North Dakota State University)
Tanya Lee, Indian Country Today Media Network
Dr. Donald Warne, Oglala Lakota, sees his nomination to serve as U.S. Surgeon General as an opportunity—not for himself personally, but rather to bring American Indian health issues to the forefront of national consciousness. “It is a tremendous honor to be part of the conversation. This is an opportunity to include American Indian health issues in the national discussion, to raise those issues to a national level,” says Warne, who was nominated by the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians.
Under his leadership, Warne says, one part of that discussion would be about diabetes, a disease on which Warne has done considerable work. “American Indians have a higher incidence of diabetes and a higher rate of complications from the disease, including heart disease and amputations, than does the general population,” he says. The reason? Poverty.
“The Indian Health Service is underfunded. Many American Indians don’t have access to healthier food, exercise opportunities and wellness programs, nor to the newest and best medications,” he explains.
A priority for Warne would be reducing this and other health disparities. “Impoverished people get sick, suffer and die at a much earlier age than others. Many people within this nation do not have access to health care. I see a terrible disparity and would work to achieve health equity, to make sure every population has the opportunity to live in a healthy way.”
Warne says the U.S. Surgeon General is the “nation’s doctor,” with the responsibility of leading the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and identifying the best scientific data to prevent and treat disease. He mentions two instances in which the surgeon general has had a profound impact on the health of the nation. The report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 led to warning labels on cigarette packages and other anti-smoking measures, which are still being initiated by states almost 50 years after the report came out. Cigarette smoking, says Warne, is a major contributor to the damage diabetes does within the American Indian community. In the second instance, Warne cites Dr. C. Everett Koop’s role in changing public attitudes about HIV and AIDS.
Warne, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, comes from a family of medicine men and traditional healers, and, with his mother serving as a public health nurse with the IHS, he became interested in cross-cultural medicine even before going to college. He earned his M.D. from Stanford University and his Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. Warne is currently director of the Master of Public Health Program at North Dakota State University, an adjunct professor at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and a senior policy consultant American Indian Health & Management Policy, a firm that he founded to advise tribes on health care management, as well as being involved in a raft of medical research initiatives.
At 46, Warne describes himself as on the “younger side of the equation” among the nominees, but, he says, “so is President Obama.”
Join tribal leaders to learn about policy changes and other strategies that support the People and Land
Participants from the 2012 Our Food is Our Medicine Conference hold up vegetables cooked in a traditional pit oven. Photo courtesy of NWIC
Source: Ryan Key-Wynne, NWIC
Studies show that returning to a more traditional diet can help Native Americans improve health and reduce problems such as diabetes. People from throughout Indian Country have put those findings to work and are contributing to policy changes and strategies that promote access to traditional foods.
Many of these champions for traditional diets will gather at the second annual Our Food is Our Medicine conference, hosted by Northwest Indian College’s Institute of Indigenous Foods & Traditions. The conference brings together tribal leaders and allies, giving them opportunities to teach and learn from each other while initiating ongoing relationships that will benefit all.
“We are very excited to host this gathering, which brings people together to discuss successful models for activating policy change in tribal communities,” said Meghan McCormick, coordinator of the Institute of Indigenous Foods & Traditions, which is a program of NWIC’s Cooperative Extension Department. “While many tribal agencies throughout the United States engage in work related to wellness through traditional plants and foods, there is often little collaboration between these organizations. Most are burdened by incredibly heavy workloads. This gathering will be a platform for people to connect, share ideas, and inspire one another.”
One speaker who is sure to inspire at the conference is Micah McCarty (Makah), the former chairman of the Makah Nation and current chair of the First Stewards Board (among many other leadership roles). McCarty is one of the keynote speakers lined up for the conference. His work in Neah Bay, Washington led to significant headway in strengthening the response to oil spills in coastal waters, helped to protect tribal whaling rights, and fostered strong connections between tribal and non-tribal governments.
In addition to invigorating keynote speakers, the conference will include interactive workshops, plant walks, traditional food sharing, storytelling and cooking demonstrations.
“This year we are focusing on policy in support of the People and the Land,” McCormick. “We will be discussing strategies that will bring traditional foods in tribal programming and how to build partnerships with land holders to sustainably harvest and protect resources”
Some workshops will include:
Tribal Food Sovereignty Projects
Policy in Government Programs
Tribal Food Policy Council
Policy to Improve Access & Protection of Gathering Sites
GMOs
Seed Saving
Composting
Climate Change & Policy
Seaweed Demonstration
Activating your Story
The conference will take place Sept. 11-13 and will be held at Bastyr University, an innovative university focused on natural health education near Seattle, Wash. The registration cost for the conference is $200, day passes are $100.
For more information, contact Meghan McCormick, Institute of Indigenous Foods & Traditions coordinator, at (360) 594-4099 or mmccormick@nwic.edu. To register, visit bit.ly/ofom2013.
In this May 23, 2014 photo, a chicken carcass lies on top of a tank found by grape grower Pascual Abalos Godoy on his morning rounds, who believes the chicken died from drinking contaminated water, in El Corral, near the facilities of Barrick Gold Corp’s Pascua-Lama project in northern Chile. The residents living in the foothills of the Andes, where for as long as anyone can remember, have drunk straight from the glacier-fed river that irrigates their orchards and vineyards with clean water. Since the Barrick gold mine project moved in, residents claim the river levels have dropped, the water is murky in places and complain of health problems including cancerous growths and aching stomachs. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
By Associated Press, Published: July 22
SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile’s Diaguita Indians are asking the country’s supreme court to require the world’s largest gold mining company to prepare a new environmental impact study for an $8.5 billion mine that straddles the mountaintop border with Argentina.
Attorney Lorenzo Soto filed the high court appeal Monday.
The Indians already won an appellate ruling that requires Barrick Gold Corp. to keep its previous environmental promises and says the watershed below the Pascua-Lama project is in “imminent danger.”
The Canadian company has publicly promised to do any work required.
But Soto says his 3,000 plaintiffs want Barrick to apply for a new permit that takes into account their anthropological and cultural claims to the watershed below the mine.
Barrick told The Associated Press it had no immediate comment on the court filing.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
On a cool spring morning in the mountains of southwest Washington, 12-year old Cathy Cahill helped her dad plant scientific instruments around the base of trembling Mount St. Helens. A few days later, the volcano blew up, smothering two of his four ash collectors. When he gathered the surviving equipment, Cathy’s father found a downwind sampler overflowing with ash laced with chlorine.
Cathy Cahill holds a carbon-fiber AeroVironment Raven she will use to sample plumes of hazy air. Photo by Ned Rozell
Tom Cahill of the University of California, Davis, wrote a paper on this surprising result; editors at the journal Science were impressed enough to publish it.
Tom’s teenage daughter was not a co-author on her dad’s Mount St. Helens paper in the early 1980s, but her name has appeared next to his in a few journals since then. Now 44, Cathy continues to stamp her own mark on the field of atmospheric science. The University of Alaska Fairbanks professor has captured and examined the particles floating in air breathed by U.S. servicemen and woman in far-off deserts. She has invented an air-sensing system that alerts pilots they are encountering volcanic ash particles. She also spoke on a national radio program about the bitter, smoky midwinter air of her adopted home of Fairbanks, Alaska.
And she now commands a fleet of 161 unmanned aerial vehicles. Cahill will fly 160 AeroVironment Ravens (which have a wingspan, at 55-inches, more like a sandhill crane’s) and one Boeing Insitu ScanEagle (which weighs 10 times more and has the 10-foot spread of a California condor). She will use them to sniff the air around volcanoes and inside wildfire plumes.
Cahill will also enlist the drones to expand her ground-based studies of air from Afghanistan, Djibouti, Kuwait and other regions in which Americans are stationed. For years, she has helped officials with the U.S. Army Research Lab see the tiny particulates wafting in the air above urban battlefields.
“The military has a healthy population, but we’re still seeing increases in respiratory diseases in soldiers that are coming home,” she says in her office that overlooks the flats of the Tanana River valley, home to both an Army post and an Air Force base. “They call it ‘the Iraq crud’ — you come back hacking. We’re trying to find out what might be responsible for some of these respiratory ailments.”
Along with the health of men and women, military officials have also asked Cahill what particulates are doing to their machines.
“A lot of soils behave like volcanic ash,” Cahill says. “That’s part of the reason engines tend to get destroyed in Saudi Arabia. The soils there can melt in the engines. And soils in high enough concentrations also abrade. If you have high concentrations and you fly through them again and again, you’re going to wear out your aircraft.”
Geophysical Institute machinist Greg Shipman and an electronics specialist, David Giesel with the unmanned aircraft program, helped Cahill convert her ground-based air samplers from a 40-pound Pelican case to an eight-pound unit that fits in the nose of an unmanned aircraft. Her air samplers will lead the way into volcanic ash clouds and choking plumes of singed black spruce.
Going airborne is just another step in the life of the little girl who followed her father’s footsteps over a volcano many years ago.
“My entire career’s thread is aerosols — the sources, atmospheric transformations, transport and impacts,” she says. “If you’re studying the atmosphere, you want to be able to go up in it.”
Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute
Coca-Cola sales are plummeting in the wake of a growing movement away from sugary soft drinks in the U.S. and increasing concerns over the link between sugar, obesity and diabetes.
Profits for the global soda giant dropped by 4 percent this quarter, compared to last year at this time. The overall drop was influenced by a total soda sale decline of 4 percent in North America, where consumers are caught in the midst of a battle between retail advertising and government warnings over the negative health impacts of soda.
In June, the American Medical Association labeled obesity a disease, pointing a finger directly at the increase of U.S. sugar consumption and calling on the United States Department of Agriculture to cut sugary drinks out of government-sponsored food assistance programs.
The call to cut back Americans’ intake of sugar comes after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s soda ban, a proposal that would have banned sale of sugary drinks — mainly sodas — that come in containers larger than 16 ounces. While the proposal is still being worked out in the courts, the Bloomberg’s proposal brought the debate about soda’s health impact to the front lines.
Coca-Cola isn’t pointing to the social debate over sugary drinks as the main component of its decline in sales. Instead, it’s talking about the weather.
“Our second quarter volume results came in below expectations, reflecting an ongoing challenging global macroeconomic environment and unusually poor weather conditions in the quarter,” Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent said in a press release following the second-quarter earnings release.
While Coca-Cola claims its downturn in North American soda sales is largely due to weather, arguing that people drink fewer sugary beverages when it’s just not nice out, it comes in the midst of a U.S. health-inspired trend that’s moving consumers away from the sugar-filled drinks that make up the company’s portfolio.
“Soft drinks are the devil product at the moment,” London Metropolitan University nutrition policy professor Jack Winkler told the Wall Street Journal.
Coca-Cola denial and the growing scientific debate
In an attempt to stay relevant in the midst of a society growing more aware of the impacts sugary drinks have on health, Coca-Cola is in the midst of attempting to create a soda that uses low-calorie sweetener while still providing a full-body taste.
This follows a campaign launched at the beginning of the year that attempted to brush off the obesity scare, urging Americans instead to get out, exercise and quench their thirst with a Coke product.
“We’re watching, we’re learning,” Steve Cahillane, who heads Coca-Cola’s North American division told CBS News.
The company is also engaging in the nationwide conversation, portraying itself as a leader in the fight against obesity. A commercial released recently aims to market Coca-Cola as a company intent on reducing calorie consumption and battling the obesity epidemic.
According to the American Medical Association, 36 percent of American adults are obese or overweight. If trends continue, experts predict that could rise to 50 percent of Americans by 2040.
On top of obesity, the nation is also seeing a rise in Type 2 diabetes. A recent Harvard study indicated that people who drank two cans of sugary drinks a day had a 26 percent greater risk of developing diabetes. It also found that men and women who increased sugar consumption with a 12-ounce serving per day gained an average of 4 pounds every year.
“For over 125 years, we’ve been bringing people together. Today we’d like to come together on something that concerns all of us: obesity,” the Coca-Cola commercial states. “The long-term health of our families and the country is at stake. And as the nation’s leading beverage company, we can play an important role.”
The commercial goes on to give a glowing report of just how hard Coca-Cola is working to provide “healthier options” for American consumers, claiming that a growing percentage of products are ones that have been severely limited in caloric content.
“Across our portfolio of more than 650 beverages, we now offer 180 low- and no-calorie choices and most of our full-calorie choices now have low or no calorie versions,” the ad states. “Over the last 15 years, this has helped reduce calories per serving across our industry’s products in the U.S. by about 22 percent.”
Will Coca-Cola win the ‘health’ battle?
By the end of 2013, Coca-Cola plans to help limit portion sizes by offering smaller bottles and cans of various sodas available in 90 percent of the country, according to the advertisement. This adds to what it claims are efforts to help consumers make the right choices.
The commercial states that elementary and high schools throughout the nation have been equipped with Coca-Cola vending machines that have increased the choice of low- and no-calorie drinks, including diet sodas.
According to a Wall Street Journal report in March, one-third of North American Coca-Cola sales came from low- and no-calorie beverages.
“We are committed to bring people together to help fight obesity,” Stuart Kronauge, Coke’s North America Sparkling Beverages Division general manager told Time magazine. “This is about the health and happiness of everyone who buys our products and wants great-tasting beverages, choices and information. The Coca-Cola Company has an important role in this fight.”
In line with Coca-Cola’s push for no-calorie drinks in U.S. schools, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicates that from 2007 to 2008, 12.5 percent of children were consuming artificially sweetened beverages during a 24-hour time period — double the amount children were drinking 10 years ago.
And while that gives the company a favorable statistic in terms of sugar content, with a 90 percent reduction in beverage calories sold in U.S. middle and high schools since 2004, it doesn’t eliminate health concerns.
Concerns over the no-calorie push
A mock Coca-Cola anti-obesity advertisement addresses this issue, citing health concerns related to the use of no-calorie sweeteners.
“Even though we’ve reduced the calories per serving, these beverages can still cause kidney problems, obesity, metabolic syndromes, cell damage and rotting teeth, which leaves 470 beverages which have extremely high unhealthy levels of calories,” the mock ad states.
The ad that took a stab against Coca-Cola is based on studies conducted on aspartame, the ingredient that is most often found as a substitute for sugar in low- and no-calorie beverages.
It wasn’t too long ago when no-calorie sweeteners were considered dangerous chemicals.
In 1958, Congress required the FDA to ban any additive that was known to cause cancer in animals or humans. In the 1960s, cyclamate was removed from U.S.-sold products when it was linked to cancer. Specifically, chicken embryos that were exposed to aspartame began to develop deformities. A later study showed rats fed the product grew bladder tumors, according to a Time magazine report.
By the 1980s, aspartame moved on to the market, becoming the preferred additive for diet colas. This was after a 1980 Food and Drug Administration Board of Inquiry study that initially deemed the additive to be potentially dangerous and a carcinogen.
“The Board has not been presented with proof of a reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive under its intended condition of use,” the report states.
However, a year later a new set of studies favorable to aspartame emerged, and it was approved for U.S. market consumption.
In 1985, Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the company that owned the aspartame patent. Since then, it has become the go-to for the soda companies, including Coca-Cola in their quest to produce low- and no-calorie beverages not just throughout the U.S., but throughout the global market.
“The key here is to ensure that in every market where we operate to have no- or low-calorie beverages of our main brands available,” Kent said in a conference call, according to the Wall Street Journal. “We do not have that consistently across the world today.”
Mark Mulligan / The Herald Sandy Swanson, a licensed practical nurse at the Tulalip Health Clinic, waters plants in the new garden outside of the clinic on June 16. Swanson works in the elder care program, and when she gets a chance will duck outside to work in the garden. “It makes me smile to come out here and care for these plants,” said Swanson.
By Bill Sheets, The Herald
TULALIP — When a doctor at the Tulalip tribal health clinic advises a patient to eat healthier food, it doesn’t have to be only words that are heard or written down on paper.
The doctor can take the patient right outside the building and show them that they can grow that food for themselves.
A small, rudimentary vegetable garden at the Tulalip Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic was greatly expanded this year with several new raised wooden beds. Leeks, kale, squash, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes and more are thriving in their southwestern exposure to the summer sun over Tulalip Bay.
Culinary and medicinal herbs and plants are being grown as well — parsley, tarragon, basil, lavender and rose hips, to name a few.
“It’s about engaging with our patients,” said Bryan Cooper, clinical lead at the health center. “Instead of telling them what to do, it’s ‘Let’s work together.'”
The incidence of diabetes on the reservation is high, and the garden is especially geared toward helping diabetics manage their condition through their diet.
Doctors and staff members from the lab and pharmacy have been accompanying patients to the garden to discuss the possibilities, said Roni Leahy, diabetes coordinator at the clinic.
Planting soil, tubs, gardening materials and advice have been dispensed on special-event days at the clinic, such as a recent “Diabetes Day.”
In one program there, young people have been taught traditional ways of harvesting and processing native medicinal plants. In another, titled “Gardening Together as Families,” a popular community vegetable garden was established.
At the clinic, the idea was to build on the success of the Hibulb programs and create a direct link between the medical facility and healthy diets, staff members said.
The late Hank Gobin, the tribes’ cultural director who helped establish the Hibulb programs, was motivated to improve tribal members’ diets in part because he himself was a diabetic. He passed away in April at age 71.
“It’s always about people and their health and well-being,” Leahy said. “That’s how we keep his memory alive.”
The clinic garden has been maintained by staff members and volunteers. At the end of the season, the food will be used at tribal events, Leahy said.
Sandra Swanson, 73, a career nurse, works full time in the clinic’s elder care program.
“Then I come out here and play,” she said, as she dug in one of the planters.
The plan is to expand the garden next year to a nearby slope facing the bay, with terraces and a trail, Cooper said.
More volunteers are needed, staff members said.
“We want to start these (gardens) and get them to a place where the community takes over,” Cooper said.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Health fair
A health fair and blood drive is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at the Tulalip Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic, 7520 Totem Beach Road.
