The Politics Of Health: Feature ArticleHow the FDA is Causing the Obesity EpidemicThursday, November 02, 2006Byron Richards, CCN I am amazed by the relentless attack of Big Pharma-controlled media on dietary supplements that help people lose weight. The FDA, colluding illegally with health officials in Mexico and Canada, has weight-loss fraud at the top of their list. The FDA is constantly insinuating that all weight-loss supplements are fraudulent and unproven, and they implore all consumers to beware. As one of the leading clinical nutritionists in this country and owner of Wellness Resources, an independent supplement company, I have over twenty years experience helping individuals lose weight with diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements. I’m more than happy to weigh in on this subject from my experienced point of view. I have written extensively on the subject of weight management. In 2002 I published Mastering Leptin, the first book to explain the science behind the fat-hormone leptin and what it meant for people trying to lose weight and prevent disease. My new book, The Leptin Diet, will be out in December of 2006. I explain in great detail how hormonal systems in your body manage energy, how you can extract more energy from less food, how to get on top of cravings, and how to lose weight without gaining it back again. We now know that white adipose tissue (stored fat) is a metabolic organ that communicates to your brain. Most people struggle because they are operating their bodies without an owner’s manual. Based on the FDA website it is plain to see that they think they are the authority on accurate weight loss information. The have convened panels of “experts” and have adopted a gangbuster plan to tackle the obesity epidemic. They have concluded that people eat too many calories and that weight loss is all about eating less food. The only other possibilities they openly promote on their weight loss web page are exercise, the drug Orlistat (which blocks absorption of fat and thus vital nutrients from fruits and vegetables), invasive surgery, and liposuction (a hack job on a metabolic organ). The FDA does have plenty of expertise overseeing the onset of the obesity epidemic. And heaven forbid if the casual observer looks at the waistline of the man running the FDA.
A good diet and exercise program will always be the foundation of any person’s health plan, especially regarding weight management. No health professional debates this point and every American knows this already, including those who are overweight. What on earth makes the FDA think that lecturing people to eat less and exercise more will somehow magically solve the obesity epidemic? Most people that are overweight know that it increases their risk for diabetes, heart disease, many forms of cancer, and the early onset of every disease of aging. So why are people fat and getting fatter?
The FDA is the primary organization responsible for the massive adulteration of our food supply. The reason Harvey Wiley, M.D., started the FDA in 1906 was to get rid of all the preservatives and processed food that was emerging in the market. His good efforts to create a truly wholesome food supply were undermined every step of the way by the food industry and the White House. The FDA was taken over by the groups it was supposed to be regulating. The quality of the food supply has been in a constantly deteriorating state ever since.
The FDA has led the charge. When the FDA got more power in 1938 one of their first actions was to approve the use of German-produced, coal-tar derived food coloring chemicals as food additives. Allowing the intake of such poison over the course of a lifetime, in combination with thousands of other now FDA-approved chemical additives, is a crime against humanity. There is no excuse for it.
We’ve known for twenty years, as has the FDA, that trans fats and refined grains were destroying health, metabolism, and causing disease. All it took was the FDA making companies state the amount of trans fats on labels and overnight the junk food industry starts to change. What took the FDA so long?
The government-sponsored food pyramid, which has also been making Americans fat for several decades, still thinks it is acceptable to eat refined grains every day as part of a healthy diet. Nobody pays any attention to the food pyramid, except the food industry that uses it is as a guide to make a few billion easy dollars providing substandard school lunches to our children, helping to make them fat.
The EPA allows all kinds of toxic chemicals to be applied to food. The recent ten-year study of chemicals by the EPA was watered down into a Big Agribusiness-friendly report, since the EPA was terrified of being sued by the companies that are poisoning Americans. Industrial pollution is another huge factor that is destroying metabolism. Government-promoted fluoride and the military industry contaminate known as perchlorate are ruining the thyroid glands of our citizens by contaminating our water supply. Monsanto, one of the companies the FDA is allowing to alter the food supply with genetically modified organisms, has a wonderful history. With the help of the FDA they brought the neurotoxin aspartame to the market. They also poisoned the entire planet with metabolism-disrupting PCBs. PCBs, found in almost all human fat samples, accumulate in stored fat and damage the metabolic function of white adipose tissue, which is now recognized as a metabolic organ (like the heart, liver, or kidneys). Many of the chemicals polluting our environment are known hormone disrupters that block proper metabolism and cause obesity. One of the body’s defense systems against excessive pollution is to stuff these toxins into white adipose tissue (stored fat) in an effort to keep them away from the heart, liver, and kidneys. Guess what? Not only do these toxins damage the white adipose tissue organ, it is very difficult to break down toxic stored fat. We know that PCBs are elevated in the blood as a person tries to lose weight. Toxicity during dieting is never discussed by the FDA, yet is a main reason people can’t make stable progress or easily relapse. In fact, forcing your body to lose weight without proper detoxification systems in place may cause serious health problems.
Unfortunately, medications in general simply make people more toxic. Many drugs, like statins and blood pressure medication, de-energize people and cause them to gain weight. The FDA sits by while Eli Lilly makes billions poisoning our children with the antipsychotic medication Zyprexa, making them fat and diabetic. It’s not just environmental pollution making people fat. It’s also Big Pharma pollution.
To find weight loss fraud all the FDA has to do is look in a mirror, or study their own history.
Dietary supplements stand at the forefront of safe and effective health options to improve metabolism and help offset the FDA-sponsored adulteration of our food supply. Supplements can help people improve their production of energy, protect the liver and digestive tract from ingested toxicity, and can directly boost the normal and healthy metabolism of insulin and fat burning. There are thousands of studies supporting the safe and effective use of ingredients found in nutritional supplements for weight management. Its not just one or two nutrients that may help, there are hundreds of compounds provided by Mother Nature that assist metabolism. This doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out. The human species could not have withstood the challenges of food scarcity without a plethora and abundance of natural compounds in food that could help metabolism in one way or another. These compounds are easy to concentrate in nutritional supplements, and they are very safe. The FDA gets all bent out of shape as soon as anyone suggests nutritional support can help prevent disease – which it obviously does. The FDA has placed a gag order on the first amendment, threatening small companies with extinction. The FDA considers itself above the rule of law. They selectively knock out the competition of Big Pharma, whose primary interest is a profit strategy based on keeping people sick and on a long list of poisons. The FDA is little more than a bully police force for hire, operating like the mob. Big Pharma is their biggest client. People who think supplements will replace a healthy diet and exercise are gravely mistaken, as are people who think one nutritional ingredient or one company’s product will be some magical weight loss miracle. There are no short cuts for healthy weight loss. People make choices about diet and exercise. And they can certainly choose to try a nutritional product of one kind or another to help their metabolism. There are hundreds of supplement companies that make products. Some companies, like mine, are focused on true quality and make excellent products to assist individuals with weight management. Other supplement companies are owned by Big Pharma and have little concern for your health. A primary goal of the FDA is to put good nutritional companies out of business and to turn all therapeutic nutrition into a Big Pharma-controlled industry. This is why I wrote Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America. Americans that value their health need to see through the spin and start taking effective action. The FDA weight loss plan doesn’t begin to address the source of the problems. The FDA actively attacks natural options that can truly help people. This is part of a delaying tactic to prepare society for the next Big Pharma drugs. It is the job of health professionals to work with individuals to better manage their weight. The FDA’s job is to protect society as a whole from danger. It is now widely acknowledged that the FDA is inept and unable to protect Americans from the dangers of drugs. It is equally clear that the FDA has no intention of protecting Americans from the true causes of obesity.
Changing the food supply into a healthy food supply is a monumental undertaking. Unless health-conscious Americans demand true reform, our country will be engulfed by the Big Pharma bills to pay for all the diseases resulting from the national epidemic of obesity. This problem is rotting the fabric of our culture at its foundation. It is as great a threat to national security as any other issue. It is time for Congress to “just say no” to Big Pharma money and overhaul the FDA for the benefit of the health of all Americans.
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The shocking death of Tim Russert last Friday has left an entire nation wondering what happened. He was a model patient, doing everything his doctors asked. All major media have run articles trying to explain the nuances and difficulties in treating coronary artery disease. These articles find little fault in Russert’s care, trying to create the idea that his heart attack was just too hard to predict and that all that could have been done for him was done. I beg to differ. His death represents the failure of standard medical care to produce a positive result – an occurrence that is all too common in today’s world.
Legions of well wishers look on as Senator Ted Kennedy struggles for his life, fighting against one of the most difficult types of brain tumors. Ironically, it may be the drugs he has so adamantly promoted that are the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to his brain tumor.
The latest stone thrown at the 200-billion-dollar-a-year cell phone industry came from a study by neurosurgeon Vini G. Khurana entitled Mobile Phone-Brain Tumour: Public Health Advisory. His meta-analysis of existing cell phone studies may not contain a lot of new information; but his rather alarming message was carried by media around the world: “there is a growing body of statistically significant evidence for a relationship between the overall length of use of a mobile phone and the delayed occurrence of a brain tumor on the same side of the head as the ‘preferred side’ for mobile phone usage.” He claimed a 2-4 fold increased risk following 10 years of regular use.
On April 2, 2008 CNN spent the day bringing awareness to the problem of autism. Larry King’s segment, which included Jenny McCarthy along with a panel of guests, was particularly enlightening. My hat is off to Jenny, a celebrity mother who is making it quite uncomfortable for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to ignore parents of autistic children seeking answers. Why does a mom have to do the work of the CDC? The answer is rather simple: our government’s zeal to insist on too many vaccines while ignoring the actual risks is the driving force behind the autism tragedy.
The Senate is about to approve legislation (Mothers Act – S.1375) which mandates the indoctrination of pregnant and nursing mothers into the use of extremely dangerous psychiatric medication. We already know this class of medication poses serious health risks to both mother and baby. Consequences to the baby are now proven to cause nerve-related changes that can adversely affect health for a lifetime.
Immediate Consumer Action is Needed to Stop Mothers Act The Mothers Act is pending legislation that will indoctrinate hundreds of thousands of mothers into taking dangerous psych drugs. It is a great example of how the Big Pharma lobby controls Congress to the detriment of health, as well as needlessly and dramatically inflating the costs of our health care system for everyone. Like any piece of legislation it purports to address a troubling issue – in this case the mood distress of mothers following birth known as postpartum depression. It is true that 10% - 15% of women need some assistance in dealing with this topic – but the majority of them sure don’t need it from Big Pharma. That is the Big Lie.
It now appears that the FDA Chief Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. has committed perjury before Congress. Unlike Roger Clemens, who also seems to be putting his foot in his mouth before Congress, von Eschenbach’s actions appeared to have allowed unnecessary deaths to Americans – hardly the mission of the FDA. By contrast, Roger Clemens is simply causing death to his own reputation. Hopefully Congress can quit wasting taxpayer money on baseball and get to the bottom of what is really going on at the FDA.
Several high profile human cardiovascular drug experiments have turned into disasters for Big Pharma. These findings are sure to shake the misguided consumer confidence in drugs as a mainstay of preventive cardiovascular health. Hanging in the balance are billions of dollars of fraudulent drug sales based on the flimsy argument that changing numbers (blood sugar, cholesterol, or blood pressure) with the use of toxic drugs is somehow the same as actually being healthy…
Women across the country are being duped to consume billions of dollars worth of bone poisons under the false pretense that if they take them long enough they will not develop osteoporosis. Even the FDA is becoming alarmed by the side effects of these bone drugs. The biggest selling drug in this class is called Fosamax, made by Merck – the very same company that killed thousands of Americans with Vioxx while hiding cardiovascular risks from the FDA and patients. Does anyone trust them?…
Considering that tens of millions of Americans now take statins to lower cholesterol, the following headline was conspicuously absent from the major media this month: “Statins Found to Turn On Gene that Causes Muscle Damage.” It’s now a fact of science; a new study shows that taking statins destroys your muscle to a greater or lesser degree. And let’s not forget that the heart is a muscle.
On November 29, 2007 the FDA made a rather surprising, almost honest announcement. It said that it could not protect Americans from the dangers of drugs. A 56-page report by its Subcommittee on Science and Technology stated the FDA “suffers from serious scientific deficiencies and is not positioned to meet current or emerging regulatory responsibilities.” This blistering report on the life-threatening shortcomings of the FDA was released with the stamp of approval of the head of the FDA, Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. The flagrant disregard for human health by the FDA…
Oprah has done an immense favor to millions of American women by helping them understand that a malfunctioning thyroid gland may indeed be part of their weight and health problems. After writing openly about her thyroid problem in the October 2007 Oprah Magazine, she then went into the nature of thyroid problems on her TV show.
The United States Health Freedom Assembly met October 12 – 14, 2007 at the William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul, MN, a gathering of many of the top state, federal, and international health freedom advocates, organizations, and industry. The meeting took on a tone of extreme importance as the FDA has issued policy and obtained broad new regulatory authority over health freedom in the past 12 months. The FDA is seeking to undermine the law known as DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994), the cornerstone of health freedom in America. Emboldened by its new powers the FDA is now poised to trample the first amendment rights of companies and Americans who seek to explain or understand how nutrition can support health. The FDA campaign has begun.
On Wednesday, July 11, 2007 the House passed HR.2900 without allowing the Ron Paul (R-TX) amendments to protect dietary supplements. Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), John Dingell (D-MI), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and others falsely proclaimed that they were doing America a favor by passing this sweeping FDA-supported legislation that grants the rouge agency more power and money, and even transforms it into a quasi drug company.
The FDA, emboldened by its transformation into a drug company, has embarked upon an anti-American plan of interfering with business and intentionally eliminating various dietary supplement companies from the market. The FDA announcement came on Friday, June 22, 2007 under the guise of a final rule for dietary supplement good manufacturing practices (CGMPs). Within this 800 page rule the FDA states, “We find that this final rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.... Establishments with above average costs, and even establishments with average costs, could be hard pressed to continue to operate. Some of these may decide it is too costly and either change product lines or go out of business.... 140 very small [less than 20 employees] and 32 small dietary supplement manufacturers [less than 500 employees] will be at risk of going out of business.... costs per establishment are proportionally higher for very small than for large establishments....The regulatory costs of this final rule will also discourage new small businesses from entering the industry.”
Under the false pretense of improved food and drug safety the FDA is re-inventing itself as a kingpin drug company. This charade has so far hoodwinked virtually all members of Congress. The Senate has already approved this FDA transformation. The House will bring similar legislation out of committee next week, with a vote in the full House likely in July.
The Andrew von Eschenbach FDA era is upon us. The Avandia scandal is the tip of the iceberg. Is anyone ready? The words “illicit financial collusion” have been replaced by the politically correct term, “collaboration.”
The penalty in China is death, in America its business as usual. Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of China’s FDA, was sentenced to death for accepting $832,000 in drug company bribes and for dereliction of duty. Like China, our country is in the middle of a drug and food safety crisis. Why is FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. getting a free pass? Why did the Senate just pass legislation (S.1082) that gives von Eschenbach significantly more power to do whatever he pleases? And exactly what is it that von Eschenbach is doing?
Senate Attempts Damage Control – House Braces for Onslaught Senators were taken off guard by the public outrage over the passing of bill S.1082 with language that can be used to seriously harass dietary supplements by enabling the FDA to apply drug-related risk analysis to the safety of food and food ingredients (and thus dietary supplements).
The FDA is Acquiring New Powers to Suppress Alternative Health Your right to have free access to safe and highly effective dietary supplements is under an intense multi-pronged FDA attack. On May 14, 2007 the Supreme Court sided with the FDA by deciding not to hear the case of Nutraceutical v FDA, letting stand a federal appeals court ruling that permits the FDA to use drug-related risk/ benefit analysis to determine if a nutrient is safe.
The Senate has sold out the American people. Anyone voting for change in the last election can now plainly see the shenanigans of a Democratic-controlled Senate. Under Republicans no FDA reform ever took place. Big Pharma owns so many Republicans that all meaningful legislation to curtail the deaths and injuries of American citizens at the hands of Big Pharma and the FDA had been completely thwarted for the past six years. Under Democratic control sweeping FDA reform favorable to Big Pharma was proposed and the majority of meaningful reform was blocked or seriously watered down. Which is worse? As Kennedy stated in his opening remarks today, S1082 (the Kennedy/Enzi FDA bill) was an “elaborate scheme.”
For approximately four days Americans lived in a delusional state that they may soon pay drug prices the same as every other country in the civilized world. Euphoria over breaking the Big Pharma monopoly turned to disgust as the chameleon, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), changed sides and lead a contingency of Democrats against fellow Democrats lead by Byron Dorgan (D-ND). By passing the Cochran amendment the Dorgan amendment is poisoned and will no longer be effective. Maybe Democrats are now learning what Republicans have known for some time – you can’t trust Kennedy.
In May of 2006, after months of research and investigation, I published my ominous findings in the book Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America. Everything I predicted in this book is on the fast track to becoming reality. A majority of Americans, not informed on current events and unaware of the history involved, are silent. Mainstream media, one of Big Pharma’s largest clients, is silent. Only the power of the internet, which rivals the invention of the printing press in significance, is making it possible for individuals to understand what is going on.
There is still time to stop FDA, Inc. Bill S1082 is a bill that helps fund the FDA with Big Pharma money. It is known all over Capital Hill as Big Pharma-designed legislation. It is running into all sorts of credibility problems. A vote is likely on Monday – delayed due to all the opposition flooding the Senate by “we the people.”
S1082 Update – Tuesday’s Activity. Fight Erupts on Senate floor: As the Senate continues to debate the Big Pharma-friendly sweeping reform of the FDA a new problem for Big Pharma’s prize Senators has erupted and quickly turned into confrontation on the floor of the Senate. At stake is at least 10 billion dollars per year in exorbitant Big Pharma profits. In one corner is Big Pharma-puppet Orrin Hatch (R-UT), representing the Kennedy/Enzi drug cartel. In the other corner is a majority of Senators lead by Byron Dorgan (D-ND).
The combination of a lack of sun and cold weather invariably strains your mood as well as your metabolism. It is an energy-depleting form of stress, similar to having a daily argument with someone. If your energy systems…
S1082 Update – Monday’s Activity at the bottom of this article. Bill S1082: The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (also called the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 2007) is one of the greatest scams and con jobs ever foisted on the American public. Current FDA management is grossly incompetent on the subject of drug safety.
A new attack against health freedom, drug safety, and dietary supplements was launched last week by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) with major support from Michael Enzi (R-WY). It is called the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (S1082). This legislation was planned over the past few years working hand-in-glove with the FDA’s dysfunctional management and legal team – meaning this legislation was written for the profits of Big Pharma and Big Biotech AT THE EXPENSE OF SAFETY AND HUMAN HEALTH.
Americans are up in arms that our pets are being injured and killed by a toxin sent to America by a Chinese company. Melamine, a toxic fertilizer used in China, is the suspected culprit behind the deaths and injuries to potentially hundreds of thousands of our pets. The FDA assures us that this toxin has not entered the human food supply – does anyone believe in the competence of the FDA? It is only a matter of time before this type of problem happens to humans, as the inept FDA has no control over imported food intended for humans, let alone pets.
On February 13, 2007 the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations opened hearings lambasting the FDA regarding the safety of drugs. The opening statement by Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) set the tone, “It is clear … that the FDA is badly broken. I expect that before we finish this investigation, which is just getting underway, we will discover whether the problems we have found are due to the work of scoundrels, irrational penny-pinching, or because the doors to the FDA “hen house” have been thrown open to foxes. It may be a combination of all three.”
Wall Street, international bankers, President Bush, pharmaceutical companies, new biotech companies, the Rockefeller empire, and the FDA have created a new plan for public health. It is a grand vision based on profit. It will use the FDA and, as needed, the Department of Homeland Security as the regulatory police force that ensures compliance in the name of public safety. Legitimate objections may be overpowered in the name of national security.
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