Can you believe it?  It happened.    I posted in the Spring about an outrageous USDA ruling that now requires all almonds to be pasteurized.  However they can still be labeled “raw”.  That is NUTS!  I always have my patients soak their almonds as it makes it more digestable and the proteins more bioavailable.  Thus healthier and better nutrition.

Unfortunately as of this past September 1st the ruling stands.  Unless enough of us take action!   So please visit the website below and sign the petition.   We cannot let the government continue to destroy our food supply.

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=11403

Some vegetarians and vegans use the green algaes as a Vitamin B12 source. I just searched the web and found several websites claiming that both spirulina and blue-green algae are great sources of B12. They are correct. Partially. In fact they do contain adequate amounts of B12, but it is pseudo-B12! It is an analog of the actual cobalamin molecule so it will unfortunately inhibit B12 utilization in the body.

How does it inhibit B12 utilization? It competes with the active B12 and binds itself to the receptor, yet the pseudo-B12 has no active component so the body cannot use it. Thus a vegan or perhaps a vegetarian can develop a B12 deficiency or worse a deficiency by using these ‘super-foods’ containing high amounts of pseudo-B12. Vegans and vegetarians should not use blue-green algae or spirulina to supplement their diet. However chlorella and nori have been shown to contain ample amounts of active B12 and can be used as supplementation.

See the following sources:
Pseudovitamin B(12) is the predominant cobamide of an algal health food, spirulina tablets., J Agric Food Chem. 1999 Nov;47(11):4736-41

Purification and characterization of a corrinoid-compound in an edible cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae as a nutritional supplementary food. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Dec 13;54(25):9604-7

Purification and characterization of corrinoid-compounds from the dried powder of an edible cyanobacterium, Nostoc commune (Ishikurage).J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2007 Apr;53(2):183-6

Characterization and bioavailability of vitamin B12-compounds from edible algae.J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2002 Oct;48(5):325-31.

Dried Green and Purple Lavers (Nori) Contain Substantial Amounts of Biologically Active Vitamin B12 but Less of Dietary Iodine Relative to Other Edible SeaweedsJ. Agric. Food Chem., 47 (6), 2341 -2343, 1999.

In Health,
George Mandler
Licensed Acupuncturist
Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Diplomat Oriental Medicine

It is important to know our suppliers.  Just because something says ‘organic’ doesn’t really mean it is made with organic standards.   Case in point is the Horizon’s organic milk that is sold under various labels at Costco, Walmart etc.     They’ve been accused of using conventional cows in their lots as well as not allowing the cows to pasture which is required by organic standards.

Read the release from the Organic Consumer’s Association: (Oct 4, 2007)

AURORA THREATENS ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION WITH LAWSUIT
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any hotter (or any more mind-boggling), the “organic” dairy factory farm controversy reached a new level of intensity over the past week. The USDA announced, to the disappointment of the organic community, that they were not going to take further disciplinary measures against Aurora Organic Dairy, a company that just a few weeks ago had a portion of its organic certification suspended by the USDA for “willfully” violating National Organic Standards since 2003 by failing to pasture its animals and by bringing conventional calves onto its feedlots and then declaring them organic. But caving in to pressure from Aurora and other big corporate players in the organic sector , the USDA now says the #1 organic private label dairy processor in the U.S. can continue selling milk produced on its factory farms as “organic” to its longstanding customers including Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and Woodstock Farms.

In a mind-twisting manipulation of logic, the new acting Secretary of Agriculture, Chuck Connors, a notorious cheerleader for biotech and corporate agribusiness, announced last week that this issue, regarding Aurora’s violation of the USDA National Organic Standards, falls outside the scope of the USDA National Organic Standards. “I know there is controversy out there on a number of issues that really fall outside the bounds, if you will, of what constitutes that organic standard that is necessary in order for the product to have our seal,” said Connors.

Now that they have the USDA in their pocket, Aurora is threatening to sue the Organic Consumers Association and Cornucopia Institute for educating and mobilizing consumers to oppose Aurora’s blatant violations of organic integrity. In related news, the recent issue of Fortune Magazine reports Aurora’s factory farms generated a record 100 million dollars in “organic” dairy sales to consumers this year. In other words, when it comes to suing the OCA, Aurora has plenty of money, from selling its cheap “organic” factory farm milk to Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Safeway . So given this David versus Goliath situation, OCA needs your financial support today, more than ever, to defend ourselves from this attack by Aurora and to expose the ongoing negligence of the USDA.