Perspective on Vitamin D

I have written a number of articles about vitamin D and health. I have some concerns that for the most part have probably not been considered, but then I am not one that works off of linear thinking models.There are a variety of opinions on vitamin D, including one that is fairly negative. However, in good science, the best outcomes are achieved if we are open minded enough to look at all possible vectors.I agree that vitamin D is an important nutrient. I agree that it appears clear that we are experiencing a problem with low levels of vitamin D in most people.People of color require more. People who do not go out in the sun need more. And people who exclude healthy fats from their diet, such as the philosophy of no fat promulgated on the public over the past several decades, really do need...

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Posted in: independent health news,Michael Holick,natural health news,natural news,sunlight,Vitamin D

Not in the business of saving lives

Following on Pfizer's record another Big Pharma member admits its the DO RE MIRoche: “Saving Lives Is Not Our Business” The Swiss company Roche makes a range of HIV-related drugs. One of them is enfuvirtide, sold under the brandname Fuzeon. Fuzeon brought in $266 million to Roche in 2007, though sales are declining. Roche charges $25,000 a year for Fuzeon. It does not offer a discount price for developing countries.Like most industrialized countries, South Korea maintains a form of price controls. The national health insurance program sets prices for medicines, and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs listed Fuzeon at $18,000 a year. South Korea’s per capita income is roughly half that of the United States. Instead of providing Fuzeon at South Korea’s listed level—and still turning...

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Posted in: Big Pharma,consumer health,health news,natural health news,natural news,Roche

English Muffin Strata with Ham and Cheese: Breakfast for Dinner

When spaghetti isn’t cutting it and pork chops have been done to death, hungry citizens all across our fine nation turn to a beloved American tradition: breakfast for dinner (or BFD for short). Truly, there are few treats more glorious than eating bacon at 7pm, eggs after work, and hash browns during reruns of “Murphy Brown.” And if you can sneak in a cup of coffee without giving yourself a raging case of insomnia, bonus.At its core, the most fabulous aspect of BFD isn’t the infinite possibility or the low expense. It’s not even the potential for a much healthier meal than you would have eaten otherwise. Nope – it’s the ability to feel like you’re...

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Posted in: Breakfast,Eggs,Meat and Fish

Cookbook Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the cookbook contest. There were so many great scene suggestions (Under the Tuscan Sun, Chocolat, etc.), and you can expect to see quite a few on this site over the coming weeks. Alas, there could only be one giveaway winner, and Random.org has chosen:#49: Mindy!She says: “It was in a hallmark movie I saw the other night where a man is trying to make a good impression on his mother in law who is very orthodox and he is not and he asks for butter with a meat meal.”Congratulations, Mindy! If you could shoot me an e-mail (Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com) with your home address, I can send the cookbook out early next week....

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Veggie Might: Abashed Broccoli Soup

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.I am a woman who can admit when she’s wrong (most of the time). Last week, I admonished anyone who would consider making vegetable stock with “a floppy rib of celery” or any other old vegetables. You were quick to tell me that I was being silly and wasteful.Well, I’m here to eat my words—and a bunch of borderline broccoli.While I was in Baltimore last week, I left a beautiful, deep green head of broccoli in the vegetable crisper to wilt and yellow. When I discovered it upon my return, it almost killed my nearly week-old post-inaugural...

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Posted in: Mains,Soups and Stocks,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Reader Comments

From time to time I like to add reader comments to posts rather than to the comments section.Several people have taken the time to send their comments and these few seem to have read Dr. Dean's 2006 article I have posted below.I'd also like to add that because of this effort on my part, having been on the net as a health care professional, health educator and health freedom advocate since 1991, some frivolous attacks have also been submitted. Ad hominem attacks are like those that go with elective office, something I was involved in for about seven years, so my skin is pretty thick. The difference for me is that I do very in depth fact checking before I comment on another person, and I don't make a lot of noise that would limit that person's right of free speech. Christine said "Thanks so...

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Posted in: independent health news,insurance billing codes,natural health news,reader comments

CHG Favorites of the Week

Food Blog of the WeekSimple MomAnother entry for the “How have I not seen this yet?” file. Expatriate mom Tsh takes cues from both Real Simple and Zen Habits to create the ultimate easygoing parenting guide. The blog design is outstanding, the recipes are fun, and the organizational tips are through the roof. Suggested.Food Comedy of the WeekEpicurious: Salted Water for BoilingCome for the recipe (“When salting water for cooking, use 1 tablespoon of salt for every 4 quarts of water.”), but stay for 808 hilarious reviews (“Yeah, like everyone has all that stuff in their pantry,” and “My husband hated it and refuses to eat it. He says it's too...

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Posted in: Links

FAQ

1. What is Cheap Healthy Good?Cheap Healthy Good is a blog dedicated to the advancement of frugal, nutritious, ethically-minded food in everyday life. All of our recipes, links, and articles go back to that main subject matter. Occasionally, we throw in some pop culture references for fun. (Like these 40 inspirational speeches in two minutes.) Our work has been featured in/on Lifehacker, BoingBoing, CNN.com, Time.com, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the CBS Early Show, among other exciting media outlets.2. Who writes for the site?Currently, three or four lovely people:Kristen Swensson Sturt is the proprietor of Cheap Healthy Good, posting almost daily...

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Posted in: About Cheap Healthy Good

Julia Child Cookbook Giveaway!

Hey everybody! Wednesday’s article will be posted in a bit, but in the meantime, I have a hardcover copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to give away to a lucky reader. (Butter not included.)To be eligible for this fabulously Gallic gift:Leave a 15-50 word comment about your favorite food-based movie scene. (Please don’t use the pie-eating contest from Stand By Me.)Sign your first name for I.D. purposes.Check back early Friday afternoon for the victor.Dance!Using Random.org, the winner will be chosen on FRIDAY AT NOON, so please get your entries in before then.One submission per customer, plea...

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One Thing You Need to Know About How Health Care Works

There are, and always have been, people who seem to have a knack, like folks selling things at the fair, of getting you to believe they know just about everything there is to know about a subject. It is more of a concern when the people involved have no background in health care or related fields.Recently I was provided with a promo piece pushing a spendy program alleging to be the one source you need to purchase at $125 - after your $70 discount - that includes a 243 page digital publish-on-demand book and a set of CDs.Having been in the health care industry for too long of a time there is not much that has really changed over the decades and...

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Posted in: Carolyn Dean MD ND,Health Care Codes Monopoly,health care expert,health news,independent health news,medical billing,medical monopoly

Tuesday Megalinks

Great googly moogly, it’s just a faboo lineup this week, with a huge number of posts from an enormous variety of blogs. Of special quality: Tony Bourdain’s DCist interview, an advice powerhouse from Zen Habits, Simple Mom’s menu-planning ideas, and a GREAT piece on corn syrup from David Lebovitz. Enjoy!Carrie and Danielle: Tips and Tricks to Eat Healthy on a BudgetQuick rundown of well-known tips – a good read if you need ‘em all in one place.Consumerist: Snapple's Acai Drink Just Pear Juice And Corn SyrupWHAT? Wendy the Snapple Lady, how could you steer us so wrong?David Lebovitz: Why and When to Use (or Not Use) Corn SyrupPost of the week,...

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What money buys

Perhaps Pfizer growth is not best for your health -US drug maker Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical firm, is to buy rival Wyeth in a deal worth $68bn (£50bn), the two companies have announced.At the same time it announces at least 240 layoffs.Its third quarter earnings show total revenues of 12 billion.Pfizer manufactures Lipitor and Viagra. One-fourth of its profits come from Lipitor, but patent protection will be disappearing soon.Legal settlements have shown that the firm needs to protect itself from downturn and losses.However, Pfizer has infiltrated the natural health market place (and supplement companies) through many subsidiaries, placing key corporate personnel in these related venu...

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Posted in: health news,independent health news,natural health news,natural news,Natural Products Association,Pfizer

Autumn Apple Salad, My Middle Eastern Grocer, and Me

Beyond decent coffee and lots of easily obtainable heroin, the nicest things about my area of Brooklyn are the Middle Eastern grocery stores around the corner. There’s a small row of them, two of which have bulk grains, nuts, and dried fruits stretching from here to eternity. Their foods are about a billion times cheaper than my supermarket, and one of the places is even pretty clean, which is an unexpected bonus.I bring this up is because this past weekend, I found the brain-meltingly tasty Autumn Apple Salad II on AllRecipes. It’s a simple, easy-to-make, totally delicious Waldorf-esque concoction flavored by yogurt, tart apples, toasted almonds,...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Breakfast,Desserts and Snacks,Sides,Vegetarian

Focus on Bone Health Naturally

UPDATE and REPOST: 24 Jan., 2009There are many articles I've posted here at Natural Health News in the past five years. Bone health is not a lineal process as mainstream medicine pundits would have you believe. It isn't even properly evaluated with the bone density testing offered around the country; the ones that allegedly do the testing by using your heel in a machine (DEXA) that emits radiation. Ultrasound isn't completely revealing either.You might want to know of a test approved in 2000 at the FDA called the Access Ostase blood test. This test determines bone metabolism by measuring the level of a certain enzyme in the blood called bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP). If a particular osteoporosis therapy is not working, physicians may be able to tell within a matter of months.Information...

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Posted in: bone drugs,bone health,health news,Insurance,natural care,natural health news,natural news,new ideas

Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes: Obama for Your Mama

We’ve largely shied away from expressing our views on the government here, because it doesn't seem like the appropriate forum. Sure, food is inherently political (and social and economical and mystical and lots of other things ending in “al”), but I’m of the mind that recipes for light cornbread should be uniters, not dividers.Still, it was hard not to get totally, over-the-moon excited about the inauguration on Tuesday. Whether you dig Obama or not, there was a little something for everyone: cultural milestones, meaningful speeches, Michelle’s dress(es), Sasha and Malia’s general adorability, Reverend Lowery’s racial rhymes, Dick Cheney’s impression...

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Posted in: Sides,Vegetarian

The Argument for Spending More on Food

In his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, food anthropologist Michael Pollan claims modern Americans spend nearly 5% of our income on what we eat. While this might seem like a lot, consider this: we used to cough up 10%.For people like me, that 5% difference initially seems like a good thing. It’s helped me pay off school loans, squirrel funds away for a house, and stop living paycheck to paycheck. I can bank hundreds of dollars a month because I buy generic eggs at $1.99 per dozen, rather than the cage-free, brown-ish ones for $3.50.But what about the long run? Will that same cheap food hurt my health? Does “cage-free” merit an extra $1.51? Will the...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Frugality,Health

CHG Favorites of the Week

Hey folks – yesterday’s regularly scheduled article is coming a bit later today. In the meantime, please enjoy this week’s favorites. (Also, the In-Season Produce for January has finally been updated. Oops.)Food Blog/Website of the WeekHealth-E-SaversFor those who think coupons are only for fluorescent-hued Go-gurt, Health-E-Savers comes as a welcome exception to the rule. A lot of it seems to be supplements and vitamins, but digging a little deeper seems to score quite a few organics and such. (Thanks to Money Saving Mom for the link.)Food Comedy of the Week"New Martha Stewart Recipe a Message to Her Enemies" by Onion Radio(Warning: adult language)...

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Posted in: Links

Veggie Might: Homemade Vegetable Stock and a Fresh Start

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a regular Thursday feature about all things Vegetarian. This week, it's coming a day early in celebration of the new administration. Today's regularly scheduled article will appear tomorrow.(Editor’s note: At this article’s filing, I’m in Baltimore/DC and may just be a little swept up in Change.)It occurred to me that I’ve used homemade vegetable stock in my last few CHG recipes. It’s not the sexiest recipe I can share with you, but it’s one of the most practical, useful, and economical things you’ll ever make, use, and love.In the spirit of These Trying Economic Times and The New Days Ahead, we...

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Posted in: Soups and Stocks,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might