Natural Cures for Diabetes

Market analyst Mintel forecasts that UK shoppers are set to spend over £2 billion on ethical foods in 2006 alone, up by an impressive 62 per cent since 2002. Mintel's report, titled 'Attitudes Towards Ethical Foods in the UK,' said: "People in Britain today are clearly moving towards more ethical lifestyles and are starting to realise that their actions all have consequences." It appears that British shoppers are increasingly wanting to shop with a clear conscience.

The research reveals that this trend towards ethical consumerism runs deep. For example, 75 per cent of Britons now believe that people have a duty to recycle, up from 65 per cent in 2002. And 34 per cent 'buy Fairtrade where available', up from just one in four in 2002 and two in five now 'buy free-range products whenever they can' (up from 33 per cent in 2002). These are quite large changes and an encouraging trend.

The seriousness of the obesity epidemic and the risk posed to children and adults alike must be getting through. More action is being seen an several fronts.

Five major US food manufacturers have joined an alliance designed to establish voluntary nutrition guidelines for snacks sold in American schools. Kraft Foods, Mars, PepsiCo, Dannon and the Campbell Soup Company said they will reformulate certain products, as well as introduce new lines of healthier snacks for kids. They certainly have a long way to go. These companies don't even know what healthy food looks like.

The initiative - the Alliance for a Healthier Generation - is a joint effort by former President Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association (AHA). Its science-based nutritional guidelines are designed to promote nutrient-rich foods, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and place limits on calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium. The guidelines also promote the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods. In essence, although way short of genuinely healthy, these are certainly moves in the right direction.

The November Ezine Edition of The Health Gazette has already been published. Ezine subscribers will be able to read their emailed copy or login to the archive and read it there. Remember that the Ezine edition is not the same as this site so logging in to this website won't provide access to the Ezine.

This month's edition is a few days early and rather brief. There is just one short article from Dr Jenny Tylee rather than the two articles we regularly provide. This is effectively our "holiday edition" as we are taking a vacation.

Jenny's article provides several simple guidelines for healthy living. One key piece of advice is to start by adding something to your daily life to support health rather than taking something away (unless you smoke of course - smokers must stop). This change of emphasis can be all it takes to get the ball rolling towards better health. Read the whole brief article for more guidelines.

Here is some frightening news. According to a new report by Datamonitor, snacking has become so commonplace in the United States that it is now a major source of nutrition for most Americans. No wonder there is so much acute and chronic illness and almost everyone dies from preventable lifestyle diseases due largely to poor dietary habits.

"Snacking is so ingrained in America's eating habits that it has become a way of life rather than a trend", the report entitled Profiting from Changing Snacking and Beverage Occasions states.

According to Datamonitor, in a year, the typical US consumer eats 231 morning snacks, 283 afternoon snacks and 261 evening snacks. Children aged 6-13 consumed on average 840 snacks per year in 2005, which corresponds to over 2 snacks per day. Snacking frequencies peak for 14-24 year olds, who consumed 878 snacks in 2005. Little wonder then that childhood obesity is at an all time high.

Following is an announcement regarding a new drug to treat hay fever. After that are my comments. Be warned, they are rather blunt.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced October 23 the approval of Omnaris (ciclesonide) nasal spray, a new drug for the treatment of nasal symptoms associated with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, in adults and children 12 years of age and older. 

Although the precise way Omnaris works is unknown, the drug is a corticosteroid. Corticosteroids are hormone-like drugs that suppress the immune response.

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