The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was put in place to protect and support the health of the general public. Unfortunately, it’s become clear over the past few decades that the FDA is protecting and supporting something entirely different and is actually endangering our health more so than protecting it.

The modern era of the FDA began in 1906 with the introduction of the Federal Food and Drugs Act which was intended to improve the safety of foods and drugs. Despite this being a step in the right direction, there were still very few restrictions on the production of pharmaceuticals at the time. In 1937, a poorly tested medication called Elixir Sulfanilamide turned out to be poisonous to humans and caused more than 100 deaths. In response, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 was created which gave the FDA much of the power that it has today. However, this power has been put to use in ways that conflict with the best interests of the general public.

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As you most likely already know, on October 24th, President Obama declared the swine flu a national emergency. Despite how frightening this sounds, the reasoning behind the declaration is not what most people are likely to think.

Swine flu has been a hot topic since last spring and was predicted to spread during this year’s flu season. Although the prediction is holding true and it seems that more people than normal are sick right now, the swine flu is still not the deadly pandemic that the media warned us about over the summer, and this is not what President Obama’s emergency declaration was meant to suggest.

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The politicians are at it again and have drafted another piece of so called food safety legislation that threatens the future of organically and sustainably produced food.

Bill H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, proclaims to “amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes.” Despite the seemingly good intention of this bill, the regulations that it aims to put into place are not the type of measures that would truly improve the safety of our food supply. Unfortunately, they’re much more likely to worsen it.

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On Monday, President Obama lifted the federal limits on embryonic stem cell research. In a nation of wildly varying opinions, this comes with both strong support and passionate opposition.

What is Stem Cell Research?

Embryonic stem cells are unique cells that can develop into any type of specialized cell that exists in the human body. It’s believed that these cells can be used to reverse significant damage and serious disease, and this is why it’s such a hot research topic. For example, stem cells could be used to replace dead muscle tissue in a heart attack victim or repair spinal tissue and give someone who’s paralyzed another chance to walk.

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If you value your health and your freedom to choose unpolluted food, then your help is needed. The USDA is trying to mandate a program that will be so costly and bureaucratic for small farmers that it will likely drive them out of business.

Small farmers are the most significant source of high quality organic food. If you don’t understand why their longevity so important, I suggest you read my articles about toxic meat and why to buy organic.

NAIS – The National Animal Identification System

NAIS is an animal identification system that the USDA has been trying to mandate for about 5 years. According to the USDA, the program is intended to improve food safety, but in reality, it’s more likely to worsen it.

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USA Swimming just handed Michael Phelps a 3 month suspension for marijuana use. According to USA Swimming, the suspension is primarily intended to send a strong message to Phelps based on the poor example he has set for young swimmers.

Wasting Talent

During the 2008 Olympics, I was excited to watch Phelps attempt to rewrite history by winning 8 gold medals during a single Olympics. However, once I saw the coverage of his “gold medal diet”, I immediately lost interest in his pursuit.

As a health fanatic, I admit I have a biased opinion, but it’s undeniable that excellent health is an integral part of getting top performance from your body. In my opinion, an athlete that neglects his or her health is no better than one that’s too lazy to train. It results in underutilized talent and nobody likes to see this in an athlete.

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The FDA is self admittedly unable to fulfill it’s purpose and lack of money isn’t the primary issue. Between the political influence of large drug and food corporations and corruption within FDA management, the FDA has basically become a corporate marketing service. And of course, this comes at a cost to our health, the very thing that the FDA is supposed to protect.

I recently wrote an article about the FDAs hypocritical stance on the natural sweetener stevia, but that just scratches the surface. Millions of people are eating unhealthy foods and taking dangerous drugs that are all recommended and approved by the FDA when there are much safer and more effective natural alternatives. However, the FDA does their best to hide these alternatives from us because they take away profit from their corporate friends.

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The makers of Pepsi and Coke recently received FDA approval for their new stevia based PureVia and Truvia sweeteners. While this may sound like good news, it only signifies the hipocrisy and corruption of the FDA.

Stevia is a genus of plant commonly found in South America. The extract of one particular species of this plant, rebaudiana, has been used as a natural sweetener in South America for over 1,000 years and in Japan since the 1970s. It has no calories, has no effect on blood sugar, and is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar. For a long time, stevia has been highly regarded in natural health circles as an excellent and natural alternative to sugar.

The Ban

In 1991, based on controversial research, the FDA banned the use and import of stevia in America. Under pressure, the FDA later revised their policy in 1995 to allow the use of stevia, but only under the regulations of a dietary supplement.

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Barack Obama’s campaign was all about “change you can believe in.” I don’t have much trust in politicians, but I have to admit, Obama had me feeling hopeful. Now that he’s extended an offer to Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be our next Surgeon General, I’m not so sure the “change” is something I can believe in.

Anyone who is well informed about good health knows that our medical system is seriously lacking in it’s focus on prevention. Most doctors are great at alleviating symptoms, but they can’t help you correct the root problem that’s causing them. In most cases, they don’t even try. You can read the article I wrote about chasing symptoms for a deeper explanation.

What is Prevention?

In terms of our health and our medical system, prevention can be interpreted several ways. I consider it to mean the avoidance of disease through a healthy lifestyle. The problem is that most people just don’t know what a healthy lifestyle truly is, even if they think they do. They get their information primarily from the media, but the media is heavily influenced by food and drug manufacturers that don’t always have our best interests at heart.

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