Walnuts belong in your medicine cabinet
July 29, 2011 by Bob Livingston
http://plimages.blob.core.windows.ne...t728_image.jpgThe omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts help lower cholesterol levels; protect against heart disease, stroke and cancer; ease arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; and fight depression and mental illness.
If you have a bag of walnuts sitting in your food pantry, you need to move them quickly. They belong in your medicine cabinet.
At least that’s the view of the Food and Drug Administration, which last year sent a warning letter to Diamond Foods, Inc., because the packaging “misbranded” the product, causing them to be drugs.
The FDA’s letter says in part:
“Based on claims made on your firm’s website, we have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.”
The labels cited studies indicating the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts helped lower cholesterol levels; protect against heart disease, stroke and cancer; ease arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; fight depression and mental illness; and provide other health benefits.
The FDA ordered Diamond Foods to correct the violations or face seizure of products or court injunction.
Life Extension Magazine reported on the letter in its August 2011 edition and cited a number of published articles highlighting the health benefits of walnuts. In other words, the FDA is ignoring the science that proves the healthful benefits of a natural food.
The FDA, which claims to look out for the health of Americans, is doing just the opposite. It obviously wants Americans to remain fat, unhealthy and ignorant. How else to explain an agency that ignores the science behind the health benefits of natural whole foods while allowing food manufacturers to get away with the spurious claims they make on the health benefits of processed foods like potato chips and breakfast bars with simulated fruit products they pass off as real fruit.
And it’s not just walnuts the FDA hates. The FDA hates many natural foods like cherries, blueberries, pomegranate juice and green tea. All of these natural foods provide scientifically proven health benefits, but the FDA ignores the science and regulates whether and how those benefits can even be stated on their packaging.
The FDA is proving itself to be an out-of-control bureaucratic nightmare that is working contrary to the health interests of Americans. It should be at the top of everyone’s list of government alphabet soup agencies to get the ax.
http://www.personalliberty.com/alter...icine-cabinet/