Sources of Selenium

Just read this in one of my email newsletters, again, it's good to know.

Your Single Greatest Source of Vital Selenium

Selenium; a trace mineral that, essential for the immune system ... and there's a good chance you're deficient in it.

Without selenium, several enzymes that your body uses to destroy free radicals do not function properly. The incidence and mortality rates from a number of different cancers are higher in those with low blood levels of selenium. And selenium intake can reduce the risk of heart disease, improve thyroid functioning, and dramatically boost male fertility.

Selenium is found in garlic, grass-fed meat, wild salmon, whole grains, nuts, and eggs. Vegetables should be a rich source of selenium, but because most soil has been depleted of this trace mineral, so have most of the crops grown in it.

The best way - by far - to keep your selenium level where it should be is to eat Brazil nuts, which contain many times more selenium than any other source. If you want to optimize your intake of this vital nutrient, eat five or 10 Brazil nuts each week.

Tigers face extinction as Chinese trade ban falters

By Maxine Frith (Taken from the Independent), published; 26 September 2005

Tigers could be driven to extinction if plans by China to lift a ban on trading in them are allowed to go ahead, wildlife campaigners have warned.

The Chinese government is considering whether to reopen the domestic market for tigers and their body parts, according to reports.

Tiger numbers are at a record low, with fewer than 5,000 remaining in the wild. They are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which means that they or their body parts cannot be sold internationally. China also imposed a ban on domestic trade in 1993, in an attempt to stop the poaching of tigers for use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products.

But with soaring demand for TCM both at home and abroad, the Chinese government is looking at whether to allow the skeletons of tigers that die in captivity to be used for medicinal purposes.

There are an estimated 3,000 captive-bred tigers in China. So-called "tiger farms" breed the animals and sell them on to zoos and pet shops.

But campaigners are warning that if even this limited market is allowed to resume, illegal poaching will soar as demand rises.

Callum Rankine, head of the species programme at the conservation organisation WWF, said: "Make no bones about it - this could be the end for tigers. Poachers living near the world's last populations of tigers may kill them to supply illegal markets that are likely to develop alongside any new, legal ones."

Tiger bone is a highly prized ingredient in TCM and is said - without much supporting evidence - to be particularly effective for treating rheumatism, headaches and stiffness.

Nearly every other part of the tiger also has a prescribed benefit. The eyeballs are used to treat epilepsy, the tail for various skin diseases, whiskers for toothache and the bile is said to soothe convulsions in children.

Pills made from the penis of the tiger are also believed by millions to make men more virile, with concoctions purporting to contain the genitals selling for thousands of pounds on the black market.

Campaigners said the news that China was considering relaxing the ban had come as a shock. Steven Broad, executive director of the wildlife monitoring group Traffic International, said: "If this goes ahead, it will undo all the excellent work that the Chinese government has done over the past 12 years.

"China has led by example in the past, by imposing harsh penalties on wildlife- trade criminals and through determined enforcement measures. To go back on all this, especially when there are alternatives for use in traditional medicines, just doesn't make sense."

The charities believe that the government is bowing to pressure from tiger farmers and TCM practitioners to lift the ban on the trade in skeletons.

Observers believe that many of the farmers are breeding far more tigers than zoos need because they believe the ban will be lifted and the lucrative trade in their body parts will resume. One tiger park in Guilin, Guangxi province, claims to be capable of raising up to 1,000 tigers.

Wildlife groups are now hoping to provoke an international outcry in an attempt to prevent the lifting of the ban.

The world has lost 90 per cent of its tiger population over the past century. Three sub-species - Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers - have become extinct in the past 70 years, with just five others remaining.Last month, customs officers in Taiwan seized 140kg of bone thought to have come from poached Sumatran tigers, the rarest of the remaining sub-species. There are now just 500 Sumatran tigers left.

Tigers could be driven to extinction if plans by China to lift a ban on trading in them are allowed to go ahead, wildlife campaigners have warned.

The Chinese government is considering whether to reopen the domestic market for tigers and their body parts, according to reports.

Tiger numbers are at a record low, with fewer than 5,000 remaining in the wild. They are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which means that they or their body parts cannot be sold internationally. China also imposed a ban on domestic trade in 1993, in an attempt to stop the poaching of tigers for use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products.

But with soaring demand for TCM both at home and abroad, the Chinese government is looking at whether to allow the skeletons of tigers that die in captivity to be used for medicinal purposes.

There are an estimated 3,000 captive-bred tigers in China. So-called "tiger farms" breed the animals and sell them on to zoos and pet shops.

But campaigners are warning that if even this limited market is allowed to resume, illegal poaching will soar as demand rises.

Callum Rankine, head of the species programme at the conservation organisation WWF, said: "Make no bones about it - this could be the end for tigers. Poachers living near the world's last populations of tigers may kill them to supply illegal markets that are likely to develop alongside any new, legal ones."

Tiger bone is a highly prized ingredient in TCM and is said - without much supporting evidence - to be particularly effective for treating rheumatism, headaches and stiffness.

Nearly every other part of the tiger also has a prescribed benefit. The eyeballs are used to treat epilepsy, the tail for various skin diseases, whiskers for toothache and the bile is said to soothe convulsions in children.

Pills made from the penis of the tiger are also believed by millions to make men more virile, with concoctions purporting to contain the genitals selling for thousands of pounds on the black market.

Campaigners said the news that China was considering relaxing the ban had come as a shock. Steven Broad, executive director of the wildlife monitoring group Traffic International, said: "If this goes ahead, it will undo all the excellent work that the Chinese government has done over the past 12 years.

"China has led by example in the past, by imposing harsh penalties on wildlife- trade criminals and through determined enforcement measures. To go back on all this, especially when there are alternatives for use in traditional medicines, just doesn't make sense."

The charities believe that the government is bowing to pressure from tiger farmers and TCM practitioners to lift the ban on the trade in skeletons.

Observers believe that many of the farmers are breeding far more tigers than zoos need because they believe the ban will be lifted and the lucrative trade in their body parts will resume. One tiger park in Guilin, Guangxi province, claims to be capable of raising up to 1,000 tigers.

Wildlife groups are now hoping to provoke an international outcry in an attempt to prevent the lifting of the ban.

The world has lost 90 per cent of its tiger population over the past century. Three sub-species - Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers - have become extinct in the past 70 years, with just five others remaining.Last month, customs officers in Taiwan seized 140kg of bone thought to have come from poached Sumatran tigers, the rarest of the remaining sub-species. There are now just 500 Sumatran tigers left.

Latest News

Pesticide protection 'inadequate'; The public needs more protection from farming pesticides, a report warns.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report said more research was needed into a possible link between pesticides and ill health.

It recommended in the meantime no-spray zones to reduce potential risk to the public and more information on sprays.

(Read Article)


An insane European ruling will be the final straw for the English apple

"I will build an apple store and do what it says in Hogg and Bull’s. And I will never buy a Braeburn or a Granny Smith again."

(Read Article)

What the Supermarkets want you to think......

I think I'll stick to the organic produce, for me and my kids thanks. Anyone that would care to sugest otherwise, should take a look at a very troubling tv programme, from the UK Channel 4 Dispatches team, that someone sent me. I can't say it's not a surprise, but still. The reporter Jane Moore exposes everything from chicken, to veg.

And don't bother anyone emailing me "oh if you worried about every thing you eat." I do. And so should everyone else, especially if you have taken the decision to bring chidren into the world. You owe it to them, to feed them the kind of food you, or more likely your parents had. Take some goddam responsibility for your life.

Get off you arses and take a look at what crap you are being forced to consume, to save you the trouble of cooking and taking a responsible approach to your food.

I will gladly make a DVD copy for anyone who wants one, for a donation of $10 to cover the manufacture and postage of the item. Click on the make a donation link on the right of the blog. Thanks.

What is Organic Farming?

Organic farming is an agricultural production system that promotes and enhances biological diversity. It isbased on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.

Organic farmers believe there is an essential link between the health of the soil, the health of the plants, the health of animals and ultimatley, the health of human populations. Organic farmers must respect the environment they farm in. This is why organic farmers do not use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and why the use of raw animal manure is strictly monitored. Strict animal welfare standards are an integral part of the organic method here in British Columbia.