Current Issue

February 2010

Dear Readers,

It’s been an unusually long, snowy and icy winter here in our North Carolina mountains, but there are finally signs that spring is on its way. Daffodil shoots peeking up through their icy covering this morning brought hope back that spring is around the corner, ending the days of hauling water to my horses, shoveling snow and carefully trekking on icy roads.

An ice storm knocked out our power for three days earlier this month, giving me at least 24 hours alone to savor the silence, the natural rhythms of the short days and the simple meals. I realized that my times of silence and stillness are so few that I have to look for them, unless Mother Nature forces them on me.

The next day when my husband was able to hike back up our mountain, the neighborhood formed noisy chain saw gangs to clear fallen branches that had blocked the road. That’s when I re-discovered the simple joys of neighbors working for common purpose.

Even as the sun went down and we cranked up the generator for a much-welcomed hot shower and my first hot meal in two days, I was grateful for the return of those conveniences of modern life as much as I relished the silence of simpler times.

I wish you simple times and creature comforts,
Kathleen

McCain Seeks to Curtail Consumer Access to Supplements

If Sen. John McCain has his way, Americans’ access to herbs, minerals and dietary supplements will be severely curtailed.

McCain’s newly introduced bill the Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) will give the FDA complete control over all dietary supplements.

The DSSA will repeal parts of the DSHEA (Dietary Supplement and Education Act).

Bureaucratic Alphabet Soup

I know this sounds like a bureaucratic an alphabet soup and it is. It also has the potential to turn into a health care nightmare.

DSHEA, enacted in 1994, protects two types of supplements:

* supplements that have been in the food supply and are not chemically altered
* supplements that were sold before 1994.

DSHEA as it exists today is far from perfect, largely because it gives the FDA control over new supplements and discourages the development of new products. However, DSHEA does prevent the FDA from arbitrarily banning or reclassifying supplements.

The McCain bill, if passed, gives the very much flawed FDA the power to create a list of approved supplements that can remain on the market and to ban all others.

Switching the focus

I’ll return to the flaws of the FDA in a moment, but it’s important to understand that Sen. McCain apparently has the intention with this bill of protecting us against steroid use by professional athletes. The DSSA is supported by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which is funded by major league baseball, football and other sports teams.

It appears that major league sports is attempting to shift the focus away from its shameless drug use by claiming some players were unknowingly exposed to steroids through supplements.

While that is preposterous and I, for the life of me, cannot understand why legislators need to interrogate athletes about illegal drug use when we’ve got two wars, economic disaster and a health care crisis to deal with, the upshot of the McCain bill is to dismantle the dietary supplements industry as we know it.

Who is the beneficiary?

Who would benefit from the dismantling of the dietary supplements industry? Not you and me, my friends. Plain and simple: The pharmaceutical industry will be the only beneficiaries of the McCain bill.

The FDA receives substantial funding from the pharmaceutical industry, so its interests are in protecting the funding source—pharmaceutical industry, not the American people.

The pharmaceutical industry is hostile to supplement companies because natural supplements can prevent diseases that are treated by drugs sold at enormous profits by these very same drug companies.

It’s not a very big leap of logic to the certainty that under the McCain bill, the FDA will be hostile to supplement companies and our access to dietary supplements, minerals and herbs will be severely curtailed.

Here’s where you can read the entire bill.

Contact Sen. McCain and say “NO”

I am very careful not to engage in political partisanship in these pages. However, I feel compelled to engage in political advocacy here for the benefit of every American.

Sen. McCain’s bill, if passed, will have far-reaching and potentially disastrous effects on preventive h ealth care and on eevery single one of us. All of us need to tell Mr. McCain right now that this bill is very misguided.

Contact Sen. McCain by e-mail or by calling (202) 224-2235.

Please contact him now and often until we are absolutely certain this bill is dead and buried.

New Credit Card Law Takes Effect Feb. 22

The new CARD consumer credit protection act takes effect next week—and not a moment too soon.

We’re still in a feeding frenzy of credit car companies raising interest rates through the stratosphere while they still can.

Now, hopefully, those ridiculous rates will slow down. I recently heard of one that was 250%! Most us have experienced rates of 36% or even 44% despite good credit scores and pristine payment histories.

One of my companies recently reduced my credit limit from $9,500 to $500 just because I hadn’t used the card for a few months. I decided to vote with my feet since they had initiated a hit to my credit score, I’d just bite the bullet and say goodbye to them.

The new CARD act doesn’t mean that your credit card company can’t still put the screws to you, but there are some limits.

Here’s what you get starting next week:

• Banks must give 45 days notice before raising the interest rate on future purchases.

• Your interest rate on existing balances can’t be raised until you’re in default for 60 days.

• Your monthly statements going forward will reflect how many years you’ll be in debt if you only make minimum payments.

• Any annual fees must be capped at 25 percent of your card’s limit.

• If you have multiple interest rates on your account, anything you pay over the minimum balance will be applied to the highest rate first. But beware, if you only pay the minimum, the money will still be applied to the lowest balance first.

• Teaser rates on new cards must be honored for one year.

* Credit won’t be extended to people under 21 without a co-signer, except in very specific circumstances.

• Two-cycle billing will no longer be allowed. This was a sneaky way that banks would charge massive interest if one month you paid in full and the next month you didn’t.

Archives

October 2007

What is natural living?
De-mystifying Multi-vitamins
Garlic: As Important as a Multi
Precocious Puberty: Growing up too fast from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom by Dr. Ben Johnson and Kathleen Barnes (Morgan James 2008)

November 2007

Healthy Holiday Food
Prevent Colds and Flu This Winter
Re-Think Your Bra from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom by Dr. Ben Johnson and Kathleen Barnes (Morgan James 2008)

December 2007

Fit and Fat
10 Ways to Green Your Winter

January 2008

Beat Winter Blues with Vitamin D
Sweet News for Chocolate Lovers–and Lovers!
Your Mind Does Matter to Your Health from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom by Dr. Ben Johnson and Kathleen Barnes (Morgan James, 2008)

March 2008

Natural Remedies for Allergies
Spicy Foods for Fat Burning
The Difficult Road to Diagnosis of Hypothyroidism from Basic Health User’s Guide to Thyroid Disorders by Kathleen Barnes (Basic Health, 2005)

April 2008

Safe and Natural Hormone Replacement is In Jeopardy
The Best Multi-Vitamin Formula
Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement from User’s Guide to Natural Hormone Replacement by Kathleen Barnes (Basic Health 2006)

December 2008

The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You (inTruth Press, 2008): My new book written with Dr. Robert Thompson.

8 Weeks to Vibrant Health: A Take Charge Plan for Women (Take Charge Books, 2008): second edition and much more user-friendly version of the book originally published in 2005.

10 ways to address the stresses of the times

January 2009

If You’re Fat, You May Be Starving
Quit Smoking: This Time You Really Can!
Quit Smoking: Start Counting Health Benefits from Day 1
Teens Need More Sleep

February 2009

Sugar is Killing Us–And Our Kids, Too
Fund Your Retirement Before Paying For Kids’ College
Olive Leaf Extract Fights Colds, Flu, Infections
Scary Stuff in Your Tap Water

March 2009

Credit Cards: The Next Banking Crisis
Fight Wrinkles Naturally
Getting a Tax Refund? That’s Bad News!
Sneaky Sugars by Dr. Scott Olson

April 2009

Taming the Stress Monster
Antidepressants Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death
Spring House Cleaning: Safe, Natural, Effective and Cheap!

May 2009

Better Health: The UPside of recession
Most Pesticide Laden Fruits and Vegetables
Solve the Energy Crisis: Sex Hormone Imbalances: PMS, Menopause, Adrenal fatigue and Hypothyroidism

June 2009

Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods
Your Cotton T-shirt Could be Poisoning You
The Myth of Organic Food

July 2009

Do Plastics Cause Early Puberty?
Fountain of Youth: Acetyl L-Carnitine and Alpha Lipoic Acid
Dangers of Fish Farms

August 2009

Smoking Killed My Dad
Obesity Increase May Not Be Entirely Due to Couch Potato Society
Vitamin D Benefits Old, Young, Everyone

September 2009

Natural Thyroid Medication Shortage
Vitamin Supplements and Longevity
Chocolate Prevents Heart Disease

October 2009

An Apple a Day Does Keep the Doctor Away
Credit Card Companies’ Newest Draconian Tricks

November 2009

Steps to a Strong Immune System
Update on New Credit Card Laws

December 2009

Mammograms Are Dangerous; Avoid them at All Costs
Thermograms: Safe Alternative to Mammograms
What To Expect When You Have A Thermogram

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Contents of these pages are copyrighted, and may be used freely, if unedited and with attribution as follows:
Source: Kathleen Barnes, www.kathleenbarnes.com

The content provided by this site is for informational purposes only and has not been approved by the U.S. FDA. This site is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.