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Farmed salmon more toxic than wild salmon, study finds

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A study of more than two metric tons of North American, South American and European salmon has shown that PCBs and other environmental toxins are present at higher levels in farm-raised salmon than in their wild counterparts.

Researchers at Indiana University and five other research centers say increased toxin levels in farm-raised salmon may pose health risks to people who eat the economically important fish. Their study, which appears in this week’s (Jan. 9) issue of Science, is the most comprehensive analysis to date of salmon toxin concentrations.

“We think it’s important for people who eat salmon to know that farmed salmon have higher levels of toxins than wild salmon from the open ocean,” said IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs Distinguished Professor Ronald Hites, who led the study.

The researchers applied U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fish consumption advisory methods to determine consumption recommendations. Farmed salmon purchased for the study from supermarkets in Frankfurt (Germany), Edinburgh (Scotland), Paris (France), London (U.K.), Oslo (Norway), Boston, San Francisco and Toronto (Canada) triggered consumption recommendations of one-half to one meal of salmon per month. (A meal is defined as 8 ounces of uncooked meat.) Farmed salmon from supermarkets in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and Vancouver (Canada) triggered a recommendation of no more than two salmon meals per month. Farmed salmon from Denver and New Orleans supermarkets both triggered a consumption recommendation of two meals of salmon per month. With very few exceptions, farmed salmon samples tested significantly exceeded the contaminant levels of wild salmon, which could be consumed at levels as high as eight meals per month.

The production of farmed salmon has increased 40-fold over the last two decades, thanks in large part to the world’s salmon farms. Over half the salmon sold globally are raised in Northern Europe, Chile and North America.

While the health benefits of eating salmon have been established by numerous studies, concerns about the fish’s tendency to accumulate toxins have gone largely unaddressed. As fish-eaters themselves, salmon occupy fairly high positions in their food chains. As a general rule, carnivorous animals tend to have higher concentrations of toxins in their bodies than herbivores.

To test this ecological principle, Hites and his colleagues measured organochlorine toxin levels in about 700 farmed and wild salmon. Farm-raised Atlantic salmon were purchased from retailers in London, Frankfurt, Edinburgh, Oslo, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and from wholesalers in North America, Chile and Europe.

For comparison, the researchers collected samples of five wild Pacific salmon species — Chinook, Coho, chum, pink and sockeye — from three different regions in North America. The researchers did not study farmed Pacific salmon or wild Atlantic salmon because fish from the two groups are difficult to obtain.

The researchers analyzed the concentrations of 14 organochlorine toxins in salmon from each collection site, using gas chromatographic high-resolution spectrometry. The toxins they studied were polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, toxaphene, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), lindane, heptachlor epoxide, cis-nonachlor, trans-nonachlor, gamma-chlordane, alpha-chlordane, Mirex, endrin and total DDT. Many of these toxins, including PCBs, dioxins and toxaphene, are “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen,” according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

When samples from all over the world were grouped, the researchers found farm-raised Atlantic salmon had significantly higher levels of 13 toxins when compared with wild Pacific salmon. Breaking it down by region, the researchers found levels of all 14 toxins were significantly elevated in both European and North American farm-raised salmon when compared with wild Pacific salmon. Levels of only six toxins were significantly elevated in South American farm-raised salmon. Levels of two toxins (HCB and lindane) were actually significantly lower in farm-raised South American salmon than in wild salmon species.

Only PCBs, dioxins, dieldrin and toxaphene were used to calculate consumption safety guidelines, because the researchers deemed these four toxins to most strongly impact human health.

The researchers also found that toxin levels in European farm-raised salmon were significantly higher than in North American or South American farm-raised salmon. Levels of PCBs, dioxins, toxaphene and dieldrin were highest in farmed salmon from Scotland and the Faroe Islands (Denmark) and lowest in farmed salmon from Chile and Washington state, though Hites pointed out that even these comparatively uncontaminated South American salmon had high levels of other toxins.

Hites and his colleagues also measured toxin levels in “salmon chow,” a mixture of ground-up fish and oil fed to farm-raised salmon. They found a strong correlation between the toxicities of chow and salmon, suggesting toxins are passed into the salmon from their feed.

Jeffrey Foran (University of Michigan), David Carpenter (University at Albany), M. Coreen Hamilton (AXYS Analytical Services Ltd.), Barbara Knuth and Steven Schwager (Cornell University), and Amy Matthews Amos (Turnstone Consulting, in West Virginia) also contributed to the study. It was funded by a grant to the University at Albany from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Environmental Division.

What is Vibrational Energy?

Humans are made out of energy and sustained by energy. Our bodies are ever-changing, dynamic fields of energy and vibration, not static physical structures.

Though we cannot see this vibrational energy that makes up the body/mind and sustains us, it is nevertheless a vital part of us. It is the life-force that keeps our hearts beating and our lungs breathing even when we are asleep.

Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher who has done groundbreaking work on the effect of emotions on the crystalline structure of water. In his book The Hidden Messages in Water, Dr. Emoto documents the effects of different emotions on the structure of frozen water crystals, showing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the energy of loving appreciation creates the most profoundly beautiful crystalline patterns. Given that our bodies are over 70 percent water, Emoto’s research has profound implications for health. How we think about, talk to, and feel about ourselves creates an imprint on our cells that affects not only us, but also everyone around us!

Clearly, human interactions have profound effects on health. These effects can be either positive or negative, depending upon the state of mind of the people involved in those interactions.

Through conscious movement, breath, meditation and exercise one can turn the state of mind more positive. When we begin to appreciate ourselves as vibrational fields of energy with the ability to affect the quality of our own experience, we will be getting in touch with our innate ability to heal ourselves and create health every day of our lives.

LEARN MORE | RECOMMENDED READING OR RESOURCES
The Biology of Belief, by Bruce Lipton
The Hidden Messages in Water, by Masaru Emoto and David A. Thayne

Meditation to Cure Alzheimer’s?

How has Kirtan Kriya helped those with Alzheimer’s?

“The reason an integrated medical program works is simple: the brain is flesh and blood, just like the rest of the body. Like your heart or any other part of your body, your brain requires the proper nutrition, blood flow, and energy to perform well. Simply put, “What works for the heart, works for the head”-Dr. Khalsa

The Study: Following studies, which found the Kirtan Kriya meditation program to increase cognitive function and cerebral blood flow, a study was conducted to test the integrative meditational medicine on those with Alzheimer’s and memory loss. The study on Kirtan Kriya measured the results of the meditative practice over an 8-week study testing variations in the stress, sleep, mood, and anxiety of 15 subjects with memory loss in the median age range of 62±7 years old and their caregivers.

The Method: In order to test the results of Kirtan Kriya the research team in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation in Tucson, AZ prepared preliminary and post-study testing including neuropsychological tests, photon emission scans, and measures for mood, anxiety, and spirituality. “Major outcomes included measures of perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), sleep (General Sleep Disturbance Scale), mood (Profile of Mood States), memory functioning (Memory Functioning Questionnaire), and blood pressure.”

The Results: The 8-week study produced positive results! Subjects spending 12 minutes a day meditating with Kirtan Kriya were found to have “positive changes in mood, anxiety, and other neuropsychological parameters, and these changes correlated with changes in cerebral blood flow.” See the study.

The study also observed, “an improvement across measures of mental health and cognitive functioning, psychological distress, and telomerase activity in caregivers performing daily Kirtan Kriya compared with the relaxation group.”

Is Integrative Medicine a Good Approach to Alzheimer’s?

According to Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD, Integrative Medicine techniques like Kirtan Kriya and other meditation techniques help to cure memory loss that could be related to stress, cognitive decline, or due to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is a specific type of memory loss that is, in fact, a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.” Dr. Khalsa creates a vivid picture of integrative medicine by asking us “to imagine two rivers: a river on the left as conventional medicine, including drugs and surgery, and a river on the right as alternative, or complementary, medicine, consisting primarily of treatments people can apply themselves.”

Read More.

Little Tips…

Cardiovascular exercises can help you lose weight.
When it comes to losing weight, you can also go through cardiovascular exercise routines for it. To hit your goals, go through intensive cardio exercises for 60 to 90 minutes each time. Do it several days in a week, so that your body would be able to burn more fat and calories.

Gaining more benefits from cardiovascular exercises.
If you simply want to improve your health, then go through moderately intense cardiovascular exercise routines for 30 minutes each day. You can do this for 5 days a week if you want results faster. If you want to do it just 3 days though, then go through vigorous routines for 20 minutes only.