Sunday, October 20, 2013

Vanagam 传统的现代有机讲座




我们抵达Vanagam的时候,其创办人南玛尔瓦大师已经领队
到一个乡村争取土地。
我们在简陋的礼堂兼课堂用餐,也听了哥巴拉讲课。
Vanagam的献地是贫瘠的荒地,大师利用3年改良土壤,
最近才开始种植第一批原生番茄,养牛羊做五牛肥,吸取
地下水做灌溉。他的学生告诉我们,未来会逐渐增加农作物。
南玛尔瓦大师语录:农业是地点的利用。

Modern Talk in Traditional Way
When we reached Vanagam, its founder, Guru Dr. Nammarval
had when to gathering forland fight.
We stay for lunch and saw how Gopala Krishnan presented talk
 in a simple wooden hallwith projector.
Vanagam is developing an unfertile land under the wisdom of
Dr. Nammarval. Nothinghad been done for the past 3 years other
than growing green for soil improvement.
His students told us, first crop of a plot of traditional tomato has
been started and cow is keeping for making Pancagavya,
underground water has been constructed. More crops are
in their plan.
Dr. Nammarval Quote :Agriculture is planning of location.

印度传统蔬果市集






我们在8月考察印度南部有机农业时,到一个传统的蔬
果市集走了一趟。
发现落后的印度比我们健康。不用塑胶袋,没有塑胶箩
,不说有机,但农药低。

Traditional Market in India
We visit an open market in Truchi of southern India.
We learned that it is simple but healthier than us with
lower concentrate ofchemical due to Indian farmers
are poor and can’t afford to buy pesticides.
They don’t carry plastic bags which will avoid
chemical toxic.

Friday, October 18, 2013

肥胖基因决定肥胖



根据近年来的科学文献,进入2000年之后,科学家已经在注意儿童肥胖,尤其是出世不足六个月的婴儿无故肥胖的原因,可能与饮食无关。追踪婴儿肥胖的研究发现其罪魁祸首,是潜伏在环境的内分泌干扰物--肥胖因子(obesogens或称肥胖基因fatten gens)。
过去的理论认为,肥胖是吃来的。缺少运动,则是肥胖的另一个原因。但是,科学家如今已经确定,肥胖不一定和运动不足有关,但肯定与吃有关系。最大的恶魔,就是残留在环境中的化学物质,也就是一种称为内分泌干扰物的环境毒素,造成人体二度中毒而变得肥胖。
过去,科学家发现内分泌干扰物可以模仿荷尔蒙,因此也称它为荷尔蒙干扰物,但却不能肯定它对人体有什么影响,只相信它能造成迟钝、癌症和干扰荷尔蒙等病害。如今,赫然发现它是肥胖基因,令科学家惊如呆鸟,马上向政府施压,但却无法改变已经铸成的事实。科学家相信,肥胖基因的发现,证明内分泌干扰物对人体细胞还有未知的模仿和干扰,正等待科学家去研究和逐一揭发其病害。个人的推想是,内分泌干扰物对人体可能的破坏,还包括制造更多痴呆症病人、各种癌症、智障和残缺婴儿或者造成人类体高不足四尺等等。
加利福尼亚大学成长生物学教授布鲁斯波伦博(Bruce Blumberg)在过去数年一直追踪环境污染物对人体的确实危害,结果发现老鼠吃了环境毒素会变得肥胖,而且部分受干扰而肥胖的细胞非常大,而将这种内分泌干扰物命名为肥胖基因。
当其他科学家进一步参考和研究人类肥胖的情况,发现婴儿和儿童莫名其妙的肥胖起来,与细胞中含有外来的化学物质有关,深入观察这些物质的变化,竟然发现它们不但可以模仿细胞和荷尔蒙,而且可以转变细胞编程,进行制造脂肪和储存脂肪的工作。研究人员愕然发现,这些毒素对婴儿的影响比成人显著和严重,而且发现女性比男性更容易受害,同时受害者可能终身肥胖。
去年,美国一群科学家联名向奥巴马总统夫人米雪儿呈递请愿书,要求总统夫人行使影响力修正法律,对流入环境的化学毒素立法限制,全盘研究化学工业对人类健康的影响,拯救儿童于健康的险隘。
美国肥胖人口占34%,此外有68%的人口超重,与肥胖的战争是持久的。而令美国政府和民众同感担忧的是在儿童人口中,有三分之一是肥仔。肥胖令美国每年损失2700亿美金,作为减肥和治疗肥胖疾病的经费,以及由于肥胖所造成的死亡和人力资源损失。
美国每年都鼓励人民减吃减喝,来避免肥胖和减少肥胖症的医药开支,但肥胖因子的出现,却使美国的肥胖噩梦变得更加恐怖。即使不吃也会肥的佐证,令美国社会再次掉入迷惘的深渊。这就是不顾后果,所要面对的地狱般的报应。
美国是坚持不签署环境条约的顽固国。背后的用意,是要保护美国境内的工业和跨国企业,包括石油、核能、汽车、农药、转基因和各种化学工业。可是,美国无论如何都想不到,破坏环境的代价,是断送他们的子孙后代。
布鲁斯波伦博指出,这些肥胖因子不但可以增加细胞脂肪去制造更多肥胖细胞,也可以改变细胞代谢,或者让你感觉更加饥饿,或让你觉得吃得还不够多。这将导致体内卡路里消耗量减低,储存热能太多,而导致身体不停发胖,最后可能也患上与肥胖关连的糖尿病。
肥胖因子可以在婴儿还没有出世的时候,就从母亲的血液进入未成形婴儿的细胞里面,然后改变婴儿细胞编程,对细胞进行干扰,最后改变荷尔蒙调节身体的天然功能,使到受模仿的细胞失去正常代谢,变成脂肪细胞。根据布鲁斯波伦博和他的团队利用怀孕老鼠进行的研究,即使注入非常少量的肥胖因子三丁基tributyltinTBT,其毒素也可以遗传三代,而且第三代老鼠即使完全没有接触肥胖因子,受毒素感染的情况却比祖父母更加严重。
根据他们观察,内分泌干扰物不但影响人类,也对城市动物,如宠物和农场禽畜具有相同的危害。布鲁斯波伦博与其研究员也发现到,宠物、研究室老鼠和城市野生动物也有肥胖的迹象。也就是说,隐藏在环境中的化学物质已经对动物(生物)带来前所未有的影响。
对于胖子要如何减肥,布鲁斯波伦博警告,要减肥,不能只靠节食,也要避免吸收到这些环境毒素。
有趣的是,科学家建议的其中一个回避方法,就是清一色的吃有机蔬果。
我们的空气、水和土壤,甚至最偏远的野林和地球的角落,已经被来自工农商食品工业、成长荷尔蒙、农药、药剂残余、个人护理产品和其他83,000种化学产品,以及新现代工业侵染了大自然生态。我们要如何躲避这些“自然”危害?
肥胖因子是一种自然和人造的物质,存在于家庭、学校、办事处、公共场所、商业大厦、汽车,甚至我们的食物和饮用水之中,试问,我们要如何与它们分开?
美国一位育有两名孩子的家庭主妇,对于自己的孩子暴露于终身肥胖的风险感到无奈和遗憾。她说:“一个家长能够为孩子做的事情,就是让他们有一个安全和健康的家。这显然越看就越不可能,因为家里已经充斥了各种化学产品,甚至可能造成他们肥胖。可恨的是,化学工业已经制造了许多不需要的化学物质给美国社会,而其贡献是使到我们的孩子生病和肥胖。”
父母无法保障子女的安危,是公众对工业革命和绿色革命的惨痛控诉,证明人们已经醒觉了,但已成的命运却无法挽回,而且必需无奈的继续走下去。
无论美国如何立法挽救即成的危机,环境污染对人类健康的残害,已经不是法律能够扭转的。全球人类目前所面对的厄运,就是应对灾难,尽量缓和它的破坏,至少不要让大灾难来得太早,太惨厉。

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Obesogens: industrial pollutants contributing to obesity epidemic



(PhysOrg.com) -- With obesity emerging as a leading health threat to Americans, it’s easy to blame a couch-potato culture addicted to calorie-rich foods. But UC Irvine biologist Bruce Blumberg doesn’t believe lifestyle alone explains this growing obesity epidemic. He thinks industrial pollutants play a part too.
Blumberg is among a growing number of researchers exploring how chemicals used in plastics, food packaging, pesticides and cosmetics can trigger dramatic increases in body fat. He has even coined a word for these compounds that corrupt the normal function of metabolic hormones: obesogens.
“It makes a lot of sense that chemicals able to reprogram metabolism and favor the development of fat cells could be important contributing factors to obesity,” says Blumberg, professor of developmental & cell biology and pharmaceutical sciences. “The role of obesogens in fat accumulation raises questions about the effectiveness of just diet and exercise in helping people lose pounds and maintain a proper weight.”
Obesogen research is in its early stages but gaining widespread attention, including recent in-depth coverage in Newsweek. While it’s unclear to what degree these chemicals contribute to the obesity epidemic, what Blumberg and other researchers around the world are finding is troubling.
In ongoing studies, Blumberg has identified how obesogens target signaling proteins to tell a developing fetus to make more fat cells. This can have lifelong consequences, increasing the likelihood of body fat accumulation as a person ages and making it more difficult to lose excess weight.
Blumberg points out that it’s not known whether obesogens have the same effects on adults, but he suspects that they may have already left their mark on Americans born after World War II — when exposure to industrial chemicals became widespread.
“The causes of obesity are very complex, but if you travel to other places in the world, you’ll notice that this epidemic is predominantly American,” Blumberg says. “Elsewhere, the consumption of prepackaged foods is much lower, food is grown and eaten locally, and people are far less exposed to food additives and chemicals. These are all contributing factors.”
Until medical science can identify a way to repair obesogen-affected metabolism, he and others in this field recommend a “better safe than sorry” approach. “Use glass and stainless steel instead of plastics to store fluids and foods,” Blumberg says. “And try to get locally grown produce, organic if possible.”
He also suggests an attitudinal adjustment: “Obesity isn’t exclusively caused by personal behavior. It’s increasing despite our best efforts. If obesogen exposure causes someone to have more fat cells, or an altered metabolism, others should be more sympathetic that he or she will have to work harder to lose weight.”
Despite the difficulty of changing public — and scientific — perception, Blumberg is hopeful. “The tide is turning,” he says. “Over the past few years, acceptance of obesogens has grown, and it’s now possible to get funding for research. It’s an idea whose time has come.”
Provided by UC Irvine