Here goes our Christmas walnuts.

[sesfw]

Walnuts Are Drugs, Says FDA
www.thenewamerican.com/

The FDA has declared walnuts to be an illegal drug as long as Diamond Foods informs consumers of their nuts' health benefits. By Michael Tennant..

Wonder who had the nerve to sign the bottom of this letter.

[chiver78]

here's the full link:

www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/8294-walnuts-are-drugs-says-fda

and wow. the FDA can be over the top sometimes, but this one's pretty ridiculous. thanks for sharing, sesfw.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...wow... just wow...

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I see all kinds of products making health claims. Seems to me they could just add the "These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA..." disclaimer.

[henryclay]

I wonder about that myself, Dawg. If a roadside fruit vendor says something about, "An apple a day will keep the doctor away", can he expect a letter fromn the FDA?

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...yeah... the health benefits of eating have long been proven...

...FDA, my foot...



(disclaimer: I'm in a ranty mood today)

[b2r]

One can certainly see why the government needs/deserves more revenue!

[verrip1]

Boycott Waldorf Salad!!!!!

[sesfw]

Thank you chiver for providing the full link. My cut and paste is lacking refinements.

[djAdvocate]

this is a standard disclaimer message for the Nutraceutical industry. i am puzzled by the outrage.

the message is, essentially "this is not a drug. therefore we have not investigated the claims. consume at your own risk"

i actually appreciate that message being presented on packages from snake oil salesman claiming that their home remedy made from dehydrated bacon fat cures cancer.

[handyman2]

The FDA is on a crusade against all health care products including vitamins and supplements sold by health food stores. Products that say they will assist in improving health like nuts of any kind have been under scrutiny by the FDA even though it has been know for years that they are part of healthy eating.
My friend who owns a health food store says they are always under the gun by the FDA. They want healthfood stores shut down for what reason who knows.
This is going to be a big front page battle soon as more and more companies have had about enough. Even the doctors say we need more Omega 3 fats in our diets and they are plentyful in Walnuts. Crazy.

[Malarky]

I feel a rant coming on, the likes of which I have been involved in on P&M.

Is there no common sense left in the world???

I'm trying to think of a substance that I can eat, drink or smoke that won't upset somebody.

[chiver78]

Jul 24, 2011 20:05:41 GMT -5 Malarky said:

I'm trying to think of a substance that I can eat, drink or smoke that won't upset somebody.

water, from the tap.

[Malarky]

Jul 24, 2011 20:08:34 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Jul 24, 2011 20:05:41 GMT -5 Malarky said:

I'm trying to think of a substance that I can eat, drink or smoke that won't upset somebody.

water, from the tap.

I am so not drinking that crap!!!!

It's full of fluoride and chlorine!!!!

[chiver78]

lol.....unless laws have changed since I moved out (and your pipes don't suck), your tap water isn't really that bad. I tested it in college, when I was an intern at a company that did that sort of thing. it wasn't as clean as Poland Spring, but it was better than the generic bottled water from RB's.

[Malarky]

The day I bought the house, I ripped out the pipes and replaced them. So lead poisoning is unlikely, unless someone shoots me. ;D I'm still allergic to chlorine, so some days I have a hard time showering. I filter it before I can drink it.

But dammit. I like walnuts!!

[Deleted]

FDA is nuts.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

In the FDAs defense, what they are trying to prevent is companies making supplements from making claims of prevention or cure of disease when no or few clinical trials have been performed. I agree with that, and believe that Blue Diamond could solve the whole problem with a simple disclaimer.

[diamonds]

The FDA keeps recalling drugs and asking on my inbox, if you have taken this drug, you may have a class-action suit. What drugs are safe then? Are we just guinea pigs? I noticed on my Ciprofloxacin antibiotic as I was looking at the side effects on the internet, there ia a black box warning or precaution of all the side effects as it is a fluoroquinolone, which is flouride and some of the people that took it had harsh reactions. I had heart palpitations after the 3rd day, and yet the doctors are still pushing it. Some doctors, just quickly dispense the meds and never look at the side effects. To me the pharmacists are more conscious of your health history and interactions as it's all in front of them on the computer and they get know you better and what you can tolerate.

k to the dawg....

[djAdvocate]

Jul 24, 2011 19:26:08 GMT -5 handyman2 said:

The FDA is on a crusade against all health care products including vitamins and supplements sold by health food stores. Products that say they will assist in improving health like nuts of any kind have been under scrutiny by the FDA even though it has been know for years that they are part of healthy eating.
My friend who owns a health food store says they are always under the gun by the FDA. They want healthfood stores shut down for what reason who knows.
This is going to be a big front page battle soon as more and more companies have had about enough. Even the doctors say we need more Omega 3 fats in our diets and they are plentyful in Walnuts. Crazy.

the reason they are under the gun is because they claim to be medicine, even though they have not undergone clinical trials, and in some cases, are actually UNHEALTHY.

again, i find the outrage really odd. all these companies need to do is stop couching their products in terms that are unique to the drug industry, and the FDA will completely leave them alone.

disclaimer: i have no love for the drug industry. in fact, i loathe them, as a general rule.

[Deleted]

Last year there was a story in the news about kids taking nutmeg to get high. Apparently if you eat enough of it it give you a really harsh high.

[handyman2]

Dj I will give you two personal examples of mine. I developed an acute case of Diverticulitis the doctor proscribed an expensive medicine that had a whole page of warnings and I was told by the doctor that I would have to take the medicine for the rest of my life. So I get on the net and find a product not approved by the FDA but had been tested for some time made up of total herbs and no listed side affects. I ordered the product and started taking it. Within 4 weeks my problem was gone and I stopped taking the herbal treatment. That was three years ago and my medical problem has yet to return. It cost me $65.00 to be cured of it. The medicine the doctor prescribed would have cost twice that much a month for life and had side effects.
My future Grand daughters husband came back from Iraq with acute acid reflux. The VA was giving him a prescription that made him ill for an hour after taking. I gave him the rest of the bottle of the herbal treatment and he started taking it. Guess what? His acid reflux is gone. Two cures for $65.00.
The FDA is in the big pharma's pocket and want to stop all herbal treatments that have no side effects and at best are harmless.
There are health clinics that can through diet and life style change get many safely off of insulin. The FDA hates these places. It robs big pharma of record profits.
True there are some snake oil products out there but contrary to FDA speak many are herbal treatments are researched for effectiveness and safety but not recognized by the FDA.
There are many good simple treatments out there that is why many health food and vitamin store are booming. Some are calling for boycotts of Whole foods but we shop at them and they are booming and spreading fast.
You would think the FDA would be more concerned about all the serious side effects of many prescription drugs than worrying about walnuts. Just my view.

[djAdvocate]

i think the FDA is worried about both, henry.

however, they are atrociously underfunded. food and drug safety problems will only get worse.

[djAdvocate]

Jul 25, 2011 14:08:22 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Yes, nutmeg is quite poisonous at high quantities. Many "herbal" medicines are analogs of expensive prescription drugs and just as potentially dangerous. Quinine, digitalis, aspirin, statins etc. are among the classes of drugs derived or first discovered in nature. As a gardener and a murder mystery buff, I have learned to have great respect for the toxicity of the "natural."

indeed.

[floridayankee]

I'm going to need a bigger medicine cabinet if they expect me to keep my walnuts in there along with my heart healthy, cholesterol lowering Cheerios.

BTW, I thought we "roasted chestnuts on the open fire", not walnuts.

[floridayankee]

Jul 25, 2011 14:27:10 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Walnuts are interesting also from a poison standpoint. They are among the trees with poisonous roots. Other trees cannot grow near them. The black walnut is a notorious poison to many species.

www.ehow.com/info_8442815_black-poison-roots-apple-tree.html

www.suite101.com/content/the-black-walnut-tree-a112811

I only skimmed the original article and now I'm timing out (The connection has timed out) and can't re-read it, but unless I missed something, the FDA is not even questioning walnuts in general...just the packaging from one vendor.

[floridayankee]

Jul 25, 2011 14:48:39 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Walnuts will not kill you, but Black Walnut trees can successfully wage bio-warfare on other plants. They are amazingly effective killers so if your garden is failing....

NOTE TO SELF: Plant some black walnut trees in the (weed) garden....

[handyman2]

Never knew Black Walnut roots were poison. What I do know is that black walnut trees draw tremendous amounts of water and nutriants from the soil as do most nut bearing trees that starve other plants around them.

[Malarky]

Jul 25, 2011 14:48:39 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Walnuts will not kill you, but Black Walnut trees can successfully wage bio-warfare on other plants. They are amazingly effective killers so if your garden is failing....

So it would be wrong to plant one by the back fence? Near the clothesline I put up for the less than pleasant back fence neighbors?