Antibiotics, animals, and staying one step ahead of our microbe friends

Last week, we had more news about the relationship between the way we raise our animals for food, and antibiotic-resistant infections.

The news was that scientists think antibiotics at sub-lethal doses create mutations in bacteria.

What does this have to do with resistance to antibiotics? First of all, people have to understand that over time, antibiotics are getting less effective. We've all heard these "scare stories" on the news about "superbugs" that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. If you look at the statistics, you'll find that this is a growing problem for hospitals--every year there are more of these infections by bacteria that are tougher and tougher to treat with our conventional medications. Humanity is locked in an "arms race" between bacteria and the drug companies--we make innovative antibiotics, and the microbes figure out ways to get around them.

Scientists worry that the microbes are getting "smarter" over time because of the ubiquitous use of antibiotics in general society. The question of what's causing that is controversial. Some people say it's because doctors are overprescribing antibiotics for infections that don't need them, and some people say it's because we are putting too many antibiotics in animal feed.

Why do we need to put antibiotics in animal feed? In the case of chickens, it's to overcome the weak chicken immune system. Chickens are raised in huge farms, where thousands of birds share a confined space. If infection sets up in that environment, it can decimate the entire flock within a few days. So to overcome this, they put antibiotics in the feed of the animals.

The chicken farm owners and trade groups have papers to show that this is harmless, and that the problem of antimicrobial resistance is mostly the fault of overprescribing doctors.

As a person who eats chicken, I can see both sides of this issue. Chicken is plentiful because of large-scale farming, which is made possible by antibiotics in feed. This becomes a political issue: take away people's cheap plentiful chicken and be prepared to hear from them at the polls.

The point that antibiotic overprescribing leads to antibiotic resistance has, I think, been embraced by the medical community and by American patients as well. People I see understand that you don't need to give antibiotics for a viral illness, whereas they might have demanded antibiotics for illness only a few years ago.

On the other side, I think we need to come up with innovative ways to farm poultry without resorting to antibiotics in feed. As papers like the one I mentioned above show us, it's certainly possible that antibiotics in animal feed are contributing to rapid resistance to antibiotics.

The way this works is probably that the mutations created by antibiotics allow bacteria to evolve drug resistance faster than they would otherwise evolve. Most of these mutations will be harmful and lead to cell death, but a very few will, by random chance, give the bacteria drug resistance. These resistance mutations will then propagate through natural selection until the entire strain has these genes. It's ironic that the very medicines designed to treat infections can create resistant bacteria, but that appears to be how it works.

CDC has a nice information page about antibiotic resistance.

So the next time you bite into that chicken sandwich or order the chicken parm at your favorite restaurant, think about how that bird made it to your plate. Perhaps if we all demanded safer food production, we could make our hospitals safer. After all, the bacteria always win--we just want to forestall that as long as possible!

For more information, check out the audio podcast I made about this, hosted at my medical news and information website, InteractMD.com

Hamentaschen and Purim: Thinking Ahead

My favorite holiday food item to bake, hands down, is hamentaschen. There is something therapeutic about making the dough, cutting it into circles, and pinching up the sides around the filling. I have used many cookie recipes, but the one I like best includes grated orange rind. My husband's filling of choice is mun, or poppy seed. Once year I made this filling from scratch, and it was a time consuming, sticky mess. Now I buy the poppy seed filling ready made, from the Israeli market.

I have helped make them at preschool countless times over the past years, and look forward to doing it a few more. The boys now help me make them at home, and are sometimes very creative in their 3 cornered shaping. I will make my usual batches this year, and will also try the recipe below:


Cafe Liz » Purim special: Mochi hamentaschen -- Kosher vegetarian recipes from my kitchen in Tel Aviv

This blog looks like a great resource, and I plan to explore it further!

Happy Hamentaschening!

How I Get My Kids to Eat Cauliflower

I never thought it was possible. But it is! I steam the cauliflower until it's really soft. Using a potato masher, I mash the cauliflower as much as I can. It sort of looks like lumpy mashed potatoes. Then I grind some pepper over it, sprinkle salt and then of course, add shredded cheddar cheese. Not too much - just enough to make it kid-friendly. They eat it up! And since we got a HUGE head of cauliflower in our box last week - we can have it more than one night this week!

I love that we always have fresh vegetables in the house - and every meal seems to be taking a new healthful twist that my not only is my family enjoying - but they are becoming AWARE of what it means to eat healthy food.

The Good Land

I want to thank you for beginning the conversation about Tu B'Shvat - I hope to continue the discussion by focusing on the use of land in the Torah and by posing a few questions that I have been pondering. I look forward to reading your thoughts:

we learn in the Torah the following:

For Adonai, your God, brings you to a good land, a land with streams of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and grape vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey, a land where you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall lack nothing there; a land whose stones are made of iron and from whose mountains you will mine bronze, when you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless God from the good land which has been given to you. - Deut. 8: 7-10

1. Is it possible today to achieve the type of feelings of completeness related to food and the land portrayed in this passage?

2. Every choice we make about what we eat and the resources we use has an impact on the "good land." How should we balance environmental factors with other needs and desires as we make these decisions?

3. Where do you personally feel a tension between your own lifestyle and its impact on the world?

4. What are the blessings that you will offer this year?

Blessings for a meaningful Tu B'shvat

Rabbi Oren

Tu B' Shevat Traditions

Tu B' Shevat is a harvest festival that has roots in the middle ages and tithing from the crops grown in various Jewish Communities. Tomorrow night my family will observe a beautiful new tradition that we have adopted in the past several years, a Tu B' Shevat Seder. We have learned this tradition from Sephardic friends and the kids really enjoy seeing all the different fruits and nuts and tasting them. The themes of the holiday are hope and healing the world, and it will be easy to tie current day events into the discussions at dinner tomorrow and all weekend long. The links below are to a seder and additional information on the holiday and also various family activities.

http://www.babaganewz.com/wp-content/uploads/kids/pdfs/5408sederK.pdf

Local Tu B'Shevat Activities

On Sunday, January 31:

Tu B'Shevat Social Action Projects for the environment are available.

Co-Sponsored with St. Bernardine and the Mohammedi Center. Join together with congregants from Temple Aliyah and our neighbors. Participate in one, two or all three of these projects! Counts toward 2 Family Learning Points (Religious School), B'nai Mitzvah Tikkun Olam Project, and Community Service Hours.

1. Paramount Ranch (9am - noon)
Weeding, planting, and native plant restoration. You are invited to stay for a hike or picnic after the event.

2. Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center
(noon to 2pm) An opportunity to harvest grapefruit, which will be donated to local food pantries. Bring baskets, boxes or bags for collecting the fruit. If you have a small A-frame utility ladder, bring it along as well.

3. Silverado Assisted Living Facility
(Calabasas from 1:00pm - 3:00pm in the MGM Room) Decorating flower pots and planting flowers with the residents.

These projects are for all ages. Space is limited. Please RSVP by January 25, 2010 to Jo Ann Leeds at 818-346-3545 or jleeds@templealiyah.org.

The Proof is In: Organic is More Nutritious

I am re-printing this post from "The Daily Green." Enjoy the read.

Iriet

The Proof is In: Organic is More Nutritious

British Studies Justify the Higher Cost

November 2, 2007 at 3:56PM by Deirdre Dolan | 1 comment

Buzz up!

It seems like every day someone emails me another news story about the hidden dangers of plastic, (like this or this).

I usually stop whatever I’m doing to read it, more convinced with every each new study and infertile rat that we’re doomed to extinction by plastic. When I’m done I usually look up to find my one year-old daughter trying to stuff something plastic into her mouth, despite the variety of brightly colored non-toxic wood toys lying around her on the floor.

So I was happy to read something good this morning about something that plays a big part in my life – they’ve proven that organic milk is better for you!. All the money I’ve been spending on the stuff -- and it’s up to $15 dollars a day because I’m pregnant and it really helps my heartburn -- is worth it. The same goes for organic food.

For the past seven years, the organic food lobby in England has been trying to get the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to change their claim that organic food isn’t safer or healthier. And now, after a 4-year, 12 million pound, European Union-funded investigation led by Newcastle University that shows organic foods have far more nutritional value, they may soon get their way. The study isn’t over yet and the results will be published over the next year, but the hope is that the FSA will change its claim that "the balance of current scientific evidence does not support" the idea that organic food is more nutritious than conventional.

The Quality Low Input Food project, the biggest of its kind, took a 725-acre farm in north-east England, grew conventional produce (like cabbage, lettuce, potatoes and what) next to organic produce, and compared the results.

The biggest contrast was found for milk. The study found that levels of antioxidants in milk from organic cattle were between 50% and 80% higher than conventional milk (60% to 80% more nutrients in the summer than conventional milk, and 50% to 60% more in the winter). Organic milk also has higher levels of vitamin E, and 60 percent more antioxidants and desirable fatty acids. Antioxidants help with a healthy circulatory system and help keep cancer and heart disease away.

Other highlights:

1. Fruit and vegetables contain up to 40% more nutrients if they are grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
2. Up to 40% more antioxidants could be found in organic fruit and vegetables than in those conventionally farmed.
3. Potatoes, kiwi fruit and carrots were among the organic produce found to be higher in vitamin C.
4. Higher levels of minerals and antioxidants were found in organically- farmed lettuce, spinach and cabbage. Organic spinach and cabbage have more minerals.
5. Organic produce also had higher levels of iron and zinc, vital nutrients lacking in many people's diets.
6. Organic cheese can have up to twice as many nutrients than conventional varieties.
7. Organic tomatoes, wheat, potatoes, cabbage, onions and wheat have 20 to 40 per cent more antioxidants than conventional fruit and vegetables.

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/organic-parenting/organic-nutrition-55110201#ixzz0dAdi1uyE