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It is amazing what has happened to our wheat products in a few short decades. In efforts to increase yield, improve shelf life, and enhance our appetites, modern food producers have taken a staple of our diet (breads and grains) that humans have consumed for millennia with little or no health issues, and turned it into a "Frankenfood". Bread, which was a cheap, nutritious way to fill our stomachs for thousands of years, is now potentially the cause of obesity and a variety of inflammatory diseases. A look at the processes we use to grow, harvest, mill, refine, enrich, and...

Intestine Crohn’s Disease A mystery surrounding Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, may have been solved by a new study. This image depicts an intestine affected by Crohn’s disease. ========================================================= New research may have solved a mystery surrounding Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease where immune defenses meant to attack invading microbes mistakenly target the body’s own digestive tract instead. Norovirus is a common infection that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It is also one of several viruses and bacteria thought to trigger disease onset in people with Crohn’s disease, but the field does not know why....

In less than two weeks, one of the world's biggest democracies will hold what many are describing as its most important presidential election in years. The US has been watching this vote in Brazil closely. Why? There aren't many issues that staunch opponents in Washington ever agree on. But they are united on this. "This is going to be one of the most intense and dramatic elections in the 21st Century," former Trump aide Steve Bannon tells the BBC. "The fate of Brazil's democracy and of US relations with Brazil will be decided in the upcoming election," says Senator Patrick...

Consider U.S. farmers happy. They are exporting record volumes of products to China. Shipments of soybeans, corn and pork are bringing smiles back to the American heartland. Or, to put this another way, Beijing is effectively acknowledging it cannot feed the Chinese people. China's leader, Xi Jinping, recently made such an admission. Last August, he announced what became known as the "clean your plate" campaign to end what he called a "shocking and distressing" waste of food. Just about everyone saw this effort, to get the Chinese people to eat less, as a warning of food shortages to come. Chinese...

New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression. Specifically, the scientists found pronounced effects of the oil on the hypothalamus, where a number of critical processes take place. “The hypothalamus regulates body weight via your metabolism, maintains body temperature, is critical for reproduction and physical growth as well as your response to stress,” “The dogma is that saturated fat is bad and unsaturated fat is good. Soybean oil is a polyunsaturated fat, but the idea that it’s good for you is...

A commonly available pesticide has been associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a University of Queensland study. Researchers analyzed links between pesticide exposure and the risk of kidney dysfunction in 41,847 people, using data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). School of Public Health Associate Professor Nicholas Osborne said the study found people exposed to higher amounts of the insecticide Malathion, known as Maldison in Australia, had 25 percent higher risk of kidney dysfunction. "Nearly one in 10 people in high income countries show signs of CKD, which is permanent kidney...

First B-1B bombers sighted near Taiwan since Trump announcement on Hong Kong TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two B-1B bombers and two support tankers were spotted flying from Guam and nearing northeast Taiwan on Sunday (May 31). On Sunday (May 31), Twitter user Golf9, who specializes in airband monitoring, radar spotting, and aircraft spotting, reported that two B-1B Lancers and two Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers had taken off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and flown into the East China Sea near the northeast corner of Taiwan. Taiwanese and Chinese authorities have yet to issue an official response to the patrol....

China has reportedly told state-owned firms to stop buying U.S. soybeans and pork, a move that would break a key provision of the Phase One trade deal between the world's two largest economies. Reuters reported on Monday, citing two unnamed sources, that the order from Beijing also applies to corn and cotton. According to the newswire, China is retaliating against President Trump for announcing he would strip Hong Kong of its special status.

US threats to impose tariffs on European autos did not come up in trade talks in Washington, European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said Thursday. “It was not mentioned; it was hardly mentioned,” Hogan told reporters in the US capital. “I think it should be good news for Germany.” The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to put tariffs on European automobiles imported into the US, citing threats to national security. But a deadline to make a decision passed last November without a comment from the White House after the EU threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports. Hogan’s remarks...

BEIJING (AP) - China’s imports of soybeans surged in November following the announcement of an interim trade deal with the United States. Imports rose 53.7% over a year earlier to 5.4 million tons, according to customs data. Imports of U.S. soybeans more than doubled from the previous month to 2.6 million tons, according to AWeb.com, a news website that serves the Chinese farming industry.

The tariff waivers were based on applications by individual firms for U.S. soybeans and pork imports, the finance ministry said in a statement, citing a decision by the country’s cabinet. It did not specify the quantities involved. China had imposed the levies in response to tariffs launched by Washington over allegations that China steals and forces the transfer of American intellectual property to Chinese firms, known as Section 301. That includes tariffs of 25% on both U.S. soybeans and pork in July 2018 and a further 10% on pork and 5% on soybeans in September this year.

President Trump said he would impose tariffs, effective immediately, on all steel and aluminum shipped into the United States from Brazil and Argentina. “Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers,” Trump said in Monday morning tweet. He then directed his attention to the Federal Reserve, saying the central bank should “act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar by further devaluing their currencies. This makes it very hard for our [manufacturers] & farmers to fairly export their goods....

This pivotal week of China trade talks started with a slap in the face, but Beijing may be turning the other cheek. Despite the Trump administration ban on sales to 28 Chinese tech firms accused of a role in the government's human rights abuses, China is still talking about buying more soybeans. Beijing's determination to reach a deal, however small, sparked a Wednesday rebound for the Dow Jones and broader stock market after Tuesday's 314-point drubbing. The Financial Times reported that China is willing to boost soybean purchases by 10 million tons, worth about $3.5 billion at current prices. That...

Chinese consumers are not happy about higher prices and decreased supplies of food.  Yesterday, Chinese buyers snapped up "at least 10 boatloads of soybeans," according to Reuters, as the U.S.-China trade war showed signs of compromise.  The South China Morning Post reports: Beijing will allow Chinese businesses to purchase a "certain amount of farm products such as soybeans and pork" from the United States, according to the Xinhua report. "China's market is big enough and there's great potential to import high-quality US farm products." The official Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday that China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce made...

(Reuters) - China has approved wheat imports from the Russian region of Kurgan, the Chinese customs office said on Friday, bringing Russia a step closer to its goal of dramatically increasing grain exports. It also approved soybean imports from all parts of Russia, the General Administration of Customs said in a separate statement on its website, having all but halted U.S. soy imports as the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington deepened. China was the top buyer of U.S. soybeans until Beijing slapped a 25% tariff on shipments last year in response to U.S. tariffs on a range of Chinese...

“We’ve got to get deeper than just these superficial fixes, as important as they are..." “We don’t have a healthcare system in the United States, we have a sickness care system in the United States. We just wait ’til somebody gets sick and then we talk about who’s going to pay for the treatment and how they’re going to be treated. What we need to talk about why so many Americans have unnecessary chronic illnesses, so many more compared to other countries. And that gets back not just into Big Pharma, not just health insurance companies, it has to do...

I recently had a puzzling experience and wonder whether you might be able to shed some light on it. Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly unable to eat wheat without experiencing significant gastrointestinal distress, and I’ve been eating a gluten-free diet for about two years as a result. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Hungary and succumbed to the temptation of eating some irresistibly fabulous, crusty European bread. I figured I’d pay the price but that it would be worth it. However, nothing happened. By the end of the trip I was feasting on croissants, thin-crust...

WINSLOW, Neb./CHICAGO (Reuters) - Midwestern farmers have been gambling they could ride out the U.S.-China trade war by storing their corn and soybeans anywhere they could - in bins, plastic tubes, in barns or even outside. Now, the unthinkable has happened. Record floods have devastated a wide swath of the Farm Belt across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and several other states. Early estimates of lost crops and livestock are approaching $1 billion in Nebraska alone. With more flooding expected, damages are expected to climb much higher for the region.

HUGE ECONOMIC NEWS THIS MORNING— China moved to reduce tariffs on US cars from 40% to 15% in the latest sign of their willingness to negotiate a trade deal with President Trump.... ...Despite the Deep State DOJ’s best efforts to ruin the trade deal and punish Americans China is committing to a new trade agreement with the Trump administration.

The end of 2018 seemed to signal good things to come for America’s farmers. Fresh off the passage of the farm bill, which reauthorized agriculture, conservation and safety net programs, the Agriculture Department last week announced a second round of direct payments to growers hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Then parts of the government shut down. The USDA in a statement issued last week assured farmers that checks would continue to go out during the first week of the shutdown. But direct payments for farmers who haven’t certified production, as well as farm loans and...