Kennedy Fires the Entire Vaccine Advisory Board!

I am not an anti-vaxxer, but I am a believer that parents should have the choice. I believe some vaccines are worth taking and others I have questions about. When my kids were little, I was able to research the different vaccines and make an informed, educated decision as to which ones I wanted to give my kids. For example, my son got the mumps vaccine because mumps could make men sterile, but I didn’t give it to my girls because it didn’t make them sterile. There are a lot of questions as to the safety of some vaccines, and I think people should have the choice to make an informed, educated decision, especially when it comes to their children. However, firing all of the qualified doctors and scientists on the CDC’s Vaccine Advisory Board ( aka- A.C.I.P.) and replacing them with unqualified anti-vaxxers or vaccine skeptics, is setting our country up for huge potential problems down the road. We need the Centers for Disease Control to be run by scientists and doctors who understand the science, and who understand how diseases and pandemics spread. However, we do need to include in that panel doctors that believe in the power of Food as Medicine, and who are open to alternative modes of healing. I know when we get sick and our bodies have the opportunity to fight off the infection, it makes our immune system stronger, and stronger immune systems keep us healthier. I believe all the drugs that are being pushed onto the public needs to be stopped, and that our society is too dependent on taking a pill to fix a problem.  I am in agreement with RFK Jr. that our food system needs to be overhauled, that we need to get rid of the pesticides, artificial ingredients, GMO’s, and preservatives, and we need doctors who understand the connection between what we eat and diseases. 

The Real Truth About Seed Oils

The use and consumption of seed oils has become a popular topic among wellness influencers on social media and among MAHA supporters. Robert F Kennedy Jr. and others have been attacking seed oils, claiming they are poisoning us and causing inflammation and disease. While science tells us otherwise, most people are ignoring it. Check out this article from Harvard Health about cooking oils. 

Oil in general is a highly processed food that is extracted from a whole food like a seed. It is also an ingredient that is associated with unhealthy fast food and other ultra processed foods that contain other unhealthy ingredients. Eating a lot of these junk foods is the problem, not the oil itself. My feeling is that it is okay to consume these oils in small quantities, or try replacing extracted oil with tahini in your baking, which is a whole food. It is a much healthier choice than beef tallow, which is what RFK Jr is suggesting people to use, which is most likely processed from the lowest quality beef out there.

One of the latest consequences of the claims against seed oils is the disruption of the market for seed oil creating crops like sunflowers and canola. Personally, most of the soybeans grown in this country are by mega-farmers who grow genetically modified crops, and I don’t support that kind of farming. However, farmers are concerned about the change in consumer demand for these products and how it will impact their production. Listen to this audio from NPR about the impact on farmers that these claims about seed oils is having.