Fermented rice is common across diverse geographies - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, AP, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Bangladesh
If it were not beneficial, fermented rice would not be common both in Kerala and Bangladesh. It would have been local to one particular region. Also, fermented rice is eaten with onion and chilli in most of the places including Bangladesh. The reason for this is in ayurveda. Fermented rice is 'cold' food. Onion and chilli are 'hot' food. So, it is important to eat a hot food along with fermented rice, otherwise, it could be unhealthy.
(http://www.curejoy.com/content/hot-cold-foods-ayurveda/)
Science
Phytic acid: Structure
So why are we letting rice for fermenting ? Have you ever thought about it ?
In rice grains, the phosphorous molecules are well bound to the phytic acid moiety making them unavailable to the human body when we eat it.
Additionally, these phytic acids are tightly bound with the essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc, resulting in to low bio availability. Thus in its native forms, the phytic acids are anti-nutrient inhibiting the key digestive enzymes in our body including pepsin, amylase and trypsin. So when you ferment the rice, all those essential minerals and nutrients get released into the body making us more healthy. Thats it :)
(https://www.quora.com/How-good-is-Pazhaya-soru-Fermented-Rice-for-breakfast)
American Nutrition Association says that the previous day's soaked rice is the best for breakfast, used to be the staple diet in Kerala and Tamilnadu, not so long ago...
Rice (Tanjana Facts)
Traditionally rice is cooked in the afternoon and excess water is drained. After the rice cools down to room temperature, it is soaked fully in water and stored in an earthen clay pot. This covered pot with soaked rice is left overnight at regular room temperature. The rice would ferment by the next morning and is eaten for breakfast. Traditionally, it is eaten with a side dish, raw onion or green chili. Some prefer to drain excess water and eat it with yogurt and a slight sprinkle of salt.
The lactic acid bacteria break down the anti-nutritional factors in rice resulting in an improved bioavailability of micro-nutrients and minerals such as iron, potassium and calcium by several thousand percentage points. For example, after 12 hours of fermentation of 100 grams of rice, the availability of iron changed from 3.4 mg to 73.91mg (an increase of 2073%).
In the agrarian communities of South East Asia, fermented rice played a big role in the lives of people. It gave the energy, the nutrition and the cooling effect that they needed for a full day of manual labor. Unfortunately, people moving up the food chain (or wealth chain, rather) looked down on fermented rice as the pauper’s food and ignored the great nutritional value it provides.
Food scientists who researched on the food practices among various regions in the world and concluded that the South Asia’s tradition of consuming the previous day's cooked rice soaked in plain water overnight, in the morning next day, as break-fast, is the best. It has the rare B6 B12 vitamins which are not otherwise easily available in other food supplements. This rice generates and harbors trillions of beneficial bacteria that help digestion and has many disease fighting and immunity developing agents. The bacteria that grow in the intestines due to this rice safeguard the internal organs and keep them fit and ready. Consuming this rice helps quicker digestion and wards off ageing, bone related ailments and muscular pains. Brown rice is the best for this as its nutrients are retained intact.
American Nutrition Association has listed the following benefits if you stick to the practice of consuming such soaked rice.
• Consuming this rice as breakfastkeeps the body light and also energetic.
• Beneficial bacteria get produced in abundance for the body.
• Stomach ailments disappear when this is consumed in the morning as excessive and harmful heat retained in the body is neutralized.
• As this food is very fibrous, it removes constipation and also dullness in the body.
• Blood pressure is normalized and hypertension subsides appreciably.
• Body feels less tired due to this food as a result of which one feels fresh throughout the day.
• This removes allergy induced problems and also skin-related ailments.
• It removes all types of ulcers in the body.
• Fresh infections are kept at bay due to consuming this rice.
• It helps in maintaining youthful and radiant look.
Consuming this takes away your body’s craving for tea or coffee. This is the richest source of vitamin B12 for vegans. So, do not throw away that extra rice you had cooked. It could be the healthiest breakfast you will ever have.
1. More mineral: The following minerals are more bio-available in fermented rice compared to normal rice. As per research by Assam Agricultural University, after 12 hours of fermentation
Iron - 3.4mg in 100 grams of rice, 74mg in 100 grams of fermented rice.
Calcium - went up from 21mg to 850 mg
Potassium - went upto to 839 mg
Sodium - came down from 475 mg to 303 mg
Zinc - increased in fermented rice (from another source)
Madhumita Barooah, who worked along with Gunajit Goswami of the department to isolate the bacteria, said cooked rice had an element that prevented the availability of minerals like iron, potassium, sodium and calcium in high quantities.
Even after slight fermentation (three hours), the breakdown of the nutritional inhibitor by the lactic acid bacteria increased the mineral content manifold, she added.
“Although rice is an important source of dietary energy and nutrients, it is not a good source of metabolic micro-nutrients because of the presence of anti-nutritional factors such as phytic acid. Cereal grains such as rice also contain oligosaccharides that are not easily digestible because of absence of an enzyme in the human intestinal mucosa. Fermentation allows for breakdown of this and easy digestion,” Barooah said.
The dish is slightly sweet and sour in taste because of fermentation by the lactic acid bacteria.
2. Prevents fatigue and provides strength: People who eat fermented rice are strong and can take work strenuous in nature.
Example - on quora, one guy explains how during his NCC days, he was strong and sturdy during early morning session while others used to faint. This cadet's mother used to feed him fermented rice early in the morning as dosa/idly was not possible at 5.30am.
3. Clears constipation: Fermented Rice is a natural laxative. It has healthy bacteria that help the bowel movement, without any side effects of the medications.
4. Cures ulcer: Micro-organisms are produced during the fermentation process and the pH levels are balanced in the stomach. It also replaces the gut with healthy bacteria.
5. Produces collagen, Beauty care product: Fermented rice is considered as one of the beauty secrets of Asia. It helps in the production of collagen, which is necessary to maintain the elasticity of the skin. It also repairs the dead skin cells and produces the skin with necessary vitamin E to make it look younger.
6. Reduces Blood Pressure: Fermented rice is a rich source of Potassium. Research shows that when the level of intake of potassium is high, it will reduce the blood pressure.
7. Secretes breast milk in feeding mothers: Fermented rice has a good source of lactic acid and helps secrete good flow of milk for the baby.
Fermented foods help in brain / psychiatric diseases.
The purposeful application of fermentation in food and beverage preparation, as a means to provide palatability, nutritional value, preservative, and medicinal properties, is an ancient practice. Fermented foods and beverages continue to make a significant contribution to the overall patterns of traditional dietary practices. As our knowledge of the human microbiome increases, including its connection to mental health (for example, anxiety and depression), it is becoming increasingly clear that there are untold connections between our resident microbes and many aspects of physiology. Of relevance to this research are new findings concerning the ways in which fermentation alters dietary items pre-consumption, and in turn, the ways in which fermentation-enriched chemicals (for example, lactoferrin, bioactive peptides) and newly formed phytochemicals (for example, unique flavonoids) may act upon our own intestinal microbiota profile. Here, we argue that the consumption of fermented foods may be particularly relevant to the emerging research linking traditional dietary practices and positive mental health. The extent to which traditional dietary items may mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress may be controlled, at least to some degree, by microbiota. It is our contention that properly controlled fermentation may often amplify the specific nutrient and phytochemical content of foods, the ultimate value of which may associated with mental health; furthermore, we also argue that the microbes (for example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species) associated with fermented foods may also influence brain health via direct and indirect pathways.
During my school days (1978) I was an NCC cadet and was always selected for participating in the Republic day parade at Chennai. The parade starts from fishermen colony in Foreshore estate beach (opposite AIR) and ends at Madras University Centenary auditorium, about 3.25 km, going thru the Kamarajar Salai (then called North Beach Road).
The practice sessions used to start 10 days before, and continued daily, until 24 January and then the final parade on 26
January. All NCC cadets are supposed to report by 6.30 am (Contingents from the Army, Navy, Airforce and Police, RPF, CRPF would be also there). This means I have to leave home at 5.30 am from Chetput and get my first 27B bus, get down at Kannagi statue and walk back to behind the light house to join the squads.
Many cadets used to swoon during the march, but not me! The secret was my mother’s special “pazhaya soru recipe”. It was too early to cook proper idly, dosai breakfast, so she used to take the last night’s cooked rice, socked in water. Add curd and salt and the side dishes are small sambar onions and green chillies. This energy used to take me up to 10.30 am when we are given food at University centenary auditorium after the march.
It also restores healthy intestinal flora (bacteria) and relieves all diseases related to stomach and intestines, like dueodenal ulcers, infectious colitis, Ischemic colitis, Radiation colitis, Ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Diverticular disease, Hemorrhoids, Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease , candida infections etc.
It is the bacteria cells that also contribute to the bulk of feces that when reduced is one of the factor for constipation.
I stopped water therapy and ate refined foods for a month and made my levels go to the upper side of normal. Then ate fermented rice and fermented barley using organic-whole-milk-yogurt for 10 days and checked my blood parameters before and after this regimen.
Here's What Happens When You Drink Red Wine Every
NightMandy OaklanderOct 13, 2015
Alcohol is the Goldilocks of the nutrition world. Too much can be destructive to your health, raising your blood pressure and your risk of developing several kinds of cancer. Too little may hold you back from some of the benefits that moderate drinkers enjoy, like lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, mortality and type-2 diabetes.
The amount that’s just right, according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, might be a nightly glass of wine with dinner—for some people, anyway.
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel wanted to look at how safe and effective it is for a specific group of people—those with well-controlled type-2 diabetes and who had a low risk for alcohol abuse—to drink moderately. People with type-2 diabetes are more likely than the general population to develop cardiovascular disease and have lower levels of heart-protective HDL cholesterol, the authors note.
They chose 224 people who fit this profile, and who didn’t drink wine currently, then assigned them to start drinking one of three things. At dinner, the people in the study were told to drink five ounces of one of the following beverages: mineral water, dry white wine or dry red wine. Under the guidance of dietitians, they also followed a Mediterranean diet without calorie restrictions—and kept it up for two years.
Intermittently, they took questionnaires and were subjected to follow-ups, including blood draws at the start of the study, six months in and at 24 months, so the scientists could look at biomarkers of glycemic control, lipids and liver function.
They found that the red wine drinkers had significantly increased their levels of good HDL cholesterol and had a more beneficial cholesterol ratio compared to the group that drank water. They were also the only group to experience a significant drop in components of metabolic syndrome. People who drank either red or white wine also reported better sleep quality than the group that drank water, and the researchers found no significant adverse effects with any group.
(It's worth making it explicit that those who drank alcohol, drank just one glass per night, with meals.)
Red Wine: Good or Bad?
By Adda Bjarnadottir, MS | 173,532 views
The health benefits of red wine have been debated for some time.
Many believe that a glass each day is a valuable part of a healthy diet, while others think wine is somewhat overrated.
Studies have repeatedly shown that moderate red wine consumption seems to lower the risk of several diseases, including heart disease.
However, there is a fine line between moderate and excessive intake.
This article takes a detailed look at red wine and its health effects.
What is Red Wine and How is it Made?
Red wine is made by crushing and fermenting dark-colored, whole grapes.
There are many types of red wine, which vary in taste and color. Common varieties include Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Pinot noir and Zinfandel.
The alcohol content usually ranges from 12–15%.
Consuming moderate amounts of red wine has been shown to have health benefits. This is mainly due to its high content of powerful antioxidants.
The alcohol in wine is also believed to contribute some of the benefits of moderate wine consumption (1).
Bottom Line: Red wine is made by fermenting dark-colored, whole grapes. It is high in antioxidants, and drinking moderate amounts has been shown to be good for health.
The French Paradox
Red wine is often believed to be responsible for the “French paradox.”
This phrase refers to the observation that the French have low rates of heart disease, despite consuming a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol (2).
Some experts believed that red wine was the dietary agent protecting the French population from the harmful effects of these nutrients.
However, new studies have shown that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat do not cause heart disease when consumed in reasonable amounts (3, 4).
The true reason behind the good health of the French is probably the fact that they eat more whole foods and live overall healthier lifestyles.
Bottom Line: Some people believe that red wine is responsible for the good health of the French population and that it is the main explanation for the French paradox.
Red Wine Contains Powerful Plant Compounds and Antioxidants, Including Resveratrol
Grapes are rich in many antioxidants. These include resveratrol, catechin, epicatechin and proanthocyanidins (5).
These antioxidants, especially resveratrol and proanthocyanidins, are believed to be responsible for the health benefits of red wine.
Proanthocyanidins may reduce oxidative damage in the body. They may also help prevent heart disease and cancer (6, 7, 8).
Resveratrol is found in grape skin. It is produced in some plants, as a response to damage or injury (9).
This antioxidant has been linked with many health benefits, including fighting inflammation and blood clotting, as well as reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer. Resveratrol can also make test animals live longer (10, 11, 12).
However, the resveratrol content of red wine is rather low. You would have to consume several bottles per day to reach the amount used in the animal studies. This is not recommended, for obvious reasons (13, 14).
If you’re drinking wine just for the resveratrol content, then getting it from a supplement may be a better idea.
Bottom Line: The powerful plant compounds in red wine have been linked with many health benefits, including reduced inflammation, lower risk of heart disease and cancer, and extended lifespan.
Red Wine May Lower the Risk of Heart Disease, Stroke and Early Death
Small amounts of red wine are linked to more health benefits than any other alcoholic beverage (5, 15, 16).
There seems to be a J-shaped curve that explains the relationship between wine intake and the risk of heart disease.
People who drink approximately 150 ml (5 oz) of red wine a day seem to be at about a 32% lower risk than non-drinkers.
However, higher intake increases the risk of heart disease dramatically (14, 17).
Drinking small amounts of red wine may reduce the risk of heart disease by helping to retain the
“good” HDL cholesterol in the blood. Oxidative damage and the oxidation of the “bad” LDL cholesterol may also be reduced by up to 50% (18, 19, 20, 21).
Some studies indicate that populations already at a high risk of heart disease, like the elderly, may benefit even more from moderate wine consumption (22).
Furthermore, drinking 1–3 glasses of red wine per day, 3–4 days of the week, may reduce the risk of stroke in middle-aged men (23, 24).
One study also showed that consuming 2–3 glasses of dealcoholized red wine per day may lower blood pressure (25).
Many studies have shown that moderate wine drinkers are at a lower risk of death from heart disease, compared to non-drinkers or beer and spirit drinkers (22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30).
Bottom Line: Drinking 1–2 glasses of red wine each day may lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, high amounts may increase the risk.
Other Health Benefits of Drinking Red Wine
Red wine has been linked with several other health benefits, many of which are attributed to its potent antioxidants.
Red wine consumption is linked to:
Reduced risk of cancer: Studies have shown that moderate wine consumption is linked with a decreased risk of several cancers, including colon, basal cell, ovary and prostate cancers (31, 32, 33, 34).
Reduced risk of dementia: Drinking 1–3 glasses of wine per day has been linked to a reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (35, 36).
Reduced risk of depression: A study of middle aged and elderly people showed that those who drank 2–7 glasses of wine per week were less likely to become depressed (37, 38).
Reduced insulin resistance: Drinking 2 glasses per day of regular or dealcoholized red wine for 4 weeks may reduce insulin resistance (39, 40).
Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in women: Moderate red wine consumption has been linked with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes in women (41).
It seems clear that moderate amounts of red wine can be good for you. However, there are also some important negative aspects to consider, which are discussed below.
Bottom Line: Moderate red wine consumption may reduce the risk of several cancers, dementia and depression. It may also increase insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in women.
Negative Health Effects of Drinking Too Much Alcohol
Three Red Wine Glasses
While a moderate amount of red wine may provide health benefits, consuming too much alcohol can cause devastating health effects.
These include:
Alcohol dependence: Drinking alcohol regularly may become out of control and lead to alcoholism (42).
Liver cirrhosis: When more then 30 grams of alcohol (about 2–3 glasses of wine) are consumed each day, the risk of developing liver disease increases. End-stage liver disease, called cirrhosis, is life threatening (43).
Increased risk of depression: Heavy drinkers are at a much higher risk of depression than moderate or non-drinkers (37, 44).
Weight gain: Red wine contains twice the amount of calories as beer and sugary soft drinks.
Excessive consumption may therefore contribute to high calorie intake and make you gain weight (45, 46).
Increased risk of death and disease: Drinking a lot of wine, even only 1–3 days a week, may increase the risk of diabetes in men. High alcohol intake has also been linked with an increased risk of premature death (21, 41, 47).
Bottom Line: An excessive intake of alcoholic beverages may cause alcohol dependence, liver cirrhosis and weight gain. It may also increase the risk of depression, disease and premature death.
Should You Drink Red Wine? If Yes, How Much?
Wine and Grapes
If you like drinking red wine, there is no need to worry unless if you are exceeding the recommended amount.
In Europe and America, moderate red wine consumption is considered to be (48, 49):
1–1.5 glasses a day for women.
1–2 glasses a day for men.
Some sources also recommend having 1-2 alcohol-free days each week.
Keep in mind that this refers to total alcohol intake. Drinking this amount of red wine in addition to other alcoholic beverages could easily put you in the range of excessive consumption.
If you have a history of substance abuse, then you should probably avoid wine and any other alcoholic beverage completely. Also be very careful if you have a family history of alcoholism.
Bottom Line: Moderate intake of red wine is defined as 1-2 glasses per day. It is also recommended that you have at least 1–2 days a week without alcohol.
Take Home Message
Despite red wine being linked with some health benefits, none of them are worthy of encouraging alcohol consumption.
There are many other effective ways to improve your health that don’t require you to consume something that can be harmful (50).
However, if you are already drinking red wine, then there’s no need to stop (unless you’re drinking too much).
As long as you don’t drink more than 1-2 glasses per day, then it should only be doing you good.
Fasting is an integral part of the rituals performed by followers of Sanathana Dharma (Hinduism) and is observed widely all over India. The method of fasting varies in different parts of the country, based on the beliefs of the people. It is usually observed on religious occasions and special days of the month such as Ekadashi and Janmashtami. Some people fast on different days of the week, such as on Mondays by the devotees of Lord Shiva. People observe different levels of fasting. Some people observe complete fast where they do not eat or drink anything except water for 24 hours. Some consume only liquids and abstain from solid food. Some eat only one meal a day. And so on and so forth.
Traditionally, in India, fasting almost always has a religious or spiritual connection. It may be done as vrata (or vratam) where the person fasting hopes to receive divine blessings to fulfill a desire. Apart from any spiritual benefits that fasting may provide, it provides many physiological benefits.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Fasting usually performed by the Indian population can be called intermittent fasting (as against dieting). Intermittent fasting is where a person eats regular food for some days and fast on other days.
Evidence suggests that human genes are capable of coping very well when we are deprived of food. Some people even believe that human beings are evolutionarily adapted to intermittent deprivation of food and fasting is actually necessary for good health.
Magic of Autophagy
An important benefit of fasting is derived from autophagy. Autophagy (or autophagocytosis) is the catabolic process, initiated by metabolic stress, which causes degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cells of the body and are recycled through lysosomes. The cells survive by self-digesting the non-essential components making the overall system healthier. According to Eyleen O’Rourke, PhD, of MGH Molecular Biology, “enhanced autophagy implies improved clearance of old or damaged cellular components and a more efficient immune response”. Intermittent fasting creates the metabolically stressful condition necessary to initiate autophagy of cells.
Studies have found that, when autophagy is disrupted, it causes neurodegeneration in tissue culture and in vivo. It could lead to myofiber degeneration leading to accumulation of abnormal organelles. A breakdown of the autophagy process could lead to diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases, Parkinson’s disease and even cancer and metabolic syndrome. Many of the physiological benefits of fasting are a direct result of autophagy.
Delay Common Neurodegenerative Disorders
Studies conducted on intermittent fasting have shown that it could delay the onset of serious neurodegenerative disorders. According to Mark Mattson at the US National Institute of Ageing, intermittent fasting can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world, followed by Parkinson’s disease.
Fasting Might be Better than Dieting
Some studies suggest that fasting might be actually better than continuous dieting. In a continuous-diet regimen, the person would avoid certain types of food which may result in depletion of vital nutrients needed for the body. Calorie restriction may leave our body vulnerable to infections and biological stress. Intermittent fasting, if done correctly, does not. Intermittent fasting, unlike continuous dieting, brings about biochemical and physiological changes in the human body that result in potentially therapeutic neuronal response, as calorie reduction happens only on the fasting days.
Increased Lifespan
Studies conducted on the effects of fasting on animals have indicated that it increases their lifespan significantly. But studies on human beings were mostly inconclusive. But fasting is could reduce the risk of developing serious conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and asthma. There are also studies exploring if fasting could actually help cure cancer.
Warnings
There are a few things that one must keep in mind while fasting:
People with conditions such as cancer and liver disease (or any disease for that matter) should get expert opinion before deciding to fast
People younger than 18 should never fast as they need to be nourished for proper growth
Staying hydrated is very important for the functioning of our body. Drink enough water through fasting
It is recommended that fasting is done in moderation. Excessive fasting could lead to death (obviously!)
Fasting, if done using the traditional methods followed in India, seem take care of these warnings and give all the benefits.
References include:
Robert L. Nussbaum, M.D., and Christopher E. Ellis, Ph.D. (April 3, 2003). Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. The New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM2003ra020003
Alirezaei M, Kemball CC, Flynn CT, Wood MR, Whitton JL, Kiosses WB. (2010 Aug 14). Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy. US National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20534972
C De Palma, F Morisi, S Cheli1, S Pambianco, V Cappello, M Vezzoli, P Rovere-Querini, M Moggio, M Ripolone, M Francolini, M Sandri and E Clementi. (Nov 15, 2012). Autophagy as a new therapeutic target in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Nature. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/cddis/journal/v3/n11/full/cddis2012159a.html
So, for people who have histamine intolerance, bone broth consumption may have to be limited to fresh bone broth and to one that's cooked for less time.
Bone broth is a tradition even in countries like Armenia and Russia
Khash is an ancient type of bone broth from Armenia, which is consumed widely throughout the Caucasus region.
most rich in natural collagen and elastin, substances that can help to rebuild our worn-out joints. This means that it should help people with arthritis, joint problems, bad knees and so on. In many places in the Caucasus and in Russia Khash is used to speed up restitution by professional athletes – and to simultaneously strengthen joints and cartilage in the long term.
This review is from: Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World (Paperback)
In short, I would describe this book as a reference guide and cookbook for everything you ever wanted to know about broth and so, so much more.
It is fairly comprehensive in it's scope and clearly very well-researched. You will learn, in great detail, why and how to make this most nourishing food. The book includes inspirational testimonials about the healing power of broth weaved in throughout. I had the sense that I wanted to drink broth while I read the book, and was completely convinced that I need to make it more consistently. I aspire to return to having broth every day again, as has been my practice in the past. I was surprised to find that a book about broth proved to be a page turner for me. I found it to be incredibly well-written and a sincere pleasure to read.
Dedicated to their grandmothers, Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel have created a cookbook that can help us treat auto-immune disorders, infectious diseases, digestive problems and other chronic ailments. The book is divided into 3 parts, with an introduction:
1. Basic Broth Science
2. The Healing Power of Broth
3. Recipes - more than half the book comprises of recipes that use broth and stock, some provided by community members
The section on Basic Broth Science covers the individual components in broth such as collagen, cartilage, bone, marrow, conditional protein powder, key amino acids and proteoglycans. We learn the definition, function and benefits of each component.
We also learn about how broth can heal osteoarthritis. rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, psoriasis, wound healing, infectious disease, digestive disorders, cancer, mental health, be beneficial to sports and fitness and can serve to be anti-aging.
The recipe section includes basic techniques, stock and broth recipes, blended and unblended soups, aspics, stews and stir-fries, various kinds of sauces, grains and legumes, broth for breakfast, tonics and broth on a large scale.
Some of the highlights of what I learned:
* Broth is a libido booster than can help men and women maintain love and lust into great old age.
* Broth contains components with known anticarcinogenic activities, the most notable of which is cartilage. In other words, broth can help prevent and heal cancer.
* It's reputation as Jewish penicillin not-withstanding, Asians consume the most chicken soup today.
* Bone marrow is not only highly nutritious, but takes much less energy to digest than plant food.
* There are 29 distinct types of collagen that exist in animal tissues and it serves like glue to hold the body together.
* Broth heals the gut primarily by feeding its cells the protein sugars known as glycosaminoglycans, or GAGs. Given that leaky gut syndrome is sometimes called the GAG defect, common sense suggests the glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and other GAGs found in broth could help the body rebuild the GAG layer.
* There is no clear consensus about whether or not there is any difference between stock and broth. Amongst some chefs, stock isn't meant to be eaten on its own; rather, stock serves as the basis for soups, sauces, and stews, and therefore should not be salted or highly seasoned. Broth is defined as "seasoned stock", which can be eaten on its own, as a soup. In this book, the terms are used interchangeably. Both stock and broth are clear or semi clear liquid; soup is made by adding ingredients to stock or broth.
* Perhaps the most significant article ever written on the value of gelatin and health came in 1937 when Dr. Frances Pottenger MD recited a long list of conditions that could be relieved by gelatin, including slow digestion, nervous digestion, vomiting, diarrhea, gas formation, and heartburn. He found it especially helpful for children with allergies and failure to thrive.
I could easily list another 25 points but, hope it will suffice to say that I believe that I learned something on every page of Nourishing Broth. The last point I mentioned was about gelatin, and wanted to highlight the following section as we often talk about it in our Facebook forums.
Gelatinous stock
The authors instruct us that the goal is gelatinous stock, stock that sets up as a solid gel if you put it in the fridge, so solid that you can turn the container over and the gel will stay in place. Broth that doesn't gel is a common complaint. Following is a brief summary of the main reasons your stock doesn't gel:
1. Not the right kind of bones. You want bones that have a lots of cartilage. Also, one way to ensure plenty of gelatin is to include feet - chicken feet and heads for chicken broth and beef or calve's feet for beef and veal stock. Pigs feet can be used in any stock to ensure an adequate gel.
2. Not enough bones and too much water. When you make stock, the water should just cover the bones.
3. The stock was heated to too high a temperature. Stock should be heated over medium heat until the liquid starts to roll, and then turned down to low heat so that the stock barely simmers.
4. The stock didn't cook long enough - or it cooked too long. You need to cook the stock long enough to extract the collagen, but not so long that he gelatin fibers break into short pieces. As a general rule, cook chicken or veal stocks for 4 to 6 hours and beef stock for a full day or overnight. Fish collagen will dissolve into the water at temperatures well below the boil and in as little as half hour. I noted, as I imagine some of you will, that this is less time than is recommended in Sally Fallon Morell's book Nourishing Traditions, and will clarify this point with her and report back!
To answer a common question we receive in our community, the authors explain that if your broth hardly thickens at all, it is still worth consuming, as there will always be some gelatin in it, not to mention minerals and many other nutrients.
Testimonial
My twelve- and sixteen-year-olds fought a bad case of the flu with fevers never dropping below 101 and rising as high as 102.6. On the third day of this, I started giving them bone broth. That evening their fevers finally dropped below 100 and for the duration of the flu it never again went above 102. They both were completely better within a few days. The bone broth helped them to turn a corner, and I believe was the catalyst to their healing. If there is a next time, I will be giving it to them on the first day of an illness. --Charlotte Corbitt, Queen Creek, Arizona
I highly, highly recommend Nourishing Broth as another valuable contribution on how to nourish ourselves and our children. I found it to be both incredibly educational and inspirational. Bravo, Sally and Kaayla, whom I feel blessed to collaborate with as colleagues in the Weston A. Price Foundation. I think this book is worthy of a standing ovation. I am deeply appreciative to have it in my collection and anticipate that I will refer to it often.
My experience of broth is summarized in the book itself: Broth improves the digestibility and assimilation of food, giving the body the critical message that it is deeply nourished, happy, and full.
Sounds like a great book! I believe the primary reason for stock not gelling is cooking it too long. I think it breaks down the gelatin. Also, cooking it too long can make it bitter tasting. In my experience making chicken stock, using a whole chicken, I think it best not to cook it longer than 8 hours. If your making beef stock which uses a lot more bone than meat, I cook it for 12 hours. If you use mostly chicken bones with minimal meat then I believe 12 hours also would be fine.
I have a friend with scleroderma. Before recommending this book on the basis that broth can heal scleroderma I would like to understand more about the mechanism behind this claim. As I understand it, scleroderma involves the body manufacturing too much collagen. So it is hard to understand how consuming more collagen will help.
In reply to an earlier post on Nov 19, 2014, 3:02:21 PM PST
Last edited by the author on Nov 20, 2014, 7:34:30 AM PST
We do not claim broth heals scleroderma, but present evidence that cartilage (found abundantly in homemade bone broth) was used effectively by John F. Prudden MD. There's full discussion in the chapter on scleroderma. There are also chapters on other autoimmune diseases and "collagen disorders." I believe all of us can benefit from broth as part of their dietary foundation. People with scleroderma and other serious diseases may also want to consider appropriate supplementation. Always work with an MD or other trained health professional.
Amie- I do think ColdShot is on to something. I was recently reading that scleroderma is a caused by calcification of soft tissue (other examples: arteriosclerosis, cataracts). Vitamin K2 and magnesium, both found in bone broth, escort calcium out of soft tissue and into the teeth and bones where they belong!
4. Open the car doors and windows - let lot of sunshine come in
Read the article below and comments, very helpful. Mold is leading to health issues for lot of people. However, doctors are not taking the issue seriously.
- The incidence is more in Mississipi and Missouri river areas than in Colorado river area? Where do New York and other such North Eastern states get their water from?
High cancer rates are not just a rural phenomenon. Cancer is actually more common in cities, and the media has reported on this. The reason for paying attention to cancer villages is that, in cities, the social safety net is much stronger – healthcare and other resources are concentrated in urban areas and, if there’s a problem, it is easier to get help.
(source: https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/4098-The-shadow-over-rural-China)
1. Typical polluting factories - chemicals, pharmaceutical, fertilizers, power
Families in Yanglingang, which is surrounded by pharmaceutical and chemical plants, claim they live in a 'cancer village' as deaths rise above the national average. Photograph: Lu Guang/Greenpeace
2. Cancer mortality rates in China have risen 80% over the past 30 years, making it the country's leading cause of death.
3. In cities, toxic air is a primary suspect; in the countryside, it's the water.
4. More than 70% of the country's rivers and lakes are polluted, according to government reports, almost half may contain water that is unfit for human contact.
5. "Fundamentally, the situation isn't getting any better," said Liu Lican, a Guangzhou-based journalist who has published a book about cancer villages. Pollution-related cancer, he said, can elude detection for years. "So even if the cancer was caused by pollution that's already gone, maybe gradually more and more of these villages will emerge."
6. My observation: Polluted water does not only cause cancer, but also causes auto-immune disorders! Likely, from the note/photo of the Gaurdian below. The dramatic increase in the number of auto-immune disorders in the recent times is also an indication of the fact the people are not drinking the right water. Perhaps, even diabetes is some form of auto-immune disease. So, even diabetes may be caused due to water.
In 2011, the three-month nephew of Xie Zhengqing, pictured collecting fishing nets with Xie Zhengwei, 28, died of a rare autoimmune disease. Photograph: Jonathan Kaiman for the Guardian
In 2011, the three-month nephew of Xie Zhengqing, pictured collecting fishing nets with Xie Zhengwei, 28, died of a rare autoimmune disease. Photograph: Jonathan Kaiman for the Guardian
7. Yanglingang lacks a public water supply, and before the government built the industrial zone in the early 2000s, the villagers didn't mind; the river was clean, its fish abundant. But for eight years, Yanglingang has been sandwiched between the Nine Dragons paper mill and a power plant that billows white smoke from four tall stacks, covering the houseboats in a thin layer of ash. The mill discharges its waste water directly into the Yangtze, leaving a maroon residue on the rocks along its shoreline.
8. Villagers purify the water with alum powder before drinking it, but even well-treated batches carry a faint industrial aftertaste. "Everybody here has some form of illness," Xie said. His mother is bedridden with bronchitis. His infant nephew died of Evans syndrome, which has no known cause but is not usually fatal. The family took out £7,000 in loans to pay for the baby's medical expenses, and Xie doubts that they will ever be repaid.
9. Despite abundant anecdotal evidence for China's profusion of cancer villages, scientific proof has been elusive. When Wu Yixiu, toxics campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, first visited Yanglingang in 2010, she assumed that establishing a causal connection between its pollution and cancer problems would be fairly straightforward – its population is so tiny, the disease so widespread, the pollution so caustic. "It's unimaginable that their health will not be affected by the quality of this water," she said.
10. Yet there are too many specific chemicals involved and too many types of cancer; diagnoses are spread over too many years. "You need to establish the fact that it's a certain chemical that's causing certain cancers, and this chemical is being discharged from this very factory," she said. "This would require years of observation and tracing disease records."
11. About 140 miles south of Yanglingang, in a far-flung suburb of Hangzhou City, 45-year-old Wei Dongying has spent almost two decades trying to build a similar case. Pollution has haunted Wuli village, population 2,000, since the nearby Nanyang chemical industry zone opened its doors in 1992, gradually covering its waterways with black streaks and soapy-white froth.
"So many people here have gotten cancer, they want answers, but they've been given nothing," said Wei.
Xu Changlian and his wife, Wang Jinnan, pictured in 2010, have cancer, the exact causes of which are unknown. Photograph: Lu Guang/Greenpeace
12. Between 1992 and 2004, 60 villagers died of cancer, Wei said. Last year, it killed another six. Wei keeps samples of tainted village water in a corner of her three-storey tiled house and stacks of fraying documents – petitions, official letters, test results – in thick manila envelopes on her shelves.
When she complained to national environmental authorities in 2004 – she had already tried local petitioning – the municipal government promised to shut down Nanyang's polluting factories within three years. Yet the industrial zone continues to operate unimpeded. Wuli's water still frequently runs black; on some days the air smells like burning refuse.
13. Government-approved researchers have visited Wuli, but most seem keen to debunk Wei's claims. "They say the number of deaths isn't too high," she said. "I say, wait until someone in your family gets cancer, then tell me it's not too high." They have tested the water, but refuse to publicise their results. After Wuli received a flurry of media attention in early April, local authorities threatened residents with unspecified consequences for their outspokenness.
14. Villages such as Dongxing, in Jiangsu province – a four-hour drive north from Yanglingang – are often left to fend for themselves. The Julong chemical plant, which villagers, academic studies and media reports suspect gave more than 100 residents cancer between 2000 and 2005, sits abandoned on the village's southern limits, but its impact may linger for decades. Northern winds sometimes carry a vague chemical scent which villagers say emanates toxic waste buried near the factory ruins. Streams that once coursed through the village have long run dry.Chinese media and academics have discussed Dongxing's cancer rate since 2006, when a reporter for the China Economic Times investigated the plant, which produced 2,000 tonnes a year of the carcinogenic chemical chlorophenol a year. After Julong opened in 2000, the village's ducks, chickens and geese began dying en masse.
Villagers slept with wet towels over their mouths and noses, terrified of inhaling toxic fumes. Air around the elementary school, 300 metres from the factory, smelled so noxious that villagers moved their children to one in a neighbouring township.
Shu Qichang sits in a white-brick farmhouse flanked by verdant rice paddies, fanning himself in the April heat, weary from heart disease. His eyes are shockred, his cheeks sallow. Petitioning was useless, he said. The county environmental bureau denied the cancer rate was a problem, and the town courthouse would not hear their case.
Thugs detained the farmers near a higher court in Funing County and followed them to the highest provincial court in Nanjing – where the lawsuit was ultimately discarded.
Then in 2010, without giving a reason, the factory closed.
****
Chinese government investigates 'cancer village' pollution case
15. Authorities launch enquiry into illegal pollution from Chuangyuan Aluminium plant, alleged to have caused more than 10 cancer deaths in rural Hunan province.
View of aluminum-polluted water, which flows into the Yuanjiang River, in Taoyuan county, Changde city, central China’s Hunan province. Photograph: Dong Mu/Imagine China/Corbis
16. Chinese authorities have begun investigating a shocking case of industrial pollution in central China’s Hunan province, in which runoff from an aluminium plant’s illegal landfill allegedly gave at least 10 local villagers cancer.
Pollution from the plant, operated by the Changsha-based aluminium products manufacturer Chuangyuan Aluminium Co Ltd., had made parts of the remote rural county of Taoyuan virtually uninhabitable, the government-run Beijing News reported on Sunday.
17. The Sunday report in the Beijing News said that the factory’s aluminium production created highly toxic fluoride runoff, which seeped into the Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze; villagers then used the water to irrigate their crops. Pictures on the newspaper’s microblog showed eddies of coffee-coloured water, dusty shrubs with purple-stained leaves, and billowing smokestacks towering over a quiet residential street.
“These have all changed,” one unnamed villager told the newspaper, pointing up at a tangerine tree. “These were originally just tangerines, and then one by one, their skin developed all these little tumours.”
Another villager told the paper: “More than 10 people have died of cancer, one after the other. And a lot of people have become weak — they feel achy and powerless, but check-ups can’t identify any diseases.”
**** China's reliance on coal reduces life expectancy by 5.5 years, says study
18. High levels of air pollution will cause 500 million people to lose an aggregate 2.5 billion years from their lives.
Heavy smog shrouds Beijing with pollution at hazardous levels. Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images
19. Air pollution causes people in northern China to live an average of 5.5 years shorter than their southern counterparts, according to a study released on Monday which claims to show in unprecedented detail the link between air pollution and life expectancy.
High levels of air pollution in northern China – much of it caused by an over-reliance on burning coal for heat – will cause 500 million people to lose an aggregate 2.5 billion years from their lives, the authors predict in the study, published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The geographic disparity can be traced back to China's Huai River policy which, since it was implemented between 1950 and 1980, has granted free wintertime heating to people living north of the Huai river, a widely-acknowledged dividing line between northern and southern China. Much of that heating comes from the combustion of coal, significantly impacting the region's air quality.
"Using data covering an unusually long timespan – from 1981 through 2000 – the researchers found that air pollution … was about 55% higher north of the river than south of it," the MIT Energy Initiative said in a statement. "Linking the Chinese pollution data to mortality statistics from 1991 to 2000, the researchers found a sharp difference in mortality rates on either side of the border formed by the Huai River. They also found the variation to be attributable to cardiorespiratory illness, and not to other causes of death."
The researchers, based in Israel, Beijing, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gauged the region's air quality according to the established metric of "total suspended particulates (TSP)," representing the concentration of certain airborne particles per cubic meter of air.
The study concluded that long-term exposure to air containing 100 micrograms of TSP per cubic meter "is associated with a reduction in life expectancy at birth of about 3.0 years."
20. Air pollution has been the subject of widespread public outrage in China since January, when Beijing's air quality index (AQI) – a similar metric to TSP – regularly exceeded 500, the scale's maximum reading, for weeks on end. On 12 January, Beijing's AQI hit a record 755, 30 times higher than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.
Past studies have established a link between air pollution and reduced life expectancy. One recent large-scale study concluded that air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010.
Yet according to Michael Greenstone, an economics professor at MIT and one of the study's authors, this study is the first to precisely quantify their relationship. "Demonstrating that people die a bit earlier [because of pollution] is interesting and helps establish that pollution is bad," he said. "But the most important question, the next question that needed to be answered, is what's the loss of life expectancy? How much should society be willing to pay to avoid high levels of pollution? This study was structured so we could answer that question."
**** The shadow over rural China
In 2008, Liu Lican visited 20 “cancer villages” in 20 provinces at his own expense, seeing at first hand the villages that have been sickened by rapid economic development and environmental degradation. He has turned his experiences into a book, China’s Cancer Villages, as yet unpublished. Here, Liu talks to chinadialogue’s Zhang Yingying about his findings.
22. ZY: Is industrial pollution the main reason for high cancer rates in these locations? And how are those cancer villages distributed?
LL: Industrial pollution is seen as the main culprit in most cancer villages, and the ones that I visited were no exception. I say “is seen as” because you need a lot of evidence to say for sure that the problems are caused by industrial pollution. We can only say that, in many villages, the main suspicion is that factory pollution has caused an increase in cancer and other diseases.
Nationwide, we can see some patterns in cancer villages. Most appeared in the mid to late 1990s and are much more frequently found in eastern and central China than in the west – most likely this is positively correlated with economic development. However, the numbers in the eastern and central regions are fairly equal.
23. ZY: Why do these high incidences of cancer happen in villages? How does this compare with cities?
LL: High cancer rates are not just a rural phenomenon. Cancer is actually more common in cities, and the media has reported on this. The reason for paying attention to cancer villages is that, in cities, the social safety net is much stronger – healthcare and other resources are concentrated in urban areas and, if there’s a problem, it is easier to get help.
Another issue is that, when villages are polluted, in particular by factories owned by outside investors, or by the treatment of urban waste in the countryside, the villagers receive no compensation for the harm incurred. And in recent years, we have seen industry shift from the coast inland and from cities to villages, and so the harm done to rural areas has been worsening.
24. ZY: In these cancer villages, the villagers don’t sue on the basis of damage to their health, but for direct economic losses. Why is that?
LL: The relationship between pollution and disease is complex and hard to prove, and that gives government and business an excuse. Meanwhile, the villagers see that some of them get ill, while others stay healthy – and so it is also hard for them to judge the situation. The impact of industrial pollution on crops, livestock, fields, fish and buildings is easier to identify and determine, while damage to the human body is hidden. Compensation for the economic losses is hard enough to come by – suing for damage to health would be even harder.
Another issue is that, when villages are polluted, in particular by factories owned by outside investors, or by the treatment of urban waste in the countryside, the villagers receive no compensation for the harm incurred. And in recent years, we have seen industry shift from the coast inland and from cities to villages, and so the harm done to rural areas has been worsening.
****
25. "Our villages are so polluted that everybody wants to move. The rich have already moved."
26. Pan Xiaochuan, a professor at Peking University’s School of Public Health, believes environmental factors in general contribute to more than 50 percent of cancer cases. But he stressed that when it comes to specific cases, it’s hard to make a direct link between chemicals and cancer.
“It depends on the specific pollutants, as well as on how people are actually exposed to them,” Pan said in an interview with Sixth Tone.
He added that a lack information on pollutants and diseases in China is also an issue because it becomes difficult to know for sure just who or what is responsible for health issues without empirical data.
“That’s why polluters and those accused of causing illness can always defend themselves — because there’s no evidence,” Pan said.
Along a stretch of the Yangtze River not far from Yichang City in the central Chinese province of Hubei, the air was once fragrant with ripening citrus fruit.
Today, with all the nauseating fumes from a nearby fertilizer plant, people prefer to stay shut inside their homes, insulated from the outside world by closed windows and doors.
“Our village is so polluted that everybody wants to move,” Zou Changxin, a 66-year-old resident told Sixth Tone in an interview. “The rich have left here already, and only poor people like me remain.”
In January, on a visit to the metropolitan area of Chongqing, on the Yangtze in western China, President Xi Jinping announced a blueprint for development that in the future will quell industrial projects along the river. The plan also details measures for restoring the river’s ecology, including water quality and biodiversity.
Environmentalists have long complained of threats to the river’s ecosystem coming from pollution as well as from extensive damming, such as by The Three Gorges Dam, which is located north of Yichang.
Xi’s speech was seen as a turning point for China’s decades-long policy to promote economic development at all costs. If implemented, the policy would mean no more industrial parks in close proximity to the Yangtze. Steps would also be taken to ensure any growth would be sustainable, the policy document stated, offering some residents and non-governmental organizations hope of a greener future.
But for some Chinese people, including many in Yichang, the change of policy should have happened a long time ago.
Women dance on a quiet street, with chimneys visible in the background, Yichang, Hubei province, April 17, 2016. Shi Yi/Sixth Tone
Zou lives in Xiaoting, a suburb of Yichang, through which the Yangtze flows on its path from the Tibetan highlands to the sea near Shanghai, a journey of more than 6,000 kilometers. His small, drab two-story house lies just a few hundred meters from the banks of the river. Three decades ago, Zou could look out from his house and enjoy an unimpeded view of the water. Now he finds himself surrounded by factories.
Many residents, including Zou, blame the rise of polluting industries in the area for a host of recently diagnosed illnesses, including cancer. In 2014 he was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder. Since then Zou has undergone surgery twice, leading to the removal of his bladder. Today, Zou has to carry a urine drainage bag around, and says that many of his neighbors have already died from the disease.
This is a situation that occurs with such regularity around China that it’s hard to put a figure on the number of so-called cancer villages. Like many other parts of the country, this corner of Yichang has been rapidly gobbled up by economic development. The location’s proximity to the Yangtze and the logistical possibilities the relatively flat land offers are seen by local government officials as key advantages for promoting economic development.
Though it is not uncommon for residents to blame heavy industry for spikes in cancer-related deaths, it is difficult to show a definitive link between factories and illnesses. This is mainly due to a lack of hard data, but it’s also due to an unwillingness among some government officials to draw too much attention to the downside of rapid economic growth. Government officials typically say that factories in these industrial parks contribute to the local economy by creating jobs and paying taxes.
Gong Shengsheng, a professor in the School of Urban and Environmental Science at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei province, has plotted 396 “cancer villages,” reported by media and NGOs from 1980 to the end of 2015, on a map of China. His study verified that more than 95 percent of these villages were affected by hazardous chemicals. Gong declined to share more specific data with Sixth Tone, citing the data’s “sensitivity to authorities.”
A rare example of an official document acknowledging the existence of such villages came to light in 2013. The document, issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, pointed to pollution as the underlying cause of cancer villages in certain areas. The same document said that an investigation of China’s chemical, petroleum, and pharmaceutical companies in 2010 showed that around 15,000 such factories are close to residential areas — a situation the document said posed health and safety risk to humans.
Official data from the Xiaoting Health and Family Planning Commission only includes rates of diabetes, psychosis, and hypertension, as required by the national commission. The data shows no clear differences between local and national data.
Both the Xiaoting District government and the Yichang municipal government said none of the residents had come to them voicing concerns about cancer.
Yu Wanlin, a retired leader in Xiamacao Village, told Sixth Tone that in the past, local residents welcomed the arrival of heavy industry, and people were less concerned about the environment. “It was a sign of development,” he said.
In this part of Yichang, residents claim they can trace the origin of their health problems to the arrival of one company in particular: Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. Established in 1977, Yihua is the oldest company in the area — it set up in an area that would later become part of the Yichang Economic Development Zone — and is a division of Hubei Yihua Group, a state-run enterprise that owns the largest fertilizer manufacturing plants in China, according to data from the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China.
In 2004, Yihua gave assurances that one of their then-soon-to-be-added factories would be environment friendly. “No one questioned the project,” Yu recalls. “But the fact is, the anti-pollution measures haven’t been as effective as the company said they would be.”
Official documents from Yichang’s environmental protection bureau show that waste from some of Yihua’s factories includes sulfur dioxide, ammonia nitrogen, and other pollutants. Inspection reports Yihua provided to Sixth Tone state that waste discharged from their factories in recent years has met the national standard.
But villagers don’t feel comforted by words on paper: It’s hard for them to ignore the strong odor that envelopes the area more often than not.
A view of a sulfuric acid dump site in use and owned by Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., Yichang, Hubei province, April 18, 2016. Shi Yi/Sixth Tone
Residents still living in the shadow of the factories remember one incident in September 2006, when sulfur dioxide leaked from a plant in which Yihua holds a 50 percent stake.
Sulfur dioxide is a gas that occurs naturally in the environment. It is also generated by burning fossil fuels and is a byproduct of certain industrial processes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to highly concentrated forms of the gas for any length of time can be harmful to one’s health, causing respiratory illnesses or exacerbating existing cardiovascular diseases. Exposure can also trigger cancer.
On the day of the leak, a thick black cloud of smoke drifted from the plant toward settlements nearby, sending screaming residents from their homes. According to a report by state news agency Xinhua, 184 people sought treatment at a nearby hospital for severe headaches and other symptoms.
Zou has a gas mask issued by Yihua to him and other residents after the accident. He still keeps it inside its dust-covered packaging, never having used it. “As long as I live here, there’s no way to run away from the toxins,” he said.
China’s laws require chemical factories to keep a certain distance — usually a kilometer — from residential areas. To adhere to this requirement, there have been pushes to relocate residents. But the pace of expansion of the Yichang industrial park has been faster than the speed with which local residents have been relocated.
According to the district government, a total of 1,075 households still live within a kilometer of the factories. Of which, only 394 families have already been relocated. Many who have been moved to new apartments farther from the industrial park say they are happy to keep the pollution at arm’s length.
But one 55-year-old man who still lives a few hundred meters away from the Yihua factory and who would only give his surname, Zhao, said: “Usually after the local environmental protection bureau or the company receives our complaints and brings inspectors here, nothing happens. The dirty air doesn’t just go away.”
Yang Xiaohong, the press officer of the Xiaoting District government, said there are official plans to relocate all residents by 2018.
A factory owned by Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., next to the Yangtze River at Yichang, Hubei province, April 18, 2016. Shi Yi/Sixth Tone
Yao Jianhua of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Suzhou, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, has studied the effects of long-term exposure to low concentrations of ammonia, another chemical commonly found in plants that produce fertilizers and other chemicals, on workers. Yao’s study showed that workers who were in close contact with ammonia experienced respiratory and skin diseases, among other symptoms, at a much higher frequency than the control group.
Pan Xiaochuan, a professor at Peking University’s School of Public Health, believes environmental factors in general contribute to more than 50 percent of cancer cases. But he stressed that when it comes to specific cases, it’s hard to make a direct link between chemicals and cancer.
“It depends on the specific pollutants, as well as on how people are actually exposed to them,” Pan said in an interview with Sixth Tone.
He added that a lack information on pollutants and diseases in China is also an issue because it becomes difficult to know for sure just who or what is responsible for health issues without empirical data.
“That’s why polluters and those accused of causing illness can always defend themselves — because there’s no evidence,” Pan said.
Additional reporting by Fu Danni.
(Header image: Smoke billowing from chimneys at an industrial park in Yichang, Hubei province, April 17, 2016. Shi Yi/Sixth Tone)
