Saturday 10 August 2013

INDIA'S Contribution to the World

I found this interesting...its long


WHAT SOME PEOPLE HAD TO SAY:



A . Albert Einstein said: We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.



B . Mark Twain said: India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history,the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most constructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.



C . French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.




D . Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said:India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.



"Many of the advances in the sciences 

that we consider today to have been made in Europe 
were in fact made in India centuries ago."



- Grant Duff

British Historian of India



"India was the motherland of our race 

and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages. 
India was the mother of our philosophy, 
of much of our mathematics, of the ideals embodied in christianity... of self-government and democracy. 
In many ways, Mother India is the mother of us all."
- Will Durant
- American Historian 1885-1981




CURRENT INFORMATION:



-There are 3.22 Million Indians in America. 38% of Doctors in America are Indians. 12% of Scientists in America are Indians. 36% of NASA employees are Indians. 34% of MICROSOFT employees are Indians 28% of IBM employees are Indians 17% of INTEL employees are Indians 13% of XEROX employees are Indians



-First democracy to elect a woman Prime Minister. 

India is the 7th nuclear power in the world
India is the 5th largest economy in the world 
India is the largest democracy in the world
India has the 2nd largest population in the world(could be a bad point)
India is the 4th nation in the world to have developed/or developing a nuclear submarine
India is the 5th nation in the world to be in the multi billion dollar space commerce business.
India is the 4th nation in the world to develop(or nearly to) ICBM's(can travel up to 14,000km)
India is the 3rd nation in the world, to be able to develop land based and sea based cruise missiles.



RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS

-gave the world Hinduism
-gave the world Bhuddism
-gave the world Sikhism



TECHNOLOGICAL/SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS

- the technique of algorithm used in computer science today.
- the science of algebra. (Indian's invented, Arabs took it when they invaded, and gave it to the then "primitive" Europeans)
- the concept of zero - on which ultimately rests the binary code which has given us all software including the WWW through which 
you are accessing this site!
- the technique of manufacturing crystal (sugar)cane sugar 
(the word sugar is derived from the Sanskrit term "Sharkara").
- the making of camphor (MODERN chemists know how important this chemical is).
- the making of tin (the technical English word for tin 
is Cassiterite which is said to have been derived from the Sanskrit term 
"Kasthira").
-believe it or not, Kung Fu is a derivation of Yoga---taught to the Chinese by an Indian Bhuddist Monk known as Bodidharma (ask any Kung Fu Grand Master, or check the internet for yourself).
-The earliest recorded use of copperware in India has been around 3000 B.C. the findings at Mohen-jo-daro and Harappa, bear this out The earliest documented observation of smelting of metals in India is by Greek Historians in the 4th Century B.C.



A .India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.



B.India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.



C .The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700BC. more than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.



D .Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software reported in Forbes magazine, July 1987.



E .Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.




F .Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. 



G .The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'. 



H .Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart.; Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.



I .The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.



J .Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India; Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century;The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 10**6(10 to the power of 6) whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early

as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).


K .According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world.



L .USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of Wireless communication was Prof. Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi. 



M .The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.



N .According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called 'Sudarshana' was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.



O .Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India. 



P .Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery.Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used.Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology,mbryology,digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts. 



Q .When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley(Indus Valley Civilization)



R .The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.



I cant think anymore...dammit

Here's a list of some Indians in tech companies


Ken Bajaj CEO AppNet

P. Kaul CEO Hughes Network Systems (HNS)


Krishna Kushwaha Executive Vice President, 

Research and Development cybercash


Sanju Bansal co-founder & COO MicroStrategy.



Rakesh Gangwal CEO US AirWays



Sanjay Kumar President and COO , computer associates



Ram Mukunda Chairman and CEO Startec



Reggie Aggarwal, Founder and CEO cvent.com



Bijan Moaveni Chief Operating Officer eglobe



Pat Sheehy – SVP, Marketing, Sales and Production Freddie Mac



Srinija Srinivasan - cofounder and Vice President Yahoo.



Amar Bose - of the almighty Bose sound systems



Victor Menezes, soon to be head of Citibank, currently head of global operations.



Jim Wadia - head of Arthur Andersen (yes, Indians head both McKinsey & Andersen).



did i already say 36% of NASA employees are Indians



1. Steven Kapoor a.k.a Apache Indian, world hits "Boom Shak-a-lak" Top 10 on UK charts, Top 50 on US charts, OST Dumb n Dumber.



2. Jas Mann, lead singer for Babylon Zoo, dominated UK charts for weeks with "Spaceman", OST Mortal Kombat Anhilliation.



3. *forgot the name* The lead guitarist for No Doubt is an Indian 



one-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian descent, while 7% of its high-tech firms are led by an Indian ceo. Some success stories are well known, such as Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and Sabeer Bhatia, who founded Hotmail and sold it to Microsoft for $400 million. The number of New Economy millionaires of Indian descent is now in the thousands. Massachusetts' Gururaj Deshpande, co-founder of a number of network technology companies, is worth between $4 billion and $6 billion. Says Krish Prabhu, ceo of French telecom giant Alcatel's U.S. operations: "Indians have succeeded in the high-tech field, and don't face that glass ceiling now. They have a proven track record."



Six Indians led by Azim Hasham Premji of Wipro are among 39 “tech billionaires” outside the United States, more than half of them having achieved the status since July last, according the authoritative financial magazine “Forbes Global”.

Japan with 15 billionaires has the maximum number in the category followed by India and Germany with six each. Taiwan and Britain have two each. Honk Kong, France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Spain and Sweden account for one each. (a little outdated now, from Reuter's i think)


Here's a couple other top websites started by Indians:



Infospace--top directory on the web



epinions--top review site 



AskMe.com--one of top help sites



Exodus--top hosting service in world



Imandi.com--top reverse-marketing site




· Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India. 



· Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health 



· scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, contracts, artificial legs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts. 



· When Europeans were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization) 



· The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in100 BC. 



-believe it or not, India has a space program (some critics have put it at par with the Canadian program)

Equations and Symbols


B.B. Dutta writes: "The use of symbols-letters of the alphabet to denote unknowns, and equations are the foundations of the science of algebra. The Hindus were the first to make systematic use of the letters of the alphabet to denote unknowns. They were also the first to classify and make a detailed study of equations. Thus they may be said to have given birth to the modern science of algebra." [7] The great Indian mathematician Bhaskaracharya (1150 C.E.) produced extensive treatises on both plane and spherical trigonometry and algebra, and his works contain remarkable solutions of problems which were not discovered in Europe until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He preceded Newton by over 500 years in the discovery of the principles of differential calculus. A.L. Basham writes further, "The mathematical implications of zero (sunya) and infinity, never more than vaguely realized by classical authorities, were fully understood in medieval India. Earlier mathematicians had taught that X/0 = X, but Bhaskara proved the contrary. He also established mathematically what had been recognized in Indian theology at least a millennium earlier: that infinity, however divided, remains infinite, represented by the equation oo /X = oo." In the 14th century, Madhava, isolated in South India, developed a power series for the arc tangent function, apparently without the use of calculus, allowing the calculation of pi to any number of decimal places (since arctan 1 = pi/4). Whether he accomplished this by inventing a system as good as calculus or without the aid of calculus; either way it is astonishing.



Spiritually advanced cultures were not ignorant of the principles of mathematics, but they saw no necessity to explore those principles beyond that which was helpful in the advancement of God realization.



By the fifteenth century C.E. use of the new mathematical concepts from India had spread all over Europe to Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, among others. A.L. Basham states also that



The debt of the Western world to India in this respect [the field of mathematics] cannot be overestimated. Most of the great discoveries and inventions of which Europe is so proud would have been impossible without a developed system of mathematics, and this in turn would have been impossible if Europe had been shackled by the unwieldy system of Roman numerals. The unknown man who devised the new system was, from the world's point of view, after the Buddha, the most important son of India. His achievement, though easily taken for granted, was the work of an analytical mind of the first order, and he deserves much more honor than he has so far received.



Unfortunately, Eurocentrism has effectively concealed from the common man the fact that we owe much in the way of mathematics to ancient India. Reflection on this may cause modern man to consider more seriously the spiritual preoccupation of ancient India. The rishis (seers) were not men lacking in practical knowledge of the world, dwelling only in the realm of imagination. They were well developed in secular knowledge, yet only insofar as they felt it was necessary within a world view in which consciousness was held as primary.



In ancient India, mathematics served as a bridge between understanding material reality and the spiritual conception. Vedic mathematics differs profoundly from Greek mathematics in that knowledge for its own sake (for its aesthetic satisfaction) did not appeal to the Indian mind. The mathematics of the Vedas lacks the cold, clear, geometric precision of the West; rather, it is cloaked in the poetic language which so distinguishes the East. Vedic mathematicians strongly felt that every discipline must have a purpose, and believed that the ultimate goal of life was to achieve self-realization and love of God and thereby be released from the cycle of birth and death. Those practices which furthered this end either directly or indirectly were practiced most rigorously. Outside of the religio-astronomical sphere, only the problems of day to day life (such as purchasing and bartering) interested the Indian mathematicians.
HighlyFanatic

I wear the swastika as part of my Vedic ancestry....interestingly enough, i found this


Atomic theory is an ancient science. The earliest record of it can be found in Vedic texts from india which are many thousands of years old. 



Legend has it that the Vedic civilisation was highly advanced. The sages that oversaw its development, through their mystic insight and deep meditation, discovered the ancient symbols of spirituality: Aumkara and Swastika. They also discovered many scientific principles that they applied to develop a highly advanced technology. They gave the atom its sanskrit name "Anu". 



While the technical achievements of this ancient civilisation have been forgotten the archetypal symbols of spirituality have maintained their eminence in our consciousness. Now, thanks to advances in modern atomic theory, the atomic basis of these divine symbols can be appreciated. 



Western theories of the atom took shape in the 18th and 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, John Dalton theorised that an atom was an indivisible particle of an element. However, after the electron was discovered in 1897, and then the proton several years later, the atom model was revised. In 1909, Ernest Rutherford showed that atoms were mostly empty space, revising the model of an atom to a tight positive nucleus containing the protons and neutrons with electrons around it; by 1913, Danish physicist Neils Bohr envisioned a planetary arrangement in which the electrons orbited the nucleus at different energy levels. 



The current way of describing an electron is a model called the charge cloud model/quantum mechanical model/orbital model. This model based on the idea of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, which states that we do not know the precise location or the velocity of any given electron. The model uses indistinct and overlapping "probability clouds" to approximate the position of an electron. 



Where a cloud is dense, the probability of finding an electron in that vicinity is low. In this model, each electron energy level is denoted by numbers that take concentric shells as suggested by the Bohr model because there are overlaps in the ordering of the energy levels. 



In the case of the carbon atom the electrons occupy four tear drop shaped clouds in a tetrahedron-like arrangement. These clouds represent the areas in which the electrons spend most of their time. They move so rapidly in this zone that they form a cloud rather than a specific flight path 



Recently a number of researchers have suggested that within these clouds exist specific zones that the electrons favour. These zones form a spiral around the surface of each of the tear drop shaped clouds. 



This new development came into the attention of a great Indian saint and mystic. Disciples were encouraged to develop the principle as it related to the carbon atom.In deep meditation one of those disciples, who was a chemist,spontaneously realised the true significance of this theory: 



The electron's high probability zone formed spiral standing waves around the carbon atom's nucleus. When this configuration was viewed from certain angles the physicist was surprised to find that the spirals formed recognisable symbols. 



In the first view a 3–dimensional Aumkara could be seen. From a different angle that Aumkara became a flat, 2-dimensional Swastika. The Swastika, he concluded, was actually 2-D representation of the 3-D aumkara. 



Rotating the model to another angle shows those symbols change into the Greek Alpha and Omega. At a cosmic level the symbols of Eastern spirituality (Aumkara and Swastika) are literally and only different aspects of the same spiritual truth that is also represented by the symbols of Western spirituality (Alpha and Omega). 



All people, objects and even energy itself are expressions of the same divinity that so many religions, cultures and philosophies have tried to claim exclusively as their own. 



The Carbon atom, by containing within it these universal symbols, demonstrates that matter is a manifestation of the same Divine consciousness experienced by the saints and sages of all history. Matter is innately spiritual. 



The Universe does not exist separately from the Universal Consciousness; it is a direct expression of it. 



Living matter, which is carbon based, must have a unique role in this expression. A saint is one who lives in eternal experience of this all pervading divine purpose. 



All people, objects and even energy itself are expressions of the same divinity 



The alpha and omega are traditionally ascribed to Christ. In india the Deity called Ganesha presides over the Swastika and Aumkara. 



There are some remarkable similarities between the two: 

Both deities demonstrate the value of childlike innocence; Ganesha is himself an eternal child famous for his simple wisdom ;while Christ, son of god, often exhorted his disciples to "be as little children"; 


They both are divine children; both conceived immaculately;, both divine sons of a holy trinity (Christ is the son of Yahweh and The Holy Spirit/Mary and Ganesha son of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati). 



Are Ganesha and Christ the one and the same deity? 



Each, like their symbols that exist as different aspects of the carbon atom, represent different aspects of the archetypal cosmic child. 



Thus the distinction between Eastern and Western spirituality, like any division based on race,culture or belief, is no more than ignorance of the true spiritual nature of the universe and all that exists within it. 
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PLACEBO EFFECT SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN

The placebo effect occurs when a person reports an improvement in symptoms after taking a medication that contains no ingredients that should cause symptom improvement. The effect requires that a person believes that the medication will work. For example, a person with depression who is given a sugar pill and is told that the medication is an antidepressant may report an improvement in theirdepression. A related effect, the nocebo effect, occurs when a person believes a substance will harm them and then reports negative symptoms.

Experiments Involving Placebos

In experiments testing medications, subjects are frequently divided into three groups:
  1. One group receives no treatment
  2. The second group receives the medication being tested
  3. The third group receives a placebo such as a sugar pill
Experimenters typically compare the results of the placebo group to the medication group to determine how much improvement is attributable to the medication versus simply to a belief that the medication will work. Many drugs turn out to be only slightly more effective than placebos.

Mechanism

The placebo effect is directly related to a person’s expectations. The more strongly a person believes in a medication’s efficacy, the more significant the effect of the medication is likely to be. Brain imaging tests indicate that the use of a placebo may activate portions of the brain related to information processing. Thus, people who take placebos may view their symptoms differently or may become more motivated to feel better.



The placebo effect has been scientifically proven to achieve the following:

Parkinson's disease: Placebo relief is associated with the release of dopamine in the brain.http://www.sciencemag.org/content/293/5532/1164

Depression: Placebos intended to reduce depression affect many of the same areas that are activated by antidepressants with the addition of the prefrontal cortex. - http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=175519

Caffeine: Placebo-caffeinated coffee causes an increase in bilateral dopamine release in the thalamus. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03310.x/abstract;jsessionid=F13EA25D7BDA4E7D929A23E23D1D5456.d02t02

Glucose: The expectation of an intravenous injection of glucose increases the release of dopamine in the basal ganglia of men (but not women). - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/syn.20541/abstract

Methylphenidate: The expectation of intravenous injection of this drug in inexperienced drug users increased the release of dopamine in the ventral cingulate gyrus and nucleus accumbens, with this effect being largest in those with no prior experience of the drug. -http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811906005039


In 1998, a meta-analysis of published antidepressant trials found that 75% of the effectiveness of anti-depressant medication is due to the placebo effect and other non-specific effects, rather than the treatment itself. -http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&uid=1999-11094-001

"In the majority of trials conducted by drug companies in recent decades, sugar pills have done as well as -- or better than -- antidepressants. Companies have had to conduct numerous trials to get two that show a positive result, which is the Food and Drug Administration's minimum for approval. The makers of Prozac had to run five trials to obtain two that were positive, and the makers of Paxil and Zoloft had to run even more" http://www.chelationtherapyonline.com/technical/p58.htm

The placebo effect has also been proven to relieve headaches, allergies, fever, colds, acne, warts, nausea, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. The power of our minds are amazing. Align yourself energetically with the result you wish to have, and you will dramatically increase your chances of achieving it.



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Friday 9 August 2013

7 Foods You Should Never Eat

Food scientists are shedding light on items loaded with toxins and chemicals–and simple swaps for a cleaner diet and supersized health.

Clean eating means choosing fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing. Often they’re organic, and rarely (if ever) should they contain additives. But in some cases, the methods of today’s food producers are neither clean nor sustainable. The result is damage to our health, the environment, or both. So we decided to take a fresh look at food through the eyes of the people who spend their lives uncovering what’s safe–or not–to eat. We asked them a simple question: “What foods do you avoid?” Their answers don’t necessarily make up a “banned foods” list. But reaching for the suggested alternatives might bring you better health–and peace of mind.
1. The Endocrinologist Won’t Eat: Canned Tomatoes
Fredrick Vom Saal, is an endocrinologist at the Univ. of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A.

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”
The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe’s and Pomi.
Budget tip: If your recipe allows, substitute bottled pasta sauce for canned tomatoes. Look for pasta sauces with low sodium and few added ingredients, or you may have to adjust the recipe.
2. The Farmer Won’t Eat: Corn-Fed Beef
Joel Salatin is co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming.

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. But more money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin.
The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers’ markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It’s usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don’t see it, ask your butcher.
Budget tip: Cuts on the bone are cheaper because processors charge extra for deboning. You can also buy direct from a local farmer, which can be as cheap as $5 per pound. To find a farmer near you, search eatwild.com.
3. The Toxicologist Won’t Eat: Microwave Popcorn
Olga Naidenko, is a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group.

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize–and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.
The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.
Budget tip: Popping your own popcorn is dirt cheap
4. The Farm Director Won’t Eat: Nonorganic Potatoes
Jeffrey Moyer is the chair of the National Organic Standards Board.

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes–the nation’s most popular vegetable–they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. “Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”
The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you’re trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.
Budget tip: Organic potatoes are only $1 to $2 a pound, slightly more expensive than conventional spuds.
5. The Fisheries Expert Won’t Eat: Farmed Salmon
Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, published a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish.

The problem: Nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. “You could eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. “It’s that bad.” Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.
The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it’s farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.
Budget tip: Canned salmon, almost exclusively from wild catch, can be found for as little as $3 a can.
6. The Cancer Researcher Won’t Drink: Milk Produced With Artificial Hormones
Rick North is project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society.

The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. “When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract,” says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. “There’s not 100 percent proof that this is increasing cancer in humans,” admits North. “However, it’s banned in most industrialized countries.”
The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.
Budget tip: Try Wal-Mart’s Great Value label, which does not use rBGH.
7. The Organic-Foods Expert Won’t Eat: Conventional Apples
Mark Kastel, a former executive for agribusiness, is codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods.

The problem: If fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don’t develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it’s just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. “Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers,” he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson’s disease.  
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