Most protein powders, protein bars and protein drinks are made with whey protein, which is made from milk. Is your government checking and letting you know if the whey protein products that you’re eating or drinking safe to consume? Especially since the whole Chinese baby milk scandal was because the biggest dairy companies in China were watering down there milk to make more money and using melamine  to hide that since adding melamine increases the protein content in such poisoned milk products so the milk doesn’t look like it’s watered down.

By 22 September, nearly 53,000 illnesses, over 12,800 hospitalizations, and four infant deaths had been reported, caused by kidney stones and other renal failure. The chemical appeared to have been added to milk in order to cause it to appear to have a higher protein content.”

Melamine is a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide… Ingestion of melamine may lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones, which can lead to bladder cancer

Melamine was also used in the 2007 Chinese pet food scandal where pet food made from China killed dogs and cats in North America, Europe and South Africa. But it wasn’t just pet food.

the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture said that between 2.5 and 3 million people in the United States had consumed chickens that had consumed feed containing contaminated vegetable protein from China

Both Chinese

government officials and manufacturers went so far as to deny that vegetable protein was even exported from China and refused for weeks to allow foreign food safety investigators to enter the country….

Well it’s not just a Chinese problem anymore.

It is now clear that China has exported dairy products like powdered milk and milk protein products around the globe and we know that some of them came to the United States,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch. “It is time for the F.D.A. to take this issue seriously and stop the import of dairy products from China until this situation is under control.

The US has imported two million pounds of a milk protein called casein this year, along with other powdered milk proteins that are used as ingredients in many processed foods, according to figures from the United States Department of Agriculture. This includes 293,000 pounds that were imported in July. The Food and Drug Administration did not immediately return calls for comment on Thursday.

I don’t know if or how much Chinese milk protein product were imported into Canada, but if the US did, highly likely we did. Here in Vancouver Canada, there are a lot of health food and supplement stores selling protein powders, not only for body builders and athletes, but also for those who want a quick and easy source of protein. I’ve been told by one store that some of the American made protein powder come from whey made in China.

Why is no one in the media or opposition politicians in the election asking questions about the safety of protein powders, drinks and bars especially since the vast majority of them are made with whey or milk protein?

I’m not saying that I know for sure that there is melamine contaminated protein on our shelves, but I’m saying it’s a definite possibility there could be, and consumers have a right to know, and no one in Canada or America seems to be checking to protect us, and they should. The Europeans and Asians are.

European Union regulators on Thursday ordered rigorous testing of imports containing at least 15 percent milk powder after concluding that food containing tainted milk powder from China may well be circulating in Europe and putting children at risk.

So did Indonesia and the Philippines. Why is Canada and America so far behind? Is it the neoconservative beliefs of the Stephen Harper conservatives here in Canada  who don’t want the government to regulate food safety but for ideological reason prefer that industry do itself? This idea the Tories get from the US Republican party that most governmental regulations are evil and kill or reduce them as much as possible and let industry regulate itself? US President George Bush was so against insanely regulating industry that he cancelled a regulation reducing the level of arsenic in the drinking water. Arsenic!

Hi, please re-elect the Conservatives (or the Republicans in the US) with a majority government because we don’t believe in government and want to do are best to weaken or eliminate as much government as possible and let the private sector watch and govern itself instead of having government do so because there’s never any dishonest or unethical people in business, just in other areas:) Well that worked out well on Wall Street didn’t it? Or the 2008 Canadian Maple Leaf meat poisoning (listeriosis) outbreak with 18 dead so far, and probably more to come since the symptoms may not appear for 90 days. The Harper government transferred inspection duties for the Canadian food inspection agency to the meat industry. Maple Leaf was an early adopter. Harper even lobbied to have US listeria standards lowered. Read the excellent editorial on the topic Listeriosis is the least of it by the  Canadian Medical Association Journal (PDF)

Why aren’t Canadian and American regulators doing the same as the Europeans and Asians? They should be checking to see if any protein based products that come from milk or milk proteins made from China are in our stores and if there is they should be banned or at the least tested for melamine and the consumer should know about it. Milk and protein powder, bar and drinks are the obvious ones but what other food products might be infected? Protein is added as ingredients in other foods too under various names. The governments should also make it mandatory to list if ingredients in foods drinks or supplement come from foreign countries and list that on the labels.

One of the 21 dairy firms in China new about the problem in December but “did not even begin testing its milk for dangerous substances until June, the cabinet probe reportedly found.”

The London Times reports that half of all dangerous goods seized in Europe in 2007 came from China. Also

The determination to stage a perfect Olympic Games may also have delayed revelation of the adulterated milk powder. Twenty-one topics were banned from Chinese media during the Olympics – eighth on the list was food safety scandals.

So the Chinese communist government was willing to let their own citizens babies die so they wouldn’t get negative publicity during the Olympics. Wow.

I think that all food products from China should be tested for safety, it’s not like this is the only time this has happened and even though they occasionally execute people for corruption, it still goes on. Corruption, lack of proper government oversight, lack of truly free and independent consumer protection organizations and lack of a free press to report on such corruption and public safety seems to be quite a deep systemic problems in China, much more so than in the west. Although we sometimes have corruption and scandals too (In Canada read On The Take: Crime, Corruption And Greed In The Mulroney Years, in the US under the Republican party, there’s been just too many to for me to remember) we still have a semi free press to expose such things, China doesn’t.

Why isn’t your local and national media asking these questions? Why aren’t your politicians, especially the opposition parties asking these questions in the midst of national elections in both countries? If not for the good of the country at least for their own partisan political advanatage. Are some parties more concerned about letting companies do whatever they want with minimal or no government oversight so their neoconservative ideology is pure, (or perhaps it may be due to maintaining the wealth of their campaign contributors), or are they willing to use government to do what the main function of government should be, protect their citizens from harm. Think about that when you vote.

I tried contacting the national offices of the 3 opposition parties in Canada, the Liberal party, the Green party and the NDP to suggest that they look into it, most of them seemed clueless even when I spelled out for them. I left voice mails with the news tip lines of the local papers the Vancouver Sun and Province, but had no responses.

Maybe some of you might start asking member of the media and your local politicians these questions and more if you value your health.

Apologies for the long post, did it while trying to get out the door to go to Barcamp Vancouver 2008.

I just edited this for clarity the next day.

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Is The Whey Based Protein Powder/Bar/Drink You Eat Made With Chinese Contaminated Milk Protein aka Melamine?

Glen at LifeDev has a good post on 25 tools to capture those fleeting ideas, divided into analog tools, web, mac, windows and phone based tools. I like the Recording MP3 watch, and have recently been using one of the small moleskin notebooks which I wish I got years ago.

Different tools work for different people and most need more than one tool.

One thing to keep in mind that capture is just the first stage and then the filtering/filing/prioritizing needs to take place. Just because you think it’s a “good/useful/interesting” idea doesn’t mean you have the time, money, energy and resources to do it, and you usually should be willing to decide what you’re going to say “no” to in order to say “yes” to the new idea, but that’s another post.

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25 Idea Capturing Tools

Unfortunately up here in Canada, we’re 5-10 years behind the US when it comes to dealing with ADHD and adult ADHD. We still haven’t had a single ADD Awareness day yet, and this is the 5th one in the US.

ADDA has some free teleclasses on ADHD going on that week, here’s their press release on the event.

Here’s the US Senate Resolution (S.R. 649) that has been passed making September 18, 2008 National Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Awareness Day.

If you want some ideas on what you can do to help, ADDA has some suggestions here

This year CHADD USA has some info about the event on their website, if my memory serves me correctly, they didn’t have anything on their website last year. They have a nice media toolkit if you want to help get information on ADHD out to the media (lord knows we need more accurate info on ADHD out there).

Tara has an ADHD Awareness Marathon going on from September 14-20, 2008. ADHD experts will answer your Attention Deficit Disorder related questions for free if join her ADD teleclass business, ADDClasses.com (lots of interesting teleclasses there). You can ask your questions by phone, webforum or chat room.

Maybe one day people with ADHD in Canada and their familes will help to create a Canadian ADD Awareness day, but I’m not too hopeful.

The BC govt and children’s hospital  closed down the only provincial Adult ADHD clinic based at BC children’s hospital because it was too popular and had a 1 year wait list for an entire year. Wait lists are embarassing for the BC govt because the media hammers them for it, so they closed the clinic so no political embarassment. Sent out press releases to nearly every media organization in BC, only got coverage from global news.

Most local people with ADHD and their families didn’t bother protesting or organizing against it. More than a year later there still is no replacement. I continually get calls and emails asking for Vancouver area medical professionals that can diagnose ADHD in adults or children and horror stories of people who’ve suffered for years because of a lack of diagnosis, but no one seem willing to do anything about it. Quite frustrating.

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2008 ADHD Awareness Week Sept 14-20th

Often when women say “We need to talk” we men hear “You need to do what I want.”

She talked about

One of the most frequent questions that comes up is one of frustration – “how do I get my ADD spouse to listen to me about our problems?”  The short answer is that you can’t if he doesn’t want to, but let me elaborate, as this is clearly at the heart of many struggling marriages…

“The reality is that you CANNOT engage someone who doesn’t wish to be engaged…and no one – ADD or not – wants to engage in difficult discussions in which they anticipate they are going to be roundly brought to task for bad behavior.  The question shouldn’t be “how do I get my ADD spouse to listen to me?”  The question needs be to “how do I entice participation?”  This means coming fully to grips with the idea that you are not in control - at least not of him.

Excellent point, I think that a lot of human problems come from the delusion we have that we can control other people.

I wonder whether, when people ask the question “how do I get my husband to work on our problems?” they aren’t really asking “how do I get my husband to sit down and start doing what I want him to do?”  The answer is you don’t if he doesn’t want to.  And he won’t want to if he feels as if you are going to beat him up.  You can argue that “being married” means you have an “obligation”.  Maybe on the surface this is true.  But my own experience is that talking to a man who doesn’t wish to be there talking to you is not only a waste of time, it is counterproductive in every possible way.  Put enough counter-productive time together and first thing you find is that the romance is gone…second thing you find is that it’s gone somewhere else.

This is not to say that no man will ever sit down and talk to you.  Quite the contrary – a husband worth his salt will do so when you request it – simply because you request it - and sometimes will also initiate the conversation when needed.  What I’m saying is that he does it because he chooses to do it.  Because he thinks that he has something to gain from sitting down with you.  Because he feels warmly enough about how you are going to interact that he thinks that the discussion is going to be productive.  Sometimes because he thinks that not sitting down with you is going to be so counterproductive that it’s not worth resisting.

Amen. While men need to learn more about women, women also need to learn more about men. Sometimes when women say, “we need to talk” it really means you need to listen to my lecture/nagging and do what I want because I’m feel I’m right and you’re wrong.

If a man started a conversation with his wife with the attitude, “you need to listen to me and obey me”, how effective a communication strategy do you think that would be?

The bottom line is this – a husband who will never, ever, engage with you to work on your relationship is not a great husband.  But usually by the time you are reading this blog his lack of engagement is as much a reflection of how the two of you are interacting as anything else.  (I assume you used to interact satisfactorily or you wouldn’t have gotten married.)  It’s neither fair nor realistic to expect him to engage when your agenda is to “fix things”, and specifically, “fix him”.  That’s not a conversation.  That’s forcing him to be a certain way – your way.

She really makes a good point here and this line is really important to understand.

As long as he feels you are trying to coerce him, he’s not going to make the effort to change.  In fact, if he’s like my husband, he’ll start to work against what you want (subtly) just to prove that he’s independent.

ODD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a common ADHD co-existing condition. I think that most ADHD children and adults have a bit of ODD, at least the part about not liking to be bossed around, even if it’s not full blown condition. Generally most people don’t like being told what to do, arguably men like it even less than women, but men with Attention Deficit Disorder like it even less than most, so demanding that we do this or that generally is a pretty counterproductive strategy.

Read the full post, especially the comments.

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How Do I Get Him To Listen?

Being a Mac person (sold them for 7 years) and knowing that she didn’t want a cell phone (so no iphone) I suggested she consider getting an ipod touch because ease of use and intuitiveness were important considerations. Also I asked if she usually lost her ipod, because the ipod touch is amazing, but kind of expensive, and that wasn’t a problem for her. She got an ipod touch it worked great for her. Here’s her review of it from the usefulness for an ADD time management perspective.

I highly recommend the iPod Touch (or iphone) for someone with or without ADD, (but especially for someone with ADD)! It’s a large purchase, no doubt, and you’re going to need a computer to sync it with. I’m not a big fan of buying things new or supporting large corporations. BUT, money and politics aside, if you’re looking for something that can assist you, and you don’t have a habit of losing things like phones or agendas, I think it’s a terrific buy.

As someone with ADD, I have trouble with time management, remembering things when I’m on the go, sticking with routines, reading the paper, (too complicated!), etc. Now that I use the iPod Touch, all of this is so much easier!

iCal, which is a simple calendar software, comes with the iPod touch. I like things to be visual, so I like that it draws in blocks of time for each event I have scheduled. When I’m at home, I can schedule something in on my computer and then sink it with my iPod. When I’m out, I can schedule on my iPod, using the keypad, and then sink it with my computer when I get home. I set an alarm for each event, so my iPod beeps at me and I’m never late.

Another amazing thing about using the iPod Touch is that I can sink Free Podcasts onto it. I can hear a summary of the news, be guided through a 20 minute Yoga session and through my exercise workouts, listen to spiritual teachers…

The iPod Touch also has WiFi, so I can set it up to get my email anywhere there’s a wireless Internet signal. Personally, I much prefer this to having a phone, but that’s just me. This is especially helpful if you use I Want Sandy for reminders.

I can write notes to myself, so if I’m out and I suddenly remember something, I can write it down without having to fumble for a pen.

Address Book comes with it too, so I can sync my contacts with my computer. I don’t search for phone numbers anymore!

And, of course, it’s an MP3 player, so I bring it jogging with me. I’m a musician and I’m always transporting music. It’s so much more practical on something like this, than with a USB stick.

It has lots of other features, but the ones I mentioned are my favorites. There are also maps, a timer/stopwatch, web browsers, games, photos, stocks, videos, etc.

It’s my very own Personal ADD Assistant.

There’s no one magic time management solution for adults with ADHD, some prefer paper, some prefer electronic and it’s best to get something that works for your particular brain wiring.

If you use a portable electronic organizer to help you manage your time, which one do you use and how useful is it for you?

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Ipod Touch The Personal ADD Assistant

8 Years. Count em. Almost a decade. It has been used off label for quite some time, but now it’s “officially approved” by the FDA as medication for adults with ADHD. Maybe it’s not just the FDA’s fault, maybe its the manufacturer’s Mcneil Pediatrics/ Janssen-Ortho. Maybe both.

For the clinically inclined types, here’s the Medscape CME (free login required) on it. Here’s the detailed Concerta Prescribing Information PDF.

If this Health Canada page is accurate, it looks like Concerta was approved for use in adults in Canada on April 15, 2008, nearly 3 months ago. Quite surprising. In Canada, we’re often several years behind the US when it comes to Adult ADHD. Or even ADHD in children.

Brand Name: Concerta
Source: Janssen-Ortho Inc.
Active Ingredient: Methylphenidate hydrochloride
Comments: New indication: Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults (>18 years of age); TER(18mg, 27mg, 36mg, 54mg)ORL
Date: 2008-04-15
DIN: N/A
Therapeutic Class:CNS Stimulant

Why do you think it took so long for this to happen? What does it say about how Adults with ADHD are viewed or ignored by the government/medical system?

Do you think Adults with ADHD are ever going to start demanding that their government(s) and medical systems treat Adult ADHD as least as seriously as they treat ADHD in children?

I’m not saying that Children with ADHD are treated seriously enough or that they have enough resources, they aren’t and they don’t.

But Adults with ADHD are treated much worse.

And since ADHD is the 2nd most genetically inherited condition after height, if you don’t treat them well, what do you think will be the outcomes for their kids with ADHD?

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8 Years After it’s OK For Kids US FDA Approves Concerta for Adults

In an interview with Collider magazine for his new movie the Love Guru, Justin Timberlake said that he had ADHD and OCD.

Question: Do you have the OCD where you have to fix everything? (he’s adjusting all the recorders that got put down in front of him)

Justin Timberlake: I have OCD mixed with ADD, you try living with that.

I’m sure there are many problems with having them both but I can see at least one common ADD problem he probably doesn’t to worry about. Clutter.

Many adults who have ADHD usually have one or more coexisting conditions that go with it, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), bipolar, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, learning disabilities etc. That’s why a good diagnosis is crucial.

I’m not really into his type of music, so I checked out Justin’s wikipedia entry. He seems to like doing a variety of things like many ADDers (we often have more careers than non ADDers, we get bored easily) i.e., singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor.

He talks about what most ADDers would call hyperfocus.

So there’s a lot of concentration that goes into filming those scenes, you just feel the weight of them more than anything. I think for a performer, because that’s really what we all are, I think that the focus kind of—anytime the nervousness comes in, the focus jumps in as well and it overbears it in a way. It supersedes it. I think you just become uber-focused.

Hyperfocus can be one of an ADDers best strengths or worst weakness depending on how, when and where you use it. If an ADDer is interested in something, they can focus like a laser on it for hours. If you add OCD to ADD, you’ll probably get even more intensity in the hyperfocus.

He also talks about one of the most powerful addictive drugs out there, one that’s great at helping you focus, attention.

“Q: You’ve done huge arenas, have you done stadiums yet? You must have done stadiums. Going before 50,000 people, butterflies or anything?

Justin: Oh, yeah, you get butterflies. It’s not like, “Oh my God, I hope I do good.” You just kind of get caught up in the electricity of it. If that’s what you mean, “Oh, yeah, that still happens to this day.” And when that stops happening, you should stop. It’s addictive, you know what I mean?”

There’s probably a lot more people who are actors and singers who have ADHD, more than a few people who work in the entertainment business say it’s fueled by ADHD. Unfortunately most are too afraid to come out and say they have it.

Maybe if a former boyband singer like Justin Timberlake isn’t afraid to admit they have ADHD, perhaps some other celebrities might gradually work up enough courage to admit they have it too? To maybe talk about the negatives AND the positives of having ADHD? That would help reduce some of the stigma around ADHD and would encourage more people to seek a diagnosis and ways of managing adhd, and help ease a lot of human suffering.

How many hollywood celebrities (let alone non celebrities) have undiagnosed and untreated ADHD, and self medicate with drugs and booze, damaging (or ending) their lives and those around them?

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Justin Timberlake Says He Has ADHD and OCD

again, wow.

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Wow

We’ll talk about how to start and run an ADHD support group.

You can listen to it tonight, or listen to it later when it get’s archived on the website.

Here are some of the links that I’ll be mentioning in the show relating to Adult ADHD support groups

ADHD Support Group of the Month Idea

How to Start & Run Support Groups

Canadian ADHD Support Groups Listings

US ADHD Support Groups Listings

International ADHD Support Groups Listings

Teleclass I did on how to start one, The Imperfect Guide to Starting an ADD Support Group.

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I’ll be Interviewed on the Living with ADD/ADHD Radio Show on ADHD Support Groups

I used to run the Vancouver Adult ADD support group for 3 years and I’m on the board of another one, CHADD Vancouver. I have a whole section on my website on how to find Canadian, US and International ADHD support groups and how to start, run and promote a support group. I even did a teleclass on how to start one, The Imperfect Guide to Starting an ADD Support Group.

So I guess it’s obvious that I think ADHD support groups can be very useful for Adults with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD. It’s nice to talk with a group of people who you don’t have to “explain” what Attention Deficit Disorder is, they just get it. You get to listen to ADHD expert speakers, meet other ADDers and learn from their experiences, find local resources (while ADD coaches can coach you over the phone from anywhere, you need  to see doctors and psychiatrists in person) plus we’re not boring people.

Unfortunately many ADHD support groups are not good at promoting themselves online for a variety of reasons. Some don’t even have a website or a blog even in this era of free blog hosting software like wordpress.com and blogger etc. I know some people found my Vancouver ADD support group from websites in the US and the UK.

So I thought maybe I’d do a monthly pick of one specific ADHD support groups around the world, and get one of the groups leaders to tell me and you a bit about their ADD support group and how they operate and why ADDers and their families in their area might want to attend their group.

I’d post their answers on this blog and also have a section on my main ADHD support group page on my ADHD website. So the ADHD support group that I picked would get some google juice and traffic from my website and my blog, both of which have a couple hundred unique visitors a day.

Do you think it’s a good idea? Do you think ADHD support group leaders would be interested in it?

What questions would you suggest asking the ADHD support group leaders?

What might you want to know about an ADHD support group in your area that would make you curious enough to attend one of their meetings?

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ADHD Support Group of the Month Idea