THE GREEN ZONE BLOG by LINDA MASON HUNTER
All about taking care of yourself, your family, and the planet, "The Green Zone" offers short, basic tips to incorporate into your daily life to make Earth a cleaner, more sustainable place.
In the Zone
"The Green Zone" airs four times daily at approximately. 2:50 a.m., 6:50 a.m., 4:50 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. central time. Listen every day for a new tip you can put to good use.
Study finds strong evidence linking cell phone radiation to cancer
June, 2025
A World Health Organization-backed study determined with a high level of certainty that there are links between cell phone radiation and two types of cancer in laboratory animals— malignant nerve tumors in the heart and gliomas (a type of brain cancer). This is a significant development because, as Dr. Devra Davis, founder of the Environmental Health Trust, points out, “Every agent that causes cancer in humans will produce it in laboratory animals when adequately tested.”
Results of the study prompted this swift response from the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields: “Given this high level of certainty, government policymakers worldwide should immediately move to revise their radiation exposure limits to protect public health and the environment.”
In the meantime, it’s wise to take simple precautions to reduce exposure.
· Keep the phone away from your head and body.
· Avoid carrying your cell phone on your body at all times.
· Avoid using your cell phone when the signal is weak or inside metal vehicles and elevators.
· Use airplane mode and turn antennas off when not in use.
· Children should only use cell phones for emergencies.
· Do not charge a cell phone or sleep with it near your bed.
· Use a corded landline at home.
· Minimize talk time on your cell phone.
· Connect your cell phone to the internet without radiation by using an ethernet cord.
Sources: “WHO-funded study finds RF-EMF exposure increases incidence of cancer,” Environmental Health Trust, May 19, 2025; https://ehtrust.org/who-funded-study-finds-rf-emf-exposure-increases-incidence-of-cancer/
https://ehtrust.org/10-things-you-can-do-to-reduce-the-cancer-risk-from-cell-phones/
Why I’m cooking with olive oil
By Linda Mason Hunter
June, 2025
Seed oils have been much in the news lately, ever since Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the current Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, described them as “poison.” We’re talking about cooking oils that come from vegetable seeds, like corn, canola, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, and grapeseed. Many wellness influencers and restaurant chains say they are transitioning away from seed oils in favor of animal fats, chiefly beef tallow and butter.
Wait, what? Are nutritionists now saying animal fat is good for you? I thought it was associated with high cholesterol, heart disease, and cancer. How can plant-based seed oils be worse?
Some studies link seed oils with body-wide inflammation, which accelerates all kinds of disease. At the end of the day, good health is all about reducing inflammation.
However, much of the concern centers on the fact that, due to their high linoleic acid content, seed oils have an over-abundance of omega-6 fatty acids, whereas a balanced ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 is best for health. There’s already an imbalance in the typical Western diet due to widely available seed oils used in fried fast foods and ultraprocessed foods, which comprise roughly 10% of the U.S. food supply.
So, should you cut out seed oil altogether? The answer depends on what you replace it with. Animal fats, like beef tallow and butter, are high in saturated fat which is bad for cardiovascular health. Best to switch to olive oil or avocado oil which contain omega-3 fatty acids, thus lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia. Extra virgin olive oil has an added bonus: It’s minimally processed, thus retaining beneficial nutrients that get stripped away in the production of most other oils.
After reviewing the pros and cons, I’ve decided extra-virgin olive oil is the healthier choice. That is what I am doing, while also avoiding ultra-processed foods altogether.
Sources: “Replacing butter for some plant oils could significantly lower risk of mortality, new study finds,” by Julianna Bragg, CNN; March 6, 2025. https://www.aol.com/switching-butter-plant-based-oils-210052905.html
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says beef tallow is healthier than seed oils. Is he right?” by Kristen Rogers, CNN; March 26, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/25/health/beef-tallow-healthy-seed-oils-rfk-wellness
Seed oils, “The Checkup with Dr. Wen,” by Leona S. Wen, https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camprw/?trackId=5e80b256ae7e8a594862ffaa&s=8264ecd315a3609b52471a1&utm_campaign=wp_checkup&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&linknum=5&linktot=74
Green Zone Tips for January, 2026
As heard on KFMG FM, Des Moines’ award-winning low power radio station; streaming at https://kfmg.org/resources/
If you live in Iowa, run don’t walk to your nearest water filter dealer and get your household a reverse osmosis filter for your drinking water.
Nitrate pollution is surging again in rivers that provide drinking water to Des Moines and surrounding communities. Since the first of this year, both the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers have registered several days of high levels of nitrate, according to monitoring by the US Geological Survey.
In the Raccoon River, sensors have registered at 10 milligrams of nitrate per liter of water nearly every day since Dec. 29th. In the Des Moines river, levels at 10 milligrams per liter or more have been registered on most days since January 6th. Ten milligrams per liter is the limit set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Water with nitrates above that level is considered unhealthy. Above that level water must be treated to lower the nitrates to get below ten. Des Moines Water Works has special (and very expensive) equipment to do that. It costs $16,000 per day, and it’s been operating almost every day since the first of the year.
Nitrates come from fertilizer and manure which flows into the rivers from nearby farms, especially mega-farms and livestock feedlots (also called CAFOs). Unlike many other states, Iowa has no rules which limit or prohibit manure or fertilizer from seeping into rivers. There have been some voluntary efforts, but the problem continues to grow.
The only way you can protect yourself is to install a reverse osmosis water filter for your kitchen tap. Reverse osmosis is the only type of filter that cleans out nitrates. Countertop units are available from Menards starting at $250. Undersink filters are more expensive, starting at around $900, but they are more reliable and easier to maintain. The reverse osmosis undercounter system I had installed in my son’s condo came from Iowa Soft Water in Des Moines, but other companies have them, too.
In my old farmhouse we’ve had a whole house water filtration system installed in the basement for the past 20 years. Included are two reverse osmosis filters that are checked and maintained annually by Iowa Soft Water, the company that installed in the system.
How to dispose of plastic
Have you ever gotten to the end of, say, a jar of peanut butter and wondered if it should go in the trash or recycling? Is it worth rinsing out? And where will it actually end up? Those are questions I’ve been wrestling with these days.
Fortunately, I found answers on the NPR radio show “Science Friday,” where Alexander Clapp, journalist and author of Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash,” offered the best argument for rational disposal.
Don’t think that recycling plastic is the answer. Recycling doesn’t work, and never will, he says. It’s not efficient. Each of the thousands of different kinds of plastic must be sorted according to composition and characteristics, making it impossible to sort the trillions of pieces of plastic into separate types of processing.
Secondly: Recycling is expensive. It’s always cheaper to produce new plastic than to attempt to resurrect old plastic.
Third: Recycling plastic is often dangerous. You can’t incinerate it without introducing a toxic mess of particulates into our soil, air, and water, eventually ending up in our food, causing tiny microplastics to accumulate in our bodies.
And last, but certainly not least, plastic is made from fossil fuels, the major cause of climate change.
So, what’s the best way to dispose of plastic? The answer is easy. Don’t Buy It In the First Place! But that’s virtually impossible in 21st century America. The next best answer? Throw it in the trash. Yes, you heard me. Landfills these days are lined, preventing most toxins and pollutants from escaping into the soil. Until a better, more sustainable solution appears, throwing used plastic in the trash is the best solution we’ve got.
Source: “Where does plastic and other trash go after we throw it away?”; Science Friday, NPR, Feb. 28, 2025. https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/waste-wars-book-garbage-plastic-recycling/
Blueberries are wonderful for health and well-being
A while ago I saw a comment on Facebook that I believe is wrong and must be righted. The comment was that all antioxidants cause cancer, especially blueberries. Not so. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants, which gives them powerful protection against aging, heart disease, cancer, and brain decline by fighting oxidative stress. Wild blueberries contain even higher levels of antioxidants.
There are concerns that antioxidants from supplements may have some risks associated with them, risks that antioxidants from foods don’t have. Especially the really high dose supplements. I’ve always thought it comes back to the Whole Foods theory, better to eat the whole food then take isolated nutrients. Also, during chemo and radiation treatment for cancer, patients are advised against eating blueberries because antioxidants can interfere with the treatment which relies on oxidative stress to kill cancer cells.
Blueberries are one of the best foods for anti-angiogenesis, meaning preventing cancer from forming its own vessels. In this era of high inflammation and skyrocketing cancer diagnoses, eating blueberries often is an excellent idea. Best to buy them organic.
Source: Conversation with Linda Gilbert, President and founder of Health Focus, Inc.; https://fearn.pair.com/rstevens/symposium98/Gilbert.html.
Eat seed oils sparingly, if at all
Some studies link seed oils with body-wide inflammation, which accelerates all kinds of disease. At the end of the day, good health is all about reducing inflammation.
However, much of the concern centers on the fact that, due to their high linoleic acid content, seed oils have an over-abundance of omega-6 fatty acids, whereas a balanced ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 is best for health. There’s already an imbalance in the typical Western diet due to widely available seed oils used in fried fast foods and ultraprocessed foods, which comprise roughly 10% of the U.S. food supply.
So, should you cut out seed oil altogether? The answer depends on what you replace it with. Animal fats, like beef tallow and butter, are high in saturated fat which is bad for cardiovascular health. Best to switch to olive oil or avocado oil which contain omega-3 fatty acids, thus lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia. Extra virgin olive oil has an added bonus: It’s minimally processed, thus retaining beneficial nutrients that get stripped away in the production of most other oils.
After reviewing the pros and cons, I’ve decided extra-virgin olive oil is the healthier choice. That is what I am doing, while also avoiding ultra-processed foods altogether, most of the time.
Source: Conversation with Linda Gilbert, President and founder of Health Focus, Inc.; https://fearn.pair.com/rstevens/symposium98/Gilbert.html.
What’s Eating Iowa?
Water. Big Ag. Art Cullen (Iowa’s Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist) at his best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xqa0B9r7Y8
Just a little bit…
December, 2024
It’s just a little bit of chlorine in your water.
It’s just a little bit of heavy metals in your food.
It’s just a little bit of fragrance in your cologne.
It’s just a little bit of benzene in your sunscreen.
It’s just a little bit of aluminum in your deodorant.
It’s just a little bit of PFOAs in your nonstick pans.
It’s just a little bit of phthalates in your plastic storage bags.
It’s just a little bit of methanol in your surface cleaner.
It’s just a little bit of artificial coloring in your toothpaste.
It’s just a little bit of ammonia in your sugar-free sweetener.
It’s just a little bit of propylene glycol in your skincare products.
It’s just a little bit of sodium lauryl sulfate in your shampoo.
It’s just a little bit of glyphosate in your breakfast cereal.
It’s just a little bit of “forever chemicals” in your plastic bottles.
It’s just a little bit of fluoride in your drinking water.
It’s just a little bit of parabens in your moisturizer.
Hmmmm. Let me ask you this: When does “just a little bit” become too much for the body to handle?
