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In today's news: "Schoolchildren and school employees are at significant risk of illness from the use of pesticides in and around schools, federal investigators reported today."
Another reason to homeschool, I guess.
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Two nights ago I picked up a copy of Overdosed America by John Abramson, MD. His exposé reveals the truth behind modern medical reporting, including the real results of studies that examined the safety of Celebrex, Vioxx, statin drugs, antidepressants, and more.
While it would be far too complicated to tell you why these drugs aren't safe for you (if you're interested, buy the book), I would like to provide a quote from Mr. Abramson here. It pretty much sums up why you should take the time to read this book.
"The bottom line is this: there has been a virtual takeover of medical knowledge in the United States, leaving doctors and patients little opportunity to know the truth about good medical care and no safe alternative but to pay up and go along. The ugliest truth of all is that these enormous costs do not come close to producing commensurate improvements in our health—the health of Americans is actually losing ground to that of the citizens of the other industrialized countries, which are spending far less and at the same time providing health care to all of their citizens." (p. xvii)
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"Fast food nutrition"... that's an oxymoron, isn't it? Yet, according to Overture, 5,896 searches were conducted in May 2005 for that exact phrase.
If you are going to eat fast food, you'd be smart to investigate what's in the food before you eat it. One of the fastest ways to do that online is to visit Diet Facts.
While the web site doesn't list ingredients, it does provide you with the nutrition facts labels for thousands of menu items at hundreds of fast food restaurants around the country.
You might be able to find this information at the restaurants themselves, but Diet Facts makes it simple. And you'll be able to decide where you want to eat based on the healthfulness of the restaurant... before you leave your house.
So before you go out to eat, drop by Diet Facts and find out how nutritious (or not) that fast food you're about to eat really is. :-)
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This week I came across a business opportunity involving health supplements that looked very promising. I had gotten pretty excited about the concept behind the products and was mentally prepared to move forward.
But (and this is big) I decided to do my due diligence and thoroughly research the ingredients included in the product.
I dug up the ingredient list on the company's web site. Everything looked pretty good. So I continued to dig through the site and read all the company's literature.
Then, buried deep in the product FAQ, I discovered a pretty innocuous question: "Are the products all natural?" Here's part of the answer:
"The proprietary sweetener in each of the four gel products contains a low level blend of two high intensity sweeteners, neotame and acesulfame-k. Both are indigestible and simply pass through the system, but they cannot be called natural."
No kidding they can't be called natural! Neotame is a derivative of aspartame, which is a known neurotoxin. Both chemical sweeteners (neotame and aspartame) are manufactured and marketed by Monsanto.
As aspartame receives more and more bad publicity, it looks like Monsanto will try to turn neotame into the next chemical sweetener wunderkind.
Since neotame is a relatively new chemical sweetener, please read this neotame article. The very first sentence starts out: "Neotame has a similar structure to aspartame—except that, from it's structure, it appears to be even more toxic than aspartame."
Now that's sayin' something....
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Related to your physical well-being...
A new study has revealed that talking on a cell phone while driving increases your risk of getting into an accident by 4.9 times, reports The Week Magazine.
If you opt for a hands-free set, you're still increasing your chances of an accident by 3.8 times. Not good odds at all.
What's interesting about the study is that the researchers didn't rely on the drivers' honesty—they cross-referenced the time of the accidents to the phone company's records to see whether or not each driver was indeed on the phone at the time of the accident.
Advice: carry a cell phone in your car in case of emergencies, but save your conversations for a time when you're not driving.
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Some people have a hard time getting excited about exercise. "I don't want to go run on a treadmill for 30 minutes every day," they say. "How boring..."
If you don't like the idea of exercise purely for the health benefits it will bring you, then consider some kind of recreation or sport where the exercise is a byproduct of an activity that you consider fun.
So, for instance, join a local volleyball team or soccer club. Or maybe get involved with outdoor "frisbee golf" or league basketball down at the recreation center. Or sign up to study martial arts a couple times a week.
If you're bored by exercise that involves using a machine, then recreation and sports can be just the trick to get you active and on the road to better health.
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My wife and I went to On the Border for dinner with my brother and his wife on Tuesday evening. Instead of ordering two entrees, my wife and I ordered one and split it.
This is a great way to spend less... and eat less.
There's an old rule that says you'll eat whatever's on your plate, even if you're already full.
For instance, let's say you put more food on your plate than you're able to eat. So long as the food is there, you'll keep eating!
Conversely, if you take less than you think you can eat, and you finish what's on your plate, you're not very likely to get up for seconds.
Use this knowledge to cut back how much you're eating at each meal. Split an entree with your spouse or simply take half of what you'd normally eat. You'll be surprised by how much less you eat... and how content you'll feel.
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