Obesity Epidemic explained by “accumulative maternal effects”

The real reason that people are obese:

[The real reason that people are obese]


Observation:
 

The activity levels of grandmothers and mothers during pregnancy determined the fatness of future generations. 

But was my observation correct? 

And if so, what were the mechanisms?

Non-genetic evolution is the primary determinant of obesity — not gluttony, fast food or genes. 

The best solution to the obesity epidemic is to encourage would-be mothers to increase their levels of physical activity so that they can prepare their metabolism for pregnancy and have leaner, healthier children.

As it turned out, the idea that the uterine environment affects the fetus is commonplace in evolutionary biology and has been observed across many species. 

Known as “accumulative maternal effects,” it describes how a mother’s age, size, fat stores and behavior, including physical activity, affect not only her health and metabolism but also that of future generations.

Archer is a physiologist and obesity theorist at the Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham. This article was produced by New Scientist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-real-reason-that-people-are-obese/2015/06/15/e3841e56-eaa7-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b_story.html

Misty Copeland

"Ballet, something pure in this Crazy World" --Misty Copeland
 

Foods that will cut your cholesterol

The six foods that will cut your cholesterol in just three months... and you don't have to give up cheese, chocolate or breakfast eggs

• A majority of Britons, 60 per cent, have unhealthy cholesterol levels
• Managing this does not have to be hard and including these foods is a start
• Add 'smart foods', fibres, nuts, soya, healthy oils and oats to your diet

By Victoria Fletcher

Published: 2 February 2013 | Updated: 16:49 GMT, 23 May 2014 

 

Your cholesterol is too high. Well, perhaps not specifically you, but thousands of Britons have this news broken to them by doctors every day. We all have an amount of this special type of fat in our blood. It is essential for many bodily functions, but most of us – 60 per cent  – have too much.

High cholesterol is a key factor in developing heart disease, which claims three times more lives than breast cancer and twice as many as lung cancer. The good news is that lowering your cholesterol is the biggest thing you can do to reduce your risk. 

It’s something TV personality Gabby Logan, for one, is keen to promote. ‘A key risk factor for heart disease is high cholesterol but you can protect yourself with simple changes to lifestyle and diet,’ says Gabby, who is supporting the British Heart Foundation Love Your Heart campaign.

The big six: TV sports presenter Gabby Logan, right, is backing the drive to lower Britain's cholesterol using these six food groups

But just how can you do this? Much of the health advice on the matter, including that on the NHS Eat Well site, is vague, leading to many misconceptions and myths. 

So can diet alone be used to bring down high cholesterol – or should we leave it all to statins? 

The answer for very many people is yes, you CAN reduce your levels significantly through making changes in your diet. Should we stop eating eggs? Aren’t they high in cholesterol?  In fact, the answer is no. No food  is prohibited, so you can still eat cheese, red meat and chocolate, within the limits of a low-fat diet.

Confusingly, countless foods carry labels claiming they can protect your heart or cut cholesterol. They work, but you have to take them in  a specific way to reap the benefits. To find out what we should – and shouldn’t – be eating to lower cholesterol levels, we spoke to leading diet and heart health experts. 

Now turn over for our brilliantly simple step-by-step guide – which includes building six food types into your diet – and you may be able to lower your reading by up to 20 per cent in three months . . .

1. SMART FOODS

WHAT
These include Flora pro.activ and Benecol yogurt shots, as well as other products containing stanols and sterols. These naturally occurring molecules, which are found in plants, block the absorption of dietary cholesterol, which is then excreted with other waste.

PROOF
Studies have shown that plant sterols reduce cholesterol levels by seven to ten per cent within three weeks, as part of a diet low in saturated fat.
DOSE
You need to consume 2g in one go alongside your biggest meal of the day, each day, to get the full effect. 

The best form is the yogurt shot drinks that provide this amount of plant sterols alongside just under 40 calories and 1.4g of fat.  

You need to eat six teaspoons of fortified margarine to get the same amount of sterols, which delivers 150 calories and 18g of fat, although low-fat margarines  with sterols are now also available.

EXPERT ADVICE
Drink with your main meal as sterols reduce the amount of fat absorbed. ‘A shot with your morning coffee or little bits of margarine through the day will not produce the same benefits,’ says Catherine Collins, principal dietician at St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust.

2. FIBRE

WHAT
The high fermentable-fibre content of beans and pulses means that they cannot be digested easily by the gut. This fibre binds to cholesterol so that it is removed through waste.  

High-fibre bread can be added to the  diet to boost fibre intake further.

PROOF
A meta-analysis of 67 studies on dietary fibre and cholesterol levels revealed that consuming more fibre helped reduce ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol by a small but significant amount. 

Fibrous foods such as beans  also trick the body into absorbing less saturated fat, which can help control weight and protect arteries from heart disease.

DOSE
Eighteen grams a day. Around 5g will come from oat-based products and you can get the rest from just a slice of high-fibre toast and two tablespoons of beans. Fruit and veg will also boost fibre intake.

EXPERT ADVICE
Just swapping white bread for wholemeal can lower cholesterol levels, a manageable step for everyone. 

‘It’s easy for most people to add fibre to their diet,’ says Linda Main, of the cholesterol charity HEART UK.

3. NUTS

WHAT
Most nuts, including almonds, walnuts, pecans and peanuts, are good for lowering cholesterol. However, avoid salted varieties, especially if you have raised blood pressure. It is not clear how nuts lower cholesterol, but it might be because they contain plant sterols as well as monounsaturated fats that protect blood vessels from damage. They are also high in fibre and Vitamin E.

PROOF
In 2010, an American analysis of 25 studies on nut consumption and blood fat levels found that eating  a portion every day (eight to ten nuts, or a small  palm-full) reduced overall cholesterol by five per cent and was particularly good for people with high levels  of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol.

DOSE
Between 25g and 50g of nuts daily.

EXPERT ADVICE
Linda Main says: ‘Nuts are very filling, so not only do they reduce cholesterol, but they can stop you snacking on too many other fatty foods afterwards. While nuts are in theory very calorific, it is unlikely all the energy  is available to the body.’

4. SOYA

WHAT
Soya milk, soy nuts, tofu and soya yogurts  may help the liver to take ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol out of the bloodstream.

Using soya to replace dairy and meat can also displace saturated fat from the diet.

PROOF
There is some evidence, including a 2011 study, that soy protein can help reduce total cholesterol. 

Although the effects were modest, some experts say that because soy products such as tofu often replace meat in the diet, they reduce the intake of saturated fat from other sources.

DOSE
Experts recommend having at least two to three portions a day. That is equivalent to half a litre of soya milk and a soya yogurt. The reduction in cholesterol may be as much as five per cent, but scientific proof  for this is limited.

EXPERT ADVICE
Start with one portion a day and slowly build it into  the diet from there. ‘If you don’t like soya, follow the other tips instead,’ advises Catherine Collins.

5. HEALTHY OILS

WHAT
Olive oil and rapeseed oil, which contain mainly monounsaturated fats, neither increase nor decrease cholesterol levels. 

However, they help to make the  artery walls stronger, meaning that they are less likely  to be damaged by cholesterol. 

These fats are also cleared easily by the body.

PROOF
Studies suggest that replacing saturated fat such as lard and butter with these oils results in a fall in cholesterol. 

It may also stop LDL causing inflammation in the arteries, a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

DOSE
Two tablespoons a day used in cooking. A 2002 study found that consuming this amount of olive oil each day decreased total cholesterol by eight per cent in six weeks. Generally, studies suggest that virgin olive oil is best.

EXPERT ADVICE
Polyunsaturated fats from sunflower oils were considered to be as good as olive oils, but recently it has emerged that having too much of them causes oxidation, meaning they may increase furring of the arteries. However, remember that polyunsaturated fats are still better than butter and lard.

6. OATS

WHAT
Oats contain compounds called beta glucans, which give them their paste-like consistency. The beta  glucans form a thick gel inside the digestive tract  and bind to cholesterol in the gut, helping to prevent cholesterol from being absorbed by the body. The  gel and cholesterol are then excreted as waste.

PROOF
Analysis of 12 studies involving more than 1,000 people showed that adding beta glucans each day to your  diet via porridge, other oat-based cereals and oatcakes reduced cholesterol by up to five per cent within three months.

DOSE
Three grams of beta glucans a day. This is equivalent  to a small bowl of porridge, three oatcakes and two slices of oat bread. 

This would also contribute about  5g of your daily fibre intake (see panel, left).

EXPERT ADVICE
‘Studies show beta glucan is good for heart health  and it’s easy to eat more oats,’ says Linda Main. ‘There are now even breads with added oat bran. But people need to try to eat three portions a day  on a regular basis to have an effect. HEART UK have an Ultimate Cholesterol Lowering Plan fact sheet  that explains it all.’

Harness the power of the six foods: Eat Your Way to Lower Cholesterol, by Ian Marber and Dr Laura Corr, published by Orion, £16.99

Q + A 'If cholesterol is so bad, why do we have it?'

Why do we need cholesterol if it can be so bad for our bodies?

Cholesterol is a fatty substance produced by the liver and used to build cell walls, create a protective glove around nerves and to make other chemicals such as hormones. 

Cholesterol gets round our bodies  by combining with protein to form a protective coating around tiny balls of fat absorbed from our diet – termed lipoproteins. The purpose of this coating is to hold fat together, so we don’t have ‘oil slicks’ of fat in our bloodstream. 

The two lipoproteins usually measured are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is like a juggernaut – big clumps of fat and protein that trundle along the arteries and can only be cleared from our system by the liver. As it travels, fat can break away and enter the artery walls, becoming embedded. This build-up – called atherosclerosis – causes artery walls to narrow so blood cannot get through, resulting in blood clots that can trigger a heart attack or stroke. 

HDL is known as ‘good cholesterol’. It is much smaller in size and hoovers up fat deposits from the artery wall as it moves around the body. This is why it’s important to know how much LDL and HDL are in your blood, as the ratio between these two types of fat is what really matters when it comes to risk.

What causes levels to rise?

They are controlled by our genes and diet. In the West, more people have high cholesterol than  in countries with a low-fat diet, such  as Japan. Eating foods high in saturated fat, such as butter, cream, processed meat such as sausages and fast food, means that our cholesterol goes up.

How is cholesterol measured?

The ratio between LDL and HDL is what matters. A blood test at your GP surgery can measure this. The result gives volume of cholesterol in a measurement called millimoles per litre of blood – or mmol. The target is to have an LDL reading below 3mmol and a total cholesterol reading (which takes into account the HDL and LDL) of 5mmol. 

People at high risk of heart disease – those with high blood pressure, who are overweight, older and may have family history of the disease – are told to get their total cholesterol lower, to 4mmol, with an LDL of 2mmol. The higher you score, the more chance of suffering heart disease in the next decade. Scores for total cholesterol above 8mmol will mean the person is at medium to high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), depending on age and blood pressure. Even a reading of 5 or 6mmol may be too high if you have other risk factors, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Good news: You do not have to give up on steak, red wine and dessert to lower your cholesterol

How often do I need to get a test?

After the age of 40, your GP should check your cholesterol every five years. If you have a family history of premature heart disease or raised cholesterol, you should tell your GP as soon as possible and would be eligible for tests before the age of 40. 

Does a high reading mean I’m going to have a heart attack?

CVD can lead to heart attacks and stroke. It becomes a bigger worry the older you are, if you smoke, have high blood pressure, a family history of heart problems and don’t exercise. It’s the combination of cholesterol with these other things that triggers alarm bells.

Will I need to take statins?

If your total cholesterol is above 5mmol, most doctors will tell you to review your diet. If it is a lot higher, they may tell you to take statins because these drugs are likely to reduce cholesterol by 20 to 40 per cent – a massive drop. Doctors will prescribe statins to anyone with a 20 per cent chance of developing cardiovascular disease in the next decade. They will work out this risk based on a range of personal details. But they will still say you need to improve your diet as well. 

So how much can diet alone help?

Diet can reduce cholesterol levels by ten to 20 per cent, which significantly decreases heart-disease risk. Studies show that for the average person, the drop is 13 per cent. For some of us, this may be enough. 

How long does it take to work?

To slash cholesterol by as close  to 20 per cent as possible, you’ll need to adopt ALL of the healthy eating elements mentioned above  for at least three months. If you don’t see changes after three months, talk  to your doctor. For some, a healthy diet does not have a great effect.  Once your cholesterol has  reduced, you’ll have to keep up  the good work and stick to your new eating plan.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2272401/The-foods-cut-cholesterol-just-months-dont-cheese-chocolate-breakfast-egg.html#ixzz45x5wrxQ9  

Ice Cream and Cholesterol

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that all adults over age 20 have their cholesterol checked annually. You are more likely to develop high cholesterol if you:

• smoke
• have high blood pressure
• are over 45 (men) or 55 (women)
• have a family history of high cholesterol
• live a sedentary lifestyle

For high cholesterol, it is recommended that you consume less than 7 percent of total calories from saturated fat. For most people, that falls anywhere between 12 and 18 grams of saturated fat per day.

Ice Cream and Cholesterol

Ice cream, while certainly delicious, is a full-fat dairy product that can raise your cholesterol levels, especially if eaten regularly. According to the USDA, the average serving of vanilla ice cream (1/2 cup) contains 4 1/2 grams of saturated fat, which is more than a quarter of the maximum recommended intake for most adults. Richer varieties can contain even more.

If you’re concerned about your cholesterol, you probably think that the extra treats, including ice cream, are off-limits. But you shouldn’t feel like you have to completely deprive yourself.

In fact, a 2013 survey found that 73 percent of Americans believe ice cream and other frozen treats can be part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s all about moderation, so save full-fat ice cream for special occasions and make smart substitutions every other day of the year.


 
You don't have to be a nutritionist to know that you shouldn't eat fries and fried chicken on a regular basis. They're loaded with sodium, fat, and cholesterol — but do you know exactly how much?

A diet high in cholesterol, saturated fats, and trans fats can raise blood cholesterol levels and put you at risk for heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. Many foods that come from animals — like meat and dairy products — contain saturated fats, while baked goods and fast foods pack trans fats.



 
The first thing you need to know about high cholesterol food is that moderation and balance are important. Once banned from the breakfast table, eggs are now generally considered a relatively healthy choice — within limits. You can make eggs part of a heart-healthy diet, according to the American Heart Association, as long as you don't load up on cholesterol from other sources, like meat and dairy. So if you have an egg for breakfast, don't have a cheeseburger for lunch.

 
Speaking of cheeseburgers, if you're like many Americans, you might occasionally eat lunch from a fast food restaurant. But before you order that double cheeseburger, consider this: A McDonald’s Big Mac has 85 mg of cholesterol and a Wendy's Classic Double With Everything has a whopping 175 mg of cholesterol. You might want to hold the fries and the shake, or better yet, order a plain burger instead.


 The typical mac-and-cheese ingredients — whole milk, butter, and cheese — are loaded with saturated fats and cholesterol. But this all-American comfort recipe does not have to be a high-cholesterol food. By substituting 1 percent milk and evaporated milk for butter and whole milk, and using low-fat cheese, you can decrease your calories and have your macaroni and cheese with less than half the fat and cholesterol of the traditional recipe.

Ice Cream for Dessert?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, America produced 1.55 billion gallons of ice cream in 2007, and the cold, sweet stuff is a staple in 90 percent of American households. Ice cream beats cookies and brownies as our most popular frozen dessert, but did you know that a single cup of ice cream has more fat than a hamburger and more cholesterol than 10 glazed doughnuts? Skip the scoop and try a cup of fresh fruit for dessert instead. Fruit is low in calories and high in the fiber, vitamins, and nutrients you really need — making it one of the best things you can eat for lower cholesterol.

What's Better Than a Rib-Eye Steak for Dinner?

 
Even under the best of circumstances (with the fat well-trimmed, and cooked in olive oil), a 4-ounce rib-eye steak takes up a big chunk of your recommended daily allowance for saturated fat and cholesterol. With nothing else on your plate, you will be eating 20 percent of your allowable saturated fat and 22 percent of your cholesterol, which doesn't leave much room for the rest of the day. If you’re not ready to say goodbye to beef, consider leaner cuts of meat — such as tenderloin, flank, round, rump, or tip steak — for lower cholesterol.

Do You Really Want That Muffin?

Not all muffins are created equal. Sure, you can get an English muffin with no saturated fat and no cholesterol, but many muffins — especially those tempting treats loaded with extra ingredients that you can buy or bake at home — could have up to 8 grams of fat in a single serving. A low-fat bran muffin made with whole-wheat flour that gives you some fiber, a lot less fat, and lower cholesterol is a much better choice.

Seafood: Is It a High-Cholesterol Food?

Some types of seafood are good for you, but others are loaded with cholesterol. Lobster, for example, is not a good choice if you have heart disease or high cholesterol. Three ounces of lobster has 61 mg of cholesterol — and that’s before you dip it in melted butter. If you go out for seafood, stay away from the butter and remember that broiled is much better than fried. You also need to keep in mind the amount you eat, as a double portion will also double the cholesterol.

  Even Chicken Can Be a High-Cholesterol Food

Although chicken is usually considered to be a good low-fat meat choice, how you cook it can make a big difference. For example, one chicken leg with the skin still on it has more fat and cholesterol than a cup of ice cream or a hamburger. Keeping the skin on poultry or frying it can turn it into a high-cholesterol food. Also, remember that dark poultry meat has more fat than white meat. When making chicken choices, opt for skinless and skip the dark meat

Just Say No to Liver

Liver is loaded with iron — which could be good for you — but it is also high in cholesterol. Cholesterol is made and stored in the liver, and the most concentrated levels of cholesterol in animal meats are found in organ meats like the liver. Remember, the American Heart Association says no more than 300 mg of cholesterol for a healthy adult. Three ounces of cooked beef liver will give you 331 mg of cholesterol. Skip this high-cholesterol food if your cholesterol is high and stick with lean cuts of meat instead.






 Links: http://www.everydayhealth.com/high-cholesterol-pictures/ten-high-cholesterol-foods-to-avoid.aspx#11

http://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/cholesterol-in-ice-cream#4

Nutrition Facts

Ice cream, vanilla

Amount Per 100 grams

Calories 207

% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11 g	16%
Saturated fat 7 g	35%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated fat 3 g
Cholesterol 44 mg	14%
Sodium 80 mg	3%
Potassium 199 mg	5%
Total Carbohydrate 24 g	8%
Dietary fiber 0.7 g	2%
Sugar 21 g
Protein 3.5 g	7%

Vitamin A	8%	Vitamin C	1%
Calcium	12%	Iron	0%
Vitamin D	2%	Vitamin B-6	0%
Vitamin B-12	6%	Magnesium	3%

*Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Feedback

Sources include: USDA

Quotes About Food

 

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”
― Charles M. Schulz

tags: chocolate, food, humor

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

tags: food, happiness

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

tags: food, love, music

  

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

tags: food, love

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”
― Orson Welles

tags: food, humor

“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”
― Christopher Hitchens, The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

tags: affection, atheism, cats, dogs, food, god, pets, religion, shelter, water
 

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.”
― Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

tags: family, food, thanksgiving
 

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

tags: bread, food, god, humanity, hunger, poverty, religion

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.”
― Erma Bombeck

tags: carpe-diem, food, titanic

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

tags: food, gluttony, love

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”
― W.C. Fields

tags: cooking, drinking, food, humor, wine

“Probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg before it is broken.”
― M.F.K. Fisher

tags: egg, food

“Humor keeps us alive. Humor and food. Don't forget food. You can go a week without laughing.”
― Joss Whedon

tags: food, humor, survival, wit

 

“The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.”
― Julia Child

tags: dieting, diets, eating, food, joy-of-life, steak

      

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
― Hippocrates

tags: food, health, medicine 

“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”
― Mark Twain

tags: food

Stop Smoking

 

E-Cigarettes

NBC News Health Verified account ‏@NBCNewsHealth

E-Cigarettes Should be a Last Resort, Heart Doctors Say http://nbcnews.to/1nsjQNC 

DrMA ‏@mihotep Feb 18

.@NBCNewsHealth @NBCNews clearly the 1st resort should be #Chantix, as it may eliminate the "problem" once & for all

E-Cigarettes Should be a Last Resort, Heart Doctors Say

by Maggie Fox

 

E-cigarettes should be outlawed for minors and only be used as a last resort to quit smoking, the American Heart Association says in a new policy statement. And the Food and Drug Administration should hurry up and regulate them, the group says.

New research shows that teens are not using e-cigarettes to quit. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Monday shows more than 263,000 middle-and high-schoolers who had never smoked before tried e-cigarettes in 2013. That's triple the number from 2011 and reinforces the argument that vaping can be a gateway to nicotine addiction.

"Over the last 50 years, 20 million Americans died because of tobacco. We are fiercely committed to preventing the tobacco industry from addicting another generation of smokers," Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, says in a statement. 

The Food and Drug Administration says it plans to regulate e-cigarettes, along with cigars and other tobacco products. Many "vapers" who use e-cigarettes say regulation will damage a product that's a far safer substitute for cigarettes.

The Heart Association disagrees. "In the years since the FDA first announced it would assert its authority over e-cigarettes, the market for these products has grown dramatically," Brown said. "We fear that any additional delay of these new regulations will have real, continuing public health consequences."

Dr. Nancy Snubs Out E-Cigarette Myths 1:55

The Food and Drug Administration says it plans to regulate e-cigarettes, along with cigars and other tobacco products. Health advocates say it's about time, but many "vapers" who use e-cigarettes say regulation will damage a product that's a far safer substitute for cigarettes
 
Even health experts agree that electronic cigarettes might be useful in helping people who want to quit smoking. So where's the harm in them?

Mostly, it's the unknown, the FDA says.  "We can't even tell you what the compounds are in the vapor," FDA's Mitch Zeller told reporters.

FDA regulation would require the companies to tell the agency, but not necessarily the public, what's in their products. FDA is sensitive to protecting competitive secrets.

The FDA is also asking for research on potential harms from inhaling the heated mixture. It might not be as harmful as burning tobacco leaves, but it might not be completely benign, either, says Dr. John Spangler, who runs a smoking cessation clinic at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.

"It is true that electronic cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes. On the other hand there are some effects in the lung of the vapors which mimic the same kind of changes that go along with asthma," Spangler told NBC News.

"That happens within 5 minutes of using an electronic cigarette. We don't know how long that will last or whether it will lead to permanent lung damage."

Spangler's been studying this and doesn't have final data yet. But in general, e-cigarettes appear slightly less effective than nicotine gum or patches or drugs such as Chantix, he says.


And experts argue that if e-cigarette makers wanted their products used as quit-smoking aids, they'd have submitted them to the FDA as such. Instead, manufacturers fought FDA's attempts to regulate them in that way, and won in federal appeals court.

"Electronic cigarettes may represent the next evolution of nicotine replacement, supplanting the gum, patch and the existing inhaler. However, most consumers would be shocked to realize the products they buy have less oversight than a bag of dog food, and are often manufactured and imported from countries that have histories of tainted pharmaceutical and food products," Cobb added.

Glynn and others remember that the tobacco industry first told Americans that cigarettes were healthful, and then battled the U.S. government in court for decades when the Surgeon General declared that smoking caused cancer. It took decades to prove that tobacco companies colluded to make cigarettes ever more addictive and to cover up research showing tobacco caused not only cancer, but heart disease, stroke, emphysema and other diseases.

They also point to industry attempts to market "light" cigarettes as less dangerous — research shows they are not — and companies have pushed menthol cigarettes despite evidence that menthol worsens the health effects.

 

Maggie Fox

Topics Health news

First Published Apr 25 2014, 9:26 am ET

Next Story Anxiety Drug Overdoses Have Quadrupled Over Last Two Decades, Study Finds

Read More:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/e-cigarettes-should-be-last-resort-heart-doctors-say-n187196?cid=sm_twitter_feed_health

 

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Making Liquor Legally at Home

by: Sara on 01/11/2016

Posted in: Food , Guest Posts , New Books , Sustainable Living

 

 

Today's blog post comes to us from Victoria Redhed Miller, the author of the just released book, Craft Distilling: Making Liquor Legally at Home.

This unique resource shows you everything you need to know to get started crafting top-quality spirits on a small scale.

In the post Victoria shares her struggles to not only make liquor legally at home but how, once realizing there was not a reasonable way for an individual to legally distill liquor at home, she engaged in the process of changing the law.

Back in November 2012, I applied for a Craft Distillery license in my home state of Washington. I wasn't interested in opening a commercial distillery; as an experienced home brewer, I simply wanted to learn a new skill and to do it legally.
I thought it was going to be easy. I thought that the Washington State Liquor Control Board was going to pat me on the back for going to the trouble to get a license, even though I only wanted to distill liquor as a hobby. Since I was NOT going to opening a commercial distillery, I also imagined that somehow the licensing process was going to be easier. Boy, was I wrong!

In most of the world today, including the United States and Canada, it is illegal to distill liquor without a license. (In the US, distillers must have a Federal permit as well as a state license.) What I didn't know was that I was the first person in Washington to apply for a distillery license as a private individual, and that I was inadvertently exposing a major flaw in the system: there is simply no provision in the law for someone like me. That is, the licensing system is completely biased toward commercial distilleries. The bottom line is that I am required to have a license to distill liquor, but they won't give me one unless I open a commercial distillery.

I could have left it at that. I could have decided at that point to give it up, and either not distill liquor at all, or else quietly pursue the hobby illegally. Instead, I am actively engaged in the process of changing the laws, both state and Federal, to allow limited home production of distilled liquor while making it a lot easier for hobbyists to do so legally. The current laws, most of which date back to around the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, no longer make sense given that we are allowed to make beer and wine at home legally. The Liquor Control Board had no idea of this until I applied for the license!

This isn't just about making booze. It's about shining the light of reason on unfair, outdated laws and having them make sense for everyone. I don't believe unrestricted production of alcohol is the answer, but continuing to make it impossible for enthusiastic hobbyists to pursue their passion legally is definitely not the answer.

I wrote Craft Distilling: Making Liquor Legally at Home in part to clarify all the legal issues involved, as well as to make my case for why the laws should be changed. Most of the book is about how to make top-quality distilled liquor, though, and a lot more. Even if you aren't interested in pursuing distilling as a hobby, by understanding something about the process that goes into making liquor, you'll appreciate your next shot of Scotch or bourbon a little bit more. I promise.

Victoria Redhed Miller is also the author of Pure Poultry: Living Well with Heritage Chickens, Turkeys and Ducks

Link: http://www.newsociety.com/blog/2016/Making-Liquor-Legally-at-Home

George Carlin on Fat People

 Slow Death by Fast Food

Link: https://youtu.be/nLRQvK2-iqQ

"Vegans Are Too Weak and Are Too Low Energy To Train With Me," says Ido ...

 

 

Published on Apr 23, 2014

http://foodnsport.com
Ido
Portal, a phenomenal practitioner of movement, refuses to work and
train with vegans, claiming that all vegans are too weak and have too
low energy to train at elite fitness levels.

Perhaps Ido hasn't
met the vegans that are on this YouTube channel. Tim Shieff, vegan and
world champion free running champion allays the concerns held by many
that going vegan involves losing strength and stamina.

Check out Tim's channel
http://youtube.com/livewire

Connect with Dr. Graham & FoodnSport:

Web - http://foodnsport.com
Facebook - http://facebook.com/foodnsport
Twitter - http://twitter.com/foodnsport

What do you get with The 80/10/10 Diet?
-peak performance for any athlete
-perfect weight no matter what your body type
-off-the-charts wellness
-success with a low-fat vegan raw food diet
-simplicity in your lifestyle
-a healthy relationship with your food
-and enviable vitality

Order your copy of The 80/10/10 Diet at
http://foodnsport.com/store/the-80-10...

Link: https://youtu.be/X7YH7usafZY

The use of physicians in Camel advertisements

The use of physicians in Camel advertisements could not be sustained as the health evidence against cigarettes accumulated.

“The Doctors’ Choice Is America’s Choice”

The Physician in US Cigarette Advertisements, 1930–1953

Martha N. Gardner, PhD and Allan M. Brandt, PhD

In the 1930s and 1940s, smoking became the norm for both men and women in the United States, and a majority of physicians smoked. At the same time, there was rising public anxiety about the health risks of cigarette smoking. One strategic response of tobacco companies was to devise advertising referring directly to physicians. As ad campaigns featuring physicians developed through the early 1950s, tobacco executives used the doctor image to assure the consumer that their respective brands were safe.

These advertisements also suggested that the individual physicians’ clinical judgment should continue to be the arbiter of the harms of cigarette smoking even as systematic health evidence accumulated. However, by 1954, industry strategists deemed physician images in advertisements no longer credible in the face of growing public concern about the health evidence implicating cigarettes.

 Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470496/#__sec2title

High-fat diets can lead to depression

High-fat diets can lead to depression: study

AFP RELAXNEWS

Friday, March 27, 2015, 9:27 AM

Diets high in fat can lead to not only weight gain and heart disease, but depression and behavior changes, according to a new study at Louisiana State University.
These changes come about due to the high-fat diet's affect on the gut microbiome, according to the study.
The microbiome is a term used to describe the overall composition of microorganisms that reside in the intestinal tract, most of which are necessary for normal physiological functioning, although poor diversification can lead to health problems.
Working with mice, the research team set out to test whether an obesity-related microbiome could also affect behavior and mood.
They transferred the gut microbiota from mice that had been fed either a high-fat diet or a control diet into adult mice of normal weight that had been kept on a normal diet.
Recipient mice were kept under observation and researchers evaluated them for behavior and cognitive change.
Those who had received microbiota shaped by a high-fat diet underwent behavioral changes indicating increased anxiety and impaired memory.
They also engaged in repetitive behaviors and exhibited signs of physiological malaise such as inflammation.
"This paper suggests that high-fat diets impair brain health, in part, by disrupting the symbiotic relationship between humans and the microorganisms that occupy our gastrointestinal tracks," says Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry, in which the study was recently published.
Even in the absence of obesity, changes to the microbiota brought upon by a high-fat diet could alter brain function, according to the study, whose findings support prior research.
The research team says it's possible their study reveals the potential application of the gut microbiome to treat neuropsychiatric disorders.

Tags:

health studies ,

mental health ,

healthy eating

Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/high-fat-diets-lead-depression-study-article-1.2164286