Chill Out Drinks Are The New Cool Beverage
Eunju Lie reports on the new trend in beverages for Reuters:
Sales of “relaxation drinks” with names like Vacation in a Bottle, Dream Water and Just Chill, while small, are growing. “There is clear potential for further growth in the coming years,” said Cecilia Martinez, market analyst at UK-based beverage research group Zenith International.
Relaxation drinks help the body chill out by relieving muscle tension and reducing levels of cortisone, the main stress hormone, according to a report that Martinez wrote about the drinks earlier this year.
The drinks, which evolved in Japan as far back as 2005, contain no alcohol but some have melatonin, a hormone that can cause drowsiness. The biggest relaxation brands include Innovative Beverage Group’s Drank, Purple Stuff and Jones GABA.
Another called Slow Cow is up and coming…
America Just Keeps Getting Fatter
Melissa Healy reports on a comprehensive state-by-state report titled ‘F as in Fat,’ for the Los Angeles Times:
America continues to get fatter, according to a comprehensive new report on the nation’s weight crisis. Statistics for 2008-2010 show that 16 states are experiencing steep increases in adult obesity, and none has seen a notable downturn in the last four years.
Meanwhile, cases of Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure that health experts have long warned would result from the nation’s broadening girth and sedentary ways are becoming increasingly widespread, according to the report, titled “F as in Fat,” released Thursday.
Even Coloradans, long the nation’s slimmest citizens, are gaining excess pounds. With an obese population of 19.8% — it is the only state with an adult obesity rate below 20% — Colorado remains the caboose on the nation’s huffing, puffing train to fat land.
But in just the last four years, the ranks…
One Quarter Of American Teens Drink Soda Every Day
For those of you wondering why America’s greatest threat is obesity, this is at least part of the answer, although the CDC is spinning it as good news. From AP via Yahoo News:
A new study shows one in four high school students drink soda every day — a sign fewer teens are downing the sugary drinks… That’s less than in the past. In the 1990s and early 2000s, more than three-quarters of teens were having a sugary drink each day, according to earlier research.
The CDC reported the figures Thursday, based on a national survey last year of more than 11,000 high school students. They appear in one of the federal agency’s publications, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Consumption of sugary drinks is considered a big public health problem, and has been linked to the U.S. explosion in childhood obesity. One study of Massachusetts schoolchildren found that for each additional sweet drink…
Only In America: Purchase A Giant Pepsi To Raise Money For Diabetes Research
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has confirmed that this is a real promotion occurring now at KFCs across the country. Gulp down a “mega jug” of Pepsi — that’s a half gallon containing 56 spoonfuls of sugar — and one whole dollar will go towards finding a cure for the terrible disease that the drink will give you. Via Grist:
I honestly didn’t believe this one was for real at first. No way even KFC, purveyors of a sandwich that uses fried meat as a delivery mechanism for fried meat, would seriously market a soda size called the “mega jug.” And even if they did, they’d never have the chutzpah to donate “mega jug” dollars to juvenile diabetes research.
Sadly, I had totally underestimated KFC’s capacity for irony. The mega jug is a half gallon of soda, and this is a real local promotion. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation defends it thus: “JDRF…
Do Students Eat Like Prisoners?
Good Magazine looks at the similarity between prison meals and children’s school cafeteria food — both rich in starch-y/milk-y goodness, and costing around $2.65 per day to provide. It should also be pointed out that both children and prisoners are daily confined to small spaces and given little opportunity to burn off these massive calorie counts. I suppose school is intended to be practice for where the kids will eventually end up?
Does A Low-Salt Diet Really Feed A Healthy Heart?
Has your doctor always told you that a low sodium diet will help keep your heart healthy? You may have to take that advice with a grain of salt. Gina Kolata at The New York Times reports:
A new study found that low-salt diets increase the risk of death from heart attacks and strokes and do not prevent high blood pressure, but the research’s limitations mean the debate over the effects of salt in the diet is far from over.
In fact, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention felt so strongly that the study was flawed that they criticized it in an interview, something they normally do not do.
Dr. Peter Briss, a medical director at the centers, said that the study was small; that its subjects were relatively young, with an average age of 40 at the start; and that with few cardiovascular events, it was hard to draw conclusions. And the…
More Than 50% Of Americans Take Dietary Supplements
Photo: Ragesoss (CC)
The proliferation of vitamins and diet supplements is healthy for the companies that flog them, but is it really beneficial for the hundreds of millions of people consuming them? Madison Park (real name, apparently, as I write a stone’s throw from Madison Square Park in NYC) reports for CNN:
As more than half of U.S. adults are popping vitamins and supplements, the question remains — has it made Americans healthier?
That depends on whom you ask.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that more of half of U.S. adults use dietary supplements — including multivitamins, minerals and herbs.
That rise, from 42% in 1988 to 53% in 2006, has fueled the growth of the supplement industry to a $27 billion behemoth, according to Consumer Reports.
Dietary supplements are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the same way as drugs. The makers do not have to prove…
Coffee Is Good For Your Heart. Really.
Photo: Julius Schorzman (CC)
For all your coffee addicts out there, some surprisingly good news. Too good to be true? Elane Conis reports for the Los Anegeles Times:
Looking for a reason to not give up your coffee habit? Here’s one possibility: heart health.
Numerous studies in recent years have reported that drinking coffee may be good for the cardiovascular system and might even help prevent strokes. Just last month, Swedish researchers announced results of a large study showing that coffee seemed to reduce the risk of stroke in women by up to 25%.
Not long ago, researchers thought quite the opposite about coffee and the heart, says Dr. Thomas Hemmen, director of the UC San Diego Stroke Center: “Coffee is fun and it tastes good, so people assumed for many years that it would be bad for you.”
Studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s offered little in the way of confirmation or refutation.…
Caramel Coloring In Coke Causes Cancer
Photo Credit: Jorge Bach, CSPI
A few days ago it was revealed that diet soda can trigger strokes in regular drinkers of the sweet fizzy beverages. Now the Center for Science in the Public Interest is petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prohibit what it says is carcinogenic “caramel coloring” (that is, not real caramel but synthetic, chemical “caramel”):
The “caramel coloring” used in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other foods is contaminated with two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned, according to a regulatory petition filed today by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
In contrast to the caramel one might make at home by melting sugar in a saucepan, the artificial brown coloring in colas and some other products is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperatures. Chemical reactions result in the formation of 2-methylimidazole and 4 methylimidazole, which in government-conducted studies caused lung, liver,…
Negative Health Effects Of Sports And Energy Drinks
Photo: Grendelkhan (CC)
Scientists at University of Miami School of Medicine have reviewed the effects, adverse consequences, and extent of energy-drink consumption among children, adolescents, and young adults. Here’s what they found in their study:
RESULTS According to self-report surveys, energy drinks are consumed by 30% to 50% of adolescents and young adults. Frequently containing high and unregulated amounts of caffeine, these drinks have been reported in association with serious adverse effects, especially in children, adolescents, and young adults with seizures, diabetes, cardiac abnormalities, or mood and behavioral disorders or those who take certain medications. Of the 5448 US caffeine overdoses reported in 2007, 46% occurred in those younger than 19 years. Several countries and states have debated or restricted their sales and advertising.
CONCLUSIONS Energy drinks have no therapeutic benefit, and many ingredients are understudied and not regulated. The known and unknown pharmacology of agents included in such drinks, combined with reports of toxicity,…
Drinking Diet Soda Increases Risk Of Stroke
No matter what new chemical concoctions the corporate food companies put in “diet” (i.e. low calorie) carbonated beverages (variously known as soda, pop or other terms depending on where you live) to replace sugar, it’s not natural and it’s not good for you. Just think of the various health risks later discovered from saccharin and aspartame. Now it turns out that stroke is another of the health hazards. Stick to sugar — in moderation! From the South Asia Mail:
New research is raising fresh worries about diet soft drinks, noting that people who drink them every day have a higher risk for strokes and heart attacks compared to those who drink no pop at all.
But the researchers are quick to point out that their study does not prove that diet soft drinks cause heart attacks or strokes. They note there could be other aspects about diet pop drinkers that accounts for…
Does Eating Junk Food Make Children Dumber?
Tragically, when kids are fed junk food, their developing brains may suffer as a result. (Thus producing dim-minded adults who gobble more junk food, in an endless cycle?)
After controlling for every socioeconomic factor they could think of, researchers found that young children with diets heavy in processed foods grew to have lower IQs than similar children who ate more healthily, The Week writes:
Researchers at England’s University of Bristol found that a child’s eating habits at age 3 may influence his cognitive abilities at age 8. Toddler diets high in fat and sugar were associated with lower IQ scores, while healthier eating was tied to higher scores. The report, which appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, is being billed as “the first study to suggest a direct link between the diet of young children and their brainpower” years later.
The researchers examined data on nearly 4,000 children born in the…
How To Reverse Diabetes
Potentially massive news for those who suffer Type 2 diabetes — you may be able to reverse it, without the “help” of Big Pharma and their medications. Val Willingham reports for CNN:
When Jonathan Legg of Bethesda, Maryland, got a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at 39, he was shocked. “I had always been pretty active,” said Legg. “But it was a big wake-up call, that what I was doing and my current weight were not OK.”
That was two years ago. Since that time, the Morgan Stanley executive decided to make some changes and reverse his diabetes. Although his doctor recommended he go on medication to control his illness, Legg took a different approach…
New Years Resolution, Diets And Obesity
New Years is a celebration of starting over, the time when many people make resolutions to improve the following year. The most popular resolution in America is to lose weight and be more healthy. According to disinformation’s book 50 Facts That Should Change the USA, written by Stephen Fender, it is also the least kept resolution. With Fact #40: 65% of American adults are overweight, 30% are obese, and these proportions are growing, Americans should reconsider how they keep their resolutions throughout the whole year:
65% of American Adults Are Overweight, 30% Are Obese, And These Proportions Are Growing
“I myself am very well in body, mind spirits, quite stout,” an immigrant wrote from Pittsburgh to his brother back in Manchester, England in 1837. “I weigh 182 lbs so you may think how I am, a man of my size. Am very corpulent.” Those were the days—when fat was a sign of success…
As Many As A Third Of Americans Will Have Diabetes By 2050
The blue circle symbol used to represent diabetes
Obesity truly is the “Killer At Large.” If this statistic won’t stop people from consuming vast quantities of HCFC-laced junk food and soda, I don’t know what will. From Reuters:
Up to a third of U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050 if Americans continue to gain weight and avoid exercise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected on Friday.
The numbers are certain to go up as the population gets older, but they will accelerate even more unless Americans change their behavior, the CDC said.
“We project that, over the next 40 years, the prevalence of total diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in the United States will increase from its current level of about one in 10 adults to between one in five and one in three adults in 2050,” the CDC’s James Boyle and colleagues wrote in their report.
“These are alarming numbers that show…
The Addictive Opioids In Wheat And Dairy Foods
Photo: Janine Chedid (CC)
A 2008 article from Brad Weeks, MD, on his blog WeeksMD.com:
In Short: Wheat- and dairy products contain opioid peptides influencing endorphin receptors in the brain. These peptides are physically addictive, causing dependence, asthma, obesity, apathy, ignorance and numbness. The same goes for beta-carbolines from prepared food.
To be sharp and investigative, you ought to consume neither dairy- nor wheat-products. You don’t need those ‘foods’ at all.
To obtain all required nutrients and to remain sharp and investigative; consume as much fruits (there are about 6000 different fruits), and some fresh raw animal food regularly (like sashimi or egg yolk). And for munch-food; only consume what you really, really love to eat (and not because they say it’s healthy), containing little protein, but much fat and / or sugar, satisfying your cravings for munch-food.
In Detail: Zombies
Look around you; don’t you see many zombies ?
Why do so many people act like…
High Fructose Corn Syrup Changes Name To ‘Corn Sugar’
Who are they kidding? It’s not sugar and it’s not natural! From Fast Company’s Co.Design:
Cast as an evil, oozing harbinger of obesity and diabetes, sales of high fructose corn syrup have seen a downward spiral as companies swap the over-processed sweetener for healthier-sounding ingredients. So what’s the solution for the industry, according to the Corn Refiners Association? Change the name. To “corn sugar.” And presto! What was once a scary sounding goo becomes more natural-sounding, just as sweet and pure as cane sugar.
A new Web site and campaign rebranding HFCS as the innocuous term was launched today in the hopes that they will get FDA approval to change the name on food labeling. Over at CornSugar.com, ads and imagery of a maze mowed through corn fields symbolizes the path of misdirected customers confused by current labeling systems, as quotes from dietitians float helpfully above. (The Corn Refiners Association also own Corn.org and the icky-sounding SweetSurprise.com.)
[A brand-new ad, touting the subtle rebranding]
“This seems to be a last-ditch attempt to…
Michelle Obama Program Blames Sony PlayStation For Making America’s Children Fat
A great post from disinformation friend and neighbor Nicholas Deleon, over at Crunchgear:
Consuming more calories than you use makes you fat. That’s a fact, Jack. Figuring out where these calories come from, OK, that’s a noble endeavor, but let’s not pretend there’s anything secret going on here. Like, you see this graphic here? It’s the winner of some Michelle Obama-headed design contest to help folks figure out how to best fight childhood obesity. And you’ll see the PlayStation completely demonized, as if Sony itself is somehow responsible for little kids packing on the pounds.
The chart, part of the Let’s Move program (and you’ll want to see the full-res version), highlights a few bad guys, including the use of high fructose corn syrup in soda, the launch of Super Size-sized foods at McDonalds, the increase in screen-watching hours, and, yes, the launch of the Sony PlayStation.
Surely Nintendo and Microsoft are thrilled with the award-winning…
What’s So Great About Organic Food?
Organic food comes with real health benefits and significant costs. TIME looks at both sides of the debate:
Looking for a quick way to feel lousy about yourself? Then forget the idea of a healthy diet and just eat what your body wants you to eat. Your body wants meat; your body wants fat; your body wants salt and sugar. Your body will put up with fruits and vegetables if it must, but only after all the meat, fat, salt and sugar are gone. And as for the question of where your food comes from — whether it’s locally grown, sustainably raised, grass-fed, free range or pesticide-free? Your body doesn’t give a hoot.
But you and your body aren’t the only ones with a stake in this game. Your doctor has opinions about what you should eat. So does your family. And so too do the food purists who lately seem to be…
Want To Lose Weight? Simple – Drink Water!
Photo: Matthew Bowden (www.digitallyrefreshing.com)
Can it really be this easy? It certainly won’t cost much to try it out (just don’t use bottled water!). From Business Week:
Close the diet books and skip the pills. The latest weight-loss trick may be as simple as gulping a couple of glasses of water before you eat.
A new study found that middle-aged and older adults who drank two cups of water before each meal consumed fewer calories and lost more weight than those who skipped drinking water.
Researchers divided two groups of overweight and obese men and women aged 55 to 75 into two groups: one group was told to follow a low-fat, low-calorie diet; the other group was told to follow the same diet and to drink two cups of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner.
After 12 weeks, those who drank water before meals had lost 15.5 pounds, compared to 11 pounds for the non-water…
