tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373558062012-04-15T17:51:33.377-06:00Critical examinations of studies and news on food, weight, health and healthcare that mainstream media misses. Debunks popular myths, explains science and exposes fraud that affects your health. Plus some fun food for thought. For readers not afraid to question and think critically to get to the truth.Sandynoreply@blogger.comBlogger1234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-15119197068187876602012-01-28T05:44:00.001-07:002012-01-29T10:31:36.702-07:00

Dear Readers,Thank you, again, for your letters of support. As you know, I continue to passionately believe everyone deserves sound information about their bodies and health, food and the world we live in. That is especially important in today's sea of junk science, disinformation, political and marketing agendas, and media hype. My personal commitment is unchanged and I hope to be able to return

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-16368996634491638292009-10-16T04:57:00.002-06:002009-10-16T05:12:08.495-06:00

Most heart disease occurs in healthy people without traditional risk factors and who aren’t considered to be at risk. That has led healthy people without symptoms to feel vulnerable to this ‘silent killer’ and seek ways to see if they could be at risk. The biggest growth industry of preventive health screenings are tests for an array of “emerging” cardiac risk factors. While these tests are

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-81594382421508815522009-10-04T15:24:00.007-06:002010-01-18T23:28:18.898-07:00

Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a healthcare reform amendment that would penalize employees who are not following “healthy lifestyles” and participating in wellness programs. Employers will be allowed to raise healthcare premiums by as much as 50 percent for workers who are fat, smoke, don’t exercise, are noncompliant with preventive care, and not meeting certain health measures

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-11682014504078724872009-09-27T14:52:00.021-06:002009-09-28T05:28:07.800-06:00

According to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s Annual Report, claims in 2008 reached $10.7 Billion — half the entire budget for the state of North Carolina. Claims increased nearly three times the growth in health plan members. Claims also cost the State Health Plan more than $200 million over that budgeted. Politicians had believed that preventive wellness and managed care in the State

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-44259096777001669142009-09-19T08:20:00.017-06:002009-09-19T09:37:11.038-06:00

Two New Mexico nurses have paid a heavy price for following their consciences and the basic tenet of the nurse’s Code of Ethics — the ethical duty to protect and advocate for the rights, health and safety of patients. After unsuccessfully going up the chain of command at the Winkler County Memorial Hospital, a small West Texas hospital in Kermit, Texas, they made an anonymous report to the Texas

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-17911351753187120772009-09-13T22:39:00.017-06:002009-09-14T06:06:13.311-06:00

Do you have friends who say that they feel physically sick and develop headaches, heart palpitations, nausea and dizziness when they eat sugar or anything with high fructose corn syrup? Do you know others who report feeling tired, bloated and nauseous when they eat meat or saturated fats, especially fatty meats processed with nitrates? Do you know people who say that they feel less energetic or

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-32403133432282457472009-09-12T23:32:00.000-06:002009-09-13T01:41:05.177-06:00

You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery. — Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug (1914-2009) One man is credited with saving more lives than any other person in world history. Born to Norwegian migrant parents in his grandparent’s Iowa farmhouse, Dr. Norman Ernest Borlaug grew up during the Great Depression and the hunger he witnessed had a profound effect on him. He devoted

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-42369120966289704452009-09-11T00:01:00.003-06:002009-09-11T06:19:03.397-06:00

America Attacked 911 Dedicated to the men, women and children who lost their lives, those brave people who gave their lives, and the heroes who responded to the emergency 11 September 2001. We will never forget you.911 Phone Calls

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-64610021863527428642009-09-09T22:39:00.015-06:002009-09-10T05:31:57.334-06:00

The flu season is winding down in Australia, where their winter is nearing end. How did the expert claims, speculations and predictions of the deadly pandemic hold up to the facts? Three months ago, public health experts and even the President of the Australian Medical Association were warning that one-third of the population would get swine flu. As late as last month, the Australian

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-82667297711526743672009-09-07T21:52:00.006-06:002009-09-07T22:19:47.769-06:00

Clinical guidelines are used to measure the quality of care provided by physicians and are purportedly evidence-based. National childhood overweight and obesity policies in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia call for primary care physicians and pediatricians to monitor children’s BMIs and to counsel youngsters with BMIs ≥85th percentile and their families on diet, physical activity,

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-64447441106382724912009-09-07T07:44:00.007-06:002009-09-07T08:58:25.313-06:00

The health story for this Labor Day is the health of our labor force. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest employment figures on Friday. The unemployment rate jumped to 9.7% in August — a 26-year high — as payrolls fell by another 216,000 jobs. A total of 14.9 million Americans are now listed as unemployed, with an additional 9.1 million working at

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-90356083201413061082009-09-06T13:40:00.023-06:002009-09-06T18:09:59.586-06:00

The flu season has barely begun and yet the panic is already in full swing with 186,933 media stories about H1N1 and 47,159 news stories about the swine flu currently at Google News.* Do you know what is missing among the widespread pandemic alarm in the media and coming from government agencies, pharmaceutical and other stakeholders? The scientific evidence being reported by medical

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-17583917117465301592009-09-05T13:33:00.004-06:002009-12-25T07:07:23.292-07:00

The best quotes of the week: “You can’t trust your eyes. You never could.” — Russ White “When you live in a world heavily focused on the way things look, it’s increasingly important to focus on what is, and ignore, intentionally, the way things look.” “[P]eople don't dream collective dreams. People are individuals, with unique experience, genetic makeup and destinies. One size does not fit

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-86370697259399021092009-09-03T22:13:00.013-06:002009-09-04T05:07:03.975-06:00

On August 14th, mainstream media was reporting that osteoporosis-linked fractures have dramatically increased over the past decade. Among 723 news stories, not one questioned the study behind the news. The public not only lost an opportunity to learn the facts, but a valuable take-home lesson. According to a syndicated Reuters Health story, the number of Americans hospitalized for

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-76474626593075746402009-08-30T18:52:00.013-06:002009-09-02T05:27:23.844-06:00

The healthcare reform debate has become so discordant, it’s even been said to be a sign of a larger, irreconcilable ideological abyss growing in our country. In this environment, it can be hard to sort out the endless reports all claiming to debunk the myths surrounding healthcare reform proposals. There is one simple way to tell the difference between reports that are written to support an

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-283094799587984492009-08-23T07:26:00.005-06:002009-08-23T08:53:07.588-06:00

Millions of Americans have received emails and read blogs and commentary on social media sites and never realized that what they were reading was carefully crafted marketing messages from the government — paid for with their tax dollars and manipulating them to support government agendas, programs and legislation. Today’s news exposed that the White House had hired a private social marketing

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-57137275779656832122009-08-20T06:39:00.008-06:002009-08-20T22:07:26.763-06:00

Once again, the biggest health story of the year has found that we are healthier and living longer than in the history of our country. The latest vital statistics data from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics was just released. It is based on statistics representing 91 percent of the demographic file and 87 percent of medical records for all deaths in the United States in 2007. This

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-89220120144975081252009-08-19T21:54:00.008-06:002009-08-19T22:22:52.605-06:00

“Diversity” and “acceptance” have become politically correct ideas and appear in countless employee policy manuals and mission statements of nonprofit groups. As well-intentioned as they may be, they also hold a troubling side. As we’ve seen, advocacy for stigmatized groups can disguise and foster prejudices of the very same group. Seldom recognized is that behind “diversity” and “acceptance”

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-35064235102882728092009-08-17T01:36:00.012-06:002009-08-17T05:11:29.611-06:00

Scientific literacy isn’t the stuff found in a science textbook. That’s science literacy — and, while understanding the principles of science is important too, it’s not as important as knowing how to think and reason. Scientific literacy means the scientific process — also known as thinking critically and logically. It’s a way to carefully look at information, question ideas and test them, and

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-8087558973923279812009-08-12T22:12:00.019-06:002009-08-14T05:49:16.393-06:00

Before continuing with the obesity paradox series, one of the most important null studies of the year deserves mention… especially since the media universally ignored it. As the body mass index (BMI) is finally being recognized as an uncredible measure of health or predictive of premature death, other measures of body fat are being promoted because everyone “knows” that fat is unhealthy. It’

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-90984602098640297322009-08-11T23:04:00.003-06:002009-08-11T23:22:41.330-06:00

Dr. Rich hosts this week’s issue of Medical Grand Rounds. The topic is cost containment in healthcare reform. The commentary was true to his reputation for sharp, stinging humor. Good sarcasm is hard to do because if the audience doesn’t understand the issue, it can be taken all wrong. In the introduction, Dr. Rich (retired cardiologist Dr. Richard N. Fogoros, M.D.) reminded readers that

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-60126078394704714232009-08-08T08:32:00.003-06:002009-08-08T09:27:00.828-06:00

If more medical professionals shared with the public what it’s like to care for patients covered by managed care plans, the reason most doctors find it incompatible with medical ethics would be more widely understood. By controlling what care is available, managed care rations care and decides which lives are worth expending money to save. But government rationing is quiet, behind the scenes and

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-72312323308106923292009-08-02T21:45:00.023-06:002009-08-05T22:30:48.615-06:00

An ongoing debate has been unfolding among the public and medical professionals about whether the healthcare reform bill really requires mandatory counseling for every senior that will steer them to make advance healthcare decisions that could end their lives sooner, perhaps in order to lower healthcare costs. While quick reactions have come from both sides of the issue, few people have read

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-75381415457243212462009-07-30T23:23:00.027-06:002009-08-01T07:40:31.590-06:00

If anti-obesity news coverage has seemed to get a shot in the arm the past few days, you might want to know why. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity has literally given it an injection of media stories, even down to free graphics and banners, with its inaugural obesity conference, Weight of the Nation, held in Washington, D.C. on

Sandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355806.post-25763893395754081082009-07-27T06:10:00.012-06:002009-07-27T22:22:22.971-06:00

We can never be allowed to hear good news about our health. The government won’t allow it. “Such is the strength of cultural miserabilism today that even the most smile-inducing good news stories can swiftly be turned into doom-laden tales about the terrible future humanity faces,” wrote Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked. Reporting on the latest U.S. Census Bureau report, finding that advances

Sandynoreply@blogger.com