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The 6 Weirdest, Scariest Processed Foods

Brad Reed
Alternet
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:10 UTC
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Once upon a time, some brave scientists had a noble dream of ridding our food of the plague of nutrients.

Today, at the start of the 21st century, the miracle of food processing has brought that dream closer to reality than ever before. From vitamin-free "blueberry bits" to spray-can cheese to avocado-free guacamole, food scientists have worked tirelessly to bring us new and exciting foods that contain as little nutrition as possible. Even apparently "healthy" foods such as soups have been ingeniously overloaded with so much salt you feel as if you're eating French fries.

In this article, we'll provide a handy guide to six uniquely unnatural processed foods that will hopefully serve as a blueprint for humanity's eventual triumph over the tyrannical fist of Mother Nature.
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Blackbox

Obese Children Taken Off At-Risk Register After Genes Found to be At Fault

Mark Henderson
Times Online
Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:00 UTC
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© Bethany Clarke/The TimesChildren taking part in activities at a residential weight-loss camp near Leeds
Two children considered to be at risk of abuse because they are severely obese have been removed from the protection register after scientists discovered that they carry a newly identified genetic abnormality that explains their weight.

Evidence from a ground-breaking study has convinced social workers that the children's obesity was not caused by parental neglect or deliberate overfeeding but by a missing segment of DNA. The cases of another two children on the at-risk register have also been placed under review, after research showed them to have the same genetic deletion.

The children's weights were in the top 1 to 2 per cent for their age. An 8-year-old child in this category would weigh at least 11st (70kg), and a 10-year-old child at least 15st (95kg). Scientists behind the research told The Times that while genetic mutations that cause obesity are very rare, they may be more common among children who are extremely obese and who attract the attention of social services.
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People

My Generation Created the Sexual Revolution and It Has Been Wrecking the Lives of Women Ever Since

Bel Mooney
Daily Mail
Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:06 UTC
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© CosmopolitanSex mad: A mock up of a Cosmopolitan magazine cover, showing cover lines from recent editions
When the novelist Martin Amis said recently that it was the sexual revolution of the Sixties and Seventies that destroyed his 'pathologically promiscuous' sister Sally, an alcoholic who died in 2000 aged 46, he provoked a wave of controversy. His views were ridiculed by his critics, who claimed that his sister 'was out of control. It was her doing, not the culture.'

Well, I was part of that culture too. As a university student between 1966 and 1969, I experienced first-hand the impact of the sexual revolution, and the sweeping changes it wrought between men and women.

To suggest any individual was immune from that tidal wave of change, or from the pressures that came with it, for women in particular, is frankly wrong.
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Shoe

Sound Body Equals Sound Mind, Study Finds

Charles Q. Choi
LiveScience
Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:26 UTC
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© DreamstimeExercise improves blood flow to the brain and may help build new brain cells, recent studies show.
A new study proves the old Roman saying, "A sound mind in a sound body" - the more fit one's heart is, the more one's brain seems to benefit, scientists now find.

Many earlier studies have linked physical exercise with brainpower in humans and animals, but most of the research in people focused on children or older adults. The few studies of young adulthood - when the brain changes rapidly, establishing many traits linked with intelligence - have yielded ambiguous data.

To help resolve this conflict, in a massive study, researchers investigated nearly all Swedish men born between 1950 and 1976 who were conscripted at age 18 into military service, which is compulsory in Sweden.
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Roses

Village Shows 'Good Life' Holds Secret to Long Life

Andrew Hough
Telegraph.co.uk
Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:07 UTC
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© SWNSResidents of Montacute claim growing their own fruit and vegetables is the secret to longevity
Residents of Montacute, near Yeovil, boasting England's best life expectancy have disclosed that growing their own fruit and vegetables is the secret to longevity

The Somerset village has been found in a national study of three million pension records to have the longest life expectancy in the country.

The 680 residents will, on average, live until at least 89.

Montacute scored the highest with a mortality score of 6.4 while Bootle, in Merseyside, scored the lowest with 15.3.

The study, by international business consultancy Watson Wyatt, analyzed the records to break down life expectancy for older people in the UK by postcode.
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Magnify

Slim-Fast Warning: Bacterial Contamination Leads to Nationwide Recall of Processed "Junk" Beverage

Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:00 UTC
If you drink Slim-Fast and suffer from diarrhea, cramps and vomiting, now there's a new reason for such effects, beyond the simple fact that Slim-Fast is made primarily from processed milk and sugar water: All Slim-Fast beverages have just been recalled by the manufacturer due to possible contamination by Bacillus cereus.

A recall notice posted on the FDA website explains, "The recall involves all Slim-Fast RTD products in cans, regardless of flavor, Best-By date, lot code or UPC number."

"The probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote," says the FDA. But they mean from the bacteria. The possibility of serious adverse health consequences from the other ingredients in Slim-Fast is a whole different matter (see below).
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Now You Can Even Die Green: Biodegradable Eco-Coffins Introduced in U.S.

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00 UTC
A Colorado-based company is now offering U.S. consumers the option of being buried in a fully biodegradable casket made out of banana sheaves and bamboo.

"As more and more American families and communities look for eco-friendly solutions to everything in life, Ecoffins provides fitting tributes to those choosing to honor their environmentally conscious lifestyle at the time of their death," says the company, Ecoffins USA, on its Web site.

According to Ecoffins USA's marketing director, Joanna Passarelli, the coffins have proved particularly popular in New Mexico, where there is strong support for eco-friendly ceremonies. Passarelli says that the company has also found interest among Jewish and Muslim communities.

Jewish and Muslim tradition discourages anything that would prevent the body from returning quickly naturally to the earth, such as embalming or cremation. This sentiment is shared with supporters of natural burial.
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Magnify

Juggle to Improve Your Brain

Laura Weldon
NaturalNews
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00 UTC
Juggling boosts brain development in surprising ways. This type of hands-on learning accelerates the growth of nerve connections in the brain's white as well as grey matter.

Researchers at the University of Oxford provided juggling training materials to 24 people who agreed to practice half an hour daily for six weeks. Using diffusion tensor imaging, a type of scan that shows the structure of the brain's white matter, these novice jugglers were scanned before and after the training period. The same scans were also performed on a control group of 24 people who did not attempt to learn juggling.

Previous studies conducted by the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, found that juggling increases the brain's grey matter, where nerve cell bodies are contained. Grey matter gets all the attention in learning studies. It has proven connections to memory, language, focus---all the important details involved in thinking. But this project looked instead at the brain's white matter, where densely packed nerve fibers conduct impulses from the cell bodies.
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Magnify

Study Reveals Stronger Muscles Lead to Better Brain Function

Ethan Huff
NaturalNews
Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00 UTC
A recent study published in the November 2009 issue of Archives of Neurology revealed that the greater muscle strength a person has, the more likely he or she is to maintain proper cognitive function over time. The study examined 970 men and women and found that those individuals who ranked in the top ten percent for muscle strength were 61 percent less likely to develop progressive cognitive degeneration when compared to those in the bottom ten percent.

Dr. Patricia Boyle, the author of the study, and her research colleagues from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago examined men and women between the ages of 54 and 100, testing their strength in nine different muscle categories. The study patients were followed for a period of four years in which their cognitive capabilities were examined along the way. The stronger patients were found to have maintained the best brain function.

The research team performed a similar study back in June that investigated the link between motor decline and participation in social activities. The report revealed a significant increase in cognitive degeneration among those who participated the least in social activities.
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Monkey Wrench

Swine flu publicity means uptick in OCD symptoms

Caryn Brooks
Fosters.com
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:34 UTC
All those swine flu warnings have made a difference: People are washing their hands more, whipping out hand sanitizer and giving the stink-eye to coughers in their proximity.

But for people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, all the talk about germs has been ominous. People who treat those affected with OCD are seeing an uptick in those seeking help.

"We've gotten more calls this year - there is no doubt. And a large percentage of those callers talk about H1N1 contamination," says Ellen Sawyer, executive director of the education and support organization OCD Chicago.
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