Comment: Vaping is unnatural and currently unregulated by the FDA, that alone should raise red flags. If you are still undecided about the safety of E-cigarettes, you may find the articles below informative:

• Vaping damages DNA and may increase cancer risks, says study

As part of their tests, mice were exposed to e-cigarette smoke (ECS) for three months at a dose and duration equivalent to light e-cigarette smoking for 10 years in humans. The exposure led to DNA damage in the animals' lungs, bladders and hearts. It also retarded DNA repair functions and proteins in the lungs.

• Chemicals in flavored e-cigs linked to lung disease

Researchers at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed various e-cig and vape pen liquids for the presence of three related chemicals — diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin — that are also used in artificial butter flavorings. By the turn of the 21st century, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had deemed diacetyl safe to eat, but little was known about what happened when a person inhales it. Then, in the early 2000s, workers at several plants that manufacture microwave popcorn came down with a nasty lung disease after prolonged exposure to the fake-butter fumes.

• Vaping poses health risks: New study finds e-cigs raise risk of stroke, heart disease, and heart attacks by up to 70%

The latest study, conducted by the American Heart Association, found that heart attacks are nearly 60 percent more common among vapers, who are at a 71 percent higher risk of stroke.

[...]

The same group was at a 59 percent higher risk of having a heart attack or angina. And they were at 40 percent greater risk of developing heart disease.

• All e-cigarettes emit harmful chemicals, but some emit more than others

The study, which was published in Environmental Science & Technology, found that the thermal decomposition of propylene glycol and glycerin, two solvents found in most "e-liquids" (the substance that is vaporized by the e-cigarette), leads to emissions of toxic chemicals such as acrolein and formaldehyde.

[...]

However, there have been few if any studies on the safety of heating and inhaling propylene glycol and glycerin. "People are not drinking the liquids--they're vaping them," said Sleiman. "So what counts is the vapor."

The researchers vaporized liquids consisting solely of the solvents to verify that they were the source of the emissions. In all, the researchers detected significant levels of 31 harmful chemical compounds, including two that had never been previously found in e-cigarette vapor--propylene oxide and glycidol, both of which are probable carcinogens.

• E-cig vapor disables key immune cells in the lung and increases inflammation

Exposure to the condensate increased cell death and boosted production of oxygen free radicals by a factor of 50, and it significantly increased the production of inflammatory chemicals-more so when the condensate contained nicotine.

What's more, the ability of cells exposed to vaped condensate to engulf bacteria was significantly impaired, although treatment with an antioxidant restored this function and helped lessen some of the other harmful effects.

The researchers conclude that the vaping process itself can damage vital immune system cells, at least under laboratory conditions.

Comment: Asthma and crystals: Scientists solve a century-old mystery that could treat airway inflammation

Comment: Document dump: Lawsuit reveals extent of DuPont's C8 cover-up

The documents show that DuPont was well aware of the dangers of C8 dating all the way back to 1961, and in many instances, their own environmental lawyers privately questioned the company's decision to pretend that a problem didn't exist.

Comment: SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Wireless Technology: 5G is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Comment: It's great to see vegetarians and vegans, with a rightful sense of disgust at the way conventional meat is produced, turn that emotional energy into positive action. Rather than try to opt out of the system entirely, an impossible task vegans and vegetarians fool themselves into believing, they are working from the inside to change the system for the better.

See also:

• Grassland Ecology 101 for vegans and synthetic meat marketers
• Grassland Ecology 202 for vegans: Calling for change that makes sense
• The Long, Hard Road Back to Sanity: Escaping the Vegan Cult and the "Why I'm No Longer Vegan" Phenomenon
• No, George Monbiot, Dropping Meat and Dairy Will Not Reduce Your Impact on the Earth
• Grass-fed Beef — The Most Vegan Item In The Supermarket

Comment: Buerk is basically taking the hard line, that obesity is entirely caused by habits, and that people should be held entirely responsible for their condition. This isn't true, of course. There are many contributing factors to obesity, including the microbiome, genetics, government dietary guidelines and other dietary factors, hormones, how much screen time one has, how in sync one is with their circadian biology, and even exposure to environmental pollutants. So the idea that the obese are "eating too much" is far too simplistic. It's rarely an issue of gluttony.

Considering how all these multiple factors are combining to cause the crisis we're currently seeing, just 'letting them die' hardly seems like a viable solution. There are likely very few people who want to be overweight and unhealthy, but even fewer seem to have the access to information about taking positive steps to overcome the problem. So while one's weight is, at least partially, within one's control, having the right information, the ability to experiment and the will to make major lifestyle changes make the whole thing a rather sticky situation. Buerk should probably keep his simplistic, misinformed and outdated opinions to himself.

See also:

• The Health & Wellness Show: The World's a Swole Hole: The Ever Expanding Epidemic of Obesity
• Diabetes and obesity still on the rise - Billions spent promoting dietary guidelines hasn't made a dent
• Genetics be damned! Kids can overcome genetic susceptibility for obesity
• Understanding obesity: Replacing bias with curiosity

Comment: They're not looking to align themselves with veganism, and certainly not "environmental concern". They're seeing a lucrative market they have the potential to dominate. With the money they're losing in Roundup settlements, it little wonder Bayer is looking to branch out in other evil directions.

See also:

• EU environmental group investigating Bayer, L'Oreal and Dow for use of harmful chemicals
• Reconfiguration of food production: The fight for life versus Monsanto/Bayer agriculture
• Monsanto and Bayer are moving to create a marijuana monopoly
• Bayer knowingly infected hemophiliacs with HIV yet its merger with Monsanto will go on
• Woops! Bayer and Syngenta accidentally fund a study showing their pesticides harm bees
• The War on Weed part II: Monsanto, Bayer, and the push for corporate cannabis
• Monsanto, Bayer and Dow Face Trial For 'Systematic Human Rights Abuses'

Comment: That the microbiome can account for how much weight an individual holds onto is unsurprising given the number of properties now thought to be at least partially regulated by the bacteria in our guts. Maintaining a healthy gut biome seems to be as important as almost any other diet or lifestyle factor in staying healthy.

See also:

• Objective:Health: The Shit Show - Fiber, Fecal Transplants and the Microbiome
• Just a few months of the Standard American Diet changed the microbiome of Thai immigrants
• Is your mobile phone destroying your digestive system? On EMF-Microbiome interaction
• Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller destroys the microbiome in humans and soils
• Dr. Justin Sonnenburg: Is a disrupted gut microbiome at the root of modern disease?

Comment: It's likely that interfering with the natural processes of life could bring with it significant complications:

• Hormone replacement therapy's link to breast cancer has been greatly underestimated
• Unintended consequences: CRISPR gene editing can backfire
• Maintaining healthy DNA delays menopause