The American College of Physicians has released new guidelines about prostate cancer screenings. Prostate screening and treatment is not as routinely-required as previously recommended and believed.

According to a report by The Applied Research Center, 10 percent of black and Latino families lack access to adequate food -- "three times the rate for white households." And while about a third of whites live in an area with a supermarket, only 8 percent of blacks do.

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

The expression "salt of the earth" means "the best" or a "worthy person" perhaps implying that salt is the best and a worthy additive? Salt has become a "can't do without" ingredient... We can't seem to cook without it and it's in most of the foods we buy...

When we are told that 2000 calories are what we should consume, most of us don't really have an idea of what that means. Basically, we understand that it equals moderation, but how much and of what?

If your parents divorced before you turned 18, and today you are a smoker, it may be their fault! What??? A study done at the University of Toronto showed that "men who experienced parental divorce before they turned 18 had 48-per-cent higher odds of ever smoking..."

"...findings illustrate a larger point: Independent of choices we make as consumers — whether we buy milk in glass bottles or microwave food in plastic containers — processing is taking place beyond our view that can contaminate our food with endocrine-disrupting chemicals."

 According to a study conducted by Oceana, a non-profit organization working to protect the oceans, the seafood sold in stores and restaurants in the USA is often mislabeled. You think you're buying wild salmon, but are actually eating farm-raised salmon. OK, maybe we suspected that at times... But what about when you ordered red snapper thinking that it was a healthier fish than other options, but instead were served tilefish or speckled hind.

Certain rights in life are taken for granted. And in most countries, that includes maternity leave. But not in the USA, apparently. There are four countries in the world that do not offer government-mandated maternity leave, and the USA is one of them. That is an honor (NOT!) that we could do without.

by Kenneth Chang. Medical experts largely agree that there is a condition related to gluten other than celiac. In 2011 a panel of celiac experts settled on a medical term for this malady: non-celiac gluten sensitivity. What they still do not know: how many people have gluten sensitivity, what its long-term effects are, or...

by Nancy Shute. Restaurants that offered more lower-calorie services saw a 9 percent increase in food and beverage sales from 2006 to 2011, while restaurants that didn't saw sales drop by 16 percent. The report analyzed sales at 21 restaurant chains, including McDonald's, Applebee's, Burger King, Cracker Barrel, IHOP, Panera Bread and KFC...

MINNEAPOLIS – The number of people with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple in the next 40 years, according to a new study published in the February 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Alcohol, consumed with a diet mixer, results in higher (BrAC) Breath Alcohol Concentrations as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer," says Cecile Marczinski, a cognitive psychologist who authored the new study.

Many people take aspirin to prevent heart attacks, but new research suggests the added benefits may be coming at the expense of pill-takers' eyesight. A 15-year-study...

Last year's drought took a big bite out of the two most prodigious US crops, corn and soy. But it apparently didn't slow down the spread of weeds that have developed resistance to Monsanto's herbicide Roundup (glyphosate), used on crops engineered by Monsanto to resist it

It is hard to trust GM when it is in the grip of a few global giants

THE GUARDIAN/THE OBSERVER -Don't believe the hype: GM is in the grip of a few firms that profit from selling the chemicals they engineer their seeds to resist.

Sunday's New York Times piece on the corporatization of organics (which I commented on here ) got me to thinking: What are the weirdest additives the USDA allows in food...

by Nancy Shute. Men who eat a lot of fatty foods have lower quality sperm than men who avoid them, a new study found. Saturated fat, the stuff in meat and dairy foods, was associated with lower sperm counts.

by Benedict Carey. Fruit flies apparently self-medicate just like many humans do, drowning their sorrows or frustrations for some of the same reasons, scientists reported Thursday. Male flies subjected to what amounted to...

by Michael Tortorello, New York Times. Laura MacCleery was four months pregnant when she typed the names of the cosmetics into an online database called Skin Deep, created by the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization. The results were not comforting...

Do Consuming Cola Drinks Cause Cancer?

by: Tess Zevenbergen, The Province

When I was a child I always heard adults tell me how bad Pepsi and Coke were. My parents prohibited me from drinking it. “That stuff will rot out your guts,” they explained to me.

I also remember hearing that if you put a nail in a can of Coke or Pepsi, it would eat the nail. It certainly never stopped me though from guzzling down soft drinks in my adult years. On-and-off-again dieting meant I often satisfied by sweet craving or afternoon caffeine fix with a can of Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi — until recently that is.

A few months ago I discovered that carmine may be used as an ingredient in Coca-Cola. Carmine is made from cochineal beetle shells, that when crushed, produce a red dye used for coloring in a number of food items and beverages. Coca-Cola claims carmine is not used in their products. I wrote about the use of carmine extensively in a recent post called Beetle Cheese for Christmas?

Well now there is evidence that cola beverages have a caramel-coloring chemical known as 4-methylimidazole or 4-MI which has proven to be carcinogenic to animals...

Read the entire article here:

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/03/07/do-consuming-cola-drinks-cause-cancer/

by Rudy Pospisil, The Province

Coke And Pepsi Change Ingredients To Avoid Cancer Warning

Coke and Pepsi are changing the recipes in their pop by lowering levels of a chemical in caramel coloring which has been found to cause cancer in lab tests.

They can now avoid having to label products with a cancer warning due to a California law setting safe levels of 4-methylimidazole which was in the caramel color additive.The state of California has added the chemical to its list of carcinogens.

Both Coke and Pepsi have their own highly secretive recipes and they will not be altered but that caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a change that will eventually spread across the United States and – at least in Coke’s case – around the world.

Read entire blog here:

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/03/09/coke-and-pepsi-change-ingredients-to-avoid-cancer-warning/

Statin Side Effects

by Rudy Pospisil

Medications that lower cholesterol are called statins, these include drugs such as Lipitor, Mevacor and Zorcor, side effects are the increased risk of type 2 diabetes and might cause rare cases of memory loss, according to the Food and Drug Administration and as stated by Consumer Health. Earlier this week, the FDA said these new side effects would be added to the labeling of these drugs. The best advice I feel is reduce high cholesterol through lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and exercise before turning to a statin.

In addition to diabetes and memory problems, statins can cause other serious side effects, including muscle soreness and a rare condition that can cause kidney damage, kidney failure, and death, so you don’t want to take one if you can avoid it.

The FDA said it added the diabetes risk because several studies in recent years found an increased risk of elevated blood sugar levels and diabetes in people who took statins. The memory risk is based on the FDA’s review of studies and reports it has

Read the entire article at:

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/03/01/statin-side-effects/

U.S government says statin bottles must carry warning over diabetes risk

(find USA article to support info)

by Claire Bates, The Daily Mail, UK

Taking statins can raise blood sugar levels and increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has revealed.

The FDA said they will add a warning to statin labels that they may raise levels of blood sugar.

FDA spokeswoman Amy Egan, said: 'Their benefit is indisputable, but they need to be taken with care and knowledge of their side effects.'

Read the entire article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2109111/Statins-American-government-warns-statins-diabetes-risk-doesnt-British-regulator.html

FDA Expands Advice on Statin Risks

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm293330.htm

Read the FDA Drug Safety Communication: Important safety label changes to cholesterol-lowering statin drugs

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm293101.htm

In 2006, the HPV vaccine Gardasil was introduced to a public generally unaware of Human Papillomavirus or its supposed threat to adolescent girls and women. Consumers are not aware of the trail of deception behind over 21,133 adverse reactions and 94 deaths* in previously healthy, athletic, competitive and scholastic adolescent girls.

Olive oil comes in many forms: regular, virgin, and extra virgin, and of course organic. However, it appears that you're not always getting what you think you are.

Smithfield the supplier of pork to McDonalds accused of abusing pigs. A week after consumers began cheering (or gagging) over the reintroduction of the cult classic, McRib, the Humane Society is accusing McDonald’s pork provider Smithfield Foods Inc. of mistreating its hogs.