Public Health

Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hinted a restriction on menthol in cigarettes might again be coming - and the stock markets reacted as expected, reading a government restriction as the first step toward a ban, which led to a casual government statement costing investors billions. Domestic cigarette company Altria stock dropped 3.6 percent, and it probably still isn't a good buy, since it was at a price/stock ratio of 4.7, about 30 percent above other cigarette companies.  British American Tobacco (which makes Newport and Lucky Strike) fared even worse, because about 25…

I don't smoke, I never have, and even just a few years ago I was in the "quit or die" camp regarding smokers.  I got more compassionate after learning about the issue, when "vaping", the action verb for poorly named "e-cigarettes", got war declared on it by the Obama administration. It wasn't my knowledge of the science that changed - I already knew nicotine is not as harmful as tar and arsenic and hundreds of other toxic compounds found in cigarette smoke - it was more my empathy. Someone who's never been addicted to anything can't really be organically empathetic about smoking…

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or the pancreas becomes unable to produce enough insulin.  Though there is sometimes a genetic factor but it is overwhelmingly a lifestyle disease caused by being overweight and inactive. The pancreas simply becomes overworked. For the latter, the supplement industry promises any number of quick fixes that don't involve changing that lifestyle, such as a type of fat that has become a health craze, Omega 3s. And once something becomes the basis of a New York Times bestselling book, some researchers will rush into the…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is again warning consumers not to purchase, much less drink, a supplement drink sold as a medical treatment that goes by all kinds of interesting names, from Miracle or Master Mineral Solution, Miracle Mineral Supplement, MMS, Chlorine Dioxide (CD) Protocol, Water Purification Solution (WPS) and probably more. They have been saying this since 2010 but social media has not only made Joe Mercola and organic food groups rich, it has kept this company alive. It not only does not work for treating autism, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, flu, or anything else, it…

Whether you realize it or not, there’s a good chance that you are being exposed to bisphenol F (BPF). There’s even a fair chance that you are highly exposed. If so, should you be concerned and what should you do about it? Up until a few years ago, BPF was a fairly obscure industrial chemical used to make certain resins and coatings. There wouldn’t have been much reason to think that you could be exposed to BPF at all, much less any significant amount. That changed a few years ago when scientists with the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) reported that mild mustard…

Raw milk is not a cure for any disease, it's actually more like a disease vector. It has no benefit to anyone, and I say that as a kid who drank it regular, and has a great deal of risk. But the anti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-gmo, pro supplement community latched onto this, even for autism, and it became so popular FDA actually had to issue a statement telling people it's not real.   In two years, not much has changed. Raw milk still won't be a treatment for autism, nor will raw camel milk, or any milk. It's nonsense, and embarrassing in a country that proudly claims world leadership…

In 1965, 42.4% of U.S. adults admitted to smoking on surveys. By 2017 that has dropped to 14% and that is due in large part to awareness efforts and to modern smoking cessation efforts. In 1965, quitting meant going "cold turkey" and sucking on candy to mimic the behavioral aspects of smoking addiction. Then came gums and patches created by Big Pharma to replace the nicotine cravings. Finally, a grassroots consumer effort took hold in the form of nicotine vaping. Next up are products that can mimic the behavioral aspects of smoking but use essentially harmless nicotine. In countries where…

New efforts by the FDA and coastal cities to kill off e-cigarettes with bans and restrictions will drive existing users to smoke more cigarettes, according to new research from Duke Health. The findings, from a survey of 240 young U.S. adults who use both e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco cigarettes, are scheduled to be published July 15 in the journal Substance Use & Misuse. The online survey asked participants aged 18 to 29 to predict their use of two products they already used -- e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco cigarettes -- in response to hypothetical regulations to limit e-…

Do you feel like nutritionists are always changing their minds? Do you want science-based information about diet but don’t know whom or what to believe? If you’re nodding in agreement, you’re not alone: More than 80% of Americans are befuddled. Yet it’s a lament that’s getting quite tiring – if you’re a nutrition scientist, that is. So much so that I refocused my career to shine scientific light on today’s critical food conversations, which have profound impacts on public health and the environment. My mantra: From farm to fork, what we eat matters. In fact, did you know that 80% of chronic…

A recent review of meta-analyses and 277 randomized controlled trials--in which nearly 1 million adults participated--to find out how various nutritional supplements and diets influenced mortality rates and cardiovascular outcomes found...not much. While a sensible diet has always made sense, you don't find many really obese old people, benefits of the $35 billion supplements market have never been shown. Instead, the review found that when it comes to cardiovascular-related deaths, heart attacks, stroke, coronary heart disease, and general all-cause mortality, taking both calcium and…