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Interesting Health-Related Posts

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This is a place for health-related posts that don't fit anywhere else.
For detailed health-related content see these collections:
* Gut Microbiome and Health Collection
* Nutrition and Wellness
* LIfestyle and Wellness
* Medical Topics

40 Years of Government Nutrition Data May Be Flawed. For forty years, the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has collected data on the caloric intake of Americans, answering the simple and important question of how much food we eat.

40 Years of Government Nutrition Data May Be Flawed

This research has in turn been used to instruct public health policy. NHANES is actually the basis for national standards of height, weight, and blood pressure, and its findings are often used to develop programs in the public battle against obesity. But there's just one "tiny" problem. According to an analysis conducted by exercise scientist Edward Archer at the University of South Carolina, NHANES is very likely invalid.

Enforce rules against false and misleading organic food claims. A couple years ago, the US Food and Drug Administration sent a “Warning Letter” to Nashoba Brook Bakery, advising its owners that listing “love” as an ingredient in their granola violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Enforce rules against false and misleading organic food claims

The product was “misbranded,” because “love” is “not a common or usual name of an ingredient,” FDA said. Such deceptive labeling practices could mislead consumers and are not allowed. FDA has also warned and cited companies that make “unfounded,” “unproven” or “unsubstantiated” claims about their products. FDA is committed to “protecting the public health by taking action as needed against companies that deceive consumers.”

Comparing Comprehension of a Long Text Read in Print Book and on Kindle: Where in the Text and When in the Story? Introduction The Digitization of Literary Reading Overall, in the western world, reading is increasingly digitized.

Comparing Comprehension of a Long Text Read in Print Book and on Kindle: Where in the Text and When in the Story?

Due to the popularity of handheld, portable digital devices such as e-readers (e.g., Kindle) and tablets (e.g., iPad), also long-form literary reading is becoming screen- rather than print-bound. This transition invites a number of research questions pertaining to the role of substrate affordances (e.g., screen displays and paper) on cognitive and emotional aspects of narrative, literary reading. Scientist explores the '7th sense' — the link between the immune system and the brain - Daily Press. Medical Topics--Lines of Inquiry. The Nutrition Coalition. Superbugs exacerbated by political correctness. How Your Thoughts Change Your Brain, Cells and Genes. Every minute of every day, your body is physically reacting, literally changing, in response to the thoughts that run through your mind.

How Your Thoughts Change Your Brain, Cells and Genes

It’s been shown over and over again that just thinking about something can cause your brain to release neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that allow it to communicate with parts of itself and your nervous system. Neurotransmitters control virtually all of your body’s functions, from hormones to digestion to feeling happy, sad, or stressed. Studies have shown that thoughts alone can improve vision, fitness, and strength. The placebo effect, as observed with fake operations and sham drugs, for example, works because of the power of thought. Expectancies and learned associations have been shown to change brain chemistry and circuitry which results in real physiological and cognitive outcomes, such as less fatigue, lower immune system reaction, elevated hormone levels, and reduced anxiety. Your Thoughts Sculpt Your Brain Your Thoughts Program Your Cells.

How doctors’ bias leads to unfair and unsound medical triage. When someone is sick or needs the help of a physician, who should decide what is appropriate – what blood tests and imaging studies to order, what medicines to prescribe, what surgeries to perform?

How doctors’ bias leads to unfair and unsound medical triage

Should it be the doctor, the patient or some combination of the two? Most people nowadays (even most physicians) support what is called ‘shared decision-making’, in which the doctor and patient (and often her family or friends) discuss the situation and come up with a joint plan. The doctor’s role is that of experienced guide, whose medical knowledge, skill and expertise help to shape the conversation and whose understanding of the priorities, values and goals of the patients steers the plan in a given direction to the satisfaction of all. Unfortunately, in the real world, things don’t always work this way. Does acupuncture work by re-mapping the brain? Acupuncture is a form of traditional medical therapy that originated in China several thousand years ago.

Does acupuncture work by re-mapping the brain?

It was developed at a time bereft of tools such as genetic testing or even a modern understanding of anatomy, so medical philosophers did the best they could with what was available – herbs, animal products and rudimentary needles. In the process, perhaps, they stumbled on an effective medical approach. In the past century, some modernisation has taken place. Rural India Is Facing An Epidemic Of Non-Communicable Diseases. The Government Has Been Meddling in Food and Nutrition for a Long Time. Want To Rewire Your Brain For Meaningful Life Changes? Do These Things Immediately. Mass Shootings: The New Manifestation of an Ancient Phenomenon and their Link to Psychiatric Drugs. 4 Toxic Ingredients to Avoid in Your Personal Care Products. EAT-Lancet Report is One-sided, Not Backed by Rigorous Science — The Nutrition Coalition. Report Based on Fundamentally Weak Science This report is disturbing on a number of fronts.

EAT-Lancet Report is One-sided, Not Backed by Rigorous Science — The Nutrition Coalition

Most importantly, its diet lacks the backing of any rigorous science. Indeed, it does not cite a single clinical trial to support the idea that a vegan/vegetarian diet promotes good health or fights disease. Instead EAT-Lancet relies entirely on a type of science that is weak and demonstrably unreliable, called epidemiology. This kind of science has been shown to be accurate, when tested in rigorous clinical trials, only 0-20% of the time.[1][2] One wouldn’t bet on a football team with such poor odds, so why bet on the public health this way?

Even the most recent U.S. In the same vein, there is no rigorous (clinical trial) data on humans to show that red meat causes any kind of disease. EAT-Lancet's Plant-Based Planet: 10 Things You Need to Know. Source: Suzi Smith / used with permission article continues after advertisement An important new study about global nutrition was published this week that deserves everyone’s full attention: "Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.

EAT-Lancet's Plant-Based Planet: 10 Things You Need to Know

" “Big Pasta” Cooks Up Self-Interested Nutrition Science — The Nutrition Coalition. Journalists Repeat Evidence-Free Claims from Scholars Associated With “Big Carb” — The Nutrition Coalition.