Food & Nutrition

Skipping breakfast has been linked to increasing the risk of overweight and obesity. But a new study finds that the main problem in breakfast skipping children is a deficit in some pretty important nutrients.
Peanut allergy is among a parent's worst nightmares — a child is at constant risk of life-threatening reactions. But relief is likely on the way. Australian researchers found that their protocol to desensitize allergic children was effective in many for 4 years after treatment had ended.
Maybe old dogs can't learn new tricks — but old people can. Researchers have demonstrated that older folks can learn new exercises that can help them improve their mobility, and likely their overall health.
It's an ethical dilemma. Impossible Burgers sells an entirely plant-based burger that differentiates itself by compounding it in a way that “it bleeds,” so that the red juices we associate with a juicy burger come from a component of soybean’s root. To produce the burger, it's bio-engineered, with the genetic information from the soy plant inserted into yeast.  
Does menstruation really increase the likelihood that a woman will crave chocolate, as is commonly believed? Or is that craving just an excuse to eat a forbidden food? Recent research finds that women from other countries don't seem to have the same peri-menstrual urge — so it's more of an American phenomenon than a biologically-based imperative.
Orthorexia, or "clean eating" is as much a belief system as it is a dietary prescription. Believers eschew "normal" eating, thinking that only their particular restrictive versions of proper diets will provide optimal health. But the restrictions that such diets adhere to could be unhealthful, to say the least.
Vitamin B3 is in the news because of findings that it may prevent birth defects. But B3 (aka niacin) has a number of different names and also is similar in spelling and pronunciation to other molecules. We try to clarify things.
Although governmental and medical advisories warn the population to "eat less salt" on the theory that this will help deal with hypertension, there are some holdouts who avoid giving such wholesale advice. That includes ACSH, and a Doctor of Pharmacy who says it's sugar, not salt that is the root of all (vascular) evil. And, he says, we should eat more salt. Who to believe?
Did you even get sick from eating tuna? If so, you may have assumed that it happened because you ate it rare. But that's probably not the case. A particular food poisoning from tuna (and certain other fish) can occur even when the fish is well-cooked. And it's not only food poisoning. It's also an allergic reaction. 
So Chicago has followed in the footsteps of other cities — think Berkeley and Philadelphia — by levying a tax on sodas and other sweetened beverages. Even artificially sweetened ones. Do we think such taxes will benefit consumers' health? No, we do not. In fact, they may even fail to help municipalities' bottom lines, if past events are predictive.
Growing up, indoor tanning was considered part and parcel of one's beauty regimen. Male or female it was no matter, having a great off-season tan was an absolute must-have. Little thought, if any, was given to the fact that people might be walking into a cancer den. Or at least an increased risk of it.
As millions of uninspired, would-be exercisers know all too well, the reasons to avoid working out are endless. "I can't fit it into my schedule" ... "it takes too long" ... "I don't go enough to make a gym membership worthwhile" ... and "I don't see enough results from going" are just a few of the tried-and-true, go-to excuses.  If this is beginning to sound a little like your way of thinking, here are two words to strongly consider: jumping rope.