Soda taxes aren't racist, yet precisely that case was made by a reporter for the newspaper. His position: Blacks and Hispanics consume more sugary beverages than whites and Asians, while whites and Asians drink more diet beverages than blacks and Hispanics. Because the tax does not apply to diet beverages, it is racist. Let's break this down.
Food & Nutrition
Anorexia nervosa prompts physical changes in the brain, and researchers report that even after "successful" treatment it does not revert back to its healthy state. Specifically, the organ continues to have an "elevated reward system" as compared to normal brains.
Congratulations to Canada for approving the use of irradiation to help prevent contamination of ground beef from causing foodborne illness. The process has been approved in the US for a variety of foods and purposes, and we're pleased that Canadians can also benefit from its use.
Our views on egg consumption — at least as far as heart disease goes — have changed dramatically in the past decade. They're no longer seen as a dietary villain. A new study suggests that not only do eggs not contribute dementia, which had been suggested by some animal studies, they may also be linked to a lower risk of such ailments.
Not only does bariatric surgery provide substantial weight loss to the obese, but it can also ameliorate the metabolic derangements of diabetes and decrease their need for medications. And, a new randomized study found, these beneficial results aren't transient — they were still apparent five years post-surgery and were superior to the results of strictly medical treatment.
Many people take multivitamins "just to be safe." That may not be a good idea, and now a new paper suggests that people who consume too much vitamin B3 might be at higher risk of developing eczema.
A recent study on how olive oil affects HDL and LDL (good and bad cholesterol in your body) has us wondering.. Is all cholesterol created equal?
Kombucha, a fermented tea product, has theoretically been around for a couple of thousand years. But so far, no one has collected data on its benefits! We doubt that there really are any — though marketers say it will prevent, treat or cure everything from cancer to allergies.
Want to decrease your risk of death? Try eating hot red chiles — or so you might think based on a recent research paper. In all, the data aren't terribly convincing. It seems that relaxing to some music would provide as much of a benefit as this study seems to show.
Being toothless, known more formally as "complete edentulism," is a lot more common than you may think. Dentures and permanent false teeth cover up the fact that many people are walking around with phony chompers.
Multivitamins are likely the most widely used supplements in the U.S. Research has failed to substantiate that for healthy adults they're useful for health preservation, or disease prevention. A new collaborative study has analyzed the accuracy of their labels, producing conflicting results.
A new, disturbing report, based on data collected from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, shows an increase in the death rates for young Americans over a 15-year period. This has been driven substantially by a shocking increase in the mortality of white women aged 25 to 35.