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When you order expensive tuna, how do you know that's excellent kind that you're paying for? How many of us would really know if another fish of lesser quality had been substituted? As it turns out, the fish may very well not be the high-end selection you asked for, regardless of its menu price.  

Critics of amending existing contact lens legislation, to protect patient safety, are deceptively misleading the public. In no way does a 2004 bill impede a patient’s ability to order contact lenses from an online vendor. Alas, the free market is safe.

It's widely believed that a low basal metabolism predisposes a person to weight gain and obesity. And it makes sense since a low BMR can be a substantial part of a sedentary person's energy expenditure. But a recent study couldn't find such a connection, so the old I'm fat because I have a slow metabolism excuse won't hold water, at least according to this study.

In an effort to understand how cow's milk allergies (CMA) form, an interdisciplinary team of scientists investigated if there's a link between certain kinds of sugars found in a mother's breast milk and the presence of CMA in her infant.

It appears that drug companies are still pushing the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, because it makes the animals grow better. The industry maintains that it's no threat to humans. But our advisor, Dr. David Shlaes, thinks otherwise. And he happens to know what he's talking about. And then some.

A new Harvard Medical School study says human physicians are "vastly superior" to computers when it comes to diagnosing conditions and illnesses. But is this result surprising? Not at all. Because, honestly, what other conclusion would we expect medical researchers to reach in evaluating the diagnostic performance of ... medical doctors and the medical profession?

It's long been known in the United States that anti-vaccine sentiment comes down along political lines the same way climate change does. Anti-vaccine sentiment also correlates strongly with anti-agriculture and anti-energy beliefs. But the rationalization among most journalists who didn't want to recognize such uncomfortable truths was that as long as their political elites were not saying it, it didn't count.(1)

A November 2015 report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ranked the top 10 large cities and top 10 small cities by their homeless populations. These counts were conducted on a single night in January. Topping these lists were ... 

So the latest is that fat is not the dietary villain it's been cracked up to be, but now sugar is. So people are avoiding foods like non-fat yogurt to decrease their intake of sugar and other constituents. But demonizing one ingredient or another, though it may move the food industry, is not such a great prescription for weight control.

John Podesta, campaign manager and a close advisor to Hillary Clinton, believes the government has not divulged everything it knows about UFOs and Area 51. Given his predilection for conspiratorial beliefs, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that he has a fear of biotechnology.

Valeant, already perpetually in the dog house for price gouging, just moved to the dog crap house. Free market enthusiast or not, we defy you to defend them for what they are now charging for a simple chemical to treat lead poisoning.  

Americans' use of many (but not all) dietary supplements declined between 1999 and 2012, is welcomed. But the increased use of some -- particularly vitamin D -- can have deleterious health effects. Hopefully, consumers will pay more attention to the science about supplements, and less to hyperbolic media reports about the latest "miracle" supplement.

Here are a few takeaways from an article focusing on the 100 most popular cereals of all time: (1) cereal's heyday was roughly 40 years ago; (2) older brands, some ancient, sit atop the list, and (3) present-day concerns about nutrition and convenience are driving the young away from making cereal their preferred breakfast choice.

The CDC recently released data on the prevalence of tobacco use, and there's a regional pattern. Tobacco is most popular in Midwestern and Southern states, where roughly 20 to 25 percent of the population smokes. Meanwhile, as maps reveal, those same regions struggle with the highest percentages of people with obesity.

Ever wonder how the green forest gets its vibrant red and yellow colors when the seasons change? Science has some answers.
 
Foliage Reports: http://www.foliagenetwork.com/
 

Finally, a study where espousing the thought -- If you cared about my heart and well-being, then you wouldn’t stress me -- could be a win-win. Can anger trigger a heart attack? How about intense physical activity? Here's a closer look at heart health and heartbreak.
 

This year not a single Nobel Prize winner was female. In fact, overall, women account for winning just 5 percent of the prestigious award. The reasons for this stark difference are multifactorial, but there's one that stands out: after obtaining a PhD, the path to the very top of the scientific profession may be easier for men than it is for women.

The ADA and the CDC are among many groups which advocate for public health. All of them, including some 90 others, received occasional funding, in some fashion, from a large soda company in the past. And they are implicated in the American obesity epidemic. But you have to look a bit more closely to see what's really going on.

The scientific review process should be rigorous, fair and unbiased. However, a new study in JAMA indicates that none of those may be true, finding that those who author a paper influences how stringently the data are judged. 

1. Dr. Gary Null, one of the Four Horsemen of the Alternative (along with Oz, Chopra and Weil), is now most famous for hosting a conspiracy theory radio program and producing straight-to-video movies funded by organic food groups.
Environmental Working Group has never produced a science study but they have overturned 500,000 biologists, according to Null, while the US EPA, which just cleared glyphosate of weird claims made by an IARC Working Group that was hijacked by an Environmental Defense Fund consultant, is secretly suppressing damaging data about Monsanto. 

Northern California is home to a number of questionable lawsuits against various manufacturers, based mostly on activists trying to scare people to improve their own bottom lines. But there are places to find reliable health and wellness information, and the Council is one of them.

The concluding piece in this Brain Tumor series spotlights the expertise of Dr. Gregory Riggins. A professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, and Director of the Brain Cancer Biology and Therapy Research Laboratory at Johns Hopkins, he will help us distinguish myth from reality.

Aside from occasional high-profile cases and Hollywood movies, brain tumors rarely take center stage. But when they do, it tends to be an ominous story. The CDC recently reported brain cancer surpassed leukemia as the most common cancer-causing death in children aged 1-19, but no age is safe. Here's the first of a two-part series elucidating fact from fiction. 

Actor Ben Stiller recently chronicled how early diagnosis of prostate cancer, using a routine blood test, saved his life. And he's urging all men over 40 to discuss the PSA test with their doctor. However, we here at the Council and other organizations have been critical of it, so it's fitting that we review where science stands on the issue.

A team of German researchers swabbed 400 bathroom door handles from 136 airports in 59 countries. More than 5 percent produced strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a result that underscores the importance of proactive global epidemiological surveillance. There is no such thing as local outbreak anymore.