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For those of us interested in nutrition, the topic keeps coming up: What food or foods are essential for human health? For example, do we really need to drink milk? The answers to these and other questions might surprise you.

GNC is just one of many companies that has profited by selling junk to a scientifically-naive public. But, perhaps they haven't profited enough. The company is in financial trouble. And we are not losing sleep over it.

The ongoing battle over whether glyphosate causes cancer seemingly ended April 29, with the online posting of an EPA report stating that the herbicide should be classified as “Not Likely to be Carcinogenic to Humans.” But then, the report was taken down from the website three days later. Here's our summary of the findings, in the context of the 30 year-long disagreement.

Gout was long considered a disease for the nobility, since the wealthy who ate rich foods were most likely to get it. Today, journalists, invariably working for large corporations run by very wealthy people, perhaps can't resist the chance to take indirect jabs at their bosses. In a new paper, gout was found to be the subject of humor in 26.3 percent of articles analyzed.

There are bad studies, and worse studies. This one could be either: Pyrethroid pesticides, which have been used for 50 years, are all of a sudden causing autism? We think not.

Participants in the "Biggest Loser" reality TV contest are able to shed massive amounts of weigh — frequently, 100 pounds or more. But followup studies indicate that maintaining that sizeable loss isn't a piece of cake, because often the body's metabolism fights back.

In mid-2015 Canadian teens (ages 15 to 17) visited more than 4,000 stores to try to purchase e-cigarettes and, on average, they were turned away two thirds of the time. So as in any business, there are bad actors, but not all companies are simply making a buck trying to create a youth market addicted to their product.

Habituation — learning not to fear a harmless substance after being confronted with it on several occasions — exists in all animals, but was never observed in a non-neural organism. This discovery could improve existing understandings of the origins of learning.

Researchers analyzed that babies born to bilingual households tend to develop critical thinking skills before they even speak.

New federal guidelines advise primary care doctors to consider carefully when prescribing of opioid painkillers, and in an editorial a team of surgeons has recommended what the American Council on Science and Health testified to at the FDA in February; cutting back on the number of opioid pills prescribed to patients after surgery.

To retire or not to retire — an important issue for older folks. Some research suggests working folks live longer, but other studies suggest that people make beneficial lifestyle changes when they retire. What a conundrum! Take a look at both sides.

Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to infection goes into overdrive, leading to tissue damage, organ failure, and death. Sepsis has an overall mortality rate of between 20 and 50 percent, and kills more people than do HIV and breast cancer. It afflicts up to 500,000 people a year in the U.S. and millions more worldwide,.

Newsweek journalist loses his mind, Mother Jones coincidentally defends them immediately
A journalist demanding that another journalist not use a science site as a source? Someone not only doesn't want us to talk about science they happen not to accept, they demand that everyone else suppress us also? If it sounds weirdly social authoritarian, yeah, it is, but unsurprising in modern corporate media.

Colonoscopies have been hailed as the hero for the decreasing the incidence and death from colon cancer. An essay, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, claims that other factors, not just colonoscopy screenings, are contributing to the decline.

In the United States it has become so popular for anti-science groups to blame hydraulic fracturing - fracking - for earthquakes that it might seem like little actual research is being done without an agenda.

On any ranked list of nasty diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas in the Western world, Borrelia burgdorferi, would have to lie near the top.

Homeless people who are fed at soup kitchens typically don't get to choose their menus. But in Bologna, Italy some protested when a celebrity chef offered them vegan cuisine. Some said they'd rather return to the streets than eat his veggies.

A new designer drug that's related to the opioid fentanyl is killing people. It is called furanyl fentanyl, but the name hardly matters. It is just one more fentanyl copycat, which happens to be legal only because it has not yet been made illegal. What we have is a "pharmaceutical wild west," where an unlimited number of versions of known, powerful drugs are made — and tested on the street.

A suit regarding allegations that Wyeth, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc.,   knowingly underpaid rebates owed under the Medicaid Prescription Drug Rebate Program for the sales of Protonix Oral and Protonix IV between 2001 and 2006, has been settled. Pfizer acquired Wyeth, Inc., in 2009, after the conduct alleged in the lawsuits.

Previous data linked the use of statins, or cholesterol-lowering medications, to a reduced overall risk of colorectal cancer. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, however, revealed that data had been subject to selection bias and statins do not lower colon cancer risk.

There has been a rising tide of demands from governmental and other regulatory bodies targeting distinct problems within the chiropractic profession. And as guest writer Michael Vagg explains, one major concern involves the movement to stop chiropractors from making unsupported statements to the general public.

What drink (or drinks) will promote proper hydration without leading to too many pit stops? A recent study suggests that milk and oral hydration beverage are probably not the best choices. Which were the best? We suggest you ...

Only in environmental activism does a null result, finding the public being completely safe, lead to sadness. But there you have it.

Humans have a long history of viral infections. But other than the molecular analysis of current or recently circulating pathogens, the data is fragmentary. But as guest writer Peter Doherty explains, that may change as researchers probe more ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies, where there is evidence of lethal tuberculosis and malaria.

David and Collet Stephan's son Ezekiel died in March 2012. What's shocking was that the 19-moth old died of meningitis while his folks tried to cure him with naturopathic smoothies of hot peppers and horseradish. We hope this senseless tragedy will spotlight Canadian tolerance of medical neglect, which exists due to tolerance for cultures where anti-science beliefs hold sway.