Yummy . . .

FOOD FREEDOM is an interesting site, proclaiming that people should Decentralize, Grow Your Own and Buy Local — which makes great sense. There's a report by Miriam Reimer, originally posted on The Street, "15 Food Companies that Serve You ‘Wood’". Yep, wood, like pine trees.

Chief among those concerns is the use of cellulose (wood pulp), an extender whose use in a roster of food products, from crackers and ice creams to puddings and baked goods, is now being exposed. What you’re actually paying for – and consuming – may be surprising.

Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption.

“Most consumers would be shocked to find these types of filler products are used as substitutes for items that they believe are more pure,” Yoshikami said. “We would expect increased disclosure to follow increased use of cellulose and other filler products as the practice increases in frequency.”

Finger-lickin' good!

H/T to le grand chef Daniel

Stiff Neck?

SKEPTIC.COM is a fine source of rational thought. The site has an article on the dangers of chiropractic, by J. D. Haines, MD. Dr Haines has over 20 years experience in family and emergency medicine. He is a Fellow of American College of Sports Medicine, and Clinical Associate Professor of Family Practice at the University of Oklahoma. So perhaps his opinion, titled "Fatal Adjustments How Chiropractic Kills" should be considered carefully.

When Kristi Bedenbaugh wanted relief from a bad sinus headache, the 24 year-old former beauty queen and medical office administrator made the mistake of consulting a chiropractor. An autopsy performed on Kristi revealed that the manipulation of her neck had split the inner walls of both vertebral arteries, resulting in a fatal stroke.

The chiropractor’s violent twisting of her neck caused the torn arterial walls to balloon and block the blood supply to the posterior portion of her brain. Studies confirmed that the blood clots formed on the two days she received her neck adjustments.

Kristi died in1993. Four years later, South Carolina’s State Board of Chiropractic Examiners fined the chiropractor $1000 and sentenced him to 12 hours of continuing medical education in the area of neurological disorders and emergency response.

Supporters of chiropractic are quick to claim that cases like this are rare. Try telling that to Kristi’s family — no matter how great the odds, the outcome was 100% fatal for her. The real problem is that there are no valid statistics concerning the risk of stroke after neck manipulation. Aside from anecdotal reports like Kristi’s and a few surveys, little clinical research has addressed this problem.

Two recent studies reveal the tip of the iceberg. In 1992, researchers at the Stanford Stroke Center surveyed 486 California neurologists regarding how many patients they had seen within the previous two years who had suffered a stroke within 24 hours of neck manipulation. One hundred seventy-seven neurologists responded, reporting 55 patients between the ages of 21 and 60. One patient died and 48 were left with permanent neurological impairment.

Even H.L. Mencken was unimpressed:

As far back as 1924 essayist H. L. Mencken recognized chiropractors as quacks:

Today the backwoods swarm with chiropractors, and in most States they have been able to exert enough pressure on the rural politicians to get themselves licensed. Any lout with strong hands and arms is perfectly equipped to become a chiropractor. No education beyond the elements is necessary. The takings are often high, and so the profession has attracted thousands of recruits — retired baseball players, work-weary plumbers, truck-drivers, longshoremen, bogus dentists, dubious preachers, cashiered school superintendents. Now and then a quack of some other school — say homeopathy — plunges into it. Hundreds of promising students come from the intellectual ranks of hospital orderlies.

Swine Flu Terror Advisory Scale

Currently we are on uh-oh.

Cross-posted at Creekside

Are you a Canadian male?

If you are, you live in a statistical group which is leading the world... in the field of body mass. Too much body mass.

A recent study of men and women in 63 countries found between half and two-thirds of men were overweight or obese in 2006.

The populations of Canada and South Africa currently lead the way, with an average Body Mass Index (BMI) of 29 - a calculation that takes into account both height and weight.

In fairness, the U.S. was not included in the report. The report also focused on which nationalities appeared most addicted to fast foods.

People in the UK and the US were the most likely to nominate "no self discipline" as the leading factor in obesity.

These two nations also had the most respondents who said they would be unable to give up fast food.

Some 45% in the UK agreed with the statement "I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up", while 44% of Americans said they would be unable to give up their burgers, pizzas and chicken wings.

Umm... ok. I wonder. Does this qualify as "fast food"?

Before you shrug it off as no big deal, you should really read this.

I am well aware of the difficulty of keeping one's weight down. I have to work at it and when it gets too high, it's murder getting it off.

This New Year's Resolution reminder is brought to you by the month of February.