Mark’s Daily Apple

Blog Is the New Health1

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Worker Bees’ Daily Bites:

Or should that be…health is the new blog? And have you noticed the constant “this is the new that” slogans everybody likes to come up with? (Just Google: sugar is the new trans fat, brown is the new black, adults are the new kids.) How about a new turn of phrase device? Like…”couplets are the new turn of phrase device”. Oh, wait, that’s just the new thing again. Nevermind.

Here’s your piping hot batch of health news!

1) No More Wining

All the benefits of wine, none of the headache-inducing tannins and brain toxins. Just make sure you pick 100% real juice, and don’t drink too much of it (because…yes…sugar is the new trans fat). Or just eat grapes. The beneficial antioxidants everyone is in a big stomp about (like resveratrol) are found in the skins of the grapes.

2) Unexpected Mad Cow News

Here is some unexpected mad cow news. We’ll keep you posted as research develops. You might want to consider going organic in the meantime.

3) Will it make a difference?

The Faster Death Agency Food and Drug Administration has come under furious scrutiny over all manner of corruption and shenanigans (Vioxx, politicizing Plan B, Prempro and numerous other drug scandals). A recent independent investigation found that the FDA errs - big surprise here - on the side of approval even when new drugs have not had extensive testing. Essentially, the FDA gives drug companies a hall pass. In so many words, the FDA says “Hey, Big Pharma, you’re gonna make sure your product is safe, right? Cool. Sally, did you find my iPod yet? I have to make my private jet to Telluride in, like, 30 minutes!”

The actual wording is convoluted legalese, but that’s pretty much what it boils down to.

In light of the fact that a post at the FDA is a cushy chill-out job for stressed former Pharma execs, this news fills us with hope. We’ll keep an eye on whether or not it actually makes a difference. Check the press release (link below), and you’ll see that the official spin is maddeningly glib: the FDA is changing because it’s simply time to update processes in light of new scientific methods. Gosh, is that it? How fun. Translation: the FDA is changing because, oops, we need to stop approving needless deaths by instituting standards that have already been around for two hundred years.

In the meantime, be careful about trying new drugs or multiple prescriptions without first doing a little research - and always get a second or third opinion (fortunately, real research is now easy to find at places like Pubmed, Vitasearch and even the FDA’s own website).

And let’s just remember, the FDA is the fine organization that brings us this inflamed nubbin:

4) Finally!

New York has taken steps to ban trans fat. So we knew L.A. would catch up sooner or later. It just needed time to come up with a subtle little “Um, we’re already so much healthier than NYC!” jab, and here it is:

“I haven’t received one call from a restaurant saying it doesn’t want to make a change. I get more phone calls a day from restaurants that say they’ve never used it.”

We don’t care, as long as more cities jump out of the fryer, too.

Technorati Tags: sugar is the new trans fat, benefits of wine, antioxidants, resveratrol, organic, FDA, ban trans fat

Posted: Big Moo, Big Pharma, Carbs, Health, Nutrition, Supplements, Uncategorized, Worker Bees' Daily Bites

Health for the Masses, by the Masses1

“Let’s share our health experiences. Together we can help others. Together we can help ourselves.” This is the motto and philosophy of the new social-networking website OrganizedWisdom.

OrganizedWisdom is user-generated advice, experience, insights, and knowledge compiled and sorted to help people track down answers to their health-related questions.

Looking for a way to get rid of a headache? Check out what other people do to relieve this annoying ailment. Do you have a personal account of how you handled sleep apnea, GERD, or some other condition? Share your experiences and help others on their path to recovery.

The people behind OrganizedWisdom know that, being human, we all have tales of illness, and that collaboration is a great way to help solve health problems. Join this community to help yourself and others collectively achieve health and well-being.

Technorati Tags: Organized Wisdom, social networking, social media

Posted: Aaron’s Additions, Health, Reviews, Uncategorized

Yo, Apples!0

What’s up, pals?

Sara here, with a few quick updates.

Social web: Have you added Mark’s Daily Apple to your RSS feeder? Do you have an RSS feeder? Are you looking at this and thinking…huh? Check out Aaron’s Helpful Hints at right to learn more. It’s easy, I promise.

If you really dig a particular post and want to share it, you can use the social bookmarking tools (scroll down, way down) to do so - and we’re adding more soon. This helps spread the word about Mark’s Daily Apple. Because who wants to read boring health sites and wade through thousands of dry news articles when you can hang out here? Health is not supposed to be stiff and boring - it’s supposed to be daring and fun! Good health is the foundation for a life of adventure. I don’t know who decided health had to be a stay-inside-the-lines convention, but I suspect it was the same gang that decided an adventurous name for dehydrated wheat balls was Grape Nuts.

You’ve got a sense of adventure, and it doesn’t include wheat balls. So thanks for hanging out! As Mark says…well, Mark says a lot of things. Between the FDA, CDC, Big Pharma, Big Moo, Cocoa Puffs and the above-mentioned snoozers, it’s just too easy! Admit it: Mark’s Daily Apple beats bran muffins.

Posted: Health, Uncategorized

Ain’t No Thing But a Chicken Wing0

Worker Bees’ Daily Bites:

All the news, none of the trans fat.

1) Angering dermatologists everywhere!

Another holy grail of health is about to crumble. Here’s more evidence that a little sunshine is not only okay - it’s probably good for you (something any cat could tell you…if they could tell you). Want to prevent osteoporosis, arthritis, cancer, and maybe even MS? Check out this clickativity.

2) We still love apples

This is an interesting little article about how Americans are so unhealthy, not even our favorite fruits and vegetables are the best. Wow, thanks, Science Daily.

Among the findings: most people still do not know they’re supposed to eat 5 daily servings of produce. And actually, that’s not even correct - a bunch of health organizations got together two years ago and proved that 7-9 daily servings is actually what’s needed for optimal health.

The point of this daily bite is to introduce a little thing Mark refers to as relative nutrition. Sure, potatoes and apples and iceberg aren’t the healthiest produce choices in the world (go for yams, berries and spinach).

But relative to the processed tripe convenience food that’s shoveled at the overwhelming majority of Americans - including the kidlets - any produce is better than some. Think about what you eat in a day. How much of it actually looks like something that grows in a garden?

Everyone is at a different point along the nutrition curve, which probably flows something like: raw, vegetarian, organic, fresh, selective, indiscriminate, destructive.

Most Americans, sadly, fall into the last two categories. Even most “health-minded” folks, Mark believes, hover somewhere around selective. Thanks to unethical food marketing, these well-intentioned shoppers are selecting foods that have the ring of health but are not really healthy. For example: low-fat dairy, canola oil, multi-grain bread, cereal bars, and pork - because it’s “white” meat.

The further you get along the nutrition curve, the healthier you’ll be. But keep relative nutrition in mind. If you know spinach is better than iceberg, and you can afford it, then for Pete’s sake, eat some spinach! But it’s just good to keep in mind that different people are at different points on the curve, so any progress is still progress. And it’s not just because we like apples (okay, maybe that’s some of the reason).

Why men have love handles and women have bellies

3) Killing is wrong, but Big Pharma evidently missed that memo…

Because they were too busy writing emails figuring out the best way to lie.
And lie some more.

4) The C-Section debate

Is elective Cesarean section a safer bet for baby? We already know it’s safer for mom, but the stigma remains in some societies. This study updates the debate.

Web it out:

Astrology affects your health? Study not funded by Miss Cleo (we checked). Yet another fabulous episode in Silly Studies R Us.

Posted: Big Pharma, Diet, Health, Hype, Nutrition, Uncategorized, Women's Health, Worker Bees' Daily Bites

The Tuesday 101

Top 10 Fibrous Foods:

It’s critical to get sufficient fiber into your body, and few people do.

Fiber is a key component of disease prevention (including heart disease and cancer). I recommend fiber because it also helps keep you lean, it clears the body of toxins, reduces cholesterol, and of course, it aids digestion.

Lack of fiber results in many health problems, most of which, nobody likes to talk about in polite company, myself included. But doubling or tripling your fiber intake can clear up IBS, improve metabolism and immunity, fight inflammation and indigestion, and - nice side benefit - improve your mental clarity and focus.

Refined grains and starches aren’t the smart way to get fiber - these are things like potatoes, bread, cereal, pasta, pizza, dessert, and chips. They have some fiber, but not as much as crunchy, stalky vegetables and sturdier whole grains - and they’re just worthless carbs anyway. You can eat three or four times the vegetables for the same amount of calories that are in one serving of grains, and I think vegetables have better flavor anyway.

1. Broccoli

2. Cauliflower

3. Brussels Sprouts

I passionately avoided these for the first thirty years of my life, only to discover they aren’t so bad. With lemon and garlic, they actually taste amazing. And all this time, I was envisioning rows of tiny cabbages. Who knew they grew this way? There goes the image of a miniature harvesting machine. It was fun while it lasted.

4. Asparagus

5. Celery or bok choy

I hate strings, so I go for the bok choy.

6. Good grains: quinoa, brown rice, beans

Quinoa (keen-wah) is a complete protein. Not bad for a grain. (Though I’m not a fan of grains.)

7. Sturdy greens: spinach, cabbage, kale

8. Sprouted-grain bread

Sprouted-grain bread is technically not made of flour, which is pretty cool if you must have bread now and then. Personally I don’t do bread very often. It’s as unprocessed as you can get for bread. My favorite brand is Ezekiel bread.

9. Real oatmeal (not the instant kind)

10. Green beans: snow, sugar snap, string

Fibrous - it’s even more entertaining if you say it like fib-russ instead of fibe-russ. Try it. “Dude, my lunch was so fib-russ. That’s a really fib-russ meal. You need to eat more fib-russ foods if you want to lose that gut.” You can really annoy your wife and buddies this way. So I hear.

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Posted: Carbs, Diet, Health, Nutrition, The Tuesday 10, Uncategorized