WARNING: May result in
rapid fat loss, major
health improvements and
extremely impressed relatives!
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Worker Bees’ Daily Bites:
You best be clickin’!
No More Gold Stars for Fidgeters
Remember that “news” a while back that fidgeting was supposedly some glorious fountain (pen) of health? Well, it’s not. Blogger Bethany, we love thee.
The Chicken We Think We’re Eating
This is clickativity for readers with iron stomachs only. For our more sensitive apples, you may want to move on to Bill’s latest adventures (see below). Oh, wait…
Anyway, back when ye ole Daily Apple was but a seed in Sisson’s mind, we were seriously perturbed by the early research we were digging up. Perturbation #1? The fact that most commercial chicken breasts – the kind that go into McDonald’s sandwiches, for example – are up to one-fourth water and chemicals and salt. We thought this fake pumpery was ridiculous, but this (click at your own risk!) is simply unacceptable. When Russia won’t import your chicken, something has to be done!
Peep this: the little squawker is not down.
Dietbetes Review
Why Cure Diabetes? It’s a Cash Cow (Allie, you’re doin’ a heckuva job!)
This is Flattop341’s Flickr Photo
Health & Public Policy Collidathon – Clickativity:
Bill Works It: Progress on AIDS (Jealous of Hil?)
Corporate Dude Wants Healthcare for Everyone (Hmm…)
And…
Ready for This? Are You Sure? It’s Big!
The Senate has passed a bill requiring the FDA to monitor Big Pharma in a meaningful way. You loyal apples know we are always in a hot fuss over FDA corruption, so we couldn’t be more thrilled about this positive news. Your elected skittles have determined that the FDA must not only monitor Big Pharma more closely, but that all clinical trials must be reported in a public database. Translation: no more reporting only the results that are desirable. It’s about time!
This Flickr Photo Belongs to JColman
Note: No dictionaries were harmed in the writing of this post.
Posted By: Worker Bee
Worker Bees’ Daily Bites
Before we Bees expire from the sudden SoCal heat, Apples, we’ve brought you the best of the batch from today’s news and studies. Glaciers aren’t the only things melting around here. Where’s a walk-in freezer when you need one?
Redefining Risotto
Not that you health smarties would ever make pasta a part of your daily routine, but be warned: Target’s pasta is sauced in salmonella. Wait, Target sells pasta now? Where have we been?
This is J. Reed’s Flickr Photo
A Case for Starvation, Part 2
Strict calorie reduction: one of those very touchy, politically incorrect subjects bobbing about in health studies lately. Naturally…we’re all over it.
Want to live longer? Don’t eat much.
Food for thought: who says we need to eat three, or four, or six meals a day, every day, religiously? Why do we codify sensible health knowledge into bedrock health fundamentals not even kung fu masters could smash through? (Let alone Chuck Norris.) Will the world end if you don’t follow the three-meal-a-day rule? Will pigs fly if one day you drink two glasses of water and the next day you drink seven? Why do we like being bossed around like grade schoolers rules so much? Maybe the great philosophers were right. Maybe humans will do anything but think. Okay, enough pondering. We’re going to go dunk ourselves in a bucket of ice now. How’s the weather in your neighborhood?
Whole Grain Shenanigans
This study is incredibly irritating. First, no one ruled out other possible factors that would contribute to better cardiovascular health. Secondly, the results were based on questionnaires the folks filled out themselves. And thirdly, the reduction in heart attack risk was merely associative. But you can bet the cereal makers of America are going to brag about a bowl of sugar flakes saving you from a heart attack with more zeal than the dairy industry brags about milk being a “proven” weight reducer…
…of two whole pounds…in some people…in a study funded by Big Moo.
Yet what do we see all over magazines and television? Low-fat dairy makes you skinny. And now, Big Agra – er, cereal – keeps you from getting heart disease! They should just hop into a bowl together and save everyone’s health! Ooh, ooh, we know – how about cereal in milk? That will save everyone’s health and make them skinny! Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?!
This is Peter Allen’s Flickr Photo
Disclaimer: Flickr members graciously share their photos – so be sure to click the links to see their other works! They may not necessarily agree with or endorse the views expressed here at Mark’s Daily Apple.
Posted By: Worker Bee
Grocery stores are strange places full of even stranger food packaging concepts. Here’s some food for thought edible substance for cerebration (pitifully-unsuccessful-avoidance-of-pun alert):
Have you noticed how plastic continues to pop up in all sorts of food packaging? We all know that plastic comes from a limited resource; producing, trashing and even recycling plastic all have unpleasant consequences. And when it comes to health, it’s questionable if we want things like thalates in the same hemisphere as our food, let alone the same room.
Still, plastic persists: convenience remains the crowning virtue. (Although, in my opinion, the “convenience” of plastic packaging is still up for debate. This excessive layering is responsible for at least one post-gym “I need to eat!” meltdown per month by yours truly. Layering in fashion is one thing, but in food packaging? We don’t take food snowboarding with us, nor does food need to brave the indoor-outdoor urban trotting of a winter trip to the East Coast. Is this really necessary?)
But, truthfully, I hadn’t given much thought to things like these little plastic cap switcheroos…
Until I learned that there’s a permanent Texas-sized carpet of debris lolly-gagging around the Pacific Ocean’s northern gyre. Just call it Patchwork Pacific.
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(These images are not to scale.)
This really bugs me. In light of our current health and environmental concerns, things like this new Kraft product are totally ridiculous!
I know we’re all working hard and we’re busy, but do we need to be throwing away millions of plastic shredders that come attached to our cheese? I actually liked shredding my parmesan with my own shredder – you know, one that you don’t throw away with each block of cheese. I’m not saying I counted it as a workout or anything, but is it that inconvenient to retain ownership of a shredder that’s not physically attached to my Manchego? Is the extra arm movement required to open the drawer really so exhausting that Kraft feels they’re doing us a favor? Was this a gaping void in the marketplace of which I was unaware?
What do you all think? Perhaps your editor is being too critical of “food” marketers (using-term-generously alert). Perhaps the days I skipped macroeconomics as a slacker college student are coming back to bite me after all these years. (Darn that Professor Carter!) Enlighten me, Kraft!
Until the next shopping adventure, friends…
(Psst: just before hitting “Publish” I ran a quick Google search and found this very sensible review from the Accidental Hedonist, so I’m relieved to find I’m not the only one who thinks this product is both asinine and wasteful.)
Posted By: Sara
Worker Bees’ Daily Bites:
Both wine and chocolate are in the news!
Glug, Glug? Yeah, Yeah
Yet another alcohol study. This one is all over the news: drinking decreases brain size. To be clear, for each level of consumption, the scientists found a .25 percent shrink. (That’s a fourth of one percent, not twenty-five percent…whew!). The levels were defined as the following number of drinks per person per week: 0 drinks, 1-7 drinks, 8-14 drinks, and 14 or more drinks weekly. In other words, the heaviest drinkers of all lost just over a percentage point in brain size.
We’re not big on alcohol around these parts, but this is one of those relative nutrition topics Mark takes with a grain of salt. Like chocolate and coffee, wine is one of those “marginally nutritious” issues that is endlessly debatable and ultimately not a huge factor in health, in the sense that there is probably some benefit to be gained from reasonable consumption thanks to the antioxidants, but don’t expect any miracles. It’s important to put these sensational stories in perspective: a lot of alcohol is bad, a little, on balance, is probably good; but ultimately, water, exercise and a daily salad is more significant anyway!
This is Lichtandreher’s Flickr Photo
New England Journal of Medicineyness Reports
There’s a big ruckus over the bill in Congress that is seeking to limit pharmaceutical drug advertising during prime time television (enough with the puppies and flowers already). This is an excellent read for those who are interested. It’s freedom of speech versus direct-to-consumer drug advertising. Oh, the Skittles. What do you think?
Update: Chocolate
Earlier Mark informed you that Guittard is making an effort to keep fillers and trans fat out of chocolate. You can join the movement here.
This is Roboppy’s Flickr Photo
Web it out:
It’s not just Cracker Jack’s that include a free prize!
Posted By: Worker Bee
Worker Bees’ Daily Bites:
Have we got a great round-up for you today, Apples! There’s so much good stuff we can’t stand it.
Let’s get to it:
Diabetes: Better Off with Lifestyle Changes
Despite a spate of new drug therapies for type 2, evidence still conclusively shows that lifestyle changes are the most effective method for preventing and treating diabetes. What’s really alarming is the fact that diabetes has doubled in the last decade! Drugs can treat the condition, but the underlying problems aren’t going away until we make serious lifestyle changes. Exercise, elimination of sugars and processed foods from the diet, and reducing stress are all vital factors in staving this epidemic.
“Best Oxymoron Award” Goes to…
The FDA wants to put suicide warnings on antidepressants. These drugs are risky, but especially for children and teens. Let’s put this in perspective. Can you imagine if the FDA needed to put obesity warnings on weight loss medications? Or cancer warnings on nicotine patches? Or heart attack warnings on statins? Doesn’t anyone think it’s odd that we even need a suicide warning, of all things, on drugs that make you…anti-depressed?
We Stand Corrected
Sara here. We’ve been recommending regular tuna over albacore based on the misunderstanding that regular tuna was higher in Omega-3’s. We were totally wrong on that, and we appreciate Slashfood for letting us know. Whew.
Restaurant Secrets
Smart Shoppers: Check Out the Organic Report Card
Hey, this is a great site that rates all the organic farms (marks are given in cows, not A’s, B’s and C’s). We stumbled onto it after finding out that Horizon may not be as cud-chewer friendly as we believed (either that, or a small news outfit is trying to get some press). Fitsugar holds the keys to the castle on this debate, so mosey on over to check it out.
Was this a useful post, or what? (Please don’t say “or what”. But do share your thoughts in the forum.) Until tomorrow, Apples!
Posted By: Worker Bee
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