November 20th, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, Research
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As if we haven’t seen enough bad press for low carb diets, check this out: a study just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that dieters who followed a low carb diet for a year were more depressed, angry, and confused than people following a higher carb diet.
The researchers studied two groups of people for one year. Both were on a reduced calorie diet and both lost an average of 30 pounds. However, the group on the low carb diet had detrimental effects on their mood.
I know I am pretty angry when I don’t have chocolate for a long time! 😉 Seriously, other smaller studies have not shown changes in mood with low carb diets, but we will have to see if future studies show a similar affect. It makes sense…we know that carbs cause release of serotonin, the feel good hormone. There is a reason people say they are “addicted” to carbs. One is because they are our body’s preferred source of energy, so we need them for energy and we can “crave” them. The other is that they literally make us feel good (and they taste great!) Read more »
This post, Do Low Carb Diets Make People Angry?, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.
November 12th, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, Quackery Exposed, Research
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By Amy Tuteur, MD
More than 10,000 American women each year choose planned homebirth with a homebirth midwife in the mistaken belief that it is a safe choice. In fact, homebirth with a homebirth midwife is the most dangerous form of planned birth in the US.
In 2003 the US standard birth certificate form was revised to include place of birth and attendant at birth. In both the 2003 and 2004 Linked Birth Infant Death Statistics, mention was made of this data, but it was not included in the reports. Now the CDC has made the entire dataset available for review and the statistics for homebirth are quite remarkable. Homebirth increases the risk of neonatal death to double or triple the neonatal death rate at hospital birth. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
October 24th, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized
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How cool would it be if we were able to scan a tomato at our local supermarket and see where it was grown and when it was picked? This technology may not be far away. A few years ago food producers in the US and Canada joined together to create the Produce Traceability Initiative. The system uses a bar code to track fruits and veggies from field to fork. Right now it is voluntary to participate, but lawmakers are looking at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passing it into law.
If it passes, the companies selling food in America will have to adopt a tracking system that will be able to track food from farmer to the field, to the picker, the packer, the shipper, the wholesaler, and the shop. All of this would happen within two days if a case of food poisoning is reported. Read more »
This post, The Produce Traceability Initiative: FDA May Slap RFID Tags On Your Veggies, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.
October 23rd, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, Quackery Exposed
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By Dr. Joseph Albeitz
Some of our more astute readers may have noticed that we are paying influenza slightly more attention than other topics of late. That’s because this situation is new, rapidly changing, and covers more areas of science and medicine than one can easily count. It’s also a subject about which the general public and media are keenly interested. This is an outstanding learning and teaching opportunity for us as a professional community. Unfortunately, it is also fertile ground for confusion, fear, and misinformation, and a playground for those who would exploit such things.
Mercola.com is a horrible chimera of tabloid journalism, late-night infomercials, and amateur pre-scientific medicine, and is the primary web presence of Joseph Mercola. Unfortunately, it is also one of the more popular alternative medicine sites on the web and as such is uncommonly efficient at spreading misinformation. I am not a fan, and have addressed his dross in the past. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
October 22nd, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
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By Robert Stern, M.A.
Almost a decade ago, I had a simple idea — deliver fast, accurate medical news to clinicians in a format that was easily accessible, and turn that news into a “teachable moment.” Almost five years ago, that idea became reality with the launch of MedPage Today.
Monday through Friday (and if news is happening, Saturday and Sunday, too), MedPage Today delivers on our promise of “Putting Breaking Medical News into Practice.”
Our reporters and editors not only scan prepublication copies of top medical journals seeking medical news that is likely to influence daily clinical practice, but also travel worldwide to report medical news delivered at scientific meetings.
These gatherings are important as a primary source of medical information. New medical information, or as we call it: News. Read more »
