MaoBah - Interesting Health Topics, Celebrity News and Informational News

Wolves in sheep’s clothing don’t only happen in fables or in people figuratively. They also happen in the grocery store. As a matter of fact, the supermarket is stocked with them. I found a site that gave tips to help us steer clear of hidden toxins that masquerade as safe products.

1. Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.

2. Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. Cans are commonly lined with bisphenol-A, an organic compound that may be associated with diabetes and heart disease.

3. Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches.

4. Opt for organic chicken. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.

5. Avoid manufactured snacks. Hydrogenated oils are used to lengthen the shelf life of products like crackers and cookies, but they are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. Snack foods are also generally loaded with salt, corn syrup and other unhealthy ingredients.

6. Stay away from artificially-colored foods like candy, maraschino cherries, and gelatin. Mice and rats exposed to blue 1 and 2, red 3 and yellow 6 suffered from brain, adrenal gland, thyroid, and kidney tumors.

7. Always buy organic produce. Lingering pesticides can lead to nervous and reproductive system damage, not to mention cancer.

8. Avoid Teflon cookware. The Teflon used to create nonstick surfaces can release noxious gases when exposed to high temperatures, which puts you at risk for a large variety of diseases, many of which are not even well documented at this time.

9. Never microwave food in plastic bowls, containers, or dishes. Exposure to heat causes the bisphenol-A found in plastics to break down and potentially contaminate your food.

Cocktail carrots or “baby” carrots that are bought in the supermarket are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine that cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots.

You might have known that already, or you may have found out about it just now. What you might not know, though, is that once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots, they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them!

When a baby carrot turns white, which is also referred to as “white blushing,” this causes the bags of carrots to be pulled from the shelf and thrown away. To prevent this consumer waste, the carrots are dipped in chlorine to prevent the white blushing from happening.

Chlorine is a very popular carcinogen and organic growers use a citrus based, nontoxic solution called Citrox instead.

A recent study claims that young adults are not drinking enough milk — at least according to press reports on the matter. But according to the study’s lead author Nicole Larson, the focus on the study was on calcium.

The words "milk" and "calcium" are often used interchangeably in the popular press. But while milk is a calcium source, no standard other than that of the National Dairy Council considers it the best calcium source.

The suggestion that you need to drink three glasses of the secretion of a cow’s mammary glands in order to be healthy is a bit outrageous and doesn’t fit the human evolutionary profile. In fact, most humans around the world cannot easily digest cow milk.

Yogurt has more calcium than milk and is easier to digest. Collards and other greens also have about as much or more calcium than milk by the cup. Greens, unlike milk, have the added benefit of vitamin K, also necessary for strong bones. Sesame is also very high in calcium.

When you measure calcium by cup of food product, milk is high on the list. When you view it by calorie, though, milk is at the bottom. A hundred calories of turnip greens have over three times as much calcium as 100 calories of whole milk.

One of the things that leads to stressful, unhealthy living is when people gobble down their meals. Because lots of us have hectic lives and have things that need to be done within the day, we tend to hustle all the time. What people don’t know, though, is that eating slower have plenty of benefits.

A growing number of studies confirm that eating slower can make us consume fewer calories - enough to lose 20 pounds a year, actually. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that you’re full, and if you eat fast, you can continue eating past the point where you’re actually full.

Enjoying your food can be hard if it goes down your stomach right away. Take time to chew and let your taste buds savor the moment for a while; make your meals a gastronomic pleasure instead of rushing between stressful events. If you eat slower, you’ll chew your food better and this can lead to better digestion. Digestion starts in the mouth, so the more time you take in chewing, the less you work there’ll be in your stomach.

Eating slowly and paying attention to our eating can be a great form of mindfulness exercise. Be in the moment rather than rushing through a meal thinking about other things you need to do after.
Rebelling against fast food and fast life can do more good than you thought. A hectic, fast paced and chaotic life leads to eating in fast food restaurants. We all know that this can be very unhealthy (think of what happened to the guy in Supersize Me.)

The Venezuelan government has ordered Coca-Cola to withdraw its Coke Zero beverage from the South American nation because it contained ingredients that were considered a danger to health.
The decision follows a period of increased scrutiny of businesses in South America’s top oil exporter. Health Minister Jesus Mantilla said the zero-calorie Coke Zero should be withdrawn from circulation to preserve the health of Venezuelans, especially since the beverage contains artificial sweeteners.

Venezuelan health officials said tests found Coke Zero contains sodium cyclamate, an artificial sweetener that has been banned in the United States since 1969 because of concerns it may cause cancer and male reproductive problems.

Although cyclamate is not banned in Venezuela (and is legal in more than 50 countries), the health ministry said Coke Zero did not list it as an ingredient and stated Coca-Cola is “failing to comply with sanitary norms.”

Coca-Cola, meanwhile, denied that Coke Zero sold in Venezuela contained cyclamate, and said it actually contains acesulfame-K and aspartame for artificial sweeteners.

Well, regardless of which artificial sweeteners Coke Zero contains, it, along with all other diet soft drinks, will only have a negative influence on your health.