New research shows that there are big differences in how the sugars fructose and glucose are metabolized by your body. Overweight study participants showed more evidence of insulin resistance and other risk factors for heart disease and diabetes when 25 percent of their calories came from fructose-sweetened beverages instead of glucose-sweetened beverages.

A study looked at 32 overweight or obese men and women. Over a 10-week period, they drank either glucose or fructose sweetened beverages totaling 25 percent of their daily calorie intake.

Both the groups gained weight during the trial, but imaging studies revealed that the fructose-consuming group gained more of the dangerous belly fat that has been linked to a higher risk for heart attack and stroke. The fructose group also had higher total cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and greater insulin resistance.

Meat cooked at high temperatures to the point of burning and charring may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. The finding appeared to be true for meats cooked by frying, grilling or barbecuing. Cooking in this way can form carcinogens which do not form when meat is baked or stewed.

Researchers looked at information from surveys that were a part of the PLCO (Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian) Multi-Center Screening Trial. Participants provided information about their meat intake and preferred cooking methods.

Preferences for high temperature cooked meat were generally linked with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Subjects who preferred very well done steak were almost 60 percent more likely to get pancreatic cancer.

A diet enriched by grapes may prevent the downhill sequence of heart failure after years of high blood pressure. A study suggests that grapes may prevent heart health risks beyond the simple blood pressure-lowering benefits that come from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

The heart-healthy benefits of grapes may be the result of the phytochemicals (naturally occurring antioxidants) activating a protective process in the genes that reduces damage to the heart muscle.

Researchers studied the effect regular table grapes had when added to the diets of rats. After 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage.

Twenty years ago, beekeepers could expect to lose a third of their bees to sprays. In 2009, the loss ranges all the way to 60 percent.

Industrialized agriculture is not friendly to honeybees. In 1974, the U.S. EPA licensed the use of the nerve gas parathion -- trapped into nylon bubbles the size of pollen particles. This acutely toxic insecticide stays on the surface of a flower for several days. A foraging bee returns laden with invisible spheres of asphyxiating gas, bringing back to its home pollen and nectar mixed with parathion.

It is possible that the nectar, which the bee makes into honey, might end up in some food store to be bought and eaten by human beings. Beekeepers are well aware of what is happening to their bees, including the potential that their honey may not be fit for humans.

Carl Johansen, a professor of entomology, called the microencapsulated methyl parathion "the most destructive bee poisoning insecticide ever developed."

S. E. McGregor, a honeybee expert, blames the chemical industry for encouraging farmers to use potent toxins. The result is that now, in 2009, honeybees and other pollinators are moving towards extinction. Honeybees pollinate more than 90 crops in America, but have declined by 30 percent in the last 20 years alone.

Unfortunately, this makes no difference to EPA, which has failed to ban the microencapsulated parathion that is so deadly to honeybees.

Drinking at least one glass of low-sodium vegetable juice daily may help overweight dieters lose more weight.

In a study, adults who drank at least 8 ounces of vegetable juice as part of a diet lost 4 pounds over 12 weeks, while those who followed the same diet but did not drink the juice lost only 1 pound. The vegetable juice drinkers also significantly increased their intake of vitamin C and potassium, while decreasing their overall carbohydrate intake.

It's possible that vegetable juice helps reduce appetite. In addition, vegetable juice drinkers are more likely to get the recommended 3 to 5 servings of vegetables daily.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as naproxen and ibuprofen, do not ward off dementia. In fact, increased use of the pain relievers may actually raise the risk of cognitive decline.

Researchers tracked more than 2,700 seniors for 12 years to see if they developed dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. Participants' pharmacy records were evaluated for use of prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers, and they were questioned about their NSAID use as well.

Heavy NSAID users had a 66 percent higher risk of developing dementia than those with low or no use. The researchers had expected the opposite result, since inflammation is thought to play a role in dementia.

Researchers have discovered that mice given supplemented with curcumin experience a reduction in the formation of fat tissue and the blood vessels that feed it. Curcumin is the major polyphenol in the spice turmeric.

The growth and expansion of fat tissues requires new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis. In fat tissue, this process is mediated by the secretion of adipokines, such as leptin, adiponectin, resistin, interleukin-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The researchers first investigated the effect of curcumin in cultured human cells to which adipokines had been added to stimulate angiogenesis. They found that the ability of curcumin to inhibit angiogenesis was partly due to the reduced expression of VEGF.

They then fed mice a high fat diet supplemented with 500 milligrams curcumin per kilogram diet for 12 weeks. Weight gain was reduced in mice that received curcumin. The researchers attributed this reduction to a decrease in total body fat in the curcumin-fed animals. Mice that received curcumin also had lower liver weights, and experienced a reduction in VEGF, indicating reduced angiogenesis.

Parents whose children are suffering from vomiting and diarrhea are actually making those children more sick by giving them flat coke, lemonade or fruit juice.

It is a myth that sugary drinks will ease bouts of gastroenteritis. Instead, bad cases of stomach bugs in children under five need to be treated with rehydration drinks.

Half of all children under five develop vomiting and diarrhea over the course of the year. But some of the most serious cases could be avoided if parents followed the best advice.

Eating walnuts may help to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer. The nuts contain omega-3 fats, antioxidants and phytosterols that may all reduce the risk of the disease.

Mice fed the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts per day developed fewer and smaller tumors. Although the study was carried out in mice, the beneficial effect of walnuts was likely to apply to humans too.

Previous research has suggested eating walnuts at the end of a meal also helps to cut the damage that fatty food does to your arteries.

Research on mice shows that those carrying the most lice had calmer immune systems than uninfested rodents. This finding could have implications for studying the causes of asthma and allergies in people.

The study adds to evidence supporting the so-called hygiene hypothesis, which holds that the rise in asthma and allergies can be linked to hyper-clean living. If the immune system is not properly primed in childhood, immune cells can improperly react to harmless triggers such as pollen or dander.

The research team wanted to test real, wild mice, not hygienic lab mice that had been raised for generations in ultra-clean conditions. They trapped mice and studied their immune systems, and found that mice who were not infested with lice had much more excitable immune systems.

The economic crash has made many unpleasant truths about the United States apparent. One of the most alarming, according to a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the financial industry has effectively captured the U.S. government.

If the IMF’s staff could speak freely to the U.S. government, it would say us what it says to every country countries such a situation: recovery will fail unless the financial oligarchy blocking essential reform is broken. And if the U.S. is to avoid a true depression, time is running out.

The article from The Atlantic linked below details how the U.S. financial crisis is shockingly similar to problems are more commonly associated with the third world -- and the harsh and necessary steps needed to get out of it.

1. Rinsing your nose with salt water can help keep you healthy and ward off allergy symptoms.

2. Dogs can smell cancer and low blood sugar. A study showed that it is possible to train dogs to identify, based on breath samples, which patients had lung and breast cancer. For diabetics, the dogs can smell ketones in urine and on the breath when blood sugars are high. Dogs can pick up on other smells that humans can’t when glucose levels drop.

3. Researchers found that people who pass through an entryway near the kitchen tend to eat 15 percent more than those who use the front door.

4. You're more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday, or up to three days after you've been diagnosed with the flu or a respiratory tract infection.

5. You can't get a tan from your computer screen. The Computer Tan Web site was created as a hoax to raise awareness about skin cancer.

6. Obese people spend approximately $485 more on clothing, $828 on extra plane seats, and $36 more on gas each year than their thinner counterparts. An overweight driver burns about 18 additional gallons of gas a year.

7. Smokers are four times as likely to report feeling unrested after a night's sleep than nonsmokers. Smokers often experience withdrawal symptoms at night, thus causing periods of restlessness and waking.

8. Eating fruits and vegetables may help your body make its own aspirin. Benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables, causes people to produce their own salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

9. A 20-minute nap can improve your overall alertness, boost your mood, and increase productivity. In addition, your heart may reap benefits from napping -- a six-year study found that that men who took naps at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

10. Your kitchen sink is dirtier than your bathroom. There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in its drain, and the faucet, basin, and sponge are crawling with germs as well.

11. Four out of five doctors in the UK don't work out enough. Heavy workloads, lack of time and poor motivation contributed to the lack of exercise.

12. Baking soda can whiten teeth, garlic can help treat athlete's foot, and honey can soothe a hangover.

13. Using a food diary can double your weight-loss efforts. Your food diary makes you accountable to yourself and provides you with clues on where the extra calories are sneaking in.

14. Regular exercise can lower a woman's cancer risk -- but only if she's getting enough sleep. The National Cancer Institute followed nearly 6,000 women for almost 10 years. Women in the top half of physical activity levels showed an approximate 20 percent reduction in cancer risk, but sleeping less than seven hours per night resulted in a decreased benefit.

15. Watching yourself run in a mirror can make a treadmill workout go by faster and feel easier.

16. Third-hand smoke -- the particles that cling to smokers' hair and clothing and linger in a room long after they've left -- is a cancer risk to young children and pets.

17. Walking against the wind, in the water, or while wearing a backpack burns about 50 more calories per hour than walking with no resistance. People who wear pedometers also tend to burn more calories and lose more weight.

18. Trained sexologists can infer a woman's orgasm history by observing the way she walks. In other news, men find women who wear red sexier than those who wear "cool" colors such as blue and green.

19. Foreign accent syndrome and exploding head syndrome are real (but very rare) medical conditions. A person with exploding head syndrome experiences a loud, indecipherable noise that seems to originate from inside their head. 

20. Vitamins don't seem to help older women guard against cancer or heart disease.

21. Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a result of ejaculation. The increased activity in the nervous system during orgasm may be the culprit.

22. Germ-killing wipes can spread bacteria from one spot to another if you reuse them.

23. Oatmeal, citrus fruits, and honey can boost your sex drive and improve fertility. Oats produce a chemical that releases testosterone into the blood supply, vitamin C improves sperm count and motility, and vitamin B from honey helps your body use estrogen, a key factor in blood flow and arousal. 

24. Twenty-nine percent of Americans say they have skipped filling a prescription due to the cost, and 23 percent use pill splitting as a way to save money.

25. Facebook may be good for your health; studies show that staying in touch with family and friends can ward off memory loss and help you live longer.