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.

A groundbreaking paper has exposed for the first time the covert misdeeds and extreme abuse of academic and political power by the gerontological establishment.

For the past fourteen years, establishment gerontologists have sought to persecute anti-aging physicians, anti-aging health practitioners, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine itself, simply because they defy the prevailing model of disease-based, drug-oriented medicine.

The paper details a complete disregard for truth, academic integrity, and scientific professionalism by some of the most prestigious doctors in the gerontological establishment,. They have waged a multi-million dollar campaign to influence media and exert deliberate control of public information, using selective funding of journalists to deliberately misrepresent the anti-aging movement.

Dr. Imre Zs.-Nagy, a part of the gerontology movement for four decades, and founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, has courageously stepped up to speak the truth. At great professional risk, he has come forth to blow the whistle on fourteen years of censorship and repression of the science of anti-aging medicine.

In a book being published next week, former FDA chief Dr. David Kessler brings to consumers the disturbing conclusion of numerous brain studies -- some people really do have a harder time resisting bad foods.

At issue is how the brain becomes primed by different stimuli. Neuroscientists increasingly report that fat-and-sugar combinations in particular light up the brain's dopamine pathway -- its pleasure-sensing spot.  This is the same pathway that conditions people to alcohol or drugs.

The culprits foods are "layered and loaded" with combinations of fat, sugar and salt, and they are often so processed that you don't even have to chew much.

Overeaters must take responsibility, too, and basically retrain their brains to resist the lure, says Kessler.

Do you always think about your job? Is it causing an unintentional distancing between you and your family? Here are some ways to keep yourself from thinking about work 24-7:

• Change your route: If you have a bad or overly stressful day at work, take the long way home. During the first half of your journey home, turn the radio off and think about what you have to accomplish at work and how you will execute. During the second half of the drive, turn on whatever music you like, talk radio, (whatever) and begin the process of thinking about things outside of work.

• The boss at work does not equal the boss at home: Just because you are an important guy at work doesn't mean that you get to make demands at home. You have to remember that the people you live with are not paid to take your BS.

• Vent: Once you get home after work, give yourself a 15-minute window to let it out. You should set this up in advance with your spouse but leave the time limit at 15 minutes. After that, you must agree that work is over.

• Blackberry/Laptop: If you really don't need to work, keep the electronics off. Don't log in just because you are curious.

• Questions first: When you get home, immediately ask how your spouse's day went -- and listen! Many times their response is enough to get you to think of family tasks and break you away from work.

• Survival: Your company will survive without you. It is key to remember this as you choose where to spend time.

• No work, no matter what: Set specific nights and times in your calendar and tell co-workers that you are absolutely unavailable then no matter what.

• 25 Percent Rule: When you plan my days, leave a minimum of 25 percent of the time open. Use this time for emergencies, task lists, etc. instead of reserving them for off-hours.

• Get up earlier: As your family sleeps, you can easily get some stuff done by heading to the office early.

New research provides evidence for a link between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity. Serum vitamin D levels in more than 600 children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity.

While previous studies have suggested that vitamin D may affect how airway cells respond to treatment with inhaled steroids, this is the first study of vitamin D and disease severity in children with asthma.

Children with lower vitamin D levels were significantly more likely to have been hospitalized for asthma in the previous year, tended to have airways with increased hyperreactivity, and were likely to have used more inhaled corticosteroids -- all signifying higher asthma severity. These children were also significantly more likely to have several markers of allergy, including dust-mite sensitivity.

Many people are unaware of the calorie content of alcohol, according to a survey. Four in 10 did not know a glass of wine has the same calories as a slice of cake.

The poll of 2,000 adults in England was carried out as part of a government drive to curb people's drinking habits. The campaign also stresses that a heavy drinking session is often followed by an unhealthy breakfast.

A regular beer drinker who drinks five pints a week will, over the course of a year, ingest the same number of calories as someone eating 221 doughnuts. The average wine drinker consumes 2,000 extra calories each month -- over the course of a year, that is the equivalent of eating an extra 38 roast beef dinners.

This article in the Los Angeles Times claims that a study found evidence that chewing gum boosts academic performance. The study looked at about 100 students, who were assigned to either chew or abstain from sugar-free gum during math class. Those who chewed gum apparently showed a 3 percent increase in standardized math test scores.

You will likely want to read the date on this article twice to confirm that it is not an April Fool's article, and indeed a real story that is not in the Onion, but in a legitimate newspaper -- the LA Times.  After that, you will realize the reason that this nonsense study ever saw the light of day. It is because it was funded by the Wrigley institute, which of course makes chewing gum.  The blatant conflict of interest is quite obvious.

The authors added no explanation for their ridiculous observation. However one could speculate that it helps Wrigley earn more money.  Chewing gum is actually harmful to your health for a number of reasons. One is that it filled with either natural or artificial sweeteners, which virtually none of need more of.  But even more importantly, you simply waste your digestive enzyme capacity when you chew and there is nothing to digest.

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.