13 November 2011

Eating Pace and Protein to Control Overeating

One matter that most evidence-based nutritionists and dietitians will agree on is that humans have evolved to be experts in the task of seeking out palatable foods, which generally contain a combination of sugar, fat, and salt. These nutrients, usually scarce over the long span of evolutionary time and highly valued, are what helped lead to the development of our senses.

Nowadays, it is still the sight, aroma, and taste of food powered by sugar-fat-salt reward and satisfaction that still guides our eating decisions, except in a modern environment of widely available food and sedentary lifestyles.

The axe that nutritionists have to grind with food manufacturers is the blatant targeting of our senses with   layer upon layer of bold sugar-fat-salt flavors -- think of potato chips dipped in artichoke dip, French fries and ketchup, pizza topped with pepperoni, and so on. According to David Kessler, these foods are so powerfully appealing to our senses that they may even alter our brain chemistry driving our appetites for more.

01 November 2011

Antibiotic resistance: "One of the Greatest Threats to Public Health"

Lance Price
In the United States, there are nine billion food animals produced annually including, 34 million cattle, 108 million hogs, 267 mililon turkeys, and 8.9 billion broilers. In contrast, there is only a human population of about 300 million people. Only a fraction of those people will be treated with antibiotics (for 10 days or so a year), but those nine billion animals will be treated all the time whether they're sick or not.

Combined with overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, feeding healthy animals antibiotics to prevent disease and promote their growth are ideal grounds for evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These are bacteria that are no longer inhibited or killed by antibiotics at clinically relevant doses and evidence continues to grow that many of these resistant bacteria do eventually make their way to humans (some originated in humans and made their way back).