health

Whitewash: The Disturbing Truth about Cow’s Milk and Your Health

farhana — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Joseph Keon’s Whitewash aims to provide enlightenment on the industrialization of dairy farms: a place where happy cows no longer exist. Keon, a wellness consultant, nutritionist and fitness expert examines the production of milk while emphasizing the negative impact it has on the health of American consumers. It also helps that John Robbins, the son of the founder and owner of Baskin-Robbins ice cream company provides endorsement in the foreword of the book.

Keon builds on the fact that bone fractures and osteoporosis rates remain higher in countries with a higher intake of calcium (like the United States) and attributes this to the inability to retain the nutrient. However, he also explores a host of other potential illnesses that milk contributes to including acne, allergies (lactose intolerance) and heart disease. However, at times his scientific truth appears to be stretched as he demonizes cow’s milk to also contribute to Crohn’s disease, cancer, and infertility, not recognizing other potential factors. He also discusses obesity and the forty billion dollar diet industry.

However, one cannot help but feel that he may be part of that industry as well as he spends a chapter endorsing veganism. At times, there is simply not enough scientific evidence to place a significant proportion of the blame on the dairy industry. It is also never considered that there may be other components of milk that are causing this reaction in humans. Unless of course you consider the poisons present in America’s favorite source of calcium.

Whitewash points out the obvious existence of pesticides and natural growth hormones in milk (it is meant for baby calves, after all). However, Keon goes a step further and discusses the existence of rabies in unpasteurized milk, a onetime incident of flame retardant being mixed in with cow’s feed and other chemicals present in milk. These brief incidents in his book only weaken his overall argument as it seems a bit overreaching since it cannot be a basis for each gallon of milk in every freezer section across America. It can be agreed though that our health, physical inactivity and overall exposure to drugs (and chemicals) can be attributed to the price that we pay for living in a modern society in comparison to the rest of the world.

Essentially, a deep analysis of other imperfect industries (for instance, chicken, livestock, and the consumption of eggs) would potentially produce similar results. Keon has demonized cow’s milk similarly to the blame placed on high fructose corn syrup and the corn industry that was initially one of the scapegoats for the obesity epidemic facing America. Additionally, the alternatives Keon provides to dairy are essentially idealistic as the consumers of cow’s milk would now be relegated to investing more money into alternatives to get vitamins A, D, K and calcium which may not be feasible. International alternatives are also not provided. If cow’s milk in the United States is so detrimental to our health, does that mean that imported powdered milk can be a replacement? This is highly unlikely since so much emphasis was placed on the fat content of the milk itself.

Whitewash may not set the ardent milk consumer straight, but it will allow us to take a second look at the fat content. However, the average low/medium income family will not be rushing out any time soon to pay higher prices for calcium alternatives. Perhaps further insight on the dairy industry itself would sway the average milk drinker into sympathizing for the unhappy cows across America.

Written by: Aneesa A. Baboolal, March 27th 2011

Women’s Health: What We Know Now (1/31/2011)

mandy — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:00:00 +0000

92nd Street Y

New York, New York

Blueberry myths and spicy food hot flashes were but two of the multitude of topics covered at an informative lecture on Women’s Health at the 92nd Street Y. Aimed at the middle aged uptowner, Women’s Health: What We Know served as a forum for the educated health consumer to raise their concerns with health professionals not waiting on their next appointment. Both Dr. Susan Love and Dr. Alice Domar were patient and honest, even occasionally funny. Exactly the type of woman you'd hope to find on the other end of the stethoscope.

The need for such a lecture is slightly disheartening in that it is clear even those who care and have financial means cannot find a fair answer between their providers, the media, and other sources. Time and again the speakers went back to studies in the media and the need to maintain absolute critical vigilance in deciphering who paid for the study, who got the results into the paper, and why.

Going into this event I thought I would learn nothing. Utterly false in my assumption, I learned many new tidbits, which may or may not be true, but they all have some evidence behind them. These include:

Buying organic produce is worth it if you are buying fruits or vegetables you don’t peel (e.g., strawberries and tomatoes); otherwise, it’s not (e.g., banana).
Think of menopause as backwards puberty. It’s natural. It’s bizarre. It's uncomfortable. You will get through it.
Fitness and exercise do not necessarily go hand in hand. If you are under fifty, you need to be fit, which may or may not imply that you need to exercise. If you are over fifty though, you need to exercise regularly to remain fit no matter what.
Vitamins and supplements, on the whole, have not been shown to be effective. But New York City does have a vitamin rich sewage system.
The existence and insistence of girls obtaining the Human Papillomavirus Virus vaccine may exist thanks to the fact that HPV studies needed to be conducted on people not rats.
There are women who still believe hormone therapy is the answer to their hot flashes. IT'S NOT!
Even breast cancer advocates are sick of the pink ribbon craze. Donate to breast cancer research, not awareness raising.

But my absolute favorite tidbit was Dr. Domar’s three cardinal rules: don’t smoke, wear a seatbelt, and have safe sex. These apparently are the only things science knows for sure.

Written by: Nicole Levitz, March 10th 2011

Jonathan Safran Foer (01/19/2011)

brittany — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:00:00 +0000

London School of Economics

London, England

Jonathan Safran Foer spoke about the issues in his most recent book Eating Animals to a packed house at the London School of Economics. I haven’t read the book yet, or either one of his other two titles Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, so I went bracing for a preachy rally full of vegetarian dogma.

For those of you who have read the book, you probably know that I had no reason to fear. I’m a vegetarian, but both vegetarian activists and passionate meat eaters alike bother me. I tire of vegetarian propagandists shoving violent pictures of animal cruelty in people’s faces in an attempt to convert the nonconvertible. Just the same, I grow weary of telling people I’m a vegetarian and fielding questions like “No meat? What the hell do you eat?!” “Why? It’s natural to eat meat, y’know” or my favorite, “Ok, but jamon you eat, right?”

Thankfully, there were no leaflets handed out for either cause. Rather, I was captivated by Safran Foer’s social and environmental observations gained from the three years of research he put into the project. Safran points out that at this point in society’s development, everyone can recognize that eating meat is an “issue”, something we care about. However, voices from both sides are overly judgmental.

Safran Foer says vegetarian activists have helped create this strict dichotomy between meat eaters and non-meat eaters so much so that people do not see the benefits of just cutting down on meat consumption. “They have created a framework in discussing this so that they feel there are only two options: you’re a vegetarian or you’re a carnivore. And, most people cannot condition themselves to become a vegetarian… I think most people can condition themselves to eat less meat.” According to Safran Foer, if Americans can attempt to not eat meat for just one meal every week, the influence on the environment would be the same as taking five million cars off the road.

Vegetarians are often teased that they have canine teeth because humans are meant to eat meat naturally. Perhaps that was true during times when food was simply putting calories in our bodies. But Safran Foer points out that the huge social discourse surrounding the meat industry and the great lengths they take to create an idealistic picture of factory farms plays a much larger part in what we eat than we realize. According to Safran Foer, the animals in factory farms in the U.S. consume eight times more antibiotics than humans. Safran Foer asks “Is it natural to eat these kinds of animals that are raised in these ways? What’s natural about eating an animal that cannot survive without antibiotics? What’s natural about eating food that most nutritionists biologist and doctors I’ve spoken with say is probably the reason why girls are going through puberty at ages nine and ten?”

The system in which meat is produced is so distanced from consumers that we aren’t conscious of the externalized costs to the environment. Safran Foer says fast food “is presented as the cheapest food that’s ever been produced, when in fact it’s the most expensive food that’s ever been produced.” Indeed, the cost rung up at the supermarket does not include the destruction done to the environment. Safran Foer says the Global South has paid a huge price for this. Africa, South America, as well as parts of Eastern Europe all export food that they grow themselves but don’t eat to American and European companies. Their natural environments are destroyed in the process. Safran Foer asks “For what? Only for burgers. Not to solve the healthcare problem. Not to create peace in the Middle East. It’s for cheap burgers that make us fat.” Safran Foer also found that ninety-nine percent of the world’s soy crop is fed to animals concluding that, “No one eats tofu like meat eaters.”

Safran Foer claims that Eating Animals exists to begin a discussion about how people eat meat. He was not trying to create a book to persuade readers to become vegetarians, which is why he approached it journalistically, relying on the industry’s statistics and using two fact checkers. Even if you’re a die hard carnivore who scoffs at anything coming from the Kingdom Plantae or if you’re a vegan who refuses to swat a malaria carrying mosquito or somewhere in between, you should read Safran Foer’s book, if for no other reason than to learn about the affect the foods you choose to eat have on the rest of the world.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

An mp3 recording of the event can be accessed here.

Written by: Sara Custer, February 9th 2011

Green for Life

mandy — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:00:00 +0000

By Victoria Boutenko

North Atlantic Books

Green for Life is both fascinating and troubling at once. In a nutshell, Victoria Boutenko persuades the reader that people should consume one quart of blended greens per day. She further demonstrates that humans should be eating the same diet as chimpanzees, because "modern people and chimpanzees share an estimated 99.4% of our DNA sequence." Many folks may pick up this book expecting a cookbook; however, Green for Life mostly consists of health information and testimonials. Although a few recipes are included, they are a minority of the book's content, and placed in the very back; these recipes are designed more for health than flavor, foodies be damned.

In each chapter of Green for Life, Boutenko discusses a different health topic: fiber, stomach acid, protein, alkalinity. Every subject concludes that consuming green smoothies is the best solution for overall human health. I felt reluctant to believe much of what I was reading, as there are not enough sources listed, a major flaw of this publication.

There was also the issue of not knowing precisely what really constitutes as "greens" throughout most of the book. Chapter fifteen finally gives a list, though it's only a list of what the author and her family have personally consumed, and therefore not comprehensive. I would have liked this information to have been included at the very beginning.

The testimonials from people who consume green smoothies are positive. So positive, in fact, that I was in disbelief. Could moles really fall off from drinking smoothies? Diseases be cured? Cataracts shrink? I hope this is all true, but it all seems too good to be.

Green for Life does little to consider those with lower incomes and limited access to healthy resources. "This miraculous drink is available to every person in every country," Boutenko offensively states. Not everyone on Earth has access to quality blending machinery or healthy food. And this lifestyle change is a drain on time and money; few people can afford a Vitamix blender (or other equally high-powered blender) and daily supplies of organic produce. It is explained that a weaker blender and conventionally-grown produce would not yield the best results. Bummer.

Though a good beginner's guide that is ripe for discussion, Green for Life requires further sources, study, and more consideration for those who have fewer means.

Written by: Jacquie Piasta, January 16th 2011

The Fatigue Prescription: Four Steps to Renewing Your Energy, Health, and Life

beth — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By Linda Hawes Clever, MD

Viva Editions

In the style of many self-help books, Linda Hawes Clever, MD, is a product of and a subscriber to the program of renewal that she presents in her book. In the span of eighteen months, the physician endured the death of her parents, a home burglary, the loss of two jobs, and her husband’s cancer diagnosis. In the process of dealing with the impact of these traumatic events, Clever reached out to others who were interested in revamping their own lifestyles and ended up founding RENEW, a not-for-profit that “aims to help busy, devoted people sustain or regain enthusiasm, effectiveness, meaning and, yes, joy.” The Fatigue Prescription: Four Steps to Renewing Your Energy, Health, and Life brings together Clever's experience from her ten years of heading up the company and laying out a four pronged plan to recapture energy and motivation. Whether stress and fatigue stem from life-altering events or just daily life itself, Clever’s thorough, warm-hearted guide is intended to give readers the tools to ditch their ruts and find their groove.

Clever's writing is persistently optimistic and quippy. The book is brimming with quotables from both the author and other sources as diverse as Langston Hughes, South Pacific, Rumi, and Wendell Berry. The requisite checklists and brainstorming questions are laced with good humor. Clever's voice is a strong selling point for her The Fatigue Prescription. It makes you feel taken care of—you can tell Clever is a doctor with a warm and friendly bedside manner.

In fact, Clever's profession shapes her recommendations in many ways, bringing a unique and holistic focus to her prescription for better living. She includes extensive sections about taking care of your body and brain and backs up her advice by referencing, in plain English, various medical studies including a fascinating study about possible links between longevity and positive attitudes.

However, the book is still plagued by some of the familiar demons of the self-help genre. While Clever tries to keep things simple by outlining four steps to a fatigue remedy, the book wanders from this premise and spins new jargon that can get confusing: there are renew-o-meters, buff-o-meters, and three kinds of “buckets” for your self-esteem, worthiness, and energy. Also, the prescription metaphor, while catchy, doesn’t quite work to describe Clever's approach accurately and has to undergo some complex contortions to try to encompass all of the recommendations put forth by the author.

The Fatigue Prescription does offer inroads to making a change and plenty of positive affirmations. Clever writes a prescription for combating fatigue but she acknowledges that it’s not a magic pill you can pop and forget about. Her approach engages the reader in intense reflection and reevaluation of fundamental values and priorities in order to begin the journey towards rediscovering lost energy.

Written by: Jo Ristow, October 13th 2010

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

admin — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By David Kessler

Penguin India

Obesity and the health issues that accompany it have long been a subject of intense discussion in the Western world, where the abundance of super-cheap and highly processed foods has been linked to many health disorders. David Kessler’s The End of Overeating is an important addition to the books written on the subject. Kessler has the background to take on this complex subject, having served as commissioner at the US Food and Drug Administration. He is also a man who has grappled with weight issues, giving him a more personal interest in the topic.

One of the biggest strengths of The End of Overeating (and the reason I called it an important book) is that Kessler articulates convincingly a position on obesity that moves it away from the issue of individual control and choices ("if you’re fat, you have no willpower, and you really ought to control yourself"). While for a large part of America calorie intake is outpacing calorie absorption, he acknowledges that it’s not as simple as "having the willpower to say no." Kessler also acknowledges that a small percentage of obese people are obese due to other medical reasons and that "hypereating" is not restricted to obese people.

Kessler advances his position by taking a close look at the food and restaurant business, and how it gets consumers to eat larger portions, eat more often, eat at any place, eat at more locations, eat more indulging foods, and eat mind-blowing combinations of fat-sugar-salt that make us want to, well, eat some more. He also goes to some length to explain how overeating can become a habit by conditioning and by altering the stimulus-reward circuits in the brain. By indulging in high calorie foods, which offer a temporary but pleasurable sensation, we are primed to remember those sensations the next time we come across the same stimulus.

If all this sounds esoteric, think of a food experience that you particularly crave—perhaps a burger at a particular fast food joint or a particular brand of chocolate—and think about how hard it is to turn away from the treat it promises. That is what Kessler is talking about, and The End of Overeating helps us to understand why we don’t just ’say no’. The first three sections—"Sugar, Fat, Salt," "The Food Industry," and "Conditioned Hypereating Emerges"—are all about dissecting the problem, and are the strongest parts of the book.

One quibble is that Kessler sometimes stops short of covering an individual’s story in sufficient detail, preferring to move on to the next of numerous chapters. One also suspects Kessler would have done well to stop with his thorough analysis of the problem rather than extend the book to offering solutions as well. The sections "The Theory of Treatment," "Food Rehab," and "The End of Overeating" are somewhat disappointing in their generality when compared with the rigorousness of the first half of the book. While there are a few useful suggestions, they don’t go beyond what common sense suggests, nor are they buttressed with any studies or other information on their efficacy. They also veer dangerously close to the "you can stop eating if only you try" approach that Kessler disses in the first half.

Despite these drawbacks, The End of Overeating is an interesting read for anyone who has struggled with weight or with the expectations of desirability in an increasingly appearance-conscious world. Those of us living in India can already see the wholesale import of Western brands and lifestyles into what was a slower and more wholesome way of eating. For us, it may be the "Beginning of Overeating," but that is no reason we shouldn’t be better prepared.

A longer review can be found at Apu's World

Written by: Aparna V. Singh, August 14th 2010

Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World

admin — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Bob Torres, Jenna Torres

PM Press

Wherever one falls on the meat-eater to vegan continuum, you need to make the Torres duo your truth-speaking, profanity-spewing, tough-loving pals. They will move you closer to ethical veganism. For the already-vegan, Bob and Jenna offer the rationale and the moral support to stay that way. For four years, these wacky Ph.D.s have provided social commentary and intellectual critique to and for vegans through their podcast, blog, online forum and publications. In so doing, they've created the Vegan Freak ethos: a celebration of the way vegans stand out in a society that normalizes brutality and exploitation.

Two years ago my younger brother lent me the first version of Vegan Freak, a colloquial and genuinely caring guide to going vegan—covering everything from basic animal rights theory to getting along with non-vegans to where and how to find vegan products. I'd gone vegan as a teenager, emotionally devastated by exposés of modern industrial agriculture. But with the onset of my adulthood, Whole Foods markets were popping up like dandelions, and no less than Peter Singer had given the seal of approval to "humanely" raised animal products. The ideology of mainstream animal advocates looked hopelessly confused, applauding vegan diets and marketing cage-free eggs in the same breath, and my own veganism needed a shot of re-commitment. Vegan Freak offered that. In its pages I found a consistent, insistent morality and a practical guide to living it.

Now, the new edition appears and, as promised, it's been rewritten from the ground up. A thicker book both in page count and ideas, Version 2.0 reflects the clarity and maturity the authors have developed through years of vegan outreach. It still covers surviving holiday dinners and finding vegan alternatives for the leather fetishist in your life. Bad puns, tangential rants, and non sequitur chapter titles preserve the fun of the original. But new sections address recent trends in the vegan world: environmental veganism, veganism-as-body-image complex (or the Skinny Bitch effect), Oprah's vegan cleanse—all are sliced with a scalpel of abolitionist rationale.

For Bob and Jenna, there's no bad reason to go vegan, per se. Just inadequate reasons. Their goals—to help others go and stay vegan, to build a social movement recognizing animal rights—inform all their advice and criticism. Empathy bleeds through every sentence, but the Torreses treat their audience as responsible adults. They are not going to let us off the hook for failing to check if a soup is made with chicken stock or if our running shoes are all man-made materials. They are not content with vegetarians; cheese addicts get their own special page to bookmark and turn to whenever the craving strikes. Really, Bob and Jenna are sure we can make it through the traumatic dinner party with nothing but iceberg lettuce, and when we think about it, we are, too.

To their credit, the authors do not pretend to know what they don't. They frequently refer readers to other sources. The number of times they recommend Googling vegan product X will get tiresome if you read the book in one sitting. But for anyone attempting to make any kind of change, Vegan Freak is applicable and inspirational. The three-week, cold-tofu approach to personal lifestyle change worked for me when I decided to begin exercising regularly. And their thoughts about "impoverished veganism"—veganism that is only about what we consume and how we spend our money—encourages the already-vegan to think beyond personal choices. Most seriously, I credit my present involvement in any kind of activism, vegan-focused or not, to Bob and Jenna's inspiring, grassroots-y influence.

Written by: Charlotte Malerich, May 31st 2010

Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Leora Tanenbaum

Seven Stories Press

With my feet encased in a pair of red Mary Jane pumps, I sat at my desk reading Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them. As a self-described “shoe girl” and vehement hypochondriac I nervously turned the pages, bracing for bad news.

In her book, author Leora Tanenbaum outlines some of the extreme practices women have undergone in the name of footwear—like the practice of foot binding in tenth century China—and gives anecdotal evidence about the serious foot, knee, and back injuries that can arise from wearing modern-day heels. There is a section of the book dedicated to foot maladies. I squirmed through it. Another section discusses cosmetic surgery of the foot, followed by accounts of surgery “horror stories.” Throughout, women discuss the pain their high heels have caused them. All of this is coupled with inconvenient, scientific facts that all confirm high heels can, over time, cause physical pain and deformity.

According to Tanenbaum, shoes are not supposed to hurt, a fact I had never considered. Truth be told, even my “comfortable” office shoes—a beautiful pair of open-toed ballet flats—squish my toes together and dig into my heels as I walk. This, according to Tanenbaum, is neither normal nor healthy for the foot. I’ve never taken the time to find a pair of shoes that are both comfortable and beautiful—mostly because I didn’t believe that such a pair existed.

Tut, tut, Tanenbaum would say. There are countless brands of foot-friendly shoes, some of which are provided in the book. One that I have recently become enamored with, thanks to Tanenbaum’s recommendation, is the Born shoe brand. A recent shopping trip yielded me a stunning (and comfortable!) pair of silver gladiator sandals that leave me feeling as though I am walking on air.

Generally speaking, I love my shoes very much. Any book that will try to scare me away from them will only temporarily divert my attention, and Tanenbaum is aware of this fact. Although she concedes that there are social pressures encouraging women to wear pumps, she does not believe that high heels are “unfeminist.” Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them does not attempt to stop women from wearing the shoes they love; it simply suggests that the indulgence be limited to a few hours a week and that comfortable shoes with orthopedic inserts are worn when possible.

Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them should be a prerequisite for all shoe-enthusiasts. The book offers practical advice that can easily be incorporated into even the most fashionable of wardrobes. As I type this I am wearing a great pair of black bootie pumps. Although once uncomfortable, I’ve made them substantially more wearable, thanks to the over-the-counter orthopedic inserts I picked up as per Tanenbaum’s suggestion. With a little practical planning, it appears—to borrow from a tired cliché—that women can have their shoes and wear them too, so long as they are smart about it.

Written by: Cheryl Santa Maria, May 20th 2010

Precision Pro Kitchen Scale

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By EatSmart

I hesitate to endorse a ‘nutrition’ oriented product on a feminist website due to the ongoing tyranny of the emaciated female form in marketing, eating disorders, and fear of accusations of insensitivity, insecurity, close-mindedness, and size-ism. However, here are the facts of my situation: an undiagnosed medical condition made me overweight, and now I want to lose that weight. Half of the pounds evaporated as the result of successful (non-bariatric) surgery, but I would like to lose the entire quantity and return to my healthy size. A recovering bulimic roommate hid my body scale in the mid ‘90s, and I have not owned a scale since but prefer to go by clothes size.

I have always objected to strict dieting as a step on the slippery slope to anorexia. It also feeds an oppressive ideology (see Susan Bordo) and is ultimately ineffective because the metabolism lowers at a rate corresponding to the decrease in calories unless the dieter exercises. (And here is the inevitable) BUT now I seek helpful tools to assist in weight loss and maintenance. While aesthetic and emotional motivations may be suspect, concern regarding heart disease, the number one killer of women in the United States, is entirely legitimate. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provides a site to help create an individualized heart-healthy diet. The EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale is another useful device.

Here’s why I like it: reasonably priced, it is also small, discreet, and multifunctional, as well as simple and thoughtfully including a tare feature (subtracting the weight of a dish or storage container). It works on any continent, or with your recipe of choice, offering four measurement modes: grams, ounces, kilograms, and pounds. In addition to the cross-trainer, free-weights, walking, bicycling, medical supervision, and the uninhibited enjoyment of the food that I do consume, I appreciate the use of this scale on the road to regained health.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, March 21st 2010

The Fat Studies Reader

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Edited by Esther Rothblum, Sondra Solovay

NYU Press

The Fat Studies Reader is a collection of groundbreaking essays in this interdisciplinary field. The book is divided into six sections that include a historical overview of fatness, fat studies in health and medicine, social inequality, discrimination in popular culture, and embracing fatness.

The Fat Studies Reader argues that size-ism is unacceptable and that fat phobia exists both in popular culture and in the medical industry. The writers assert that instead of “combating obesity” and medicalizing fatness, our culture should recognize that people can be healthy or unhealthy at all weights. Being fat should not be seen as a personal failing, and oppression and ridicule of fat people should not be acceptable in popular culture.

As a graduate student who has done quite a bit of reading in the field of public health and diet-related chronic disease, I admit to being somewhat skeptical about the nonchalant attitude some of the writers have toward the relationship between obesity and health, particularly in Paul Ernsberger's essay “Does Social Class Explain the Connection Between Weight and Health?” Ernsberger argues that the widespread belief that being poor puts one at risk for obesity is wrong, and makes a somewhat astonishing claim that “a stronger case can be made for converse: fatness is impoverishing.” Ernsberger’s argument counters abundant research that has shown the relationship between low socioeconomic status, obesity, and diet-related diseases.

Even though I disagreed with many of the essays in the “Fat Studies in Health and Medicine” section, I found much of interest in this volume. The essays about portrayals of fatness and race in popular culture were particularly instructive. The Fat Studies Reader is very likely to challenge readers’ preconceptions, regardless of the open mindedness they may bring to the book. Exploring unexamined assumptions is a very important accomplishment of this collection.

Written by: Liz Simmons, March 19th 2010

The Body Scoop for Girls: A Straight-Talk Guide to a Healthy, Beautiful You

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:06:00 +0000

By Jennifer Ashton Avery

Avery Trade

I am skeptical of books that aim to educate teens about all things related to one’s adolescent body, but The Body Scoop for Girls exceeded my expectations. Jennifer Ashton is a gynecologist and CBS medical correspondent who has written a user-friendly manual for young girls I wish I had read when I was entering the tricky terrain we call puberty. As she points out, what passes for sex education in schools still leaves a lot to be desired—no pun intended—when it comes to teenagers having the kind of comprehensive information necessary to make choices that could change the trajectory of their lives forever.

Yes, I know there has been a lot of debate on the value of preaching abstinence to teens versus providing them with information about and access to contraceptives. Ashton seems to lean toward the school of thought that ‘more is better’ when it comes to sex ed. She also believes that teens shouldn’t wait until they’re sexually active to see a gynecologist, but acknowledges that, for many parents, this is akin to giving your daughter a green light to have sex.

Ashton acknowledges the tremendous pressures that teens are under—from popular culture as well as their peers—when it comes to expressing their sexuality. She advocates teens waiting until they are eighteen to have sex, and even gives readers a list of excuses they can give to a pressuring partner before they are ready. For women who are sexually active, Ashton has good pointers as well, like always use a condom even if you are taking hormonal birth control because neither method is foolproof and the latter doesn’t keep you safe from HIV. She lists the different types of contraceptives, their pros and cons, and commonly held misconceptions about each one.

I consider myself relatively well educated and informed about need-to-know health and wellness topics, but I learned a lot from reading this book, even things that will impact my own health choices as a forty-something female. Ashton has the ability to explain complex information in an engaging and accessible manner. She comes across like a cool older sister when discussing subject matter that is often embarrassing for teen women. (It doesn’t hurt that Ashton, whose picture is featured on the book cover, is young, blonde, and attractive—just what many teenage girls aspire to be.)

Ashton covers everything about the female body in The Body Scoop for Girls—from breast health to safe waxing tips to protecting yourself from sexually transmitted infections. In one interesting section, she talks about the risks of breast implants, which is classified as a major surgery, and advises girls to wait until they’re older than twenty, the age the female body ceases to mature, before considering breast implants. Ashton also dispels myths about the causes of breast cancer, such as using certain deodorants increases the risk, and imparts a few lesser known facts. (Did you know that the more alcohol you consume, the higher your risk of getting breast cancer?)

As I was reading The Body Scoop for Girls, I thought more than once that we’re given more information about how to change the oil in our car or balance a checkbook than we are about how to respect and care for our bodies. The choices teenagers make can have lifelong implications. If you’re a parent of a teenage daughter, buy a copy of this book for her and read it when she’s done. You won’t regret it, and you might even learn something in the process.

Written by: Gita Tewari, February 22nd 2010

YummyEarth Organic Super Sour Pops

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:00:00 +0000

By YummyEarth

I don’t have a sweet tooth; I have sweet teeth. No: I don’t have sweet teeth, I have sweet bones. So the challenge is to get through life with a minimum of caloric catastrophe and dental damage. Thankfully, there are a wide variety of health-conscious treats available from YummyEarth.

Founded by two fathers who wanted to spare their children chemical dyes, fake seasoning, and corn syrup, all YummyEarth candies are USDA and EU certified organic. Admittedly, I’ve heard for years that corn syrup is bad for you, but never investigated the particulars. Apparently high fructose corn syrup not only pumps people full of empty calories, it also interferes with two bodily substances, Leptin and Gherlin.

Leptin and Gherlin may sound like two evil Tolkien characters, but apparently Leptin signals to the brain that you are full, and Gherlin increases appetite. What high fructose corn syrup does is decrease the production to Leptin, and increase the production of Gherlin. So you think you have more room in your stomach and feel hungrier that you actually are. Great.

I had the pleasure of tasting the high fructose corn syrup-free Super Sour Pops, and it was a satisfying experience, indeed. The flavors are Strawberry Smash, Sour Apple Tart, Googly Grape and Very Very Cherry – the apple is my favorite. Each lollipop is only twenty-two calories, so it’s not surprising that I’d slurp through three in rapid succession. Even at sixty-six calories, it’s a reasonable treat.

YummyEarth also offers Fruit Pops, Strawberry Pops, Vitamin C Pops, and Fiesta Pops. The candy drops include Citrus C Grove, Pomegranate Pucker, Very Very Cherry, Cheeky Lemon, Wet Face Watermelon, Wild Peppermint, Cinnamon Stick, Ginger Zest, Roadside Root Beer, and Hopscotch Butterscotch. But it’s the Hot Chili Pops that I’m going to have to track down.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, January 18th 2010

Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor: More Rebellion and Fire or Your Healing Journey

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:03:00 +0000

By Kris Carr

skirt!

Kris Carr was diagnosed with chronic cancer and instead of sitting around and waiting to die, she began to really live. She reshaped her life from the inside physically and mentally. Her first book was Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips and this follow up book gives the reader more support and inspiration.

I do not have cancer, but I found incredible strength and numerous fabulous ideas in this book. Many of the lessons and advice from Carr can be taken by anyone. There are a number of exercises and tasks to do, and blank pages are left to answer the prompts given. I particularly liked the following: “How do you find stability in the midst of unsafety?” and “What does the woman or man you desire to become look like?”

Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor is peppered with plenty of attitude and humor from Carr, and quotes from famous writers and philosophers are throughout. Carr seems like a trusted friend and adviser, but one who doesn’t take herself too seriously. She looks to her support system—doctors, friends, and her mother—to write brief essays on diet, meditation, and beauty tips.

Many of the ideas seem like common sense, yet it is easy to get bogged down into repetitive and destructive ways of thinking. Writing this as a woman who hasn’t been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, I can only imagine that challenge is multiplied for cancer patients. Carr reminds us to break out of these patterns, get off our butts, and make things better for ourselves. No one else is going to do it for us, and as she says, we are the CEOs of our own lives.

Carr's website has more support and tips. There are continual updates on physical, emotional, and mental well being, but if you don’t just want to read about how to change your lifestyle, the website gives you the tools to change your physical self as well. Carr recommends juicers, water test kits, raw foods, vitamins, yoga mats, body wash, essential oils, lubricant, and even saunas! Also posted online are Carr's upcoming workshops and events; her passion for life in her book is inspiring, so in person, I’m guessing she’s pretty incredible!

Written by: Kristin Conard, October 7th 2009

The SimplyRaw Living Foods Detox Manual

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:16:00 +0000

By Natasha Kyssa

Arsenal Pulp Press

Which should I do first, save my butt or save the planet? The SimplyRaw Living Foods Detox Manual contains much useful information, but it appears that any local food aspirations may conflict with many of the program's staples. Some recipes incorporate avocados, bananas, and papayas. The modern world that poisons us also includes the technology that permits year-round tropical fruits.

SimplyRaw is a company that assists people in improving health and well-being. Natasha Kyssa, a raw foods cook and lifestyle coach, is its founder. This manual details her twenty-eight-day raw-and-living-foods-only detox program. Raw and living foods are those that have been soaked, sprouted, or fermented.

The last time I followed a naturopathic food plan, I definitely felt better, but I am not certain that it would be considered 'gentle.' This method claims to be kind and effective, purging poisons from the body and supplying healing nutrients. Her site cites National Geographic: "Chemicals that suffuse modern life—from well-known toxins to newer compounds with unknown effect—are building up in our bodies and sometimes staying there for years."

Given decades of accumulation, it seems rather ambitious to clean out one's system in a month, but the claimed benefits include increased energy levels, better digestion, weight loss, clear sinuses, and improved sleeping in addition to decreased toxicity. This book provides over one hundred recipes nutritional information and implementation suggestions. There are descriptions of complementary therapies such as dry skin brushing, tongue scraping, mini-trampolines, saltbaths, and colonics. Lists of recommended whole foods and herbal teas are also included.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, October 5th 2009

Toxic Trespass

admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:19:00 +0000

Directed by Barri Cohen

National Film Board of Canada

Barri Cohen's filmic crusade for children's health, Toxic Trespass, starts with her 10-year-old daughter, Ada, announcing the results of her "body burden" blood test for chemical substances at a press conference. She says: "I am polluted." The results are dreadful for one so young, yet no one can reassure Ada about the consequences that these poisons will have on her health. From the outset, Toxic Trespass criticizes the government’s inability to establish safe levels for chemical levels in blood, especially given the ever-escalating rate of childhood cancers.

Despite reluctance to identify "toxic clusters"—areas of higher incidence—environmental causes are said to be responsible for ninety-five percent of cancers (as opposed to genetic causes). The geographical focus of the documentary is the larger Great Lakes Basin and in order to draw conclusions, Cohen explores Windsor, Canada, a city located across the river from Detroit. Windsor is known for high levels of airborne toxins because of the numerous heavy metal industries concentrated in one area (foundries, etc.), but Cohen also interviews people who denounce vehicle emissions (Windsor is Canada’s busiest border crossing) and other possible contributing factors.

The great strength of the documentary is that children, dissenting scientists, women, and Native American groups are given a voice. Cohen focuses on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, Ontario, a city to which eighty percent of petrochemical products used in the world can be linked, located across the river from Port Huron, Michigan. The Chippewa Land is surrounded by large chemical multinationals located in "Chemical Valley." Mercury levels in the community’s water were found to be 100 times higher than established government thresholds. Here Cohen confirms studies corroborating that pollutants provoke endocrinal disruption and skew the sex ratio in births, inhibiting the production of male embryos in mothers and/or affecting the Y-chromosome in sperm.

In her investigation of contaminants, Cohen also criticizes the use of pesticides for cosmetic reasons, introducing Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René, a lymphoma survivor from Quebec who has been fighting for recognition of environmental toxins causing childhood illnesses since his diagnosis at the age of ten in 1994. In 2001, he was recognized by the U.N. Environment Programme for his outstanding contributions to the protection of the environment.

Exposing the government's "4D" strategy with regards to public information on environmental problems—deny, delay, divide and discredit—Cohen suggests collusion with industry in keeping information from the public, and especially challenges the general tendency to minimize or deny possible environmental effects of pollution on citizens. She does not hide her bias, recognizes her own responsibility in her daughter’s contamination (i.e., bottles, toys), but manages to leave spectators with optimism by showing impassioned citizens fighting to make their communities safer.

People who have seen documentaries on environmental causes of cancer, such as Toxic Bust or Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer, will note similarities with these films, even though it does not exclusively deal with breast cancer. Producer Dorothy Goldin-Rosenberg previously examined breast cancer in Exposure: Environmental Links to Breast Cancer.

Mixing historical footage on chemical production, home videos, interviews, and didactic "toxic facts," this exceptional documentary is of a quality typical of Canada’s NFB and, among other prizes, received a Canadian Screenwriting Award by the Writers’ Guild of Canada in 2008.

Written by: Sophie M. Lavoie, March 3rd 2009