Posts:
Drug advertisements. Ugh. By the time they finish listing the side effects, you wonder why they even bother publicizing them? Have you noticed that almost every advertisement on the U.S. news show '60 Minutes' is for some pharmaceutical drug, or more recently, for a...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) to leads all other causes of American deaths daily, at least 2,200 each day. For reasons not yet understood, women fare much worse than men do after suffering a heart...
Are you often confused by food labels? Do you look for foods labeled as whole-grain, all-natural or healthy? Do you read the front of the label when you're making a decision to buy or not? Reading labels Food manufacturers are very tricky when it comes to...
By Mark Mahoney I recently had the opportunity to travel with a group of musicians (who played at a number of venues in Havana) and other interested folks with a focus on attending the yearly International Jazz Festival in Cuba. This was a unique opportunity to...
Like many of you, I’ve been advised to take calcium supplements. As I aged into my 50s I received a number of vague recommendations from doctors to “take calcium” after a bone density exam showed bone loss. People who have osteopenia (low bone mineral density) have a...
According to Fortune Business Insights, chia seeds are gaining immense recognition in the world market, due to its healthful properties, increasing demand for natural food ingredients, rising demand for health and dietary supplements. But when I was growing up, chia...
By Jaime Moreno Is it possible that you have low iron levels in your body? Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most frequent causes of longstanding malaise in human beings. Worldwide, it is estimated that 1.24 billion individuals have iron deficiency anemia and over...
If you want to avoid obesity, should you have your DNA tested to learn what is the best diet for you? The answer is... no. Well, you can, if you want to. As advertised in a popular 'gringo' online forum, you can spend hundreds of dollars and send a sample out to Spain...
Psychologists say that stress is defined as anything that alters our homeostasis, be it good or bad — and that bad stress can even turn into good stress, and vice versa. As reported in Harvard Health, “The combination of reactions to stress is also known as the...
A popular online "gringo" bulletin board advertises “holistic dentistry” in Cuenca, and more than one advertisement promotes removal of all silver (colored) amalgam fillings [mistakenly called 'mercury fillings'.] Some ads proclaim that amalgam fillings cause “energy...
I’m not going to write about what were the top food trends in 2019 since they’re mostly irrelevant to me. [All the “top” lists include imitation meat, like the Impossible Burger. Why would I want to eat imitation anything? There’s plenty of real food around, why would...
By Nancy Clark Sports nutrition was a hot topic at this years' annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Exposition (FNCE), hosted by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the nation's largest group of nutrition professionals. Here are a few highlights, to keep...
Did you make a resolution this year to lose weight? If so, you're not alone. Many people resolve to lose weight, exercise more, and get healthy, but really, how important is your weight? How will your doctor assess your weight? Does your doctor use BMI? Most people...
Susan's note: This is the third in a multi-part series on fats — In Part I I wrote about trans fats, or hydrogenated fats, and how they transformed the processed foods industry — and how increased consumption of trans fat was linked to the rise in the incidence of...
Susan's note: As reported in the journal Endocrine Reviews, the treatment of obesity continues to be a major challenge. Obesity is now pandemic in the United States as well as in other nations. In the United States, it is now more common to be overweight than not;...
According to the Ministerio de Salud Publica (Ministry of Public Health) all of Ecuador’s 24 provinces are ready for the flu season, and from now until February 28, 2020, is offering the flu vaccine free of charge to seniors 65 and over, to children, pregnant women,...
A favorite expat online forum carried a post with a simple query: “Do we need proof of current yellow fever and typhoid vaccinations to enter Ecuador from Colombia?” (No). This simple question escalated into an epidemic of opinions, some backed by facts, some by...
By Susan Burke March Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed a big improvement in El Centro. The city government has sponsored a number of 'mingas' in recent weeks, to restore the walls and structures marred by graffiti — including public and private property,...
Dairy milk sales are down, but sales of plant “milk alternatives” are growing. There's an ongoing fight in the U.S. for the right to call plant-based milk substitutes 'milk' with senators from dairy states Wisconsin and Indiana re-introducing a bill to "require...
By Erin Brodwin for Business Insider After 39 deaths and more than 2,000 cases of vaping-related lung illness, officials have homed in on a potential cause. Investigators said vitamin E acetate, an ingredient found in canola, soy, and corn oil, appears to be playing a...
