Does water really improve health?
First lady, Michelle Obama tells us that drinking more water will improve the health of kids and all Americans. Really?...
Too fat to live in New Zealand
If campaigns to promote more healthful eating are ineffective, how else might society address the obesity epidemic? MailOnline reports that...
What’s trending now in visits to homeopaths
Two recent studies report marked differences in the use of homeopathy. First, homeopathy in the US.
Ethics of alternative vs traditional medicine
Ms. Elaine Hirsh is a reader of this blog and has authored this comment on several issues that should concern...
No regulatory double standard for natural health products
That’s the editorial position of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Here’s their reasoning.
Failed policy: Banning sugar-sweetened drinks in schools
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago determined the effect of state policies that regulate beverages among adolescents.
Increasing the legal age for tanning
Medical New Today reports that the youngest legal age for using tanning beds has gone up from 14 to 18...
Herbal supplements: Caveat Emptor
Researchers at the University of Leeds, in Woodhouse, evaluated written information provided with commonly used herbal products in the UK...
Kaiser points out the 800-pound gorilla
“14 states and the District of Columbia have launched a medical experiment that doesn’t follow any of the rules of...
High percentage of supplements are contaminated
The New York Times reports, “Nearly all herbal dietary supplements tested in a Congressional investigation contained trace amounts of lead...
Rising risk of infection from acupuncture
In the British Medical Journal, Prof. Patrick Woo from the University of Hong Kong describes what might be “the tip...
Potential for licorice-drug interactions
Glycyrrhizin is a major ingredient of licorice, which is sometimes used in the treatment of various diseases such as chronic...
New recommendations for salt intake for Americans
Here’s the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. It tells us,...
Alcoholic energy drinks being banned by FDA
Deaths and hospitalizations have been reported in young people, according to New York Senator Charles Schumer.
Do you trust advice from your local supplements sales clerk?
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) presented to congress the results of a “secret shopper” investigation, which found that in...
Food is healthier since banning trans fatty acids
That’s the conclusion by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard Medical School, in Boston.
Benefits and potential risks of artificial sweeteners
Surprisingly, only about 15% of Americans use sugar substitutes. What might be the public health issues associated with recommending a...
The cost of obesity
Obese people spend an additional $1429 a year — or 42% more — on healthcare than their normal-weight counterparts, according...
Prevalence of CAM use in England
The English commonly combine CAM with prescription drugs. Let’s compare these findings by Prof. Ernst and colleagues to CAM use...
Placebo effect with homeopathic vs conventional drugs
Wikipedia states, “Claims of homeopathy’s efficacy beyond the placebo effect are unsupported by the collective weight of scientific and clinical...