healthnut

These health inspection videos are a real eye opener.

http://healthinspections.com/video.cfm

Meat Inspection

If you eat meat, it’s best to buy locally. Not all meat are inspected nor are they shipped in refrigerated trucks. If these trucks get into accidents, the meat can sit for hours. Unfortunately, most meat that have been in accidents are not thrown away afterwards because of the lack of health inspectors needed to catch these types of mishaps.

Bagged Salad

Pre-washed salads do not kill e-coli. If there are any cow manure left in the fields at the time of harvest, the salad can get contaminated. Also veggies and salads served in restaurants are the most unsanitized and unsafe dishes to eat. They are often prepared by workers who do not wash their hands after they sneeze or who have been in the bathroom.

Lemon Slices in Water

Do you think lemon slices have enough acid to kill bacteria? According to a microbiologist who tested the lemon slices in 21 restaurants, about 77% of those tested were found to contain some degree of staph and fecal infections. And dropping these lemon slices into the water actually contaminated the water.

Think Drinking Water From a Public Fountain or Office Water Dispenser is Safe?

About 97 public drinking fountains were tested. All were found to contain some form of bacteria, such a E-Coli, yeast, and streptococcus. Running the water for 5 seconds did not help and actually increased the number of bacteria in some cases (probably due to the dried bacteria secretions). The office dispensers were not tested but a microbiologist warned that could be degree of contamination.

Restaurants Violations

1) TGIF

* a used napkin was found in the ice bin

* a waitress caught licking her fingers and then went straight to scoop ice for a customer

2) Cheese Cake Factory

* used powdered latex gloves to handle food

3) PF Chang

* found lettuce served from a dirty drawer

* found lipstick on drinking glasses

* used dirty dishes

4) Outback

* used dirty knives to prep food and did not know how to turn on hot water

* did not know that sick employees were not supposed to handle food

5) Church’s Restaurant

About 1 out of 3 Church’s restaurants have been hit with health violations, ie. sewage overflow, roaches, 100 worm like creatures crawling around, etc.

6) Pizza Hut

Large accumulation of mouse feces were found on top of the boxes.

7) Charley

A garbage can filled with garbage was used as a table to prep food.

Mc Donald’s

Same as #7. Also maggots were found breeding in an ice cream machine. Also bug sprays were used during food prep hours.

9) Hardee

Raw sewage were used to marinate the chicken.

Up until now, I thought my shoes fitted great. I never had any foot ailments, so everything was fine and dandy.

But it’s not until I started exercising regularly when those foot problems started showing up. And boy do they come in “strive”. Recently, I noticed my heels had “cracked”. At first I thought I wasn’t getting enough DHA. Then my heels and arches started to ache. That could only mean the shoes, right? But wait…I just bought these shoes 3 months ago? How could they wear out so quickly?

Well, sad to say, it was a combination of both my shoes and my form. When I went into Roadrunner Sports (a shoe store) for a foot analysis, I learned through their infrared screen that my right foot was in more pain than my left and that both my feet had different types of arches. When I took the treadmill test, I learned that instead of landing my two feet straight up and down, one of my foot was curving in.

The end result is that I got my new shoes and my feet are so much happier. The ASIC shoes I got are even approved by the American Podiatric Society. If you live near a Roadrunner Sports, try going in for a foot analysis. You will not regret it. Or try their “Shoe Dog” on line, which will at least point you in the right direction. Road Runner’s advice is that if you weight more than 150 lbs., go for the motion control type of shoes.

Happy Exercising!

http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/product/shoe-dog.jsp?bannerimage=shoedog_hp_main

For those on vegetarian/vegan diets, if vegetarian athletes consume on average 5000 to 6000 calories per day, how many calories should you be consuming? Remember, not all nutrients in a plant diet are easily absorbed. Heme iron (from meat), for instance, absorbs much better than non-heme iron (from plant). Also calcium found in kale is not easily absorbable. If you are on a vegetarian/vegan diet, don’t forget your B12 supplements. B12 along with folate lowers the homocysteine level.

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020715/story.html

“Eberle notes that vegetarian diets done correctly are high in fiber and low in fat. “But where are the calories?” she asks. ‘World-class endurance athletes need in excess of 5,000 or 6,000 calories a day. Competition can easily consume 10,000. You need to eat a lot of plant-based food to get those calories. Being a vegetarian athlete is hard, really hard to do right.’”

“Another reason is that vegans skew the stats, because their strict avoidance of meat, eggs and dairy products can lead to deficiencies in iron, calcium and vitamin B12. “These nutrients are the problem,” says Johanna Dwyer, a professor of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University. “At least among the vegans who are also philosophically opposed to fortified foods and/or vitamin and mineral supplements.”

“For four years Christina Economos has run the Tufts longitudinal health study on young adults, a comprehensive survey of lifestyle habits among undergraduates. In general, she finds that ‘kids who were most influenced by family diet and health values are eating healthy vegetarian or low-meat diets. But there is a whole group of students who decide to become vegetarians and do it in a poor way. The ones who do it badly don’t know how to navigate in the vegetarian world. They eat more bread, cheese and pastry products and load up on salad dressing. Their saturated-fat intake is no lower than red-meat eaters, and they are more likely to consume inadequate amounts of vitamin B12 and protein. They may think they are healthier because they are some sort of vegetarian and they don’t eat red meat, but in fact they may be less healthy.’”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/health/07diabetes.html?_r=1&ei=5089&en=63373ab9a48514e5&ex=1360040400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1202361552-r8i1XuSUQzhM+B5O1gy0LQ&oref=slogin

“It’s confusing and disturbing that this happened,” said Dr. James Dove, president of the American College of Cardiology. “For 50 years, we’ve talked about getting blood sugar very low. Everything in the literature would suggest this is the right thing to do,” he added….Dr. Irl Hirsch, a diabetes researcher at the University of Washington, said the study’s results would be hard to explain to some patients who have spent years and made an enormous effort, through diet and medication, getting and keeping their blood sugar down. They will not want to relax their vigilance, he said.”

“The study’s investigators emphasized that patients should still consult with their doctors before considering changing their medications.”

Before anyone draw any conclusions, consult with your doctor first. I have a hutch that this study was done by a specific drug company that failed to gain FDA approval in the final clinical stage. Because this study was an astronomical financial loss (10k patients), this company decided to make a big stint. Study investigators are doctors typically contracted by either the pharmaceutical or biotech firms to recruit “suitable” patients to try out a specific drug in a clinical trial (”trial drugs”).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080207/ap_on_he_me/red_cross_blood_fda&printer=1;_ylt=AobtHmHd7ToS8kF_XI7RtaRa24cA

“The Food and Drug Administration has fined the Red Cross an additional $4.6 million for the distribution of “unsuitable blood products,” bringing penalties against the organization to more than $19 million in recent years…Agency officials noted that having to conduct a recall shows that safety protocols were breached. For example, a donor may not have been appropriately asked about international travel or intravenous drug use.”