health

In response to my earlier blog post about the dangers of Diet Coke—or more realistically, recent charges that Sodium Benzoate is altering the DNA of children—the Coca-Cola Company has finally decided to remove this "taste-protecting" substance from all their sodas, including Fanta, Dr. Pepper, Sprite and Diet Coke (although not regular Coke).

I simply refuse to believe that my daily fix of Diet Coke, a delicious carbonated beverage that tastes like a combination of cola, chemicals and metal shavings, could be unhealthy. But more and more research implies just that.

The latest concerns centre on the safety of ...sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium Benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper.

Are you currently Chevy-Chased, Four to the floor, Having the whirlygigs, Legless, Merl Haggard, Monkey-full, Newcastled, Nicely irrigated with horizontal lubricant, Off me pickle, On a campaign, Pie-eyed, Rat-legged, Saying hello to Mr Armitage, Steampigged, Tashered, With the fairies, and/or Zombied? Then listen up.

The supposedly safe Acetaminophen (aka, Tylenol) is the now leading cause of acute liver failure. Especially when mixed with alcohol. Ibuprofen is no better as it can cause ulceration and bleeding, kidney dysfunction, and liver inflammation. While Naproxen has been shown to elevate your risk of heart attack and stroke.

So what's a hungover drunk to do? Take coated-aspirin instead. After all, who needs a stomach lining?

Scientists recently tested the effects of meditation versus sleep, reading and conversing. (Personally, I only get called in for "rage" studies.) And, no doubt, they tested on compensated subjects (getting paid to sleep; nice work if you can get it). But the results were somewhat surprising.

From the NewScientist: "Ten volunteers were tested before and after 40 minutes of either sleep, meditation, reading or light conversation, with all subjects trying all conditions. The 40-minute nap was known to improve performance (after an hour or so to recover from grogginess). But what astonished the researchers was that meditation was the only intervention that immediately led to superior performance, despite none of the volunteers being experienced at meditation."

There was, oddly, no comparison to the effects of blacking out after 40-minutes of binge drinking. Ommmmmmmmm.

I'm not addicted to much: The Daily Show; The Simpsons; Lost; My Mac; The Internet. (Okay, maybe I'm addicted to a lot.) But the addiction most likely to kill me is the one to Diet Coke—thanks to Aspartame. Despite a mountain of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, most of the scientific community believes Diet Coke is safe. Aspartame: review of safety states that "The safety testing of aspartame has gone well beyond that required to evaluate the safety of a food additive." While Cytotoxic effects of methanol, formaldehyde, and formate on dissociated rat thymocytes: a possibility of aspartame toxicity suggests that "aspartame at abuse doses is harmless to humans." However, a survey of all aspartame studies found: "One hundred percent of the industry funded research attested to aspartame's safety, whereas 92 percent of the independently funded research identified a problem." I'm holding onto that problem-free 8% like pitbull with a T-bone.

Evidently, milk doesn't do a body that good. According to a recent study, the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that "neither increased consumption of dairy products, specifically, nor total dietary calcium consumption has shown even a modestly consistent benefit for child or young adult bone health." When informed of this unsponsored, unbiased study, the American Dairy Association (whose URL is ilovecheese.com, no lie) immediately dialed the American Dairy Science Association ("An international organization of educators, scientists, and industrialists who are committed to advancing the dairy industry") who said, "Suminamuthafrikinbizatch!" Cows everywhere cheered.