Yes, ICantSeeYou

An incredibly interesting video on how BACON! is made - a must see

Krispy Kreme bacon cheddar cheeseburgers - for those who want a quick but yummy death.

How To Make Scrambled Eggs Using The Power From Your Computers USB Port (video)

I don't know about this one but make your own conclusions... it look like he is heating the pan with the constant movement of the spoon for 7 minutes rather than using the USB port... what do you think?

Eating Out Gets Easier For People with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease

Eating Out Gets Easier For People with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease

New online community makes dining and traveling an easier, safer and more pleasant experience for those with special diets.

By providing a number of technological resources and tools to enable users to easily share their experiences, as well as a comprehensive search and alert system, Specialgourmets should make it easier for those with food allergies and celiac disease to enjoy the culinary riches of the world

Sao Paulo, Brazil (PRWEB) July 24, 2008 -- Origem Scientifica, a scientific consultancy company specializing in health research and data analysis, is pleased to announce the launch of Specialgourmets.com, a community-driven guide aimed at making eating out and traveling a safer and easier experience for people with food allergies and celiac disease.

Specialgourmets: a community-driven guide of dining places for people with food allergies

Born out of the founder's own need for such a resource, Specialgourmets is an innovative Web application built with the information and feedback from users themselves, who can use the guide to share their experiences and contribute to make eating out an easier and safer experience for those with these dietary restrictions.

With the help of a map platform, users can:

• Search for suitable places (restaurants, hotels and shops) in any geographic region
• Add new establishments where they had positive experiences
• Rate and review the places listed
• Edit the information about a place
• Print lists to take when traveling
• Share their favorites and receive e-mail alerts about new places suitable for their diets in a chosen area or about new reviews about specific establishments.

Specialgourmets has been initially launched in English, Spanish and Portuguese, but plans to include other languages soon.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from some kind of food allergy (such as those to tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, soy, fish and shellfish) or from celiac disease, an auto-immune condition triggered by the ingestion of gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley). For these people, even tiny amounts of the wrong food can make them ill or, in the more serious cases, be potentially fatal.

With these factors in mind, eating out and traveling is not only limited but can turn into a stressful and even dangerous situation. According to the founder of Specialgourmets and biologist Cynthia Schuck (PhD, Oxford University), finding a place that can safely accommodate these special diets can be hard, and there is no one better to make a suggestion than people sharing the same restrictions.

The map guide is the first of its kind in this sector and is being launched simultaneously in many countries.

"By providing a number of technological resources and tools to enable users to easily share their experiences, as well as a comprehensive search and alert system, Specialgourmets should make it easier for those with food allergies and celiac disease to enjoy the culinary riches of the world," said Schuck.

Another aim of the Web site is to facilitate the search for associations and support groups acting on particular areas and, therefore, support the wonderful work performed by these entities in raising awareness about the problem. The Web site also features a section on tips that users can follow to make their dining experiences safer, as well as customizable chef cards and a summary of basic procedures that food caterers should have in place to serve allergen-free and gluten-free meals.

All services are free, both for users and for establishment owners.

The coolest hand-blown `art-glass` `wine-decanters` you will ever see.

Want to pop popcorn with your USB port? Here's a video on how to do it.

USB Popcorn Maker - video powered by Metacafe

Watermelon found to have the same effect as Viagra - If you have a prolonged erection greater than 4 hours notify a doctor.

COLLEGE STATION -- A cold slice of watermelon has long been a Fourth of July holiday staple. But according to recent studies, the juicy fruit may be better suited for Valentine’s Day.

That’s because scientists say watermelon has ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body’s blood vessels and may even increase libido.

“The more we study watermelons, the more we realize just how amazing a fruit it is in providing natural enhancers to the human body,” said Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center in College Station. “We’ve always known that watermelon is good for you, but the
list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study.” Beneficial ingredients in watermelon and other fruits and vegetables are known as phytonutrients, naturally occurring compounds that are bioactive, or able to react with the human body to trigger healthy reactions, Patil said.

In watermelons, these include lycopene, beta carotene and the rising star among its phyto-nutrients – citrulline – whose beneficial functions are now being unraveled. Among them is the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does.

Scientists know that when watermelon is consumed, citrulline is converted to arginine through certain enzymes. Arginine is an amino acid that works wonders on the heart and circulation system and maintains a good immune system, Patil said. “The citrulline-arginine relationship helps heart health, the immune system and may prove to be very helpful for those who suffer from obesity and type 2 diabetes,” said Patil.
“Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it.” While there are many psychological and physiological problems that can cause impotence, extra nitric oxide could help those who need increased blood flow, which would also help treat angina, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems. “Watermelon may not be as organ specific as Viagra,” Patil said, “but it’s a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side-effects.”

The benefits of watermelon don’t end there, he said. Arginine also helps the urea cycle by removing ammonia and other toxic compounds from our bodies.

Citrulline, the precursor to arginine, is found in higher concentrations in the rind of watermelons than the flesh. As the rind is not commonly eaten, two of Patil’s fellow scientists, drs. Steve King and Hae Jeen Bang, are working to breed new varieties with higher concentrations in the flesh.

In addition to the research by Texas A&M, watermelon’s phyto-nutrients are being studied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Lane, Oklahoma. As an added bonus, these studies have also shown that deep red varieties of watermelon have displaced the tomato as the lycopene king, Patil said. Almost 92 percent of watermelon is water, but the remaining 8 percent is loaded with lycopene, an anti-oxidant that protects the human heart, prostate and skin health.

“Lycopene, which is also found in red grapefruit, was historically thought to exist only in tomatoes,” he said. “But now we know that it’s found in higher concentrations in red watermelon varieties.”

Lycopene, however, is fat-soluble, meaning that it needs certain fats in the blood for better absorption by the body, Patil said.

“Previous tests have shown that lycopene is much better absorbed from tomatoes when mixed in a salad with oily vegetables like avocado or spinach,” Patil said. “That would also apply to the lycopene from watermelon, but I realize mixing watermelon with spinach or avocadoes is a very hard sell.”

No studies have been conducted to determine the timing of the consumption of oily vegetables to improve lycopene absorption, he said.

“One final bit of advice for those Fourth of July watermelons you buy,” Patil said. “They store much better uncut if you leave them at room temperature. Lycopene levels can be maintained even as it sits on your kitchen floor. But once you cut it, refrigerate. And enjoy.”

Luxury Spring Water Only $100 a Bottle

Luxury Spring Water Only $100 a Bottle

Just the other day I found myself pushing three dollar bills into a vending machine, frustrated that it cost the same for water as it does for a bottle of coke. Not that three bucks is the most expensive water i have seen. I remember reading about Bling H2O, which was the most expensive bottle of water I had ever seen until today.

“Fillico Beverly Hills“, a premium line of spring water from a company name Vieluce in Osaka, Japan, comes from a natural spring at the foot of Mount Rokko in Kobe, Japan. The spring is very famous for producing excellent water for Sake production.

Due to the limited supply of spring water, only 5,000 bottles are sold each month and they can be purchased for around $100 per 750ml bottle.

Of course if paying $100 for a bottle of water is not enough, “King and Queen” pairs of the spring water with caps resembling the crown of Fredrick II of the Roman Empire and decorated with Swarovski rhinestones are also being sold for around $230.

The Highest Popping Toaster in the World - Guiness Book Of World Records (pic, video)

CO2 Gas Powered

...and now Officially the highest popping toaster in the world accord to the Guiness Book of Records

 

 

 

Burger Bling: $200 Burger Ruffling Feathers - Burger King's Creation Is Made Of Japanese Wagyu Beef, Truffles & Onions Fried In Cristal Champagne

Burger Bling: $200 Burger Ruffling Feathers

Fast Food Giant's Creation Made Of Japanese Wagyu Beef, Truffles & Onions Fried In Cristal Champagne

Food Crisis Campaigners Bash Idea Of 'Delicious Decadence'

Their slogan is "Have it your way," but before you sink your teeth into this burger you'd better check your bank balance.

A new burger went on sale Wednesday only in Britain. It may not only be the world's most expensive, but it could also be the most controversial, too.

It comes from Burger King, but Burger "Bling" may be more like it.

Is it mouthwatering? Maybe. But it comes at an eye-watering price -- a whopping $200.

"That would have to be one really, really special burger," Erika Baroness Von Schubert said. "I'd give it a go."

Burger chef Mark Dowding said the formula is simple.

"Like any good food you start out with great ingredients," Dowding said.

Or most expensive. Check this out. The burger's ingredients include the following: Japanese wagyu beef, white truffles, onions fried in Cristal champagne, topped with pink Himalayan rock salt.

They even sold a few, with one Burger King employee saying how a couple split the bill.

Now of course, if you're dropping the better part of $200 on a burger, you don't really want to be washing it down with any old soft drink, which is why if you're eating in you get a complimentary glass of wine.

"Well, that would probably make the burger go down easier, right?" said Walter Nasdeo of New York.

What's not going down so easily is Burger King's controversial concept of "delicious decadence" during a time of global economic meltdown and worldwide food shortages. Food crisis campaigners view it as the wrong burger at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"To come out with this kind of hugely expensive and over-the-top burger and to have 800 million people going to bed hungry every night is just to shoot yourself in the foot," said Dave Tucker of the organization "War On Want."

Not everybody's buying it.

"Never in a million years," said Gary Higgerson of London. "No way."

The food chain's flipping all the proceeds of the megabucks burger to a children's charity in London. They're hoping that might make the price easier to swallow.

Man Gets Air Force Leave Extended For White Castle - Harold and Kumar Approve

Even the Air Force knows a good burger is hard to find. Aaron Kay's superior officer agreed to extend the serviceman's leave by one week so he could be on hand for the opening of a new White Castle restaurant in Livingston County.

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus of Howell reports Kay was scheduled to return Monday to his base in Okinawa, Japan, and learned about Tuesday's planned opening in Genoa Township.

The Howell High graduate had returned to Howell with his wife and children to visit family. The 34-year-old loader master on C-130 cargo planes says he was "kind of heartbroken" about possibly missing the opening.

Kay says there isn't anything that comes close to a White Castle burger where he's stationed.

Giraffe is kosher, rabbis rule in Israel

A chance encounter in Israel between vets and a giraffe has led to a rabbinical ruling that the African animal is kosher.

Giraffe meat and milk has been ruled acceptable for observant Jews

The giraffe belongs to the family of grazing animals that have cloven hooves and chew the cud, thereby making them consistent with kosher rules, but the milk test was the final confirmation.

"Indeed, the giraffe is kosher for eating," Rabbi Shlomo Mahfoud, who accompanied the researchers in their work, said.

"The giraffe has all the signs of a ritually pure animal, and the milk that forms curds strengthened that."

But Dr Yigal Horowitz, the zoo's chief vet, said this did not mean there would suddenly be a surge in demand of giraffe food products in Israel.

"This does not mean that tomorrow we are going to drink giraffe milk or eat soup made from giraffe necks," he said.

"After all, this is an animal in danger of extinction."

The giraffe belongs to the family of grazing animals that have cloven hooves and chew the cud, thereby making them consistent with kosher rules, but the milk test was the final confirmation.

"Indeed, the giraffe is kosher for eating," Rabbi Shlomo Mahfoud, who accompanied the researchers in their work, said.

"The giraffe has all the signs of a ritually pure animal, and the milk that forms curds strengthened that."

But Dr Yigal Horowitz, the zoo's chief vet, said this did not mean there would suddenly be a surge in demand of giraffe food products in Israel.

"This does not mean that tomorrow we are going to drink giraffe milk or eat soup made from giraffe necks," he said.

"After all, this is an animal in danger of extinction."

NY Man Wolfs Down Slightly More Than 15 Slices Of Pizza In Competitive Chowdown

Sal Carbone is a pizza-eating machine, any way he slices it. Organizers said the Brooklyn man wolfed down a tad more than 15 slices to beat his own record, 15, in a competitive chowdown Sunday.

Carbone also won last year's installment of the annual contest at Rocco's Pizzeria. The event raises money for the child-welfare organization MercyFirst.

Five pizza eaters faced off Sunday. Contest co-founder and Rocco's co-owner Joseph Loccisano said runner-up William Millender powered through about 12 1/4 slices.

Loccisano said the contest brought in about $4,000 for MercyFirst. It runs group homes and other services for about 4,000 children, teenagers and families in New York City and on Long Island.

Beer Company to Market "Space Beer"

Consider me a critic. We have food riots around the world and yet, hedonistic as we humans are, here we go. Of course, there are plenty who will buy this beer. After all, we also have "moonvertising" by a different beer company.

It's the Japanese company Sapporo that has said it will make beer using the third generation of barley that spent five months on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2006. "We want to finish the beer by November. It will be the first space beer," Sapporo executive Junichi Ichikawa said.

Of course, Sapporo only has enough for 100 bottles of beer, and they have indicated no plans to make this a regular product.

And, since scientists have not detected any DNA differences between Earth-grown barley and the barley from the ISS, this is really just a gimmick. Though, if they decide to sell the 100 bottles of beer, you can bet you will pay a pretty penny for it.

Soda Pop - Obesity and Hyperactivity in a Can

Soda Pop - Obesity and Hyperactivity in a Can

Soda pop is often the most common source of young people’s sugar intake. The average teenage male drinks an estimated 868 cans of soda pop each year. Overall, Americans are consuming twice as much soda pop as they did 25 years ago. And they’re spending $54 billion a year on it. That’s twice what we spend on books.[1]

Soda is the subject of bans at schools for good reason, not just for the sugar content.

Weak Bones and Mineral Loss and Free Radicals

Soda drinkers are less likely to get sufficient vitamin A, calcium, or magnesium. [2] Sugar depletes magnesium, and the high levels of phosphoric acid in soft drinks can combine with calcium and magnesium in the gut to cause a loss of these vital minerals.

Doctors are now seeing young people engaged in sports break their femur – also known as the thigh bone and the strongest bone in the human body – and some are questioning if the phosphorus in soda pop has weakened the bones more than anyone expected. Phosphoric acid gives that tangy aftertaste. Ever used Naval Jelly for removing rust? That's phosphoric acid at work. There is some research suggesting cola consumption increases the amount of calcium measured in urine, meaning cola triggers calcium leaching out of bone.

Researchers at Rutgers University discovered in 2007 that beverages made with high fructose corn syrup contain high levels of reactive carbonyls, a free radical linked to tissue damage, the development of diabetes, and the occurrence of diabetes complications. Reactive carbonyls are elevated in the blood of individuals with diabetes and linked to the complications of that disease.

The Plastic Connection

A chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) is used to make plastics hard, and in 2008, Health Canada banned it from baby products. News reports prompted many people to trade in their polycarbonate #7 water bottles for glass, stainless steel, or “BPA-free” plastics. However, maximum exposure to BPA is thought to come from the linings of canned food, especially acidic foods like soda pop and tomato sauce.

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi officials confirmed that BPA is used in the linings of their beverage containers.

Evidence is accumulating that ongoing exposure to BPA might be contributing to a boatload of medical maladies. Effects at even low BPA exposure appear to include: prostate cancer, breast cancer, early puberty onset, alterations in gender-specific behavior, decreased sperm count, affects on fertility, affects on obesity and insulin resistance, behavioral effects including hyperactivity, increased aggressiveness, impaired learning and other changes in behavior. BPA mimics naturally occurring estrogen, a hormone that is part of the endocrine system, the body's finely tuned messaging service.

Ninety-five percent of Americans were found to have BPA in their urine in a 2004 biomonitoring study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Southampton Study - Food Colorings and Hyperactivity

A much anticipated British study came out in September, 2007, looking at whether the colored dyes added to so many soft drinks, fruit drinks, and junk food, trigger hyperactivity in children. The connection has been suspected for decades.

Scientists from Southampton University tested more than 300 children, aged 3 and 8, by giving them fruit drinks containing a common mixture of food colorings and preservatives (sodium benzoate). This was a double-blind-placebo-control study; the mixtures were designed to reflect what a typical child might eat in the course of a normal day. It is the largest trial of its kind to date.

Results clearly demonstrated an increase in hyperactivity. Most importantly, the study confirmed deterioration in behavior occurs in children in the general population, not just in those identified as suffering from hyperactivity.

As reported in one of Britain’s largest newspapers, The Guardian, September 6, 2007:

”Parents are to be warned of the dangers of giving their young children drinks, sweets and cakes containing specified artificial additives, as a result of new findings being made public for the first time today which confirm their link with hyperactivity and disruptive behaviour. “The government's Food Standards Agency is taking the significant step of issuing revised guidance to consumers recommending that they steer clear of products containing certain E-numbers if their children are showing signs of hyperactivity or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). “The release of the new public health advice follows the results of the biggest UK study into the links between hyper-activity and chemical food additives, which was commissioned by the government and published today in the medical journal the Lancet.

“But the move has confounded experts and health campaigners, who say the government had missed an opportunity to take a tougher line by banning the additives completely instead of placing a huge burden on parents. Adults are being advised to check for additives by scrutinising labels, yet many sweets and cakes are sold loose without labels, as is ice cream.

“… Professor Jim Stevenson, who headed the Southampton study, said: "We now have clear evidence that mixtures of certain food colours and benzoate preservative can adversely influence the behaviour of children…”

“Dr Andrew Wadge, the FSA's chief scientist, said: "We have revised our advice to consumers: if a child shows signs of hyperactivity or AD/HD then eliminating the colours used in the Southampton study from their diet might have some beneficial effects." “A spokesman for the Hyperactive Children's Support Group said: "This research confirms what many of us have known for 30 years. But we seriously question the implementation of the new advice. Is it practical to expect parents to quiz headteachers about additives in school meals, or to ask parents about the contents of party bags?"[3]

Other concerned parties were quick to pile on:

“… Such additives are derived from industrial textile dyes and are used entirely for cosmetic purposes; to make junk food appealing. These additives are completely unnecessary and are banned under organic standards. … The FSA's reaction is totally inadequate. It is surely time for the agency to take a lead role in addressing this issue through new policies to prevent the use of food additives unless they are required for food-safety reasons.

“As with the issues of pesticide residues and genetically modified food, the FSA is still giving the benefit of the doubt to the food industry over artificial food ingredients, even when there are rising public health concerns.”

Emma Hockridge
Soil Association[4]

Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, also chimed in:

“The overwhelming majority of our additive intake today has been part of the diet of humans for generations: yeast, salt, sugar, baking powder. But thousands of other additives, derived from both natural and synthetic sources, have recently become commonplace in western eating. What are these substances doing to our bodies and our minds? We are just beginning to find out. …

“The packaged food industry and the fast food industry are dependent on the use of such additives to prevent spoilage, to allow the transport of products long distances, and to maintain uniformity. Any finding that such additives pose a threat to human health will threaten the financial health of these industries. And that is why so few large-scale studies have been conducted. The absence of adequate information greatly benefits the producers of industrial food. In the United States there is an extremely cozy relationship between the food industry and the government agencies that are ostensibly regulating it.”[5]

Back in the United States, the Feingold Association, an advocacy group concerned with children and diet, reminded its members that food colorings are not just in soda and fruit drinks:

“Children also consume food dye in their toothpaste, their shampoo (through the scalp), their hand lotion (through their skin), their cereal, their juice drinks, their mac 'n cheese, etc. In fact, in 1977 the National Academy of Sciences did a huge study on 12,000 people and determined that most people in the United States eat up to an average of 317 mg of food dyes per day. The amount children in the UK consume is likely to be close to that.

“As far as we know, the reason that they did not use BHA, BHT, or TBHQ, is that these preservatives have already been removed from most food for children in the UK. Possibly, therefore, the children consume much more sodium benzoate than American children.[6]

A Norwegian study in 2006 showed that teenagers who drank the most soda (an average of four or more glasses a day) scored highest on measures of behavioral difficulties, hyperactivity, mental distress and overall mental health problems. The researchers pointed out that children with high soda consumption are more likely to skip meals and eat less nutrient-dense foods than children with lower consumption, thus making them more likely to develop nutritional deficiencies. "These findings make a strong comment about the need to make soft drinks less available in schools, homes and events for kids," said lead researcher Lars Lien. "Together with all the other compelling evidence of detrimental effects of sugar, I think the evidence from this study strengthens the call to make changes as a society."[7]

Preservatives and DNA Damage

Sodium benzoate is a preservative. It prevents mold and thereby gives a product a long shelf life. Because so many food “products” are no longer fresh, preservatives are widely used in the processed food industry. It is most often found in soft drinks, vinegar, and mouthwash.

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer. When mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it forms benzene, a carcinogenic substance. [8] Benzene damages bone marrow and can cause anemia because of a decrease in red blood cells. It can also cause excessive bleeding and depress the immune system. Recent surveys have found unlawfully high levels of benzene in some soft drink brands. [9]

Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology at Sheffield University, rang a loud warning bell about it in 2007. He tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.

"These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether. The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing. The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are completely safe. By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago."[10][11]

Food colorings in soft drinks are there solely for cosmetic reasons – they make the product look appealing.

Flavored Waters

As word starts to reach the mainstream about the negative health affects of soda, more people are turning to “flavored water” which is seen by the global drinks industry as the latest “super-product.” By some estimates, flavored waters already make up 25% of the bottled water market.

"This is the beginning of the end for colas," says Mark Ritson, a marketing professor at the Melbourne Business School. "And Coca-Cola knows it. … All beverage companies are desperately getting into this market. They are offering a sweeter, 'better' alternative to water." [12]

Perceptually, flavored waters seem healthier than soda. But consumer beware: they are usually loaded with sugar and problematic additives.

A study by a group of British dentists into the corrosive effects of flavored sparkling water drinks was published in the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry in 2007.

" ’We are seeing an increase in children with tooth tissue loss associated with erosion,’ says Catriona Brown, a consultant paediatric dentist at the Birmingham Dental Hospital. Although the group looked at flavoured sparkling waters - carbonated water contributes more to erosion than still water - it wasn't the carbonation that caused the biggest problem with erosion, but the fruit flavouring and acids, such as citric and malic acid, that were added to the drinks. ‘We were surprised at how low the pH we found was,’ says Dr Brown. (The lower the pH, the more acidic something is.) Different flavourings made a difference, the dentists found - the worst was lemon-and-lime flavouring. ‘But they all showed acidic tendency,’ says Brown. ‘There is an indication that these drinks are potentially erosive and people should recognise that.’ "[13]

Diet Sodas Are Anything But

The worst choice among the offerings in the soda pop shelves is the diet soda. “But I don’t want to gain weight,” you say. Think again. Diet sodas actually contribute to weight gain. This is a prime example of the triumph of marketing over knowledge. The findings of eight years of solid research on diet soda and weight gain was reported to the American Diabetes Association at its annual meeting in 2006.

Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, looked at eight years of data from 1,550 people aged 25 to 64. "What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity," Fowler reported. "What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher. There was a 41 percent increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day."[14]

Other researchers have found that any kind of sweet taste signals body cells to store carbohydrates and fats, which in turn causes the body to crave more food.

Sweet tastes promote the release of insulin, which blocks the body's ability to burn fat. This is an adaptive response, because for millions of years sweet tastes have meant that blood glucose levels are about to rise, and when there is excess sugar, it ought to be stored for times when food is not readily available. Artificial sweeteners have the same effect on insulin: sweet diet drinks will increase insulin and thus the storage of fat. In diet sodas though, no sugar is provided by the beverage, so the consumer stores away glucose already present in the blood. Now that glucose is not available for energy. Blood sugar takes a dive, the person likely feels lethargic, and then feelings of hunger kick in. The consumer eats more, and gains weight. The consumer may reach for another diet soda or even a candy bar to get that pick-me-up feeling.

No published study has demonstrated that drinking diet soda will cause a person to lose weight.

There are a few other bad actors at work too. Diet soda often contains sodium, which exacerbates thirst. Caffeine is often added to provide that sugar rush - you are trading a sugar high for a caffeine buzz. But the complications of caffeine consumption and addiction are well documented - fatigue due to adrenal exhaustion, insomnia, chronic anxiety, hormonal imbalance, etc.

Aspartame and Splenda

Perhaps most importantly, diet soda contains a synthetic sweetener, most likely aspartame or Splenda.

One 12 ounce diet soda contains about 180 mg of aspartame, or 15 mg of aspartame per ounce, which equals approximately 4 and a half packets of NutraSweet.

In 1991 the National Institutes of Health listed 167 possible side-effect symptoms of aspartame. It is in soda pop, over the counter medicines, chewing gum, breath strips and many more edible products. The FDA receives more complaints about aspartame than any other food additive. But it has never been banned. The reasons for that lay in a tangled web of politics and money woven throughout the At the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine, we order pure aspartame with which to make antigens. Note on the far right of the label - "WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm." (click image to enlarge)Unfortunately, all the current attention on obesity has caused many people to think that diet sodas are a better alternative than regular soda. Even the William J. Clinton Foundation has recommended diet soda as an alternative in schools. Unfortunately, this is an uninformed approach, given the well-documented dangers of sugar substitutes.

For those of us who live in hot climates like Arizona, diet sodas may present a special danger if they have been exposed to hot temperatures, such as sitting outside the back door of a convenience store in summer. There is some evidence that storing diet soda in elevated temperatures promotes rapid deterioration of aspartame into poisonous methyl alcohol (methanol) as well as formic acid and a brain tumor agent called diketopiperazine (DKP). Methanol is better known as wood alcohol, a deadly poison. According to the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, when ingested, methanol breaks down into formaldehyde which is "known to cause cancer, accumulating slowly without detection in the body."

Methanol is a deadly poison that can cause serious tissue damage. Some of the symptoms of methanol poisoning are headaches; numbness of the arms, hands, legs, or feet; dizziness; depression; blurred vision; nausea; and stomach pain. The body lacks the specific enzymes necessary to detoxify it. A 12 ounce aspartame-sweetener soft drink is said to have about 10 mg of methanol.

Dr. H. J. Roberts, a physician and renowned aspartame researcher, explains that when the amino acids in aspartame are consumed in their natural state in foods, they are digested and released into the bloodstream slowly, buffered and balanced by other amino acids. However, especially when aspartame is consumed in beverages, the body is suddenly flooded with phenylalanine and aspartic acid, which can cross into the brain unimpeded and cause significant disturbances. Dr. Richard Wurtman, Professor of Neuroendocrinology at MIT, notes that an adult drinking four to five aspartame-sweetened soft drinks a day is getting enough phenylalanine into the brain to disrupt neurotransmitter function, which can produce can produce depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, headaches, high blood pressure, increased appetite and possibly seizures.

Sandra Cabot, MD, author and international lecturer, explains it this way:

"When you ingest the toxic chemical aspartame, it is absorbed from the intestines and passes immediately to the liver where it is taken inside the liver via the liver filter. The liver then breaks down (metabolizes) aspartame to its toxic components-phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. This process requires a lot of energy from the liver making less energy available for fat burning and metabolism, which will result in fat storing and elevated blood sugar levels. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing ‘fatty liver’ and when this starts to occur it is extremely difficult to lose weight. In my vast experience any time that you overload the liver you will increase the tendency to gain weight easily. ... The Trocho Study in Barcelona (l998) showed that the formaldehyde converted from the free methyl alcohol accumulates in the cells and damages DNA with most toxicity in the liver but substantial toxicity in the adipose tissue (fat cells). ... So as far as product liability is concerned, you have companies selling an excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug to the population as a sugarfree diet product knowing full well this government-approved artificial sweetener is actually causing the obesity it's marketeers claim to be preventing. They also know that aspartame is addictive and that the methanol component is classified as a narcotic."[15]

Dr. Morando Soffritti, received the Irving J. Selikoff Award in April, 2007 for outstanding contributions to the identification of environmental and industrial carcinogens

Dr. Morando Soffritti and researchers at Italy’s Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences performed several studies on aspartame. One study was conducted for 36 months using 1,800 rats. It concluded that aspartame is a multipotential carcinogen, with effects evident even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg bw. Cancers produced included leukemia, lymphoma, kidney, and cranial peripheral nerves. This prodigious work was peer reviewed. Most recently, researchers gave aspartame to pregnant rats and to their offspring. Researchers found that after the dose was adjusted for the smaller body weights of the rats, there was a slightly increased risk of cancer among those rats which were given about 40 percent of what the FDA has deemed a maximum accepted daily dose of aspartame. And when life-span exposure to aspartame begins during fetal life, its carcinogenic effects are increased. [16]

These studies were done on rats, but suggest a danger to unborn babies and especially to children, including the newly identified risk of breast cancer as the child ages. Dr. Philip Landirgan, Chairman of Community and Environmental Medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, says, "Exposures occurred at relatively low doses. If a 20 kg child drinks two cans of diet soda a day the child is bringing into his body a 400 mg of aspartame. Just two cans of drink we're already exposing the child to a biologically significant dose. Parents of young children should think very, very carefully about giving drinks and other foods to their children that are sweetened with aspartame and for that matter other artificial sweeteners." As public awareness grows that aspartame is dangerous, a new artifical sweetener, Splenda, is replacing aspartame as the “sugar-free” additive of choice in soda pop.

Dr. James Bowen, researcher and biochemist, has reported:

"Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine is nature's Doberman attack dog, a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid. In test animals Splenda produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies. Chlorocarbon poisoning can cause cancer, birth defects, and immune system destruction."

(FOOTNOTE: James Bowen, M.D., The Lethal Science of Splenda, May 2005, accessed at http://www.wnho.net/splenda_chlorocarbon.htm)

Benzene and Pesticides

Exposing soft drinks to heat can also raise levels of benzene. This chemical has been identified as a Class A carcinogenic by the Environmental Protection Agency causing both acute and chronic health effects. Its use as an additive in gasoline is now limited, but it is an important industrial solvent and precursor in the production of drugs, plastics, synthetic rubber, and dyes.

Many who served in the Gulf War drank diet sodas that had been exposed to hot temperatures in Kuwait and Iraq; questions have been raised whether soda pop played a role in the sickness called Gulf War Syndrome that plagued so many returning vets.

And in related news, there may be more chemicals in that aluminum can of soda than one would think. The sale of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo soft drinks have been banned in parts of India because the beverages contained pesticide residues more than 20 times the "acceptable" amounts.

Common sense tells you there is a problem with diet foods. Despite how much of them America has consumed in the last 15 years, obesity has become epidemic. Read the labels on so-called "health food" bars and you will find they too are loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners. The belief that these bars and diet sodas are healthy for you demonstrates how clearly marketing hype dictates what people are willing to believe.

Teens Consume Twice as Much ‘Liquid Candy’ as Milk

Sodas represent a mixed bag of problems – the sugar, caffeine, acid, preservatives, food colors, empty calories. But let’s look a little more broadly at how they can undermine health. Researchers often suggest that soda use is indicative of an overall pattern of poor food choices. And that can show up in many different ways. One child many be diagnosed with AD/HD when she is actually suffering from severe nutritional imbalances that demand nutrient dense food. Another child may break his femur on the soccer field.

Dr. Bess Dawson-Hughes, a bone-disease expert at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, said, "I’m particularly concerned about teenage girls. Most girls have inadequate calcium intakes, which makes them candidates for osteoporosis when they’re older and may increase their risk for broken bones today."[17]

Truth is, soda is bad news, no matter how you look at it. Consumer beware.

So, where does that leave parents who want to break their kids of the soda habit? With an easy alternative! Use club soda; it is inexpensive, effervescent and does not have the sugar of tonic water. Then add some fruit juice for taste – this is like making a fruit-flavored sparkling water. A member of the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine staff successfully switched her kids over years ago to club soda with freshly squeezed citrus – you can always find fresh citrus at the grocery store. When you use lemon or lime, if it tastes a bit too tart, add a few drops of stevia or xylitol to taste, to balance the tartness with a little sweetness. Stevia and xylitol are truly natural sweeteners that do not spike insulin levels like refined table sugar, and do not have the dangerous make-up of the synthetic sweeteners.

Non-stick chewing gum firm raises $20 million

A British company developing a non-stick chewing gum that can be easily removed from pavements and shoes has raised 10 million pounds ($20 million) to help bring its product to market.    

The new financing comes from institutional and private investors, with IP Group -- an early backer -- chipping in an additional 800,000 pounds, the firm said on Wednesday.

   

Revolymer's new Clean Gum is the result of polymer research at the University of Bristol, where the company was created as a research spin-out in 2005.

   

Today's chewing gums are made from synthetic latex, which is resistant to the weather and is strongly adhesive. Clean Gum adds a special polymer to modify its properties, making it far less sticky.

Time to panic, there is a major Rice shortage and prices are skyrocketing faster than oil.

SEATTLE -- Have you tried buying a bag of rice lately? A worldwide shortage is putting the grain in short supply in stores.

At Belltown's Sushi Wave, daily business relies on one thing: rice.

"A lot of our menu just has rice in everything," said Dona Kim. "There's a lot of people that just come in to order, to go, just a bowl of rice."

But now, the challenge is finding rice. A worldwide supply crunch has pushed prices up
and caused panic for restaurants and retailers. It's just starting to be felt in the Northwest.   

"Because of the rice thing, we went a bought enough supply to last us as long as this shortage is going on," Kim said.

Wholesalers and warehouses simply aren't getting the shipments they're used to. We went to a Tukwila Costco and found only a handful of bags where you'd expect to see stockpiles several rows high. Costco did not return a call for comment, but in a statement, Chief Executive James Sinegal says "If we run out, we're usually back in stock the next day."

At Saar's Market, the rice shortage is real. Customers are being limited to one bag per week because the warehouse Saar's relies on for rice is also in short supply --- some 25 percent of normal.

"There are a number of exporting countries that, supplies are so short they've either stopped or really slowed down their exporting," said Seasia's Michael Moriguchi. "Which also obviously creates a higher price."

Some believe the cause is from unpredictable weather, rising fuel costs, and growing demand from countries like China and India.

Moriguchi expects most retailers will continue to have rice on their shelves, you'll just see less of it, and chances are you'll pay a lot more for it.

Brewer must stop using 'Legal Weed' bottle caps

In a letter explaining its decision, the agency, which regulates the brewing industry, said the wording could "mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage."

Dillmann scoffs at the notion that his label has anything to do with smoking pot.

"I've never tried marijuana in my life," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't advocate that. It's just our town's name."

The town of 3,000, sitting beneath Mount Shasta about 230 miles north of the state capital, takes its name from Abner Weed, a timber baron who opened a lumber mill there in 1901 and eventually was elected to the state Senate.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Vaune Dillmann thought the wording on his bottle caps was just a clever play on the name of the Northern California town where he brews his beer - Weed.

Federal alcohol regulators thought differently. They have ordered Dillmann to stop selling beer bottles with caps that say "Try Legal Weed."

While reviewing the proposed label for Dillmann's latest beer, Lemurian Lager, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau said the message on the caps he has been using for his five current beers amounts to a drug reference.

Dillmann, 61, started the Mount Shasta Brewing Co. in 2004. He said he has always used the town's name on his beers and named the company's first official brew Abner Weed's Pale Ale.

His bottle labels follow a long tradition of exploiting the town's name. Even city officials do it.

A sign posted on the way out of town reads, "Temporarily Out of Weed," while another says "100 Percent Pure Weed." Dillmann noted those examples in an appeal letter he sent to the alcohol bureau.

Once, Dillmann said, his wife, a former teacher, was delayed on a field trip to San Francisco as tourists clamored to pose next to the school bus, which said "Weed High."

But illegal drugs are no joke to the federal agency, which maintains meticulous rules about labeling. Drug references on alcoholic beverages were banned in 1994, agency spokesman Art Resnick said.

"We protect consumers of alcohol beverages against misleading advertising and labeling," he said.

He said the agency is reviewing Dillmann's appeal.

The Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, which represents 1,100 craft brewers nationwide, said the Tax and Trade Bureau seems to have become more aggressive in recent years. It has gone after brewers for seemingly innocuous claims, such as descriptions that say one beer is stronger than another, said association director Paul Gatza.

"We're seeing the TTB starting to poke around at breweries' Web sites and issuing letters," he said. "Our trade association is feeling like TTB is overstretching a little bit."

Gatza said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the 1980s protected truthful speech on beer labels.

Meanwhile, Dillmann has placed a rush order on unmarked bottle caps so he can keep bottling while he awaits word from the federal agency on his appeal. He has enlisted the help of his congressman, Republican Rep. Wally Herger, who has asked the agency to explain why it rejected Dillmann's bottle cap labels.

The decision banning the "Try Legal Weed" caps came just after Dillmann had placed an order for 400,000 of them, at a cost of about $10,000. It took him four years to go through the first batch of bottle caps, but Dillmann said his sales have been increasing steadily.

Still, the native of Milwaukee said he wonders how some other brewers have gotten away with the names for their products, such as Hemp Ale or Dead Guy Ale. And he can't understand how his label has run afoul of federal alcohol regulators who must surely be aware of one of the most famous advertising slogans in American marketing: "This Bud's for you."

Families throw away around one third of all the food they buy (including 4.4million apples every day)

Families throw away around one third of all the food they buy (including 4.4million apples every day)

Waste: 4.4million apples are being thrown away every day

The astonishing scale of wasted food has been revealed with figures suggesting that the nation bins 4.4million apples every day of the year.

 

Even worse, families throw away around one third of all the food they buy, according to a study.

In total, 6.7million tons of food that was once perfectly good to eat is dumped, 40 per cent of it fruit and vegetables. The amount of money spent on this uneaten food adds up to £3billion a year.

Now Government waste experts are advising shoppers to keep fresh produce in the fridge, rather than the fruit bowl or larder, to extend its life.

They surveyed some 2,100 householders, going through their bins to discover exactly what families are throwing out.

They then compiled alarming figures about the total amount of food wasted across the nation.

Sales of fruit and vegetables have risen in recent years, not least because of the Government's advice to eat five portions a day.

The mountain of tempting produce carted away from the big stores has been boosted by promotions such as "two-for-one" deals.

Unfortunately, however, millions of Britons fail to eat much of the produce they buy before it goes off.

The Government's waste reduction experts on the WRAP body said the waste in terms of carbon generated to grow, transport and cover them in plastic packaging is also huge.

According to WRAP: "The main reason we throw so much out is we simply do not eat it before it goes off. We could be making the problem worse by not storing fruit and vegetables in the best place once we bring it home from the shops.

"For example, more than half of us choose to leave fruit out at room temperature, rather than keeping it cool."

WRAP has carried out research - with Sainsbury's which found that putting fresh produce in the fridge extends its life by up to a fortnight.

The organisation has set up a campaign - Love Food Hate Waste - to encourage families to think more carefully about how much food they buy and how best to store it.

WRAP's chief executive Dr Liz Goodwin said: "These dramatic figures show that although we are all keen to do the right thing buying plenty of fruit and vegetables, the benefit is clearly being lost when food gets thrown out untouched.

"By following some simple tips and advice, we can all be saving money as well as helping the environment."

Conservative food spokesman Peter Ainsworth described the waste as "offensive".

He said: "The amount of food we throw away each year is phenomenal and carries with it serious environmental as well as financial costs.

"It is environmentally and morally offensive that as a society we have become so casual about the raw materials of life."

He complained that WRAP's work had been undermined by a Government decision to cut its financial support by 30 per cent.

Woman bit off part of man's ear after fat jibe

Woman  bit off part of man's ear after fat jibe

A  WOMAN who chewed off part of a man's ear after he called her fat was given two years' probation yesterday.

Anna Martin met Nicholas Dott in Kushion nightclub in Glasgow,  last June, a court heard.

They later went to a nearby hotel to spend the night, but Martin, 27,  decided to leave minutes after entering their room.

An argument then broke out between the pair and Mr Dott made a jibe about the woman's weight.

She suddenly lunged forward and sank her teeth into Mr Dott's ear, leaving him badly disfigured.

At an earlier hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court,  Martin, of  Bearsden, admitted the attack.

Mr Dott was rushed to hospital and initially the severed part of his ear was reattached. The court heard, however, that the piece later became detached again.

It is expected that Mr Dott will need plastic surgery.

Martin was later traced by police after the  assault was captured on CCTV.