Refreshing News

Summer is winding down and days are getting cooler, but this does not mean we should reduce our water intake. Exercising makes us sweat, regardless of the surrounding temperature, and electrolytes still need to be replenished. Proper hydration keeps you energized, prevents headaches, keeps muscle cramps at bay, and can help you feel fabulous all day!

Water is the foundation of all life and its value to our bodies is immeasurable. In fact, we are made up of nearly 70 per cent water! Many of our basic metabolic processes, such as the regulation of body temperature, require enormous amounts of water – up to three litres daily.

Even breathing expels up to a pint of water every day. Keeping your body functioning at an optimal level is necessary for physical and mental well-being, and proper hydration is essential to that.
As mentioned, daily bodily functions account for significant water loss. For example, your feet have 250,000 sweat glands and can lose half a pint of water on a normal day! If you’re exercising regularly, this amount can increase to 2.4 litres (five pounds) per hour! Imagine what that translates to when you include all of the sweat glands in our bodies, all of the metabolic functions, and any other processes that consume water.

How much is enough?
We’ve all heard that we should drink eight to ten glasses of water every day, but this is just a guideline. We are all unique. To help you stay as hydrated as you need to be, here’s a guiding formula: drink 50 to 75 per cent of your body weight in ounces, depending on how much activity you get daily. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, 70 ounces of water is optimal if you are sedentary and 105 ounces is best, if you are active. This means that at 140 pounds, you should be drinking a minimum of nine cups of water daily – 13 if you are getting regular exercise!

Reinvent your water
If you find plain tap water boring or unsatisfying, spice it up anyway you like. The internet is full of cool, quenching ideas, but here are a few of my favourite suggestions:

Add Flavor and Fibre: Freeze some blueberries, mangos, or sliced peaches and add them to your water. This will not only sweeten it, but eating the fruits will also give you a tasty boost of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Fibre is important because it helps digestive functioning, lowers cholesterol, and, according to more recent studies, may even help prevent certain types of cancer.
Emergen C: This powdered mix adds a kick of flavour and nutrients to your water. There are a variety of flavours you can choose from, and each conveniently sized packet contains a blend of seven ascorbates (types of Vitamin C), seven B vitamins, which keep your energy levels up, and 32 active minerals, antioxidants, and other micronutrients to refresh and energize you.
Ester-C Individual Pack: This mix has a host of beneficial properties. Ester-C is a great source of vitamins C and B and also contains precious electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. This formula provides your body with the nutrients necessary to keep you energized and feeling great, and helps maintain muscle function, support bones, cartilage, teeth, gums, and even healthy skin.
Get creative: These are only a few suggestions and of course you should explore options that satisfy your taste buds and bodily needs.

Symptoms of Dehydration
The effects of dehydrations are numerous and can range from mild, like feeling thirsty, to more severe, like delirium and even death. Dehydration is a serious condition which is easily prevented simply by getting plenty of water.
You should be conscious of dehydration when you feel any of the following symptoms:

Fatigue
Muscle weakness
Poor concentration
Headaches
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Decreased sweating

It is important to note that even when you’re feeling thirsty, or your skin is dry, your body is trying to tell you that it is already dehydrated. At this point, you should amp up your water intake to prevent further, more serious dehydration. Only you know how much water you need to keep your body happy, healthy, and energized, but following the above mentioned guidelines will help you hydrate more effectively.

Cruciferous vegetables are the gold standard in immune-boosting vegetables.

Although all vegetables have nutrients and some protective powers, for these vegetables, it’s off the charts. Cruciferous vegetables have a special chemical composition: They have sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for their pungent flavors. When they’re broken down by biting, blending, or chopping, a chemical reaction occurs that converts these sulfur-containing compounds into isothiocyanates(ITCs). ITCs prevent and knock out cancer and have infinite proven immune-boosting capabilities.
They contain antiviral and antibacterial agents that keep you disease free. Adding the following cruciferous vegetables to your daily plate is like taking an anticancer pill: arugula, beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radishes, red cabbage, turnip greens, or watercress.

Garlic is surely one of the world’s most potent medicines, and its potent smell is what makes it so powerful.

The active ingredient allicin turns into organosulfurs, which are the compounds that keep your cells safe from all the destructive cellular processes that can cause major chronic diseases. Garlic is a natural antiseptic; it prevents cancer, fights infection, and prevents colds. Research also states that garlic may prevent or decrease chronic diseases associated with age, such as atherosclerosis, stroke, cancer, immune disorders, brain aging, cataracts, and arthritis.

Onions are rich in quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that may reduce the risk of cancer.

Like garlic, onions also contain the amazing compound allicin. Red and purple onions contain anthocyanins, the same antioxidants that make berries so robust in healing powers. In addition to being extraordinary at preventing and healing cancer, the quercetin contained in onion makes them a safe therapy for allergies; it also helps prevent heart disease and reduce high blood pressure.

The power of mushrooms comes from their ability to enhance the activity of natural killer T cells (NKT).

These NKTs attack and remove cells that are damaged or infected by a virus. Mushrooms are associated with decreasing most cancers and significantly reducing the risk of breast cancer in women. They prevent DNA damage, slow cancer or tumor growth, and prevent tumors from acquiring a blood supply.

Tomatoes are also the richest source of the exceptionally potent antioxidant lycopene, a substance that prevents cancer, particularly cancer of the prostate.

Tomatoes also have high levels of beta carotene, an antioxidant that supports the immune system. They have high dietary fiber and taste delicious raw or cooked.

Beets are an amazing blood purifier.

Beets are rich in iron and produce the disease-fighting white blood cells. They also stimulate red blood cells and improve the supply of oxygen to the cells. Beets prevent cancer and heart disease, and the detoxifying properties make them good for your organs. Beets are also high in fiber and nourishing for digestive health.

Spinach is rich in beta carotene, which the body transforms into vitamin A, triggering your immune response to keep you well.

Spinach prevents cancer and heart disease and is rich in the disease-fighting mineral zinc. The vitamin C helps you resist colds and infection and keeps your skin healthy; the B vitamins keep you calm and more energetic.

Asparagus’s biggest talent is its ability to encourage the body to flush out toxins, due to its natural diuretic abilities.

Asparagus is both cleansing and anti-inflammatory to the body. It has the antioxidant glutathione, which can lower your risk factor for heart disease and cancer. It’s useful for all inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Artichoke supports the liver.

The substance cynarin gives artichoke its detoxifying qualities. Artichokes’ B vitamins increase mental alertness and strengthen your immunity.

Artichoke supports the liver.

The substance cynarin gives artichoke its detoxifying qualities. Artichokes’ B vitamins increase mental alertness and strengthen your immunity.

Sweet potatoes are far superior than the run-of-the-mill white potato.

The orange variety contains beta carotene, which makes them filled with robust antioxidant, antiviral, and anticancer abilities. They’re also full of fiber and the vitamin E they contain is healthy for the skin.

Red bell pepper is bursting with vitamin C, making it a powerful immune builder.

Red bell pepper’s high level of beta carotene turns into vitamin A, making it a strong defense against disease. Although green and yellow peppers are certainly healthy, they’re more superfoodish. Although they both have similar amounts of vitamin C, red bell peppers have quite a bit more of the superstar beta carotene.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is being sued by a woman who says that officers violated her civil rights when they pepper-sprayed her entire family — including a 2-year-old child and a 5-month-old baby.

In the lawsuit obtained by Courthouse News Service on Monday, Marilyn Taylor accuses Officers Maripily Clase, Suranjit Dey and Jermaine Hodge overacting when they saw her pushing the stroller through a service entrance instead of going through the subway turnstile.

According to the complaint, officers told her 4-year-old child that “everything will be OK,” but then began pepper-spraying the entire family.

“The pepper-spray caused the children to scream out and choked the two-year old, who went into fits of vomiting,” the lawsuit says. “Ms. Taylor was then placed in handcuffs as the minor children cried in fear and pain.”

The next day, the court agreed give Taylor an adjournment in contemplation of a dismissal, allowing the charges to be dropped if she stayed out of trouble.

But things did not turn out as well for the children, who she said continue to need medical attention because of the pepper spray.

“After the attack, mother and father suffered ongoing eye injuries and all three children suffer emotional harms, and are now afraid to ride the subways and become afraid when they see police officers,” the lawsuit notes. “The four year-old cried herself to sleep for weeks, and after the incident the two-year-old began waking up in the night crying for her mother.”

Taylor also claimed that her family has continued to be harassed by officers since the incident, “forcing them to avoid the MTA through the Atlantic Avenue stop.”

“The family seeks punitive damages for civil rights violations, assault, battery, negligence, and violations to the state and federal constitutions,” Courthouse News Service reported.

In a rarity among modern American jurisprudence, a state highway trooper has lost his job over a traffic ticket he didn't write — and now his fight has sparked a wider dispute over who gets preferential treatment for enforcing the law on the road. Does anyone need to guess that this happened in Florida?

The tale starts last November, when Florida Highway Patrol trooper Charles Swindle stopped state Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, for doing 87 mph in a 70 mph zone. McBurney was driving a Toyota with a license plate identifying him as a state lawmaker; after checking with his sergeant, Swindle told McBurney "I'm cutting you a break" and cited him only for lacking proof of insurance — a $10 ticket rather than a $280 one that McBurney could have faced.

According to Florida state investigators, Swindle did the same for another driver he pulled over at the same time, telling his dispatcher “I’m going to write (McBurney) a warning and be nice; I’m going to stroke him ’cause I didn’t see his insurance card."

But the episode bothered McBurney (who denied going 87 mph) so much that he wrote to Swindle's superiors on legislature letterhead, complaining that Swindle was favoring state officials. "If those who enforce our laws fail to meet the highest ethical standards, there is erosion of that confidence," McBurney wrote. "I am concerned that as Trooper Swindle acted in such fashion to me, that he would do so to any law-abiding citizen of our state."

That letter launched an internal investigation, and two weeks ago, Swindle was fired for "conduct unbecoming a public employee." And now Swindle and his attorney have appealed his dismissal, contending the Florida Highway Patrol has an unwritten policy of letting state lawmakers off easy at traffic stops to avoid trouble come budget-writing time. The FHP denies that's the case, and has speeding tickets written to several lawmakers over the past few years to show it.

All of this falls into that rubric so often heard in these situations of "just doing my job." Swindle clearly believed he was supposed to treat some drivers differently than others, a discretion granted most traffic enforcers who aren't robotic cameras. McBurney sees part of his job to fight the appearance of corruption, even if it leads to an officer's firing. And Florida officials think they have no choice but to deny the existence of a caste system on public roads that favor some drivers over others, despite providing license plates for lawmakers and others that double as donations to Police Activity League charities. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, it's hard to get people to understand something when their salary depends on not understanding it.

The cost of President Barack Obama's new $100 million BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) announced Tuesday is far outweighed by the benefits gained, the White House argued later in the day.
The initiative—a subject the president first referenced during his State of the Union address in January—would support technologies that map the brain in order to gain greater understanding of a variety of diseases. The hope is this will lead to new cures, prevention and treatment, as well as fuel the economy.
"The potential here is enormous. And the investment here is relatively small compared to the potential," White House press secretary Jay Carney said at Tuesday's press briefing, responding to questions about the program's cost.

The $100 million in government funds being spent on the program will be included in Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget to be released April 10. The funding breakdown includes: $40 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH); $50 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is part of the Department of Defense; and $20 million from the National Science Foundation.
Support will also be provided by private sector foundations.
During his unveiling Tuesday at the White House, the president championed the program's medical benefits, but also promoted the initiative as an economic effort.

"Every dollar we spent to map the human genome has returned $140 to our economy," Obama said.
The president argued that efforts such as the BRAIN Initiative keep America ahead in innovation and help produce new discoveries that might otherwise be made in countries such as "China, India or Germany."
"Ideas are what power our economy," he said. "We do innovations better than anyone else."
Obama asked observers to imagine technology improving the lives of billions of people by reversing the effects of Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and traumatic brain injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder for military veterans.
"There is this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked" within the human brain, Obama said. "And the BRAIN Initiative will change that."
But some suggested Tuesday that the country needs to focus on federal funds already being spent on this subject and took issue with the price.

“Mapping the human brain is exactly the type of research we should be funding, by reprioritizing the $250 million we currently spend on political and social science research into expanded medical research, including the expedited mapping of the human brain," Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a statement. "It's great science."

On the other hand, some critics have suggested that the cost of the program is inadequate when compared with other research programs. But in a phone call with reporters following the president's unveiling, Francis Collins, NIH director, said the amount is "substantial ... considering this is the first year" of the project.
It's a "pretty good start for getting this project off the ground," Collins said.
Support from the program Tuesday came from one politically unlikely source: former House speaker and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. Gingrich is a fiscal conservative but strongly supports science and specifically promoted brain science on the 2012 campaign trail.

Carney said Tuesday the ideas behind the initiative are not political and receive wide support.
"There has historically been and seems to be today bipartisan interest in this kind of innovative research that can pay huge dividends down the road for our country economically [and] medically," Carney said.
But he later joked that "going out on a limb," he of course expects some lawmakers to object to the program.

Using nuclear power in place of fossil-fuel energy sources, such as coal, has prevented some 1.8 million air pollution-related deaths globally and could save millions of more lives in coming decades, concludes a study. The researchers also find that nuclear energy prevents emissions of huge quantities of greenhouse gases. These estimates help make the case that policymakers should continue to rely on and expand nuclear power in place of fossil fuels to mitigate climate change, the authors say .

In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, critics of nuclear power have questioned how heavily the world should rely on the energy source, due to possible risks it poses to the environment and human health.

“I was very disturbed by all the negative and in many cases unfounded hysteria regarding nuclear power after the Fukushima accident,” says report coauthor Pushker A. Kharecha, a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in New York.

Working with Goddard’s James E. Hansen, Kharecha set out to explore the benefits of nuclear power. The pair specifically wanted to look at nuclear power’s advantages over fossil fuels in terms of reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Kharecha was surprised to find no broad studies on preventable deaths that could be attributed to nuclear power’s pollution savings. But he did find data from a 2007 study on the average number of deaths per unit of energy generated with fossil fuels and nuclear power . These estimates include deaths related to all aspects of each energy source from mining the necessary natural resources to power generation. For example, the data took into account chronic bronchitis among coal miners and air pollution-related conditions among the public, including lung cancer.

The NASA researchers combined this information with historical energy generation data to estimate how many deaths would have been caused if fossil-fuel burning was used instead of nuclear power generation from 1971 to 2009. They similarly estimated that the use of nuclear power over that time caused 5,000 or so deaths, such as cancer deaths from radiation fallout and worker accidents. Comparing those two estimates, Kharecha and Hansen came up with the 1.8 million figure.

They next estimated the total number of deaths that could be prevented through nuclear power over the next four decades using available estimates of future nuclear use. Replacing all forecasted nuclear power use until 2050 with natural gas would cause an additional 420,000 deaths, whereas swapping it with coal, which produces significantly more pollution than gas, would mean about 7 million additional deaths. The study focused strictly on deaths, not long-term health issues that might shorten lives, and the authors did not attempt to estimate potential deaths tied to climate change.

Finally the pair compared carbon emissions from nuclear power to fossil fuel sources. They calculated that if coal or natural gas power had replaced nuclear energy from 1971 to 2009, the equivalent of an additional 64 gigatons of carbon would have reached the atmosphere. Looking forward, switching out nuclear for coal or natural gas power would lead to the release of 80 to 240 gigatons of additional carbon by 2050.

By comparison, previous climate studies suggest that the total allowable emissions between now and 2050 are about 500 gigatons of carbon. This level of emissions would keep atmospheric CO₂ concentrations around 350 ppm, which would avoid detrimental warming.

Because large-scale implementation of renewable energy options, such as wind or solar, faces significant challenges, the researchers say their results strongly support the case for nuclear as a critical energy source to help stabilize or reduce greenhouse gas concentrations.

Bas van Ruijven, an environmental economist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colo., says the estimates on prevented deaths seem reasonable. But he wonders if the conclusion that nuclear power saves hundreds of times more lives than it claims will convince ardent critics.

The nuclear power issue is “so polarized that people who oppose nuclear power will immediately dispute the numbers,” Van Ruijven says. Nonetheless, he agrees with the pair’s conclusions on the importance of nuclear power.

What to eat to prevent premature aging

Kicking nicotine and avoiding excessive sunlight will help, but the secret to healthy-looking skin is the food you eat. "The wrong choices cause inflammation down to the cellular level," says dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, the author of Forever Young, a book about how eating right can keep you looking younger than your years. "And while you can't see it, that inflammation leads directly to wrinkling, sagging, and premature aging." Here is what to eat to prevent that from happening.

Sweet potatoes
Beta-carotene, which makes these tubers orange, balances your skin's pH, helps combat dryness, and promotes cell turnover, all resulting in smoother skin.

Wild salmon
The pigment that makes the fish pink, astaxanthin, is a powerful foe of free radicals, rogue molecules that damage cell membranes and DNA and cause skin to age. A study found that eating one serving every five days can prevent actinic keratoses—ugly rough patches that are precancerous.

Tomatoes
The fruit's red pigment, lycopene, is a potent antioxidant that shields skin from sun damage—like sunscreen, but from the inside out. To best absorb lycopene, eat tomatoes with olive oil.

Citrus fruits
Vitamin C is essential to building collagen, a vital component of young-looking skin, which starts breaking down in your twenties. Citrus also contains bioflavonoids, which protect skin from UV rays and help prevent cell death.

Leafy greens
Spinach, kale, and other greens contain lutein, which protects skin from sun-induced inflammation and wrinkles.

Stay away from white foods
Need another reason to avoid white bread, pasta, rice, and other refined grain products? They're quickly broken down into the ultimate white food: sugar. Once in the bloodstream, sugar bonds with protein and creates advanced glycation end products (aptly abbreviated AGEs), which cause collagen to become inflamed and stiff, leading to wrinkles.

Why food is always better than a pill
"There are so many factors in food that haven't been studied. It's very likely that these unknowns work synergistically for a bigger benefit than what you can find in a supplement." — Nicholas Perricone, dermatologist

Red wine and beer
According to dermatologist Leslie Baumann, red wine contains skin-friendly grape-seed extract and resveratrol, two powerful antioxidants. Hops in beer, it turns out, may also offer antioxidant benefits.

These science-backed foods will boost your mood, energy, metabolism, and memory.

There's a food movement afoot: Eating well to look, feel, and perform our very best is hot. And as Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama alike are showing us, this isn't a matter of choking down foods because they're good for you. It's about filling your plate with delicious fare.

"Food, if it's chosen well, can reshape our medical destinies for the better," says David Katz, MD, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. It can also improve our mood, focus, energy, skin, and metabolism. Here's how to graze your way to a supercharged you.

Walnuts

Good for: Mood

Walnuts are packed with tryptophan, an amino acid your body needs to create the feel-great chemical serotonin. (In fact, Spanish researchers found that walnut eaters have higher levels of this natural mood-regulator.) Another perk: "They're digested slowly," Dr. Katz says. "This contributes to mood stability and can help you tolerate stress."
Asparagus

Good for: Mood

These spears are one of the best veggie sources of folate, a B vitamin that could help keep you out of a slump. "Folate is important for the synthesis of the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine," says David Mischoulon, MD, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. All of these are crucial for mood.

A cup of cooked asparagus has 268 micrograms (mcg)—two-thirds of the 400 mcg RDA for women. Add a cup of enriched pasta—which is fortified with folic acid, the synthetic form of folate—and you'll have a feel-good meal indeed.
Spring garlic

Good for: Weight Loss

The slim-you benefit of this seasonal treat lies in a compound called allicin, which gives garlic its pungent smell. "Allicin may keep you from overeating by stimulating satiety in the brain," says Tara Gidus, RD, a dietitian in Orlando, Florida.

Spring garlic has a milder, sweeter taste than the dried white bulbs you buy later in the season. Enjoy it diced on salad for a fat-fighting side or lunch.

Legumes

Good for: Weight Loss

Beans are one of your best bets if you're trying to drop pounds, says Joseph Colella, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh. "Your body has to work to break down the bean to get through the fiber," he explains, "so you're actually expending energy to digest it."

Even better, Dr. Colella says, the protein in legumes activates an "I'm satisfied" message in the hunger center of your brain.

Spinach

Good for: Energy

These tasty leaves are a great source of iron (especially if you don't eat meat), which is a key component in red blood cells that fuel our muscles with oxygen for energy.

Researchers in Sweden recently identified another way in which these greens might keep you charged: Compounds found in spinach actually increase the efficiency of our mitochondria, the energy-producing factories inside our cells. That means eating a cup of cooked spinach a day may give you more lasting power on the elliptical machine (or in your daily sprint to catch the bus).

Artichokes

Good for: Energy

If you've been huffing and puffing up the stairs, try these spiky-leafed vegetables. They're loaded with magnesium, a mineral vital for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body—including generating energy, says Forrest Nielsen, PhD, a U.S. Department of Agriculture research nutritionist. "If you're not getting enough magnesium, your muscles have to work harder to react and you tire more quickly."

About 68% of us aren't getting enough of this mineral. For women, the goal is 320 milligrams (mg) per day. One medium artichoke provides 77 mg of magnesium (and just 60 calories!). Other top sources include nuts, legumes, and whole grains

Salmon

Good for: Skin

There's wrinkle prevention on your plate: "Salmon is rich in a fatty acid called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a type of omega-3 that naturally helps block the release of UV-induced enzymes that diminish collagen, causing lines and sagging skin," says Ariel Ostad, MD, a dermatologist in New York City.

Bonus: Omega-3s also regulate oil production in the skin and boost hydration, which helps keep your complexion dewy and acne-free.

Strawberries

Good for: Skin

They may not have the smoothest complexion themselves, but strawberries can get you one. They're loaded with antioxidants that help your skin repair damage caused by environmental factors like pollution and UV rays. Plus, they're packed with vitamin C (less than a cup gets you your entire 75 mg RDA)—the vitamin associated with fewer wrinkles and less dryness, per research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Try them in a homemade facial, too. "Direct application of the antioxidants in strawberries—as well as the natural exfoliant they contain, alpha-hydroxy acid—will give you great results," Dr. Ostad says.

Eggs

Good for: Memory

Have your over-easies before you hit the Easter egg hunt. The yolks are chock-full of choline, a key nutrient for recall. "Your body needs choline to make a brain chemical called acetylcholine, crucial for storing memories," says Steven Zeisel, MD, director of the Nutrition Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for choline is 425 mg. There are 147 mg in a large egg; other good options are nuts and red meat.

Blueberries

Good for: Memory

Eat them regularly and you may reap big brain benefits. In a recent study, people with age-related memory decline who drank roughly two and a half cups of blueberry juice per day for 12 weeks (the equivalent of eating a cup of blueberries) made significant improvements on memory and learning tests compared with those who drank a placebo juice.

The secret component? A type of antioxidant called anthocyanins, says study co-author Robert Krikorian, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Cincinnati: "Anthocyanins have been shown in animal studies to increase signals among brain cells and improve their resilience, enhancing learning and memory."

Every year, more than 9 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses. And while some of the deadliest outbreaks have been linked to unusual sources, such as cantaloupes or peanut butter, it's the foods you eat every day that are most likely to make you sick.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just published an 11-year review of foodborne illness outbreaks in this country, finding that foods you eat every day are the most likely to make you sick. Nearly half--46 percent--of all illnesses were linked to fruits and vegetables, illnesses the Food and Drug Administration is hoping to prevent with a new rule that "proposes enforceable safety standards for the production and harvesting of produce on farms." Among those standards: testing irrigation water to ensure it doesn't harbor any disease-causing microorganisms and requiring farms to install hand-washing stations so farmworkers can prevent spreading bacteria after using the restroom.
Those new rules, required by the Food Safety and Modernization Act that was signed into law in January 2011, may be welcome changes to the report's authors, who found that these three classes of foods are among the most heavily contaminated:

Leafy greens. More illnesses were caused by leafy vegetables (22 percent) than by any other food the CDC looked at. These veggies were also the second leading cause of hospitalizations. Various strains of E. coli were behind a large majority of the outbreaks, particularly a strain called ETEC, which is usually the cause of "traveler's diarrhea".

Poultry. Diseases found in poultry products killed the most people of any of the diseases the CDC monitored, and based on its data, Listeria and Salmonella were behind the worst of the outbreaks. While they didn't separate out poultry by individual animal, the nation's largest food recall ever occurred in 2011 when agri-giant Cargill had to recall 36 million pounds of Salmonella-contaminated ground turkey. Sadly, selling contaminated meat is technically legal under current food-safety laws: The U.S. Department of Agriculture allows 49.9 percent of ground turkey samples to test positive for Salmonella and still be sold to consumers.

Dairy. Dairy products accounted for 14 percent of illnesses. Although the CDC didn't separate out which items were most likely to make you sick, ice cream and cheese have both been implicated in past outbreaks. One of the primary culprits is Listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium that can lives for long periods of time on food-processing equipment, such as meat and cheese slicers, metal ice cream machines, and even in the cracks in food-prep counters. The other most common disease harbored in dairy products is norovirus, the "stomach flu" bug that can contaminate products when food processors and other workers who handle dairy products don't properly wash their hands.
The best way to avoid contaminated food is to buy it as close to the source as possible; the fewer hands that have touched your food, the less likely it is to become contaminated. But you don't have to fear your food if big, anonymous grocery-store chains are your only option.

Here’s how to get rid of toxins in each room of your house.

Knowing that toxins are everywhere can make the challenge of getting rid of them all the more formidable. But just as people typically clean their homes room by room, eliminating toxic-ridden items in the same orderly room-by-room fashion may be just the perk that environmentally conscious homeowners need.

Here’s a tour of 10 areas of a home that that toxic objects or furnishings like to inhabit.

Kitchen: Oven Cleaner

For consumers without a self-cleaning oven, periodic scrub downs are mandatory. Unfortunately, commercially available oven cleaners can be just as onerous as the cleaning task at hand. “Oven cleaners are full of dangerous ingredients, including lye – also known as ‘caustic soda’ – ethers, ethylene glycol, methylene chloride and petroleum distillates,” says Walter Crinnion, a naturopathic physician and chair of the environmental medicine department at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, Arizona.

Because oven cleaners with these ingredients can burn the skin, it’s important to wear gloves while handling the item. Even spraying the aerosol contents involves releasing the neurotoxic solvent butane.

Fortunately, a simple paste of baking soda and water, applied to the mess, may be all you need to keep your oven clean. And to cut down on grease deposits, lay pans or foiled-lined receptacles at the bottom of the oven to help catch pan drippings.

Bathroom: Toothpaste
Having a favorite toothpaste may help ensure good dental hygiene. But the anti-bacterial and toxic ingredient triclosan, found in many dentifrices, may harm the rest of your body.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that triclosan has been found in everyone they’ve done toxicity testing on,” says Crinnion, the author of Clean, Green & Lean: Get Rid of the Toxins that Make You Fat. “Think of triclosan as a chlorinated pesticide, which means that it causes allergies and imbalances the immune system, just like other chlorinated pesticides.” In children the substance has been associated with high rates of hay fever. Because, says Crinnion, the substance has become part of our toxic burden, he advises against buying toothpaste and other products containing this ingredient.

Dining Room: Candles

Burning candles can add more than atmosphere to an event. Candlelight usually means the room is filling up with toxins. “To enhance slow burning, many candles on the market, mainly those that are scented, have metal wires that contain lead inside their wicks,” says Crinnion. “These wicks are responsible for a hazardous level of lead release, which has been associated with learning disabilities and Parkinson’s Disease. And the candles’ artificial fragrances contain plasticizers and other solvent-type mixtures.”

Crinnion underscores the toxic risk that occurs with all types of combustion, even when you’re burning natural beeswax candles. “Combustion involves the release of hydrocarbons which leads to oxidative damage and respiratory problems,” he says. His advice: “Burn candles only on special occasions and not for long periods of time.”

Living Room: Carpets

Right below cigarette smoke, carpets are the worst polluters in the home,” says Crinnion. “They contain a host of environmental chemicals, including flame retardants, anti-stain ingredients, and volatile organic compounds.” He notes that one substance in new carpets is p-dichlorobenzene, which is a carcinogen. And the “new carpet smell” that so many homeowners are proud of? “That comes from 4-Phenylcyclohexene, which is a by-product of a process used in carpet backing, and has been linked to visual, nasal and respiratory problems,” he says.

Crinnion advises swapping out carpets for cotton throw rugs or, better yet, going barefoot on wood or tile floors.

Laundry Room: Dryer Sheets

Everyone likes clean clothes. But using dryer sheets to impart fragrance to freshly laundered items may have harmful physical consequences. “The components of synthetic fragrances, including benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol and terpines, are toxic, and some are carcinogenic,” says Crinnion.

Crinnion says consumers who buy dryer sheets mainly for the fragrance need to realize that clothes being tossed in the dryer with these sheets are absorbing these toxins. “They’ll eventually rest on the skin,” he says. One alternative is mixing a few drops of essential oil with water and misting that solution directly onto bedding and other articles of clothing after they come out of the dryer.

Children’s Playroom: Art Supplies

No parents want to inhibit their children’s creativity. However, when it comes to art supplies, some items need to be carefully monitored. High on the list are permanent and dry-erase markers, which contain solvents, including xylene. “Xylene is a highly neurotoxic aromatic hydrocarbon which can irritate the nose, eyes, lungs and throat when used near the face,” says Mary Cordaro, a healthy-building and indoor-air-quality consultant in Los Angeles, California, who’s certified by the International Institute for Bau-Biologie and Ecology.

Cordaro advises parents to substitute lead-free colored pencils for permanent markets. Water-based markers, although less toxic than the permanent variety, usually contain toxic alcohols whose released vapors can be inhaled.

Nursery: Baby Wipes

Baby wipes used by many parents may keep their infants clean and comfortable. But these items don’t always keep toddlers safe. The reason, says Cordaro, is an antimicrobial chemical compound called Bronopol – 2-Bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol – that’s a typical baby-wipes’ ingredient. Bronopol is toxic to the skin, immune systems and lungs. Pthalates, which are endocrine disruptors, are also typically found in wipes.

One solution, says Cordaro, is either to buy baby-wipes that are free of these toxic substances, or make your own by experimenting with safe cleansers and emollients. Another option is using simple soap and water.

Mud Room: Mold

What happens when the wet clothes, footwear and sports equipment we stash in the mud room don’t dry properly? “Partially wet items that stay wet for an extended period of time are a perfect environment where mold can grow and cause respiratory irritation, coughing and increase the symptoms of asthmas and allergies,” says Crinnion. “Research has also found that mold suppresses the immune system, and that depression is linked to a high mold presence in the environment.”

One way to decrease the risk of mold growth in the mud room is by wiping off or shaking out excess water before hanging up items. “Getting rid of a constant moisture source is critical," he says.

A new proposal in California, supported by a diverse coalition including EFF and the ACLU of Northern California, is fighting to bring transparency and access to the seedy underbelly of digital data exchanges. The Right to Know Act (AB 1291) would require a company to give users access to the personal data the company has stored on them—as well as a list of all the other companies with whom that original company has shared the users' personal data—when a user requests it. It would cover California residents and would apply to both offline and online companies. If you live in California, click here to support this bill.

Under current California law, customers can contact companies and ask for an accounting of disclosures for direct marketing purposes—basically, a list of what companies got your personal data for them to send you junk mail, spam, or call you on the phone—and general facts about what types of data were disclosed. For example, if you went to PetSilly and bought dog bones, and then PetSilly sold your data to 17 companies that were using it for direct marketing, you could ask PetSilly for an accounting of disclosures. PetSilly would have to provide you with the names of those 17 companies as well as what categories of information were disclosed (name, address, phone number, etc).

The new proposal brings California's outdated transparency law into the digital age, making it possible for California consumers to request an accounting of all the ways their personal information is being trafficked—including with online advertisers, data brokers, and third-party apps. So while current law provides information about data exchanged for direct marketing, the Right to Know Act would update existing transparency law to ensure that users could track the flow of their data from online interactions. It also updates the definitions in the law in important ways, including adding location data—a sensitive data set not adequately protected by current law.

It's not just about knowing what a company is sharing, it’s about knowing what a company is storing. The new proposal would require companies to make available, free of charge, access to or a copy of the customer's personal information. That means you the consumer will really know what information a company has about you.

Lots of people around the world already enjoy these rights. This law mimics the rights of data access already available to users in Europe, which means that most of the big tech companies should already have systems in place to facilitate user access.

This law is about transparency and access, not new restrictions on data sharing. The proposed law wouldn't limit or restrict sales of data, and it wouldn't provide additional security measures for how data is stored or new requirements for anonymization. While those are all important issues to consider, the law is actually far more basic. It helps consumers, regulators, policymakers, and the world at large shine a light onto the largely hidden, highly lucrative world of the personal data economy.

The Right to Know Act is written specifically to ensure that companies big and small will be able to tell Californians how they’re collecting and sharing your personal data. You ask and they tell you what they have collected, the list of companies they gave your data to, and general facts about what kind of data was handed over (like “sexual information ” and "address"). However, the law has three important safeguards to make sure that even little startups with limited resources will be able to comply:

Companies can choose to not store unnecessary data. Or, if they must retain information, they could take protective measures to de-identify user data before retaining or disclosing it. Taking such measures would mean companies would not have to respond to data disclosure requests.
If a company doesn't want to respond to individual requests for data disclosures, it can provide you with a notice about what data will be disclosed and to whom—just before or after it happens.
Companies only have to provide each user an accounting once every 12 months. This safeguards against any repetitive requests.

California has a reputation for passing important laws around consumer protection. We're fortunate to be paving the way when it comes to issues like data breach notification, medical privacy rights, online privacy policy notices, and employment law. But what happens in California can prove to have positive benefits for users all over the country (and sometimes the world). We see this, for example, with privacy policies. The California Online Privacy Protection Act requires websites to conspicuously show a privacy policy that provides general information about data collection and use. Though this is a California law, privacy policies have become a norm and they are helpful to users all over the web. Hopefully, as companies put efficient systems into place to enable Californians to learn what is happening to their data, it will be easy for the companies to make those systems available to people outside of California. And like California’s model for data breach notification laws, (first enacted in California in 2002 and now integrated into law in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), transparency will become the default, helping consumers while saving companies money down the line.

California’s Right to Know Act is supported by a diverse coalition of civil liberties groups, domestic violence advocates, consumer protection groups, sexual health, and women’s rights groups. And EFF recently sent a letter (PDF) to Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, the bill’s author, to affirm our strong support of this bill.

Because of a paperwork error, the suspect in last month's killing of Colorado's corrections chief was freed from prison in January — four years earlier than authorities intended.

Judicial officials acknowledged Monday that Evan Spencer Ebel's previous felony conviction had been inaccurately recorded and his release was a mistake.

In 2008, Ebel pleaded guilty in rural Fremont County to assaulting a prison officer. In the plea deal, Ebel was to be sentenced to up to four additional years in prison, to be served after he completed the eight-year sentence that put him behind bars in 2005, according to a statement from Colorado's 11th Judicial District.

However, the judge did not say the sentence was meant to be "consecutive," or in addition to, Ebel's current one. So the court clerk recorded it as one to be served "concurrently," or at the same time. That's the information that went to the state prisons, the statement said.

So on Jan. 28, prisons officials saw that Ebel had finished his court-ordered sentence and released him. They said they had no way of knowing the plea deal was intended to keep Ebel behind bars for years longer.

Two months later, Ebel was dead after a shootout with authorities in Texas. The gun he used in the March 21 gunbattle was the same one used to shoot and kill prisons chief Tom Clements two days earlier. Police believe Ebel also was involved in the death of a Domino's Pizza delivery man, Nathan Leon, in Denver.

"The court regrets this oversight and extends condolences to the families of Mr. Nathan Leon and Mr. Tom Clements," said a statement signed by Charles Barton, chief judge of the 11th Judicial District, and court administrator Walter Blair.

Leon's father-in-law told The Associated Press he had no immediate comment.
Leon's widow told KUSA-TV in Denver the apology wouldn't cut it for the death of her husband and the father of her twin girls.

"It ain't going to bring Tom Clements back. It's not going to bring my children's father back. How do I tell my 4-year-olds, 'Daddy was murdered because of a clerical error'?" Katherine Leon said.
The court officials vowed to review their procedures to ensure the error isn't repeated.

"The Colorado Department of Corrections values its long-standing partnership with the 11th Judicial District and the district attorney's office to maintain order at the prisons in Canon City. We commend both the 11th Judicial District and the DOC for reviewing their own internal processes and procedures," Gov. John Hickenlooper's spokeswoman Megan Castle said in a written statement.

The attack that led to the plea deal took place in 2006. According to prison and court records, Ebel slipped out of handcuffs while being transferred from a cell and punched a prison officer in the face. He bloodied the officer's nose and finger, and threatened to kill the officer's family.
"If Mr. Ebel was prosecuted for an assault on an officer, it had to be pretty severe, because in the course of day-to-day work, correctional officers are regularly assaulted or threatened," said Pueblo County Commissioner Buffie McFadyen, who is executive director of the correctional officer group Corrections U.S.A.

"It sounds like a horrific oversight," she said of the mistake that led to Ebel's release this year. "It's a tragic clerical error."
Ebel spent much of his time behind bars in solitary confinement and had a long record of disciplinary violations. Records show he joined a white supremacist prison gang.
Ebel's early release was just the latest twist in a case full of painful ironies. His father is friends with Hickenlooper and had testified before the Colorado Legislature about the damage solitary confinement did to his son. Clements was worried about that very issue.
Hickenlooper raised the case with Clements when the governor hired him to come to Colorado in 2011. The Democratic governor said he never mentioned Ebel's name and the inmate received no special treatment.

Liberty University, the largest religion-affiliated U.S. school, is loosening restrictions for carrying firearms on its Lynchburg, Va., campus.

Liberty students who have an easy-to-obtain Virginia concealed carry permit and permission from campus police will now be able to carry a loaded gun into classrooms, according to a March 22 revision to school policy. University staff and visitors may also bring firearms into university buildings on campus, WSET reported. Students remain banned from bringing guns into residence halls, even with a permit.

"Students ought to have the ability to protect themselves," Josh Hetzler, a law studentwho helped draft the new policy, told WDBJ. "We've seen a number of instances here in the nation recently were schools are particularly vulnerable. They're gun free zones, except that the bad guys still get the guns."

Liberty, a Christian institution founded by television evangelist Jerry Falwell, has an enrollment of 74,000, including 62,000 taking online courses. The school dropped its ban on campus guns in November 2011. That step allowed faculty and staff to bring their guns into buildings if they had a permit, while students and visitors were allowed to carry guns in cars and on the campus grounds, but not inside buildings.

There are still restrictions. People on probation, students in violation of any academic or honor code, or those who have "been arrested for or charged with any assault, battery, stalking, crime of violence, or felony" are not allowed to carry guns on campus. Only residence hall directors will be allowed to bring guns into a dorm.

Most colleges prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns.

“I think it's good that Liberty is a little more open than some schools, and I think it’ll continue to create a higher level of security on campus than what was found at Virginia Tech," Jerry Falwell Jr., Liberty chancellor, told the News & Advance.

Liberty joins 25 colleges in Colorado, Utah, Virginia and Michigan in allowingconcealed carry on campus, according to the advocacy group Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus. Virginia is one of 24 states that leave the decision to ban guns with schools.

“A student with a concealed weapon is unlikely to prevent a mass shooting or crime," John Johnson, spokesman for the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus, told the News & Advance. "On the other hand, the unintended consequences of gun possession by students and others -- a shooting during an argument or dispute, attempted suicide, unintentional shooting, etc. -- are real and make the college campus more dangerous every hour of every day."

Though Liberty students may now carry loaded weapons to class, Liberty rules continue to prohibit R-rated movies, un-Godly music, dancing, kissing or staying in a motel room with a member of the opposite sex, as outlined in the student handbook.

Students at an Attleboro, Massachusetts, middle school went hungry this week, if they had a negative balance on their pre-paid lunch cards.

Five cents of debt was enough for cafeteria employees at the Coehlo Middle School to instruct kids at least one day this week to dump out the food they would have normally eaten, CNN affiliate WJAR in Rhode Island reported.

About 25 children left the lunchroom with empty stomachs, said Whitson's Culinary Group in a statement. The company runs the school's cafeteria.
Parents were appalled. So was the principal. So was Whitson's.
"I told them this is bullying; that's neglect, child abuse," said parent Jo-An Blanchard.
Principal Andrew Boles apologized and blamed the culinary company. "My expectation is that every child, every adult, every parent, every student, every teacher is respected in this building, and that didn't happen yesterday because of Whitson's," he told WJAR.

Whitson's apologized in a statement and said it was not company policy to deny meals to children. It added that the school district had no official policy on what to do in such situations.

"Employees had taken it upon themselves to institute this change; it was not condoned or approved," said Whitson spokeswoman Holly Von Seggern. "We had absolutely no idea."
Workers in the school's cafeteria work on a contract basis, Boles said. He thinks the decision came from Whitson's.

Whitson's supplies 80 schools in New England with lunch meals, Von Seggern said. CNN could find no previous reports on similar incidents involving the company.
Kids with a negative balance usually receive "a cheese sandwich, a fruit and vegetable, and milk." Then the company contacts the parents about payment.

A majority of Americans now say marijuana should be made legal, with far fewer viewing it as a gateway to harder drugs or as morally wrong, according to a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

By 52 to 45 percent more say marijuana should be made legal than not, with support for legalization jumping seven points in two years and 20 points since the 2002 General Social Survey. And 51 percent of registered voters supported legalization in a December Quinnipiac University poll.

The rapid change matches an increase in usage – in the new poll, nearly half of Americans report trying marijuana at some point in their lifetime (48 percent), up eight points since 2010 and also a record high. More people who have smoked in the past year say it was “just for fun” than any medical issue (47 vs. 30 percent), while 23 percent say they smoked for both reasons.

The overall shift in support is driven by younger Americans who overwhelmingly support legalization, with nearly two-thirds of people born since 1980 (between ages 18 and 32) saying marijuana should be legal (65 percent). Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have become far more supportive than in the early 1990s, with at least half of each now supporting legalization.

As public opinion has shifted, the politics of marijuana have become more complicated. Laws legalizing recreational marijuana use passed in Washington State and Colorado last year remain in limbo with the federal government’s ban on production, possession and sale of the drug unchanged. Six in 10 Americans say federal laws should not be enforced in states that have decided to allow marijuana use. Enforcement of federal laws has also been drawn into question, with Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) saying in March that people shouldn’t go to jail for non-violent drug crimes such as marijuana. Wide majorities of Democrats and Republicans agree that government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth.Most Republicans remain opposed to legalizing marijuana, while about six in 10 Democrats and independents say it should be legal.

Stigma and fear of marijuana have dropped sharply. Far fewer people see marijuana leading to harder drugs today (38 percent) than in the 1970s (60 percent), and only one in three say smoking marijuana is morally wrong (32 percent), down 18 points from 2006.

The poll was conducted March 13 to 17 among a random national sample of 1,501 adults ages 18 and over. The margin of error for overall results is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. Results for the share of Americans smoking marijuana were based on a separate survey conducted in January.

After the NYPD had failed to catch the man behind a brutal mugging on Mar. 9, they released a video of the crime Tuesday in hopes of gaining leads. And within minutes, they surely did.

Gawker posted the video on its site on Tuesday night at 11:49 P.M. Within an hour, a commenter by the username " secretsout" wrote: "https://www.facebook.com/Stugotz27 link to most likely suspect. take care of business guys."

The link led to the Facebook page of 21-year-old Aidan Folan, who had photos of him taken hours before the robbery. According to Gawker, the photos revealed the same sweatshirt the mugger wore in the video — with large fraternity letters on front. Commenters on the New York's Daily Intelligencer site, which also posted the video, also linked back to Folan.

Folan has since been arrested and charged with robbery and assault.

So what can we take away from the NYPD's 3-week fail and the Internet's 1-hour win besides a good (yet sad) laugh?

Perhaps an awareness that social media is not just the place where people post silly statuses and pictures with friends. Social media acts as a timeline of people's lives — accounts of their activities. And now they are playing significant roles in helping to solve crimes — most notably exposing the Steubenville rape case back in January.

But while ordinary people can clearly solve crimes via social media too, don't think Big Brother has been late to the game. The FBI, CIA and police in cities across the nation have been investigating people's social network sites for years — often, however, raising privacy concerns for spying on citizens in the name of protection. In a recent article, for example, the L.A. County Sheriff's Departmenteven admitted to being the first known agency to monitor social media sites 24/7.

Friends believed that Lee Halpin, 26, who was discovered in a boarded up hostel on Wednesday morning, may have succumbed to hypothermia as temperatures reached as low as -4C overnight in the city.

But yesterday, detectives investigating Mr Halpin's death arrested a 26-year-old and a 30-year-old on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.

A Northumbria police spokesman said the men had been bailed pending further inquiries and that a report was being prepared for the coroner.

Mr Halpin, a Newcastle University graduate, had planned to spend a week experiencing life on the streets and on Sunday, the night before he embarked on the project, he made a video in which he said he wanted to "immerse himself" in the lifestyle.

However the Newcastle University graduate also spoke about how it had caused "trepidation" among his friends and family.

"I am about to go and spend a week being homeless in the West End of Newcastle," he said.

"I will sleep rough, scrounge for my food, access all the services that other homeless individuals in the West End use. I will interact with as many homeless people as possible and immerse myself in that lifestyle as deeply as I can."

In the clip, Mr Halpin said he was producing the documentary as part of an application for a position on an Channel 4 investigative journalism programme.

He said: "I hope that you perceive this to be a fearless approach to a story. "It certainly feels brave from where I’m sat right now.

"I am about to embark upon this documentary tomorrow morning. It has certainly caused a huge amount of trepidation amongst my family and friends who do think it is a brave thing to do. That is the impression I want to leave you with about my willingness to get to the heart of a story."

Mr Halpin, who studied creative writing, regularly appeared on a local radio and founded a magazine, Novel, which covered arts and culture in the city.

On Sunday, he posted a message on twitter, the social networking site, asking his followers if anyone had a sleeping bag he could borrow.

Friend Daniel Lake told the Newcastle Chronicle that he had spoken to him on Saturday.

“Lee was a great guy, a character and was well known," he said.

"His big things were creative writing and poetry. He was making a documentary about homeless people living in Newcastle’s West End.

“No one knows how he passed away, but we think it could have been hypothermia. He made the ultimate sacrifice trying to raise awareness about what was happening to other people.”

Other friends have also paid tribute to Mr Halpin, who lived in Newcastle with his family, online.

Dean Sowden said: "Lee was a prominent figure in my life. I remember him as a caring and passionate young man who always had time for me on a personal level, he always had the right suggestions that got me over some dark times.

"I miss him terribly but I will always remember his wit, his smile, his hope that things will get better and, on a lighter note, his dress sense - boy could that lad dress himself accordingly."

Jeff Wilson said: "I met Lee when he was studying the documentary film module at Newcastle University. Great guy with a massive yearning to learn, a ready smile and a generous nature. I’m stunned. He’ll be sorely missed."

A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said the body of a man believed to be in his 20s was found in a derelict building on Westgate Road at 9.50am on Wednesday.

A post-mortem examination has not yet been carried out. An inquest into his death is due to open on Tuesday.

Americans spend less on groceries than they did a few decades ago. That's partly because of new machines and technology that have made it much cheaper to produce food.

The Herr's potato chip factory in Nottingham, Pa., see some of this food-making technology in action. When Herr's first opened up in 1946, founder Jim Herr and his family made chips by hand. Here are three ways the process has changed over the years.

1. Unloading Potatoes

It used to take hours to unload a truck full of potatoes by hand. Ed Herr — Jim's son and the current president of the company — remembers dragging hundred-pound sacks into the factory. Today, the truck drives a semi-trailer full of potatoes onto a lift. The lift goes up.

And 50,000 pounds of potatoes come rolling out. The whole thing takes just 20 minutes.

2. Getting Rid Of Bad Chips

Herr's has been removing potato chips with brown or green spots for decades. Workers used to do it by hand. But now, they have the OptoSort. The OptoSort takes photos of the freshly fried chips, identifies the off-color ones, and then puffs of air shoot them off the line.

The red arrow shows the rejects being blown off the line:

Good chips are flying by at the top of the frame; the rejects are getting blown onto the conveyor belt at the bottom of the frame. Here's a close-up of the action:

3. Packaging

The company used to pack chips into bags by hand. The picture below shows Mim Herr, Jim's wife and Ed's mom, packing chips. Ed says she would maybe make three bags a minute.

Today, a machine weighs and sorts chips into foil bags — at a rate of 100 bags a minute.

One final note: Ed Herr says workers whose jobs were replaced by machines (e.g., getting rid of green chips, hauling sacks of potatoes) were reassigned to other jobs, like driving trucks full of chips to stores.

Garlic, especially in its raw form, has been praised for its healing power and medicinal uses since ancient times. It was used for medicinal purposes by the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans and Chinese. Today, numerous research studies document the extraordinary benefits of garlic on human health.

The healing properties of garlic are wide and varied, ranging from antioxidant, antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial properties to cancer-fighting and immune-boosting activity. Due to its healing properties, raw garlic has been used as a medicinal plant to prevent — and in some cases treat or even heal — various health complaints.
Although almost anyone can benefit from eating garlic, those who are looking for a natural way to reduce their risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, asthma attacks, bouts of cold or flu, abdnormal hair loss, or some skin conditions are likely to reap the most health benefits by regularly eating garlic. In this article, we look at the extraordinary healing properties of garlic and describe the most common medicinal uses of this natural "wonder drug".
Note: Check with your physician before using garlic for any medicinal purposes.

Medicinal Use of Garlic as an Antifungal Agent

The medicinal use of garlic as an antifungal agent has been validated by numerous research papers and publications. Most of the angifungal properties of garlic have been attributed to allicin, a phytochemical that is produced when raw garlic cloves are crushed or chopped. To maximize the allicin-content of your garlic dishes, you should let the chopped or crushed garlic sit several minutes before using it. Research shows that allowing chopped or crushed garlic to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before using it can significantly increase the amount of allicin it produces.
As a result of its antifungal activity, garlic has been used to treat acne and conditions linked to the overgrowth of Candida yeast in the body. Some herbalists also suggest that garlic may have dandruff healing properties due to its ability to fight Pityrosporum ovale (P. ovale), a small fungus that lives on the scalp and that may play a role in the development of dandruff.

Strong Antioxidant Activity Due to Allicin

Many of the healing properties of raw garlic are linked to its strong antioxidant qualities. These antioxidant properties are largely attributable to allicin, the same compound that is responsible for the antifungal properties of crushed raw garlic. Allicin has been touted as one of the most potent antioxidants found in foods. In addition to allicin, garlic delivers antioxidant vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, zinc and selenium.
Antioxidants in garlic help protect the body from free radicals, destructive oxygen molecules that attack healthy cells and that can cause cellular damage. Due to their destructive effects on cells, free radicals are heavily implicated in several diseases including eye disorders, dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, atherosclerosis, an impaired immune system, certain types of cancer, and even Alzheimer's disease.
In addtion to staving off common diseases and conditions, the free radical neutralizing properties of garlic can help keep your skin looking young by fighting premature aging of the skin provoked by excessive exposure to sunlight. When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it creates powerful enzymes called metalloproteinases which help repair sun-damaged connective tissue. However, not all metalloproteinases are good for us: some metalloproteinases destroy collagen fibers, which can lead to wrinkles and fine lines. Free radicals appear to activate these destructive metalloproteinases.

Garlic — a Natural Antibiotic?

Back in the nineteenth century, the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur examined the use of raw garlic juice as a potential antibacterial agent and found garlic to be capable of killing bacteria much in the same way as penicillin does. Consequently, garlic was used widely as an antibacterial agent to disinfect and heal wounds during World War II. Since then, several research studies published in medical journals have confirmed the antibacterial and antiviral properties of garlic. In addition to its ability to control bacterial and viral infections, garlic has been shown to fight and heal infections caused by other microbes and worms.
Due to the healing properties of garlic derived from its antibacterial and antiviral activity, this medicinal herb has also used in the treatment of some infections that are difficult to treat due to the presence of bacteria that have become resistant to prescription drugs such as antibiotics. However, more research is needed in this area before definite conclusions about the efficacy of garlic as an antibiotic can be made.

Anti-Cancer Effects of Raw Garlic

Still not impressed with the healing properties and medicinal uses of garlic? Well, guess what, numerous laboratory tests have also found garlic and garlic extracts to exert strong anti-cancer effects. Also several epidemiologic studies support the idea that garlic — especially raw garlic — can help prevent certain types of cancer. According to a large-scale review of epidemiologic studies, the strongest evidence for anti-cancer effects of raw garlic pertains to stomach and colorectal cancers. This extensive review, which appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000, analyzed epidemiological studies published on stomach, colon, head and neck, lung, breast and prostate cancers since 1966.
Raw garlic appears to exert its anti-cancer effects through multiple mechanisms, including inhibition of free radical production, activation of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens, and regulation of cell-cycle arrest. In addition, garlic has been shown to induce apoptosis. Apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, is the body's normal way of getting rid of unneeded or abnormal cells, but cancer cells employ mechanisms that allow them to evade apoptosis so they can grow uncontrollably at the expense of healthy cells and tissues.

Benefits for Insulin Resistant People

Research suggests that a healthy diet rich in garlic may be used successfully as a complementary treatment for insulin resistance, a physiological condition that remains a major medical challenge of the twenty-first century. Insulin resistance has been linked to a number of diseases and conditions including pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, excess body weight (especially around the waistline), adult acne and heart disease. In insulin resistant people, the body's cells are no longer able to effectively respond to the actions of the hormone insulin.
According to a study published in the European Journal of Pharmacology in 2005, the health benefits of garlic for insulin resistant people may be linked to the presence of garlic oil and diallyl trisulfide in garlic. In addition to having wide-ranging healing properties documented in previous studies, these two compounds appear to improve the body's ability to effectively respond to the actions of insulin and thus fight insulin resistance.

The World Health Organization recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first year of life, which means that they shouldn’t eat or drink anything except breast milk for a full year. While these guidelines are recommended to parents around the globe, they’re not always adhered to. Pediatricians may recommend an amended diet in some cases, as breastfeeding may not be an ideal fit with the lifestyle of a growing family, and there can be extenuating circumstances that exclude some families from this recommendation. It’s never a good idea to feed a baby solid food if she’s too young to support the weight of her head without assistance, but these are 15 of the foods that won’t be suitable even for toddlers.

Raw Sprouts– The manner in which sprouts are grown can leave them susceptible to contamination in a variety of ways, making them a risky choice for young children.
Hot Dogs– Hot dogs may be one of the quintessential kids’ foods, but they’re also one of the most dangerous. The very structure of a hot dog makes it a choking hazard, especially for young children whose chewing and swallowing reflexes are still developing. Before serving hot dogs, they should be sliced lengthwise and then chopped.
Honey– Reaching for an all-natural sweetener is admirable, but honey can cause botulism in children younger than one year of age. It’s best to avoid giving a child honey until he’s well into his second year in the interest of playing it safe.
Peanuts– Choking hazards aside, peanut allergies are among the most common and the most deadly food sensitivities. Introducing such a high-risk food to young children, especially those with a family history of peanut allergies, could trigger a dangerous allergic reaction that leads to anaphylactic shock.
Tree Nuts– Tree nuts are another common allergen that double as a choking hazard. Until kids’ sensitivity to foods has been established in a controlled environment and he’s old enough to manage round, crunchy foods, tree nuts shouldn’t be on the menu.
Whole Grapes– It’s perfectly acceptable to feed young children grapes. In fact, these naturally sweet snacks are far preferable to candies and processed sweets. The round shape and smooth skin do make them dangerous choking hazards, though, which is why you should always cut them into smaller, more manageable pieces before feeding them to little ones.
Shellfish– On the list of common allergens, shellfish ranks fairly high. It’s also one that has the potential to be deadly in cases of exposure when there’s an allergy.
Certain Types of Fish– Fish is rich in a variety of nutrients and compounds that are beneficial to human health, but some varieties are known to harbor high levels of mercury. The contaminant can build up in the bodies of frequent pescetarians, which can be particularly problematic for kids. Be sure that you research the safety of a particular variety of fish in terms of mercury risk before feeding it to your growing toddler.
Cow’s Milk– It’s natural to assume that cow’s milk is a reasonable substitute for formula or breast milk in a pinch, but that’s just not the case. The stomachs of babies under one year of age simply aren’t ready to process cow’s milk.
Soy Milk– Soy milk can cause gastrointestinal problems for small children, and doesn’t contain enough calories or nutrients to sustain a growing baby. Soy is also one of the more common allergies, so it’s wise to skip the soy milk altogether until your child is a bit older.
Eggs– Limiting kids’ exposure to common allergens when they’re small can prevent scary or even dangerous reactions, and eggs are among the food items that commonly cause sensitivity issues.
Chewing Gum– Chewing gum is sweet and fun for little ones, but the motion of chewing and swallowing saliva can confuse growing digestive systems that equate the chewing action with eating. Gum can also pose a choking hazard for little ones.
Marshmallows– The soft, sticky consistency of a marshmallow makes it a very risky food for small children because it can so easily become a choking hazard. This is especially true of the larger varieties, which can completely block a child’s airway.
Gummy Candies– Processed sugars and artificial additives aside, gummy candies become a chewy, gelatinous mess in kids’ mouths, which can become a potential choking hazard.
Nut Butters– Even if you eliminate the potential allergen risk of peanut and other nut butters, the consistency is still difficult for developing jaws and throats to manage. Nut butters are a leading cause of choking among small children, so it’s wise to hold off on this kid classic until your little one is a bit older, or to spread it thinly on crackers or bread if serving to older toddlers.

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Vegetables That Boost Your Immune System

Cruciferous vegetables are the gold standard in immune-boosting vegetables.

Garlic is surely one of the world’s most potent medicines, and its potent smell is what makes it so powerful.

Onions are rich in quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that may reduce the risk of cancer.

The power of mushrooms comes from their ability to enhance the activity of natural killer T cells (NKT).

Tomatoes are also the richest source of the exceptionally potent antioxidant lycopene, a substance that prevents cancer, particularly cancer of the prostate.

Beets are an amazing blood purifier.

Spinach is rich in beta carotene, which the body transforms into vitamin A, triggering your immune response to keep you well.

Asparagus’s biggest talent is its ability to encourage the body to flush out toxins, due to its natural diuretic abilities.

Artichoke supports the liver.

Artichoke supports the liver.

Sweet potatoes are far superior than the run-of-the-mill white potato.

Red bell pepper is bursting with vitamin C, making it a powerful immune builder.

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