Mercury is toxic. It is delivered most potently as methyl mercury (also called organic mercury). The reason is this… Continue reading →

Four decades ago, a healthy alternative to sugar was introduced into our food supply: fructose. I remember being told that, because it was the natural sweetening in fruit, it was far superior to refined sugar. Now we all know about the evils of high fructose corn syrup. Continue reading →

We are awash with information. The fountainheads of Western science such as Francis Bacon would be thrilled. Much has changed since Bacon and his fellow advocates for science established the Royal Society in the 17th Century, but the belief that information will set us free is very much with us. Bacon, of course, expressed that belief in an appalling way: “nature takes orders from man and works under his authority.” Many have commented on what mischief that attitude has caused. Continue reading →

In 2005, the National Academy of Sciences announced what many already knew: there’s no safe dose of ionizing radiation. The late John Goffman had been saying this for years, but the National Academy brought that knowledge right into the mainstream. Why is it then that both ordinary and extraordinary exposures are discussed in terms of what’s safe? There is no “safe!” Continue reading →

Often, scientists don’t recognize what they’re looking at. Recent research illustrates the point.

It’s not news that our nervous system does its work using electricity that is created through chemical reactions. Neurotransmitters release energy at a synapse, the joining of one nerve cell to another. Inside the nerve cell, calcium ions carry that energy to the other end of the nerve cell where neurotransmitters there are energized and released to transfer energy to the next one or more nerve cells. Continue reading →

Life expectancy has been increasing. This is taken as a sign of better health. That’s a mistake. A recent study suggests why. Published in the Journal of Gerontology, the study by Eileen Crimmins and Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez found that while life expectancy increased over the decade from 1996 to 2006, so did the number of years that people will spend with disease and disability. Continue reading →

People are being warned about vitamin D. According to the New York Times, you should worry about getting too much. But if you read the Wall Street Journal, you might worry that you’re not getting enough. Each mainstream media outlet was reporting recommendations issued by the Institute of Medicine.

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Calories in equal calories burned plus calories stored. That’s the simple formula that alleges to summarize why Americans are fat and growing fatter. It’s the energy balance equation. It dominates how scientists as well as the general public thinks about the relationship between food and body fat. It is deeply flawed. Continue reading →

Researchers in conventional health science tend not to like nutrient supplements, herbs, and other forms of so-called natural health products. So on a regular basis, some piece of research gets published and publicized that raises alarms about their use. Both the science press and the mainstream media dutifully report the results. Continue reading →

The campaign of fear against hormone replacement therapy entered a new phase last week. A few years ago, results from the Women’s Health Initiative were heavily advertised in the mainstream media. That campaign caused women and their doctors to flee from not only the conventional hormone therapy that was studied but from all hormone use. Continue reading →