Health Warnings

Cell Phone DangersI just came across an important article on the potential health risks of using cell phones in the July 10th issue of the Toronto Star.

In a recent article on acrylamide, I wrote that potato chips and French fries are two of the deadliest foods that you can eat. Here are some more important details on acrylamide and foods that contain them:

What other foods are high in acrylamide and should be avoided?
- Tyler G.

According to a report written by a joint committee between the World Health Organization and the United Nations in February, 2005, the following foods contain significant amounts of acrylamide, ranked from highest to lowest:

For me, the most fascinating segment of Morgan Spurlock's documentary on McDonalds, called Super Size Me, involved the man who has become famous for eating almost nothing but Big Macs since 1972. Don Gorske is the Guinness world record holder for number of Big Macs eaten, having passed 19,800 Big Macs as of June, 2004.

Don has eaten anywhere between 2 and 9 Big Macs per day, almost every day since 1972, and yet, his height-weight ratio and blood tests indicate that he is in relatively good health.

Do you know that using lipstick or lip balm can increase your risk of developing cancer and autoimmune diseases? If you use lipstick or lip balm on a regular basis, I highly recommend that you visit the Environmental Working Group's online safety assessment catalogue for dangerous chemicals in personal care products. You can type the names of cosmetics that you use into the EWG's search engine and learn how safe or dangerous they are.

Fast Food NationDo you know that most processed foods and fast food items get their taste from chemicals that are made in factories in New Jersey? That's right, the strawberry flavour in your muffin is more likely a chemical that was created in New Jersey than it is real strawberry.

Here are some points* that all cell phone users need to be aware of:

• The risk of death from brain cancer is higher for cell phone users who hold their cell phones against their heads compared to those who keep their cell phones away from their heads.
• Using a cell phone for six years or more is associated with a fifty percent increase in risk of developing an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumour of a nerve that lies close to the ear and is within close range of the radiation that comes from a cell phone's antenna.
  

For years, dermatologists have prescribed various oral and topical antibiotics as a first line of treatment for acne.

This standard of care may soon change due to a study in the September 2005 Archives of Dermatology that reports that people who use oral or topical antibiotics to treat acne have more than double the chance of having a cold during the following year. To put it plainly, regular use of antibiotics increases your risk of developing the common cold.

A few months ago when my wife and I met some friends for tea at a local coffee shop, one of our friends reminded me to ask for some sweetener for her coffee. I wasn’t sure if she meant sugar or artificial sweetener, so I asked “artificial sweetener?”

“Yeah, sweetener,” she replied, looking a little confused.

As I stood in line waiting to place our order, I found myself wondering when in the world people began dropping the word “artificial” from “artificial sweetener.” Could this be the result of the artificial sweetener industry doing a clever job over the past several years of having the general public believe that artificial sweeteners are harmless? Kind of like how good ol’ Kentucky Fried Chicken simply became KFC.

Have you ever wondered which fruits and vegetables are the least and most contaminated with pesticides? A study released by the Environmental Working Group in 2003 revealed the following:

12 LEAST Contaminated Fruits and Vegetables

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Corn (sweet)
• Kiwi
• Mangos
• Onions
• Papaya
• Pineapples
• Peas (sweet)

Have you ever sat or stood in front of an x-ray machine, covered with a bulky lead apron, waiting for someone who was standing behind a lead wall to press a button that would send ionizing radiation through your body?