not TWA but similar...

I am kind of newly obsessed with this woman and her story about her autistic child:
http://blog.sethroberts.net/2013/05/17/journal-of-personal-science-one-childs-autism-eliminated-by-removal-of-glutamate-from-her-diet/

She is a biochemist and realized that tons of foods that are gluten free still have glutamate in them. Glutamate is processed by your body into MSG...so if you have an MSG sensitivity you need to watch out for these other ingredients. Of course this stuff is not labeled...the video of her going through the store reading labels really got me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7jJj9W4uF_4

Oh and she mentions that there is a pesticide that they use on conventional crops made of MSG!! And they don't have to label it...so really go organic.

This book also made an impression regarding food and children:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Unhealthy-Truth-Shocking-Investigation/dp/0767930746/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Here is Robyn's TED talk where I first heard about her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA

twa

1. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?src=me&ref=general
(hat tip to Montana)
Just 7 minutes a day of seriously working out can make you feel 
better and actually get fit...that is what this article says...
As soon as the baby comes, we are going to try this out.

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/say-hello-to-the-100-trillion-bacteria-that-make-up-your-microbiome.html?hp&pagewanted=all
Michael Pollan is one of our heroes...and well now he has taken up my current 
favorite topic: bacteria. It is a long read, but well worth it. 
Towards the end of the article he gets the scientists to discuss how they 
have changed their behaviors based on what they now
know...

That's it this week. A light reading week I guess.

other blog

Some of you, ok maybe just Jamie, may have noticed I have not been as regular posting here...lots going on. But I also have another fun blog started: The Dapper Hedgehog: Info for Traveling Coffee Snobs. Check it out...I think it is fun.

Note to Eddie Lampert

KILL SEARS.

I went there today after searching for a product on line. The Sears website told me that the item, a bookshelf, I wanted was in stock. So we drive out to the Sears. And guess what? THEY DON'T HAVE THE PRODUCT.

Seriously, Sears just needs to die. I told the woman helping me to look for a new job, because surely Eddie Lampert was not going to keep wasting his money on this store.

Have you shopped there Eddie? EVER?

Done with Sears.

TWA 5.13.13

1. https://medium.com/the-ingredients-2/221d449929ef?utm_source=newsletter10&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=subA

Fascinating look at the ingredients of Coke and where they come from. I am going to keep this in mind when my brain says I want a Coke. I really just want bubblie water.

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/business/soothing-back-pain-by-learning-how-to-sit-again.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130512
We will see if this lady's book helps Brent's mom. A lot of her back ideas make sense to me...as I just straightened my back!

3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/12/psychiatrists-under-fire-mental-health
Humm, I want to know more about this article...really? No biological basis for the gigantic drug complex to help people with mental illness? I am as skeptical, ok more, than the next person about drugs for your mental problems, but I found this to be surprising.

4. Headache article, Harper's, http://harpers.org/archive/2013/05/an-uncommon-pain/
Headaches suck, but this woman weaves an impressive personal narrative with the actual science, or lack there of, around headaches.

TWA

1. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/how-not-to-die/309277/

“The seventy-five years and twenty million dollars expended on the Grant Study points … to a straightforward five-word conclusion: ‘Happiness is love. Full stop.’ ”

Which reminded me of:

http://blog.sethroberts.net/2013/02/01/end-of-life-medicine-enormous-absence-of-informed-consent/

and

http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2013/jan/15/bitter-end/

Basically if you ask doctors what end of life care they want, they only want pain control. Full stop.

2. http://humanfoodproject.com/from-meat-to-microbes-to-main-street-is-it-time-to-trade-in-your-george-foreman-grill/
Last week I told you guys about how the bacteria in your gut can potentially cause heart disease. Well, there is a VERY in depth analysis of the research that last week's article was based on. Good stuff here. One of the best scientific critiques I have read in a long long time.

3. http://news.discovery.com/human/alien-looking-skeleton-poses-medical-mystery-130430.htm#mkcpgn=fbsci1

You have to look at this picture...it was a real person who lived to be 8 years old or so. Can you imagine? Did you ever see the Lilly Tomlin movie, The Incredible Shrinking Woman? 

And the movie that features the little person:

http://www.sirius.neverendinglight.com/

 

this week's articles (TWA)

1. touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-75241622/
This is a great article for helping you deal with friends who are in poor health. The circle idea really comes in handy.

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/opinion/sunday/diagnosing-the-wrong-deficit.html?src=recg
ADHD might just be the result of not enough sleep. Lots of other interesting tidbits in here too. 
(hat tip to Steve)

3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/meet-mr-money-mustache-the-man-who-retired-at-30/2013/04/26/71e3e6a8-acf3-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html?hpid=z1
(hat tip to Rachel)
Brent and I want to spend less money, but apparently not enough to actually do it. This guy is serious. We keep bringing him up when we think of spending money.

4. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/heritage-apples-john-bunker-maine
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/old-apples-of-new-york-book-vintage-illustrations

Two great articles about apples. These come out every few years, but still worth a read. And then it reminds me that there is only one variety of banana, and if that goes, well then we will lose the idiom "going bananas."

5. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/health/study-points-to-new-culprit-in-heart-disease.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
It is all about the bacteria people. SERIOUSLY. I think that is why Americans are fat. The bacteria in our tummies make us want to eat crap. Laugh now, but mark my words. Turns out heart disease is caused by bacteria poop...that is what is building up in your arteries. If you are a vegitarian, well, then you don't have this problem.

For more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/health/eggs-too-may-provoke-bacteria-to-raise-heart-risk.html