A home-brewing technique used to extract morphine from unwashed poppy seeds can produce lethal doses of the drug, according to research at Sam Houston State University. Madeleine Swortwood, an assistant professor in the Department of Forensic Science, began investigating the issue after being contacted by the father of a 21-year-old man who died after ingesting […]
Excessive fructose consumption may cause a leaky gut, leading to fatty liver disease
Excessive consumption of fructose — a sweetener ubiquitous in the American diet — can result in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is comparably abundant in the United States. But contrary to previous understanding, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that fructose only adversely affects the liver after it reaches […]
Netflix True Crime Series Rotten focuses on corruption in the global food supply chain
Rotten dives deep into the food production underworld to expose the corruption, waste and real dangers behind your everyday eating habits. Rotten returns with six new unsavory truths about the underbelly of the global food industry. Avocado. Wine. Bottled Water. Sugar. Chocolate. Edibles. The food you love comes with a price. Local farming is fading as […]
Tomatoes offer affordable source of Parkinson’s disease drug
Scientists have produced a tomato enriched in the Parkinson’s disease drug L-DOPA in what could become a new, affordable source of one of the world’s essential medicines. The development of the genetically modified (GM) tomato has implications for developing nations where access to pharmaceutical drugs is restricted. This novel use of tomato plants as a […]
Chemicals in indoor swimming pools may increase cancer risk
Swimming in indoor chlorinated pools may induce genotoxicity (DNA damage that may lead to cancer) as well as respiratory effects, but the positive health effects of swimming can be maintained by reducing pool levels of the chemicals behind these potential health risks, according to a new study published in a set of three articles online […]
Toddler formulas and milks — not recommended by health experts — mislead with health claims
Misleading labeling on formulas and milks marketed as “toddler drinks” may confuse parents about their healthfulness or necessity, finds a new study by researchers at the NYU College of Global Public Health and the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut. The study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine, examines how […]
Higher levels of omega-3 acids in the blood increases life expectancy by almost five years
Levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood are as good a predictor of mortality from any cause as smoking, according to a study involving the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), in collaboration with The Fatty Acid Research Institute in the United States and several universities in the United States and Canada. The […]
Probiotic identified to treat ulcers
Researchers from Spain have identified a strain of probiotic bacteria that may be useful in treating ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori. They report their findings in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. “H. pylori is considered one of the major risk factors underlying the development of gastritis and gastric and duodenal ulcers,” write […]
Think about this: Keeping your brain active may delay Alzheimer’s dementia 5 years
Keeping your brain active in old age has always been a smart idea, but a new study suggests that reading, writing letters and playing card games or puzzles in later life may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia by up to five years. The research is published in the July 14, 2021, online issue of Neurology, […]
No link between moderate coffee consumption and increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia, researchers find
In the largest study of its kind, an investigation by UC San Francisco has found no evidence that moderate coffee consumption leads to a greater risk of cardiac arrhythmia. In fact, each additional daily cup of coffee consumed among several hundred thousand individuals was associated with a 3 percent lower risk of any arrhythmia occurring, […]