America Keeping Fit

Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest.

American Treasures

Health.com has provided its readers with America's 50 fattiest food from all the different states. I don't know about you guys, but I love crazy stuff like this. Below are some disgusting samples that will make you puke in your sleep, enjoy!


1. Alabama: Bacon-wrapped meatloaf


2. New Jersey: Fat Darrell



3. Vermont: Ben & Jerry's Vermonster


4. Michigan: BLT


5. Colorado: Jack-N-Grill’s 7-pound breakfast burritos



6. West Virginia: Hillbilly Hotdogs' 10-pound burger


7. Connecticut: 2-foot-long hot dog

Do You Want To Die Today?

If the answer is Yes, you have three alternatives.

1. Friendly's Grilled Cheese Burger (The whole meal contains 1500 kcal & 97 grams of fat)



2. Coloured Bacon


3. Frankenfish, genetically engineered salmon that grows at twice the normal rate.

PROTEIN MYTH

I AM SO SORRY YA'LL. I haven't had access to the internet for a while but they fixed it today so hurray hurray.

Well, I promised you the four other typical comments from pro meat eaters as soon as they hear that you're not too hip on feasting on flesh and here is the second one (along with some sassylicious comebacks):

2. "Where do you get your protein from?"

Okay...seriously now you guys. When was the last time you met a person in a wheelchair, unable to move with sunken eyes, desperately whispering to you that he or she were suffering from a protein deficiency and is now unable to live a normal life. Yeah…I think that time was actually never.

How many anorexic looking gorillas and elephants have you seen? None! They’re freaking huge. And guess what they eat!? Plants. They don’t have a McDonald’s or a KFC lying around the jungle giving them that VITAL PROTEIN to make them big and strong. And they're bigger, stronger and faster than you'll ever be son.

Did you know, that eating an abundance of protein, especially animal protein, can be harmful for you? It can lead to faster aging as well as cause cancer and obesity. We don't need that much protein. Even my doctor told me that this hype about protein is a well-planned strategy by the meat and fish industry to cause worries about not getting enough protein and so --> create neurotic carcass munchers who think they're gonna die if they don't eat that steak. Get real, it's the other way around. Even my little cousin knows you can get cancer in your tummy by eating red meat since it rots inside of you.

But to answer the stupid question "Where do you get your protein from", well genius, we vegetarians get it from beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I know those thing don't come with a happy meal and with the satisfaction of killing but HEY we can't all be perfect.

WTF

When you don't know what to say anymore...

3 Sexy Reasons To Become A Vegetarian

Dog Zen

It's Monday morning, time for Rule of Dog.

THE TRUTH ABOUT ASPARTAME

Hey kids! Do you like Soda, Chewing Gum and Sugarfree Candy and Cakes? Do you also like Alzheimer's, Diabetes and Arthritis? No?

Well that's awfully weird...I mean in most diet sodas you will find Aspartame replacing sugar for the sake of...ok what you would call "taste".

Aspartame is a common artifical sweetener that you can find in yummie stuff such as diet sodas and other soft drinks, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, cocoa mixes, frozen desserts, gelatin desserts, juices, milk drinks, pharmaceutical drugs and supplements, shake mixes, tabletop sweeteners, teas, instant coffees and yogurt. This is just a handful, I mean today you can find it in almost anything modern and stylish.

Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than normal sugar and it was discovered in a lab in 1965 by scientist J.M Schlatter who was trying to develop a synthetic anti-ulcer drug when he by accident discovered its sweetness by licking his fingers. He put two and two together, understood that mankind was as thick as clotted cream and tadaaaa....brain cancer as a side effect of candy was here! Yes...in the 1980's several studies were made about Aspartame's relation to Brain Cancer.

When aspartame enters your body it turns into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is cancer-causing and used by scientists as a disinfectant or a preservative. Yeah. They don't eat it or drink it. They don't put it in their kids bodies. But something tells me that they are laughing their heads of at you who do.

Here are some fun facts about Aspartame:

- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have received more complaints about Aspartame than any other ingredient.

- When Aspartame was put before the FDA for approval it was denied 8 times.

- Aspartame will make you fat because it preserves your fat cells.

- There are 92 proven side effects of Aspartame such as nerve cell damage, memory loss, blindness, migraines, hair loss, weight gain and nervous system disorders just to name a few cute ones.

- Support groups for Aspartame victims actually exists.

I'm not trying to scare you (well I am) but just have a little casual browse online about Aspartame and it's effects on the human body and then browse your food shelf right before you go to bed tonight. It will make Samara from The Ring seem like a harmless long-haired little pokémon. Sweet Dreams.



Aspartame Info:

Sweet poison

Aspartame Kills

Aspartame Victims Support Group

Dorway to Discovery

The Proper Way to Steal Money From the Elderly

When you are a politically connected head of a city nonprofit and you decide to steal money from the nonprofit there's a right way to go about it and then there's a wrong way.

The wrong way is the Margarita Villegas way when you yourself just outright embezzle the money, steal only a measly $50,000, and admit what you did and express regret when found out.

The proper way is the Rev. Floyd H. Flake way. You use public money to build and run an apartment complex for the elderly. You then sell the complex to a for-profit partnership, a partnership you secretly have a 99.9% controlling interest in, and one you structured in a way that allows you to decide what fees to pay yourself, and to receive tax brakes from the city.

To insure your con is of the utmost professionalism, the lawyer you hire to get the mandatory approval from the attorney general's office also works as a consultant for the AG's campaign for governor, you request an emergency ruling for the final approval from the court in order to get a perfunctory review of the 600-page petition by the judge, and, cherry on top of the layered bamboozle, you insure that the clerk of the court who signs the approval is the mother of one of the for-profit partners who's buying the property.

Last, but not least, you then decide how many millions of dollars you should pay yourself for the service of fleecing the elderly and the taxpayers.

PLEASURE ISLAND EY?

The fattest country in the world is Nauru, an island in the Pacific. Around 94% of the population are obese. There is no arable land there and their only natural food resources are fish and coconuts. They import the rest of their food. Yes they have fast food there. You do the math.

I'M BUZZING

THIS IS BEEAUTIFUL!

YAAAY. I was on my way today to buy myself some fruit and vegetables from the market near a farm where I live when I passed this man selling Swedish honey and OMG GUESS WHAT I FOUND!? POLLEN. Eatable Bee Pollen! In a cute jar!

For those of you who don't know this, Bee Pollen is like a miracle elixir for your body! Bee pollen is collected by the bees from the flowers and they keep it behind their legs. This is a bit cheecky but when the bee then fly into the bee hive, the "entrance" into the bee hive is made smaller and *poff* they drop the pollen, and it is in turn collected by humans. (Of course we don't take all of their pollen, we leave them with a lil sumfin sumfin, just so they can survive, because we humans are nice like that to animals - just look at BP.)

Ok, so now you're like yeah but what is pollen and why is it good for you? Well, Pollen is the male seed of flower and it contains amng other things...

8 different Flavonoids (Antioxidants)
11 different Carotenoids (Nutrients/Antioxidants/Enhancers of the immune system)
Vitamin A, B, C and E
Minerals K, Na, Ca, Mg, P and S
and it contains more than 100 different enzymes

According to Dr John's Health File "Bee pollen is the world’s most complete food. It contains every basic vitamin, mineral, enzyme and hormone essential for general well-being and good health. In its fresh, natural form, it is completely absorbed by the body and is 100% digestible."

And for you who are obsessed with protein (which seems to be everyone these days): "Bee pollen is the food of the young bee and it is approximately 40% protein. It is considered one of nature’s most completely nourishing foods. It contains nearly all nutrients required by humans. About half of its protein is in the form of free amino acids that are ready to be used directly by the body."

Bee Pollen is said to be a natural fat burner and promote the burn of useless fats in your body as well as smoothing out wrinkles, boost your immune system, enhance sexuality and give you loads of energy.
NASA has even used Bee Pollen in the diets for their astronauts, and if it's good enough for an astronaut, well, it's good enough for me!

I am going to do a 2 week treatment with this Bee Pollen on my breakfast smoothie and see if I feel any better and energised!

I'll keep you posted!

Bzzzzz My new Breakfast (video on how to eat Bee Pollen)

I'M BACK (AGAIN) YA'LL

So I was in the middle of my third Bikram Yoga class in three days and I was listening to the instructor telling us how to bend our bodies into Japanese Ham sandwiches (…) when I suddenly remembered this blog. I know you’ve missed me and I know I've been a bit lazy but I think it’s time for the self appointed Health Connoisseur to make a reappearance in the world of blogs.

SO. Here is my summer resolution: I am going to post something every single day. Even if it's just a little disgusted post about Pancakes & Sausage on a stick or a long essay about the importance of eating organic food, I will provde you with a daily dose of my unreserved opinions about food and health.

ENJOY THIS SUMMER AND MAY IT BE THE SUMMER WHERE YOU DECIDE TO ACTUALLY TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY AND YOUR SOUL!

WHEN ALL YOU CAN SAY IS EW.

As if the English people don't have enough deep fried mars bars and chip butties over there...say hello to 'La Lasandwich'. A sandwich gone Jersey Shore with an English twist.


PS. A chip butty for those of you who don't live in England, it's a scrumptious little sandwich which consists of bread, french fries and ketchup. Yeah. I know.

For the Man In Your Life Who Wants That Uterine Look

Dr. #1 Dinosaur made my day:

Photo by Demotivational Posters

Dog Zen

It's Monday morning and there's a special treat for you at Rule of Dog.

On a related note, I've just figured out you can incorporate dog toy adds from Amazon.com in blog posts (hey, better late than never!) so I promptly added them and then went to Amazon and bought everything in sight. Um, this is how blog advertisement is supposed to work, no? Anyway, I hope our dogs derive as much pleasure from playing with the toys we get for them as we do from buying the toys for them.

I dare you to resist the caterpillar!

Dr. Charles' Examining Room and Ob/Gyn Blogs

Dr. Charles' blog The Examining Room of Dr. Charles has a new address. Please update your bookmarks and make sure you visit him often. He is an outstanding medblogger well worth your reading time.

And speaking of blogs worthy of your reading time, I've finally grouped all the Ob/Gyn blogs in the sidebar under a separate heading to make it easier for you to spend countless hours reading blogs by The Best, The Beautifulest, The Brightest Ob/Gyns.

ellaOne, the New Emergency Contraceptive Pill That Confuses the AP to No End

What is so complicate about the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) that any MSM article about emergency contraception will invariably contain mistakes?

Take this example from a few months ago from the AP, New morning-after pill works for up to 5 days.

The article reports on a study that compared one type of ECP, ellaOne (30 mg ulipristal acetate), with another, NotPlan B (1.5 mg levonorgestrel). [I'll explain the reason for the made-up brand name in a moment.]

Briefly, ellaOne is an ECP from HRA Pharma containing 30 mg of ulipristal acetate, a progesterone receptor modulator that works primarily by delaying inhibiting ovulation. [It also works by delaying ovulation, but it's less effective, depending on the timing of administration.]

Here's what the AP article manages to get wrong (and why it matters):

ellaOne and NotPlan B

International researchers compared Plan B to the new drug ulipristal acetate, sold as ellaOne in Europe only with a doctor's prescription. The drug is not legally on the market elsewhere.


Experts tracked nearly 1,700 women aged 16 to 36 who received emergency contraception within three to five days of having unprotected sex. About half got Plan B while the rest got ellaOne.

So researchers compared Plan B with ellaOne, right? Wrong.

The researchers compared a single dose of 1.5 mg levonorgestrel with one of 30 mg ulipristal acetate. That is, they compared NotPlan B with ellaOne .

Plan B is a two-pill (two 0.75 mg levonorgestrel doses) regimen brand. [The other two-pill brand is Next Choice, the generic for Plan B.]

The one-pill (one 1.5 mg levonorgestrel dose) regimen brands are Plan B One-Step, the i-Pill / Nextime, and Levonelle One Step.

So why does it matter that the article confuses Plan B with Plan B One-Step? After all you can take both Plan B pills at the same time and, voila, one 1.5 mg dose. Two reasons.

First, medicine is not politics or religion. Facts and accuracy count especially when it comes to drug names, dosages, and regimens. A drug's efficacy and safety profile depend on the dosage and regimen. Just because you can use a drug on a modified regimen does not mean that Plan B magically transforms into Plan B One-Step.

Second, Plan B is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. The manufacturer has discontinued Plan B and it's replacing it with Plan B One-Step.

On top of an incorrect report on what the researchers studied, the AP misses an opportunity to inform you of the rather important development that Plan B is no longer available. It also misses the opportunity to introduce Plan B One-Step, the replacement, and discuss how it differs from Plan B and what you need to know to use Plan B One-Step properly.

New morning-after [EC] pill works for up to 5 days...just like the old one

From the headline, New morning-after pill works for up to 5 days, to the key paragraph:

LONDON – A new type of morning-after pill is more effective than the most widely used drug at preventing pregnancies in women who had unprotected sex and also works longer, for up to five days, a new study says.

The report was published Friday in the British medical journal, Lancet.

Levonorgestrel, the most widely used emergency contraceptive pill, is only effective if women take it within three days of having sex.

So, the new ECP ellaOne works longer, for up to five days, than the older levonorgestrel brand which is only effective if women take it within three days of having sex, right? Once again, wrong!

First, the statement that levonorgestrel ECP brands are only effective if taken within three days of having unprotected intercourse is flat out wrong.

Both the two-pill regimen [1st pill taken as soon as possible after sex; 2nd dose 12 hrs later] and the one pill regimen [pill taken as soon as possible after sex] are effective if taken within 5 days of having unprotected intercourse.

It goes without saying that you shouldn't wait for 5 days to use ECPs. If you are sexually active and are not planning a pregnancy you should keep the i-Pill / Nextime handy because the sooner you use the ECP, the more effective it is. But since none of us live in Perfect, there will be instances when, for whatever reason, you're not able to take the ECP right after having unprotected intercourse.

It is important for you to know that you have up to 5 days to use ECPs to protect yourself, and it is irresponsible for the AP to give you the wrong information.

Second, the Lancet study did not show that the new ECP ellaOne is better than the levonorgestrel brands. Rather, what it did show was what the study was designed to show, namely that ellaOne was no worse than Plan B One-Step. This may seem like a distinction without a difference, but it's not.

It's quite likely that ellaOne is more effective than the levonorgestrel brands when taken 3 to 5 days after unprotected intercourse but that hasn't been established yet and you should know that when deciding if ellaOne is the best emergency contraceptive option for you.

And since I mentioned that ellaOne (ulipristal acetate, or UPA) might be more effective, here's a bit more detail on that:

The reason [30 mg UPA prevented significantly more pregnancies than did levonorgestrel in the 72-120 hour subgroup] seems to be that UPA can delay ovulation when taken closer to ovulation than can levonorgestrel. By the time the leading follicle reaches 15-17 mm, follicular rupture is prevented within 5 days no more often after levonorgestrel administration than after placebo administration. In contrast, when taken when the leading follicle reaches 18-20 mm (and ovulation should occur within 48 hours) and the probability of conception exceeds 30%, UPA prevents follicular rupture within 5 days of administration in 59% of cycles, compared with 0% in placebo cycles. Follicular rupture failed to occur within 5 days after treatment with UPA in all women treated before onset of the LH surge, in 79% of women treated after the onset of the LH surge but before the LH peak, and in 8% of women treated after the LH peak. Another study found that ulipristal acetate altered the endometrium, but whether this change would inhibit implantation is unknown.

Bottom line: The sooner you take ECP after unprotected intercourse the better. All dedicated ECP brands--Next Choice, Plan B One-Step, i-Pill/Nextime, Levonelle One Step, and ellaOne--work for up to 5 days after unprotected sex. It remains to be seen if ellaOne is more effective in the 3-5 days period. Last, but not least, when you read a MSM article on ECP just assume it's wrong and go form there.

What Is Happening to My Beloved State?

I guess if you live in a place where the mere mention of the word "genitals" prompts the TV news person to issue a warning about offensive statements, it's not all that surprising that the State has the power to charge you with cheating on your husband:

A woman arrested for public lewdness for allegedly having sex in a park is facing a surprising additional charge: cheating on her husband.

No, this wasn't in a Muslim country far away, it is happening in New York.

Suzanne Corona, a 41-year-old woman from Batavia, N.Y., just east of Buffalo, was busted along with 29-year-old Justin Amend last week, police said.

The pair allegedly were having sex on a picnic table near a playground in Farrall Park just after 5 p.m. on Friday, according to WHAM 13.

And speaking of my beloved state, how about my beloved city?

Totalitarian piece of garbage Council Speaker Christine Quinn is supporting that other piece of dreck the Catholic League's Bill Donohue in his bullying of the owners of the Empire State Building.

But wait, there's more! Not to be outdone, an outraged City Council will demand Wednesday that the Empire State Building drop its opposition to honoring Mother Teresa with blue-and-white lights on her 100th birthday.

Because what better use of government power and resources than hassling a private enterprise to honor a poisonous little promoter of pain and pauperdom?

The 7-Inch Cure to Your Sexual Slump

Photo by Northampton Museum

Ladies, is your confidence low? Do you feel powerless? Are you forced to ponder the meaning of life as you go through a dry spell, unable to get laid? Not to worry, Amanda Sidman of the NY Daily News is here to fix what ails you.

Just strap on a pair of 7-inch heels and feel the empowerment surge through your bunions. Because, clearly, what man in his right mind can resist a woman who

• has trouble walking

• needs a wall to steady herself as she descends a flight of stairs

• struggles to stay upright

• is forced to needlessly spend money on overpriced taxis

• purposefully incapacitates herself so that she can depend on the kindness of strangers to carry her across the street

If you ask me, Ms. Sidman overlooks the obvious. Forget spike heels. Just cut off your toes altogether, sit yourself on the curb with your pretty little stumps and you are guaranteed to have men swarming around you. Granted, they'd most likely be drawn to you out of concern for your health (mental and otherwise) and they'll be speed dialing 911 but, hey, just think how empowering all that male attention will be.

Outsourcing Pregnancy

Photo by Henna by Heather - Mehndi in Boston/Providence M

Is there any outsourcing need India is unable to meet? Apparently, not, at least when it comes to surrogate pregnancies, according to this very informative Time article:

India has become the world capital of outsourced pregnancies, whereby surrogates are implanted with foreign embryos and paid to carry the resultant babies to term. In 2002 the country legalized commercial surrogacy in an effort to promote medical tourism, a sector the Confederation of Indian Industry predicts will generate $2.3 billion annually by 2012. Indian surrogate mothers are readily available and cheap. Unlike most countries in which surrogacy is lawful — and bucking the norm in heavily bureaucratic India — the procedure can take place without reams of government red tape.