Should you be taking that Vitamin D supplement you’ve had on your kitchen counter for the past 2 years? What if it’s past its expiration date? Many supplement users will wonder what the aging process does to supplements – “will…
Tag: Lifestyle
What Are Antioxidants and How Do They Work?
Antioxidants have long been known to have protective effects against a host of chronic diseases, cancer included. Their ability to neutralize compounds called free radicals—the unstable molecular entities responsible for disease development—has secured their recommendation in any healthy diet and…
FDA Clears Advantame, New Artificial Sweetener
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a sixth artificial, high intensity sweetener, advantame, for use in the United States. Advantame joins the ranks 12 years after the (previously) most recent addition, neotame, was gives the thumbs-up by…
Beer vs. Wine: a Short Guide to Alcohol and Health
Should you have a glass of wine or a bottle of beer with your dinner? Taste excepted–which would be the most beneficial to health, if at all? Here, we provide the available evidence on the effects of moderate alcohol consumption…
Can Beer Reduce Levels of Cancer-Causing Chemicals in Grilled Meat?
Enjoying that charcoal-grilled medium rare steak or a rack of barbeque pork-chops has become the go to way to enjoy sunny skies and spend quality times with friends and family. But reports of carcinogens that accumulate on the meats’ surface…
Vitamin D Production, Metabolism, and Health Effects
Vitamin D refers to a group of 5 similarly structured compounds known as vitamers, the most important of which (for human health) are plant-produced Vitamin D2 and endogenously synthesized vitamin D3. It is commonly referred to as the ‘sunshine vitamin’,…
How Vitamin D Levels Change With the Seasons
Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is synthesized in human skin upon exposure to sunlight, when ultraviolet (UV) rays convert 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D3 (which is subsequently modified in the liver and kidneys to form the biologically active hormone). The…
Adhesiabloc: Fake Medicine Clears Initial FDA Approval Steps
As citizens of the United States, we hope and trust that government entities are always looking out for our best interests. However, in 2011, the Food and Drug Administration made a serious blunder that calls into question the FDA’s ability…
What Happened to Meridia?
Abandoned, but not Buried: Meridia and Sibutramine Unlike many other dangerous prescription weight loss products, Meridia and its active ingredient were never officially banned by the FDA. The compound was saved from this fate by its manufacturers, including Abbott Labs.…
What Happened to Fen-Phen?
Deadly Side Effects: Major Heart Dangers Stop Fen-Phen Craze One of the most infamous FDA cases ever, fen-phen only lasted a couple years on the market in the late 1990’s. But its meteoric rise and fall affected FDA and public…