Should we ban chocolate milk from schools?

When I was a kid, I hated milk. It was a mostly irrational hatred, but the white stuff simply had no appeal to me. There were only two ways to convince me to drink milk: soda milk or chocolate milk. Now, facing the obesity epidemic, some are arguing that chocolate milk should be banned from schools. I will admit that cutting sugary drinks (i.e. soda and lemonade) from my diet did make a huge difference in my weight.

While milk has been the keystone of America's school lunches since the federally subsidized program was established in 1946, the role of chocolate (and other flavored) milk has become a focus of late following a 2006 rule that required schools to establish comprehensive "wellness programs." Public school districts in Berkeley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo. — two of America's more progressive towns — have removed the drink from their list of daily offerings, opting for low-fat, organic white milk instead. That's a perfect way to force kids to shun milk completely, says the dairy industry.

My own opinion is that banning chocolate milk is likely to backfire and cause kids to drink soda instead. That's what they really want, after all, thanks to persistent advertising. Thus, the kids are left without the nutritional value of milk entirely. But I am interested to see what Mod-Bloggers think.

Drinking fruit juice nutralizes medications?

Somehow this article feels like something doctors will have to retract within a few years, when they regain their sanity. Otherwise, one must wonder how you are to get as many fruits and vegetables as are recommended for a healthy diet, if you can't have any juices while on medication.

Drinking fruit juice dramatically reduces the effectiveness of drugs used to treat cancer, heart conditions and high blood pressure, scientists say.
Research has shown that orange, apple and grapefruit juice can also wipe out the benefits of some antibiotics and hay-fever pills.
It is thought the drinks stop drugs from entering the bloodstream and getting to work in the body - possibly rendering them useless.
The potential effects are so serious, researchers warned, that if in doubt, patients should swap fruit juices for water when on medication.

Mythbusting Common Health Worries

Most people I know fall into one of two categories: (1) they panic over every new study which tells you that your favorite food causes cancer, or (2) they are so overwhelmed by the serial health panics that they simply have stopped listening. Well, Health Magazine is mythbusting today.

Myth #5: Feed a cold, starve a fever
The old wives' tale has been a staple since the 1500s when a dictionary master wrote, "Fasting is a great remedie of feuer."

The truth: "Colds and fevers are generally caused by viruses that tend to last 7 to 10 days, no matter what you do," Vreeman says. "And there is no good evidence that diet has any effect on a cold or fever. Even if you don't feel like eating, you still need fluids, so put a priority on those." If you're congested, the fluids will keep mucus thinner and help loosen chest and nasal congestion. A little chicken soup spoons in some nutrients, as well.

Let the relaxation and sanity commence... until the next health panic.

Are foods getting healthier with the trans-fat ban

It seems the answer to that question is not as cut and dry as you'd think. Less trans-fat == healthier food, you'd think. But it seems that some food producers are simply replacing the trans-fats for saturated fat, which is only nominally better than the trans-fat it's replacing. Reading about all these chemicals and what they do to your body almost makes me want to eat raw like my mom, but then I remember how much I like steak and lobster and decide otherwise :)