Free Republic

The U.S. government is poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol in your diet The nation's top nutrition advisory panel has decided to drop its caution about eating cholesterol-laden food, a move that could undo almost 40 years of government warnings about its consumption. [...] The current U.S. guidelines call for restricting cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams daily. American adult men on average ingest about 340 milligrams of cholesterol a day, according to federal figures. That recommended figure of 300 milligrams, Eckel said, is "just one of those things that gets carried forward and carried forward even though the evidence...

First lady Michelle Obama believes Americans can keep the federal government from meddling with their lives by eating healthy foods and maintaining an active lifestyle. In an interview with Cooking Light magazine published Monday, Mrs. Obama said the best way to avoid dealing with “the system” is to take care of one’s own body. Doing so, she said, will eliminate trips to the doctor and the need to deal with Obamacare. “It’s just making sure people understand that the most powerful thing that they can do for their overall health is feed their bodies good nutritious food,” the first lady...

Retired neurosurgeon and presidential hopeful Ben Carson attempted Sunday to diffuse the vaccination debate that has gripped the political scene, saying there’s no reason to turn vaccines for measles and other diseases into a partisan issue. Mr. Carson, a star in conservative circles, said scientists have debunked skeptics who warn of debilitating side effects from vaccines, and parents who forgo vaccinations are eroding the herd immunity that has lulled them into complacency. “We’ve had such an effective vaccination program that you’re not seeing the diseases,” Mr. Carson told “Fox News Sunday.” A measles outbreak traced to Disneyland in California has...

Doctors are warning parents against reviving “measles parties” intended to expose children to the disease at a gathering with at least one infected person. The parties ostensibly help children build immunity against the disease and are used instead of vaccinating or leaving exposure up to chance. Such practices have been discouraged despite similar events such as “pox parties” which expose children to chickenpox for the purpose of building immunity. “CDPH strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles as it unnecessarily places the exposed children at potentially grave risk and could contribute to further spread of the outbreak,”...

I know this thread and topic is going to go over like a lead balloon but I have to say it. The constant, prevalent and gruesome pro-life themed articles are really becoming a nuisance to this long time reader and occasional poster. This is not a call for a pro-choice viewpoint, I'm not advocating that personally and realize that will, thankfully, never happen here. However there becomes a point when preaching to the choir about the horrors of abortion in heinous detail either visually or in writing just becomes disgusting. I frequent this site overnight and scanning from top to...

A new study from MIT reveals one reason why people who suffer from chronic inflammatory diseases such as colitis have a higher risk of mutations that cause cancer. The researchers also found that exposure to DNA-damaging chemicals after a bout of inflammation boosts these mutations even more, further increasing cancer risk. The findings confirm a longstanding theory about why inflammation and cancer are linked, and offer possible ways to help prevent and treat cancer, says Bevin Engelward, an MIT professor of biological engineering and senior author of a Jan. 15 PLoS Genetics paper describing the findings. “Chronic inflammation drives a...

The White House press corps repeatedly tried to get White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest to endorse a vaccination mandate Tuesday, but Earnest rejected such invitations every time. We counted nine different denials.1. Because of that risk to the vulnerable population, does he believe that it's time to revisit state laws that allow some parents to opt out? MR. EARNEST: Well, I know that there has been substantial litigation around this, too. I think in the mind of the President -- I did have the opportunity to visit with him shortly before the briefing on this very issue -- the...

Planned Parenthood is commemorating 99 years of killing by “celebrating” Black History Month. Black American history is a journey of a people who did everything possible to escape an institution of violence, discrimination and death. Did our predecessors really risk everything to restore our human dignity for us to run into the arms of another industry that profits from dehumanizing? Did they fight for us to become members of this society through the hard-fought freedoms of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments for us to be dismembered, by the millions, under the guise of “reproductive justice”? The abortion industry doesn’t...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie unwittingly ignited a firestorm earlier this week when he responded to a reporter's question in Great Britain about forced vaccinations of children in New Jersey by suggesting that the law in the U.S. needs to balance the rights of parents against the government's duty to maintain standards of public health. Before Christie could soften the tone of his use of the word "balance," Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul jumped into the fray to support the governor. In doing so, he made a stronger case for the rights of parents by advancing the view that all vaccines...

Some things are easy to avoid. DonÂ’t want to be hit by a train? DonÂ’t play on train tracks. DonÂ’t want your kid to get measles? Get them vaccinated. CanÂ’t afford to pay your employees more? DonÂ’t advocate for raising the minimum wage. Done and done. But many granola-crunching, tofu-eating progressives think they can kale their way to a super immune system for their kids, so theyÂ’re skipping the vaccinations for measles and everything else. And other progressives are closing their businesses because the laws for which they advocated have sent them to the poorhouse. To paraphrase President Barack ObamaÂ’s...

Democrats were gleeful when Republicans Chris Christie and Rand Paul got tangled this week in the debate over the Disneyland measles outbreak, until similar words from the pasts of President Obama and 2016 front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton came out. Mr. Christie walked back his recent comments calling for “balance” and a role for “parental choice” on childhood vaccines, saying in a Monday statement that “with a disease like measles, there’s no question kids should be vaccinated.” But the Democratic posturing as the party of science was short-lived. Several websites promptly dug up a comment from Mr. Obama during the 2008...

A critic of mandatory child vaccinations made no apologies for her views in an appearance on Newsmax TV Tuesday, and said that public anger over the Disneyland measles outbreak should be directed at pharmaceutical companies and the federal government, not people like her. "What's happening is people are freaking out about measles outbreaks," Louise Kuo Habakus said ina combative interview with "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner. "They're pointing the finger at unvaccinated children and non-vaccinated families, when really what needs to happen is people need to be pointing the finger at industry and at Congress." Habakus, co-founder of a group called...

ulture: An unlikely issue has entered the infant 2016 presidential campaign: Vaccines and required vaccinations. Let's hope the fact there's no scientific link to autism or anything else isn't lost in the political fray. Candidates will often look for an edge over their opponents. Thus, both New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky recently suggested that, while vaccinations are good, forcing parents to vaccinate their children might be too much. We believe vaccines are safe and should be routine, but concern about parents' rights is not unreasonable. What really gripes us, however, is listening to the...

<p>A California Democrat has proposed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum smoking age from 18 to 21 in an effort to keep cigarettes out of the hands of teenagers.</p> <p>State Sen. Ed Hernandez introduced Senate Bill 151, which would make California the first state in the country to raise the minimum smoking age to 21. Similar proposals have previously failed in New Jersey, Utah, Colorado and Maryland.</p>

California's measles outbreak has climbed to 91 confirmed cases, prompting a vicious attack from USA Today contributor Alex Berezow against "anti-vaxxers." He blames them for the epidemic that CDC officials say was introduced at the Disneyland theme park by a person infected with measles overseas. Berezow's knee-jerk reaction is to declare, "Parents who do not vaccinate their children should go to jail." He erroneously maintains that measles could not spread in a fully vaccinated society and discredits as "ludicrous" concerns regarding the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Claiming there is a "mountain of data" proving otherwise, his one and only...

Here is another mark against sugary drinks: A new study has found that drinking them is associated with lowered age of menarche. Age of first menses has decreased substantially since the early 20th century, and studies have shown that younger age of menarche is associated with increased risk of breast and endometrial cancer in later life. [Snip] After controlling for birth weight, maternal age at menarche, physical activity, and many dietary and behavioral factors, [researchers] found that girls who drank one-and-a-half 12-ounce cans a day of nondiet soda or sugared iced tea had their first period an average of 2.7...

In studies, essays and blog posts since 2008, we have noted the raft of unintended consequences associated with Michigan’s illicit trade in cigarettes. Often we zero in on smuggling itself. A quarter of all the cigarettes consumed in Michigan in 2013 were contraband. What all too often gets left behind in the debate over cigarette trafficking is the amount of revenue lost by the state to activities that are effectively inspired by high taxes in the first place. We estimate that the Great Lakes State lost $298 million from the untaxed cigarette trade in 2013. The one sliver of good...

(CNSNews.com) - In a joint radio appearance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, President Barack Obama said there is a “worldwide epidemic of obesity” and that he looks forward to working with the government of India and non-governmental organizations on the “issue of obesity” in India.In 2013-2014, according to a survey conducted by UNICEF and India's Ministry of Women and Child Development, 30.7 percent of Indian children under five were underweight.That was a significant improvement for India, where 43.5 percent of the children under five had been underweight at the time of the last survey in 2005-2006. "India no...

(Newser) – As many as three million Americans may be allergic to peanuts, the Huffington Post has reported, with one study suggesting that the number of kids with the allergy doubled between 1997 and 2002. But those who are affected may have a reason to smile: A new study could point the way to a cure for the condition, the Australian Associated Press reports via the Guardian. For a year and a half, 30 kids with the allergy were given peanut protein plus a probiotic every day; another 30 received a placebo, researchers at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute report....

A Kirksville, Mo. doctor righteously and very satisfyingly slapped down a substitute teacher after she sent a note home condemning the lunch his second-grade daughter had brought to school. The doctor and mad dad is Justin Puckett, reports ABC News. As Puckett — who is certified in obesity medicine — later observed to the principal at the school, the teacher and a cafeteria worker didn’t see the whole lunch. Sure, they saw a pickle, a bag of marshmallows, some Ritz crackers and four tiny chocolate bars. Importantly, what the sub and the lunch lady missed were four pieces of ham...