(A Slew Of) Odds and Ends

If I remember correctly, I had a dearth of information last week and now I have a bunch. So let us get right to the brief points for the week's end.

FSC: This stands for Fire Safe Cigarettes. Cigarette packs now carry these initials, and I hope none of you have a cigarette pack to check. I believe that most US packs have those initials, though another acronym is RIP as in Reduced Ignition Propensity. Nearly every state in the USA as well as Great Britain, Canada and Australia have passed legislation mandating the sale of fire safe cigarettes due to numbers of deaths associated with cigarette related fires. These smokes will go out if not actively "puffed" and most states have enacted the legislation, following the lead of NYC. (not all the laws are yet in effect)The cigarette is made by adding bands of extra paper, so that there are speed bumps if you will. That paper is attached with the adhesive, EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) which when burned could be considered another one of the 4000+ toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke. When I was researching these cigarettes I saw a quote from a smoker. She was upset at the GOVERNMENT for using her as a guinea pig. Seriously, the government? The same entity that raises the price of cigarettes through taxes and works to ban smoking in every public place possible, YEAH, that's right - they are the ones trying to kill you.

Braccinalysis: Or some such analysis. I heard a commercial that preys on the fears of women. It suggested that women take the genetic test for the breast cancer gene. In the commercial, I woman claims that she had the test, has the gene and is now going to do the things that can prevent breast cancer - right - like before the test she figured what the hell, it couldn't happen to her so why use preventative measures. (?)

Sweets and Baked Good: A story came out this week regarding how foods high in sugar and TFAs are especially associated with stroke in women over 50. I found this very disturbing because I work with two women over age 50 who eat significant amounts of foods like those. Ironically, we had some high sugar, mega calorie, trans fat laden danish in the office this past week and those two women were the one's eating them. My point to a coworker was that I sincerely believe that if those danish had not been in the office, those women would not have eaten them. Just as much as we have to make healthy food "present" we have to make unhealthy food "absent". Yes yes everything in moderation - what a bunch of bologna - guess you can have a stroke in moderation too.

Move More and Live: Just to note that a study I mentioned previously keeps getting press. That is the need to NOT sit at one's desk all day - or couch - or car, etc. Being sedentary for hours, even in very active people, can increase the chances for any kind of death - or as the researchers say - all cause mortality. This basically means that looking at comparison groups of any age - say over a ten year period, finds that the ones who sit down more, have higher rates of death from any cause than those who get up and move around every hour or so.

Interval Training: Which brings me to my concern about another headline. This one, out this week, is telling the public that have very intense exercise sessions are more effective for health than the everyday 60 minute activity at low intensity. In the news, scientists say that we have known this for years, and that it is a form of athletic training, meaning athletes train this way. Heretofore, experts have been afraid to tell "normal" people to do this as they may not be fit enough to handle the demand. Well, I just want to say two things, well three. Of course, pushing the body hard will improve oxygen capacity and ability, but athletes do intense activity like that MOST days of the week and lastly, I have read countless articles about this and none of them say how many intense sessions should be done a week. Of course, I see that I can challenge my body and reach new goals if I add more intensity, but I am not going to take my six or seven hours a week and drop it down to two - esp. because of the previous blurb and I am afraid that the headline alone could reduce total exercise hours in persons who need it the most -as many sedentary people are on the lookout for short cuts!

Pizza Trickery: I love pizza. I am also on the lookout for healthier versions and often buy regular or "low calorie" options and then cut them into 100 calorie or so pieces. Well, usually the lean cuisine or healthy choice versions have about 300 calories each whole pizza. Today I saw another brand that was in the same size box with very big print saying 200 Calorie. Wow I thought, I could just cut that in two instead of three or four, meaning BIGGER and YEAH! But when I took it from the freezer and looked closer the label really said 200 calorie portions, portions per package - two. So instead of being 100 calories less than what I usually buy it was 100 calories more - so trickery.

Goals and Evals: OK, gonna save this one for tomorrow and elaborate.

Sweet Bay: Ah, just today I heard this commercial that completely validated Dr. Epstien's research that I noted yesterday. It was a commercial that was a fake call in radio show where people were talking about things that the bought at Sweet Bay that were so price friendly - the last one ended with the caller saying, "With the money my wife saved we can buy more super chunk chocolate ice cream." To be fair, I just finished having ice cream, but it was not so fattening :)

Tomorrow then...