Discover the Science of Health
Around the world, obesity levels are rising. For the first time in history, more people are overweight than undernourished. Premiering Friday, April 4th through Sunday, April 20th on BBC World News, a 3-part documentary series entitled “The Men Who Made Us Fat” explores the political, economic and social events that led to our increasingly overweight world.
The ability to multitask and mentally juggle multiple demands is essential in today’s fast-paced world. At the same time, we’re bombarded with information that can both distract and overload our focus and attention.
Many of us need a caffeine “boost” in the morning or throughout the day to maintain mental focus. However, drinking too much coffee or tea leaves you feeling like you need to do a couple of laps around the building.
And although coffee consumption offers a number of potential health benefits, many of us drink more than enough of it on a daily basis. Energy drinks are an alternative option. However, their effects on cognitive performance are principally related to the presence of caffeine [1].
Enter Brain Toniq
Brain Toniq bills itself as the world’s first and only botanical-based, non-caffeinated functional “think drink”, specifically designed to increase mental focus, function and clarity. According to the Brain Toniq website:
Formulated out of plant extracts and natural compounds, the ingredients in Brain Toniq have a long, proven history for their effects on increasing brain power and cognition.
I’d previously heard about Brain Toniq and was intrigued at the idea of an energy drink designed to increase cognitive performance. Additionally, the Brain Toniq website references peer-reviewed research studies that examine many of the ingredients. When I contacted the company, they were kind enough to send me a sample to review.
Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.
Did you catch the latest edition of the Cancer Research Blog Carnival? Hosted by Ben Ferguson, it’s by far the best edition yet.
Do you use a cell phone? Kamel reviews the scientific data on cell phones and cancer.
Remixes, mashups and now microblogging. Vijay has created the Medical Microblog (MMB), a group blog for short medical update messages inspired by Twitter. You can follow MMB on Twitter here.
If patients are online searching for health information, doctors should join them.
Obsession Fitness reviews several new gadgets that use technology to make fitness fun.
In the wake of California’s ban on trans fat, Nirupama Shankar describes the harmful effects of high-fructose corn syrup on health.
As the price at the gas pump continues to climb, so does the cost of diary, grain and meat products. Why? Because increasing fuel prices make it more expensive to grow, harvest, transport, process and package food. Indeed, food costs rose by 4 percent in 2007, the highest annual increase since 1990 [1]. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts the consumer price index for all food will increase 4.5 to 5.5 percent as retailers continue to pass on fuel costs to consumers [1].
