France approves soda tax

Just in...Does Washington dare do likewise?

"France's top constitutional body on Wednesday approved a
new tax on sugary drinks that aims to fight obesity while
giving a boost to state coffers.

"...The new soda tax is...part of the government's fight against obesity...
it was passed in parliament last week.

"The tax has been slammed by beverage firms including Coca-Cola,
which in September said it was suspending a planned 17-million-euro
investment at a plant in the south of France in "a symbolic protest
against a tax that punishes our company and stigmatises our products." 

Maybe some folks would be better off if sugary drinks were more stigmatized
than they are. Jim, my HVAC contractor, recently told me he'd lost 45 lbs, all
belly fat, after giving up his 10-sodas-a-day habit.

10 sodas per day?  Really?  

DrugCite Tells You Side Effects of Medicine and...

Just in from LifeHacker...

DrugCite is a useful database of information about the
prescription and over-the-counter medication, allowing you to
look up the possible side effects of specific drugs and see
statistics about their reported problems.

If you were to look up the allergy medicine Allegra, you'd find that
the highest number of problems with the drug were reported
around 2005, and that the majority of problems were neurological.
DrugCite provides simple graphs that break down the number of
reported issues related to the medicine in question and
cross-reference that information to provide other useful statistics.
More here...

Since some of us are so desperate for the relief a drug or medication
offers, it's natural to turn a blind eye to side effects.  Until it's too late.

There are alternatives.  Sometimes the fix is worse than the problem.

"No magnesium stearate," she said

I've learned that some people search out
the Pops online for what's NOT in them.

Last week, a lady ordered a case of pops (10 boxes) because,
"I want something with no magnesium stearate."

Here's what else is not in the Pops...

All these ingredients on p 2 here, btw, are in the #1 selling,
industrial multivitamin in the USA.

Sometimes it's what's not in a product that draws a person to it.

That's what she said.

MD: Use Supplements Made from Whole Foods

Here's an MD who's on to something:

If you aren’t getting the vitamins and minerals your body needs from the foods you eat, it’s time to consider taking a supplement.


Dr. Tanya Edwards, an expert in integrative medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, says your supplement sequence should include a multivitamin made from whole foods.


“A multivitamin that’s made with whole foods is one that is made with fruits and vegetables, so it’s more than natural vitamins versus synthetic vitamins,” Edwards said.

Read more...

Synthetic vitamins and multis have been a source of health problems for years. 
Here's how to tell if your supplements are synthetic.  Get out the bottle and check against these ingredients (Click on image to make it legible):

That's from Dr. Heidi.

Anyway, that's why, for the last 6 years, I've been using the multis she (Dr. Heidi) designed. 

I don't want to make my body worse with my daily multis, but better. (Still size 8, too, 30 years after college.)

What's in them?  Check out the cool 77 Ingredients.  Sexberries included.
That's why I love them and can't stop yakking about them.