I just read an article at Dr Mercola’s site, and he is NOT a fan of GE, or genetic engineering. The article is very long, but here are some of the main points:

• GE foods are resistant to antibiotics
• Growth of GE foods cause damage to beneficial insects
• GE foods adversely affect soil fertility
• It may cause the creation of GE “superweeds” and “superpests”
• GE foods may cause new viruses and bacteria

I definitely plan on reading more about GE foods and how they can affect health. Right now, I am trying to figure out the dividing point between scare mongers and corporations that are only interested in the bottom line.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good piece of beef as much as the next person. But I’ve heard that hormones, pesticides, antiobiotics and other toxins accumulate in the fat of animals we use for food because they are fat soluble compounds. These substances can also accumulate in milk as well, so that means that dairy products could also contain these toxic compounds.

Do we know how much pesticide we can swallow before it will harm us? What about hormones? Is there some sort of warning label that tells us when we’ve consumed too much?

I know there’s pesticides in everything nowadays, but is there a way to find out what food has X amount of contaminants in it?

I find it ironic that I can’t buy a bottle of tryptophan pills because some manufacturer sold a contaminated batch back in the 80s but yet there seems to be very little consumer warnings when it comes to contaminants in our daily food.

I’m watching a cooking show on PBS. This guy was trying to show how fatty pecans are, and how bad they are for you. So, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Bic lighter. It only took him a moment to light the end of the shelled pecan on fire. He said that proved that the pecan is full of waxy oils so it’s best to avoid them.

So, after he finished that, he started making an appetizer. He took out a frying pan and filled it with bacon. He didn’t say a word about the fat in the bacon. Or the salt. Or the sodium nitrate.

Well, now he’s talking about wine. I was wondering what made him decide to set the pecan on fire in the first place, and now it’s perfectly clear to me.

This is an interesting question that popped into my brain. What do I perceive food to be? Is it a reward for a job well done? Is it a way to relieve stress?

I should simply look at it as fuel, because that’s what it’s supposed to be. But there’s a lot of emotions behind eating and food, and it’s interesting to think about them once in a while.

What would Thanksgiving be without food? Could families still gather together and enjoy each others company without having a calorie-laden feast?

As usual, I don’t know the answers, but I’m usually pretty good at figuring out the questions.

I think that a lot of people set goals in order to lose weight and/or get in shape. But why don’t we succeed at achieving these goals?

I wonder if it’s because we set our goals too high. Maybe, instead of shooting for the big picture all the time, we should alternate from time to time and set up smaller goals. Like:

• For the next week, I am going to eat vegetables at X number of meals.
• For the next month, I will exercise X number of times.
• For the next day, I will not eat anything with refined sugar.
• For the next week, I will drink X amount of water every day.

Of course, we should never forget the ultimate goal. But sometimes, we can build a habit of success by starting out with small, but attainable goals.

It seems that Hoodia is very popular right now. It seems that every other commercial mentions Hoodia. Supposedly, a company is even marketing a Hoodia-enhanced lollipop named Power Pops.

An article on Wiki says that not all the Hoodia that is marketed is legit and that many products claiming to contain Hoodia might not contain the active ingredient that’s supposed to suppress appetite. Only the product from has the necessary properties.

I hope Hoodia helps people lose weight, but I have my doubts. People have been looking for a miracle cure for eons, and nothing’s been found so far. I think that if Hoodia was everything it’s purported to be, then we’d have heard a lot about it waaay before now. Still and all, the verdict isn’t quite in on it, so I’m not going to totally reject it yet.

I don’t know how much credence I put in this, but Dr. Mercola’s site has a study that shows a correlation between Tylenol and asthma. I do know that there has been a dramatic surge in the number of people with asthma. But I thought it was due to pollutants, or smog, or maybe allergens. I’m still taking the info on Mercola’s site with a grain of salt, but it is something to think about. Even if a few of Mercola’s pages seem a bit dubious, at least they cause me to look at things from another point of view.

A lot of people get hung up on when they should exercise. Should they get up early in the morning, or end their day with a workout?

Personally, I think a person should exercise at the time of day that suits them best. Now, there are exceptions to this, like if you’re a professional athlete, or if you’re training for an event. But for the normal person, pick a time that you’ll stick to, and commit to working out at that time.

Again, I’m not talking about a regimen for an athlete, but rather, a sane way for the regular person to develop the habit of exercising. Even if getting up at 4 a.m. will help you burn .0057 more calories a day, how long will you stick to it if you’re miserable at 4 a.m.?