Did you know that drinking a can of soda a day for a year adds 10lbs?

A simple solution – WATER, and it’s free (well almost free).

And for a powerful short little video check out this 30 second ad from New York City Department of Health. Bravo!

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Bitter Melon

Bitter melon a common vegetable in China, India and South America could be a magic cure for breast cancer. Scientist have found that the bitter melon extract kills the cancer cells while not killing the good cells. Yes it is in early stages and clinical testing has to happen but this could be a major break through in fighting cancer.

In China they eat bitter melon soup all the time. I wonder if women in China who consume the soup have a lower incidence of breast cancer? An interesting research project.

Maybe we should start to import Bitter Melon Soup and sell in the holistic food stores as a possible cancer cure? Or maybe use it in stir fry mixes. Do we have any takers?

See article here: Click here.

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One way out of Global Warming is a draconian reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, not a simple task by any means.

There are serious economical and technological factors involved.  On the economical side Richard Tol, leading author of the U.N. climate panel, stated that to cut carbon emissions enough to meet the 2 degrees goal set by the industrialized nations, the leading industrial nations would have to slap a huge tax on carbon-emitting-fuels. One that by the end of the century will reach something in the order of $4000 per metric ton of Carbon Dioxide, or $35 per gallon of gas ($9 per liter). According to Tol, the impact of a tax hike of this magnitude could reduce world GDP 12.9% in 2100. Good Luck with that one…

On the technological side of things, at the present moment most of the word’s electricity comes from coal. For two of the biggest emerging economies, China and India, the production of electricity based on coal is about 80%, Ouch!!!  And the worst thing is that there isn’t a clean, dependable and most important cheap source of abundant energy that will entice industrialized and emerging economies to make a quick switch from coal based energy.

So what is the solution?

In my opinion one of the solutions is to pour lots of $$$ in R&D looking for technological breakthroughs in energy generation. Unfortunately our beloved leaders are putting the money in other areas that promise little or no chance to solve the real problem.  Must have listened to Mr. Paul David Hewson when on the issue of Global Warming he quoted Thomas Friedman’s line “Don’t change your light bulbs – Change your Leaders”.

I also think we need to do our part, we need to be mindful on how use the energy resources that are available to us everyday. Think about it this way: we have a time limit to solve global warming, last time I checked we don’t have anywhere else to live but planet Earth. So it’s still a good idea to change your light bulbs to energy efficient ones.

Think about the future generations and the impact that your decisions will have on them, Please.

Technorati Tags: Global Warming, Carbon Dioxide, U.N. Climate Panel

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I love Toro Sashimi and every time I have the opportunity, I indulge myself with more than one piece of this Japanese culinary delicacy. There are however a few things I didn’t consider when savoring my delicious chunk of fatty tuna.

Most of the tuna that we eat in the Bay Area comes from the port town of General Santos City in Southern Philippines, one of the world’s great tuna-fishing ports. The best tuna will sell for about $700 wholesale. After being cleaned and put in dry ice it takes the 10.30 a.m. flight to Manila. The next day, the fish will be in Tokyo, Seattle of California.

So think about the Carbon footprint my nice and delicious little piece of sushi left behind. And it doesn’t end here, in September the European Commission recommended that the European Union support a temporary suspension of the global trade of Atlantic Bluefin tune. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that Alantic Bluefin that spawn in the Mediterranean could disappear from those waters as early as 2012. As you might have guessed the ban was shot down by E.U. members with high stakes in the tuna trade.

Scientists believe stocks of southern bluefin around Australia have probably fallen more than 90% since 1950 and could continue to drop.

In order words the amount of tuna we are consuming worldwide is not sustainable and  the consequences of not having tuna in our oceans could be disastrous for the ocean ecosystem and probably many economies.

So next time I go for sushi I might choose an alternative dish, probably Corn Sushi. With nice supersweet corn grown in the Northwest of the USA.

We can make a difference, one mouth at the time… Leave some of that delicious tuna to your great-grandchildren.

Technorati Tags: Tuna, Sustainable, Carbon Footprint

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What they found out:

• Half customers noticed the calorie count
• 28% of those that noticed said the information influenced their purchase.
• 9 out of 10 of those said they made healthier choices.

What is interesting, is that when the researches checked the receipts they found that the people had actually ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect!

• NYC customers had a mean 846 calories after labeling law, before the law it was 825 calories.
• In Newark, it was 825 calories before and after.

Labeling laws, are they effective? Apparently not.

Labeling is also being tossed around in Obama’s health package.

Price and quantity more important than health and quality.

More info at NY TIMES

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We need to spend more time communicating and putting into place the concepts and ideas presented in his talk.

The key, eat less meat and more plants (vegetables), live longer and healthier.

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Some quick facts:

• Mississippi ranked number 1 for the 5th year in a row.
• More than 1 in 4 is obese in 31 states.
• Obesity among adults rose in 23 states over the past year.
• The rate of obesity is highest amongst 55 – 64 year-olds.
• Medicare spends anywhere from $1400 to $6000 more annually on health care of obese seniors than for non-obese.

The solution? Just maybe Ukranian Dr. Hryhory Chausovsky who invented the Smart Plate has the answer. The Smart Plate is a normal size plate that has a micro chip embedded with a weight sensor and talks to you once the weight on the plate is over the threshold.

It scolds you with phrases such as, “stop right there” or “where’s your will power”.

Of course its not full proof because we don’t know what kind of calories we are loading the plate up with but it just might be a start in the right direction.

Have a happy 4th of July and be careful of the weight of your food on your plate.

Technorati Tags: obesity

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2009/07/02/obesity-obesity-obesity/feed/ 0 http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2009/06/04/obesity-is-it-in-the-plate-size/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2009/06/04/obesity-is-it-in-the-plate-size/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:01:21 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/?p=320 Continue reading →]]> How much does the plate size have to do with obesity? If you live in America most plates are piled high with food, and if you were brought up like me, then you were taught to clean the plate.

This leads to the following formula, More Food Than Necessary + Eating Plate Clean = Eating More Calories Than Needed. Eating more calories than necessary leads to gaining weight, which can lead to obesity.

So I ask is the key in just less food on the plate?

Compare food quantity below:




Japanese Bento Box





Plate of Chinese Food





WOW!! An American Hamburger.

Smaller plates, less food, is it that simple?

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2009/06/04/obesity-is-it-in-the-plate-size/feed/ 1 http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/11/29/fda-reverses-melamine-recommendations/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/11/29/fda-reverses-melamine-recommendations/#comments Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:26:44 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/11/29/fda-reverses-melamine-recommendations/ Continue reading →]]> The FDA has reversed its previous recommendations and now states that small amounts of melamine are safe for infants (up to 1 part per million). It appears that the major problem arises when you have both melamine and cyanuric acid (a related compound) found in the same product.

The FDA has thus far tested 74 US products since September and have found 2 brands with either melamine or cyanuric acid but not both. It is the combination of these two compounds that creates the problems for infants and pets. The new recommendation of 1ppm for melamine were derived after the current testing of these 74 products.

What is still unknown is what tolerance if any is acceptable if both melamine and cyanuric acid are both present.

Products found to contain melamine:

Nestle SA’s liquid Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron tested positive for melamine (0.14 ppm)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s powder Enfamil Lipil with Iron tested positive for cyanuric acid (0.249ppm).

Source: Bloomberg

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]]> http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/11/29/fda-reverses-melamine-recommendations/feed/ 0 http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/10/31/melamine-an-open-secret/ http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/10/31/melamine-an-open-secret/#comments Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:49:55 +0000 Edward Noon http://www.noon-intl.com/blog/2008/10/31/melamine-an-open-secret/ Continue reading →]]> Pass the Melamine Please

China once again is brought to the forefront with a new melamine scare. Now the problem is eggs. Hong Kong authorities has detected melamine in 4 brands of eggs from China.

The melamine, which is high in nitrogen, is added to the food products to make them appear as having a higher protein content. Melamine is cheap, gives the false impression of higher protein so that food inspectors believe the food products are protein enriched and meeting their minimum protein standards.

The feed industry appears to be using the cheap additive, mixing it with food products of various types, to reduce production cost. It appears that this is a national phenomena and one that all have tacitly approved (including the government). It’s their little “open secret”.

China officials reportedly were aware of the situation and began investigating in early October eggs in Liaoning province, however, they put a ban on any media interviews.

After melamine what next?

Reference:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7701477.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7699100.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27320256/

Technorati Tags: China, melamine, eggs

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