Your Health: Cookware Safety, Sugar Risks & Indoor Air Quality

Tried-and-true alternatives to Teflon non-stick cookware might go a long way toward easing the conscience of the cook in your house.

Most consumers don’t give much thought to the recognized allergens, probable carcinogens, hormone disrupters and inadequately tested industrial chemicals in the perfumes, nail polishes and shampoos lining the shelves of U.S. drugstores, department stores and specialty retailers. However, this seemingly well-kept industry secret has been on the radars of consumer and environmental groups, as well as concerned doctors and scientists, for years.

But Good Lifestyle Choices Will Help You Fight it Off Imagine inviting 12 friends to a dinner party—six men and six women. Look around the room and consider this: sometime in the future, two of the women and three of the men will develop cancer. © Lisa Blackshear Depressing as it seems, those are the […]

Since the early 1960s, scientists have observed some shocking mutations in wildlife–hermaphroditic seagulls with both male and female sex organs, eagles with crossed beaks, panthers born with undescended testicles, alligators with shriveled penises (see Currents January/February 1996), and fish gonads which aren’t distinctly male or female.

Researchers are uncovering a definite link between environmental pollutants and a growing number of autoimmune diseases. Disorders like lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Type I diabetes are on the rise, says Glinda Cooper, an epidemiologist with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). "It’s very likely that environmental factors play a role in the development of these diseases," Cooper says.

Ten Years ago, you had to be a true believer to buy organic produce. It was expensive, and it looked awful – small, shriveled and covered with the bruises and holds wrought by unsprayed bugs. But that was then, and organic produce has come a long way since. Visit a good health food store now, and you’ll find fruits and vegetables that easily rival any in Stop & Shop: plump, shiny, and blemish-free.

For health-consious travelers, or those just wanting to grab a quick meal, it’s never been easy to find something appetizing to eat at the fast food outlets that spring up like weeds along every major traffic artery.