“They’re not vegans. They’re baby-killers

A couple was sentenced to life in jail for forcing their child to be vegan. The couple, Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31 were convicted of murdering their six-week-old son. The child’s diet mainly consisted of apple juice and soymilk. The child died at 3 ½ pounds.

The child, Crown Shakur was born in their bath and was never taken to the hospital. When he was finally taken to the hospital he had already passed away, says the Sunday Times. The doctors said they could count all his bones through his skin.

Vegans are a strict type of vegetarian that only eat or drink products that don’t come from animals. This is a very restrictive type of diet that cuts out different food groups. In The Sunday Times, the couple claims that they were trying to do what was best for their son while maintaining their vegan lifestyle.

Chuck Boring, a prosecutor, told the jury that, “The vegan diet is fine, his parents lied about what they fed him. He just was not fed enough.” Boring then said, “They’re not vegans. They’re baby-killers. Think about how long they had to listen to his screams and hollers.”

The couple’s lawyer, Brandon Lewis, believes that they didn’t mean to kill their son. That the apple juice worked as a diuretic creating an obstacle for the absorption of nutrients that were suppose to be gained through the soymilk. Sanders and Thomas never took their child to the hospital because they thought there were too many germs.

Don't Take The Pills!

Government protection might do more harm than good in regards to giving out iodide pills, says a recent CNN article. The government wants to give out these pills to those who work or live within a 20-mile radius of U.S. nuclear power plants because of the recent nuclear disaster in Japan.

Rep. Ed Markey believes that potassium iron pills should available in schools, hospitals and other locations within that 20-mile radius. Markey told CNN, “American children should be protected in the event of another nuclear meltdown here on U.S. soil.”

Of this proposal Dr. James Cox, a radiation oncologist at Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center said it was "a well-intentioned but bad idea." Cox said that there are more side effects than benefits. These pills might be worse than the low doses of radiation from U.S nuclear power plants.

Potassium Iodide blocks radioactive iodide isotopes from being absorbed. This reduces the risks of citizens getting cancer from exposure. Children are especially at risk since they have a higher risk of thyroid cancer.

Cox fears that if iodide pills are accessible then people will take it without a valid reason due to fear of exposure. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University said, "Americans shouldn't take potassium iodide now because Americans are not, at the moment at risk, so they should not take it now. This should not be an advisory for people to go out and stockpile potassium iodide themselves necessarily."

Obese Mothers Underestimate Their Children’s Weight

Obese mothers have a big problem of underestimating their children’s weight, says a CNN article. Being overweight and obese is becoming common which might be desensitizing their views on the added poundage.

Eighty-two percent of the obese women in a study underestimated their weight. This skewed viewpoint could be detrimental to their health. Since many find their weight within a normal range they aren’t inclined to change it.

This perception also leaks into underestimating their children’s weight says the article. Half of the mothers who had an overweight child thought their child's weight is normal.

"A lot of their misperception has to do with the fact that overweight and obesity is becoming the norm," says the lead author of the study, Nicole E. Dumas, M.D., an internal medicine resident at Columbia University Medical Center, in New York.

As each mothers weight increases so does her view of her child’s weight. In turn her child also doesn’t see their mother as being overweight. More than 80% of the women were overweight but yet only 41% of their children thought their moms needed to lose weight.

Each child was presented with cards that showed different body type. The kids were then asked to pick which body they thought was ideal for their mothers. The study showed that they tended to pick body weights that were unhealthily large.

"In order to target the obesity epidemic, we need to improve perceptions of body weight and create healthy image goals, but how do we change perceptions? That's the big question,” says Dumas.

Chanelle Jepson

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/diet.fitness/weightloss.obesity/index.html

Freshman Fifteen May Be From Late Night and Early Mornings

Freshman fifteen may be caused by the late nights and early mornings that make up the average college students life. A recent article by CNN says that those who get four hours of sleep a night eat more calories on average then their eight hour sleeping counterparts. The article talked about how this new finding might explain the correlation between those who get low amounts of sleep and being overweight.

A study done by the American Heart Association was presented Wednesday, said CNN. The study included 13 male and 13 female volunteers who all are at normal weights and are healthy sleepers. Each volunteer spent two six-day periods where they could sleep up to nine hours in the first period and four in the second period. They weren’t allowed to leave or take a nap.

The studies first four days consisted of a fixed diet of cereal for breakfast and frozen entrees for lunch and dinner. Then for the last two days of the study, they could pick whatever food they wanted.

The article says that they consumed more calories and gravitated to high-protein, high-fat foods when they were deprived of sleep. St. Onge said the sleep-deprived volunteers may have been looking for quick sources of energy but also the lack of sleep might impaired their ability to make wise food choices.

Atheists Hate God

Hating something you don’t believe in sounds ridiculous but what can make it even worse is when that hate leads to poor physical and mental health. A recent CNN article states that college students who are atheists and agnostic have more animosity towards God then their fellow students who are believers. Atheists believe that there is no God but yet claim to be angry with him now or in the past.


The article said that church goers are less prone to hate God and are more likely to view their circumstances as well intentioned learning opportunities that God has for them.

Age also has an effect on anger directed towards God. The article showed that young adults have more anger towards God than adults do. This may be because younger people lack the skills to deal with adversity, rejection, and decision-making. Adults are able to deal with those same issues easier since they have experienced more of them in their life.

The article shows us that those negative emotions towards God may lead to physical illness and poor mental health. This anger can be resolved through changing their view about God and expressing their anger in a constructive way.

"When people trust that God cares about them and has positive intentions toward them, even if they can’t understand what those intentions or meanings are, it tends to help to resolve anger, said lead study author Julie Exline, Case Western Reserve University psychologist.

Expressing anger towards God can help people move on says the CNN article. The expression can be done through talking with a higher power or expressing that anger with a spiritual leader.

Knowing that God has acknowledged their anger or another person helps them to heal says the article. Through this healing process people can regain their health and happiness.

Discrimination Against Those With Excess Weight May Add on the Pounds

If being discriminated for being overweight wasn’t bad enough new research shows that it will add more fat to your frame.

A recent CNN article says that those who are discriminated against could have more internal fat then those who aren’t discriminated against. The biological mechanism of how that could occur is unknown, said Lewis, assistant professor at Yale School of Public Health to CNN.

There is some speculation that the extra internal fat could be because of a chemical called cortisol that gets released due to stress. This internal fat is called visceral fat and isn’t the fat you see as muffin top.

This doesn’t help those who have the desire to get in shape. It’s just adding on more weight to the issue at hand.

This type of emotional strain leads many to eat more food as a way to cope. This and the visceral fat may put those with weight issues in a vicious cycle. This cycle can be hard to break away from.
Lewis concluded the interview by saying, “The way people treat one another has a real effect on health outcomes. These experiences make a difference. "

What you didn't know about the cold

I would bet that most of your mothers, like mine, told you all your lives to bundle up before going out into the cold because if you didn’t, you would catch a cold. Well, not to disrespect any of our mothers, but they’re wrong. The purpose of this article is to set the mothers straight.
There are far too many misconceptions when it comes to the transmission of the common cold. One billion Americans catch the cold every year, and yet, none of us seem to understand the elusive, petty virus.
You could sit out in a lawn chair for hours in a t shirt in January in Rexburg, and not catch a cold. The temperature alone does not transmit the virus. You have to actually touch something they’ve sneezed to catch the virus. The Winter becomes problematic because droplets from a sneeze or cough can travel farther in cold weather, than they can in hot, humid weather. Also, people tend to be in closer contact with each other—they stay indoors, close to one another to escape the cold.
Colds generally last around seven days, and thus far, there is no evidence that any treatments or supplements can shorten this amount of time. As much as we wish there was a cure for the common cold, that reality remains to be seen. The over-the-counter medicines we purchase only alleviate symptoms for a few hours. That is all they can do.
Many people rely on Echinacea and zinc lozenges to cure their illness. While Echinacea hasn’t been proven to hold specific cold benefits, zinc has been proven somewhat beneficial.

Boise

Boise want to nullify a federal health care reform. Rep Vito Barbieri commented, saying"This is Idaho's moment." The debate went back and forth between the parties. Many wanted to stop the health care bill. Anderson said he’s received recall threats for opposing the measure. “I’ve been called many things for this,” he said. “I will not cower from this. What I will do is tell you what I believe and vote for what I believe.”

Many believe that this would go against legislation