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Now, with more science!
Jan. 22nd, 2009 10:24 am
Skin Deep: Flush Those Toxins! Eh, Not So Fast
By ABBY ELLIN, The New York Times, January 22, 2009
DIOXINS. PCBs. Phthalates. Those are the reasons Randall Hansen and his wife, Katharine, embark on an annual detoxification program.
The Hansens, who live in DeLand, Fla., have made a ritual of doing the “Fat Flush Plan” at least once a year “to cleanse our bodies and help break some bad habits,” said Mr. Hansen, 48, president of Quintessential Careers, a career guidance Web site.
The regimen, made famous by the nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman in a 2001 book, mostly targets the liver, which Ms. Gittleman believes is less able to metabolize fat because of toxins absorbed orally or through the skin. Her plan includes a low-carbohydrate, high-protein menu of about 1,200 calories a day, with no alcohol, caffeine, sugar, grains, bread, starchy vegetables, dairy products, fats or oils (save flaxseed oil). She also recommends a “Long Life Cocktail” of diluted cranberry juice and ground flaxseeds, or a teaspoon of psyllium husks, in the morning and evening; and a mixture of cranberry juice and water throughout the day. Ms. Gittleman sells a Fat Flush kit for $112.50 with herbs and nutrients like dandelion root, milk thistle and Oregon grape root.
“It’s horrible when I’m on it — I feel very deprived,” said Mr. Hansen, who credits the program with helping him lose more than 70 pounds. “But I always feel better after, and I end up dropping about 10 pounds in the two weeks — an added bonus on top of the detox.”
The Hansens are among the thousands of Americans who regularly “detox” in an effort to rid the gastrointestinal system of unsavory substances that proponents believe build up and can cause allergies, exhaustion and certain cancers.
But many Western doctors question the legitimacy of the regimens and their claims of promoting good health, believing detoxification does little to no good, and is possibly harmful.
( Read More )
In Texas, a Line in the Curriculum Revives Evolution Debate
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr., The New York Times, January 22, 2009
AUSTIN, Tex. — The latest round in a long-running battle over how evolution should be taught in Texas schools began in earnest Wednesday as the State Board of Education heard impassioned testimony from scientists and social conservatives on revising the science curriculum.
The debate here has far-reaching consequences; Texas is one of the nation’s biggest buyers of textbooks, and publishers are reluctant to produce different versions of the same material.
( Read More )
Instead of Glory, the Finder of a Rare Dinosaur Fossil Faces Charges of Theft
By JIM ROBBINS, The New York Times, January 22, 2009
MALTA, Mont. — In October 2006, a respected amateur paleontologist, Nathan L. Murphy, took a large rock containing the well-preserved bones of a new species of dinosaur to be X-rayed at the Dinosaur Field Station here.
He called the fossil, a raptor the size of a wild turkey, Sid Vicious. The find was a coup, bringing Mr. Murphy prestige and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars from the rights to cast the fossil for sale to museums and collectors.
Mr. Murphy was no stranger to fossil hunting success. He was part of the team that found Roberta and Elvis, two beautifully articulated duckbill fossils, and, in 2000, a team he led found a priceless fossil of a 77-million-year-old duckbill that has come to be known as Leonardo. The fossil is the only herbivore found with eaten meals intact.
But Montana law enforcement officials now say that the fossil Mr. Murphy took to the field station in 2006 had actually been found four years earlier on a private ranch and therefore belongs to someone else.
In September, after a yearlong investigation by state and federal authorities, Mr. Murphy was charged with felony theft. Federal agents have also questioned his associates about his other fossil discoveries. The investigations have caused consternation in this small town in the middle of some of the world’s richest dinosaur fields.
( Read More )
By ABBY ELLIN, The New York Times, January 22, 2009
DIOXINS. PCBs. Phthalates. Those are the reasons Randall Hansen and his wife, Katharine, embark on an annual detoxification program.
The Hansens, who live in DeLand, Fla., have made a ritual of doing the “Fat Flush Plan” at least once a year “to cleanse our bodies and help break some bad habits,” said Mr. Hansen, 48, president of Quintessential Careers, a career guidance Web site.
The regimen, made famous by the nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman in a 2001 book, mostly targets the liver, which Ms. Gittleman believes is less able to metabolize fat because of toxins absorbed orally or through the skin. Her plan includes a low-carbohydrate, high-protein menu of about 1,200 calories a day, with no alcohol, caffeine, sugar, grains, bread, starchy vegetables, dairy products, fats or oils (save flaxseed oil). She also recommends a “Long Life Cocktail” of diluted cranberry juice and ground flaxseeds, or a teaspoon of psyllium husks, in the morning and evening; and a mixture of cranberry juice and water throughout the day. Ms. Gittleman sells a Fat Flush kit for $112.50 with herbs and nutrients like dandelion root, milk thistle and Oregon grape root.
“It’s horrible when I’m on it — I feel very deprived,” said Mr. Hansen, who credits the program with helping him lose more than 70 pounds. “But I always feel better after, and I end up dropping about 10 pounds in the two weeks — an added bonus on top of the detox.”
The Hansens are among the thousands of Americans who regularly “detox” in an effort to rid the gastrointestinal system of unsavory substances that proponents believe build up and can cause allergies, exhaustion and certain cancers.
But many Western doctors question the legitimacy of the regimens and their claims of promoting good health, believing detoxification does little to no good, and is possibly harmful.
( Read More )In Texas, a Line in the Curriculum Revives Evolution Debate
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr., The New York Times, January 22, 2009
AUSTIN, Tex. — The latest round in a long-running battle over how evolution should be taught in Texas schools began in earnest Wednesday as the State Board of Education heard impassioned testimony from scientists and social conservatives on revising the science curriculum.
The debate here has far-reaching consequences; Texas is one of the nation’s biggest buyers of textbooks, and publishers are reluctant to produce different versions of the same material.
( Read More )Instead of Glory, the Finder of a Rare Dinosaur Fossil Faces Charges of Theft
By JIM ROBBINS, The New York Times, January 22, 2009
MALTA, Mont. — In October 2006, a respected amateur paleontologist, Nathan L. Murphy, took a large rock containing the well-preserved bones of a new species of dinosaur to be X-rayed at the Dinosaur Field Station here.
He called the fossil, a raptor the size of a wild turkey, Sid Vicious. The find was a coup, bringing Mr. Murphy prestige and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars from the rights to cast the fossil for sale to museums and collectors.
Mr. Murphy was no stranger to fossil hunting success. He was part of the team that found Roberta and Elvis, two beautifully articulated duckbill fossils, and, in 2000, a team he led found a priceless fossil of a 77-million-year-old duckbill that has come to be known as Leonardo. The fossil is the only herbivore found with eaten meals intact.
But Montana law enforcement officials now say that the fossil Mr. Murphy took to the field station in 2006 had actually been found four years earlier on a private ranch and therefore belongs to someone else.
In September, after a yearlong investigation by state and federal authorities, Mr. Murphy was charged with felony theft. Federal agents have also questioned his associates about his other fossil discoveries. The investigations have caused consternation in this small town in the middle of some of the world’s richest dinosaur fields.
( Read More )
