More on food, medicine, and health

I just finished Barbara Ehrenreich's Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, in which he takes apart the Happiness Industry. In brief, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Ehrenreich found herself surrounded by people with pink ribbons whose relentless cheeriness alerted her to something more sinister.
Being 'positive' will bring health and prosperity, we're told. More often, however, it misdirects our thoughts away from a understanding of our facts and any real attempt to effect change in our lives.
Recent research, Chronically ill people 'happier if they abandon hope', say docs • The Register, shows that we might wind up truly happier if we accept our condition than if we struggle against it.
In the meantime, however, our food industry tried to bolster our immune system by touting the Medicinal Effects Of Cocoa Krispies. To their credit, after being outed by USA Today, Kellogg pulls immunity claim. Now we can have our breakfasts in peace, so that we can worry about what else we're eating.
The 10 Weirdest, Grossest Ingredients in Processed Food | Health and Wellness | AlterNet
In case you hadn't suspected by now, All Medicines Are Poison!. Meaning, of course, that all medicines have side effects, with some more severe for some people. We can't know, with any measure of certainty, however, how those percentages apply to us. If we do experience side effects, sometimes there are treatments for those symptoms. There, too, you have to take your chances.



One more thing. You might be tempted to research your symptoms on the web, also known as Medicine by Google.

There's a good chance, however, that you'll wind up another disease instead. A London Times reported defined cyberchondria as "the deluded belief you suffer from all the diseases featured on the [I]nternet."