Sunday, January 31st

January 31, 2010 by LK

Grab Bag Bad News/Good News:

First, the Bad News:

Popular Science reports that the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a nine year study to track a trend of the male sex organs of fish producing female eggs.

Wait…. Don’t leave…. Stick with me here.

It’s called “intersex”, and it occasionally occurs spontaneously in some species, but not in black bass. Or not until recently. Some areas in the Southeastern U.S. showed 91% of the male black bass affected.

The prime suspect in this disturbing scenario is the effluent from our own toilets… wastewater treatment plants cannot eliminate the endocrine-disruptors found in pharmaceuticals (birth control pills and myriad others), pesticides, even in cosmetics (can you see FRAGRANCE listed in the ingredients on the back of any bottle of stuff you use?? That may well contain endocrine disruptors, but the cosmetics industry does not have to tell you that… you do NOT have to buy these products… there ARE alternatives. Until the industry is mandated, however, they do require some effort to find).

Livestock production is also likely to blame… the hormones fed to our mass-produced chickens and cattle end up in fecal matter which is washed by rainwater from those large production farms into rivers like the Shenandoah. USGS biologist Vicky Blazer found 100% of the male small mouth bass to be intersex in the Shenadoah River.

But is it really harmful? Time may already be telling us. What we DO know is that a during another 7-year study, scientists added the same level of endocrine disruptors as you would find coming from a treatment plant – parts per TRILLION – to a small, closed lake. The eventual sex changes led to a total collapse of the entire fish population in the lake.

I hate when that happens.

For further endocrine disruptor info… as in, Wanna know why these naturally occurring frogs are deformed and what the EPA is FINALLY trying to do about it??

Click HERE.

Now, the Good News:

Two Stanford University docs have developed the ability to take YOUR OWN FAT CELLS from a simple liposuction procedure and manipulate them to become “pluripotent” stem cells which can do nearly anything, including growing cardiac muscle for diseased hearts, fat transfers back into the patient after stem cell transformation that reconstruct scarred or removed areas, and just plain old plastic surgery fillers to look better, among many other potential applications:

Read the whole article here at National Geographic News.

Grab Bag Fitness Tip:

I will always encourage you to involve Pilates 2-3 times a week at the center of your fitness regime (see the Pilates tab above for some updated info and a permanent place for the link I mentioned in a previous post to PilatesAnytime.com, a wonderful site just started by a dear friend, which allows you to train with world class Pilates instructors anywhere, anytime).

Emerald Bay Scissors

Beyond that I suggest you also incorporate some sound dietary structure for optimum health and some other varied exercise once or twice a week. If you are up for significant challenges, I will once again encourage you to seek out your local CrossFit.

If you want the accountability of a personal trainer with less cost, check out the opportunities at FitOrbit.com.

This site includes goal setting, selecting your own specific trainer, implementing their individual plan for you, and tracking results. Sounds pretty cool to me.

Grab Bag Comic Nutrition Tip:

The 5-second rule, in graphic form. Reader Dabbsie wondered weeks ago what my thoughts were on the 5-second rule. Someone graphed out my opinion beautifully, but only uncured turkey bacon is involved in mine! Tip o’ the cap to my sis Tally D. for sending this in: