In today's notes we are going to cover several subjects in a quick newsflash health update format.

Mistletoe

It is debatable whether mistletoe inspires passion or increases fertility, however, it may help some cancer patients. The plant has long been considered a good herbal tonic for various ailments, including epilepsy, arthritis, nervous disorders and digestive problems. But in Europe, it is common to receive injections of mistletoe along with standard cancer drugs; it is considered a common way to stimulate the immune system.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

These days most parents are putting their infants to sleep on their backs; that is a good thing because since this has become a common practice since 1992, the death rate from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome has decreased by 44%.

Dirt

And to make your day, here is an appetizing fact: most people will eat at least a pound of dirt in their lifetime! Probably more like several pounds! It is virtually impossible to get all the foreign objects out of food on its way to processing, so the FDA has settled on monitoring what it considers to be "acceptable" levels of unappetizing offenders. The good news is that the dirt probably won't hurt you.

FDA very loose Requirements

If you are already queasy, do not read this next section. In processed cornmeal, FDA guidelines allow one or more whole insects, 50 or more insect fragments, two or more rodent hairs, and one or more rodent excreta per 50 grams. In a can of peaches, 3% of the fruit can be moldy or wormy, and canned mushrooms will pass inspection if they have no more than an average 20 or more maggots per 100 grams!

Heat kills disease

Of note…in many packaging products, the exposure to heat kills disease producing organisms, and makes the food much safer for us to eat.

Food

The importance of hand washing before the preparation and eating of food as well as keeping kitchen tools sanitized cannot be overemphasized!

As for food storage, presentation, and preparation, clean it, cook it thoroughly and then keep it hot, or keep it cold, or don't keep it!

Eating Fish

A reminder…people in Norway and Sweden already know this, but eating deep salt water fish just once a month can make you 43% less likely to have a stroke!

Coffee

A final note to you Seattle coffee drinkers: a recent study out of the Netherlands found that drinking four or more cups of coffee a day could raise homocysteine levels in your blood to dangerous levels. High homocysteine levels are a known risk factor for heart problems. Researchers found that people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day had an 11% higher level of homocysteine in their blood.

Incidentally, switching to decaf won't help, it is a compound called chlorogenic acid that appears to trigger the increase, and it can't be filtered from the brew, unlike caffeine.

All right, Boston, see if you can't recover some of that tea you threw in the harbor a few years back, we may have some converts who could use it!