The Blog of Hans Eisenman

Chem industry is killing our bees and the EPA says okay

t r u t h o u t | Honeybees in Danger.

When I was teaching at Humboldt State University in northern California 20 years ago, I invited a beekeeper to talk to my students. He said that each time he took his bees to southern California to pollinate other farmers' crops, he would lose a third of his bees to sprays. In 2009, the loss ranges all the way to 60 percent. Honeybees have been in terrible straits. A little history explains this tragedy.

Taste of tomatoes without the nightshades

Some people are very sensitive to nightshade plants and, as a result, don't eat tomatoes, potatoes and peppers.  But we live in a nightshade society with all the pizza, pasta and tasty peppered dishes out there these days.  So what's a foodlover to do?

A nightshade-free tomato paste (and other products) substitute has apparently been created.  What a fantastic world we live in!

Link: Nomato.

Chocolate Can Keep Cardiovascular System in Shape

Here's a bit of good news for you choco-lovers...

A bit of the right kind can help dilate arteries

By Ed Edelson, HealthDay Reporter

 

TUESDAY, June 1 (HealthDayNews) -- For those who think the world is a bitter place, medical science offers this sweet health tidbit: Chocolate might be good for you.

Not just any chocolate, and always in moderation, said Mary Engler, a professor of physiological nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. But her new study does find that biting into the right stuff can make arteries expand, increasing blood flow and thus reducing cardiovascular risk.

Milk chocolate won't do, Engler stressed, because it's, well, too milky. Look for darker chocolates, because darkness is an indicator of high levels of flavonoids, the chemicals that loosen up the arteries.

And this is one instance where good taste and good health go hand in hand, Engler said.

Great cookies that won't kill you

Searching for the pefect cookie?  One that satisfies your buds but doesn't lay on the guilt?  Newman's Ginger-O's might do it. Warning: you may form an addiction (not that my wife and I have...honest...).

Link: Vegetarianteen.com Online Magazine | Everything you ever wanted to know about veg teen life...by teens for teens..

Review by Vegeterianteen.com: Ginger-O’s combine, in a vegan and organic form, the satisfaction of crunchy ginger cookies gone delicacy when encasing a creme filling. I love how ginger dominates their flavor, rather than sugar, to make just one cookie rewarding though not too sweet. ...