Richard Louv, inside jacket of his book The Nature Principle.

I just started reading his book Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. I'm 25 pages in and it's so great. Every parent, medical student, and physician out there should read it.

Were you aware of the connection between multiple cancer types and alcohol intake?

This article from Medscape talks about the cancer risks inherent with alcohol intake. I am surprised that this really isn't talked about more. I don't remember hearing about it in med school either.

Holy Cow. I'm Lactose Intolerant After This Story.

Earlier today I was watching the news and they talked about a cheese recall at Whole Foods in Arizona, California, and Hawaii. The cheese is from Bleating Heart Cheese, a California-based company. 

The recall is due to Listeria contamination. Listeria is a fun little bacteria that can be found in deli meats, raw unpasteurized dairy products, raw sprouts, and smoked seafoods. A unique characteristic of Listeria is its ability to reproduce even in refrigerated temperatures. It’s one of the reasons pregnant women are advised to avoid soft, unpasteurized cheeses and deli meats.

Common symptoms of a Listeria infection include:

According to the company’s official recall announcement, there have been no illnesses reported yet. You can read the full recall notice here.

I feel like the reporters missed the real story here.

Take a closer look at the label featured on the news story.

$44.99/pound for cheese. I’m not sure why anyone needs to be spending $44.99/pound for cheese. Holy cow. Holy sheep. Holy goat. Holy Water Buffalo. (Those are some of the animals that supply the milk for their cheeses.) That’s the real story here.

Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe this cheese is worthy of $100/pound.

Has anyone tried their cheese?

Wikipedia & Homeopathy - A 21st Century Love Story

Today over at Huffington Post, Dana Ullman wrote an open letter to Jimmy Wales about the biases which dominate the Wikipedia article about homeopathy. After perusing Jimmy's twitter feed and finding the following tweet, I don't think he's going to take Dana's letter very seriously.

The entire letter is excellent. It's filled with references to multiple studies published in reputable peer-reviewed journals showing efficacy of homeopathic remedies. As a Mormon and a 4th-year medical student at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, the second paragraph of Dana's letter was my favorite. It says:

I'm in my fourth year of medical school and recently started a three-month homeopathy clinic rotation. I look forward to seeing this "pseudoscience" work its magic.

Quack, Quack.

Read Dana's entire letter here.

An interesting article I read today. Written by a 4th-year medical student on their choice to become a Primary-Care Doctor. I could have written the same article.

Here's the full article.

When in med school & interested in #addiction, these are the kind of notes you find in your scriptures.

Mormons and the Mighty Pyramid Scheme

Us Mormons are a peculiar lot. Ours is a culture of caring for others, supporting the weak, loving our neighbor, and getting really excited about the latest multi-level marketing scheme.

I don't know why members of the LDS church are so fascinated by the promise of "executive-level income, from home!" We're infatuated with the prospect of becoming a millionaire selling lotions and potions and miracle protein shakes.

Perhaps it's our missionary mindset. After devoting 1.5-2 years of our lives spreading the Good Word, it's only a natural transition into pressuring our closest friends and family into joining our downline. After missionary service, we're desensitized to rejection. It doesn't matter. Just move on to the next person, bearing fervent testimony of our latest money-making opportunity. Get three friends. Then they get three of their friends, and then they get three of their friends. Pretty soon you're swimming in debt...er...money!

The latest craze sweeping across Arizona like a summertime wildfire is Isagenix. They sell supplements, shakes, bars, and other health food paraphernalia. I'm sure some of the products are decent; several of my friends have been losing weight since using it.

I just wonder why these things are almost always tied to a pyramid scheme.

From Parents Just Don't Understand, an interesting article in the current issue of Psychology Today that discusses why and how parents can have misconceptions about their children.

Adam Smith, "Powers of Mind", p. 21

Happy St. Patricks Day. Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc. Good for the prostate and decreases risk for kidney stones.

Snitches get stitches. The "running lock" stitch, to be specific.

Disconnected

It's been 23 days and I'm still avoiding Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and other sorts of Internet recreation. It's been an interesting month for sure. And to be honest, I don't really miss any of it.

I'm not surgically attached to my phone like I was before. I'm spending more time playing and reading with my kids. I'm writing in my journal again.

I think this is something I will do multiple times throughout the year. Maybe once every three months for two weeks at a time. Like a liver cleanse. I think I'll feel better.

Construction + Chemtrails As my school expands its campus, creating more opportunities for healing, we are bombarded from above by toxic chemicals. An interesting (and frustrating) juxtaposition.