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Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint (Reuters)

Flint is famous for failing to keep lead out of its drinking water, but in December 2016, Reuters found nearly 3,000 areas with recently recorded lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint during the peak of that city’s contamination crisis. And more than 1,100 of these communities had a rate of elevated blood tests at least four times higher. http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/

Reuters attributed this to the decay of American water-delivery infrastructure.  Yet many of these lead hotspots are receiving little attention or funding.

No amount of lead is safe; tiny doses hurt your brain less, but they still hurt.  Whether you use bottled water, Brita filters, water distillers, or other means of purifying your water, make sure you keep your water pure somehow.

Athletes need to watch their diets and weight, too

Occasionally I will highlight an article about professional athletes and nutrition, like Kobe Bryant’s bone broth soup. Here’s another one:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16080927/how-draymond-green-kevin-love-wage-war-their-weight

Simply removing refined starches (added sugar, white bread, etc.) from one’s diet is a big step in the right direction.

So if you’re struggling with your weight goals, take heart that even professional athletes do, too!

Is sugar or fat more dangerous to your diet?

Food for thought about the relative danger of sugar versus fat.

This doesn’t mean you should eat steak for every meal. Most of your diet should still be vegetables, with some fruit, too. Real fruit, with fiber, not fruit juice.

It does mean that most people don’t need to eat refined starches, such as bread, pasta, and rice, which quickly turn into sugar in your gastrointestinal tract.  Whole-grain products like whole-grain breads with lots of fiber are preferable because they smooth out that sugar spike, but you can safely skip those, too, if you want.

Is Chromium (Chrome-Plated Steel) Safe or Unsafe?

Seville Classics Stainless Steel Professional Kitchen Cart. The wire basket has a flat perimeter edge that simply rests on two simple rails on either side. The company rates it up to 50 pounds carrying capacity if the weight is equally distributed.
Chrome-plated steel

Chrome Plating is very shiny and hard and is often applied along with a base layer of nickel to bare steel. If you bang into chrome plating with something hard enough times, the chrome plating can wear through and expose the underlying steel, which can rust. As long as you’re not too careless, though, this finish can last for a very long time and is a favorite material for commercial establishments ranging from kitchens to warehouses to retail stores.

Unfortunately chromium has gotten a bad rap from association with its pollutant.  In the film Erin Brockovich, actress Julia Roberts starred as a do-gooder who helped sue a gas and electric utility company for polluting groundwater near a small California town with hexavalent chromium.

So is chromium toxic?  Is chromium plating toxic?  Is stainless steel toxic, since it is comprised of 18% chromium?

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Is Microban / Triclosan Safe or Unsafe?

Rubbermaid Pan Organizer - Coated with Microban-embedded Plastic
Rubbermaid Pan Organizer – Coated with Microban-embedded Plastic

What is Microban?

Microban is a company (Microban International) as well as a product brand name (Microban®) for an antibacterial system that may contain triclosan, a general-purpose antibacterial, and other substances applied to solid plastics and fibers. That system dates back to 1969 and was first used in industrial and medical industries, with introduction to consumer products starting in 1994.

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