For balance, read the American Council on Science and Health’s arch enemy, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). As a consumer advocacy organization, CSPI also has clear goals. As such, the organization conducts original research and attempts to provide objective information on such topics as food, alcohol, health, and the environment. On the site, read through the News Releases...

Children's Hospital Boston has created a health information site for teen girls that teaches them about important topics ranging from "Health & Development" to "Driving Safety" to "Emotional Health". Visitors will find that the "Ask Us!" feature is one that's vitally important for easily embarrassed teens, because it allows them to ask a health question without asking for their name or e-mail. ...

Hardly limited to being in the news this week, cholesterol and the role it plays in heart disease has emerged again. Science, while seeking to describe and dissect the pros and cons of LDL and HDL, has yet to produce a truly definitive answer to the many uncertainties regarding cholesterol. Yet, in the midst of this seemingly uncertain topic, research has provided a whole host of recommendations...

In previous decades, the quality of food in many college cafeterias varied widely, and many institutions began to serve more mass-produced entrees as their enrollments began to rise after World War II. This pendulum is beginning to swing back the other way, as more than 200 universities and close to 400 school districts are starting to give more support to a farm-to-cafeteria movement that...

Public health experts, doctors, policymakers and others are increasingly interested in the relationship between health and conflict. A number of those people recently collaborated to create the "Conflict and Health" journal. The journal is part of the BioMedCentral publishing group, and it is an open access, peer-reviewed publication, which looks at "the intricate relationship between conflict and...

It may be difficult for the average consumer to evaluate the sometimes grandiose claims that various supplements, vitamins, and other such products make on their labels and such. One way to learn about products is ConsumerLab.com, which provides independent test results and information in order to assist consumers and healthcare professionals to evaluate such products. The casual visitor will want...

The Cornell Cooperative Extension program brings Cornell University's land-grant programs to citizens across the Empire State. This website is part of the Extension's rather impressive public outreach efforts. Clicking on the Program Areas tab allows visitors to learn about various thematic work on subjects like Agriculture and Food Systems and Community and Economic Vitality. Each of these areas...

Morgan Spurlock's recent documentary and extended nutrition experiment has garnered great attention, both in the United States and abroad. By now, most people know that the documentary consists of him making his way to McDonalds and eating there several times a day for 30 days in a row. Since its release, the film has also done quite well, as it passed the 200-screen week this past week, and has...

This thoughtful collection of materials related to ethics and nutrition was created by the folks at the American Physiological Society (APS) in honor of National Nutrition Month. The items here include teacher-developed studies that explore ethical issues related to nutrition and agriculture. The topics explored include meat consumption and alternatives, population growth and resource depletion,...

The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., advises the nation on science, engineering, and medicine, and their website allows the general public to be privy to their findings. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has released on their website a Phase I report of their recent study on "Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols". Visitors can find the full...