Eating Disorders linked with hair
A new test by my very own Brigham Young University found that hair strands can help pinpoint people with eating disorders. Apparently, the protein that pushes hair out and forces growth is a “record of day-by-day nutrition.”

With only five strands of hair, abnormal eating disorders can be detected.

The question that came to mind as I read this article was, ‘how did researchers get those with eating disorders confirm the findings?’ Typically, people with eating disorders are reluctant to claim their abnormal eating patterns.

So…I’m just trying to get used to the whole “blogging” idea. I’m a little apprehensive, but hopefully this will get better as time goes on.

I think I’ve found something interesting (at least to me) to blog about. But first, here’s a little story:

I was taking my long run this morning, enjoying the exercise and stress relief, when I started thinking about my blog. Let’s be honest…I haven’t put in a lot of time for my blog (partially because I didn’t know what to blog about). Anyways, I realized that I love reading and studying health and fitness. I’ve subscribed to active.com, I can spend hours looking up recipes on recipes.com (previous to this busy semester), and I enjoy reading the health news from ‘Today’s’ website. I’m really excited now, because I have a scholastic excuse to keep up-to-date on these subjects. Grades may not be so bad after all.

Health News
As a college student, I find myself finding any way to save a little extra money. Don’t you cringe when you throw food out? I used to despise throwing food away, but I haven’t been as bad now that I’m in a dinner group, and know that I’ll still have a meal provided for me tomorrow, whether or not I throw out leftovers.

What’s the first image that comes to mind when you think of a college fridge? Do you picture fuzzies, abnormal colors, and out-of-date labels? My least favorite cleaning check each month is the fridge. You never know what you’ll find.

All this being said, I’m a pretty clean person. I’m not a germophobe individual, however, I am a college student with a busy life and sometimes cleaning out the fridge isn’t at the top of my ‘to do’ list. Naturally, with four people’s food in the fridge, some items get neglected and start to grow strange objects.

So how do you know what’s safe? What items do you throw away and what items do you cut off the green particles and eat (in an effort to save money)?

Dates…how important are they?
Phil Lempert, food editor, offered some good advice for all refrigerators, especially a college fridge. In his recent visit to NBC’s Today Show, he explains the difference between the words “expiration date,”“best-if-used-by,” and “sell by.”


Is eating mold really that bad?
I remember my sixth grade science teacher, Mr. Wood, once telling the class that eating mold generally doesn’t do harm. Here I am 15 years later, still believing this fact. Later in life, I heard that mold starts growing from the center. Anytime you cut a piece of mold and continue to eat the food item, you are still eating mold. But, according to Mr. Wood, it isn’t that bad.

I decided to do a little research and the following is a concise list of my new understanding about mold…
• Mold can simply be
cut off of some food items (i.e. hard cheeses, and crisp fruits and vegetables), while other items should be thrown away if mold is found (i.e. yogurt, soft cheeses, and bread)
• Mold contains a disease-causing bacteria, but is highly unlikely to cause cancer because the human stomach produces enough acids to destroy the agent
• Turn the refrigerater down to 34 degrees to be safe—most of our refrigerators are set at 40 degrees
• When in doubt, throw it out!