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If you drink Slim-Fast and suffer from diarrhea, cramps and vomiting, now there's a new reason for such effects, beyond the simple fact that Slim-Fast is made primarily from processed milk and sugar water:

In an article published online on January 4, 2010 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Robert Krikorian of the University of Cincinnati, along with his colleagues from the US and Canadian Departments of Agriculture, report that consuming blueberry juice was associated with improvements in learning and memory in individuals with age-related memory decline. The trial enrolled five men and four women over the age of 70 who reported forgetfulness and memory lapses characteristic of early memory decline. Participants were given the equivalent of 2 to 2 ½ cups of a commercially available blueberry juice daily for 12 weeks. Cognitive assessments were conducted at the beginning of the study and during the final week of the trial. At the study's conclusion, learning and recall were improved, and depressive symptoms and glucose levels tended to be reduced. When subjects who received blueberry juice were compared with a demographically matched sample who received a placebo beverage in a companion trial, test scores for learning ability were significantly better.

"Lisa is one of early success stories: a heart scan score of 447 in her early 40's, modest reduction of CT heart scan score three years ago. However, Lisa had a difficult time locating oil-based vitamin D. There has, in fact, been a national run on vitamin D and I'm told that even manufacturers are scrambling to keep up with the booming demand. So, she bought tablets instead and was taking 3000 units per day. She came in for a routine check. Lisa's 25-OH-vitamin D3: 17 ng/ml, signifying severe deficiency, the same as if she were taking nothing at all. (Recall that we aim for 50 ng/ml.) In other words, vitamin D tablets do not work. It is shameful. I see numerous women taking calcium tablets with D--the vitamin D does not work. I've actually seen blood levels of zero on these preparations. "

The bagged salad products include those with "best by" dates ranging from Oct. 18 to 21. They were marketed under the brand names Fresh Selections, HEB, Marketside and Taylor Farms.

"Vytorin has struck out again, this time in a clinical trial that compared the drug's safety and efficacy to a prescription form of the B vitamin niacin. The results of the trial, which the New England Journal of Medicine featured in an article and two editorials, were presented Sunday at an American Heart Association meeting and showed that in a direct comparison, niacin worked significantly better than Vytorin and Zetia in reducing arterial blockages. According to a report in NPR, "This study is the third to question whether ezetimibe drugs do what they're supposed to." If lowering LDL or "bad" cholesterol is the doctor's sole intention when prescribing Vytorin to patients, then the drug does a great job. However, as previous studies have shown, lower levels of LDL cholesterol don't automatically translate to cleaner arteries and lower incidences of cardiac arrest. While Vytorin worked better than statins combined with time-release Niacin to lower LDL cholesterol in 200 patients, its performance was inferior in reducing artery clogging deposits."