health
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Americans need to stop multitasking while eating alone, argues French sociologist Claude Fischler
You're not alone in eating alone -- at least in America. It's what most of us do: in front of computers and TVs, or in cars. But as the preëminent French food sociologist Claude Fischler explained, we represent one extreme end of the social-eating spectrum, and the French another -- and in getting there, we've also strayed quite far from the ways that humans have consumed food for thousands of years.
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Ask Umbra on parabens in processed foods and personal lubricant
A reader gets hot and bothered looking for a paraben-free lube. Ask Umbra explores the perils of parabens and the everyday products they're in!
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The Times exposes the craziness of the junk-food industry/USDA alliance
On Sunday, The New York Times ran a blockbuster piece on the unholy alliance between the USDA and Domino's to create a monstrously cheesy pizza -- while encouraging healthier eating habits. Here's what this partnership says about our food system and the USDA's role in shaping it.
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Remaking school meals in Boulder
In my ongoing quest to find the cutting edge in the nation's chronically under-funded and frequently maligned school meals program, I recently spent a week in Boulder with Renegade Lunch Lady Ann Cooper.
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What does the election mean for population and reproductive rights?
Congress will have a lot more anti-choicers. Expect attacks on international family-planning programs and a big fight over birth-control coverage.
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BPA is bad for your semen, and other news about our favorite endocrine disruptor
As the research on bisphenol-A pours in, industry -- rather than government -- starts to take the lead on getting it out of our groceries.
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New study says raw milk not panacea for the lactose intolerant
For many years, raw-milk advocates have claimed that unpasteurized milk counters lactose intolerance -- the upset stomach many people feel after consuming dairy products. A Stanford study says otherwise.
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Ask Umbra addresses environmental links to breast cancer
Breast Cancer Awareness Month may be over now, but that doesn't keep a reader from worrying that he's a boob for not knowing more about the connection between breast cancer and environmental factors. Ask Umbra gets a lot of useful information off her chest about what chemicals to avoid and how to take a stand for toxic chemicals reform. Read this and your cup of knowledge shall run over.
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Michelle Goldberg on the globalized culture war over reproductive rights [VIDEO]
Michelle Goldberg, author of "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World," talks about women's rights, abortion, & population.