Bonsai Christians?

Written by Marilyn Ehle

Take today’s next step: If your faith feels smaller than you’d like it to, take a deep breath and jump into the 35 Day Challenge. You’ll see your faith expand in no time.

“[M]ake every effort to add to your faith goodness…knowledge…self-control…perseverance…godliness…mutual affection…love. If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8)

Have you ever seen the beauty of a bonsai tree? These trees are specially cultivated plants that remain in miniature form through pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-size trees. They are not intended for production of food or medicine, or for creating large gardens or landscapes. Instead, they are to please the eye of the beholder.

Consumer group claims Coke and Pepsi can cause cancer

AFP Relax

 
A consumer's group in the US says it's found a known animal carcinogen in sodas like Coca-Cola and Pepsi which contain caramel coloring.

According to the lab results of The Center for Science in the Public Interest, sodas like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi contain high levels of 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), a byproduct of the ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring which is used to give sodas their brown hue.

"When most people see ‘caramel coloring' on food labels, they likely interpret that quite literally and assume the ingredient is similar to what you might get by gently melting sugar in a saucepan," said CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson in a statement March 5.

"The reality is quite different. Colorings made with the ammonia or ammonia-sulfite process contain carcinogens and don't belong in the food supply."

For their lab tests, the group collected different samples from Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and measured the levels of 4-MI in each can.

Cans of Pepsi products clocked in at between 145 to 153 micrograms (mcg) of 4-MI, while Coca-Cola products clocked in at between 113 mcg to 146 mcg.

But in California, the 4-MI benchmark is 29 mcg, the CSPI points out, and any foods and beverages that contain levels above that threshold are considered to increase a person's risk of developing cancer over their lifetime.

This is the CSPI's second attempt at getting the US Food and Drug Administration to ban ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring. The group also appealed to the government with the same request last year.

Meanwhile, the American Beverage Association (ABA) struck back Monday, issuing a statement that called the report "outrageous" and nothing more than "scare tactics."

Pointing out that regulatory agencies around the world including the European Food Safety Authority and Health Canada consider caramel coloring safe for use in foods and beverages, the ABA said, "The science simply does not show that 4-MEI in foods or beverages is a threat to human health."

Caramel color is also used in beer, chocolate, cookies, spirits and liquors, custards, potato chips, dessert mixes, donuts, fruit preserves and gravy.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/consumer-group-claims-coke-pepsi-cause-cancer-170118733.html

Men who drink sugary drinks daily up risk of heart disease: study

AFP Relax

A new study has found that men who drink about a can of full-calorie soda or sugar-sweetened juice a day could be increasing their risk of developing heart disease by about 20 percent.

Published in the journal Circulation, Harvard researchers followed 42,880 men over 22 years, measuring the different lipids and proteins in the participants' bloodstream.

After controlling for risk factors like smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and family medical history, scientists found that those who consumed sugary beverages on a daily basis had higher levels of triglycerides -- or bad fat -- and lower levels of good cholesterol or HDL levels compared to men who refrained from sugary drinks.

Both biomarkers are known to be associated with a higher risk of heart disease.

"This study adds to the growing evidence that sugary beverages are detrimental to cardiovascular health," said lead author Frank Hu. "Certainly, it provides strong justification for reducing sugarybeverage consumption among patients, and more importantly, in the general population."

The role of artificially sweetened beverages, meanwhile, is unclear.

Beginning in 1986, participants were asked to fill out questionnaires about their diet and health habits every two years until 2008. The men also provided a blood sample midway through the project.

It's the latest study to find an association between the consumption of sugary drinks and the increased risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses.

Last year, the American Heart Association also warned that women who drink more than two sugar-sweetened drinks a day may also up the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Another US study estimated that imposing a soda tax could prevent 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes and prevent 26,000 deaths a year.

Meanwhile, in response to charges that caramel coloring in soda is an animal carcinogen, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi said last week they will lower levels of the chemical 4-MEI to comply with recently imposed California requirements.

The southwestern state has a 29-microgram benchmark for 4-MEI in products. Anything that may expose consumers to a daily level higher than that must carry a warning label.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/men-drink-sugary-drinks-daily-risk-heart-disease-152503409.html

Coke, Pepsi to drop level of 'cancer' chemical

By Kerry Sheridan | AFP

Coca-Cola and Pepsi said Friday they have lowered levels of a chemical in caramel coloring to comply with a California law, but insisted the drinks pose no health risks and recipes will not change.

The move allows the companies to avoid having to label products with a cancer warning due to what the health-conscious west coast state has ruled are high levels of 4-methylimidazole, shown to cause cancer in lab rodents.

Both drinkmakers said their popular and highly secretive soda recipes will not be altered but that caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a change that will eventually spread across the United States.

"We are NOT changing our recipe; or our formula," Coca-Cola Company spokesman Ben Sheidler told AFP in an email.

"What we did do is direct our caramel suppliers to make a manufacturing process modification in order to reduce the level of 4-MEI in our caramel so as to meet the requirement set by the state of California's Proposition 65."

For its part, PepsiCo said its beverages "are and always will be safe for consumption."

http://news.yahoo.com/coke-pepsi-drop-level-cancer-chemical-162347754.html;_ylt=AjmZt8YUSIaaK7qDqE3efNes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQ2dDBsNzIzBG1pdANTZWN0aW9uTGlzdCBGUCBIZWFsdGgEcGtnAzg4N2E3MTVhLWFiNjQtMzgyOC04ZDM5LWQyOTkyOTUwOGIzZgRwb3MDMgRzZWMDTWVkaWFTZWN0aW9uTGlzdAR2ZXIDMTdkMTE1MDAtNmEyOC0xMWUxLWI3ZjctYTM1MzBjYWIxNzdi;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3