Hot MedFax

You'd think that something that satisfied people while downplaying health risks would be a good thing.  But establishments from workplaces to hospitals to restaurants are saying, not so much. We're talking, of course, about e-cigarettes, or e-cigs, as they're called in the trade.  I write for a food blog, and restaurants are very concerned about pleasing some guests while not unsettling others who don't want to see smoke or a mist being puffed over other diners' heads. Some restaurants are going the way of the original cigarette, banning them entirely, while others are giving it a try, and allowing it. The draw is that e-cigs emit only water vapor so there's no toxic secondhand smoke.  They do contain nicotene but that's only inhaled by the smoker.  E-cigarette users call it "vaping."  And e--cigs come in all flavors. "I blow out a Bavarian cream vape, and it smells like Christmas at grandma's house," The Wall Street Journal quo...

Quick.  Would you pick a creamy milkshake over a Big Mac?  A bag of M&Ms over macaroni and cheese? A red velvet cupcake with gobs of icing over a hotdog loaded with sauerkraut? If so, you've just proved a new theory.   Sugar wins out over fat every time. According to Anahad O'Connor at The New York Times, " An intriguing new study suggests that what really draws people to such treats, and prompts them to eat much more than perhaps they know they should, is not the fat that they contain, but primarily the sugar." She notes that new research tracked brain activity in more than 100 high school students as they drank chocolate-flavored milkshakes that had the same amount of calories but were either high in sugar and low in fat, or vice versa. "While both kinds of shakes lit up pleasure centers in the brain, those that were high in sugar did so far more effectively, firing up a food-reward network that plays a role in compulsive eating," she reports. ...

So now I get it.  It's that electric jolt I get when my views top 75 (OK, only once, but come on, people, tell your friends about this blog!).  Facebook is our high. An op-ed in The Sunday Review put it the best:  we love the instant approval we get when we post something and our friends immediately respond.   The essay was mostly about the bad things Facebook encourages us to do, like pose in a thong, when  mommy panties make more sense, or post how much you hate your boss, or, to me, the worst, deface places like the Grand Canyon or saguaros in the desert just so you can post it online.  But as Jenna Wortham puts it, "That feedback loop of positive reinforcement is the most addictive element of social media." Whether you're a mom posting your son's championship baseball win, or your latest cedar-planked salmon, let's face it.  It feels good when friends come back with praise and accolades. “For people who get a lot of motivation out of knowi...