tagged w/ Odds and ends
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WASHINGTON - Food hijacked Dr. David Kessler's brain.
Not apples or carrots. The scientist who once led the government's attack on addictive cigarettes can't wander through part of San Francisco without craving a local shop's chocolate-covered pretzels. Stop at one cookie? Rarely.
It's not an addiction but it's similar, and he's far from alone. Kessler's research suggests millions share what he calls "conditioned hypereating" — a willpower-sapping drive to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods even when they're not hungry.
In a book being published next week, the former Food and Drug Administration chief brings to consumers the disturbing conclusion of numerous brain studies: Some people really do have a harder time resisting bad foods. It's a new way of looking at the obesity epidemic that could help spur fledgling movements to reveal calories on restaurant menus or rein in portion sizes.
"The food industry has figured out what works. They know what drives people to keep on eating," Kessler tells The Associated Press. "It's the next great public health campaign, of changing how we view food, and the food industry has to be part of it."
He calls the culprits foods "layered and loaded" with combinations of fat, sugar and salt — and often so processed that you don't even have to chew much.WASHINGTON - Food hijacked Dr. David Kessler's brain.
Not apples or carrots.... more
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KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of prisoners in an eastern Indian jail went on a hunger strike after authorities refused to allow inmates to watch one of India's biggest cricket tournaments on cable television, officials said on Monday.
About 500 prisoners in the eastern city of Kolkata had requested cable television to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 cricket tournament being played in South Africa at the weekend.
Cricket is followed by millions of people across the country.
The IPL was moved out of India amid security worries as the schedule clashed with the country's month-long election process, which began last week.
"We cannot allow cable television inside the jail compound," B.D. Sharma, a senior police officer, told Reuters in Kolkata.
Sharma said prisoners were only allowed to watch state-run television and read magazines and newspapers.KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of prisoners in an eastern Indian jail went on a... more
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