Dr. Allen Taylor found AMD speeds up rapidly on a high-carb diet

It's not looking good for the highly-recommended, government-approved high-carb diet. We already know from previous research that such a diet leads to acne, increased blood pressure, an inability to lose weight in people with hyperinsulinemia, lower HDL "good" cholesterol and much higher triglycerides, the development of esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, and other forms of cancer, the development of Type 2 diabetes, and negligible weight loss, among a variety of other health-related concerns.

Now we can add to that ever-growing list of ailments something else--an increase in the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, according to this Food Navigator story.

A common topic of feedback that I receive from from time to time centers around my qualifications to blog about the subject of diet, health, and nutrition. I've answered this charge directly by basically asserting very clearly that I am simply a layman using my First Amendment right to free speech to share the personal lessons I have learned from losing half my weight and restoring my health.

Apparently, that explanation was good enough for Registered Dietitian Adam Goff.

American women have gotten fatter as it has become more socially acceptable to carry a few extra pounds, according to a new study. Florida State University Assistant Professor of Economics Frank Heiland and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Economist Mary Burke studied body weights among American women in the 30- to 60-year-old age bracket from 1976 to 2000. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, they found that the weight of the average woman increased by 20 pounds, or 13.5 percent, during that period. There was disproportionate growth among the most obese women as the 99th percentile weight increased a hefty 18.2 percent, from 258 to 305 pounds.

The researchers also looked at self-reports of women’s real weights and desired weights. In 1994, the average woman said she weighed 147 pounds but wanted to weigh 132 pounds. By 2002, the average woman weighed 153 pounds but wanted the scales to register 135 pounds, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Green tea could hold promise as a new treatment for skin disorders such as psoriasis and dandruff, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.Researchers studied an animal model for inflammatory skin diseases, which are often characterized by patches of dry, red, flaky skin caused by the inflammation and overproduction of skin cells. Those treated with green tea showed slower growth of skin cells and the presence of a gene that regulates the cells’ life cycles.

“Psoriasis, an autoimmune disease, causes the skin to become thicker because the growth of skin cells is out of control,” says Dr. Stephen Hsu, an oral biologist in the MCG School of Dentistry and lead investigator on the study published in the Aug. 18 edition of Experimental Dermatology. “In psoriasis, immune cells, which usually protect against infection, instead trigger the release of cytokines, which causes inflammation and the overproduction of skin cells.”