‘I Drank 8 Glasses of Water Instead of Only 3 Every Day for 2 Weeks—Here’s What I Noticed Right Away’
Beth Ann Mayer – July 25, 2023
The idea of staying hydrated throughout the day is nothing new, and the reminders become more prevalent as the temperatures rise each summer. And have they risen this summer or what? About one-third of Americans were under excessive heat warnings earlier this month. It’s so hot in Europe that they’re naming their latest heat wave after a character in Dante’s Inferno.
I’ve decided to pick this hot-as-hell (literally?) summer to get back into marathon running for the first time since 2018, the year before I got pregnant with my first of two sons. I’ve felt parched (normal) and dizzy (not normal) after running. I’ve also realized I probably finish one 24-ounce water bottle daily.
Part of this is because my second child considers my water bottle a toy (despite all the other real toys he has). So, I generally keep it out of his sight and mind, which means out of my reach. At 17 months, he nurses like a newborn—another reason I need to stay hydrated.
Between the weather and my training regimen, I knew this had to change for my health. So, I committed to drinking more water.
The standard recommendation is to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. The guidance likely stems from a 1945 Food and Nutrition Board recommendation to drink eight glasses of water per day. A few things got lost in the sauce in the decades since. The first was followed by, “Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.” Translation: Fruits and vegetables contain water that counts toward your daily intake. The second: the Nutrition Board advised people to consume 2.5 liters (84.5 ounces) daily, not eight 8-ounce glasses (64 ounces).
In the years since, researchers have debunked this recommendation as a myth. But The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine recommends men drink 125 ounces (3.7 liters) and women drink 91 ounces (2.7 liters), which isn’t all that more than the 1945 recommendation.
I’ve also done numerous interviews with dietitians and doctors since starting my writing career nearly a decade ago. Regarding water, and without fail, multiple health professionals have told me that starting with a goal to drink 64 ounces of water daily is a good baseline.
It’s certainly better than 24 ounces. I had to start somewhere.
In theory, drinking more water is one of the simplest, lowest-cost ways to enhance your health. You truly don’t need much except access to clean, safe water (sadly, a luxury for some) and something to drink it out of. To help me stay on track, I decided to use a few tools:
My trusty 24-ounce water bottle. I’m a words person, not a numbers person. But 64 divided by 24 is 2.66, meaning just under three full water bottles would get me to 64 ounces.
Waterllama app. This app sends notifications to remind you to drink water and allows you to track consumption. When I was pregnant with my first, I actually tracked water using an app and found it helped me stay on track with nutrition. I figured the notifications would also help me remember to sip, even when juggling work and parenthood.
On the first day, I realized how little water I drank. By noon, I had consumed 12 ounces of water. Some may call that a water bottle half full, but it felt half empty to me. I had 12 hours left to drink a whopping 52 ounces of water to meet my goal. I gulped. And gulped. And gulped. I spent the rest of the day feeling like I had a stomach full of water and like I was pregnant again because I needed to pee every five seconds.
There had to be a better way that felt less like a pressure-filled fire drill. I decided to set small goals beginning on day two. I’d aim for 24 ounces by noon, 24 ounces by dinner and 16 ounces between dinner and bed. And, to make it feel like less of a hill to climb, I focused on referring to it as “one water bottle by lunch,” “one water bottle by dinner” and “two-thirds of a water bottle by bed.”
The method worked instantly. I received a notification every two hours to drink water, and I was able to do a quick water bottle check to ensure I was sipping enough. I always was and felt accomplished as I watched my water intake numbers go up in my app.
The biggest challenge on the second day was my three-mile morning run. It was already pushing 80 degrees at 7:30 a.m., and I was dehydrated by the end. On the third day, I consumed 12 ounces an hour before working out. It allowed me to use the facilities pre-workout but have enough left in my tank to complete an even longer run of five miles.
By day five, drinking 64 ounces of water felt way more manageable. I felt better during my workout and more hydrated throughout the day, but I still had dizzy spells and felt rather depleted by dinner.
Cleveland Clinic notes that several factors dictate how much water you should consume daily, including:
The weather is warmer than usual, and my physical activity is higher now because of my training. And, like I said, I’m nursing a toddler.
I decided to focus on drinking at least 64 ounces daily, but not considering that a maximum. Instead, my goal became to drink enough to feel good. On days seven and eight, I drank before I got thirsty and got up to 80 ounces. I felt better. However, during the second week, I realized that between 100 and 110 ounces was more of my sweet spot. I never felt dehydrated or dizzy and could run around and play with my kids. Not surprisingly, I needed more on days I did longer runs.
Because drinking more water is low-cost, it sounds like a super-simple way to boost your health. But it can be challenging, particularly if you’re super focused on your career and tend to put everyone else first (hello, parenthood). That was probably my biggest takeaway, so please be kind to yourself if you struggle to stay hydrated.
My other learnings include:
Eight 8-ounce glasses daily is a baseline. This recommendation—which was never the real recommendation—is a good starting point. However, it may not be your endgame.
Water intake is fluid. No pun intended. However, it’s perfectly normal to need extra water on one day when it’s really hot, or you did a more intense workout than you did on a rest day that you spent mainly in the blissful air conditioning.
Drink when you’re not thirsty. Don’t wait until you’re dehydrated or thirsty to drink—those are late-stage signs you need water, not early ones.
Water is pre-workout fuel. Sipping water about an hour before working out will help you feel more hydrated during your sweat session (minus the urge to pee one mile into a six-mile run).
Stop before bed. Try to limit water intake about an hour before bedtime to reduce the midnight bathroom run (rest is also essential to health). You may need to reduce consumption sooner or later, but I found 60 minutes worked for me.
Apps help. I’ll probably stop tracking now that I’m in a flow with my water intake. I found tracking can aid in accountability but become a bit obsessive for me, but it was an excellent tool to get me started. Play around with it and see if it helps you reach your hydration goals short and long-term.
Water is essential. Though eight glasses daily may be a misnomer, the benefits of staying hydrated can’t be understated. I felt so much better when I woke up in the morning, during workouts and throughout my day because I was more hydrated. I had more energy to chase my kids around and tackle my to-do list.
On the last point, I hesitate to call drinking water “self-care” because it’s something necessary (in the same way showering with the door closed or grocery shopping alone aren’t really “self-care” but get pinned in that way for busy moms).
But it’s also not something to sacrifice to care for your children or get work done. Fill your cups (or water bottles) so you’re not quite literally pouring from an empty one all day.
How right-wing news powers the ‘gold IRA’ industry
Jeremy B. Merrill and Hanna Kozlowska – July 25, 2023
Dedicated viewers of Fox News are likely familiar with Lear Capital, a Los Angeles company that sells gold and silver coins. In recent years, the company’s ads have been a constant presence on Fox airwaves, warning viewers to protect their retirement savings from a looming “pension crisis” and “dollar collapse.”
One such ad caught the attention of Terry White, a disabled retiree from New York. In 2018, White invested $174,000 in the coins, according to a lawsuit by the New York attorney general – only to later learn that Lear charged a 33 percent commission.
Over several transactions, White, 70, lost nearly $80,000, putting an “enormous strain” on his finances, said his wife, Jeanne, who blames Fox for their predicament: “They’re negligent,” she said. A regretful White said he thought Fox “wouldn’t take a commercial like that unless it was legitimate.”
While the legitimacy of the gold retirement investment industry is the subject of numerous lawsuits – including allegations of fraud by federal and state regulators against Lear and other companies – its advertising has become a mainstay of right-wing media. The industry spends millions of dollars a year to reach viewers of Fox, Newsmax and other conservative outlets, according to a Washington Post analysis of ad data and financial records, as well as interviews with industry insiders. Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani have promoted the coins, while ads for Lear’s competitors have appeared on a podcast hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Newsmax broadcasts of former president Donald Trump’s political rallies.
An analysis by The Post of political newsletters, social media, podcasts and a national database of television ads collected by the company AdImpact found that pitches to invest in gold coins are a daily presence in media that caters to a right-wing audience and often echo conservative talking points about looming economic and societal collapse. The Post found no similar ads for gold retirement investments in mainstream or left-wing media sources in the databases.
These so-called “gold IRA” companies are not publicly traded, so their revenue, profits and ad budgets largely cannot be determined. Court documents filed by Lear say the company has about $200 million in annual revenue; Dale Whitaker, the former chief financial officer at another company, Augusta Precious Metals, said overall industry revenue likely approaches $1 billion a year.
Over the past decade, more than 30 customers in 20 states have sued a dozen gold IRA companies, including Lear. Federal regulators have sued four companies – two in the past year alone – claiming investors were systematically charged as much as triple the coins’ value.
None of the cases have gone to trial; some are still pending. Of those that have been resolved, most have settled or been sent to arbitration, where outcomes are not made public. The companies have not admitted wrongdoing in any of the cases and say their customers have been adequately informed of the details of their purchases.
Joe Rotunda, enforcement director at the Texas State Securities Board, said the industry is extraordinarily difficult to police because selling gold, even as a retirement investment, is “extremely thinly regulated.”
Experts on commercial speech say Fox and other media outlets have no obligation to spurn advertising from gold IRA companies, despite the allegations. “Courts are very hesitant to impose liability on publishers,” said Harvard law professor Rebecca Tushnet, an expert in First Amendment and advertising law, who said the law is designed primarily to compel truthfulness by advertisers.
Tushnet added that “it might be reasonable, if you found out about the lawsuits, [to] contact the advertiser” and ask questions about the claims before running the ads. But if an advertiser blames their legal troubles on “the woke mob,” she said, “you’re often allowed to believe them.”
Fox News declined to comment. In a statement, Newsmax spokesman Bill Daddi said the network does not see allegations against the gold IRA companies as “a cause to block them from advertising.” Daddi compared them to some major financial firms that have been sued by customers or regulators, and whose ads continue to be accepted by mainstream outlets. For example, Wells Fargo paid $3 billion in 2020 to settle potential charges related to opening fake accounts in customers’ names.
In a statement, Lear Capital spokesperson Tracy Williams defended the company’s operations, saying most of Lear’s customers would have made a profit if they had sold at a recent market high. Williams said that White, the New York retiree, had acknowledged the company’s fee in a recorded call.
Last year, Lear settled New York’s 2021 lawsuit involving White without admitting wrongdoing. However, the company agreed to repay some customers and to disclose its fees more clearly. Lear now gives customers 24 hours to pull out of purchases, Williams said, putting the company at the “vanguard of disclosure … within its industry.”
Lear declined to say how much it spends to advertise on Fox News, but Williams said the network is not Lear’s primary source of customers. Nor is Lear likely to make up a significant share of Fox’s total ad revenue, which exceeds $1 billion a year, according to securities filings.
Fox is a logical place for Lear to advertise because “purchasing physical assets appeals to persons who have concerns regarding … topics often discussed on that platform,” Williams said. She added: “U.S. monetary policy is inseparable from U.S. political dynamics and themes.”
For years, gold IRA industry advertising has echoed accusations against Democratic politicians commonly found in news segments on conservative outlets. The ads tout the coins as a safe haven from economic uncertainty and social upheaval.
Most of the coins are manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint, which says they’re bullion, a kind of coin whose value is determined by the underlying metal. As such, they meet IRS rules for retirement investments.
Unlike most bullion coins, however, the gold IRA industry’s coins are typically exclusive to the companies who sell them, usually with markups far higher than those charged by mainstream coin retailers, regulators and coin experts say. Alex Reeves, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mint, said the mint has no control “over sales practices further down the chain of distribution.”
“They are priced like collectibles, but collectible coins aren’t typically sold in bulk,” said Everett Millman, a precious metals specialist at coin dealer Gainesville Coins. “If a customer spent the same amount of money on products that are more standard, like [Canadian] Silver Maple Leafs, they would end up with a lot more ounces per dollar.”
With the exclusive coins, Millman said, “They’re simply torching money.”
“No one in their right mind would pay the premiums that these guys are charging,” added Ken Lewis, CEO of online coin dealer Apmex, who reviewed several customer invoices at The Post’s request.
The ads explain none of that. Instead, they focus on news events, such as a spate of recent bank failures and “everything that’s happening in the economy right now … with all the talk of inflation,” Rotunda said.
For example, an email ad for Augusta, sent to a Newsmax mailing list last July, warned that “The Biden administration’s economic policies are ‘declaring war’ on retirement savers.” In December, American Hartford Gold Group sent an email ad with the subject line: “Bill O’Reilly Warns: Retirement Funds at Risk From a Biden Recession.” The email is signed by O’Reilly, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Another ad for Hartford sent to the Newsmax mailing list in March warned of “Biden and Yellen’s Secret Plan to Steal your Hard-Earned Money and Bail Out Their Wall Street Buddies.”
Trump rallies are particularly big events for Hartford. On July 1, Newsmax aired a live broadcast of a Trump speech in Pickens, S.C., on a split screen with an ad for Hartford, which also sends “Trump Rally Special” email ads via Newsmax.
Since October 2020, email newsletters distributed by Newsmax have included more than 1,100 ads for gold IRA companies – nearly a quarter of all Newsmax email ads reviewed by The Post. At $1,000 to $5,000 each, according to Augusta financial records from 2016 reviewed by The Post, the ads likely generate more than $1 million a year in revenue.
Daddi, the Newsmax spokesman, said gold IRA companies represent “a small percentage of the total advertisers on Newsmax across all platforms.”
Some conservative figures offer explicit endorsements. Giuliani has called Hartford “the experts I trust most” on his podcast “Common Sense.” The “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast has featured ads for Hartford for at least a year, and a recent segment touted Augusta, urging listeners “to protect your dollars … with a gold IRA.” Neither Giuliani nor Cruz responded to requests for comment.
Two media dealmakers who have been involved in negotiations between conservative media figures and the gold IRA industry said revenue from the companies can amount to as much as 10 percent of total earnings for some personalities. The dealmakers spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their business relationships; one said the biggest personalities stand to earn millions of dollars a year.
Hartford spokesman Steven Goldberg said it runs ads “where we believe it will create the most value.” Among the company’s chosen venues: a “prophetic” evangelical Christian email newsletter, two right-wing TV channels, and more than a dozen conservative radio shows and podcasts, including Giuliani’s and Cruz’s.
One of Hartford’s ads caught the attention of Ed DeSanto, 65, a semiretired Florida medical coder and an avid right-wing radio fan. He invested a $100,000 lump-sum payout from his pension in a Hartford IRA in 2019.
DeSanto said he doesn’t remember exactly where he heard the Hartford ad, but “if you listen to those radio shows, they play those commercials all the time.” He said he believed he was being careful: He picked Hartford because it scored well in a ranking of gold IRA companies he found online. (Such rankings often include disclosures noting that the authors are paid by the gold IRA companies.)
DeSanto’s $100,000 investment netted him just $53,000 worth of gold and silver, according to a Post analysis of his invoices – meaning the coins had been marked up 92 percent over the value of the metal. DeSanto blames himself.
“I did a little bit of research, but evidently not enough,” DeSanto said. “When I found the invoice, it was a big shock.”
In 2018 and 2019, another retiree, John Mathys of Illinois, claimed a Hartford salesman persuaded him to invest his $569,000 retirement savings by “bombarding him” with calls and emails for months, according to a federal lawsuit Mathys filed against Hartford in 2020. The lawsuit was sent to arbitration. Neither Mathys nor his lawyer responded to requests for comment.
Mathys, who was 83 at the time of the lawsuit, is one of three customers who sued Hartford in the past six years accusing the company of fraud. The other two lawsuits settled.
Hartford declined to comment on any of the cases. “We are fully transparent with our clients about the pricing of the products they purchase and the potential range of markup for those products,” Goldberg said in a statement, adding that the company operates “with a steadfast commitment to doing business legally and ethically.”
“We deny the allegation that we’ve misled or otherwise acted improperly,” Goldberg said.
In February and April, DeSanto sold back some of his gold coins to Hartford. Although gold prices had climbed an average of 32 percent since his 2019 purchase, he lost money on the sales, according to a Post analysis of his invoices.
The gold IRA industry’s ties to right-wing media date to the Great Recession, when the price of gold was rising rapidly and Fox commentator Glenn Beck was one of the most popular hosts on TV. Beck recorded ads for Goldline, a gold dealer that also offered IRAs, and interviewed its CEO on his show.
“We could be facing recession, depression or collapse. Nothing left!” Beck told viewers in 2009, urging them to rely on “God, Gold and Guns.” After segments promoting gold investments, Beck’s show would sometimes cut to commercials featuring gold sellers like Goldline, according to a 2010 congressional report.
The gold companies were loyal advertisers: After Beck claimed in 2009 that President Barack Obama was “racist” and had “a deep-seated hatred for White people or the White culture,” many big advertisers dropped his show. Gold sellers were among the few who stayed on, according to reporting at the time.
Goldline soon came under scrutiny, first in congressional hearings, then by Santa Monica, Calif., prosecutors, who charged the company with misdemeanor grand theft, elder theft and conspiracy in 2011. Though Goldline defended its business practices as fully transparent and never admitted wrongdoing, the company later agreed to pay up to $4.5 million to settle the charges.
Beck faded from prominence after departing Fox News in 2011 to start his own channel. He still endorses Goldline on the company’s website. Neither Beck nor Goldline executives responded to requests for comment.
The controversy sent Goldline employees scrambling for safer harbors. Some got jobs at Merit Financial, according to interviews and public records. Merit, whose offices were just a few blocks from Goldline’s in Santa Monica, also sold coins by phone and ran ads on Fox. (Merit’s former owner declined to comment publicly.)
In 2014, Santa Monica prosecutors accused Merit of “an aggressive, nationwide fraud scheme.” The company denied the allegations but went out of business and settled as the case approached trial.
Several Goldline and Merit salesmen then struck out on their own, founding many of the companies that exist today, according to staff lists and interviews with 21 current and former industry employees.
A former Merit salesman founded Augusta Precious Metals, which has been accused of defrauding its customers by Whitaker, its former CFO. Whitaker filed a whistleblower complaint to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has not taken public action. Augusta has denied the allegations, and CEO Isaac Nuriani said in a statement that Whitaker “never had any visibility into Augusta’s business operations.”
Other former Goldline and Merit employees founded Metals.com, the founders said in depositions. That company recruited customers on Facebook, where it faked an endorsement from Fox News host Sean Hannity, a court filing by Georgia securities regulators alleged.
Facebook data reviewed by The Post shows that many Metals.com ads targeted people 59 or older. One 87-year-old customer received daily phone calls from a Metals.com broker who eventually flew to Alabama for a weekend to meet her, regulators alleged. She ultimately invested nearly $90,000, they said – most of which was lost.
The FBI raided Metals.com in 2020. A judge ordered the company shut down after 31 states and the CFTC filed suit, alleging a $185 million commodities fraud, as well as violations of rules about investment advice. Company founders have denied the allegations, saying their company “strived for transparency” and disclosed that it charged a premium. They have also said in court filings that they are under criminal investigation. Company executives did not respond to requests for comment submitted to their lawyer.
After Metals.com closed, some salesmen went to work at Safeguard Metals, according to one of the salesmen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. In February 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission, CFTC and 27 states sued that company, too. Safeguard recently settled the SEC’s case without admitting liability; the CFTC’s suit is still pending. Safeguard’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
Lear Capital also hired several salesmen from Goldline’s ranks and bought Merit’s database of customers, according to court records and staff lists submitted to California regulators and obtained by The Post through public records requests. Williams, the Lear spokesperson, said “Merit’s liquidation was an opportunity to acquire a customer and prospect base to service and market to in the future” and that Lear performed background checks on everyone it hired.
Lear recently exited bankruptcy reorganization after resolving investigations from dozens of states. It remains in business.
Hartford’s CEO also worked at both Goldline and Merit before starting that company. Goldberg, the Hartford spokesman, declined to comment when asked whether the company was under investigation by state or federal regulators.
DeSanto said he has complained to both the Florida attorney general and the CFTC about his experience with Hartford. He said he spoke twice with CFTC investigators in 2020, but the agency has not taken public action.
In February, DeSanto also called Hartford to try to sell back his coins. He said he was flabbergasted to learn that the salesman who handled his purchase was still employed there. And he was shocked to find O’Reilly’s photo still featured on the company’s website.
“Everything is the same there,” DeSanto marveled. Of O’Reilly, he added: “I would think, for his reputation, he’d want to get away from a company like them.”
Kozlowska is a freelance writer based in New York. The Washington Post’s Sarah Ellison and Dan Morse contributed reporting. Raz Nakhlawi contributed research.
State grapples with rampant algae that can cause lung infections and neurological disorders: ‘A bullet in the chamber’
Stephen Proctor – July 25, 2023
Toxic algae is overtaking the largest freshwater lake in Florida, hampering the summer plans of thousands — and the situation is likely to worsen. While plans are underway to alleviate the problem going forward, some are skeptical.
What’s happening?
Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida is currently half full of bright green toxic algae, which is expected to increase throughout the summer.
“We’re looking at a bullet in the chamber here,” Eve Samples, executive director of the conservation group Friends of the Everglades, told The New York Times of the growing bloom.
A handful of conditions allow the dangerous algae to thrive. According to reporting, the severity of the algal bloom is largely due to our overheating planet, which has caused increased storms and rainfall that have stirred up phosphorus that the algae need to grow. The phosphorous has mostly been sourced by fertilizer runoff from rivers upstream that feed into the lake. Rising levels of carbon dioxide pollution, which the algae need, intensify the problem.
While blooms of algae aren’t uncommon for Florida in the summer months, blooms of this magnitude are, and they seem to be occurring more often.
In 2018, Lake Okeechobee experienced a similar bloom that leaked into surrounding canals and the Caloosahatchee River. That year, toxin-producing algae exploded in both fresh and saltwater ecosystems, leading to former Governor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency.
Downstream algae outbreaks from Okeechobee’s outflows also significantly impacted coastal communities in 2013, 2016, and 2018, causing beaches to be closed and businesses to shut down. Some residents were evacuated as well.
Why toxic algae is concerning
The Florida Department of Health issued a health alert in June warning the public to exercise caution in and around the area of Lake Okeechobee. Those looking for summer fun in the lake were warned not to swim, wade, ski, or boat where there is a visible bloom. They were also told to keep pets away from the water, and for good reason.
The toxic algae overtaking Lake Okeechobee can cause major health issues for humans and animals, including lung infections, organ damage, and neurological disorders. The algae-contaminated water is so harmful that even boiling it will not eliminate the toxins, according to health officials.
What’s being done about the toxic algae
The Army Corps of Engineers is undertaking a massive project to combat the growing issue of toxic algae affecting not only Lake Okeechobee, but the surrounding area as well.
A 10,500-acre reservoir expected to be completed in 10 years or so will capture at least some of Okeechobee’s toxic outflows. This is in addition to the recently completed 6,500-acre artificial wetland designed to remove nutrient pollution before water flows out into the Everglades.
Some are skeptical, though, of the project’s impact, as the new reservoir will fill to capacity after draining only 6 inches of water from Lake Okeechobee, per The New York Times.
An earlier proposal for a 60,000-acre system was scrapped due to objections from the local agricultural community.
Should You Try Scalp Oils To Regrow Thinning Hair? We Asked A Dermatologist
Marissa Matozzo – July 24, 2023
Taking care of your scalp is essential, experts say, if your goal is to prevent or stop hair loss or thinning. Along with revamping your diet, an additional way to nurture your scalp and increase hair growth is to incorporate scalp oils into your routine to provide hydration and a vibrant appearance.
In an effort to gain more insight on scalp oils and their benefits for individuals with thin, fine hair, we sought out the expertise of a board-certified dermatologist and hair specialist, Dr. Yoram Harth, Medical Director of MDhair. Below, he shares his suggestions and advice for those wanting to give scalp oils a try.
The Benefits Of Scalp Oils For Fine, Thin Hair: Growth, Hydration And More
For those just beginning to explore the world of scalp oils, it can be overwhelming to sort through the numerous options. Harth simplifies the selection process by indicating there are two main varieties of hair oils. “One type, which is applied to the scalp skin and intended to help with scalp health and hair regrowth, is called a scalp treatment serum,” he explains.
Harth notes that the “other type of hair oil is applied to the hair strands and is intended to help strengthen the strands and reduce breakage and split ends.” Scalp oils, “particularly those designed as scalp treatment serums,” he says, can be “beneficial for thin, fine hair.”
These oils are “formulated to promote scalp health, nourish the hair follicles, and stimulate blood circulation” in the scalp, he adds. If your goal is to regrow your hair or just make your tresses stronger, he says that a healthy scalp environment can “lead to improved hair growth and a reduction in hair loss.”
The “best scalp oils and scalp treatment serums would include DHT blockers,” he continues, that help “reduce the effects of DHT on the hair follicles.”
One benefit of scalp oils, Harth reiterates, is a nourished scalp. “Scalp oils deliver essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to the scalp, which can promote a healthy environment for hair growth,” he adds.
He says that they also “moisturize” the scalp, helping to “alleviate dryness and reduce flakiness on the scalp, which can contribute to hair breakage.”
When used regularly, these oils also “block the effects of DHT on hair follicles.” Harth notes that “this is especially important in people with androgenetic, age-related, and perimenopause hair loss.”
Another benefit is “enhanced blood circulation.” Pairing scalp massages with oils can “stimulate blood flow, improving nutrient delivery to hair follicles,” he points out.
Lastly, a vital benefit of scalp oiling is gaining “protection from damage,” Harth concludes, as “certain scalp oils have protective properties that shield the hair and scalp from environmental stressors.”
When it comes to scalp oil recommendations, for beginners, Harth recommends “using a combination of plant-based scalp treatment serums like MDhair regrowth serum and another type of oil to apply often to the hair strands, like MDhair’s peptide hair repair oil.” (Good to know!)
Resisting the urge to find small positives in the generally horrible.
By Neil Steinberg – July 23, 2023
A cat watches as Chicago police investigate inside an apartment in the 7700 block of South Carpenter Street after an officer shot and killed a man while answering a call of a domestic disturbance in the Gresham building on the South Side, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021.
What is it about stupid people anyway?
You can believe the most god-awful nonsense — factually incorrect, self-flattering, steaming kettles of BS — and parade that stupidity around to the delight of your fellow idiots, cheering and high-fiving one another at big rallies, celebrations of toxic dumbness.
Yet let somebody point it out, let them cough into their fist and mutter, “You’re stupid,” and suddenly the stupid fall to the ground, clutching themselves, declaring their injury to heaven.
It’s so … for want of a better word … stupid. How can some people get upset if you call themstupid when they’re perfectly happy being stupid? It’s a mystery.
Say your house were on fire — a situation even more dire than being stupid. And I say, “Your house is on fire,” causing you to collapse in a heap and declare yourself insulted, insisting that your house — obviously ablaze before us, thick black smoke pulsing out of the windows — is fine and how dare I suggest otherwise? Rude!
Who does that? Stupid people, I suppose.
I haven’t written much about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, honestly, because I still suspect he’s some kind of a sham — a performance art piece perhaps — designed to make Donald Trump look good, between his daft war on Disney and his imbecilic assault on history.
Maybe you haven’t heard. In its constant quest to make white people feel better, the state of Florida’s No. 1 priority, apparently, is downplaying race when teaching American history.
Florida’s new curriculum, unsatisfied with presenting racism as a dusty relic of the 19th century, is taking the next step and redefining America’s original sin, slavery, as something akin to high school shop class.
“Slaves developed skills, which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” the curriculum notes.
Now, it is one thing to suggest that historic wrongs can have positive consequences. Polish anti-Semitism a hundred years ago was bad, but it drove my grandfather to Cleveland before the real butchery began. Which was good. For him.
But to focus on that scrap of positivity while denying the bulk of the horror is just … stupid. It’s like celebrating that Anne Frank got a best-selling book out of hiding from the Nazis while ignoring that she died in Bergen-Belsen.
Yet there was DeSantis on Friday, doubling down — the go-to move for the stupid since they can’t reevaluate — and supporting the new curriculum.
“They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,” DeSantis said.
And they give out free pudding in the Burn Center at Loyola. But were I to tuck a line in a burn story — “Burn patients enjoy free pudding, to their personal benefit, since pudding is delicious” — my editor would ask me to rethink that.
Then again, I’m a professional communicator and snug among — I hope — the non-stupid. We consider our audience.
Let me end with a true story. A photographer mentioned what she calls “crime scene kitties.” Her job takes her to crime scenes, where cats often appear. We got into a discussion of why the kitties are there — drawn by commotion? The cats I know would flee instead. Maybe cats are everywhere but, when standing around crime scenes for hours, she notices them.
“That could be a story!” I said.
Then I did a trick the stupid seldom attempt: I thought about it. I don’t write a lot of crime stories. To swoop into a tragic problem plaguing Chicago — people being murdered — and focus on the cats that wander over, there’s something grotesque about that. Something trivial. Something insulting, to victims and families. I did that empathy thing liberals are so good at, considering people other than myself, and reluctantly concluded: no crime scene kitties story.
That’s why Ron DeSantis should never be president. Because his campaign strategy — appeal to people threatened by anyone not exactly like themselves, people who can’t recognize the racism both in America’s past and in their own hearts right this flippin’ second — is stupid, if effective. We don’t want that guy. As if to underscore the difference, on Saturday the White House announced the creation of national monuments to Emmett Till. Till’s story is jarring and terrible — that photo of him in the casket. And essential and true and American. How could you ponder a history that didn’t include it?
Trump’s GOP rivals open door to cutting Social Security for younger people
Jeff Stein, The Washington Post – July 22, 2023
Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis take questions during a Florida Coronavirus Response Meeting, at the West Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Three of Donald Trump’s rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination are pushing for cuts to Social Security benefits that would only affect younger Americans, as the party’s leaders grapple with the explosive politics of the retirement program.
In comments on Sunday as well as in interviews earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Social Security will need to be revamped – but not for people who are near or in retirement.
Former vice president Mike Pence and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley have taken similar positions since launching their presidential campaigns. From the earliest days of his 2016 run, Trump has vowed not to touch either Social Security or Medicare – a break from GOP orthodoxy that has shifted the party’s views – and has more recently hammered DeSantis for wanting to cut the program.
“When people say that we’re going to somehow cut seniors, that is totally not true,” DeSantis said on Fox News. “Talking about making changes for people in their 30s and their 40s so the program’s viable – that’s a much different thing, and something I think there’s going to need to be discussion on.”
On Monday, Pence told Fox Business: “I’m glad to see another candidate in this primary has been willing to step up and talk about that.”
The positions the three Trump rivals are taking suggest that even the fiscally conservative candidates in the GOP presidential primary are reluctant to endorse cutting Social Security for seniors, highlighting just how much the party has shifted on the issue. Former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), the party’s 2012 vice-presidential candidate, had led the party in championing budget blueprints that would have entailed significant cuts to both Social Security and Medicare.
As the Republican Party becomes increasingly reliant on older voters for support and as Trump continues to exert heavy influence over the party’s beliefs, GOP policymakers have followed the former president’s lead in steering clear of proposals to cut the program, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ruling that out in debt ceiling negotiations earlier this year with the White House.
But concentrating potential cuts on the young, as the Trump challengers have proposed, has its downsides as well. The candidates’ posture risks alienating young voters who have already become increasingly alienated from the Republican Party. And cutting benefits for younger people leaves the bulk of the problem unresolved, experts say, given that the Social Security funding crisis is projected to arrive decades before millennials receive their first checks.
“It clearly would not address the shortfall, or the short- to medium-term problem we’re going to have in 10 years or less,” said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank.
Economists of both parties agree that Social Security and Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, face funding crises if Congress does not act to shore up their finances somehow, either by reducing benefits or raising taxes. If no reforms are enacted, Social Security benefits for an estimated 60 million people will be cut by 20 percent starting in 2033, according to the most recent report of the Boards of Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Medicare also faces automatic benefit cuts as soon as 2031, the report says.
President Biden has proposed increasing taxes on the rich and businesses to prevent Medicare from running out of funds. But the latest White House budget does not propose a solution for extending Social Security. Numerous congressional Democrats have called for trillions in new taxes to avoid the Social Security shortfall, as well.
Policy experts have long said it will probably take a mixture of reduced spending and higher taxes to address the looming funding shortage facing Social Security and Medicare. Social Security’s old age and survivors insurance trust fund is expected to only be able to pay 77 percent of benefits in 2033, which would probably lead to automatic reductions in payments. People in their forties are still more than two decades away from receiving Social Security benefits.
The comments from DeSantis and Pence suggest that some Republicans have “not updated their talking points from the 1990s,” said Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank. Thirty years ago, Riedl said, it would have been possible to argue for resolving the funding shortfall only by limiting benefits for future recipients. But given that the enormous baby boomer generation is now at retirement age, exempting them from cuts would still leave the program in crisis.
“I get the politics of not wanting to lead with, ‘We will cut seniors,'” Riedl said. “But it might be better to say nothing than to offer an unpopular approach that doesn’t even avoid a debt crisis because it would be implemented far too late.”
DeSantis’s message will probably soon be tested. Trump has released video messages tying DeSantis to House Republicans who wanted to cut Social Security and for pushing to raise the retirement age when the Florida governor served in Congress, although Trump has also expressed support in the past for raising the retirement age.
“Donald Trump ruled Social Security and other benefits out of bounds politically” for Republican politicians, said Bill Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “But there are still Republicans, including some leading Republicans, who understand we won’t make serious progress on our fiscal problems until everything’s on the table. They’re trying to open that discussion, without it immediately being shut down.”
CDC: Toxic blue-green algae is infecting humans, animals in Michigan summers
Mika Travis, Detroit Free Press – July 21, 2023
Harmful algae blooms in Michigan and other states are spiking during the summer in freshwater bodies such as lakes, according to a recent CDC report.
Harmful algae blooms are often caused by a rapid growth of cyanobacteria, known as blue-green algae, a naturally occurring bacteria. Gary Kohlhepp, Lake Michigan unit supervisor of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, said that a small amount of cyanobacteria is a safe and natural part of the water system, but it can become toxic when it begins to cluster in large quantities and creates blooms. Toxins produced in these blooms can lead to illness in humans and animals.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, blue-green algae blooms are a common occurrence in the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Erie.
CDC report results
The CDC report collected voluntary data from public health agencies across 16 states on harmful algae bloom events in 2021, referred to as harmful algal blooms in the report. Here were the findings:
Most reported events occurred during the summer, with a peak in August (25% of reported events).
Most of the events (90%) reported were in lakes, reservoirs or other freshwater bodies.
A third of the reports of human illness occurred in June.
The most common symptoms in humans were gastrointestinal, generalized (headaches and fevers, for example), and dermatologic.
Reports of animal illnesses occurred primarily in August (86%), mostly involving wildlife.
The most common symptoms in domestic pets were gastrointestinal, such as vomiting, and generalized, such as lethargy.
A harmful algae bloom event in Washington killed 2,000 bats.
There were 368 harmful algae bloom events reported, resulting in 117 human cases of illness and at least 2,715 animal cases of illness. (Animal cases are underrepresented because some group animal reports did not provide the number of total animals impacted, or indicated that the number they gave was an underestimate.)
Kohlhepp said that EGLE had seen an increase in reporting on harmful algae blooms, though that may not indicate an actual increase in the quantity of blooms in the state.
“I think some of that increase is just that people are more aware of it and more likely to report it,” he said.
These harmful algae blooms can appear as accumulations of algae that coat the surface of the water or as a neon green color in the water.
Kohlhepp said that if there aren’t any visible signs of a harmful algae bloom in the water, there’s a good chance it’s safe, though the only certain way to tell whether a body of water is toxic is by testing.
In one instance, Kohlhepp’s team tested a clear spot in a lake that had a harmful algae bloom in another part of it. In the spot that appeared clear, there was only a miniscule amount of cyanobacteria picked up.
“The good news is, generally, if you don’t see a bloom, the toxins are not present,” Kohlhepp said. “There’s almost always an indication that there’s something going on when the toxins are present, either that bright color or the surface accumulation.”
According to Michigan Sea Grant, the most common type of blue-green algae in the Great Lakes is microcystis, a bacteria which produces a liver toxin and skin irritant.
When exposed to these harmful algae blooms, humans often develop a rash. Other possible symptoms include nausea, headache and fever.
Animals, such as dogs, who experience symptoms may appear sluggish. Other symptoms found in animals include vomiting and dark urine.
Steps to take after exposure
Because humans usually experience dermatologic symptoms, Kohlhepp recommends washing off as soon as possible after coming in contact with a harmful algae bloom. If they notice symptoms, they should visit a doctor for next steps.
Dogs and other animals should also be rinsed off after exposure, though symptoms may still arise if they ingested the algae-filled water. Pet owners should watch for symptoms and take them to a veterinarian if they notice any symptoms.
How to report a harmful algae bloom
EGLE collects reports of harmful algae blooms through email at algaebloom@michigan.gov. They recommend sending a photo alongside the report, so that they can more easily identify algae blooms and send someone to test the water.
Nearly two thirds of women suffering from dangerous cholesterol levels
Henry Bodkin – July 21, 2023
Cholesterol test – iStockphoto
Women are more likely to have high cholesterol than men, with nearly two thirds suffering from dangerous levels, a major health survey has found.
Experts have warned that millions of people are unknowingly at significant risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke, with half of UK adults overall suffering from high cholesterol.
The data, from nearly a quarter of a million participants, also showed that more than one in four have high blood pressure.
The figures were obtained through an unprecedented collaboration between the NHS, life science companies and major health charities in order to obtain a true picture of the hidden state of cardiovascular health in the UK.
The Our Future Health program encourages volunteers of all ages to undergo a quick set of tests at a nearby clinic, with those found to be at risk referred on for treatment. Health leaders said the results showed that “thousands” of lives could be saved from such proactive testing.
High cholesterol is mainly caused by eating fatty food, being overweight and not exercising enough, as well as smoking and drinking alcohol – although genes also play a role.
The survey found that 62 per cent of women tested had high cholesterol, compared to 46 per cent of men.
Dr Richard Francis, the head of research at the Stroke Association, said: “These early findings from the Our Future Health programme show us that many women could be living with unmanaged high cholesterol, a risk factor for stroke and other serious cardiovascular diseases.
“It’s good that this has been spotted, and the next step will be to find out why it’s happening. It could be that approaches to screening women for high cholesterol need to be improved, or that we need better provision of cholesterol management strategies as there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.”
The survey also found that the proportion of people with high blood pressure increased with age. Twelve per cent of 18 to 28-year-olds had high blood pressure, but this increased to 46 per cent among people aged 80 or over.
Meanwhile, high cholesterol was most prevalent in people in their 50s, affecting 67 per cent of those aged 50 to 59.
High cholesterol is thought to lead to seven per cent of all deaths in England. Alongside high blood pressure, it has been described as one of the “silent killers” that tend not to manifest through symptoms and are only discovered after a medical emergency.
A key method of reducing high cholesterol is to cut back on foods that are high in saturated fats – primarily found in red meat and full-fat dairy, as well as eliminating trans fats. Increasing foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids and soluble fibre also help.
How can I control my cholesterol?
Sir Nilesh Samani, the medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “These findings from Our Future Health support previous estimates that show millions of people in the UK are living with undetected high blood pressure and raised cholesterol, which can put them at significant risk of a heart attack or stroke.
“Tackling these treatable silent killers must remain a priority if we are to prevent people suffering or dying needlessly.”
The survey aims to recruit up to five million volunteers across the UK to create one of the most detailed pictures of population health. It is currently inviting people who live near clinics to give a blood sample and have some physical measurements taken. Anyone over the age of 18 can join by signing up online.
Dr Franis said: “Initial data from the programme has uncovered information that would normally be very challenging to identify. Up to 90 per cent of strokes are preventable, so a study of this scale has the potential to tell us so much about two of the most common risk factors for stroke and hopefully lead to more research to reduce our risk of stroke.”
The Our Future Health program is aiming to recruit volunteers from ethnic minority groups who have been under-represented in previous health research but tend to have higher rates of high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Former Sen. Claire McCaskill Goes Scorched Earth On ‘Little, Lily-Livered’ Republicans
Lee Moran – July 21, 2023
Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Thursday ripped the Republican Party for what it’s become in the Donald Trump era.
McCaskill, now a political analyst for MSNBC, recalled on the “Morning Joe” show how GOP leaders in 2012 “rejected” her then-Republican challenger, the late Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), for his comments on “legitimate rape.”
But 11 years later, with the party in thrall to Trump, McCaskill explained how it’s a different story, as even top Republicans continue to defend the former president amid his mounting legal woes and reported imminent indictment in the special counsel probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“The main difference here is not the conduct of the candidate, it is the reaction of the leaders of his party,” McCaskill said, noting how Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) all condemned Trump in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection.
“But then they got scared,” she said. “They just became little, lily-livered cowards and were too afraid that, somehow, they couldn’t hold on to their precious office or their precious power if they stated the obvious.”
“So, it is not so much what Donald Trump has done,” McCaskill added. “It’s the rest of the Republican Party who has elevated him and kept him elevated that has brought this upon America.
Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People
Allison Quinn – July 20, 2023
Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty
Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.”
After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”
Dozens of Black residents were killed in the massacre, which was perpetrated to stop them from voting.
According to members of the board, that distorted portrayal of the racist massacre is factually accurate. MaryLynn Magar, a member of the board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said at the board’s meeting in Orlando on Wednesday that “everything is there” in the new history standards and “the darkest parts of our history are addressed,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The majority of the speakers who provided public testimony on the planned curriculum were vehemently opposed to it, warning that crucial context is omitted, atrocities are glossed over, and in some cases students will be taught to “blame the victim.”
“I am very concerned by these standards, especially some of the notion that enslaved people benefited from being enslaved,” state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said, per Action News Jax.
“When I see the standards, I’m very concerned,” state Sen. Geraldine Thompson said at the board meeting. “If I were still a professor, I would do what I did very infrequently; I’d have to give this a grade of ‘I’ for incomplete. It recognizes that we have made an effort, we’ve taken a step. However, this history needs to be comprehensive. It needs to be authentic, and it needs additional work.”
“When you look at the history currently, it suggests that the [Ocoee] massacre was sparked by violence from African Americans. That’s blaming the victim,” the Democrat warned.
“Please table this rule and revise it to make sure that my history, our history, is being told factually and completely, and please do not, for the love of God, tell kids that slavery was beneficial because I guarantee you it most certainly was not,” community member Kevin Parker said.
Approval of the new standards is a win for the DeSantis administration, which has effectively sought to create a new educational agenda that shields white students from feeling any sense of guilt for wrongs perpetrated against people of color. The Florida governor signed the “Stop WOKE Act” last year to do just that, restricting how issues of race are taught in public schools and workplaces.
In keeping with the administration’s crusade against “wokeness,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz defended the new standards against criticism, saying, “This is an in-depth, deep dive into African American history, which is clearly American history as Governor DeSantis has said, and what Florida has done is expand it,” Action News Jax reported.
Paul Burns, the Florida Department of Education’s chancellor of K-12 public schools, also insisted the new standards provide an exhaustive representation of African American history.
“Our standards are factual, objective standards that really teach the good, the bad and the ugly,” he was quoted as saying Wednesday by Florida Phoenix. He denied the new standards portray slavery as beneficial.
Although education officials say teachers are meant to expand upon the new curriculum in the classroom, critics say teachers are unlikely to do that for fear of being singled out and possibly punished for being too “woke.”
The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, called the new standards “a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994” in a statement after Wednesday’s vote.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, also condemned the new curriculum, saying in a statement: “Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for.”
“Today’s actions by the Florida state government are an attempt to bring our country back to a 19th century America where Black life was not valued, nor our rights protected. It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history. We refuse to go back,” he said.
