Weight loss techniques are a dime a dozen these days, with experts touting all sorts of different diet and exercise regimens as the solution to obesity. But new research set to be presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) offers a simple approach that involves no drugs and has no negative side effects. According to researchers, drinking two glasses of water before each meal will help you to lose more weight.

 “We are presenting results of the first randomized controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy,” explained Brenda Davy, Ph.D., senior author of the study, to reporters.” In this recent study, we found that over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals, three times per day, lost about five pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake.” Read more

Did you know that although water is the healthiest drink you can choose on a plane, you can still get off dehydrated no matter how much you drink? Bottled water on planes leaves a lot to be desired on account of how hydrating it really is not.

The quality of water you consume is an extremely important factor in the acutely dehydrating aircraft cabin. Bottled water contains dissolved organic and inorganic matter. This matter is measured in total dissolved solids(TDS). Most bottled waters have tds counts in the hundreds. If you could separate this matter in the water it would look muddy. This reduces the amount of water by volume and its ability to keep you hydrated. Read more

Using products with antimicrobial chemicals must be a great way to protect your health. After all, you’re killing loads of germs while you wash your body and clean your house — and that’s a good thing, right? Not according to biologist and engineer Rolf Halden of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. In fact, he’s sounding the alarm these commonly used chemicals aren’t safe for human health and the environment. What’s more, they don’t even work better than plain soap and water.

The two most popular antimicrobial compounds, triclosan and triclocarban, are now a billion dollar a year industry and are found in a host of personal care products. Triclosan is added to plastic containers, toys and even clothing, too. First patented in l964 to kill germs before surgical procedures, the compound was pushed on consumers in the l980s when antimicrobials were hyped through massive marketing campaigns for “anti-germ” hand soaps. By 2001, a whopping 76 percent of all liquid soaps contained the chemical. Read more

More than half the water in China is so polluted as to be undrinkable, and nearly a quarter is so toxic that it is unsafe for even industrial use, according to the latest survey by the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The ministry divides water safety into six categories, the first three of which are safe for drinking and bathing. Samples taken from all of China’s major rivers and lakes in the first half of 2010 show that the percentage of water in categories I-III increased to 49.3 percent from 48 percent in 2009. Another 26.4 percent of China’s water is considered safe for agricultural and industrial uses (categories IV and V). The remaining 24.3 percent falls into category VI, unsafe for any use. Read more