This just in: Driving is not exercise.

In what can only be described as a jaw-droppingly disappointing recent study, experts have found that the more dependent on the automobile you are, the greater the likelihood that you're a fatty.  Huh!  What's next?  Butter is delicious?  This is madness, and can most assuredly be linked to the failed policies of the First Lady, Michelle Obama.  I can't take it, I'd go water my plants, but I'm sure some expert will tell me that that will help them grow.  HERE's the original story from Streetsblog.  Bike lanes, anyone?

I wonder how it pours?

In a remarkable move, Hunt's has removed high fructose corn syrup from all of its retail ketchup!  This is good news.  Of course it still contains sugar, but a general move away from the deceptively cheap and easy-to-add-to-everything-in-sight HFCS and a return to sucrose, or table sugar is seen as a slight victory for the real food movement.  Debate exists over the actual health risks associated with HFCS:

"Critics of HFCS point out a correlation between increased usage of HFCS in foods and obesity rates in the United States over three decades.^[38] Some allege that HFCS is in itself more detrimental to health than table sugar (sucrose); others claim that the low cost of HFCS encourages overconsumption of sugars. The Corn Refiners Association has launched an aggressive advertising campaign to counter these criticisms, claiming that high-fructose corn syrup "is natural" and "has the same natural sweeteners as table sugar".^[39] Both sides point to studies in peer reviewed journals that allegedly support their point of view."

High Fructose Corn Syrup is also the product of massively subsidized American corn farmers, so I suggest Hunt's throws them a bone by replacing their disposable plastic bottle with a corn-based bio-degradable one.

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Born to Run -- Barefoot!

I think I've somehow known this since I was young, but here's proof that the human foot (and body) evolved to run healthiest barefoot!  From the LA Times:

A gentle reminder to EVERYONE ON EARTH

Common decency dictates the following:

Thank you for listening.

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Heroes of PS 8 in Brooklyn!

If these tiny humans get it, why can't all the big ones?

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From the I Told You So Department

A little looking down the nose thanks to the NYC Dept. of Health.

"Humans have been finely tuned over eons of evolution to move our limbs a lot to get around (as opposed to driving) and exercise in general has documented psychological benefits so it's shouldn't be surprising that walking and biking are good for your mind.

But this is a 40 percent increase in mental distress for people who don't walk or bike. These mental benefits are significant, and they're often overlooked in our discussions about transportation."

I have also long thought that the rush of adrenaline and feeling of competitive fun that biking, in particular, provides must serve to fill some primal need for former hunters. Similar to the need met by video games, but WAY better.

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