What We’re Reading 10/16/09

Photo by Gibsonclaire.

Welcome to our third installment of the weekly What We’re Reading series where you can keep up with what the WellWire team is reading on blogs and news sites across the Internet.

Is Chivalry alive in your relationship? One breast cancer doctor can tell you what to look for when combing the online dating ads. Over his years of being an oncologist and witnessing women move through their cancer, he found a very interesting commonality amongst devoted partners: will he hold your purse?

Co-sleeping with infants controversy. Advocates say it’s beneficial for proper bonding and childhood development, while opponents say it’s potentially harmful. There was a recent study released in the Journal of Pediatrics correlating sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) with co-sleeping and it’s been all over the news in articles that leave out important details like soft bedding, alcohol and smoking. This article goes on to say that it is still unclear as to whether co-sleeping is harmful or beneficial for SIDS because other research has shown a decrease in SIDS when parents co-sleep…

Placebo. We’ve all heard of the placebo effect. Its a beneficial result from a treatment or pill without active ingredients or an unrelated surgery. And the placebo effect is getting stronger according to an article in Wired Magazine’s UK edition. Even drugs we once thought were working well, like Prozac, are in question. Researchers speculate that the placebo effect is strengthening because of the extensive and effective marketing by big pharmaceuticals.

Adopt a seed. Did you know biodiversity in plant seeds is decreasing. There are a huge number of plant varieties that we use for food or botanical medicine that are not in cultivation. These other varieties may provide a key gene that prevents the spread of disease or provides a life saving medicine. You can help out by becoming involved in Seed Savers or adopting a seed.

Six stir-fry sauce recipes. Making stir-fry is quick, healthy and can be low cost. Save even more money when you make your own stir fry sauce with this list of recipes for 6 different and yummy stir-fry sauces.

What about you, what are you reading?

Dr. Gibran Ramos, ND, MSOM completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at Northwest Natural Medicine in Milwaukie, Oregon.