Lisa Johnson, a homemaker with two children, protects the air in her Brighton home by avoiding anything artificial. She uses area rugs, natural flooring, cloth shower curtains, low-impact cleaning products and has a personal ban on pesticides. So it came as a shock when a laboratory test of the dust in her house turned up traces of 35 industrial chemicals — all of them hazardous.

While sports and energy drinks help athletes re-hydrate after a long workout, if consumed on a regular basis they can damage teeth. These beverages may cause irreversible damage to dental enamel, potentially resulting in severe tooth decay according to a study reported in the January/February issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry ’s clinical, peer-reviewed journal. Dental enamel is the thin, outer layer of hard tissue that helps maintain the tooth structure and shape, while protecting it from decay.

Caffeine intake makes insulin more resistant to changes in blood sugar levels, Canadian researchers report. This effect was observed both in patients with and those without diabetes and could not be reversed with regular exercise or weight.