All-natural additives in our food (such as carmine, a food dye made from beetles) might freak out some consumers. But it's the not-so-natural food chemicals that should perhaps scare us instead. The chemicals bisphenol A and phthalates are linked to obesity and insulin resistance in adolescents in two new studies, but the findings cannot yet answer whether the hotly debated hormone-like compounds are causing the negative health effects they are linked with, experts say. (MORE: Nature's Freakiest Food Additives) In...

((Thinkstock/Digital Vision)) Now might be the perfect time of year to go outside and get some exercise, especially if your excuses for avoiding outdoor activities usually fluctuate between “it’s too hot” and “it’s too cold.” But if a late-summer jog isn’t enticing enough for you, here’s one more reason to go run a few laps around the block: Obesity kills nearly three times more people than originally thought, according to a study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health...

For pilots, time spent in high altitudes could result in brain lesions and other damage to the central nervous system, a new study published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests. Neurologist Stephen McGuire, MD, with the University of Texas in San Antonio and the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine studied 91 United States Air Force pilots and non-pilots with MRI brain scans. Pilots flying at altitudes above 18,000 feet risked...

(Thinkstock/Bananastock) The summer season is high time for foodborne illness outbreaks, and 2013 is shaping up to be no different. Salmonella has sickened 316 people across 37 states, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No deaths have been reported, though more than 150 individuals have been hospitalized. Earlier in the summer, raw vegetables sickened almost 600 people across 22 states. Live poultry in backyard flocks are to blame for the most recent...

The Farm 432 allows you to harvest your own source of protein. (Photos courtesy of Katharina Unger and Farm 432) Summer is the season for fresh, locally grown foods — sweet corn, watermelon, peaches … and delicious, nutritious, all-natural fly larvae. This lesser-known superfood of summer offers a unique, inexpensive (and organic) way to add protein to your diet, some experts say. Earlier this year, the United Nations stated that humans aren’t eating enough bugs, and encouraged everyone to join...

It's well-documented that residents of large cities risk more negative health effects of air pollution — including heart and lung diseases, brain damage and asthma — than people who live in smaller towns or rural settings. (Those who live closer to busy roads also experience more pollution-related health risks.) But does the size of a city matter when it comes to the amount of pollution produced? That's the question NASA is trying to answer ina new study. Although there is...

((CDC/Cynthia Goldsmith, Azaibi Tamin)) The virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has been found in bats in Saudi Arabia, suggesting a potential origin for the disease, according to a new study. Researchers tested samples from bats living about 7 miles away from thehomeof the first person known to be infected withMERS in Saudi Arabia. A virus found in one of the bats was 100 percent identical to the MERS virus seen in people, the researchers said. (MORE: The...

(Thinkstock/Siri Stafford) As summer weather starts to inch toward fall, a new set of health concerns is about to crop up. Gone are concerns about heat stroke, sunburn and summertimefoodborneillness. Here are new worries about back-to-school-health risks, fall allergies and the beginning of the dreaded flu season. To help you stay on top of it all, we turned to top experts in a variety of fields — from dieticians to brain surgeons to cardiologists — to find out what you...

Climbing the beautiful Rocky Mountains, surviving almost 60 inches of annual snow and worshipping John Elway could be the keys to solving America’s obesity epidemic. Just look at the residents of Colorado, the least-obese state in America, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC calculated obesity rate – the percentage of obese citizens relative to the total population – for all 50 states. Colorado had the fewest obese residents – only...

Circa 1880: Gustav Zander's 'lateral pressure' apparatus. (Photos from Alfred Levertin's book 'Dr. G. Zander's Medico-mechanical Gymnastics: Its Method, Importance, and Application') In the 1910s, summer vacation looked a lot different. Some affluent Northerners would regularly travel to Hot Springs, Arkansas — a tree-lined, lush landscape filled with natural hot springs. There, they would find the exercise machines of Gustav Zander (pictured above). And so began America's love-hate relationship with working out at the gym. "If you imagine the 1910s...

Men might be from Mars, but a further distance away from the sun isn’t helping lower their risk of dying from skin cancer. Men are 70 percent more likely to die from the disease than women, according to a study from the University of Leeds. Researchers found that 3.4 men per 100,000 die from malignant melanoma – the most severe form of skin cancer – compared to only 2.0 women per 100,000. Men and women are diagnosed with skin cancer...

Mercury levels in fish, such as tuna and swordfish, are likely to experience a dangerous upward trend, and rainfall could be to blame, according to a University of Michigan study published in the journal Nature. Previous research has revealed that mercury can be found these and other open-ocean fish, despite being thousands of miles away from sources, like coal-burning power plants. Researchers wanted to find the mechanism for mercury in these fish, and how to prevent mercury levelsfrom rising even...