‘Redskins’ Players Weigh in on Name; Team President Says It’s ‘Respectful’
Redskins President Bruce Allen sent a response to Senators Maria Cantwell (D-MD) and Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) letter on Friday, saying that the team’s name was “respectful” toward Native Americans. “Our use of Redskins as the name of our football team for more than 81 years has always been respectful of and shown reverence toward the proud legacy and traditions of Native Americans,” Allen wrote in the letter addressed to Reid.
On May 22, 50 senators sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging him to endorse changing the team’s name. Goodell has yet to publicly respond to the letter, but Allen and his franchise remain defiant.
In his letter, Allen said the name “originated as a Native American expression of solidarity” and that its logo was designed by Native Americans (ICTMN reported that this story about the logo’s design was fabricated; as did the The Washington Post). He also wrote that a majority of Native Americans as well as all Americans supported the team’s name, a fact that has been frequently disputed; most notably by the Change the Mascot Campaign.
RELATED Change Happens: Majority of Wash Post Readers Now Say Change ‘Redskins’
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Some of the team’s players have tweeted their support for Allen’s letter. Each tweet from Ryan Kerrigan, Desean Jackson, Alfred Morris, Brian Orakpo, and Pierre Garcon said something similar, “President Bruce Allen sets the record straight in response to Harry Reid’s letter.“ Other players also weighed in in support of the letter.
Bruce Allen is the President and GM of the Washington football team (AP Photo)
In January, however, cornerback DeAngelo Hall told Mike Hill of Fox Sports that the team should “probably change its name.” He’s the only ‘Redskins’ player who has dared even whisper a public name-change endorsement. And the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman, told Time.com, that the NFL would not take action similar to what the NBA did in banning soon to be former Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racist comments“because we have an NFL team called the Redskins.”
RELATED ‘Redskins’ Player Says Team ‘Probably Should’ Change Name
But the National Congress of American Indians is hoping for more than just a few players to speak out. The organization reportedly sent more than 2,700 letters to players and former players in the NFL asking them to speak out against the name. The letter included some of Sherman’s comments on the Redskins name.
“Because you are in the NFL, you command a level of respect and credibility when speaking out about the league’s behavior,” NCAI’s letter said. “Indeed, players are the most publicly identifiable representatives of the league, which means your support is critical to ending this injustice.”
Players — some former players and coaches — were asked to respond using the hashtag #rightsideofhistory.
Here are a few tweets in support of the name change:
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/05/28/redskins-players-weigh-name-team-president-says-its-respectful-155064?page=0%2C1
Sherman Alexie Keeps Crowd in Stitches, Praises Student Activists
A dapper Sherman Alexie on stage in Spokane, Washington.
Jack McNeel, Indian Country Today
Sherman Alexie could make a very good living strictly as a humorist — he’s that good. A large crowd in Spokane recently laughed themselves to tears through an hour and 45 minute routine on subjects ranging from his books being banned, body hair, funerals, gay marriage, basketball, his family, and more.
Nobody was spared as Alexie interacted with the crowd and his own family members, and he laughed at his own “inadequacies”. “When you’ve been married 20 years you have to spice things up. I’m getting older. I’m middle aged — 47. I’m at the age now that I need more foreplay than my wife. Honey, if you listen to some of my worries and fears for the next 15 minutes I’ll be ready.” The crowd exploded in laughter and Alexie joined right in.
RELATED: And Stephen Colbert’s Replacement Is…Sherman Alexie?
“This last year I feel like I’ve aged dramatically. I have more body hair than any Indian guy is supposed to have. I keep thinking one of my grandmothers lied. One of my grandmothers was getting it on with a Jesuit. I can just feel it. I’m like a little bit Catholic,” he laughed and the crowd roared.
“The hardest part are the random hairs. I’m getting ear hair. I’m getting gray nose hairs. You can’t hide them because it’s dark in your nostrils. It doesn’t matter what color you are as a human being, nostrils are all the same. Our nostrils are really multi-cultural.”
The dialogue continued, the stories getting wilder as he progressed and a bit more “colorful.”
His book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian was recently challenged by a school board in Meridian, Idaho. “People would stand up and testify against my book. One woman was like, ‘these children come from our wombs!’ It’s funny but it’s sad,” Alexie said. “Apparently she thought we didn’t know that! I think we need to have ‘The Talk’ with Meridian.”
Alexie explained that “an amazing, courageous student, Brady Kissel,” testified at the meeting and had a petition signed by 350 students asking that the book not be banned. Another young lady raised enough money to purchase enough money to buy 350 of the books, which they distributed at a city park in Boise.
“The craziest part of it is that as they were distributing the books one of the parents called the police and said kids were distributing pornography in the park,” Alexie explained. The police arrived, checked it out, and left. Sherman’s publisher heard of this and sent an additional 350 copies to be distributed free.
RELATED: Idaho Students Get 700 Free Copies of Challenged Sherman Alexie Book
This novel won the American Library Association’s 2009 Odyssey Award as the best new audio book for children and young adults.
The two young ladies were on hand at the event in Spokane. The author had them stand for well deserved applause.
Alexie himself was in town to support the Salish School of Spokane, a school dedicated to teaching Salish to youngsters. It’s the native language of local tribes but few elders remain who still speak fluent Salish. Money raised this night will go to support the school and Sherman donated his time to attract a large crowd.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/05/28/sherman-alexie-keeps-crowd-stitches-praises-student-activists-155065
Nisqually Tribe looking for connections between zooplankton and salmon
May 27th, 2014 Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
The Nisqually Indian Tribe is trying to find a way to predict future salmon runs by measuring what juvenile salmon eat on their way out to the ocean.
The tribe is expanding their research on local salmon to take a look at zooplankton in deep South Sound, which young salmon eat after leaving the Nisqually River. “Eventually, we might be able to connect the availability of food in Puget Sound with chinook runs three or four years down the line,” said David Troutt, natural resources director for the tribe.
As they migrate to the open ocean, juvenile salmon consume small animals like zooplankton. Nisqually tribal researchers want to find out if there’s less food in Puget Sound when salmon are migrating out, meaning fewer may be coming back.
The study will examine the entire community structure of competitors and predators, including plankton and other fish species. A smolt trap operated by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife on the Nisqually River will determine the timing, size and number of out-migrating salmon.
The tribe will sample juvenile fish from the Nisqually estuary and adjacent marine areas using a beach seine and lampara net. At the same time, the tribe will sample the water for zooplankton and other small animals. “If we find that in years when a lot of food is available, salmon survive to return at higher rates, we could more easily predict future salmon runs,” Troutt said.
In an earlier study of chinook leaving the Nisqually River, the tribe found a direct connection between fish that were able to find food in the river’s estuary and those able to make it back as adults. “We typically find two groups of juvenile chinook leaving the watershed,” Troutt said. “The fish that stayed and fed in the estuary survived to return as adults while those with other life history strategies did not.”
The tribe’s research is part of the region-wide Salish Sea Marine Survival Project. The project brings together researchers in both the United States and Canada to better understand the relationship between salmon and the marine environment.
Treaty Indian tribes are locally based and use cutting edge management techniques, making them uniquely qualified to conduct close to the ground research. “Being able to understand the salmon life cycle is important if we want to preserve our treaty protected right to harvest salmon,” said Georgiana Kautz, natural resources manager for the tribe. “Our treaty rights depend on there being fish actually available to harvest.”
When College Isn’t Worth It
Doram/iStockphoto
By Anya Kamenetz NPR.org
May 28, 2014
The New York Times highlighted new data yesterday that once again beats the drum: Despite skyrocketing costs, a college degree is a good investment. In fact, MIT economist David Autor writes in the journal Science that the value of a degree is rising. College grads made almost twice as much per hour in 2013 as workers without a four-year degree. And the lifetime value of a diploma is now around a half-million dollars, even after you factor in tuition.
Well, we here at NPR Ed thought we’d play the skeptic and ask: When is college not worth it? Because, lo and behold, sometimes it isn’t. Here are the three broad cases in which a college education, in fact, does not pay.
If … You Don’t Graduate
Lots and lots of people who enroll in college just don’t finish. And, to get an honest accounting of a diploma’s value, these noncompleters (that’s the term of art in the research —”dropouts” is a bit too judgmental) need to be part of the math. Otherwise, it’s like the latest fad diet touting “befores” and “afters” without counting those who didn’t stick with it.
Only 59 percent of people who begin a four-year degree, with all good intentions, actually finish within six years. How many people are we talking about? Some 34 million American adults attended college but have no degree to show for it. That’s huge, compared with the 41 million Americans who have a bachelor’s as their terminal degree.
Keep in mind, noncompleters borrow student loans just as often as those who finish. And, unfortunately, raw knowledge picked up while in college doesn’t do nearly as much to boost earning potential as a diploma does. Folks with some college earn less than those with an associate’s degree. They’re also more likely to be unemployed. In other words: results not typical for college graduates.
If … You Pick the Wrong College
For-profit colleges enroll just under 10 percent of all college students, but they’re notorious for relatively high tuition costs and low graduation rates. Research shows that graduates of these schools have higher unemployment rates and lower opinions of their education long after graduating.
The U.S. Department of Education has just drafted a proposed rule that’s meant to crack down on the for-profits. It’s called the “gainful employment rule” and would cut off federal aid to schools where a) too many students are defaulting on their loans or b) the debt burden of graduates is way out of line with their incomes.
But the for-profits are striking back, pointing out that — by the Education Department’s own statistics — 26 percent of graduates from public four-year colleges and 39 percent of grads from private four-year colleges are not “gainfully employed.” That’s an awful lot of college graduates, across all types of institutions, who have reason to ask: Was college worth it?
If … You Pick the Wrong Degree
What you study matters — a lot. The gap in average earnings by undergraduate major is just as wide as the gap between high school and college grads. They range from a high of $120,000 for petroleum engineers to a low of $29,000 for those who major in counseling psychology. Considering the average student debt burden is $29,400, that’s a big group of graduates whose degrees may not pay off.
Now, we’re not arguing that a college degree is a bad idea. It’s not. Let’s italicize that one: For most students, it’s not. Our point is, when it comes to bold, blanket statements about the value of a college degree and whether it will pay off … words like “always” and “never” aren’t helpful. Or true.
May 28, 2014 syəcəb
Hash it out: A debate of popular facts and myths of marijuana use
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
Marijuana, the scourge of our time. The gateway to a criminal underworld. The black market miracle medicine. Whether you are part of the outcry pleading for the legalization of marijuana or part of the opposition and fear created from reefer madness, we’ve all heard the propaganda and conspiracy theories. As Tulalip is faced with the decision to legalize or not, the issue has become shrouded in a haze of claims about the benefits and dangers of marijuana consumption. Results from a recent online survey conducted by the Tulalip Communications Staff highlighted some popular facts, misconceptions, and fears about marijuana consumption, which will be examined here:
Marijuana is harmless to smoke. There are no downsides, either for medical or recreational use.
False – Marijuana has many adverse effects on the human body. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, heavy users of marijuana have long-term impairment of cognitive function, specifically with learning and the retention of new information. In testing, the American Academy of Neurology found that the rate of decreased productivity and cognitive impairment was directly related to the rate of increase in marijuana use.
Marijuana repairs the lungs, and actually is better for them.
False – The University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute reports that light use of marijuana, one to three times a month, caused no real harm or adverse effects on the pulmonary system. Heavy use, three to five times a week, caused a deterioration of lung tissue, and often contributed to users suffering a collapsed lung. In general, it is a lung irritant.
Marijuana repairs brain cells and promotes mental health.
True and false – This is a tricky aspect to understand, as it involves brain chemistry. The American Academy of Neurology explains that THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana, inhibits the endocannabinoid system. The human endocrine system produces cannabinoid compounds in various organs. When THC is metabolized in the liver, the liver releases unusually high levels of endocannabinoids into the bloodstream. THC inhibits some of the cannabinoid receptors in the brain, which can help with mental disorders such as epilepsy and autism, yet the endocannabinoid compound levels are so high that the natural system becomes overstimulated. It is unclear exactly what the effects of overstimulation are.
It is certain, though, that marijuana users show signs of improvements in the nervous system, specifically growth and repair of nerve endings throughout the body, and nerve pathways in the brain.
Marijuana cures cancer.
True – Though not a cure, this claim is not entirely false. Reports from the American Cancer Association show that marijuana, in most cases, inhibits the growth of cancer cells, slowing down the aggressive nature of cancer. That same component works to prevent cells from binding together, which inhibits tumor growth.
Marijuana is not addictive.
False – While marijuana does not create chemical dependency, the way opiates and pharmaceutical drugs do, there is still a strong mental aspect to addiction. The overactive endocannabinoid system resulting from marijuana use creates a craving in the brain. Studies from the National Institute of Drug Abuse show subjects that have been clean of marijuana for more than a month still have long-term mental and behavioral effects, most notably an inability to feel satisfied with everyday life.
Marijuana is a great antidepressant and anti-anxiety medicine.
True and false – According to an article in Science News, marijuana, in low doses, is an effective antidepressant. However, heavy use, or prolonged use, can prove ineffective and even worsen depression, mostly in relation to the lack of satisfaction one experiences when they are not high.
As an anti-anxiety medication, low doses prove effective. Again, as use increases, anxiety can worsen. The National Institute of Drug Abuse, in addition to lack of satisfaction in everyday life, recorded a lack of coping ability with stress, leading to increased anxiety and irritability when not high.
Nobody has ever overdosed on marijuana.
True – There has never been a recorded overdose or death from marijuana consumption. The Australian Department of health conducted extensive tests on animals, looking at how much marijuana had to be consumed before a toxic level was reached. The result proved to be an unrealistic number. Though no humans were tested, for obvious ethical reasons, the hypothesized amount of marijuana needed to be consumed by the average human to reach a toxic level is approximately 8.5kg in one sitting. That’s 20lbs, or more than 300oz.
While there are no recorded deaths or overdoses from marijuana use, there are recorded deaths from the use of hash oil, though less than ten. Hash oil is processed marijuana, which extracts the THC from the marijuana leaves, and is on average five times more potent that marijuana. THC toxicity levels can be achieved in one sitting with the use of hash oil, especially by first time users. THC poisoning typically causes users to pass out. Most common resulting causes of death are apnea (the user stops breathing) or cardiac arrest.
Neither of these include statistics for accidents involving marijuana DUIs, or death related to impairment from marijuana use.
Marijuana is clean to use, there is no residue.
False – When you smoke marijuana, the residue from the THC seeps into fabrics, walls, and your skin. The Journal of the American Medical Association of Pediatrics reports a rising number of cases of infant and toddler marijuana poisoning. Most often, the cases are a result of contact with surfaces where marijuana has been smoked. The children absorb the THC residue through their skin. Symptoms recorded are excessive vomiting, irritability, and lack of balance, especially upon standing. Because they are infants and toddlers and vomit and fall often, these symptoms often go unnoticed. They are more easily spotted, though, in young children, preteens, and kids in their early teens.
These points were the most prominent points brought up repeatedly in the survey. Some are true, some are not, and some are exceedingly ambiguous. The answers here are what science has to offer for the marijuana debate.
Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com
Phone: (360) 716.4188
Honoring Tulalip warriors: Memorial Day ceremonies commemorate their sacrifice
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
Tulalip veterans and their families, as well as the families of fallen soldiers, gathered at Priest Point and Mission Beach cemeteries Memorial Day, May 26, to remember the service men and women that gave their lives in the service of their country and to honor their sacrifice.
Tulalip Councilwoman Marie Zackuse said, “Today, we honor those that answered the call, when war came. Those that answered the call and made the ultimate sacrifice. We are grateful for what they did.
“We also are here to honor those ones that served and returned home,” she added. “Teat-mus always talks about going to war with his brother, and how he was killed right beside him. How hard that was for him.”
Veterans that spoke recalled their comrades and the loss of friends.
Tulalip veteran Cy Williams said, “Of the 150 men in my unit that went to Vietnam, 26 of us returned. I buried a lot of my friends.”
Memorial Day is a day to honor and remember the sacrifice many families made for this country, as the mothers bore the sorrow of their child’s sacrifice. The names of Tulalip Gold Star Mothers were called in the roll call.
As Tulalip Veteran, Cy Hatch, read the roll call of fallen soldiers, he announced that, “This day is also dedicated to the Mothers who have made the supreme sacrifice. They have suffered more than any of us can possibly imagine – our hands are raised up to these Gold Star Mothers.”
The 10:00 a.m. Memorial Day service at Priest Point Cemetery was carried out by the Tulalip Honor Guard, who stood steadfast through the pouring rain to honor the Tulalip warriors past and present. The weather cleared up for the 11:00 a.m. service at Mission Beach Cemetery, and the Tulalip Honor Guard, again, carried out their task impeccably.
A special thanks was offered to four Veterans in particular. Mike Addie, Art Contraro, Tony Gobin, and Richard Muir Jr. cleaned up the two cemeteries over the three weeks prior, along with the Tulalip Maintenance staff, in preparation for the day’s activities.
Gold Star Mothers (and fathers)
WWI
Alphonsus Bob and Julianne Bob
Elison James and Katrina Bagley
Korea
Walter Moses and Marya Moses
Joseph Charles Jr. and Nora Charles
Vietnam
Donald Campbell and Katherine Campbell
Larry Price and Elsie Price
Gus Smith and Toddy Smith
Tulalip Tribes − Priest Point Cemetery
UNKNOWN SOLDIER
CHARLES JR, JOSEPH
DAVIS, WILLIAM D.
GRAVES, WALTER
HATCH SR, CHARLES
HATCH SR, EZRA
JAMES SR, ELSON
LEWIS, CECIL
MOSES, WALTER
WILLIAMS, JESSIE
Tulalip Tribes − Mission Beach Cemetery
UNKNOWN SOLDIER
ADAMS, TOMMY
ADAMS, WALTER
ALEXANDER, JOSEPH G.
ALEXANDER, JOSEPH J.
ALEXANDER SR., WARREN
ARCHIE, ROBERT
ASHMAN SR, CHESTER
BAGLEY, ELMER
BAGLEY, RAYMOND
BAGGARLEY, JAY
BAGGARLEY, JUNIOR
BARTO, ROBERT
BEATTY, EDWARD
BLACKBIRD, JOSEPH
BOB, ALPHONSUS
BROWN SR. ELLIOTT
BROWN, FLOYD
BROWN, LAWRENCE F.
BROWN, ROBERT
BROWN, RONALD
BRUDEVOLD, JOSEPH
BURNS, JAMES
CAMPBELL, DONALD
CHARLES, ALVIN
CHARLES, LEO
CHARLES, WESLEY
CHARLEY JR, LAWRENCE
CHARLEY SR, LAWRENCE
CHEER SR, ARNOLD
CEPA, MARTIN
CLADOOSBY JR, ERNEST
CLADOOSBY SR, ERNEST
CLEARY, ROBERT CLIFFORD
COMENOTE, GEORGE
CONTRARO, GEORGE
COLE, JAMES
COY, JOSEPH
CRAFT, SR., WILLIAM RAY
CRAIG, GEORGE
CULTEE, HARRY
DELOS SANTOS, ARTURO
DOVER, GEORGE
DOVER, WILLIAM
DUNBAR, ERNEST
DUNN, HARRY
DUNN, JAMES
ENICK SR, GERALD JOHN
EYLE, PETE
FRYBERG, BYRON
FRYBERG, MYRON JAMES
FRYBERG, RAYMOND
GATES, PATRICK
GEORGE, JACK
GOBIN, BERNARD WILLIAM
GOBIN, EMERY
GOBIN, THOMAS JOSEPH
GRANT, CLAUDE
GRENIER, RICHARD
GRENIER JR, WILLIAM
HARRISON, ORVILLE
HATCH JR, ARTHUR
HATCH SR, CLARENCE
HATCH JR, CYRUS
HATCH, EZRA (ZANE)
HATCH, LAWRENCE (LARRY)
HATCH JR, LLOYD
HATCH SR, LLOYD
HATCH, VERLE
HATCH, WAYNE
HAWK, GORDON
HEGNES, HELMER
HENRY ALEX
HILLAIRE, PHIL
HILL SR, CHARLES
HILL, THEODORE
HOOD, AL
HOPKINS, ALFORD M.
HORNE, ROMEY A.
HOWARD, SHERMAN
JAMES SR, CHARLES
JAMES, JOHNNY
JAMES MICHAEL
JAMES, WILLIAM
JIMICUM, JOSEPH
JIMICUM, LARRY
JOBEY, JAMES
JOE, LAWRENCE
JOHN, ALBERT
JOHNNY, MARTIN
JONES, BAYARD
JONES, CARL (POLY)
JONES, DARRYL
JONES, DENNIS (JERRY)
JONES JR, GEORGE
JONES, LEONARD (PENNY)
JONES JR, RALPH (BREEZER) DELNO
JONES SR., WILLIAM
JOSEPH, BERNARD
JOSEPH, HAROLD
KEOKUK, JOSEPH
KONA, ISSAC (IKE)
KONA SR, RONALD KEITH
LACY SR, CECIL D.
LAMONT JR, LEVI
LAMONT SR, LEVI
LECLAIRE, ROBERT
LECLAIRE, ALAN
LEDFORD SR, ALAN
LYLE, GALEN
LYLE, WILLIS
MADISON, FRANK
MATTA, ART
MCCOY, RICHARD R. (DICK)
MCDEVEITT, JAMES
MCKAY, JR. ARNOLD
MCLEAN, WILFORD
MCLEAN SR, WILLIAM
MILLER, JOE
MONGER, JAMES
MORRISON, DERYLE
MOSES JR, KENNETH
MOSES SR, KENNETH
MOSES, MORGAN
MOSES, RONALD EDWARD
MOSES SR, ROBERT
MYERS, ROBERT EARL
NAPEAHI, JR., WILLIAM
NAPOLEON, HENRY
NUCHOLS, JOHN
OLIVER, CHARLES (MANNY)
PABLO SR, LOUIE
PATRICK, DANIEL
PAUL, HAROLD
PERRY, WILFRED
PRICE, LARRY
PRICE, PAUL
PROUTY, WILL
PYOTT, KENNETH
REESE, WILLIE
REEVES SR, CONRAD
REEVES, GEORGE
REHDER, CARL
RENECKER SR, ROCKY
RETASKET, GARY
RICE, GEORGE
RIVERA, CARLOS
RIVERA, JOHN
ROSS, JOHN H.
RYNER, HOMER
SAM, ALFRED
SANDERS, REGINA
SCHEEHAGEN, EDWARD
SHELDON, FRANCIS
SHELDON JR., LAWRENCE
SHELDON SR., MELVIN
SHELDON, ROBERT (BOB)
SHELTON, ALOYSIUS
SHELTON, CLARENCE
SHELTON, REUBEN
SHELTON, WILLIAM “BILL”
SMITH JR, GUS
SMITH, RUSSELL
SNEATLUM SR, CHARLES
SPENCER JR, RICHARD
STEVE, WILFRED
TAYLOR, CURTIS
TAYLOR JR, DALLAS
THOMAS, LOUIS
TOM, HARRY R.
TORY, JAMES
UPCHURCH, O. C.
VAN PELT, LEONARD
WALKER, GEORGE
WARBUS, JOSEPH
WELLS, WALTER
WILLIAMS, BENJAMIN
WILLIAMS SR, BERNARD
WILLIAMS JR, CHARLES
WILLIAMS SR, CHARLES
WILLIAMS, CHRIS
WILLIAMS JR, EDWARD
WILLIAMS SR, EDWARD
WILLIAMS SR, GEORGE
WILLIAMS, JOSEPH
WILLIAMS, KENNETH
WILLIAMS, LEONARD
WILLIAMS, MARVIN (SPUD)
WILLIAMS, RANDOLPH
WILLIAMS, RANDOLPH (RANDY)
WILLIAMS SR, RICHARD
WILLIAMS STEVE
WOLD, SEVERIN (SAM)
Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com
Phone: (360) 716.4188
Could Diet Soda Really Be Better Than Water For Weight Loss?
By Allison Aubrey NPR.ORG
May 28, 2014
Answering the question of whether diet soda helps or hinders dieters’ efforts to lose weight has been the focus of much research. And buzz.
Unfortunately, the answer is still murky.
On one hand, as we’ve reported, long-term studies suggest that some diet soda drinkers’ efforts to lose weight are stymied when they compensate for the zero-calorie beverages by eating more food. Call it the Diet Coke and french fry conundrum. Or perhaps artificial sweeteners mess up our metabolisms, as some have theorized.
But there’s also research showing that when people swap sugary drinks for zero-calorie options, they lose weight. And, when people combine a diet drink habit with an overall healthy pattern of eating, the combination seems to work to lower the risk of metabolic syndrome, according to research.
Now a new study, funded by the American Beverage Association, suggests that diet drinks might be more effective than water alone in helping dieters shed pounds.
We had to ask: Really?
The study, published Tuesday in the journal Obesity, included about 300 overweight participants, all of whom were enrolled in a weight loss and exercise program. As part of the intervention, each participant was randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was told to avoid all diet drinks and drink mostly water. The other group was told to consume a combination of zero-calorie drinks (for example, diet soda or artificially sweetened teas) and water.
At the end of three months, the participants in the diet-drink group had lost about 13 pounds on average. That was four more pounds than the average of nine pounds lost by those in the water group.
“We were kind of surprised by the findings that showed that diet beverages actually did a little better than water” in the outcome, John Peters, one of the study authors, tells The Salt. He’s the chief strategy officer of the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.
So, what explains the findings? How could diet drinks potentially lead to more weight loss?
“We did see that people in the diet-soda wing of the study reported less hunger during the trial than those in the water group,” says Peters. But he emphasizes that this is just speculation. “We can’t determine mechanism from this trial.”
That speculation doesn’t fly with some experts, who question using diet soda as a tool to curb appetites. “Studies suggest that consumption of diet soda makes people continue to crave sugar, thereby making it harder to quit,” says Laura Schmidt, a professor of health policy at the University of California, San Francisco.
Peters tells me he’s aware that people are questioning the results. And he’s surprised by that reaction to the study so far: “I’m kind of amazed how much people are trying to find a reason not to believe these findings.”
It’s possible that many people are still leery about the safety of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, despite years of studies aimed at establishing safety. “There’s always some lingering question: Are these good for you or not?” Peters says.
Or it could be that once people hear about the industry link, they’re just dismissive of the findings. But Peters says he and his colleagues carried out the study completely independently at their academic research sites.
“We responded to a [request for proposal] that was put out by the ABA to the scientific community” to study the effects of diet drinks, he says.
But, Peters explains, he and the other researchers made an agreement with the industry group in advance that whatever the findings — positive or negative — the results would be submitted for publication.
As industry funding of nutrition research has become more commonplace, there are protocols in place to keep separation between funders and scientists. But a 2007 meta-analysis in PLoS Medicine found that industry funding increases the odds of results favoring the industry’s position.
Beyond the study’s ties to the diet soda industry, other researchers say the new research doesn’t provide any closure to the murky science of diet sodas. “This paper is fatally flawed, and leaves us with little science to build on,” Purdue University researcher Susie Swithers tells us.
She points out that the paper does not include detailed information about what participants consumed in lieu of diet soda beyond the water they were told to drink. So it’s hard to know how many calories they consumed from other beverages. “Did they switch to regular sodas? [Did they] add sugar instead of artificial sweeteners to their coffee or tea?” Swithers wonders.
All in all, “this paper tells us nothing about the long-term health consequences that should be our real focus,” Swithers concludes.
NRCS California Accepting Applications for Tribal EQIP Initiative
SOURCE USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service
DAVIS, Calif., May 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is partnering with California’s tribal nations to make financial assistance available to help tribal farmers, ranchers and non-industrial private forest operators put additional conservation on the ground.
Applications will be accepted through July 18, 2014. Funding is being made available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through two statewide and three landscape tribal resource priority areas.
The three Landscape Resource Priorities are aimed at improving and managing forest health and reducing wildfire threats, as well as rangeland health and water quality. The three priorities areas are:
— Northern Coastal Tribes Forests and Rangeland in Del Norte, Humboldt,
Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Trinity and Western Siskiyou counties.
— Intermountain and Central Sierra Tribal Forests and Rangeland in Amador,
Butte, Eastern Siskiyou, El Dorado, Fresno, Kings, Lassen, Madera,
Mariposa, Modoc, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Tulare, Tuolumne and Western
Shasta counties.
— South Coast and Desert Tribal Forests and Rangeland in Imperial, Inyo,
Mono, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
The two Statewide Resource Priorities are aimed at reducing soil erosion, improving irrigation water efficiency, water quality, restoring and managing native plants for traditional Native American food and fiber production. The two statewide priorities are:
— Statewide Tribal Poly-farms: small, biologically diverse farms and
medium size agricultural operations for subsistence, intra-tribal and
external commerce.
— Native Plants Restoration: culturally important tribal plants for food
and fiber.
The EQIP Tribal Initiative provides financial and technical assistance to Tribes and tribal producers who voluntarily agree to NRCS guidelines for installation of approved conservation practices that address program priorities related to addressing soil, water, air quality, domestic livestock, wildlife habitat, surface and groundwater conservation, energy conservation, and related natural resource concerns.
There are 109 Federally Recognized American Indian Tribes in California. There are at least 69 Non-Federally Recognized Tribes in California petitioning for federal recognition. The Federally-recognized tribes have jurisdiction over 635,739 acres of Tribal Trust Land in California.
NRCS has provided leadership in a partnership effort to help America’s private land owners and managers conserve their soil, water and other natural resources since 1935. For more information on NRCS, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service
CONTACT: Jonathan Groveman (530) 792-5692, Alan Forkey (530) 792-5653
Web Site: http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov