I can’t even tell you how much my brain has grown in the first two days of grad school (and no, not in the ego-related head swelling sense). My fellow students are amazing (and come from such diverse backgrounds) and my professors are inspiring.

Alas, I am a bit tired from hiking all over campus (it’s amazing how the transition from formal exercise (less) to walking as transportation (lots!) can affect the body differently. I kind of feel how I do when I go on a sightseeing vacation. Anyhoo, I’m going to briefly share with you four of the most interesting things I’ve learned so far:
  1. Only 3/100 of 1 percent of Americans meet the recommended dietary guidelines for sodium and potassium intake. I actually guessed 1 percent, since I was pretty sure that not many people eat enough fruits and vegetables for ample potassium and avoid junk food, fast food and the salt shaker enough to keep sodium levels low.
  2. If you think you are being healthier by buying soda that’s newly formulated to contain sucrose (table sugar) instead of high-fructose corn syrup, think again. Sucrose is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose. HFCS is about 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. In an acidic environment (i.e., soda), sucrose just  breaks down (hydrolyzes) into its fructose and glucose components, anyway. My solution? Drink water!
  3. As soda consumption increases in a population, so does poverty. They track pretty much side-by-side. That’s why some soda taxes (proposed or actually passed) are getting attacked: It’s because those taxes are essentially being levied on the poor, which is considered regressive taxation.
  4. If you want to age well (not necessarily living longer, but living healthier), please, I beg of you….exercise! Be kind to your mitochondria! (Some of you will know what that is, other’s won’t, but I plan to say more about this somewhere down the line.)

Have a great weekend! You know what I’ll be doing. That’s right…studying.