We are, like most people these days, completely bombarded with information. It’s both amazing and sometimes overwhelming. Much of the time, I’d like to share my new discoveries about health here on the website for any AskDrErnst followers and fans, but not everything merits a full, long-form article. So today–and we’ll see how it works in the future–we’re posting a general update with a diverse range of new health information.

Let’s jump right in.

It seems fast food is even worse than we thought

Here’s a great investigation by a Canadian consumer protection organization and news show called CBC Marketplace. Investigators went to five popular chain restaurants and ran DNA tests on their chicken. This is going to just blow your mind.

So they went to Subway, McDonalds, A&W, Tim Horton’s (it’s Canadian) and Wendy’s. Before I hit you with the results, let me ask you: When you go and buy a chicken sandwich, you think you’re eating chicken, right? I mean, if it’s fast food you’re after, you probably accept that there are some preservatives, fryer oil, hormones, antibiotics, etc. But you still probably think that, on a genetic level, you’re eating actual chicken.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

DNA tests of an A&W Chicken Grill Deluxe found that the “chicken” was only 89.4 percent actual chicken.

Tests of a Tim Hortons Chipotle Chicken Grilled Wrap came back 86.5 percent chicken.

Tests of a Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich came back 88.5 percent chicken.

Tests of a McDonalds Country Chicken came back 84.9 percent chicken.

And here’s the biggest shocker!

Tests for two Subway chicken sandwiches (the oven roasted chicken sandwich and the chicken strips) came back as just over half chicken.

• Oven roasted chicken sandwich – 53.6 percent chicken
• Chicken strips – 42.8 percent chicken. That’s less than half chicken in your chicken strips!

So what’s the rest of it? Mostly soy, the most toxic cash crop in the world, full of hormone disrupting xenoestrogens and GMO material and pesticides, etc.

But health issues aside, isn’t that just bad business?

More support for the health benefits of fasting

A state of fasting has been shown to put the mice pancreatic cells in a state of “developmental reprogramming” according to a new study by the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California.

The diet effectively reboots the pancreas and pancreatic function. This has incredible implications for diabetics, people with insulin and weight loss resistance and could even help prevent diseases that develop down the road like cancer and heart disease.

And all you have to do is periodically not eat.

Back pain is a mortality indicator

A study conducted at the University of Sydney in Australia looked at the life and death of a whopping 2,000 sets of twins to try and gauge what differences they had and if it related to which one died younger or lived longer.

Basically what they found is that those who had chronic back pain during their life had a 13 percent greater chance of dying earlier than their counterparts who didn’t have ongoing, chronic back pain.

Is it back pain that kills you? The study doesn’t dare to say that, and that wouldn’t make any sense anyway. The issue here is that back pain is a symptom of other underlying issues, like subluxation in the spine and possibly an indicator that the person’s lifestyle isn’t that great. They probably exercise less, don’t eat as well, are less active in general, etc.

And last: Cow milk is not healthy

Cow milk, especially if it’s not raw from grass-fed cows, is like concentrated toxin discharge. It contains all the nastiest things that goes into the cow–pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, etc. That’s what you’re drinking.

Furthermore, the udder of a cow attracts a lot of bacteria, which then causes a reaction in the udder where a shocking percentage of the milk that comes out is actually pus–yes, as in pimples.

The milk of a cow is designed by nature to nourish a baby calf to grow up to 400 lbs in the first year of its life. What do you think it’s doing to a human. The biggest sell in terms of health that the dairy industry has on its side is calcium. If you drink it, you get lots of calcium, which means you get strong bones. Well, some studies suggest that the less milk you drink, the less chance you have of developing osteoporosis.

Plus, you can get calcium in a lot of other foods, like kale, sardines, broccoli, bok choy and watercress.

And that’s today’s health update! The next time we’re bombarded with a ton of disparate health nuggets, we’ll do another one. And of course, if you’ve got ideas, let us know on our contact form.