It's all bad for you, and it's all good

I appreciate the media bringing attention to health issues. Particularly good is Jean Enersen's HealthLink on KING-5. But recently, a number of the advisories have made me more neurotic than usual. The one about moisturizers increasing skin cancer really made me listen, although I was less concerned when I heard that the study was conducted on hairless mice. I've never been mistaken for Minnie Mouse or any of her relatives, so I'm still slathering on the French moisturizer every morning. Then there was the alert about flip-flops being bad for your feet and lower legs. I love flip-flops and have four pairs that I wear year-round, from my water-friendly orange and black numbers to a hot pink patent leather pair. Soon enough I'll have to stuff my painted paws into polar fleece-lined waterproof boots, so I'm enjoying the freedom of my ten toes. The health warnings don't stop there: Stress makes allergies worse, belly fat is linked to strokes, and nanoparticles are discovered in foods. And there are all those nutrition headlines: FDA warns consumers not to eat certain mussel products, MSG use is linked to obesity, and Phelps — who eats like a horse and swims like a fish — consumes from 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day. Now that last one I like a lot — I just need to figure out where to put the pool.