Odd Cures

You may be eating and drinking some odd things in the future. There is striking new evidence that green, or unroasted, coffee beans can produce a substantial decrease in body weight in a relatively short period of time. Drinking coffee doesn’t do it–you have to eat the beans. And here’s another odd cure: Other research suggests that ingestion of components of afterbirth or placenta may offer benefits to mothers and maybe even to non-mothers and males.

Researcher Joe Vinson studied a group of overweight or obese people who consumed a fraction of an ounce of ground green coffee beans each day lost about 10% of their body weight. Vinson says, "Based on our results, taking multiple capsules of green coffee extract a day–while eating a low-fat, healthful diet and exercising regularly–appears to be a safe, effective, inexpensive way to lose weight."

Another study recommends that a newborn baby’s placenta be saved and eaten–if not by the mother, then by the father or anyone else who wants the benefits of ingesting it. Some animals do this and now scientists think that we should too.

Meanwhile, A new study has found a link between diet sodas and heart disease. Researchers found that daily consumption of diet soda is associated with an increased risk of strokes and heart attack, although the reasons for this are still unclear.

In the February 28th edition of the New York Times, Nicholas Bakalar quotes epidemiologist Hannah Gardener as saying, "The message for diet soft drink drinkers is not to be alarmed. What we’ve found is an association, and it might be due to chance or other unmeasured variables."

Hey, if you’re going to drink coffee or cola (and eat a placenta?), we suggest you sip from a Dreamland Festival mug! And you don’t need to chew green coffee beans in order to lose weight: All you need is Anne Strieber’s famous diet book "What I Learned From the Fat Years." Since it’s a download, it costs much less than the diet books you’ll find at your bookstore AND it’s much better!

Come toast your favorite Dreamland hosts–and special guest Nick Pope–with soda, coffee or whatever else you like at our upcoming Dreamland Festival, but hurry: We keep this small so we can have personal interaction with everyone there, which means that tickets are going fast!