In Britain, people are dying to be thin -- literally -- and one company is pulling in a profit of about $30 million because of it, according to this article from the Daily Mail.

A popular diet program in the UK, called LighterLife, is wildly successful these days, but it's costing some people their health -- and their lives. The program advocates an extreme calorie deficiency -- participants consume shakes that give them a total daily caloric intake of only 500 calories, and they end up losing weight at an alarming rate. LighterLife claims it's all perfectly fine because the body doesn't need those excess calories, adding that this type of starvation has been used healthfully for over 30 years. Yeah, right.

But now, some people are speaking out about the side effects of this diet. One former participant claims her vision is now permanently blurred and she suffers from ongoing memory loss; another, a dentist, says the lack of calories ruined his wife's teeth; another claims it led her to become anorexic. Other side effects include hair loss, menstrual disruptions and constipation. And if that's not frightening enough for you, consider this: One 25-year-old participant died from heart troubles believed to have been caused by the diet. Click here for some more horror stories.

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No one likes to hear bad things about their child. But what if it's the truth ... and their health depends on it?

What I'm talking about, of course, is your child's weight. Studies show that of parents of overweight kids, only 39% recognized that their child was overweight while 61% believed their child was a normal weight. But should parents be told the truth about their child's weight? Some believed that telling the parents could have adverse consequences. Until now, that is. Experts are finally agreeing that it's not harmful to be honest when it comes to such a weighty subject.

It's about time, if you ask me. Parents should know that their kids face potentially fatal health risks if they don't change their habits. But that's just my opinion -- what do you think?

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I've had food poisoning a few times in my life, and the experience is not something I'd ever want to repeat. From undercooked meat to bacteria-ridden vegetables, food poisoning cases happen every single day around the world.

But, once you're over it, do any of the effects of food poisoning stay with you long afterward? According to scientists, they indeed do. In fact, contracting E.coli can lead to health problems months or years after battling with the bacteria.

The scientists did localize their findings on severe cases of E.Coli in children who otherwise survive their fight with the food poisoning bacteria only to have serious health problems later. Kidney problems, high blood pressure and ever kidney failure were referenced as possible future health problems.

Although the U.S. has about 76 million cases of food poisoning per year, these serious health effects are said to comprise a small minority of those cases. Still, a small amount could mean a million cases (or more). With last year's rash of food recalls, one has to wonder if these health problems will become worse in the near future.

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