I'm Joe Gradyton and I'm Terry Grady. Welcome to this podcast of the People's Pharmacy.

You can find previous podcasts and more information on a range of health topics at people's pharmacy.com.

Swapping artificial sweeteners for sugar was supposed to save calories

without sacrificing taste, but is it healthy?

This is the People's Pharmacy with Terry and Joe Grayden. Americans love convenience. They also want their food to taste yummy. As a result,

food companies have created lots of ultra-processed options.

They appeal to our craving for sweet and salty flavors.

Many products are promoted as low-fat or even non-fat.

That's a selling point to appeal to health-conscious individuals.

But the low-fat food craze is fading as it's become clear it won't make us thinner or

healthier. Coming up on the People's Pharmacy,

is the food on your plate real or fake? In the People's Pharmacy Health Headlines, one of the revelations from the COVID pandemic is that people can suffer debilitating

symptoms long after they've recovered from the acute infection. Long COVID affects

tens of millions of people who report long-lasting problems for months or even years after the initial illness.

Now scientists report that other respiratory infections can also cause persistent symptoms. In some cases these are similar to the problems

associated with long COVID, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, digestive distress,

and brain fog. Some experts suspect that the

inflammation the immune system musters to overcome an infection may be the

source of such symptoms. There are differences among the viruses though. Trouble with the

senses of smell and taste are especially common and severe with long COVID. Human metinumovirus, on the other hand, can often lead to a cough that lasts for a very long time.

For years, people who experienced lasting, debilitating fatigue following an infection were not taken seriously.

Now, thanks to long COVID, doctors are starting to recognize that a variety of viral infections can

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