REPORTING POINT 4/10
HEALTH NEWS
“Live healthy...Live well”
Dedicated to providing pertinent information on health, fitness, and nutrition to foster a culture of wellness among Southwest Airlines flight crews and their families.
by Larry Kline
MEN OVER 50 ESPECIALLY – men over 50 should make a special effort to examine their skin, especially on their backs, for signs of melanoma, according to a study in the Archives of Dermatology. Men are less likely to discover skin lesions than women, which helps explain why they are more likely to die from this dangerous type of skin cancer. In men, the back is the most common site, but melanoma can occur even on parts of the body rarely exposed to the sun, such as the buttocks, armpits, and soles of the feet. It helps to have someone else check hard-to-see areas. The signs include a mole that changes shape, color, or size; a sore that does not heal; and a persistent patch of irritated skin. The best bet is to get checked by a dermatologist. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 8/09.
THE GRAY LAYER – salmon (and other fish) develop a gray-brown layer of insulating fat between their skin and flesh. This is in addition to fat deposited within the flesh. It is ok to eat this gray layer.
A large amount of the healthy omega-3 fats in salmon are found here. For cosmetic reasons, vendors who remove the skin also take off as much of the gray fat as they can. But you may still find some of it on your salmon fillets or smoked salmon.
In general, the fatty layer adds an intensity of flavor, but it has a consistency that some people may dislike. If you scrape it off, be assured that you are still getting significant amounts of omega-3s from the flesh of the salmon. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 7/09.
WHAT NOT TO LOSE – scientists at Louisiana State University found that when overweight men cut 25 percent of their calories, a quarter of the weight loss came from muscle.
Protect your muscle by hitting the weights three times a week. A West Virginia University study found that this strategy prevented muscle loss even though men were taking in just 800 calories a day. Men’s Health 5/08.
BARLEY LOWERS CHOLESTEROL – adding barley to your diet can lower cholesterol and thus reduce the risk of heart disease. The FDA allows this health claim, similar to the one for oats. In one USDA study people with mildly elevated blood cholesterol saw their levels drop significantly when they ate a heart-healthy diet that contained the equivalent of about half a cup of barley flakes a day. Barley is the best source of beta glucan, a soluble fiber known to lower cholesterol. It also contains another soluble fiber called pectin, along with iron selenium, zinc and some B vitamins. Look for hulled barley, which retains its nutrient- and fiber-rich bran. Though its bran has been removed, pearled barley is still a good source of beta glucan. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 2/10.
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING – many athletes take vitamin C, which fuels muscle recovery. Problem is, too much vitamin C can diminish training gains, reveals a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Men who took 1,000 milligrams (mg) of the vitamin daily while following an eight-week cardio plan increased their endurance less than those who skipped the supplement.
According to the study's authors, the vitamin users’ muscles contained fewer mitochondria, cells that convert nutrients into energy.
Limit vitamin C intake to 500 mg a day – British researchers found that this amount helped repair muscles faster than mega doses did. Men’s Health 5/08.
TANNING BEDS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS – the International Agency for Research on Cancer recently reclassified indoor tanning devices as “carcinogenic to humans” – the highest cancer risk category, equal to that of cigarettes. According to the agency’s report, people who start using tanning beds or sunlamps before age 30 increase their risk of melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, by 75 percent. Like sunlight, tanning devices are a source of ultraviolet radiation, a known cause of skin cancer. They do not protect skin against damage from future sun exposure, as some people believe. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 1/10.
WHERE TO RUN ON OVERNIGHTS - need help finding a running or walking route when on the road? Check out http://www.runtheplanet.com/runningroutes/, a website that offers information on more than 4,000 courses, posted mostly by locals, in cities around the world. Almost all of the Southwest cities are listed on the website, which includes tips on running safety and provides a worldwide race calendar. The website includes detailed turn-by-turn route descriptions. Health 10/06.
CHOLESTEROL AND THE PROSTATE - a lower cholesterol level may protect the prostate as well as the heart.
Researchers studied 5,500 healthy men aged 55 or older who had been assigned to take a placebo for seven years in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial.
Men who entered the study with a total cholesterol under 200 were 60 percent less likely to be diagnosed with the most damaging kinds of prostate tumors - those with Gleason scores of 8 to 10 - than men who entered the study with higher cholesterol. Other studies have found a lower risk of advanced prostate cancer in men who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.
It is too early to know whether a cholesterol-lowering diet or statin drugs can protect the prostate. But it is still worth eating a diet that lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol - that will at the least protect the heart. Nutrition Action Healthletter 1/10.
IS YOUR BLOOD ACIDIC? you do not need special diets or supplements to lower the acidity or boost the alkalinity of your blood. There are many articles, websites, and ads that claim the typical American diet increases blood acidity and that this causes most diseases, from cancer and arthritis to depression and premature aging. These claims are farfetched or even nonsensical. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 1/10.
HOW LONG IS IT SAFE? - ever wonder how long you can safely store food items before they are unsafe to consume? There is a website that answers these questions - how long can dairy, produce, meats, beverages, baked goods, herbs, condiments, etc. be stored, along with tips to extend the shelf life of most food items and the best way to thaw frozen foods. The website can be accessed at http://www.stilltasty.com/.
IS ALUMINUM COOKWARE SAFE? - the Food and Drug Administration has long said that aluminum and anodized-aluminum cookware are safe. Aluminum cookware accounts for more than half of all cookware on the market. If you used aluminum cookware exclusively, you would only absorb about 3.5 milligrams of aluminum daily; a single antacid tablet has more aluminum than that. There also is no evidence to link aluminum with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Avoid cooking acidic foods like tomato sauce in uncoated aluminum cookware because the acid can dissolve aluminum. A good alternative is anodized aluminum, which is nontoxic and does not react to acidic foods. Health 6/07.
NITRIC OXIDE - nitric oxide is one of the body's most important chemical messengers - all mammals have it. The world learned about its physiological importance in 1998, when the Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded for research into nitric oxide's crucial role in the cardiovascular system.
Nitric oxide is released by the inner layer of cells (endothelium) of blood vessels, where nitric oxide relaxes the vessels and keeps them flexible, promoting blood flow. Nitroglycerin (used to relieve chest pain) works similarly.
As we age, our cells tend to produce less nitric oxide. Blood vessels constrict and become less flexible, which contributes to hypertension as well as plaque buildup and inflammation in blood vessels forming cardiovascular disease.
Nitric oxide's positive effects on erections are boosted by drugs such as sildenafil (Viagra), which relax blood vessels and smooth muscle in the penis, allowing for increased blood flow and thus an erection. Interestingly, sildenafil was originally developed to treat chest pain. Because arginine (an amino acid) also increases the supply of nitric oxide, which is essential for normal erection, supplements marketed as sexual enhancers often contain it although their effectiveness is uncertain.
Nitric oxide plays a role in the brain and nervous system. It is crucial in memory and learning, as well as in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, among other functions.
However, nitric oxide is a double-edged sword. Produced by the body in small amounts, it is essential. But in larger amounts, it can be harmful, acting as a free radical, which can damage cells and genetic material. According to research at M.I.T., nitric oxide sometimes acts as a cancer promoter. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 1/10.
