REPORTING POINT 6/10
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
PROSTATE ENEMY – bad fats may be detrimental to more than your heart-health. In a 13-year study, Harvard scientists found that men with the highest blood levels of trans fats had more than twice the prostate cancer risk of men with the lowest levels. The researchers are not sure what the link is, but point to previous studies that blame trans-fat intake for increased inflammation and insulin resistance, both of which may play a role in the progression of prostate cancer.
Cut your consumption of trans fats by avoiding two of the top culprits, doughnuts and cookies, as well as packaged foods containing hydrogenated oils. Men’s Health 5/08.
SALT'S DAMAGE - too much salt raises blood pressure, which raises the risk of stroke and heart disease.
In a meta-analysis, Italian and British researchers pooled 13 studies on a total of 170,000 people. They found that cutting sodium by 2,000 milligrams a day could lead to 23 percent fewer strokes and 17 percent less cardiovascular disease. That would save 1.25 million deaths due to stroke and nearly 3 million deaths from cardiovascular disease worldwide each year.
The average American consumes around 4,000 mgs. of sodium a day.
Be sure to check Nutrition Facts panels on packages to find lower-sodium foods and eat more fresh foods. Nutrition Action Healthletter 1/10.
GET IT UNSWEETENED - if you buy applesauce, look for unsweetened. There is plenty of natural sweetness, but only about half the calories as the sweetened applesauce. Unsweetened applesauce has only 50 calories per half cup - relatively few calories by weight, so it makes a filling snack. Applesauce with added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or other sweeteners has about 85 calories per half cup. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 2/10.
TOENAIL FUNGUS - recently received a tip from one of our pilots. He had suffered from toenail fungus for over 15 years. He had ..."tried the drug regimen twice with no results. Insurance wouldn't pay for a third try plus it's potentially dangerous to the liver. Just resigned myself to a gross big toe.
Then I saw and decided to try a new treatment which uses a laser to irradiate the toenail bed through the toenail. Worked like a charm. It took about 1/2 hour outpatient visit and was totally painless. The physician waved what looked like an OPC pen over my nails for a few minutes. The low power laser kills the fungus under the nail and nail bed. Cost $600 but worth it in my book after all those years. Open toed sandals good to go now.
In a very small and unscientific poll of people I fly with, it seems many of us may have this, and by showering and walking in strange hotels three or four nights a week we're all at risk.
The laser system is called Pinpointe Laser and was developed at Chico St. I saw a podiatrist ...for the procedure. It seems to be gaining acceptance around the country. Google Pinpointe Laser for more info."
Great suggestion and many thanks for this information. The treatment is somewhat controversial and suggest patients speak to their podiatrist or dermatologist for evaluation....LK.
BEING HEALTHY IN ADULTHOOD STARTS IN VITRO - Childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, leaving one-third of American children either overweight or obese. Recent initiatives include trying to reduce the sugar kids take in through beverages, getting them to exercise more often, and to cut down on the empty calories in school lunches.
Apparently, the slide into obesity can begin much younger than previously realized, with events in toddler hood, infancy, and even gestation leading kids into a trajectory that is hard to alter by the time they are in kindergarten. Many health professionals suggest that prevention efforts should start early. Doctors have long cautioned pregnant women against excessive weight gain, smoking and poor eating habits, but new evidence suggests that babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are at risk of becoming obese later in life (this despite their usually lower birth-weights). The idea that a big baby is a healthy baby and a crying baby is probably a hungry baby who should be fed, are things that need to be reevaluated. While obesity prevention programs have typically refrained from addressing weight gain in toddlers and infants, researchers at Penn State's Center for Childhood Obesity are looking specifically at developing a set of obesity prevention recommendations for children between the ages of 0 and 5.
How can you get keep your kids healthy in the womb, in infancy and in toddler hood? Doctors recommend:
1. Overweight women should shed extra pounds before pregnancy to lessen the incidence of diabetes in their own kids.
2. Breast-feeding during infancy is thought to lower the risk of obesity in young children.
3. Making smart nutritional decisions for your kids during early childhood and beyond. This includes monitoring the amount of sugars and fats your family is consuming, paying attention to empty calories, and teaching your kids how to make good food choices on their own.
4. Encouraging your kids to move regularly—whether that’s crawling on the floor or running through the park. Shine 3/23/10.
THE DANGEROUS SIDE OF SUGAR - a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that a diet heavy in added sugar is linked to elevated triglyceride levels and may increase your risk for a heart attack.
Added sugars such as cane sugar, beet sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, glucose, fructose, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, and honey are used to sweeten packaged foods like sodas and fruit drinks, cereal, candy, cookies, and baked goods. In the study researchers at Emory University found that individuals who consume large amounts of added sugar have lower HDL ("good") cholesterol levels and higher triglyceride levels than individuals who eat less of the sweet stuff. Among women only, high added sugar intake was also linked to increased LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. All of these red-flag numbers-low HDL, high triglycerides, high LDL- are independent risk factors for heart disease, which means that consuming sugary coffee drinks and eating lots of cookies may be putting your heart in harm's way.
Research has already shown that regular consumption of foods high in added sugars is associated with weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and cavities, but this is the first study of its kind to link sugar intake to cholesterol levels in humans. And that's bad news for Americans, who now consume about 16 percent of their daily total calories as added sugar. Soda is the number one source of added sugar, contributing about a third of all added sugar in the American diet.
Last year, the American Heart Association released new recommendations advising that women consume fewer than 100 calories from added sugar daily and men consume fewer than 150 calories. These guidelines are very difficult to put into practice, especially since "added sugars" aren't specifically listed on nutrition labels. (The Nutrition Facts Panel lists "Sugars" under "Total Carbohydrate", but this refers to total sugar in the product. Total sugar is a combination of added sugars and naturally-occurring sugars found primarily in fruit and dairy products. While added sugars don't provide anything but empty calories, the natural sugars in fruit and dairy products come packaged with healthful nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and minerals and don't need to be strictly limited.)
Here are four guidelines that will help you cut back on the added sugar in your diet.
1. Eliminate soda and sugary drinks (including sports drinks, sweetened waters, juice drinks, and caloric cocktails). Choose plain water or naturally flavored seltzer instead.
2. Use sugar (and other sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, agave, and molasses) sparingly. Add no more than 1 to 2 teaspoons in coffee, tea, or oatmeal.
3. Choose packaged foods with minimal added sugar. For example, cereals should have no more than 8 grams of sugar per serving.
4. Be selective with sweet splurges. Either allow yourself a daily sweet treat around 150 calories or indulge in a more decadent dessert no more than once or twice a week. My favorite sweet treats are foods that balance sugar with something healthy, such as a scoop of ice cream or pudding-both high in calcium; one ounce dark chocolate-has tons of antioxidants; or a dollop of whipped cream with berries-loaded with fiber and vitamin C. Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.
CALCIUM LOWERS RISK OF COLON CANCER - people who get the most calcium from dairy products and supplements are about 20 percent less likely to develop colon cancer than those with a low intake, according to a 10-year study of more than half a million members of AARP. While previous research has produced inconsistent results, the weight of evidence suggests that calcium helps lower the risk of colon cancer, notably by reducing precancerous polyps, the researchers said. Other substances in dairy products, notably vitamin D (added to milk), may also have an anti-cancer effect. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 7/09.
