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June 2008
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7 Healthy Habits For Keeping Kidney Stones And Gallstones At Bay
By Linda Antinoro, J.D., R.D.
If you’ve ever experienced a painful bout of kidney stones or gallstones, it’s likely you don’t want an encore. Experts estimate that 5% of Americans develop kidney stones at some point; 10% to 15% develop gallstones. They don’t always pose problems. But when they do, symptoms can include nausea, vomiting and pain. The best strategy is to stop stones from forming in the first place. Although heredity and age are key factors, lifestyle habits contribute. Changing these habits may help stymie stones.
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15 Food Facts That Could Inspire You To Eat More Like a Vegetarian
Vegetarian diets are often cited as a more healthful way of eating. Research presented at the recent 5th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition at Loma Linda University in California seems to bear this out. Trouble is, not everyone wants to give up steak and burgers, or even chicken cutlets and sushi. Even fewer are willing to go the vegan route and forgo omelets, cereal with milk and honey on toast as well. But you can still benefit from a vegetarian way of eating without going whole hog, so to speak.
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NYC Wins Right to Make Chains Reveal Calories
Restaurant chains in New York City that have more than 15 outlets nationwide will now be required to prominently disclose the calorie counts of their dishes on menus or menu boards. The mandate was the outcome of a legal battle between the restaurant industry and New York City’s health department, making it the first municipality to win in the courts on such a regulation. While the ruling was issued in April, restaurants will only begin to be fined for noncompliance this month. The new law will not apply to most white tablecloth restaurants or small delis, pizza shops or family-owned restaurants.
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5 New Exotic Fruits: How “Super” Good for You Are They?
Move over mango and papaya, a new generation of tropical fruits has arrived. They hail from faraway places like China and the Amazon and have exotic-sounding names like goji, acai berry and mangosteen. Besides their novel taste and texture, these fruits are touted most often for their potential health benefits, including everything from quashing cancer to lifting your libido. It’s true, many of these fruits boast exceptionally high antioxidant activity and phytonutrient content—higher than most Western fruits, earning them the title of Superfruits by the industry. But, are they truly superior to other fruits?
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Focus on Pharmaceuticals in Tap Water That Pose Unknown Health Risks
From Washington, D.C. to Washington State, an unwelcome and unexpected ingredient is showing up in the water supply. Pharmaceuticals—from antidepressants, antibiotics and anticonvulsants to hormones and painkillers—have been found blending invisibly into the water that flows when the tap is turned on.
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Beyond Breaded, Battered and Fried: Reel in Seafood Benefits
Frozen fish has become a staple of family fare ever since Gorton’s introduced breaded fish sticks and fish fillets more than 50 years ago. It has made it easier to meet health recommendations to eat fish at least once a week. And it sure is convenient. But there’s a catch. All too often, fresh seafood’s low-fat, low-calorie benefits are offset by batter or bread coating that crank up calorie counts by at least 100 and total fat by 10 grams or more per serving.
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Grapeseed Oil: Dubious Distinction for Heart Health
Made from the seeds of grapes—a byproduct of winemaking—grapeseed oil contains about 70% linoleic acid, an essential omega-6 fatty acid. That’s good...up to a point. Many experts believe Americans consume far too many omega-6s (about 10 times more than we need) and entirely too few omega-3s. Other common sources of linoleic acid are sunflower, safflower, corn, cottonseed and soybean oils. Some proponents suggest that unlike these other polyunsaturated fats, which tend to lower HDLs (high-density lipoproteins, the "good" cholesterol), grapeseed oil may offer an additional benefit by raising HDLs. However, there’s very little research to support that contention.
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Avoid Deadly Botulism
It’s actually not the bacteria that cause the problem; it’s a toxin produced by the bacteria. If you eat contaminated food, symptoms may begin six hours to two weeks later and include altered vision, droopy eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing and muscle weakness starting at the shoulders and progressing downward. Untreated, it can kill.
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A DASH of the Personal Can Help You Maintain Your Weight Loss
Weight loss is hard. Weight maintenance—keeping the weight off—is even harder. But a recent study, the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial, published in the March 12 Journal of the American Medical Association, found that following the diet known as DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) plus having personal, one-on-one follow-up can significantly increase the chances for long-term success.
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Sweet or Tart, Cherries Charm With Big Benefits
The Folklore. Stone-age man must have enjoyed cherries as much as modern man, as evidenced by cherry pits left behind in Stone Age caves. Much later, legendary French chef August Escoffier created Cherries Jubilee, a dessert of flambéed cherries and Kirsch spooned over vanilla ice cream, in honor of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The Facts. Cherries are drupes or stone fruits, botanical cousins to peaches and plums. Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L), including Bing, Queen Anne and the treasured gold-red Rainier, are widely available fresh only during a short summer season. Tart (or sour) cherries (Prunus cerasus L), have less flesh and are grown mainly for processing.
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Research Roundup
Women with high blood levels of trans fats are at much greater risk for breast cancer than women with low blood levels of the unhealthy fat. Those were the findings of researchers with the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, who analyzed blood for trans fatty acids in 17,540 French women aged 40 to 65 and tracked who developed breast cancer over the next seven years. Women with the highest trans fat levels were 75% more likely to develop breast cancer compared to those with the lowest levels.
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