Folic acid is not something everyone is going to enjoy and now many less. Most people were not aware that excess folic acid may raise cancer risk and it is time that everyone is.

Where a little may be good, a lot may be hazardous… such may be the case with folate, and its synthetic form folic acid, the B vitamin that helps protect the nervous system and prevent anemia. For years now, the US government (along with Canada and Chile) has required that most breads, flours, cornmeal, rice and some other grains be fortified with folic acid as a way to reduce birth defects known to be caused by folate deficiency.

It’s working — incidence of neural tube birth defects has been reduced by as much as 50% in these countries, but at the same time, there has been another, totally unexpected development. All three countries have also seen rates of colorectal cancer rise, an abrupt reversal after years of decline — with the increase estimated at an additional four to six cases of colorectal cancer per 100,000 people. Adding to that concern were the results of a large clinical trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2007 concerning folic acid supplementation and colon cancer. The participants, all of whom had previously had colon polyps, were divided into two groups — one group took 1,000 mcg daily (this is considered the uppermost safe limit and exceeds the daily recommended intake, which is 400 mcg) of folic acid and the other a placebo. After seven years, the study found that those taking supplemental folic acid were more likely to have multiple polyps, and at higher risk, than those who didn’t take it. Even more troubling: A follow-up study of this same group found that after 10 or 11 years, those supplementing with folic acid had a three-fold increase in prostate cancer compared with the group on placebo.

TRADING ONE PROBLEM FOR ANOTHER?

Joel Mason, MD, director of the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, is author of a recent report on this topic in Nutrition Reviews. He told me the report generated controversy because folate fortification has so effectively reduced birth defects — but his intent, however, was not to be “anti-fortification,” but rather to generate dialogue about a potential risk for one group of people in spite of the clear benefits for another at a time when many countries are considering fortification.

Paradoxically, there is sound evidence that folate, which has a pivotal role in DNA synthesis, protects against colorectal cancer. Dr. Mason speculated that perhaps its very function of helping create DNA for new cells means that when ingested in large quantities, folate stimulates the growth of existing cancerous or precancerous cells that would otherwise remain stable. Another possibility relates to the fact that folic acid, rather than folate itself, is used to fortify foods because it is cheaper and also more stable. The body must convert folic acid into folate, he says, and ingesting an excessive amount of folic acid may overwhelm the conversion system, leaving a reservoir of synthetic folate that could have detrimental effects. Current research is exploring whether folic acid itself is cancer-promoting, but there’s little evidence of this Dr. Mason said, so he believes it’s more likely related to excessive intake of the vitamin, regardless of its form.

A FOLIC ACID MEASURE

In no way does this diminish the importance of an abundance of folate, says Dr. Mason, describing it as “healthful and in no way harmful.” Dietary folate is available in a variety of foods, including dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus fruits and berries.

And folic acid, for the most part, also is healthful and relatively few people are at risk for getting too much. Dr. Mason says supplementation adds a “fairly modest amount” to typical intake, about 100 mcg to 200 mcg per day. He noted that the situation only gets worrisome for those who routinely exceed 1 mg a day (1,000 mcg) of folic acid through supplementation in a variety of forms. This would describe a person who takes a multivitamin (400 mcg of folic acid), a B complex (another 400 mcg), and then eats fortified breakfast cereal (typically containing 100 to 400 mcg). It’s still morning and we already are at the ceiling of 1,000 mcg folic acid — but then for lunch there is a sandwich with fortified bread (50 to 120 mcg for two slices), maybe a pasta dinner (another 100 to 200 mcg) and the total is nearly 1,400 mcg, clearly topping the upper limit of safety. For those who snack on vitamin-packed energy bars and sip vitamin-infused water all day, the folic acid intake goes even higher.

There isn’t enough data yet to make an absolute statement about folic acid intake, but the current recommendation regarding the uppermost safe intake level (1,000 mcg/day) continues to be an excellent guideline, Dr. Mason said. Vitamin labels clearly identify how much folic acid they contain, but it’s harder to figure out how much is in fortified foods. The law says that all wheat flour, rice and several other uncooked cereal grains labeled as “fortified” must have added folic acid… but there are a few nonfortified examples of these foods on the market. You can look for these, but it might be easier to just be aware of how much folic acid you are ingesting in vitamin supplements, because these appear to be the major source of excessive intake.

Source(s):

Joel Mason, MD, director of the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

Tears are something every single person will experience in their life, whether they want to or not. You can have happy tears, sad tears and spur of the moment tears. Now lets see why tears can actually help your health.

When a friend of mine started to cry a few weeks ago, I found myself wondering what I should do — comfort her and urge her to cry it out… or distract her and encourage her to just get over it. Common lore is that it’s good for us to cry when we need to — and that’s also the conclusion of researchers at University of South Florida in a study entitled When Is Crying Cathartic?

STUDYING TEARS

The study was published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology in 2008. I spoke with doctoral student of clinical psychology Lauren M. Bylsma, who helped analyze the findings. The researchers evaluated data on more than 5,000 male and female volunteers from 35 countries and reviewed how they felt after their last crying experience.

Bylsma’s focus was on when and under what circumstances crying became cathartic — that is, where the subject’s mood and physical well-being improved after crying. The fact that the study is international is important because it “makes the findings generalizable to different cultures,” says Bylsma. For example, people from America and Italy cry more frequently than those in China or Ghana.

The participants identified who or what was responsible for each crying episode and also provided details about who (family, friends, strangers) was present during the crying episode and described their reaction. Bylsma explained that “because so little is known about crying, we also looked into what was the response of others nearby to the crier and what caused the crying to stop.”

DOES CRYING HELP OR HURT?

Here’s what Bylsma learned from her analyses of the post-crying information…

• Seven different types of events were identified triggers for crying — conflict, loss, personal inadequacy, witnessing suffering of someone else, experiencing physical suffering, experiencing psychological suffering and positive events.
• Crying because of having witnessed other people suffering (in real life or in the news media) resulted in the lowest mood afterward. Bylsma speculated that this may be due to feelings of helplessness on the part of the crier.
• The biggest mood boost came from happy tears — for example, crying at a wedding or graduation.
• Crying about some personal inadequacy — such as being unattractive or not making enough money — delivered a post-crying boost in mood. Bylsma surmises that this may be because subjects feel they have some control over such triggers and so crying may be a way to express a desire to make a change.
• If a stranger caused the crying (say, by stealing something of yours) the subject’s mood was lower after crying.
• Social context was very important to how a person felt afterward. Crying in the presence of one supportive person improved mood… however, the opposite was true if the companion was angry, passive or embarrassed about the crying episode and/or when there was more than one person present.
• Some reasons people stopped crying included improvement of the situation or because they found a way to perceive the situation differently.

WHY DO WE CRY?

Why we cry and what happens physiologically when we cry remains something of a mystery to scientists. One theory says that crying is essentially a distress signal for help (i.e. a baby crying for food), while another sees crying as a way to reduce arousal after distress. A recent study in Emotion says we cry for both reasons. When 60 female subjects were monitored while watching a poignant movie, those who cried showed a rise in heart rate upon crying (arousal)… which then decreased as they continued to cry, as did their respiration rates (soothing).

One challenge in the study of crying is that “self-reports of crying episodes are generally retrospective,” points out Bylsma. Therefore, events that transpired afterward may affect that recollection and how a person feels about it. New research underway uses hand-held Palm Pilot computers so subjects can record crying episodes and emotions in real time.

TO AVOID A BAD CRY

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all advice on crying, but here are some of the takeaways from the research for those who want to make their cry a “good” one…

• Choose your company. You’ll likely get more resolution and feel better if you allow yourself to cry in the presence of one supportive person. More than one person can lead to feelings of embarrassment, and you may be less likely to feel comfort from others, which can negatively impact your mood afterward. Also, if you know a particular person will not be supportive of your crying, save your tears for later.
• Don’t hold in your tears when you are facing a loss — be it of a person you love, a job or even a favorite piece of jewelry.
• Do cry. It helps clear your mood by providing a release and a way to process the feelings if you are upset with yourself.

Source(s):

Lauren M. Bylsma, MA, doctoral candidate, clinical psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

Most wouldn’t think that caffeine would affect others differently, but studies have been done and it is proving that it actually does. Now it is your turn to see why caffeine might not work for you, but works for those surrounding you without any problem.

Men can get away with spending less at the coffee bar than women it seems, thanks to new research from the University of Barcelona in Spain that found that caffeinated coffee delivers a harder kick to men than women, providing more alertness in lesser doses.

PERK YOURSELF UP

In the study, 688 healthy university students (238 male and 450 female, mean age 22) drank either a cup of espresso containing 100 mg of caffeine or a cup of decaf espresso with just 5 mg. The study was double-blind, meaning that they did not know whether their espresso was caffeinated or not. Students were asked to self-rate their alertness levels before and at 10, 20 and 30 minutes later. To account for differences in alertness in morning and afternoon, researchers varied testing sessions between 11 am and 1 pm and 4 pm and 6 pm.

Researchers found that…

• Regardless of gender, the caffeinated coffee (100 mg caffeine) had an almost instant impact on participants’ perceived levels of alertness. Apparent at 10 minutes, the effects increased at the 20- and 30-minute intervals, and were stronger in men than women.
• Ten minutes after drinking decaf (5 mg caffeine) coffee, both women and men reported the increases in alertness — though interestingly, in this case, women reported a stronger impact than men. The effect was not sustained in either men or women at the 20- and 30-minute intervals.

Results of the study were published in the October 1, 2008, issue of the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.

WHY THE DIFFERENCE?

Curious about these differences, I asked Daily Health News contributing editor Andrew L. Rubman, ND, about the study. In his opinion, there are likely numerous factors at play, all of which warrant further examination before conclusions can be drawn. For example, he noted that gender differences may be related to levels of enzymes, which vary among men and women, and also that decaffeinated coffee has a variety of compounds that may affect women in a different way than men.

I don’t particularly care for coffee, personally, but it’s clear that study after study is demonstrating health benefits to moderate coffee consumption. Up to a few cups a day of black coffee, depending on your metabolism, may offer protection against liver disease, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s and other ailments. As with haircuts, men are lucky enough to be able to get away with spending less to achieve the same benefit.

Source(s):

Andrew L. Rubman, ND, director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. www.naturopath.org.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

For those that spend endless hours on a computer each and every day you’ve probably heard or experienced carpal tunnel syndrome yourself. Well now it is time to see how carpal tunnel syndrome and sleep are coinciding eachother.

Before the 1980s, few people had heard of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). But as computer use proliferated, CTS seemed to proliferate right along with it, going from being nearly unknown to being the wrist and hand injury du jour.

To get the latest information about CTS I called hand surgeon Roy Meals, MD, clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and former president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Dr. Meals told me that CTS is eminently treatable and that computer use is no longer the most common cause of the problem. The previous problem was that people used the keyboard with their wrists in a flexed position and “flexing causes CTS because it stresses the nerve,” says Dr. Meals. Today computer users are much savvier about positioning their hands correctly — arms parallel to the floor and wrists straight when using the keyboard. Dr. Meals says you can achieve this position by adjusting the height of the chair or the keyboard… whichever is easiest and feels best.

SLEEP POSITION MAY CAUSE CTS

CTS is common in people over age 50, mostly because of health conditions that bring hormonal shifts (such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis)… menopause… and especially mechanical stress. All of these make the nerve more vulnerable to irritation. Repetitive motions that flex and extend the tendons in the hands and wrist such as job tasks on an assembly line or in carpentry, for instance, continue to be common causes. Surprisingly, Dr. Meals told me one of the most frequent triggers of mild CTS is when people sleep in the fetal position, flexing their wrist and curling up with the back of the hand under the chin, which puts hours of stress on the median nerve.

You should suspect CTS if you find yourself shaking your hands most mornings to get rid of numbness and tingling.

To help primary care doctors screen for CTS — and with it provide proper referral to diagnostic tests and/or orthopedic hand specialists — a group of researchers has now developed a simple screening questionnaire. It includes seven questions, but three of them were found to be especially important:

• Is tingling present in at least two of the first four digits?
• Do symptoms worsen at night or on awakening?
• Does shaking your hand cause symptoms to recede?

Researchers found that “yes” to at least two of these questions correctly predicted CTS by 97%, as was proven in follow-up electro-diagnostic tests.

Dr. Meals says it is fine to treat a mild case of CTS at home. Purchase a wrist splint at the drugstore and wear it at night for several weeks in order to break the habit of flexing your wrist in sleep and irritating the nerve. When symptoms are serious, though, including not being able to fasten buttons, put on earrings or even touch the thumb to the little finger, it indicates that the nerve is degenerating.

Initial treatment from the doctor may be a cortisone injection to reduce inflammation in the area, but Dr. Meals says that about 25% of his patients end up needing surgery. Minimally invasive endoscopic surgery is used by some surgeons today, though Dr. Meals says he prefers open surgery — the wrist area, unlike the abdomen, he notes, is tiny and difficult to see well with an endoscopy camera. Following surgery (of either kind, endoscopic or open) patients are generally almost immediately able to perform ordinary tasks involved in getting dressed and the like and return to desk activity in a few weeks… although participation in forceful grip and pinch work and athletic activities typically takes six to eight weeks. Fortunately, even nerves that have degenerated considerably will heal, says Dr. Meals, but it can take from six to 12 months.

NATURAL TREATMENT

Before resorting to surgery, natural treatments may be helpful in addition to lifestyle changes. Acupuncture has become a popular way to treat CTS, says Yi Hung Chan, LAc, DPM, who has a private practice in West Orange, New Jersey. Dr. Chan says that acupuncture needles can relieve the pain caused by CTS and also quiet irritation in the nerve. Some people also find that acupressure, in which hand pressure (rather than needles) is applied to certain areas of the hands and arms, is helpful as well. Obesity is known to contribute to CTS, so losing weight can have an effect. When performing activities that stress hands and wrists, be sure to take frequent breaks and try to avoid positions that cause extreme flexion or extension of the wrists, all of which will help keep your median nerve pain-free and working smoothly.

Source(s):

Roy Meals, MD, clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and former president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

The recession has really played a drastic role in our lives over the past few years and it seems that it has actually had some beneficial aspects to our lives.

A shopkeeper once told me his bicycle sales went up when the economy went down. Sure enough, The Economist reported a sharp increase in demand for bicycles in 2008. Clearly, some hearts, muscles and lungs are benefiting during this recession.

Interestingly, there are other unexpected health advantages of hard times. I spoke to the go-to economist for studies on health and the economy, Christopher Ruhm, PhD, at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, who told me that, in fact, many measures of physical health actually improve as the economy declines.

Dr. Ruhm has documented lower rates of heart disease, influenza, pneumonia, disk disorders, liver problems, three heart disease risk factors (smoking, obesity and physical inactivity), drinking and traffic deaths when unemployment rises. He estimates that a 1% rise in unemployment reduces the total death rate by 0.5%.

Dr. Ruhm points out that his work (macroeconomics) is based on aggregate data, so the effects will vary widely for individuals, but notes that what’s true for the macro level is likely to be true, on average, at the individual level as well. It makes a lot of sense — as Dr. Ruhm explained, fewer jobs means less air pollution, which is linked to heart attacks… less income means fewer dollars spent on tobacco and alcohol… more free time means more time to exercise… and traffic accidents go down because fewer people are commuting. He estimates that a 1% increase in unemployment reduces US traffic deaths by 3%.

HEALTHY SELF-IMPROVEMENT

People also tend to work on themselves during economic slumps. Dr. Ruhm reasons, “When times are bad, people feel they have minimal control over their lives, so they control what they can control — themselves.” A recent report from Marketdata Enterprises noted a 13.6% increase in the self-improvement business — weight loss, stress management, personal coaching, self-help books — from 2005 to 2008, despite the economic downturn.

A need to spend less puts the focus on no- or low-cost leisure activities, such as exercise and cooking meals at home, which can benefit health. Not surprisingly, data from early 2006 to early 2008 shows restaurant visits fell by about 10%, according to Decision Analyst market research. Another interesting factoid that provides more evidence that Americans are turning to what Dr. Ruhm describes as “inexpensive and healthy ways to have fun” — US condom sales rose 6% in January 2009 compared with January 2008, according to Nielson Co. research.

FINDING HAPPINESS IN A RECESSION

Okay but it can still be a challenge to feel good at a time when life itself is presenting so many challenges. I recently read a book by Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert, PhD, called Stumbling on Happiness. In his book he noted that while negative events can be difficult, “they generally don’t affect us as much or for as long as we expect them to.” He said we might think of people as “having a psychological immune system [Freud's defense mechanism] that defends the mind against unhappiness in much the same way that the physical immune system defends the body against illness.” What serves us best, says Dr. Gilbert, is “a healthy psychological immune system [that] strikes a balance that allows us to feel good enough to cope with our situation but bad enough to do something about it.” He acknowledges that losing a job is a big enough trauma to trigger the psychological defenses we need to recover. I found a few strategies in the book that we can use to move toward happiness in a recession.

WHAT WE CAN DO

• Explain it. “Studies show that the mere act of explaining an unpleasant event can help to defang it.”
• Write about it. Says Dr. Gilbert, “Simply writing about a trauma… can lead to surprising improvements in both subjective well-being and physical health (e.g. fewer visits to the physician and improved production of viral antibodies). What’s more, the people who experience the greatest benefit from these writing exercises are those whose writing contains an explanation of the trauma.”
• Get perspective. Most economic and psychological research concludes that wealth does little to increase happiness once basic human needs are met, points out Dr. Gilbert.
• Ask others about their experience. Dr. Gilbert advises people to find someone who is going through a similar experience and ask him/her how he feels. You may be surprised at the similarities. His take: “If you are like most people, then like most people, you don’t know you’re like most people.”

Dr. Ruhm offers straightforward advice: “Make your health improvement intentional. See opportunity and take it.” If you’re working less, exercise more — if you need to cut back on what you spend, make changes that work in your favor. Owning your actions puts you in control of your life and your health.

Source(s):

Christopher Ruhm, PhD, economist, University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

It can already be a big enough trial just getting older, but when you then have to deal with hot flashes and all the wondrous aspects of menopause the last thing you want to deal with is not having any help. Now you can get some of herbal remedies that will make everything a little easier to handle.

Black cohosh has become popular among women looking to relieve menopause symptoms, in particular hot flashes — but the herb itself has been used since the 19th century for various ailments. Of late, though, published reports have suggested that black cohosh may not be totally safe. The journal Cancer Research reported a study from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in which female mice with a genetic predisposition for breast cancer ate food laced with black cohosh throughout their lives. Though these mice were not found to develop more breast cancer, the ones that did get the disease were more likely to have it spread to their lungs. Yet another caution was a committee report from the US Pharmacopeia suggesting a “possible” link between taking black cohosh and liver damage.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE STUDIES

To help sort out the facts, I called Tori Hudson, ND, who specializes in women’s health and is the program director of the Institute of Women’s Health and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Hudson is also author of the Women’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. She told me she doesn’t find the studies worrisome, noting she finds black cohosh “very helpful” to about 75% of women suffering menopausal symptoms and that it typically provides a 50% reduction in hot flashes. She had several specific criticisms of the cancer study. First, the mice ate cohosh their entire adult life, whereas women typically take it for anywhere from a few months to a few years. She also pointed out that there is other research saying it actually inhibits estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer cells. Dr. Hudson told me that a new study published in the journal Phytomedicine, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, reported certain fractions of black cohosh were able to reduce breast cancer cell proliferation by more than 50% in lab tests.

As for liver toxicity, the report actually did not find that black cohosh caused liver damage or that there was any unfavorable information about the herb. Nevertheless, the committee decided to add a cautionary statement to the product — apparently a “just in case” strategy. Dr. Hudson says women taking black cohosh should stop if they develop dark urine, jaundice or abdominal pain, all of which are symptoms of possible liver problems. She adds that for her patients who have liver disease and take black cohosh, she monitors their liver function through a routine blood test for liver enzymes and considers other herbal alternatives to treat their menopausal symptoms.

Source(s):

Tori Hudson, ND, program director of the Institute of Women’s Health and Integrative Medicine, and author of the Women’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine (McGraw-Hill).

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

It can be hard living with diabetes, especially with the many eating restrictions that you could encounter. Instead of letting this overtake your life discover some great gourmet cooking recipes that are diabetic friendly.

A diagnosis of diabetes is a wake-up call that it’s time to make some lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, getting regular exercise and choosing a nutritious, well-balanced diet. But to many of the 24 million diabetics in this country, the mere thought of eliminating sweets and many processed foods from their diet connotes endless meals of flavorless, bland and boring foods. Can diabetics eat healthfully and also make it enjoyable? The answer is a resounding “yes,” says Chris Smith, author of The Diabetic Chef’s Year-Round Cookbook (American Diabetes Association). Smith uses fresh, seasonal ingredients to create healthy, interesting meals full of flavor for diabetics and everyone else at the table, while reducing the salt, sugar and fat that many have come to rely upon to add taste.

HEALTHY EATING FOR DIABETICS

Just like the rest of us, people with diabetes should eat nutritious meals that are low in fat (especially saturated and trans fat), moderate in salt and very sparing with sugar, while emphasizing whole grains, vegetables and fruit. However, because diabetics are at a greater risk for life-threatening complications such as hypertension, heart disease and stroke, it’s particularly important that they keep blood glucose control while maintaining normal levels of blood pressure and blood lipids (cholesterol). It can be challenging to do all that while still preparing food that is flavorful and appealing. I asked The Diabetic Chef to share his secrets for preparing foods appropriate for people with diabetes that are delicious enough for everyone to want to eat. Here are some of his best secrets…

HERBS & SPICES ARE ESSENTIAL

Liven up your meals with garden-fresh herbs, many of which are available year-round, even in supermarkets. Fresh herbs are densely packed with flavor. You can use herbs in a variety of ways throughout the seasons.

• Fine herbs, such as thyme, oregano, dill, basil and chives, are usually available in the spring and summer. These should be added as a finish (at the end of the cooking process) to release their delicate flavors and aromatic qualities. “Use fresh basil with summer tomatoes and olive oil for pasta, or as a finish to a tomato sauce,” said Smith. “Use chives as a delicate finish to soups, salads and sauces.”
• Hearty herbs (rosemary, sage), available year-round, can be added earlier on in the cooking process. Use them with stews, soups and crockpot dishes. They can withstand the heat of cooking without losing flavor and, in fact, the longer they’re cooked, the more mellow and flavorful they are, says Smith.
• Dried herbs are dehydrated, so must be rehydrated in cooking — for instance, think of homemade tomato sauce. When using dried oregano and basil, the sauce has much more flavor the following day because the flavor of the dried herbs fully blooms and combines with the other ingredients.

“Herb” typically describes the leaves of a plant, while spices are derived from any other part — including the root, seeds, bark or buds. Spices can be used to create a medley of flavors and can be evocative of different types of ethnic cuisines. “Spices bring great diversity to food,” said Smith.

OTHER TIPS FOR HEALTHFUL EATING

Overall, Smith points out that healthful eating is a matter of practicing what he calls “Nutritional MVP,” which stands for moderation… variety… and portion control.

From his cookbook, another suggestion is to learn how to do template cooking. Template cooking is taking one recipe and adapting it in different ways by using the same cooking method but substituting different ingredients, said Smith. “It gives you the freedom to be creative, which is the essence of good cooking.” It also brings much-needed diversity to meals, so you are not forever serving the same old thing. One example of a template recipe is the Simple Chicken Breast (see below). “There are only seven ingredients in this recipe but you can vary it with fresh, seasonal ingredients,” said Smith. “For instance, in springtime you can exchange the olive oil for sesame oil and use lemon grass rather than garlic to create an Asian flavor. In summer, substitute fresh cilantro for the rosemary.”

Try different cooking techniques to bring out the essence of foods.

• Grill, broil, roast, sauté or steam food to enhance flavor without added fat or salt. Slow-roast vegetables with a drizzle of olive oil in a 400 degree oven to bring out their true flavors. Many develop a natural sweetness when roasted. Season with garlic or add herbs to vary the taste. Rather than sautéing garlic or onions with butter or oil before adding them to soups or stews, try roasting in the oven.
• Marinate foods in a few ingredients. “The herbs, lemon and spice in the Simple Chicken Breast recipe create a vibrant flavor, and the extra virgin olive oil allows the herbs and spices to reach their full bouquet,” said Smith.
• Sear meat (brown on both sides in a pan for a few minutes before placing it in the oven) to enhance flavor without adding extra fat or salt. “Any kind and cut of meat can be seared,” said Smith.

Pair dishes with colorful sides. Instead of a plate full of brown items such as chicken and rice, liven up your plate with deeply colored fruits and vegetables that add variety and important phytonutrients (components of fruits and vegetables that are thought to promote health) to your diet. (For more on this topic, see Daily Health News, February 19, 2009.)

Keep the pantry stocked with these healthy ingredients.

• Oils: extra-virgin olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil and grapeseed oil.
• Vinegars: balsamic, champagne, rice and aged sherry vinegar.
• Essential spices: cayenne pepper, chili powder, cinnamon, mustard, nutmeg, paprika and pepper.
• Essential dry herbs: bay leaves, dill, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and sage.
• Other essential products: chicken, vegetable and beef broth, dried beans, whole gluten-free grains such as quinoa and amaranth.
• Essential fresh ingredients: lemons, limes, oranges, garlic, onions, shallots, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, butter (salt free), sour cream (fat free), eggs, hard cheeses (Parmesan and Romano), mustard (grain, Dijon), capers and olives.

Template Recipe: Simple Chicken Breast

Serves four.
Serving Size: 1 Breast Half

4 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tsp dried rosemary
1 Tsp poultry seasoning
1 Tsp salt-free lemon pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic
½ Tsp red pepper flakes
Cooking spray

• In medium bowl, combine all ingredients and place chicken breasts in it. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Preheat sauté pan to medium-high heat. Spray pan with cooking spray. Add chicken breast to pan and sear to desired color, about 10 seconds, then turn over and sear other side.
• When both sides are seared, remove chicken from pan and place in a baking dish or cookie sheet. Do not cover. Place in oven. Cook meat until it is done, at 165°F internal temperature. When chicken is done, remove from oven and let rest for two to four minutes.

For more tips from Smith go to: www.TheDiabeticChef.com.

Source(s):

Chris Smith, The Diabetic Chef, is an executive chef working in the healthcare field. A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, Smith has also worked as a chef at the four-star Le Cirque restaurant in Manhattan. He is author of two cookbooks,Cooking With the Diabetic Chef and The Diabetic Chef’s Year-Round Cookbook (both from American Diabetes Association). He lectures widely about cooking for people with diabetes. www.TheDiabeticChef.com.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

There have been many complications with the food industry over the past year and a lot of recalls that have many consumers worried. How do you know if the food is safe? Discover what is being done to prevent us from consuming unhealthy, dangerous foods.

It isn’t every day that the president of a major food company asks Congress for more federal oversight. But that’s exactly what Kellogg Company president and CEO David Mackay did a couple of months ago… he asked for more regulation, stricter rules and closer monitoring of food processing by the FDA. The reason for the request: Kellogg Company was one of many victims in the aftermath of the salmonella-tainted peanut butter fiasco (the outbreak sickened at least 714 people and is believed to have contributed to at least nine deaths), losing $65 to $70 million in the recall of its Keebler and Austin Quality Foods brand snack crackers, which were made with a different company’s contaminated peanut paste. There’s little question that more oversight and stricter regulation would help improve food safety, but the truth of the matter is that the government will never be able to ensure a food supply that is 100% clean. Gross as it is, we’ve been eating food with bugs, rodent droppings and the like in it for our entire lives.

THE CASE FOR INCREASED SAFETY REGULATION

“The recent outbreak illustrated that the US food safety system must be strengthened,” Mackay said. “We believe the key is to focus on prevention, so that potential sources of contamination are identified and properly addressed before they become actual food safety problems.”

Mackay’s testimony adds to the hue and cry directed at the Obama Administration for review and potential overhaul of our current food-safety system — a system that too often relies on dated research and is inadequately funded, especially when it comes to inspections. Improvements may be necessary and likely to happen, but at the same time, I think we must recognize that we don’t live in a completely sanitary world — and even when the rules are followed, and even when you buy only organic produce at high-end markets, food is far from sterile. Frankly, it’s not all that clean and it never was… and maybe it doesn’t even have to be.

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, do a Google search for the FDA’s Food Defect Action Levels handbook, and look at some of the entries… but be prepared for some unpleasant business.

The handbook lists the acceptable levels of “natural and unavoidable” defects in food — if contaminants are at the acceptable level or below, the food is okay by FDA standards and “poses no inherent hazard to health.” Your stomach may nonetheless churn when you look at some of the “natural and unavoidable” defects, which include rodent hair and excrement, insect pieces, maggots, mold, mildew and more.

Here are some of the details:

* Canned citrus fruit juices can contain up to five fly eggs (or one maggot) per 250 ml.

* Canned and dried (packaged) mushrooms can have an “average of five or more maggots, 2 mm or longer, per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms.”

* Wheat flour products can have an average of 9 mg of rodent excreta pellets per kilogram.

THE REALITY

However unappetizing all that sounds, ingesting any of these ingredients won’t make most people sick. In fact, we’ve been eating all sorts of contaminants in organic as well as non-organic produce… packaged foods… prepared foods, etc. There is really no way to eliminate them altogether. It’s simply unrealistic in the “real world,” I was told by Michael Doyle, PhD, Regents professor of food microbiology and director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia in Griffin. “We don’t live in a sterile environment and we wouldn’t be able to practically produce these types of commodities in a sterile environment, so we have to accept the fact that there will always be some types of contaminants present,” he said. It’s not okay — but as they say, it just “is what it is.” It’s not new. “Sure, you could always buy your own grain and sift it out, I suppose,” says Dr. Doyle. “But that really isn’t practical.” He points out that even following the current trend of buying organic or locally grown food won’t keep contaminants out of your food supply — a visit to any farm can show you that.

If creating a perfect regulatory system lies somewhere between impractical and unrealistic and we have to accept some level of filth in our food, is there anything we can do to stay healthy? It might help to remember that some noted scientists believe that small exposure to “challenging situations” helps strengthen the immune system. Beyond that, it’s another example of why we need to do everything we can to maintain digestive health. Eat well, sleep enough and exercise regularly. Don’t mask a poor diet by regularly taking medications when diet modifications can help — doing so may cause problems that are far worse. Buy foods that are fresh and ripe… chew thoroughly… drink enough water. All this will help your body do what it needs to do in the most natural way.

Source(s):

Michael Doyle, PhD, Regents professor of food microbiology, Director, Center for Food Safety, Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

Have people ever said to you that you are crazy, anxious or just not right in the head? Don’t worry we all get it. Studies have been done and shown that one of the biggest causes for your mental stability could actually be by the foods that you consume on a regular basis.

Poor diet gets a hunk of the blame for rising rates of mental illness, according to new research from the UK. “Feeding Minds,” a report by the British Mental Health Foundation, describes how eating habits have devolved over the past 60 years. The recent report emphasizes the link between diet and mental health, saying “the evidence indicates that food plays an important contributing role in the development, management and prevention of specific mental health problems, such as depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease.”

Bad habits — like skipping breakfast, grabbing a fast-food burger for lunch and popping a frozen pizza into the microwave and calling it “dinner” — have become a way of life, in large part because people are busy. This kind of food may fill the stomach, but not the body’s nutritional needs. The “Feeding Minds” report found that British people now eat 34% fewer vegetables and 59% less fish than 60 years ago. Fast and processed foods are almost always low in critical brain-supporting components such as vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, and are loaded with refined carbohydrates, saturated fats and additives — a recipe for irritability, mood swings and worse. Another factor is that industrial farming has altered our food at the most basic level. Changes in feed have increased body fat composition of certain animals and farmed fish we eat — as a result we now often take in a far higher ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3s, a shift that has been linked with depression as well as deficits in memory and focus.

Food allergens are yet another contributor to mental health issues, including mood and attention problems. According to Russell B. Marz, ND, an assistant professor of nutrition at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, the growing use of genetically modified high fructose corn syrup in many foods and beverages has been suspected not only in increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, but also serious food allergies.

POOR DIET & MENTAL HEALTH

These changes add up to neurological challenges such as slower brain function and chronic inflammation. Poor diet has been linked with mental health in a number of conditions…

* ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Studies show that people with ADHD are low in certain types of omega-3 fatty acids, like DHA.

* Anxiety. Nervousness and anxiety are associated with a lack of folic acid, niacinamide, pyridoxine, magnesium and calcium.

* Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Research has linked Alzheimer’s with an increased level of homocysteine, an amino acid metabolite associated with decreased levels of folate, B-12 and pyridoxine.

* Depression. Depression is linked to low fish consumption, as well as deficiencies in B vitamins, vitamin C, folic acid, magnesium, selenium and zinc.

* Irritability. A lack of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), magnesium and selenium is commonly found in people who are irritable.

* Poor memory and concentration. Lapses in memory and concentration may be linked to a lack of B-12 and other B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and zinc.

* Schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that people with this disorder have low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids or antioxidant enzymes in the brain… and low levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

EAT YOUR WAY TO MIND-BODY HEALTH

With growing evidence of the link between mental health and diet, it’s yet one more compelling reason, if indeed anyone still needs one, to follow a healthy diet. Fortunately the same whole foods that nourish the body also nourish the mind.

* Avoid additives, preservatives and pesticides. Pesticides and other chemicals can aggravate problems like depression by impairing the absorption of vital nutrients such as pyridoxine, cautions Dr. Marz. When possible, buy free-range, antibiotic-free meat and local produce that is in season and organically grown. The fewer chemicals, the better for your health. If you purchase non-organic fruits and vegetables, wash and peel them to reduce chemical residues.

* Include protein in every meal. Protein is the body’s source of essential amino acids, required to produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin (which stabilizes mood and promotes sleep) and dopamine (which imparts energy and mental focus). If you lack sufficient amino acids, you cannot manufacture enough of these chemicals. Protein also helps stabilize blood glucose levels and prevent mood swings. Good sources include fish, eggs, skinless chicken and lean meats. Seafood or animal protein is the best source of vitamin B-12, but if you’re over 50 you may have trouble absorbing this nutrient and require a supplement.

* Eat fish such as salmon or halibut two or three times a week, as they are excellent sources of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Seventy percent of the brain is composed of fat (if you exclude the water), making essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) a must for optimal brain function. Research from the Framingham Heart Study shows that people who ate fish more than two times a week halved their risk of Alzheimer’s. Another option is to take a daily fish oil supplement of combined DHA and EPA.

* Go nuts. Eat a handful of nuts and/or seeds daily. Walnuts, cashews, peanuts and sunflower and pumpkin seeds are rich sources of magnesium and zinc. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax and hemp seeds are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. One mice study showed that a diet high in almonds may lower the risk of or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

* Eat lots of fresh produce — five to 13 servings a day, according to US guidelines. Leafy green veggies such as spinach and kale are rich in folic acid, which supports concentration and memory… citrus fruits, peppers and strawberries are excellent sources of vitamin C… broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage are sources of magnesium. In Dr. Marz’s opinion, including more nutrient- and fiber-rich foods in your diet is even more important than including protein.

* Stay hydrated. About 50% to 65% of your body weight consists of water, which carries vital nutrients into cells and ushers waste products out. This seemingly simple advice constitutes a cornerstone of health.

* If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation only. A study in the October 2008 issue of the Archives of Neurology notes that alcohol causes shrinkage of the brain. The more you drink, the more your brain shrinks. It’s best to drink alcoholic beverages with your meal and choose organic red wines and unprocessed darker beers that contain higher phenolic levels. Experts generally advise against more than one alcoholic beverage a day for women and two for men.

ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

Of course, a good diet is not a panacea for mental problems any more than a bad diet is the sole cause. Serious diseases such as depression and schizophrenia obviously require expert medical treatment. That said, diet is one piece of the puzzle, and a healthful diet is a must for optimal health overall.

Note: You can download a free copy of the “Feeding Minds” report — complete with recipes and nutritional advice — at the Web site of the British Mental Health Foundation, www.mentalhealth.org.uk.

Source(s):

Russell B. Marz, ND, LAc, assistant professor of nutrition, National College of Natural Medicine, Portland, Oregon, and medical director of the Tabor Hill Clinic in Portland, Oregon.

Mental Health Foundation, www.mentalhealth.org.uk.

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.

There are millions of people who are known to work those long days and sleep very little. Have you ever thought about what you are actually doing to your hearts health? Maybe it is time that you do.

Did you know that pushing yourself, mentally or physically, when you’re tired may be bad for your heart? A team of researchers has verified that when people keep on pushing themselves despite being tired, their cardiovascular systems must work harder and their blood pressure may rise. We’ve all pushed through exhaustion, so I called lead researcher, Rex Wright, PhD, professor in the department of psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to discuss the findings with him.

Interestingly, he told me that an individual’s perception of the importance of the task and whether or not it is actually possible to get it done are key factors to the impact on health. “Our work suggests that under conditions where a fatigued person is presented with a task — and when success seems to be both possible and worthwhile — the harder he or she strives to meet the performance standards,” said Dr. Wright. “The result is an exaggerated cardiovascular response, which over time can lead to hypertension and heart disease.” Both the perception of stress (deadline pressure) and psychological accommodation (committing yourself to meeting it, no matter what) figure prominently in modulation of blood pressure and may impact vulnerability to cardiovascular disease.

WHEN YOU REALLY CARE

In a recent study, 80 subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire that measured their level of fatigue, then were given the opportunity to win a small prize by memorizing, in two minutes, two or six nonsense trigrams (meaningless, three-letter sequences, such as AED). While they worked at memorizing, investigators monitored their heart rate and blood pressure. The subjects who reported “moderate” fatigue had stronger blood pressure increases even when trying to memorize the shorter sequences than subjects who reported “low” fatigue in the two-trigram condition. The study was published in the July 2008 issue of the International Journal of Psychophysiology.

Of course, few of us have the luxury of being able to stop working when we feel tired. Indeed, for some, pushing beyond fatigue is a way of life — single mothers, caregivers and people in high-stress jobs come to mind. Doing this day after day, week after week can lead to trouble and is potentially associated with hypertension, atherosclerosis (plaque build-up) and/or dementia.

FIT FOR THE TASK

It should come as no surprise that being young and healthy offers some protection — as does being physically fit. “While we have not studied this directly, I can say with near certainty that the more fit a person is, the less likely he or she is to suffer from these fatigue effects,” said Dr. Wright. On the flip side, individuals who are in vulnerable health groups are at greater risk. Our culture may celebrate hard work, but our bodies celebrate balance and appropriate rest. Get enough and your body will work better and longer.

Source(s):

Rex Wright, PhD, is a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Take the time to look through all your meal options and get exactly what you want. Make sure that you include one of the Medifast Coupons so that you can get a great discounted price on your next Medifast Diet Plan.